The mission to the Dominican Republic was fantastic. We completed the solar install for Freedom International in less than two days!! Course we had an excellent team with John Foster, Mike Cochren, Jacob Lucia, Ryan Lucia, and of course Allen and myself :D We spent the rest of the week helping their electrician wire the building. We also got to go out to one of the bateyes, villages, to visit the kids in their own community. I’d have to say that was the highlight of the trip. The kids really enjoyed playing soccer with Mike and climbing around on the rest of us. :) I posted the mission photo album here, or you can just go to the Photos tab. I can’t take credit for any of the photos though as I didn’t take a single one. But that’s why God provided awesome people with some serious camera skills :D
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Well the good news is the Haiti mission is now complete and we were able to get everything done plus some. Since my last post Craig, Jacob, and I finished the evaluations and did some battery management in Jereme, Sam rewired the transformer for the JIH system on the other side of Port-au-Prince, and Allen did several more site surveys. We all came back together on Wednesday and were able to install 6 extra solar panels we had for a wonderful missionary couple in Leogane. Jasmine wrote a beautiful summary of their surprise and gratefulness on their ministry Facebook page at Family of Faith Haiti Ministries. It was a great way to finish a mission.
The sad news is that while I was in Haiti my grandmother passed away. So instead of going home I am on my way to Saint Louis, MO. I was able to change my flights to add in a jog over to St. Louis so that I can attend her funeral on Saturday and be with my mom. Please pray for her and the rest of our family. Thank you. In addition to prepping for the Panama mission trip, I've been working on the previous mission photo albums. I did not get all three albums done from 2013, but I did at least get the first one finished and posted (Mission #17). I will continue to work on the others in-between system designs for future missions and other various SLP tasks. There are also a number of things to do as a full-time missionary here in Honduras. For example, the paperwork is finally submitted for my Honduran residency. So hopefully I will have that in the next 3-6 months. Yay!! Sutton and I also spent a few days out on a dairy farm in Olancho, which was really neat, and an afternoon at a drug rehab center near Tegus. We're not sure what God has in store for us here in Honduras, but it sure seems interesting. :D
I have posted the photo album for my most recent trip to Haiti (Mission #20). I still need to finish the photo albums for last years missions (Mission #17 - 19). I promise I am working on them. I should have them finished before I leave for my next mission. Speaking of which, the next mission has been booked. :)
I am going to Panama, a new country :D, from March 15th through the 23rd. SLP is sending a largish team to an island just off the coast of Panama. We will be installing solar in a school, clinic, and church. There will be a SLP fiesta team to minister to the children and a small medical mission. The full-time missionaries there will also be hosting a Serve & Surf ministry team. So ...... we will apparently get the opportunity to learn surfing on our off day. Yep, there are indeed perks in the life of a missionary. :D Hey Guys. Sorry I couldn't do another post while in Honduras. We had some very long days. I heard we had a little internet at the hotel, but I never found a moment to crack open the net-book. We did successfully complete the three installations / fiestas at schools in southern Honduras on Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. On Friday we went to the Pacific coast beach for a little R&R, drove back to Tegucigalpa, washed-up, and then had our celebration dinner.
Our Thanksgiving day (Thursday) consisted of our final school installation, which of course went the smoothest, and a church service in Nacaome. The team was pretty tired by this point, but worshiping God with our brothers & sisters in Christ refreshed us spiritually. It's amazing how worship can connect us despite the language and cultural barriers. The Cobblestone Community Church group was a real pleasure to work with. They, each one of them, have the hearts of a missionary. Even though they worked beyond the point of exhaustion and found themselves traveling in unexpectedly (for them) harsh conditions, they were always excited about getting out there and serving the children of Honduras. During the entire mission, the group was talking about future trips and when they might come again. They were hot, tired, bruised, and sore, and still wanting more. I look forward to working with this group again :D We received an email with a link to this video from Amigos for Christ. Allen and I helped them install the solar water pumping system for this village in Nicaragua earlier this year. At that time they were still in the process of laying the pipe to get the water to the villagers. They have finished the job and this is the result..... it's absolutely beautiful! I am so blessed to be allowed to even contribute to such moments. God is AWESOME !! Photos from this mission are here: Mission # 11 - Nicaragua - March 2012
Ok. Hopefully I will get the other photos for this trip and be able to post an album soon. Unfortunately there won't be many since neither Allen or I had much time for taking photos. And yes, I know I still need to post pics for the Mexico trip. There I have the opposite problem. We had several photographers on that mission and I have a couple thousand photos to go through ....... I also need to do the expense reports and get out thank you cards to my sponsors. It is my goal to get all this done before the next mission ... which is in less than 3 weeks. Oh yea, and I also need to raise funds for the next mission. Sooo pray for me :D
Please pray for Hudson and Lucy Hess. They have been missionaries in Haiti for 48 years and are looking to retire. They have been asking the Lord to send someone to take-up the work in Cap Haitian so they can go home permanently with peace. Pray that the Lord will strengthen them and guide them in His timing. Pray that they would have rest and the peace that passes all understanding. Pray that He would send more workers to reap the harvest in Haiti. And while you're at it, please pray for all the missionaries there. Haiti is a very difficult place to live and work as a missionary. They all need God's strength, patience, and wisdom for His work in ministering to the people of Haiti. Pray that God's glory be revealed in the mighty name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen :D Thank you !!
The Haiti mission went well. We spent most of the time at the home of Hudson and Lucy Hess near Cap Haitian. They work for an organization called Family Life Outreach Ministries, or FLO. We installed a solar water pumping system at their compound in 2010. This time we installed a solar power system for the compound itself. For many years they would only have power when they ran their generator which was for one hour in the morning and three hours in the evening. Now they have access to generator free power 24/7 :)
The last couple days we spent in Gressier visiting with HHM (Haiti Health Ministries) and TG (Touch Global). We had installed solar systems at both locations earlier this year. This time we were hoping to install an internet bridge thing at HHM to allow the monitoring system to display information on the internet. That way we could monitor their system from the States. However, neither Allen or I know anything about networking systems and we were not able to get the bridge programed correctly. We will try again when we are back in the area which will probably be next January. There are a couple orphanages and schools in the Gressier area that are looking to install solar very soon. We did at least get the bridge installed and wired. We also did some of the preliminary work for those other groups. And we enjoyed the excellent company of friends in ministry. I got home at about 1 in the morning. If felt WONDERFUL to sleep next to my hubby in my own bed. I woke to cool temps (I think the AC is going, yes in Houston we still run the AC in late October), showered with hot water, brushed my teeth with tap water, flushed toilet paper, and I'm now drinking a cup of coffee without having to constantly check it for flying bugs ... yes it's those little things in life that I often miss most.
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