A Dream Come True

Jwaye Nwèl!

Merry Christmas from Haiti!

It has been one of those years where you look back and stand amazed at all that God has done in such a short time. It was just last December when I was back and forth about taking aweek-long trip to Haiti. It was that trip in March that changed my life and opened my heart to this wonderful place. I returned to Haiti in June for nine days, and by the end of July I was making plans to move here. I have been living in Haiti for almost three months now, and I absolutely love it.  

I came here to teach preschool, 7th and 8th grade math, and 4th grade reading. I was struggling with the teaching and while I did my best, I am just not a teacher. Some people are gifted in this area but it's not where my heart is.  I began praying about my role here. I had no doubts about being here in Haiti or at Christian Light School (CLS) but I wanted to do work that lined up with my degree and my heart. 

One area at CLS that I had hoped to become more involved in is the Little Angels Nutrition Program, otherwise known as baby feeding. Each day the baby feeders go out into the community and feed children under age three who are enrolled in the program. The children are fed fruits, vegetable and protein—all of which are lacking at home. They are also given vitamins. This is the program here that first captured my heart, but I had only been able to go out once since moving here because of my teaching schedule. 

Last month I began to see answers to prayer.  I was asked to consider taking over the baby feeding program.  When God answers He often answers bigger and better than we could have ever imagined or expected. The idea terrified me but in a way where I would be forced into relying on God alone and not on my own capabilities.  As I walk through the street markets towards the ravine each morning now, I can't help but smile inside and out. I have never before felt like I was so exactly where I am supposed to be. I have prayed for the people who live there and have desired to get to know them more—and now I can. 

Along with this new responsibility I have also taken over the Child Sponsorship Program. This will include keeping track of the sponsors and their donations, but also at certain times of the year, like Christmas, I will be busy sending out letters and cards from the kids to their sponsors. There is room for growth in this program so it will be exciting to see what God will do. 

I will also be continuing to work with Herode each day, but in a more focused way. This is a student who is struggling in class and really needs to have one-on-one attention. So after baby feeding each day, I will be teaching him and helping him build skills to hopefully integrate back into a classroom. 

So big changes but I am so happy. I am once again overwhelmed and in awe of how God answers prayers in the ways that are His best for us.  At this time of year we are reminded by the Christmas story that God can and will do the impossible.  A year ago I didn't even think it was possible to come to Haiti, let alone move here and become a full time missionary. Through prayer and waiting on His timing, He removed all the mountains that stood in front of me and cleared the way. He took my seemingly small prayers and gave me big answers. He heard my heart's cries and put me exactly where I am meant to be. I am humbled and honored that He has chosen me to serve His people here. I am so blessed this Christmas and I pray that you will see the impossible become possible in your lives this season as well.

Thank you for your continued support!

Me holding one of our newest babies in the program... 1 month old 

Redefining Christmas

Being away for Christmas really makes you rethink what Christmas actually is about and what it means to you.

In a climate where it's perpetually summer it is hard to get in the Christmas spirit. But what actually is the Christmas spirit?  As I sit here listening to "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" in a T-shirt and shorts just a week before Christmas, I am pondering what makes it feel like Christmas to me.

Sipping a hot drink and writing Christmas cards at my dining room table while it snows outside...

Making Christmas cookies with the kids and eating way too many...

Finally drinking coffee from the red Starbucks cups...

Going to the hustle and bustle of the mall and hearing the "holiday" music while finding the perfect gifts for loved ones...

Sitting by the tree at night and looking at the twinkling lights...

Watching family and friends receive the gifts they most wanted and hearing the children's squeals of delight...

Snow delicately falling and swirling on the ground as I drive with Christmas music on the radio...

All these are wonderful traditions and I cherish them all but do any of them have anything to do with why we actually celebrate Christmas?  Christmas is about the birth of our Savior.  A King who lowered himself to be a tiny and helpless baby.  A baby born to die so that we can have life. The impossible made possible.

This year as I won't be with family or have the usual traditions, I am forced to rely on this true meaning of Christmas.  To contemplate and be joyful for this most wonderful gift of all.

I am not going to pretend... as I sit here writing this I have tears thinking about how much I am missing my family right now.   But I also know that I have a Savior who knows this and will bring peace and joy to me as I experience this different Christmas.  I know that He has me here at Christmas for a reason so I am looking forward to see what is in store.

They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (‭Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬ NLT)

He answers

Teaching has been challenging. It's really not my thing and most days I finish and wonder what God is thinking about placing me in this position.  I have been doing what I can and probably not relying on God as much as I should be.  I really felt a burden to do more in the way of social work but didn't want it to come just from me. I wanted God to lead.

In the last month or so I have been spending more and more time up at the children's home.  I have found that after a rough day teaching, I almost always find joy with the children at the home.  I have started working one-on-one each afternoon with Herode.  He is a five or six year old boy who is in Miss Brittany's special ed class. He is really behind and stuggles even in a small class.  So each afternoon I do special exercises to help his left and right brain connect better.  We also squeeze one another because he seems to need that and we talk about behavior and how he can better express what he is feeling.   So far there has been a great improvement!  He still struggles in school but Brittany has reported that he does talk about his feelings more and I have seen him catch on to our exercises quickly. Of course there is a reward treat at the end of each of our sessions but what used to be a bribe is now just a fun reward.  Now that we have developed trusting relationship he is a very affectionate little boy and we have quite the bond!

Herode and I 

Herode preaching to us

I have also noticed in my math classes that some students are very quick with their math skills and others are having a harder time catching on and get lost in the large size of the class.  I have offered tutoring after school to those interested and have loved getting to know them more individually.  One even earned a 90% on her quiz after a tutoring session!  This may become more of a regular thing now and I'm excited to get to know more of my students and really help them understand and succeed.

My fourth grade class stretched their creative abilities and we wrote a tall tale together as a class project. In the Haitian curriculum there is a lot of repetition and memorization but not much creative or interpretive learning.  We first read a tall tale together and then learned about what a tall tale
requires.  Then I broke the class up into groups and each group wrote part of the story.  It was so fun
to see them get excited about their ideas and putting it together with pictures and finally into a book.  The story does not make much sense but it's a story and it is actually a tall tale so that is success!  After about four weeks, we have the finished story.  They are so excited to have their names on the front cover as the authors.

Fourth grade working in their group

Their finished story!

I am watching another beautiful sunset from our roof right now and hearing the worship starting up for a nearby outdoor church.  I absolutely love living here.   I usually don't leave this roof without some tears shed in absolute joy.  The days can be hard but I cannot believe he has chosen me to live here and serve Him in such a beautiful setting.

Here are more pictures of the kiddos up at the children's home...

Jean Wilson and I  

Magdela dressing up with my bag

Me, Magdela, and Kervenson being silly

Silly Kervenson 

Vidlon, my wonderful hair stylist and buddy

Blessed

I am now onto week three here in Haiti. I had hoped to update more but life has been busy. There is a lot to cover so I will break it into sections.

Teaching

The first half of week one was hard. I knew I was unequipped but I really had no idea what I was doing and it seemed like the kids could tell. I quickly had another class added to my schedule as well. So I am teaching the 3 and 4 year olds English vocal and helping the preK with writing letters and numbers. That is why I came here.  I am also teaching 4th grade reading now and 7th and 8th grade math. The 8th graders were further behind than we thought so instead of Pre-Algebra, they are doing basic 7th grade math again which makes planning easier for those two classes.

By the second half of the first week I felt like I was making progress with teaching. I was feeling more comfortable but it's a daily struggle to let God work through me, rather than me working for Him.  There are challenges and each day is different but most of the kids are warming up to me.  I am still trying to work out a preschool schedule and just when I think I have one, it changes. The challenge is that the only time I am available to go down there is usually when they are being served breakfast. So I just go with the flow which means some days it just doesn't work to teach down there.

7th grade class taking a quiz

the 7th graders drew a portrait of me

     

Kids lining up by class in the morning  

3 year old class during morning prayer

 Haiti Life

I have really enjoyed getting to know the other Americans here. There are two American families that  live above the children's home which is a few gates up the street.  There is also Katelyn who is the  house mom up there. Here at the school, there are four of us women and David. Lucky guy gets to deal with all of us women and our moods!

Tammy is from Florida and has been here awhile but is leaving for good in about a week.  Brittany is from Kentucky and teaches the special ed class.  She arrived just before school stated in August. Ashleigh, who is from Alabama, has been here since the summer and teaches biology.   David is from Alabama as well and has pretty much been here forever. He runs the clinic and takes care of us when we are sick or hurt. He also does many random things that need to be done here.

We try to get out on the weekends and have some fun. Usually Friday night we go to a restaurant called Kokoye.  Then Saturday we head to the grocery store and usually grab lunch or dinner out. We don't have meals cooked here on weekends so we chip in and make things ourselves, eat out as cheap as we can, or eat whatever we have bought ourselves. It's been fun getting out around Port-au-Prince and learning to use the tap-taps and figuring out how much a gourde (pronounced without the r) is to the American dollar and trying to learn more creole.

My bed with mosquito net

 

Making s'mores 

Walking to Cafe Rebo (Brittany, Ashleigh and Tammy)

 

Cafe Rebo lunch 

Weather

It is hot. By the second weekend here, I was feeling like I was adjusting to the heat but then I came down with a cold. Being sick in almost 100 degree heat is not fun. My patience levels were very low and I was cranky.   Now that I am feeling better, it's still hot and I sweat all the time, but I can tolerate it a little more.

The first week and a half I was here it would storm every night and cool things off but we haven't had rain in over a week.  Last night at 7:30pm it was still 90 degrees!  The late nights/early mornings are cooler though and I have even woken up cold a couple of mornings this last week.  I am glad I have "cooler" weather while I am adjusting and it's not as hot as it was in June when I was here.

Rain moving in

Storm coming over us

The Children's Home

Brittany would often head up the street to the children's home in the afternoon/evenings.  She would ask me every day if I wanted to go with her.  I declined every night for one reason or another.   There were legitimate reasons why i couldn't go but finally one night I asked her if I could go with her.  A few of my students in my various classes live at the children's home and I wanted to get to know them more.  We went up and it was overwhelming at first.  One of the little boys, JW,  who was only a little baby when I first came in March, wasn't so sure of me.  He eventually let me hold him but it took a little while for him to warm up to me.  

A few nights later I went up again and as soon as I walked over to the kids, JW came running towards me and reached up for me to pick him up.  This was exactly what I needed after a hard day and it made my night!

JW at the Children's Home

Katelyn with birthday cupcakes at the Children's Home

Adjustment

After the first week here, I had felt like I had already been here a month. I adjusted quickly and felt comfortable.  The second week it hit me that this isn't just a short term trip. The reality of living life here long term hit hard and I was homesick.  I figured that might happen but it still caught me off guard.  The homesick feelings come and go now but overall I feel so blessed that the Lord chose me to live here.  There are moments I will go up to the roof and just take it all in. The sights of the Haitian people going about their business, the sounds of the roosters which are all day/night long, the churches giving praise via loudspeakers, the smells (some of which are not so pleasant), and the beauty of the sunsets.   He chose me to experience this- something that most people will never see.  It is pretty incredible.

view from the roof

The sunsets will never get old...

 

Each one is unique 

I have arrived!

I arrived in Haiti about 24 hours ago. It was a long and overwhelming day but last night I jumped right into the fun of getting to know some of the other Americans over dinner. We took a tap tap (Haitian taxi) over to a restaurant with air conditioning which was a nice break from the heat. Today has been more settling in and getting to know the others here.  It's nice to have the weekend to get settled before the craziness of the school week.

Not going to lie, there have been many moments with the question, "what have I done?" and "Can I really do this for a whole year?".  Well, what I have done is follow Jesus when He said go and no, I can't do this... Not without Him.   So I know this will be a year of growth and dependence on Him which is exciting and scary at the same time.  As I look out at the view of the Caribbean Sea out my window, it's still surreal that this is home now.

View from my back window. 

Ways to Help

Many have asked how to financially support me and my work in Haiti so I am adding the easiest way to do it.  There is a link to my Christian Light School (CLS) support page on the right side of my blog but here is the direct link as well...

http://www.christianlighthaiti.org/jennifer-reid.html

I would also love prayer support and specific needs are highlighted below.

Here is the missions support letter I have sent out...

One Week...

One week from now I will be spending my first night in Haiti.  I have prayed for a long time for this opportunity.  I am humbled and in awe by the ways it all came together.  Even as I write this, He is leading me forward.  I am not going to lie though... this is not easy.  Leaving behind everything and everyone I love is hard.  Thinking about the goodbyes I have already had and those yet to come; it hurts my heart.  But I know He has called me.  I know He will be with me in those good byes and in the letting go.  My stuff is just that... stuff.  My loved ones... they will still be here loving and supporting me while I am gone and welcoming me when I return.  While I am in the midst of all these unknowns, I am so grateful to have Someone I do know and Who knows me.  He is with me and that's all I need to know.

When Haiti Captured My Heart

"For those who can see, the world's beauty outweighs its burdens, its grace greater than its grime."

~ Ann Voskamp ~

This picture is from my first trip to Haiti in March, 2014.  It was taken from the rooftop of Christian Light School, where I will now be spending the next year or more of my life.  I had no idea in that moment all that was to unfold, but I did know that Haiti had captured my heart.

It was also at this school, on that same day, that this rock was found.  From the other side it looked like a random piece of concrete, but when I took it and turned it over it was a heart.

God was showing me that He indeed knows my heart is in Haiti and promised me on that day that I would return.  How faithful He is!