Haiti Through the Eyes of the Kulfan Kids

In the past twelve months, our lives have been changed. From new ways of learning to meeting new friends. We wanted to change things up a bit and tell you what Haiti is like through our eyes. So here is a brief explanation of our everyday life. We hope you enjoy.

This is what we did on LaGonave for school: on Mondays and Wednesdays we went to the Moringa room. We called it the Moringa room because it is where they package the powdered Moringa. We stayed there for most of the day trying to get our school work done. On a normal day we usually arrived at 7:00am and left around 5:30pm. We went to the Moringa room because our internet wasn’t good at our house and it was nice and fast in the Moringa room. We don’t quite have a schedule yet for Port-au-Prince. Our days are always different.

We have lots of friends here, whether they are locals or other third culture kids (TCK’s). Our local friends are really kind and help us learn Creole. Their mom owns a boutique so sometimes she gives us a sucker or a bag of water. What we like about them is that they are so friendly and always willing to help us.

We enjoy hanging out with our missionary friends too. These friends are fun to spend time with because they know what it is like to go from hot showers all the time, groceries a five minute drive away, and the tap water being filtered and fresh, to none of the above. Also, they always make us laugh no matter how much we miss our friends in the States or how bad of a day we are having. 

We also love having friends in the States who are always willing to let us talk to them when we need to or who just fill us in on things that are happening in the States. We thank Jesus every day for the people whom he has placed in our lives to make life more enjoyable here. We are still making friends on the mainland and are glad for all of the friends that we have and will come.

There are many kinds of food that are different from the States. One of our favorite meals to eat here is rice and congo beans with sauce. Some different foods here are labouyi, penposh, pates, chicos, grenadia and many other foods. Some drinks that we have here that aren’t in the States are Limonade, Fruit Champagne, Sekola, Tampico and Ju Goo. The labouyi is like a porridge or cream of wheat, penposh is a bread pocket with seasoned burger, and pates are a fried dough with stuff (pikliz, chicken, beef, eggs, etc) filled inside of it. Chicos is Haitian Cheeto puffs. Grenadia is passion fruit. Limonade is a really sweet pop that makes great slushes. Fruit Champagne doesn’t have any alcohol in it and it tastes like a liquid Juicy Fruit. Sekola is a watery lemon lime drink. Tampico and Ju Goo are fruit drinks.

                                                                                                        

Looking back on the past eleven months, there were many good and bad times. During the difficult times we lean on God and fall on our Savior. There are also times to cry and times to laugh. Times with friends and times with family. Although there are hard times, we really have enjoyed living here in Haiti. Some of our favorite memories are… showering on the roof in the rain, watching meteor showers on the roof with Laura and Ybene (missionary friends), walking to school for several days, sleeping on the roof, meeting some amazing friends, and many more. Here on the mainland we have already made many memories like beautiful balcony sunsets, having friends stay over, family moments that make us laugh and many more.

                                                            

We came to do God’s work and continue to plug away. We are very thankful for all of our friends and family who have helped us through everything. 

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

I Will Follow

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow.
All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
"I Will Follow" Lyrics

These words from Chris Tomlin's "I Will Follow" song describe our focus from the very beginning of our journey to Haiti. We came to Haiti not to serve man or an organization but to serve God. While we know God called us initially to work with Starfysh, He made it clear, without any doubt, to us last weekend that He was closing that door and that we were to take the new door that He opened for us. We were presented with an opportunity a while back and we immediately submitted in prayer looking for clarity as we wanted to make sure it was not a test or temptation. We now have our answer and we are working through the details.

We are excited to announce that we have accepted positions with HERO. Bruce will be the Director of EMS while Amy will be the HR Manager. Over the next couple of weeks we will be transitioning from the island of LaGonave to Port-au-Prince. HERO client rescue offers free medical care to the Haitian people. We also have memberships for Expats, short term mission teams or anyone visiting Haiti. The way the membership works is if you are in need of an ambulance due to a medical emergency or traumatic event you would contact HERO's communication center. We will dispatch the closest "Warden"- Responder and they will treat and stabilize you. If transport to the hospital is needed or if evacuation to the USA, Dominican Republic or Cuba we will make all the arrangements. We also are contracted to provide medical coverage at the Port-au-Prince airport. In addition we provide education and training to Crash Fire Rescue, PNH (National Police), SWAT and DEA.

Amy and I see an even greater opportunity for ministry here in Port-au-Prince. We hope you will continue to pray for us and if you feel led to support us financially we will honor your support. To continue supporting us financially, please send your check to Kulfan's in Haiti, O-11585 Woodgate Dr NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49534. Please note that HERO is not a 501c3 so there will be no tax benefit.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Reflections

The year of 2016 has definitely had an impact on our family. Last year at this time moving to Haiti still seemed surreal. Maybe God was going to change his mind at the last minute just waiting to see if we would follow through on saying “yes” to his calling. Or maybe not… So we packed our bags, wrapped up loose ends state side, rented our house, and said “see you later” to friends and family.

In June we arrived in Haiti. The first three weeks were spent at bootcamp learning Creole and about Haiti’s culture. Not only did we learn a lot but we also made new friends and have a support system and connections only God could have orchestrated.

We then headed to LaGonave and moved into our home as the plumbers were wrapping up their last bit of work. This time feels like such a blur as there was so much going on. The first few months consisted of unpacking, teams, many knocks a day on the gate, adjusting, getting to know where to buy what (no one stop shopping here!), and meeting the Starfysh employees and the other missionaries on the island.

Over the past six months we have grown in many ways and continue to learn and adjust. There are less tears, a new “family” member, we have somewhat found a “groove” per se for some family “normalcy”, we are getting to know our neighbors, started attending a local church after attending several, and working on understanding Starfysh better. Through this we have worked through many struggles, found great friends, continue to meet new people, and recently celebrated the birth of an employee's baby.

Starfysh has been growing during this time as well. The new school was dedicated and is being used by four grades, teacher training and partnerships, and sponsorship started for the students at the school. Regarding the garden, additional land has been leased to grow more moringa and other plants and the training center has been built and is getting ready for training. Water filters continue to be followed up on and the fundraiser just ended to get more filters into homes.

Thank you for your support and prayers. This would not be possible without you!

Now to look forward to 2017 with hope!

Celebrations, Construction, and Computer Training

Bless the Lord oh my soul

Oh my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I'll worship Your Holy name
**Matt Redman, 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)**

This song is dear to my heart for several different reasons. It touched me again yesterday when I heard one of the neighbor kids singing it at the top of their lungs, first in Creole and then in English. One of the many blessings here. There is so much to be thankful for and to give God praise for. The month of November is a time when we tend to look back and reflect.

Within the past month we had the opportunity to attend the dedication of the new school in Makochon. The celebration consisted of several speakers, kids singing, performing skits and stories read. Then came a wide spread feast including pikliz (spicy cole slaw), rice and beans, fried plantains, beet casserole, fried bread, fish, goat, chicken and cake for dessert. As evening fell, the dancing began. It was a great time for the community to come together to celebrate. 

On Thanksgiving we made a trip to the school. The teachers and kids are loving the new classrooms.

The cement floor is going in at the outside classroom in the garden, Jaden Lavi. Once this is complete, a bathroom and storage unit will be installed.  This will then become a venue to provide training to local farmers, education on urban farming to those in Anse-au-Galets and other cities, career days for students in their last year of school, along with other opportunities, as the Lord directs.

The garden is also in motion with other activities. Along with additional moringa seedlings taking off, other plants are being seeded with an emphasis of plants that can grow at sea level (there are several villages right at sea level where the ground is full of salt making most plants difficult to grow). The production of moringa powder also continues.

Missionaries from all over LaGonave and some from other parts of Haiti met for Thanksgiving at the Wesleyan Mission. It was wonderful to talk to people we haven’t seen for a couple years, along with those we see more frequently and also making new friends. It was a great time of fellowship and reflection of what God has done for us and for Haiti.

This same day our quads arrived on the island along with Starfysh’s quads. This is significant for us as Bruce’s back was sore from wrenching the old quad into gear. It no longer takes two people to get the quad started, we can go more places, we both have quads, we can get more done, get to places faster thus allowing us more freedom.

I recently have been helping input water filter data (of which I am quite proud of myself. I am using Excel in French as I can’t get Excel to switch to English after many tries.) After it is complete, I will be teaching the Haitian helping me how to use a computer, type, along with using Excel and Word so he can do this himself. He has thanked Jesus quite a few times already for this opportunity. Little did I know how helpful my knowledge in this area would be and to see glory being given to God for it makes my heart happy.

Let us not forget the things we are thankful for while we transition into Christmas.

As we are approaching the end of the year, please consider supporting us by donating to Starfysh. Click on the Starfysh name, input your information and include "Kulfan" in the large box.
Psalm 69:30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

How Would You Like Your Coffee?

“This is a bad start to my day, I received a black coffee instead of the flavored one I ordered.” I read this a few days after going through hurricane Matthew. I struggled with it. We are still adjusting to living here and then came hurricane Matthew!!!

Let me back up, we prepared for the hurricane the best we could being new to Haiti and never having been through a hurricane. We opened Starfysh’s guesthouse to it’s staff and immediate family that live in the Saline, knowing it would not be wise to have too many people stay there and having to draw the line somewhere (this is a gut wrenching decision to make). The Saline is a “suburb” of Anse-a-Galets that is at sea level and the housing consists of mostly tin and/or cement walls, dirt floors, and tin roofs. One of our staff brought his most important papers and sat on the steps at the guesthouse and cried as he was leaving friends and family behind. He was one of the few who truly understood how big Matthew was and what it could do. We spoke with and messaged other staff. One answered with “God will take care of us and provide” and away he went. As for ourselves, we moved to another mission as our home has a cement roof but the middle of the roof has roof access which consists of tin and if it ripped off, every room in our home more than likely would have flooded. 

During and shortly after Matthew we continued to message friends and staff via texts and Facebook to check in with them whether they were on higher ground in Anse-a-Galets, up the mountain, at the guesthouse, in Monwi, Saint Marc or Port-au-Prince. I had a hard time concentrating on anything during the storm so I spent a lot of time looking out the window and praying. At first I was scared but I continued to remind myself that God was in control and I had a peace overwhelm me that could only come from Him. Our family also spent time singing praise songs, the girls played card games and Bruce and I watched Facebook for updates on status of others not knowing when we would potentially lose wifi.

After Matthew, we started getting reports that the Saline did not flood nearly as bad as expected and the water level drained quickly. The reports were coming in and there were no deaths in the area. Praise the Lord!!! We then went with a staff member and checked  on his and another staff member's home in the Saline. The roads were covered in water yet (imagine one very large puddle) and we jumped from “dry” spot to “semi dry” spot. We were pleasantly surprised to see very few roofs ripped off in the Saline and minimal damage to Starfysh’s staffs’ homes. The biggest issue was everything was wet/damp and needed to be rewashed and dried.  One home's floor was dirt and the water was still seeping up. This seems minor but this is when cholera rears its ugly head so we advised on prevention and prayed the floor would dry quickly. We also checked on the garden and one post came up to the shade garden which the staff fixed within a couple days.

After the relief of knowing how Anse-a-Galets faired and watching it get back to normal within 48 hours the reports in the southern part of Haiti and up in the mountains on LaGonave started to come in. Heartbreak settled in once again. From the villages in the mountains and farther out on La Gonave, from what I have heard there were 2 deaths, many homes damaged, crops destroyed, some livestock and fishing boats gone. Then there were the reports of southern Haiti (Where Bruce was making plans to go less than 24 hours before landfall) which were and still are devastating... many deaths, many homes and crops completely destroyed and then cholera setting in, and additional rain continued to hit. It was and still is amazing to watch the grassroots organizations working together for the good of Haiti. They were able to respond faster and better as they were boots on the ground and know what is needed. The behind the scenes of communication of who has what and who can help who was so great to see. Many things were learned from the earthquake and there was a huge push to buy local to help keep and boost the Haitian economy. As for Starfysh, we provided moringa seeds to another missionary to help regrow crops in several villages in the mountains of LaGonave. They will be picking up several hundred moringa seedlings on Wednesday to distribute as well. This missionary also provided tarps to us so the school in Makochon could be covered as half the roof blew off. We also provided moringa seeds to local friends of ours who will use them to spread the word of God in the south. Who better than Haitians helping Haitians! Our emotions have been on an absolute roller coaster ride.

During this roller coaster ride, I read about someone’s bad morning state side because their coffee order was wrong. I reflected and pondered on it. I would assume they have a vehicle to drive in order to get the coffee, if they own a vehicle they more than likely have a job if not two, they also probably have a home that can withstand bad weather. Their home probably has electricity at a flip of a switch, running treated water at the tap, and indoor plumbing. I then think about the homes that don’t have any electricity, they may pay the city for a couple hours of electricity each day.  Some people walk carrying buckets and jugs to the community well to get their water for washing, cooking and bathing. Many people walk or may own a moto where we live. I see locals going back to daily living quickly with friends and family surrounding them. If this happened where we are from state side, how long would it take to recover? Families live by each other here and help each other out daily. As we walked through the Saline, immediately after the storm, neighbors were helping each other put a roof back on a home. One of our favorite things to do in the evening is watch the guys in our neighborhood play soccer on the street in  front of our house. How often do neighbors come together state side? How do you define a want? a need? an inconvenience? We can certainly learn from our friends in Haiti. How are you going to allow your coffee to start your day?

“All We Need is Love”-Really???

Is that truly all we need? Try telling that to my 12 year old daughter. I am sure she will let you know God is all we need. I am known for speaking what is on my mind so here goes nothing new. I have been praying about this one for a good year now and feel that I need to be sharing it. The good Lord needed to give me a lot of nudging on this one. A little past history, I grew up in the Christian Reformed Church and I was definitely not taught about what I am going to say. Frankly back then, I think the response would have been: “We should check her into Pine Rest”. Do not get me wrong, there is certainly a time and place to seek that type of help but I believe wisdom and discernment also need to be used. Truth be told, I have used their counseling services a couple times and I am thankful I did. Anyways…

A year to this month, we saw a quick onset of really strange behavior coming from our oldest on a weekend in September. Yes, it did cross our minds that we may need to look at Pine Rest. I had a gut feeling there was more going on though. By that Sunday evening it became evident that my gut feeling was correct. Bruce had sat down with her and started reading the Bible. She had just laid her head down and closed her eyes and promptly sat up screaming “the eyes, the eyes!!, call ______”. When I say screaming, I mean it was so loud we thought all the neighbors on our cul-de-sac would hear. This was 9 o’clock at night and I felt bad for calling him as I know being a pastor he was probably tired from working all day but we could tell we needed to call him as she was specifically asking for him. Not knowing at the time how familiar he was with spiritual warfare (as I had only read books and that was the extent of my knowledge) I kept repeating over and over, "This isn’t Western Christianity, this isn’t Western Christianity". When he arrived he let me know he was very much aware of what I meant and no need to explain. On his way over he had also put out a prayer request to prayer warriors available on a moment’s notice. He asked Bri a few questions to confirm the situation and he proceeded to pray over her. By the time he was done she was extremely tired but when you are in a battle of course it is going to tire you out! Over the next week she needed a lot of affirmation and we spent many nights reading the Bible to her while she fell asleep.

No issues after that and we thought it was a one and done deal until our first week in Haiti. We sat down to dinner and Bri told me the eyes were back. We were surrounded with Christian believers who had battled fights like this before so we sought their help immediately. They knew exactly what to do and they surrounded Bri with prayer, worship, and armed with scripture. These two situations equipped us for the most part to be able to fight these battles as a family. Our first night on the island we found ourselves having to put what we learned to the test. It was a longer than anticipated and tiring night but we were equipped. The next day we Skyped with a friend we had called the night before. She said she had been up all night thinking about it and educated us more along with providing us with a daily schedule to follow to prevent the attacks. Since then, Bri is now prepared and has fought these battles herself. When asked what she thinks of them, she replies, “It reminds me that God is much bigger.”

If I hadn’t dealt with it myself I may not believe it due to my upbringing, but knowing we were moving to Haiti, I read up on spiritual warfare in case I ran across it. It made me sad that I had a hard time finding people state side that were able to help teach me how to fight these battles. I heard a couple times, “I have never seen that, just look to God and find the answers in the Bible, I am sorry I could not be of more help”. Another response I heard to an offshoot of the question was: “that stuff doesn’t happen anymore, we have the Bible now” (prime Western Christianity response). These answers have been wrenching at my heart for the past year as we need to be ready to go into battle at any time. It gives the childhood song, Onward Christian Soldiers, a whole new meaning to me, but isn’t that what that song is all about? What part of the Bible says that because we have the Bible it doesn’t happen anymore? NONE!!! Do not put God in a box, He is WAY too big for that! As a side note, Voodoo is not just sticking needles in a doll like I was told when I was growing up. No, it is the worshiping of Satan. State side it is more well known as Witchcraft. Satan and demons are real and they like to feed on fear. Thankfully we know the one and only true God is bigger than anything else and we are blessed with already knowing that God wins the end battle. Because of this there is no need to fear. Fear does not come from God, only from dark places.

Two places in the Bible we quickly reference and arm ourselves with are Psalm 91 and Ephesians 6:10-18. I would like to leave with you Ephesians 6:13 - Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will be standing firm.” A Haitian friend pointed out something I never thought of before. He asked, “Why do Americans pray for a hedge of protection? We need full protection here, in Haiti!”

Some of you reading this are probably thinking this is super crazy. I don’t blame you, I used to think that too! I believe that God is calling me to share this and my prayer is that this will help some of you understand more, learn along with me, others to grow in your relationship with God, and that some will feel more comfortable talking about your personal experiences with spiritual warfare as this is truly a real part of life. Not everyone will necessarily need to fight like we needed to but everyone should be armed and ready. We are here to fight the good fight. Onward Christian soldiers! 

What is a Normal Day?

We are still figuring this question out. I guess it depends on your definition of normal. Let me provide you with a description of yesterday (we were going to post this yesterday but didn’t get the wifi working until this morning):

6am - Wake up, send email to Agricultural Director, wake up kids, get laundry going, wake up kids again.

6:30 - First knock at the gate from a Starfysh employee. Reschedule to meet in the afternoon.

6:45 - Breakfast and devotions, restart laundry machine as it stops half way through.

7:00 - Second knock at the gate. Head out the door and go to Starfysh. Start generator to pump up a tire on truck, provide machete to another employee to weed around Starfysh, grab eye glasses for the afternoon appointment to see if that will help alleviate the headaches, answer a few questions. Head over to WISH to get the girls started on school as wifi doesn’t work well enough at our house. Bruce drops us off at WISH and we discover we don’t have the wifi router. Call Bruce. Kids run off to find their friend. In the meantime Bruce is headed back to the house to put the laundry on the roof, grab the ladder that we got yesterday from the builder in Makochon, along with the flag for the school, and now also grab the router and take the truck to the garden to drop off the ladder and to pick up the desks and bring them to the school in Makochon. I talk to Dede to order bread from his bakery and see if he is willing to translate for our rescheduled meeting at 4.

8:30 - Bruce calls saying the quad is stuck at the house as he cannot get it out of neutral. Pray again that our quads come sooner than later. He will be coming by in the truck as WISH is right by the garden where the desks are located. I start working on this blog.

9 – Router arrives, went to get girls from friend’s house. Start Riley off on finishing PE requirements. Call IT help as teacher referred us because we need admin email and password to download anything. They transferred me twice and referred me back to someone at iCademy. I left a voicemail and await a call back. Bruce speaks with Greg who is putting up the water catch on the library. He confirms the ladder is too short to use. Bruce leaves to head to Makochon. We move on to another homework assignment (Riley is down to 46 overdue assignments because she is 3 weeks behind due to the wifi at our house and receiving school supplies a week after school started. We are very thankful for everyone who helped in getting them to us otherwise it would have been longer). Bri is only 2 weeks behind.

Noon – Break for lunch with the girls. They eat and go play with friend for half hour. I catch up on emails.

12:30 – Back to school

1 – Bruce arrives back from first trip up the mountain.

2 – Get call from iCademy. She referred me to somewhere else. Bruce gets another load of desks and heads back up.

3:30 – Call from the IT somewhere else. I asked if he could call tomorrow as my phone was almost out of battery and Bruce wasn’t back from Makochon yet.

4 – End school for the day. Meet with Dede and someone else in order to review their present situation and see if there is anything we can do for his reoccurring headaches.

4:30 – Bruce gets back.

4:45 – Head back to Starfysh. Stop at the Green and Orange store to buy pop for everyone.

5 – Pay employees that helped today. Try to message someone state side.

5:15 – Dede delivers our bread to our house. Talk more with Dede and another employee.

6 – Sit down to eat. Remember I was going to message someone state side about something that happened today. Send it before I forget. Finish dinner.

6:30 – Take shower, sit down to work on Blog. Help with school work that doesn’t require wifi. Knock at the gate. Bruce goes to talk to Starfysh's nightguard. Bruce walks back with him to get his phone that was left in the truck.

7 – Realize we need to update our wifi as it is “eating” the GBs way too fast. Attempt but says we need to pay more. Pay more, wait for acknowledgement of payment.

8 – Almost have blog done. Wifi still not ready yet.

Bruce- 9am load 11 desks into Starfysh truck, desks are hanging all over the bed.  Try to pull out of the garden, almost rip the roof off from the outdoor class room.  Get to the narrow gate with the desks hanging over the bed.  Tell workers “It’s not going to fit”. Workers respond, “ It’s okay”, desk falls over the side as the driver just keeps going.  Out of the gate, secure load again.  Head up to Makochon.

10:15- Not even a quarter of the way up, load falls off the truck.  Put desks back into truck and secure a third time.  All this on a narrow, ROCKY, hill as moto’s can barely pass through.

11:30- Drop off desks at the school in Makochon.  This is a very rocky and steep drive up the mountain. Pick up an extension ladder for the project Amy mentioned above.

11:45- Head back down the mountain.

1:00-  Lunch.  Give money for the two employees to get lunch, I don’t eat, time to catch up on emails as it is impossible to email going up or down the mountain…did I mention it’s ROCKY…feel free to insert “Adrian”. Have conversation with contractor about ladder is not tall enough for water catch.  Gives a price on what it would be to “rent” one.  Tell him I will check with my friends first.  Then tries to say he needs an additional $100 for the work.  Refresh his memory on the amount agreed upon, which he signed.

2:15- Second load in truck, this is more tall than wide this time.  Start to head out of town and pull down a wire.  I thought it was an electrical wire but turns out it was string….I think.  One hundred yards down the road stop because another truck is coming in the opposite direction.  We start to go and start pulling a post and roof down off a house/store.  Okay it might be a little wide as well as tall.  As this is happening I am talking to Amy, trying to catch up on the day and make a plan for the rest of the day.

3:45- Make it to school and drop off second load of desks. 

4 - Head back down the mountain, elbow starts to get a red spot, pre-blister from rubbing on the seat because yup, you guessed it, it is ROCKY and you bounce all over the place.

Every day is completely different. There are no two days that are the same. So to us, a “normal” day is having a very different day than the day before.

With our “normal” days, the month of August brings progress. The water catch on the agricultural center was completed and the cisterns are collecting water.

 The desks have been made for the new school and per above, most of them were delivered to the school yesterday with the remaining delivered today.

Work is in progress to get the water catch on the library in order to provide more water for the garden.

The Port-au-Prince Rotary visited and checked on water filters in two of the villages. 

Starfysh’s education liaison provided teacher training. She walked the teachers through what it looks like to partner with each other and explained some different teaching methods. The teachers from Makochon and the Guerrier Institute will be partnering together this school year to learn from each other.