Saint Louis-du-Nord, Haiti, 2007

The first time I went to Haiti, in November of 2007, I didn't have a blog to share all of my pictures. Ironically, it is the one trip I have been on where I have taken the most pictures. So, I waded through all 700+ pictures and it brought back a flood of memories...

Haiti from the sky...Gonaives to be exact.

On the streets of Port-de-Paix

Be still my beating heart...Fafa and Gail

The morning crowd

Souri!!

Is it me, or is there some attitude in this picture? :)

My evening lessons in Haitian card games

My first Creole lesson

The streets of Saint Louis

I don't have any words for this picture..

In the school...

Berger, Haiti...the most beautiful place on earth

Photo op!

I remember her...her name is Bel...doesn't she live up to her name?

Hmm...if there is a way to manuver the big truck through this mudhole, Jakob will figure it out...and he did.

Poor baby

What can I say...I attract a crowd!

Market day

Crossing the river on the way to Roch Rond...and may I add that I never participated in the whole "line crossing"...it seemed to me if one went down, everyone went down.

Ayiti bel

This gentleman asked me to take a picture of his chickens. So I did. At least that's what my translator said that he said...

Rex in the dental clinic

Don and Company

Awww...Marie and Baba

Sprite!

The last night

Tortuga

Map vini, Ayiti

Mexico and Missions

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15

This past week friends and family put Nancy Davis, age 59, to rest.

I don't know her. I never would have heard her name if she had not left this earth the way she did. But Nancy Davis and her husband Sam, were both missionaries to Mexico, where they had been serving God through the Mexican people for over 30 years. They planted churches, offered support, served and were dedicated to their call. As one friend told CNN, "They lived and breathed Mexico..."

Nancy Davis was shot in the head late January, by a Mexican drug cartel gunman. She died later that day.

This story has been on the news for the past week. In between reports from Cairo, reports on unemployment, and stories on the massive winter storm, FoxNews found a little air time to run this story on the brutal death of an American missionary. And it broke my heart. I pray for her family, and I pray those who loved her, and I pray for those who murdered her.

FoxNews used this story to make the point, yet again, on the danger of the U.S. and Mexican border. Although the Davises were shot at in their truck,  in the outskirts of San Fernando, the media always reminds us that Ciudad Juarez, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world right now. And when I hear that reminder, and stories like Nancy Davis' that show us serving the LORD is always a risk - I can't believe that I actually went on a mission trip to Juarez and had that opportunity from God. It is a memory I will always treasure. It is precious, sobering thing to be used of God.

So...inspired by all of the memories, I looked through my pictures from my Mexican trip, and decided to share some...

                                                                       The desert.

                   BPS - "Bearing Precious Seed", the name of the ministry taken from Psalm 126:6

I know the quality of this picture isn't very good, but the first night we were in El Paso, we climbed to the top of a mountain and looked out over the city lights of El Paso and Juarez and prayed for the cities. It is a special picture to me. Juarez is a city soaked in blood - but it needs the blood of Christ.

Assembling the Gospel of John and Romans in Spanish to hand out.

First day over the border: the minute Jon jumped out of the bus, he marched straight to these kids and handed out tracts.

Cody and a little Mexican kid...so, so, SO adorable!!! (uh, the kid...)

Listening to Bible stories and puppets

Mexican cemetery

Knocking on everyone's gate in this neighborhood sharing the Gospel and inviting everyone to the Preaching that night. We did that every afternoon. It was very common to see drunks, and people high (or low) on drugs wandering around. One group even came right in on a "deal." But they handed the dealer the Gospel anyway. One day, the small group I was with was walking with, were making our way up a small hill. Suddenly, from behind us a truck of Fedarales all dressed in black, with their faces covered, came roaring up behind us, passed us, and stopped at the top of the hill where there was an intersection. The soldiers jumped out and ran to the four corners of the streets with their huge guns. The guy I was with must have seen alarm on my face. He said, "Don't worry, they won't hurt us." I wasn't scared of them, it was the police for goodness sake! I was scared of whoever they were waiting for and scared of getting caught in some crossfire - thankfully, nothing happened. We walked right on past, and started on another neighborhood.

Some significant statue...but I don't remember why...

Shopping in the HUGE shopping center..."Looky! Cheap Mexican pillows...we're such smart shoppers!!"

Downtown Juarez

The border "plaque"...don't need to read it, just walk right on by!

This picture was taking coming back into the States on our last day. I wish I had some pictures of the Fedarales, but we weren't allowed to take pictures of the police or border agents because it's too dangerous for them. They are all targets of the drug cartels.

Horrible. Just horrible.

My friend, Eastlyn, loved the desert. She loved the dry, red, crumbling beauty of the Southwest. I agreed that there was beauty, in a way. But I prefer the green mountains of my Haiti.

But thank you God for answering a three year old prayer and allowing me to go to Mexico!

And the Wall Came Tumbling Down...

This is Adam's Rib old dining room.

(With Larry & Daddy)

Note the wall in the back.

And this, after my brother and Dad tore the wall down...(well, half of it.)

Tom, of the Tom & Rick duo (and the mastermind of the remake) varnishing the wood.

And..."voila"...as they say. The new dining room. (Well, part of it.) Badly documented, I know...But the wall used to be where the wood ends and the painted wall begins.

Here's the story: At some point in time over the past five years of being open, (exactly when is impossible  to say) two guys started coming into the restaurant. Their names were Tom & Rick. They drove a delivery truck for a big store in the nearest big city over in Indiana. They only did that on the side though -in their real jobs they were firemen and paramedics. They were fellow believers and hard-working, intelligent, and good adapters. As they came more frequently, and stayed longer, we had a lot of opportunities to sit down, talk and get to know each other.

Tom is a visionary. He has many great ideas, that Rick good-naturedly goes along with. (Like becoming delivery guys!) Tom is a quasi-modern-day Jimmy Stewart. Laid-back in his discussions of his schemes, but high-strung in the execution. He's done a lot over his years, and even went to Port-de-Paix, Haiti, when he was in college. Rick, is laid-back no matter what the situation. Always the same, he can stay humorous in any situation, but because he is ex-Army and fought in Desert Storm Operation, he has a serous "get-'er-done" work ethic. He likes to "spread the Love, man." Rick has even worked with me in the restaurant on two occasions, one scheduled and one impromptu. He is an excellent front-of-house-man. While he was working on the electrical re-wiring, during the remodeling project, I was left alone in the kitchen and got slammed with five customers. When the phone range, Rick calmly put down his tools and wandered in with a smile and a "Need help?" and answered it for me, as I frantically run around. "Hey, fellas! What can I get you?" He good-naturedly took charge of the cash register, so I could make the orders.

Inspired by my dad, Tom & Rick are opening their own restaurant, in which my dad will become an equal third partner when opening comes. Artistic and detailed, they have been remodeling and reconverting an old firehouse building into an authentic, barbecue restaurant for about a year now. Opening will probably be sometime this spring. But in the mean time...they wanted to help out my dad - whose restaurant desperately needed a 'face-lift.' So, they did an extreme "dining-room makeover" and thanks to their server's hearts and hard-work we now have a new dining room!

Now we need to get them in our ghetto kitchen and fix that...I'm getting tired of crawling around on the floor to turn the hot water on...

From customers...to friends...to business partners. You  never know what can happen.

Thanks Tom & Rick!!

I love this place. Really. I do.