Rainy season has once again descended upon Chambrun, Haiti. We have experienced heavy downpours each of the last two evenings, which have left large puddles and mud everywhere. It is even harder on the villagers in Chambrun, where they typically have a dirt floor, mud hut, and an aluminum roof. I know how loud the sound of the rain's impact is in the NVM dorms during the torrential rains, but must be so much louder on a tin roof. Add to that the thunder and lightning of last night's storm, and I'm sure most of the children must have been terrified by the sounds!

God has used storms since the time of Noah, but he also made a promise afterward.

In particular, I am reminded of God's promise to us in the 54th chapter of book of Isaiah:

9    “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
      For as I have sworn
      That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
      So have I sworn
      That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

10  For the mountains shall depart
      And the hills be removed,
      But My kindness shall not depart from you,
      Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
      Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

11   “O you afflicted one,
      Tossed with tempest, and not comforted...

13  All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
      And great shall be the peace of your children.

14  In righteousness you shall be established;
      You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
      And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

So maybe God uses the rains and storms for the benefit (and not the determent) of the children of Chambrun.

Verse 13 kind of sums up that idea, and in a way, brings forth what the Nehemiah Vision Ministries' school is all about: teaching the children about the Lord so that they may become established in His righteousness.

by Brooke Smalley, NVM Nurse

Not only that, but most of our friends have barely enough food to meet the needs of their own family let alone guests. And let's be honest, we are guests that have food...plenty of food. It always makes my heart cringe to eat food that I know other people need more than me and yet, there is nothing more that Natacha wants in that moment than to serve us. So tonight we ate supper in Natacha's home. We were served our food on the two best dishes she has and we were prepared a feast of food that included chicken, vegetables, and sauce.

We drew quite the crowd as we sat at Natacha's table and ate the meal prepared for us...I suppose it isn't everyday that our little friends have two white girls in their home eating Haitian food=) Today, I was given not only the best food my friend had to offer but love and service to me. As I walked home I felt that God was reminding me that this is the pattern He has for me. I am to offer my best and am called to serve the people He has brought into my life.

I promise I didn't lick my bowl=)

Last week I was walking through the toy isle at the local dollar store and came across a memory from back when I was a young boy. I used to love water powered rockets. If you are old enough to remember these, then you are probably in your 40's or 50's. About the time NASA was shooting Apollo rockets to land on the moon, these toys were popular. I had several of them back then, and remembered how much fun they were, so when I saw them, I bought 2 of them for my sponsored child in Haiti. In the clearance aisle priced at $2.27 each - there was no question I was buying them.

Fast forward to today when I presented Jean Lucson with his sponsor pack and he asked me what they yellow and orange things were. We unwrapped one and proceeded to the water faucet by the school. Knowing that he had never seen one before, I explained how it worked, he didn't question it, but simply believed. I demonstrated it to him and gave him instruction in my best broken Kreyol. "You pour in some water until it reaches the line on the side of the rocket, then you attach the air pump and pump it up about 30 to 40 times and pull the trigger." I told him, "then The water pressure sends the rocket up in the air about 10-12 meters."

We started out about 3 hours ago with 5 or 6 kids watching Lucson fire it in the air. Within a few minutes the were about 20 kids crowded around each one wanting to put the water in, or pump in the air, or fire the rocket toward the heavens. Three hours later, there are still 13 kids out playing with the little $2.27 rocketship. Each one with a huge smile pasted on their face!

What a terrific little investment my $2.27 was! How little we realize what a small gift can do to bring a smile to a child who has suffered hardship his entire life. There were other necessary items in his sponsor pack, clothing, socks, underwear, shoes, food, toy cars, and candy, but what will Jean Lucson remember most from today, probably that for one day he had something that made him special among the children of the Nehemiah school - he had a cool little rocketship and lots of friends who wanted to play with him.

Jesus told his disciples to let the little children suffer not and come to Him because the kingdom of Heaven is made up of such as these. As parents we are to instruct our children so that they may grow-up with belief. Today I witnessed first-hand what child-like belief and their enthusiasm looks like. Sure it cost me $2.27 to observe this lesson, but it's value to me was priceless.

If you haven't traveled to the Nehemiah campus in Haiti recently, you may be surprised at the many new faces you will find working as missionaries and interns on campus. While everyone knows nurse Aubree Dell who is almost through her second year at NVM, she is joined by fellow nurses, E'Tienne York and Brooke Smalley, who have been on campus since last summer.

Aubree, E'Tienne, and Brooke enjoying time with their little friends in Chambrun.

Brandon and Katie Hutchens have been on campus since November serving as the Mission Team coordinators. Brandon and Katie have grown in their roles since coming to campus.

Brandon and Katie

GAiN USA Missionaries Jim & Cheryl Warner along with two of their daughters have been here since the end of May and have recently expresssed their desire to stay on campus for another year. Jim and Cheryl coordinate the GAiN teams that come to campus. In additiion, Cheryl teaches the sewing, beading and basketmaking outreaches to Haitian women, while Jim leads an outreach to Haitian pastors one Saturday each month.

Jim & Cheryl Warner along with their daughters (front row on each end) and a few GAiN team members.

We also have two interns on campus, Maggie Younker who will be heading home in June and Jordan Piper who will be heading home in July.

Jordan & Maggie have been a tremendous asset on campus, helping mission teams with their projects and doing a lot of the "behind the scenes" things to make people's experiences on campus more enjoyable and rewarding.

Jordan Piper

Maggie Younker

Finally, but certainly not least, we have Brodie Herb, Pastor Pierre's personal assistant who has been on campus on and off for about 16 months. Brodie has been wonderful in helping keep communications flowing from campus to the US and back. Brodie will be returning home to get married next month.

Brodie and her fiancée Greg

The whole campus team

A small team of 6 from EastPointe Bible Church in Peru, Indiana pulled into campus on Tuesday evening.

The main focus of the team will be teaching the 4th module in an 8 module Bible training seminar to a group of approximately 60 Haitian Pastors. The main topic will be Eternal Security, but there will also be a chance for the pastors to ask questions and present some problems they face in their congregations today. Team was extremely tired - traveling since 2 a.m. to arrive at campus 16 hours later.

by Brooke Smalley, NVM Nurse

It isn't uncommon to have tiny babies in the clinic. The part that is unique is each and every story that comes along with the little one and his/her mother. The little one below came into the clinic on Friday and weighed less than four pounds at 25 days old. He was literally all skin and bones. As I talked to his "mom" I realized that she was actually his mother's cousin. His mom died when he was only five days old. She is now raising him along with her 1 1/2 year old little boy and she is only 18. She didn't have enough milk to give him, so for the past 20 days each day he got 2 ounces of milk and the rest was supplemented with sugar water. She was doing what she thought was best. We were able to give her formula and taught her how to mix the milk and how often he needs to eat. This was another moment of reminding myself to let go and to simply let God be God. She was already fighting for him and choosing to step-up and care for him. God has a plan for not only the little baby but for his new momma too.

The little one on the left is 25 days old, on the right 26 days old.

She is one day older and double the size

So tiny and precious!

Yesterday, I laid on a child-size inner tube floating in aqua, blue salt water while the sun kissed my face. Amazed by God’s beauty, I began to think about my life in Haiti. Here I was relaxing with a priceless scenic view while an hour away my friends sit in their mud homes cooking over charcoal fires, and doing laundry by hand. Life here seems to be balanced on a scale with nothing in the middle. Many days over the last year and a half have been an extreme.

For instance, the beach. I stood with my toes in the white speckled sand and could take in a breath of fresh air. I could clearly see God’s artwork at hand. Days prior to that I stood with my toes in the mucky mud as a result of rainy season, holding Rose while we breathed in toxic smoke from the charcoal fires. Another time, I went to the beach, I passed a murder scene. Bodies were spread across the earth, and people standing around just staring. Then a half an hour later I arrived at a resort, with tourism screaming in my face.

Last Easter, I found myself riding in the back of a truck fighting for a man’s life. A week later I found out he didn’t make it. As I stood between Aaron’s truck and a police truck I turned around to tell Aaron, the gentlemen we helped had died and in the same breath he told me someone just gave NVM a significant amount of money to continue following what God has laid on Pastor’s heart. I feel this pull inside me that is broken but yet excited for what is to come.

It seems like when something happens here in Haiti, we get one day to mourn and after we sleep it is done and over with and we are to move on toward the next thing. A man dies and life stops for a few moments, but then a team arrives and you do not have time to reflect, to think, to cry. A child is born and we rejoice in that moment, that day, but then they become another mouth to feed.

I think of Haiti as a land of extremes because I do not have too many “normal” days. Yes, I have days where things are routine, but then I walk to the village and see just how vastly different this world is from the world I grew up in, and I am astonished. I am sure I have become hardened, or calloused to certain situations, but it still breaks my heart to see starving children, it still breaks my heart to see sick people that cannot afford healthcare, and will just die because of a lack of resources.

Today is Easter. In church today, Pastor talked about how we have earthquakes in our lives all the time. Some are physical, some spiritual, some medical, etc. When Jesus died on the cross the ground shook, and Jesus broke our bondage of sin and set us free. I trust one day I will know the answers to the questions that break my heart, but until than I will continue down this path God has set before me. A path that does not always make sense, a path that has extremes and leaves you feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable. I pray whatever earthquake that is happening in your life today you choose to take it to the cross, and lay it at Jesus’ feet.

Posted by Jim & Cheryl Warner: 30 Mar 2012 06:21 PM PDT

Here we are at the end of the week. It is hard to believe that the team will be heading home tomorrow morning.  And we have nothing but great things to report on the work of this team here at Nehemiah Vision Ministries.

With the outdoor school kitchen completed, a number of the men set their sights on completing the picket fence around the prayer garden. Believe me, digging holes in the hard Haitian ground is difficult work. But the results are beautiful and the prayer garden will be a blessing to so many in the months and years to come.

We conducted our second vision clinic today. It was held on the NVM compound for folks from the nearby community of Chambrun and surrounding area.  We had a smaller group today but there were many who desperately needed glasses. 24 came through the clinic and 7 of them prayed to receive Jesus into their lives. What a rewarding work it is to help people with both their physical and spiritual sight!

In the afternoon the ladies helped Cheryl prepare for her next basket class in Onaville. Cloth strips must be cut so the ladies can wrap their ropes that eventually become beautiful baskets. And the men did some painting on the warehouse.

This has been a fantastic team and they have worked so hard all week. We want to thank them and all of you who have supported them financially and through your prayers. We pray for each of them as they return home that God will continue to use them in a mighty way in the lives of those around them. 63 people came into God’s Kingdom through their work here in Haiti. And the school has a beautiful kitchen that will be used to feed the 350 students every day. God is good. It was a privilege to serve him with these wonderful folks.

Thank you all for your prayers this week. We could not do this without your support.

Posted by Jim & Cheryl Warner, GAiN USA Missionaries

Hi again. The week is passing quickly but the team is getting much accomplished. They are a very hard working group!

The three women went with Cheryl and me back to Onaville to help Cheryl conduct her basket-making class. She is working with 32 Haitian women teaching them this skill. The ladies helped process the class and Cathy and Janet shared with the group. They had a wonderful time and they were very helpful.

The men continued work on the outdoor kitchen for the school. As a matter of fact, they completed the structural part of the project.  Just look at their good work! There is just a little work on the inside before the cooks move in. We need to construct a cooking pit and a hood to vent the smoke. But what a great job the team did this week.

Tomorrow we conduct our second vision clinic here on the NVM compound. And some of the men are going to complete the work on the picket fence surrounding our new prayer garden.

It has been a great week and we look forward to what God is going to do tomorrow. We will keep you posted and thanks for your prayers.

Posted by Jim & Cheryl Warner, GAiN USA Missionaries

We had a great Wednesday in Haiti. The work projects continued and great progress was made. And we also attended a Haitian wedding on the compound.

The men continued work on the new outdoor kitchen that will be used to cook food for the students at the NVM school. As you can see from the photos, the building is starting to take shape. They should finish the project tomorrow. And of course we will document their progress. We thank Verle and the guys for their hard work out in the hot Haitian sun!

The ladies continued their work painting the ceiling tiles for the new hospital. I believe they reported that 75 tiles have been painted. And as you can see in the photos, the workers are starting to put the tiles in place. And the result is great.

Terry Weston again spend the morning working in the NVM clinic. This was his last day serving as the doctor on call. He had some interesting cases today including a One-day-old baby. They were very pleased that he could fill in while our Haitian doctor was at a conference.

One of our good friends on the NVM compound got married today. And we had the opportunity to help out. Cheryl and the ladies helped decorate the church and a tent where the reception was held. And Jim was asked to give the sermon at the wedding. It was great fun and a real cultural experience.

Thanks again for your prayers. It is hard to believe that there are only two work days left. Tomorrow the ladies and Jim return to Onaville to conduct a basket-making class and the men continue their construction work. We will keep you posted.