Ann Ale Lekol (Let's go to school!)

Well, we are entering our 3rd week of home school and things are going pretty well!  Josiah has not yet started going to preschool here at the mission because the first day of school was recently pushed back to October 1st nationwide.  Kilee is diving into 1st grade and seems to be enjoying it so far!  We are using My Father's World curriculum for Bible, History, English/Reading, and the Arts.  For math, we are using Horizons and so far I like all of it!  Since Josiah is only going to be at the preschool a couple of days each week, I am going to work with him on his letters, numbers, shapes and colors in English so that we don't lose ground in our native tongue.

Several of you have asked what our typical schedule is for a homeschool day here on the field.  It's probably not much different from yours!  Here's a little example:

7 am - Everyone up, Kilee and Josiah clean their room, breakfast, get dressed

8 am - I finish getting myself ready, Kilee and Josiah watch cartoons

8:30 am - On preschool days, I walk Josiah to school while Kilee gets started with English.  On non-preschool days, I get out an activity for Josiah (blocks, lacing cards, etc.) with I get Kilee started with English.

9 am - Madam Ruth arrives at the house to work.  We do Bible, History and Science together.  Josiah hangs with us during this time.

9:45 am - Snack

10 am - Go to the mission playground.  All the neighborhood kids are here and we LOVE to play!  Kilee and Josiah's Creole language skills totally rock.  It is SO fun to watch!

11 am - Head back to the house.  A little friend of Kilee's comes for a piano lesson.

11:30 am - Kilee has her piano lesson next.

Noon - Eat lunch with Madam Ruth.

1 pm - Read books and put Josiah down for his nap.

1:30 pm - Math and Read alouds with Kilee.

2:00 pm - Kilee does art, piano or helps with work around the house.  I work with Kilee off-and-on and do a short English lesson with Madam Ruth.

3:00 pm - Josiah's up, Madam Ruth is finished with her work and heads home.  Our school day is finished!

Believe me, this is the framework we have set up but it doesn't always go this way.  In fact, most days we have something come up and change the schedule somewhat.  Flexibility seems to be a lesson the Lord always wants us to learn!

A Look Back

This past week marked our first "Haiti-versary!"

This week as we have looked back over the last year it has been difficult to believe that an entire year ago we were packing up our belongings and saying goodbye to family and friends.   For sure, there have been bumps and bruises along the way, however the Lord has grown us in ways that would most likely have not been possible otherwise.   As we have looked back there have been a number of things that we have learned (some the hard way) and we decided to share them here.

Driving in Haiti. A friend of mine made an accurate statement, “Driving in Haiti is much like the Biblical time of the Judges… ‘Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.’”  I will try my best to avoid driving on sidewalks, shoulders and making 3-wide NASCAR moves when we visit the states in November.

People are People Regardless of Geographical Location.  One of the most surprising things that we have found is that, for better or for worse,whether your skin is brown and you happen to speak Creole or if your skin is white and you happen to speak English, each of us has the capacity to demonstrate the grace of God through kind words or a patient ear and also each of us has the tendency toward the ever present struggle with pride.  Whether you are a poor Haitian subsistence farmer or an American with money . . . we are equally sinful and desperately dependent on the mercy of God.

Worship is more than a song.   While I have believed for some time that worship is a lifestyle, it became even more real this year when we were forced to sit in a church pew each week struggling to understand the language.   The worship that I give to the Lord Jesus must be more than a song.

Slowing down is a good thing.  In many ways this year has been a slow-down for me personally and for our family.  Slowing down has allowed us to have more time together as a family and more time to do some of the things we have always wanted to do.   I would be lying if I said that slowing down isn’t a struggle.   In a sense I enjoy the corporate-feeling, fast-paced life, however I am learning day-by-day to enjoy the slower pace and the extra time with Monica and the kids and our friends.

Contentment is hard.  The Lord is calling each of us to a level of contentment in Him and in our circumstances that can only be brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Throughout this year we have struggled with contentment on a daily basis.  We are learning to live without the things that were normal for us in the states.  There are many things we still find difficult though.   We miss regular visits with family and friends, everyday American conveniences, familiar food, having our own vehicles, favorite pastimes, etc.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  On the heels of the previous point "Contentment is hard," this verse has been an ever-present reminder of the will of God in my life.  Let's be honest, “rejoicing always” and “giving thanks in all circumstances” are not easy things, or at least they aren’t for me.  Many times I think I am probably more characterized by “Complain always” or “Gripe in all circumstances.”  It is convicting.

Relationships are key.  God designed humans to function in relationship with one another.   One thing that we learned early-on here in Haiti is that relationships are life.  Something as simple as forgetting to tell someone good morning (Bonjou) is seen as rude and hateful.  Haitians seem to value relationships more than Americans in many ways.   This affects nearly every aspect of life and work.  If someone in church has a need, people give money to help because they know that they will have a future need and others will rise to help them.  They can't just go to the bank to get a loan if they have a problem, relationships are their credit. Our friend and fellow missionary Chelsea illustrates the beauty of relationships through one of her recent blog posts.

Negotiation is normal in Haitian culture.  Most people would think of bartering in terms of buying a souvenir or painting from a vendor along the side of the road.  However we have found that this bartering is applied to nearly every other aspect of life as well.  For example, in the states you wouldn’t dream of coming into your boss’s office and asking him or her for more money and then when he gives you a figure you say "no way that’s not enough, I need this amount".  Many Haitians have no problem talking about money or the fact that you should give them more.   In a sense it resembles entitlement, but in another sense it is bartering.  Since you can see that bartering is the norm, it's not hard to imagine that some people do not stop with just the physical but also carry it over into the spiritual realm.  Bartering brings about severe conflict with concepts such as salvation by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).  Good theology is key.

Trust is a commodity.  It is a paradox that relationships are key and that trust is usually in short-supply.  A good friend of mine always says that “Trust is the foundation of all relationships” and I believe this to be true.  However it is interesting to me that while relationships are valued so highly in Haitian culture, precious little trust is extended in most interactions.  From reading about the history of Haiti, I believe their general lack of trust stems from the numerous civil rebellions and hardships that the Haitian people have endured from their own people since its inception.  Often times I have observed that Haitians give more trust to expats than to other Haitians.

The Gospel is the Gospel is the Gospel.  Before coming to Haiti I knew this to be true, however I now see this in a completely different light.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to have a local Haiti pastor come to speak with our staff and local artisans at Mountain Maid about the Gospel.  As he went through his Gospel presentation I was struck by how amazing it was to hear (and understand!) the Gospel in another language and in another culture.  He spoke in simple Creole (he is also fluent in French) and used simple illustrations about cell phones and bank robberies (both are extremely common here) to communicate the simple truths of the Gospel.  You could tell that his message was connecting with each listener.  I am extremely grateful that we have the opportunity to be a part of the seeing the Gospel being proclaimed to the ends of the earth and I look forward to that day when people will be drawn together from every nation, tribe, people and language to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (Rev 7).

It wasn't that long ago that we were loading up the container to move!

10 Years!

Scott & Monica Bidwell

August 9th, 2003

Kentucky Tradition, With a Side of Haiti

One of the things we miss most about not being in our old Kentucky home is not being able to do the same sort of activities with our kids as our parents did with us.  We miss lakeside campouts, hunting trips and the like.  Our kids are getting a TON of experiences we never had by living in another country, which is awesome in itself!  But not long ago, we decided we just had to recreate some of our childhood Kentucky fun in the form of a campout.  Check it out!

Setting up.  Thanks for loaning the tent, Bakers!

"I can't believe we get to sleep outside!"

It wasn't a far walk from our house down to the tent.

Starting our palm leaf fire.  There's not a lot of wood to be had around here!

Pile on Mommy!

In our jammies and ready to roast some marshmallows and hot dogs.  We even tried hunting Haitian fireflies!  They're faster and smaller than KY ones.

We had so much fun!

Family pic before bedtime.  And bedtime that night merely meant lying horizontally and continuously moving children off of us.  There was no sleep.  At all.  :)

Not long after our camping experience, our friend Mr. Andy from Mountain Maid came by the house with some cane poles and asked if the kiddos wanted to go fishing down at the old tilapia pond.  Of course, the answer was, "Woo-hoo!  Let's go right now!"   We caught a ton of fish, including 2 koi fish we found out we weren't supposed to catch. Whoops!  It was strictly catch-and-release and we are happy to report all fish are alive and well. :)

Kilee with her first catch.

Josiah and Mr. Andy showing off his catch!

After the two koi fish, we just caught baby tilapia.  They're too small to eat, but fun to catch!

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). 

Graduation Celebration!

So, about Kindergarten . . . check it off, it's done.  We are so proud of this little lady!  She passed her 1st grade readiness test with flying colors, is reading well, and is having a great time learning.  We homeschooled here on the field this past year and for the most part, it went pretty well.  We are looking forward to 1st grade for Kilee and preschool for Josiah!  We are still weighing options on what we will do next year for school, but for now. . .school is out!

Before having dinner with our mission team, Scott (the principal of Bidwell Academy) called Kilee up front and gave her a certificate for completing Kindergarten!  She was shy about it, but loved it. :)

This is one happy soon-to-be 1st grader!

A pic with her Kindergarten teacher.

Okipe. . .

. . . means "busy" in Creole.  That has been our life of late -- very busy!  We have had many teams come and go over the past several weeks, friends come and stay with us, and running to different locations around Haiti.  It's been good!  There's really no good way to sum up 2 1/2 weeks in one post, so I will post pictures of the highlights.

We just thought Kilee looked so adorable in her Haitian handmade dress, that we had to take a picture of it.  Mountain Maid sells these here at the mission and now we have a model to display the artisans' handiwork!

In other news, Mountain Maid, the ministry within BHM where we are currently serving, launched its first ever webpage and online store!  We are so very excited to share this ministry with the world.  Our mission is threefold: Proclaim the gospel, strengthen the church, and provide a sustainable income for artisans in Haiti.

This picture is a little random, but we just had to post it.  This herd of cows is walking down a busy thoroughfare in downtown Port-au-Prince just past the airport.  Anytime we start to think we know what to expect while living here, the Lord sends us a curveball -- like a herd of cows.

Some things just never get old.  Seeing families come alongside a Haitian family and sponsoring a child is one of those things.  We've seen many new sponsors come forward in the past several weeks and we've seen many local families experience the love of Christ and the truth of the gospel!

Sweet Madam Ruth (the lady that works in our home) is one of the biggest blessings ever!  She is a believer and we enjoy talking about the Lord.  Recently, she told me that she was wanting to hold a Bible Study in her home, but she didn't know what to say.  She had never taught the Bible before.  We worked on a Bible lesson together about how Christ transforms us when we become His followers and what it means to be born again.  This was her practice session with a camera.  We had so much fun!

And one of the biggest highlights of the past several weeks was having a few special visitors!  Crossings Ministries has been doing Crossings In Haiti camps for the past few weeks and we got the awesome blessing to host our sweet friends, the Melbers!  Tera and Maritess spent a couple of days with us (We were too busy having fun to take pictures, I guess!) and then Kelly and her friend Kinsey stayed with us for a whole week!  We laughed, talked for hours, played Nertz and had a GREAT time.  It was good for the soul!

Heading to church on Sunday with Kelly and Kinsey

My Haiti Photos, By Kilee

This post is brought to you exclusively by Haiti's newest photojournalist, Kilee Bidwell.  She takes some pretty interesting photos.  The captions are all Kilee's as well.  Enjoy a journey into Haiti through the lens of my daughter's Hello Kitty camera! 

"I am silly."

"This is my favorite dinosaur."

"My favorite animal team."

"We went on a trip down the mountain with Mommy and Daddy.  We are just leaving."

"That guy's waving to us.  Hello!"

"This driveway goes right to our house!"

"I thought this was a beautiful picture."

"There are lots of houses on all the hills."

"A tent village I saw."

"I liked this house, so I took a picture of it."

"Nice store!" (She is killin' me with these captions!)

"There's lots of people walking on the street in Haiti."

"This is new!  I thought it was pretty."

"Josiah's cute."

"I took this video for bub, cause he likes diggers."

"Beautiful sky"

"We see this church all the time in town."

"People park funny in Haiti."

"When we got back home, I took some pictures on the mission."

"That's the food depot."

"I took some pictures in the mission zoo.  This is a pigeon."

"This bunny is very fluffy.  Lapen is Creole for bunny."

"This kind of goat is all over the mountain we live on."