Greetings from Haiti! The team is alive and well and we appreciate everyone;s prayers. We have been working hard - really hard and having a good time. We are staying at a great guest house and have flush toilets and plenty of food. the first couple of days because of the threat of heavy rains we didn't work on the rubble houses but at the Conservative Baptist Fellowship school project. We built desks, twisted rebar, dug foundation and moved a lot of rocks. We are physically tired at the end of the day but it is good to return to the guest house for a cold shower, filling meal and evening devotion.
Saturday another team arrived - a college group from North Carolina and 3 from Canada. Sunday, we went to church (over 3 hours all in Kreole) and then spent the afternoon at the beach. We enjoyed spending lots of time in the ocean and it was great to give our bodies a chance to recover. Today we moved 7 truck loads of rubble (picked it up from large piles that are on the streets with buckets and shovels into the back of a truck). It takes about 3 truck loads to build one house so we felt great that we gathered more thatn enough material for two houses.
Today was Becky Whitaker's birthday. We sang Happy birthday numerous times and even had cake - in fact we had four cakes so everyone could have some.
Please continue to pray for the team. We have one more work day then we travel home on Wednesday. Also prayer for Don & Lynn's daughter who is 17 and the person who was staying with her had to go to the hospital.
Blessings-
the ABCRM Haiti Mission Team
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
ABCRM Mission Experience to Haiti - 8/4
We had a great day today. Tiga, our team coordinator was afraid that the Storm was going to pass through Grand Goave around 10 am so we didn't work on the rubble houses. Instead we helped another American Baptist mission team from Washington State build benches for a school. Along with an equal number of Haitians, a group measured lumber, cut the boards, assembled the legs, then screwed the benches together. the project started slow but once we saw the first one completed we kicked it into high gear. Plus, Emily stalled out before reaching Haiti and our temperature was milder than normal (another blessing).
Everyone is finding ways to serve. Robert uses his French, Lynn's Kreole is wonderful for recuiting workers and explaining things, Catey pitches in with any task, Haley has a great skill relating with the Haitians,and Becky works hard on individual projects or with a group.
The lodging and food has been great. Plus, we are inspired by all amazing people serving here.
Everyone is finding ways to serve. Robert uses his French, Lynn's Kreole is wonderful for recuiting workers and explaining things, Catey pitches in with any task, Haley has a great skill relating with the Haitians,and Becky works hard on individual projects or with a group.
The lodging and food has been great. Plus, we are inspired by all amazing people serving here.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
ABCRM Mission Experience to Haiti - 8/3 #2
Greetings from Haiti!
The team arrived this morning around 9:30am. After 2 -3 hours of sleep, the group took a shuttle to the Ft. Lauderdale airport for our 7:30am flight. God was with us because there were extra seats in first class and five of us got bumped up. God is Good! The skies were clear and we enjoyed looking out over the Bahamas and Turks and Kakos on our way to Haiti. We arrived but our luggaged didn't; the bags are due in at 1pm. Tiga, our boss for the week, and a driver were at the airport to pick us up. Tiga suggested we go to an air conditioned fast food restaurant where we can hang out for a few hours instead of waiting at the hot airport.
And in the same building as the restaurant is a small internet cafe. I handed them $5 US, they gave me 160 Gourdes Goud back and let me use a very old computer.The space bar only works if you hit it twice but I am thankful for the opportunity to email you on behalf of the team.
Flying into Port Au Prince you can see beaches, low tin buildings and areas of tent homes. Lots of traffic, horns honking and much activity. The team is engaged in soaking it all in and Robert and Lynn are using their language skills to learm more about the people.
Thanks for your prayers. We heard Emily will arrive tonight. We will be gratefully to have our rain gear which most of us packed in our delayed suitcases.
Blessings-
Karen Van
ABCRM Haiti Mission Team
The team arrived this morning around 9:30am. After 2 -3 hours of sleep, the group took a shuttle to the Ft. Lauderdale airport for our 7:30am flight. God was with us because there were extra seats in first class and five of us got bumped up. God is Good! The skies were clear and we enjoyed looking out over the Bahamas and Turks and Kakos on our way to Haiti. We arrived but our luggaged didn't; the bags are due in at 1pm. Tiga, our boss for the week, and a driver were at the airport to pick us up. Tiga suggested we go to an air conditioned fast food restaurant where we can hang out for a few hours instead of waiting at the hot airport.
And in the same building as the restaurant is a small internet cafe. I handed them $5 US, they gave me 160 Gourdes Goud back and let me use a very old computer.The space bar only works if you hit it twice but I am thankful for the opportunity to email you on behalf of the team.
Flying into Port Au Prince you can see beaches, low tin buildings and areas of tent homes. Lots of traffic, horns honking and much activity. The team is engaged in soaking it all in and Robert and Lynn are using their language skills to learm more about the people.
Thanks for your prayers. We heard Emily will arrive tonight. We will be gratefully to have our rain gear which most of us packed in our delayed suitcases.
Blessings-
Karen Van
ABCRM Haiti Mission Team
ABCRM Mission Experience to Haiti - 8/3
It has been a hard day of travel for the Haiti team. Our flight out of Denver was delayed about 1 1/2 hours (late arrival then mechanical problems)so we missed our connecting flight in Dallas. There wasn't another flight to Ft. Lauderdale that night so they rerouted us through Miami. That flight also left late and we arrived in Miami about 1 am and then had to take a shuttle to Ft. Lauderdale. We hope to get about three hours of sleep then catch the hotel shuttle to the airport at 5:30 am to get our 7:30 am flight to Port Au Prince. Our luggage is still in Dallas and won't make it to Ft Lauderdale until after our flight leaves for Haiti.
Please pray for the team
* Safe travels
* our luggage catches up with us soon
* The tropical storm Emily doesn't effect our work in Grand Groave
* that we will be a blessing to the people we encounter during this adventure.
blessings to all-
Karen, Becky, Lynn, Catey, Haley, Robert and Don
Please pray for the team
* Safe travels
* our luggage catches up with us soon
* The tropical storm Emily doesn't effect our work in Grand Groave
* that we will be a blessing to the people we encounter during this adventure.
blessings to all-
Karen, Becky, Lynn, Catey, Haley, Robert and Don
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
THAILAND MEMORIES
There are so many things that made this trip memorable. There are smells that will forever be associated with Thailand—garlic cooking in the street vendors booths for example; there are sounds that will forever
remind me of Chang Rai—roosters crowing at 3 a.m., dogs barking, lots of traffic sounds; the traffic in Bangkok that was scary because it was so heavy and so intense; the beauty of the temples and the Grand Palace of the King; the taste of marvelous Thai food that we experienced in so many ways. Mary Tellis, Karen VanValkenburgh and I were blessed with a great camaraderie and a chance to see mission up close and personal.
The missionaries that we met challenged us every step. The Dieselbergs in Bangkok met with us and gave us a tour of Nightlight Ministries. We had a chance to worship with them and meet the women who work at Nightlight (making beautiful jewelry). Karen Smith gave us a tour of New Life Center in Chang Mai and introduced us to the young ladies and their handcrafts. We worshiped at the Chang Mai Community Church and were truly blessed. Becky Mann showed us the Lanna Café and the coffee distributing business. The Akha ministry of Chang Rai was highlighted by Chuck and Ruth Fox. We were asked to help with a project at the Family Learning Center (the school where Ruth is principal). The library had compiled a database of their book holdings but needed some additional help with the input of grade levels. So we, Karen, Mary and I, helped with that project.
Karen also helped with the financial piece they are completing. The school will become an international school in the fall in the new building being completed as I write this. Chuck assists the Akha with water projects and also works with people with drug addictions. We visited the village of Sansouk to see the dormitories and food service areas where ABCRM is funding necessary improvements. Chuck and Ruth Fox took us to spend the night in Sukasem, another Akha village, to worship with them on the final weekend we were in Thailand. It was an awesome experience, with the young people leading the service. We sang familiar hymns and the love of God was expressed to all of us through our worship together.
The trip included some wonderful sightseeing. Bangkok is a beautiful city with the longest official city name in the world. (Don’t ask me to pronounce it or spell it!) There are huge shopping malls, but narrow streets and wide boulevards, beautiful homes next to small houses or huts, a huge river with city on both sides of it with a canal through the “new” Bangkok (started in the middle 1800s). The elephant camp outside Chang Mai was amazing and showed us what a marvelous animal it is. We visited the King’s mother’s flower gardens at Doi Tung, which were beautiful and so peaceful! The night markets were an experience!
How does one express all the emotions experienced during this kind of trip? How can one share the lessons learned, how people we worked with touched us? Each day was full of new experiences and we praised the Lord for each one and for each person we met, for the challenges offered. It is an experience that has changed my life and I know will continue to bless me, Mary and Karen. I challenge others to take a mission trip because each one will forever be changed and blessed.
Deanna Dyer
remind me of Chang Rai—roosters crowing at 3 a.m., dogs barking, lots of traffic sounds; the traffic in Bangkok that was scary because it was so heavy and so intense; the beauty of the temples and the Grand Palace of the King; the taste of marvelous Thai food that we experienced in so many ways. Mary Tellis, Karen VanValkenburgh and I were blessed with a great camaraderie and a chance to see mission up close and personal.
The missionaries that we met challenged us every step. The Dieselbergs in Bangkok met with us and gave us a tour of Nightlight Ministries. We had a chance to worship with them and meet the women who work at Nightlight (making beautiful jewelry). Karen Smith gave us a tour of New Life Center in Chang Mai and introduced us to the young ladies and their handcrafts. We worshiped at the Chang Mai Community Church and were truly blessed. Becky Mann showed us the Lanna Café and the coffee distributing business. The Akha ministry of Chang Rai was highlighted by Chuck and Ruth Fox. We were asked to help with a project at the Family Learning Center (the school where Ruth is principal). The library had compiled a database of their book holdings but needed some additional help with the input of grade levels. So we, Karen, Mary and I, helped with that project.
Karen also helped with the financial piece they are completing. The school will become an international school in the fall in the new building being completed as I write this. Chuck assists the Akha with water projects and also works with people with drug addictions. We visited the village of Sansouk to see the dormitories and food service areas where ABCRM is funding necessary improvements. Chuck and Ruth Fox took us to spend the night in Sukasem, another Akha village, to worship with them on the final weekend we were in Thailand. It was an awesome experience, with the young people leading the service. We sang familiar hymns and the love of God was expressed to all of us through our worship together.
The trip included some wonderful sightseeing. Bangkok is a beautiful city with the longest official city name in the world. (Don’t ask me to pronounce it or spell it!) There are huge shopping malls, but narrow streets and wide boulevards, beautiful homes next to small houses or huts, a huge river with city on both sides of it with a canal through the “new” Bangkok (started in the middle 1800s). The elephant camp outside Chang Mai was amazing and showed us what a marvelous animal it is. We visited the King’s mother’s flower gardens at Doi Tung, which were beautiful and so peaceful! The night markets were an experience!
How does one express all the emotions experienced during this kind of trip? How can one share the lessons learned, how people we worked with touched us? Each day was full of new experiences and we praised the Lord for each one and for each person we met, for the challenges offered. It is an experience that has changed my life and I know will continue to bless me, Mary and Karen. I challenge others to take a mission trip because each one will forever be changed and blessed.
Deanna Dyer
Monday, February 14, 2011
Thailand 2011
We are very excited to be able to help Sansuk. ABCRM transferred $1,000 US into the Foxes' account to be split between the Sansuk project and the Ahka Craft program. We are a the school his week working on the library/book order project and I spent yesterday working with their accounting staff to help with their conversion to QuickBooks. Friday Chuck will drive the group to Sansuk so we can visit the area where the improvements will be made.
We are having a great time-
Karen Van
The next six pictures are of the Sansuk kitchen and dorm that needs help. They are requesting a new refrigerator, cabinet, and stuff for the kids. They are also requesting funds for a new roof on the girls dorm which is quite expensive.
Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai
ABCRM gifts presented to the Family Learning Center where Ruth Fox is principal.
Ruth Fox
The gifts from ABCRM
Bus station in Chiang Mai
On a bus... luxury.
The new site of the Family Learning Center
Deanna and Mary doing English practice with a student from Korea
The Fair Trade Akha Craft Store (another Ruth Fox project)
Downtown Chiang Rai
We are having a great time-
Karen Van
The next six pictures are of the Sansuk kitchen and dorm that needs help. They are requesting a new refrigerator, cabinet, and stuff for the kids. They are also requesting funds for a new roof on the girls dorm which is quite expensive.
Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai
ABCRM gifts presented to the Family Learning Center where Ruth Fox is principal.
Ruth Fox
The gifts from ABCRM
Bus station in Chiang Mai
On a bus... luxury.
The new site of the Family Learning Center
Deanna and Mary doing English practice with a student from Korea
The Fair Trade Akha Craft Store (another Ruth Fox project)
Downtown Chiang Rai
Sunday, February 6, 2011
2011 ABCRM Thailand Mission Trip - Day 1
It was quite a day! Woke up around 7, had breakfast and then took a cab to the bike tour office. There were 4 of us on the bike tour and it was great- back alleys, across the big bridge, good mix of beautiful scenery and some background information. About half way in on a narrow path my foot caught a piece of metal on the side of the path and I had a cut between my 2nd and 3rd toe. We couldn't get it to stop bleeding and the extra guide and I jumped in a cab to find the closest clinic or hosipital.
We ended up at the oldest hospital in Thailand and they took a copy of my passport and proceeded to figure out what to do. It is a teaching hospital, so there were about 8 med students and Residents gathered around my bleeding foot. The cut was pretty deep and close to the bone, so they sent me across the hall to get an Xray. That took less than ten minutes and I was back with the doctor and med students. They pulled up the Xray on the computer and everything looked Ok. Next the foot was numbed, throughly cleaned and five stitches put in to hold the cut together. I was given two scripts (pain and antibiotics) and sent to the front to get them filled.
I paid 620 baht (less than $20) and was back in the cab in about an hour! We arrived back to the tour office about 30 minutes before the bike group finished their tour! It sounded like the bike group saw some amazing things but I got to experience first hand (or foot) the Thai medical system.
This demonstrates that you can have the day or your life well planned but God might throw you a curve ball. The detour to the hospital will definitely make this a trip a will remember! As you can tell, we need your prayers.
It is time for bed. Tomorrow we start the day with worship at NightLight, a tour of the jewelry business and hopefully some time with Annie and Jeff Dieselberg.
Thailand Greetings from the ABCRM Mission 2011 Team-
Karen Van
We ended up at the oldest hospital in Thailand and they took a copy of my passport and proceeded to figure out what to do. It is a teaching hospital, so there were about 8 med students and Residents gathered around my bleeding foot. The cut was pretty deep and close to the bone, so they sent me across the hall to get an Xray. That took less than ten minutes and I was back with the doctor and med students. They pulled up the Xray on the computer and everything looked Ok. Next the foot was numbed, throughly cleaned and five stitches put in to hold the cut together. I was given two scripts (pain and antibiotics) and sent to the front to get them filled.
I paid 620 baht (less than $20) and was back in the cab in about an hour! We arrived back to the tour office about 30 minutes before the bike group finished their tour! It sounded like the bike group saw some amazing things but I got to experience first hand (or foot) the Thai medical system.
This demonstrates that you can have the day or your life well planned but God might throw you a curve ball. The detour to the hospital will definitely make this a trip a will remember! As you can tell, we need your prayers.
It is time for bed. Tomorrow we start the day with worship at NightLight, a tour of the jewelry business and hopefully some time with Annie and Jeff Dieselberg.
Thailand Greetings from the ABCRM Mission 2011 Team-
Karen Van
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