The Worst Missionary Ever?

On some of my less-than-stellar days when I have felt grouchy, unproductive and less-than-happy about living overseas, I sarcastically say to Scott, "I must be the worst missionary ever."  I'm only half-joking though.  After all, I've read the missionary biographies about the women trekking through the jungle, contracting life-threatening diseases with their hearts set on the sole purpose of sharing Christ with new tribes at any cost.  And here I am in the comfort of a concrete home with running water, chasing my two kids and I find myself growing bitter about the situation.  Hmm.

Of course Scott and I have the same goal as the pioneer missionaries of sharing Christ and seeing the discipleship of His church,
and we work toward that end each day.  But I also have thoughts and desires like, "I wish I had a car so I could get off campus more often.  I would love to stroll through a shopping mall today with some girlfriends. I wish my kids could play t-ball and soccer.  And last but definitely not least, I would give anything to eat some Chick-Fil-A today!"  Am I being normal or a total lightweight when it comes to serving overseas?  If the great missionary women of yore shared some of my longings, it certainly isn't in any of the biographies/autobiographies I've read.  But they were human women, right?  I'm sure they had desires like mine, didn't they?

To a certain extent, I do think my desires and longings are normal and legit.  After all, they aren't sinful, bad things in and of themselves.  But the problem I've had here lately is that these thought patterns have become so frequent that they have led me into a state of discontentment with life.  I have continually been fixing my heart and mind on things I cannot have right now. . .and that's sinful.  In a sense, I am taking what I miss, my American way of life (a good thing in and of itself) and exalting it to a place of undue honor and value.  It's a mis-focusing of my affections.  After confessing some of these things to a friend of mine, she lovingly said something to me in an email that knocked the wind out of me.  She said, "Monica, recognize that all of these emotions and desires are normal. Yet if we choose to remain in bitter, angry, discontented emotions then we are telling The Lord that we don't trust His plan."  Ouch.  The last thing in the world I would ever want to say to my Savior is that I don't trust His plan for me.  And right now, like it or not, His plan for me is spelled H-a-i-t-i.

Clearly, we are called by God to be right where we are, and in the face of discontentment, God wants me to humble myself and say "I choose faithfulness." And in this particular time in my life, it can be translated "I choose Haiti."  Not just once-for-all, but everyday . . .and on days like today, every minute.  And the best part of it is, I don't have to conjure up my own effort and know-how to choose faithfulness.  He will give me the grace to do it!  It will not be easy, but it is possible.  And there will be joy.

So, am I the worst missionary ever?  HA.  Maybe. Who cares?  One thing I do know - I do choose to live a life surrendered to Jesus that glorifies my Father in heaven, wherever I happen to be.  And I also know that after our plane touches down on our first furlough this November, you can bet we'll be making a beeline to the nearest Chick-Fil-A. ;)

Mission Life in the Summer

Before we know it, July will be gone.  The hazy days of summer have been anything but lazy, though.  Things have been as busy as ever here at the mission! 

The huge new Noah's Ark playground that was built by Gassaway Baptist Church of West Virginia has been a huge hit!  The "yard" as people call the common area on the mission has been in need of some kids' playground equipment for a long time.  Our mission is open to the community every day until 5pm and the children of Fermathe needed a place to go!  We are so thankful to the people of GBC for building such a fantastic complex.  And believe me when I say that the Bidwell kids are super excited about this new feature as well. Within the first week, one man had brought his son and started asking spiritual questions to the GBC team.  Before long, he decided to become a Christ-follower and is being connected with a local church!  Another group of nationals from the Fermathe church have decided to lead Bible-teaching times, games and singing each Saturday for the children that come to play. Several others are volunteering to "hang out" at the playground and build relationships with their friends and neighbors and share Christ with them.  It's the church at work! 

Students gather for the opening session

Another thing that is happening here on the mission is Summer Bible Institute (SBI).  Over 80 Haitian students are living here for 8 weeks to study the Bible, Family and Children's Ministry, Biblical Leadership, Old and New Testament, geography, Hermeneutics and more.  It is a four-summer sequential program and several of our friends in the area are graduating and receiving their certificate at the end of this summer!  It is a huge accomplishment and we are proud for them.  It's a joy to get to know them while they are here on campus with us.  Most are already leaders in their churches and communities and utilize the training they receive just as soon as they return home.

The Lemonade stand.  Is it sour, Rebekah? :)

July also treated us to a visit from our friends who live up in northwest Haiti who are building a satellite campus of BHM in Atrel.  My kids were ecstatic to see their friends Naomi, Jonathan, Rebekah, Robert and Anna.  Each day the girls created an itinerary of sorts.  9:00-play, 10:00-snack, 11:00-play again, 12:00-lunch, 1:00-watch a movie, etc.  It was SO cute.  One of the activities they regularly scheduled was running a lemonade stand.  They posted signs all over the mission to invite people to their stand and even made thank you notes for the ones who came by.  The lemonade was free, but a few of our friends gave them tips anyway. :)

We are currently planning our first trip back to the States as a family in November!  We look forward to seeing as many of you all as possible while were are there.  We plan to visit our supporting churches, family and friends. . . and maybe a little deer hunting, right Melbers?  It may only be July, but November will be here before we know it!

Third Culture Kids

What is a third culture kid?  By definition,

“A third culture kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents’ culture."

Kilee with friends Ruthnadine and Gloria

I'm not sure exactly what constitutes a "significant part", but I'm thinking my kids fit the bill.  Sociologist Ruth Hill Useem coined the term "Third Culture Kids" after spending a year on two separate occasions in India with her three children, in the early fifties. Initially they used the term "third culture" to refer to the process of learning how to relate to another culture;  in time they started to refer to children who accompany their parents into a different culture as "Third Culture Kids." Useem used the term "Third Culture Kids" because TCKs integrate aspects of their birth culture (the first culture) and the new culture (the second culture), creating a unique "third culture" According to tckid.com, you know you're a third culture kid when. . .

-“Where are you from?” has more than one reasonable answer.

-You have a passport but no driver’s license
-You don’t know whether to write the date as day/month/year, month/day/year, or some variation thereof.
-You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.
-Your good friends have names that sound drastically phonetically different than yours.
-You feel odd being in the ethnic majority.

and a couple of original ones from Haiti. . .

Josiah and his little buddy Colinn playing "Moto"

-Your 6 and 3-year-old kids ask how much longer the generator will be on before starting a movie.
-You find yourself looking in the back seat of your car, not to see if your children are properly secured in their 5-point harnesses, but to see if they're wrestling on the floor of the truck.
-Your 6-year-old warns your 3-year-old to put his shoes on or he'll get worms.
-You can't have secret mom-dad conversations in Creole anymore because your kids now understand the host language.

Kilee and Madam Ruth dressed to the nines to attend a wedding of one of Ruth's relatives.

Attending a Story Hour with other third culture kiddos.

A Jewelry Party of Their Own

As many of you probably know, Mountain Maid sells a line of jewelry handcrafted by ladies in several area churches that are supported by Baptist Haiti Mission.  If you didn't already know that, you should check it out here!  It really is beautiful jewelry made from recycled cereal boxes, intricately cut and rolled into vibrant beads.

Many people in our communities "back home" in the States are enjoying the jewelry first because we have sent it to our families and friends to get the word out about this ministry.  Several of these special women have hosted jewelry parties and/or take orders for Mountain Maid jewelry and enjoy sporting the pieces themselves!

Colleen is a sweet friend of mine from high school and is one of the aforementioned friends that supports the Mountain Maid jewelry project on the home front. Well, she decided she wanted to bless our artisan ladies at Mountain Maid by sending some fun jewelry pieces she had owned so that we could have a little jewelry party of our own!  The ladies were so surprised and LOVED it!  I took some pictures as they chose their jewelry from the bag.  We did this with all the ladies that make jewelry on different mornings of the week, but these pics are only of the first group's "party".  It doesn't matter where in the world you live, women love fellowship, doing girly things, and laughing together!  Thanks for your thoughtful idea, Colleen!

Picking a piece

Beatrice gets a necklace!

Bernadette's necklace matches the dress she has on.

Luis seems pretty happy with what she picked.

Jewelry party group pic (Kettia, Bernadette, Yoslen, Anite, Luis).