Wrapping Up 2015, and Looking Ahead

As we are approaching the end of this amazing year of adventure here in Haiti, we are feeling truly blessed by God. The last year or so has had its ups and downs, but as many Haitians say, “Se la vi” from the French saying that means “That’s life”.   And isn’t that the way life is and has been from the beginning?  No matter who you are, where you are from, or your financial status, there will be good days and bad days. However, as Christians, we have the hope of eternal life that we believe has come to us by the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ that raises us above the highs and lows of life. Looking forward to celebrating another of many Christmases that help us focus on the sacrificial coming of the King of Kings in the humble form of a baby boy in a lowly manger. Thank God He came to us, because there was no way we could ever work, or scheme, or connive our way to Him!! In John 5:24, Jesus himself says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has passed over from death to life.” What a perfectly powerful, but simple promise!!

Another promise that I love, is “And we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” ( Romans 8:28 KJV ).  Notice that it doesn’t say “all things will be good”, but this promise has a good ending. It is what we look forward to and it is why we can continue to work even when things are not going as we planned or hoped!!!  We both love where we are in the village of Simon with all the crazy Haitian life going on around us; but, honestly, some days it is too much. We know, however, as we go from day to day learning more about the people with their culture and language, we will appreciate this time even more when we are able to communicate well and interact naturally. The “old timers” keep telling us to “Hang in there. It will come and it will be so much fun when it does!” I truly believe God has called us to live here; I also believe the promises of the “old timers”; and, I realize that if we keep our focus on what God wants us to do, taking it one day at a time, we will find our way here in Haiti.

Children, many of them, walking to and from school!

Amidst all this pondering thought about how blessed we are to be here, I have the strong realization that a huge portion of that blessing comes by way of so many of our family, friends, and coworkers for the Kingdom of God in the US and around the world. We are so thankful for all the consistent prayers offered in our behalf before the Throne of God!! We know we could not survive here without that! We are also amazed and thankful for the financial support that has grown by God’s urging folks to see our needs (almost without our asking), and that is, in and of itself, a huge blessing! Please continue to be as faithful as we finish 2015 and look forward to the opportunities and challenges of the coming new year.

Speaking of opportunities, God has given us the time to travel back to the States the last two weeks of this year. We will spend a few days in Gainesville, Florida to take care of some routine medical appointments, and to catch up with some of our friends and supporters there. Then, we will go north to the D.C. area and to Pennsylvania to spend the Christmas with family and check on Laura’s mom and dad. They have been struggling with many health issues over recent months. We will return to Haiti in early January and hit the ground running. Joel will go out with the first church team that will come shortly after we get back, and Laura will jump right back in there too.  In fact, there will only be a couple of weeks in the time up to early July that will not be devoted to church teams coming to relate to their sister churches. Then, we will be on “home assignment” during the months of July and August. This will  give us some time to recharge our spiritual and physical “batteries”. We are looking ahead to more time for reconnecting with family, friends, and churches that have been so instrumental in helping us to serve our Lord here in Haiti.

Once again, we say “thank you so much” to all of you who are supporting us in prayer and financially! We also want to wish everyone a very “Blessed Christmas, and a Spirit-filled New Year”! In the words of Tiny Tim from the classic, A Christmas Carol, “God bless us everyone”.

Bon Fèt Nwèl ak Bondye beni nou!

(Merry Christmas and God bless you!)

Joel and Laura Sutton

Missionaries

Reciprocal Ministries International

Haiti

It's a year and another season!

September 5 meant that we've lived in Haiti a full year! It's hard to believe that much time has passed and yet we've experienced and learned so much.  Joel is now driving in Haiti and sometimes drives teams here and there.  I haven't driven anything except our four-wheeler and the truck on the mission center.  We both can speak SOME Creole and can understand a little, as long as people aren't talking too fast.  Pray for us because the ability to communicate in Creole is key to our ministry here.  We can negotiate the stores and even talk and greet our neighbors some.

Surprising Leah in Aurora, OH

When we signed our contract with RMI, we asked that we could go to the US (the States) about every six months to see my parents, Leland and Lettie Bond. They are now 90 years old and want to see us and know that we aren't on the other side of the world. So, this summer, we took our two weeks vacation to make a whirlwind trip to the States, visiting children and family we missed on our December trip.  It was important to visit Joel's two brothers who are in poor health.  It was important to see Mom and Dad and it was important to visit our children in Ohio and family in Pennsylvania and the DC area.  Along the way, we were blessed with the opportunity to visit friends and family in supporting churches and to be at the worship service in the retirement home where Mom and Dad live.

The happy couple before the wedding vows

As soon as we returned to Haiti, we plunged into team activities and lots of work at RMI.
But, the highlight was attending the wedding of Perguens and Xphania Hyppolite.  What a beautiful wedding at the RMI Retreat Center! And, the different wedding traditions were a blessing to see.

Water filter dedication

So, what has been going on in the ministry.  Where can we start?  Only two sister church teams have been here since we last wrote, but this is the slower time of the year.  We've also had three special project teams during that
period.  Joel and I were actively involved in all but two of these teams.  Joel continues to work hard with maintenance, thankful for the help of Daniel Nunemaker and others. Daniel is the oldest son of our new missionary family.

Home that was replaced

One team built a home while another member of the team worked with our Haitian staff, teaching English grammar.  She teaches English as a second language at a college in the US.  A member of their church in the United States donated a goat to a young Haitian child to provide future income. Another team financed and installed a water filter system at a sister church here. This water system  provides 5000 gallons of fresh, drinkable water daily to the church and to neighbors in the community.

Creekside team ready to fly back to Florid

Practicing chest compressions in CPR

The special projects team from our Florida church flew into our local airport on a private plane. Their purpose was to interview sponsored children, their families, their teachers, the church pastor and deacons and to understand the life of the sponsored children. Two members of the team hiked two hours one-way up a mountain to visit a sponsored child with his family. The highlight for me was to see sponsored children talk with their sponsors back in the United States using an international phone call.  Another purpose of the trip was to discuss the specifics of the new school/church building project at the church and to determine the extent to which they could help.

I had the opportunity to plan and teach a first aid and health information class for our Haiti office. I felt back at home talking about high blood pressure, heart attacks, bandaging, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).  I was so thankful for a colleague, Janella Zimmerman, from the Bonne Fin hospital community who taught the majority of the course.

Les Cayes Botanical Gardens

We have time to relax at beautiful locations like the Les Cayes Botanical Gardens and the ocean at Port Salut!

The roar of the waves on the tail of Hurricane Joaquin

It has continued to be hot and humid, but we are thankful for rain that is almost falling an hour or two every day.  Of course, rain brings mosquitos and bugs, as well as increased humidity.  But, we need the rain and we are thankful that bites have not been a major problem.  We are also thankful for our missionary community, our wonderful Haitian neighbors, and for good health!  God is great!