When are we leaving?

 Well I wish I knew the answer to that question.... There are a lot of variables which lead into actually having a date to go. 

We hope to go sometime in July to give us all time to settle back into Haiti before the Emmaus semester starts on the 16th of August and the boys start school at the beginning of September. 

BUT 

We applied for Jacob's British citizenship in November and after an issue with his biometrics (long story what should have taken 2 weeks took 8!) which for Jacob is just getting his photo taken, everything has been completed and we are just waiting on a final decision from the home office.  Until we get a final decision the UK home office has Jacob's passport, birth certificate, adoption order and our marriage certificate making it impossible for us to leave or even book flights until all of those documents are returned to us. 

Well I started this post a few days ago and I am so excited to tell you Jacobs British citizenship came today! Which means we not only have all his documents back but we never have to worry about immigration ever again! When we were evacuated from Haiti last year it was pretty stressful travelling home through France not knowing if Jacob was going to be refused entry on his Canadian passport.  At that point we decided getting Jacobs British citizenship was at the top of our list of things to do and was really one of the main reasons we decided (not that we really had a choice) to stay home for this past year.  It is such a relief to know that Jacob now has the same citizenship as the rest of his family.  I literally feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. 

About a week ago we were looking at the possibility of asking the home office to return his documents and when we looked into it it said your application may take longer if we return your documents or if you are subject to immigration control you application may be cancelled.  We decided to wait until the end of April, pray and re evaluate.  God answered our prayer and today Jacob is a British citizen!! We now have to wait for the certificate and the apply for his passport but that should only take a few weeks. 

Secondly the US border is still closed to anyone coming from the UK however there are other routes through Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic but these routes are either more complicated or more expensive. So it is possible for us to get there we are just not sure which way to go yet. 

In the meantime we are preparing as much as we can so when we are able to book and travel we are ready to go! This year has been the year of sorting out many things. Jacobs citizenship, getting everyone's travel vaccines updated, writing a will, updating our life insurance and making changes to our mortgage (actually we haven't done that one yet!) yet we still have not been able to do to the dentist! 

With things looking so uncertain you might be asking why are we even trying to go back?

This is a loaded question to answer but let me be really honest and explain a few things. 

Life would be a LOT easier if we didn't go.  

We wouldn't have to pack up our house and move....again. 

We wouldn't have to say goodbye to our family and friends....again. 

We wouldn't have to stock up on all the things we miss and try to bring them with us....again. 

We wouldn't have to adjust to language, culture, food, driving and climate....again. 

So why are we going?

Well there are many reasons, we haven't finished the work we went to do, we left with less than 24 hours notice and didn't get to say goodbye to anyone, Haiti is really the boys home and they didn't get a chance to leave well but even above all of those reasons we are going because we are trying to be obedient to what God has called us to do.  

So at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what we want, what really matters is that we are being obedient to what we believe God is calling us to do. 

You might then ask - how do we know?

Isn't this a big question that Christians always ask....how do I know God's will for my life? This is a very short summary of my experience on figuring out what God has for you. 

2016

For Bill and I moving to Haiti in the first place was not because of some big event or dream or vision it was a simple process of being willing to go anywhere and figuring out where in the world God could use our skills and abilities.  We decided to stay within OMS as we knew the organisation and we knew if we went with OMS we would have great prayer support.  The place which needed a physiotherapist and a seminary teacher was Haiti so that is where we planned to go.  We knew if that was God's plan he would work out all the details.  And He did. 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 

Matthew 28 v 19 

Now fast forward 3 years to early 2019...We had returned to Haiti 6 months before after being in Canada for Jacob's adoption.  It was a very difficult year.  Jacob cried, what felt like all the time, I was working 3 days a week and the political unrest started in Haiti.  I felt like I was just about keeping my head above water, most nights I was so exhausted I fell into bed at 8pm right after the boys were asleep.  I really wanted to go home. 

2019

And that is what we decided to do.  Except we decided and said we would sit on the decision for a month and not tell anyone, just pray about it and wait for confirmation.  The evening we were going to tell the rest of our team, they got in there first.  Matt asked us to stay behind after a team meeting and he asked Bill to take on the role of register.  Something he had been doing as the president but Emmaus really needed someone who could take over the role. We said we would think and pray about it. 

Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, 

let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, 

but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.' 

Matthew 16 v 24 & 25 

Unknowingly to either of us we both felt uneasy about the decision to leave, even though I really wanted to, I knew then that this was not what God has for us.  As soon as we made the decision to stay, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt peace. 

I don't always think you should make decisions based on how you feel. Feelings change, ask me today I will say I want to go to Haiti, ask me tomorrow I probably won't but having God's peace is different.  I did not want to stay in Haiti - that is how I felt, but I had God's peace when we decided to stay so that's what we did.  Although I did make some changes to make life more manageable- one of those being dropping a day of work. 

And the peace of God which surpasses 

all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus 

Philippians 4 v 7 

Now fast forward to now...we have been out of Haiti for just over a year, through different circumstances most of our missionary team have moved on and its going to be hard to move back but we firmly believe this is what God is has for us....for now. 

For me the bible is clear, this is why included these verses above.  The Christian life is one of sacrifice and that looks different for every person but we do need to figure out our role in the great commission and be willing and obedient to be used by God. 

So the short answer is we don't know but were getting closer! 

Urgent needs

 As I have already shared our missionary team in Haiti has greatly reduced over the past couple of years and when we return to Haiti we will be the only missionaries living on campus. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing as we do firmly believe in the 'work yourself out of a job' philosophy by training up nationals but we do have some critical roles which need to be filled by missionaries or have missionaries come and do training. 

One of the critical needs Emmaus has is for an English teacher and it is always better to have a native English speaker to teach English! 

Emmaus offers 4 levels of English classes to Emmaus students but we also have outside students come  to learn English.  Classes take place twice a week with tutoring on the days in-between. 

We desperately need an English teacher for the 2021/22 academic year which begins mid August.  Here are the responsibilities and requirements. 

Responsibilities 

• Prepare and deliver lessons for English levels 1-4 
• Meet with students in small groups for English tutoring 
• Grade weekly English books 

Requirements 

• Native English speaker 
• TEFL / TESOL qualification or willingness to complete the qualification 
• Flexibility to work and live in a cross cultural environment 
• Work as part of a team 

Emmaus also has a need for an IT manager, right now one of our students is taking on most of this responsibility. 

Responsibilities 

• Maintain the campus network 
• Helping students with technology 
• Setting up student accounts 
• Managing the IT lab 

Requirements 

• Experience working in IT 
• Flexibility to work in a cross cultural environment 
• Willingness to learn Creole 

These are the two critical needs, which means we need someone to fulfill these positions as quickly as possible with a view to moving to Haiti in August. 

We also have a need for theology teachers, a Maintence manager and hospitality.  

If you have ANY questions about any of these roles, about living in Haiti, about anything to do with living at Emmuas about anything really related to this post please email me and I will try to answer all of your questions, if I don't know the answer I will find out for you. 

If you have never considered going overseas maybe now is the time to consider it, it may not be Emmaus in Haiti which is ok too, but considering the idea that God may be calling you to serve him somewhere else is important. 

Please pray with us for God's leading and for people to come and fulfill these urgent need so Emmaus can continue to train up Christ like leaders for the transformation of Haiti. 

Seven things to know about a new Bethesda.

 1.  The design is almost finished! Last February the design team visited Haiti to begin work on the design of a new Bethesda. We are partnering with Engineering ministries International who sent a team of  civil, electrical and structural engineers. An awful lot of work went into the plans and now EMI have completed the electrical and civil engineering plans. 

Another member of the team was Kyle, the founder of August Green design.  As described on their website 'August Green is an award winning design studio. We work globally with our clients to find creative solutions for today's challenges.' 

Haiti has many challenges and designing a brand new medical center in Haiti has a many more challenges.  Kyle has put countless hours into designing an amazing medical center which will overcome many of the challenges. 

One of the big challenges is the climate.  Its hot and humid in the winter, and hotter and more humid in the summer. 

I have seen first hand how the humidity destroys things.  We had a little toddler booster seat for Joel and after about 18 months the straps just fell apart.  Anything with batteries stops working quickly because they get rusted.  The only real solution is to air condition all of your buildings.  However this is not only expensive to install but very expensive to run and just not feasible due to the cost. We will have some rooms air conditioned such as X ray, depot and lab but for the others Kyle has come up with specific design features to overcome some of the challenges.  

2. Wind speed and direction are important when designing a new facility.  When one of your goals as a designer is to keep a building cool without using air conditioning you study the climate including the wind direction and wind speed.  Using the information from wind will help you decide at what angle to position your building!! It has been amazing to watch the amount of work and detail Kyle has gone into to produce such an excellent design. 

3. The material you use matters.  Most buildings in Haiti are constructed with cement block and inside is hot, like really hot.  If you have been in a Haitian home or the PT room at Bethesda you will know what I am talking about.  Some days I leave work and the outside feels cool and that's usually 30C plus (90F)! You can imagine how hot it is inside. 

The new clinic will be built using earth block.  Earth block is a low cost material made of dirt, sand and cement.  It is mould resistant, fire proof, water proof, earthquake and hurricane proof.  It also has thermal properties and will keep our buildings cool.  I have been inside a home built with earthblock and it is a lot cooler inside than outside. 

4. You can use the sun to your advantage.  We will be switching to using solar electricity which will greatly cut down the cost of diesel for the generator.  It also means we can continue to have power if there are fuel shortages in Haiti, which is not uncommon.  The design will also use the sunlight as natural lighting inside the buildings which not only looks beautiful but is cost effective. 

5. Starting from scratch is hard and expensive When you build something in the west you just hook up to the local electricity and water supply.  This is not possible where we are in Haiti.  In the community where our new property is most people will get their water from a water pump and there is no electricity unless a person has a generator which would be highly unusual.  So we have to start from scratch.  I mean getting a fully functioning water system starts with digging a well and includes things like having a water tower, working out how much water we will use on a daily basis, how much waste water we will produce and what we are going to do with that. Thank goodness for civil engineers!

As mentioned above we will be switching over to solar electricity, but will still need batteries and a generator as back up and for those occasional days when the sun is not out.  As a medical facility with  a 24 hour emergency department, a maternity department, vaccinations (which need to be kept refrigerated) and X ray it is vital we have electricity 24 hours a day.  That might sound strange to you, because where you live why wouldn't you have electricity 24 hours a day!! But not all places in Haiti who do have electricity have access to it 24 hours a day. 

6. This is big for Northern Haiti 

1 in 14 children in Haiti die before they reach their 5th birthday.  Hard to get your head around that statistic but think about your child's / grandchild's pre school class. 

In Haiti there are 2.5 doctors for every 10,000 people.  26 in the US, 23 in Canada and 28 in the UK. (WHO) 

There is no question there is need for healthcare in Haiti. 

But building a new facility, do we really need to spend the money on that? 

Well, imagine you have had a stroke and you are brought to the local clinic, you can't even sit up in bed, never mind walk.  The hospital you go to is so hot and you can't roll over or get up to get cooled down.  Sometimes at night the electricity comes on and off and there is no bathroom on the 'ward'.  Yes your doctor is great, and the nurses are doing the best they can to take care of you but they simply don't have the facilities and resources to do so. 

What I just described is our current emergency department, a converted meeting room.  Meeting the need but not nearly well enough. 

Haiti has, unfortunately, suffered from a mediocre attitude from a lot of people.  The kind of phrases I have heard are things like....

'It's Haiti, it's just the way things are.'

 'Sure that's what people are used to.' 

'We just have to make do with what we have.' 

'Well, its better than nothing, isn't it?' 

I am sure I am guilty of saying some of these myself. And yes there are times when we have to make do, and yes there are times when something is better than nothing BUT with those ideas and mindset comes an attitude of second best, of it's not really good enough for me but it will be fine for Haiti. 

Maybe even part of the reason Haiti continues to struggle. 

BUT if we truly believe that each and every person is made in the image of God regardless of where they come from, what they are used to, what language they speak or how much money they have then they deserve to be treated so.

Now put that into the context of medical care.  Imagine the kind of place you would want to go to have your baby, to get your teeth cleaned, to have a blood test, to get an X ray and the list could go on and on. I'm pretty sure you would not choose to go to some of the medical facilities (including our current facility at Bethesda) that are available in Northern Haiti. 

So yes we are going to spend the money to build a brand new, up to date, fit for purpose Bethesda Medical Center.  Having excellent facilities and providing high quality care shows the people of Haiti that we care, that God cares,  that we see their suffering and that we believe they deserve better. 

Please don't get me wrong, this is not about having a beautiful building (although that is a plus).  This is about having a medical center which has been designed to be exactly that, a medical center.  Not a converted meeting room, or a facility with a room added on here and there over the years. A place which has proper waste disposal, good patient flow, security (important in Haiti), 24 hour electricity, running water in all the rooms and sufficient bathrooms. A place where women WANT to go and give birth,  a place where people WANT to take their elderly parent after having a stroke and a place where every room is clean and designed for the service being offered. 

And then when people come because of the facilities, because of the care, they meet our staff and then most importantly,  they hear the good news of the gospel. 

Having a medical center of this caliber is big for Northern Haiti.

7. You can be part of this amazing project and have your donation matched!

It's been a long road to get to this point, we had an eviction notice in 2018, long periods of political unrest in Haiti throughout 2018/19 then a worldwide pandemic in 2020.  I mean, you could not have even made that up. 

But God has been good and now we are ready to get to the exciting bit...actually building! 

Phase 1 of construction includes earthwork, security wall, water supply system, initial power generation and initial waste water management.  

We also have a $100,000 matching gift challenge currently running until 31st March.  That means ALL money raised before March 31st will be matched up to $100,000!! If we meet the match we will be well on the way to having enough funds to complete Phase 1 of construction. 

If you feel led to donate you can do so through the new BMC website or if you are in the UK, you can give through  OMS UK. 

If you have any questions about the construction or design or want to know more about the project please feel free to contact me and I would be more than happy to answer any questions you have. 

Sorry this was so long...the post started out as five things but there are so many exciting things happening it just expanded!! 

Colossians 3 v 23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, 

as working for the Lord, not for human masters. 

One zoom call

 Have you ever had a moment where things just come together and you think that's exactly what I have been working for?

This happened to me on Tuesday, during a zoom call!  I know were are all feeling zoomed out and by now we all know that using zoom is just not and never will be the same as actually being there in person but for me this was a great moment. 

Let me give you some background, when I went to Haiti in 2016 Dr Rodney and I talked about my purpose in being there and what our vision was for the future of physio at Bethesda. Dr Rodney made it very clear that his dream was to have a completely Haitian run physio department because 'every time you leave there is no physio.' I firmly believe in the theology of missionaries working themselves out of a job by training up nationals to take over their work.  So we were both on the same page. 

Dr Rodney and I back in 2008.  

And this is what I have been working towards for the last 5 years. I started in a pretty old building and in 2018 we received our first team from the south west Baptist university just two days after the new building was completed.  The same month Altidor joined me as our first Haitian PT, you can read more about that here.  

That December SBU sent another team bringing along more supplies including paediatric wheelchairs.  One of the things I love about these teams is the expertise they bring.  Altidor and I just spend the week learning as much as we can. We continued to have more patients and in April 2019 Echebert joined the team.  I could not ask for two better people. 

Altidor and Ecehbert are eager to learn, they are kind, compassionate and really work as hard as they can to help their own people. 

With the three of us we try to focus on different areas.  Altidor treats orthopaedics, Echebert treats strokes and I treat paediatrics.  We help each other out when needed and if they have a question they come and ask me.  If I don't know the answer we whatsapp our friends at SBU where we have access to university lecturers who are experts in their field. We can send photos and videos and even have video calls!

In December 2019 SBU visited again, this time bringing two teams back to back.  We added on a mobile clinic and home visits.  I took a step back and let Altidor do a lot of the leading.  At the end of the trip the team presented the PT department with an ipad to give Altidor and Echebert access to the internet for continuing education. 

I love their reaction! Echebert was speechless!

Again our patient numbers increased throughout 2019.  Then as we know in March covid hit and I had to leave.  I have been talking with Altidor & Echebert 2-3 times a month and Bev from SBU has been joining me on a lot of those calls.  We discuss patients and treatment. 

That brings me to this week....why was this call so good. 

One area we really feel we need to improve on is paediatrics. I learn as much as I can from any paediatric physios who come but we really want to do better.  

So when Altidor told us about a patient she was treating, a baby with cerebral palsy who they needed some help with Bev suggested we get Sarah - the paediatric physio and lecturer at SBU to join the call. 

We sent as much info as we could to Sarah beforehand including a history and videos and photos using whatsapp.  

Last Tuesday we met, Altidor, Echebert, myself, Bev, Sarah and Alison, another PT who has been on all 3 SBU teams.  Sarah talked through some theory and treatment options but here is what made the call so great. 

I know were all used to zoom but physios the US, Northern Ireland and Haiti 

consulting about a patient....it was brilliant! 

Altidor was already doing all the right things. 

She hardly ever works with paeds as I normally do it.  

Her handling, her treatment progression and her treatments were all exactly what she should be doing.  I don't think Altidor knew the theory behind what she was doing but she was doing a great job.  

The baby was born two months early in November 2019 and came to Bethesda in July very far behind in his development and unable to hold his head up.  He has been coming to PT regularly since then and now he is holding his head up, rolling over and sitting up independently.  Research has shown us that a child with cerebal palsy who sits independently before the age of 2 has a much higher chance of walking. 

That means having a PT who can treat a child with CP could literally change the life of a child and their family. 

For me, it was the moment it all came together,  this is what I have been working for the past 4 years.

To have a high quality, Haitian run PT department.  Except what has happened is even better.  Not only do we have a Haitian run department but we have a full support system in place. 

The Lord has been so good and the whole thing has really turned out much better than I could have ever asked or imagined. 

You may be asking what am I going to do when we return to Haiti.  My role at Bethesda has really changed over the past two years.  I now spend most of my time, updating the Bethesda facebook page, getting testimonies to share, writing thank you letters to supporters, making videos, fundraising and more recently working with a website developer on a new website (which will be ready next week!)

I have also done a couple of paediatric physio courses and am looking forward to teaching Alitdor and Echebert all that I have learnt! 

Highlights from 2020

 Your probably reading the title of this blog and thinking how can there be any??? 2020 will forever be remembered as one of the worst years ever for many people but even in the middle of pandemic there have definitely been some highlights. 

We came into 2020 hoping for a more peaceful year for Haiti.  There had been political unrest on and off since July 2018 but really reaching its height in late 2019.  Schools were shut, people were scared to go out anywhere and we pretty much stayed at home for weeks on end.  By January 2020 the situation in Haiti was getting back to normal.  After months of school being on and off the boys were finally back in school, Emmaus was busy with visitors and I had just finished a wonderful 2 weeks with a PT team meaning we had loads of patients to treat. 

Then the first case of coronavirus was announced in March and borders, airports, schools all shut and well you know the rest of the story.  We made it home right at the end of March, naively thinking we would return to Haiti in August. 

Now we are in the last day of 2020 and as I look back, its been hard but parts of it have been good.  Here are a few highlights

- Cousin time - it felt like forever before the boys were  allowed to spend time with their cousins but finally it came and they loved it.  Our summers home are usually so chaotic and busy the boys really don't get to spend that much time together.  Plus wee Ben was born just after we moved to Haiti so the boys have really gotten time to know him much better during this year. 

- Christmas - Christmas has been hard for so many people and not all what it usually is.  For us Christmas was great, we were allowed to bubble with my family.  The boys spent their first Christmas ever with their cousins and grandparents.  We had so much fun seeing all the Christmas lights and one of my favourites, going to church on Christmas day, in English even though we took the service and we weren't allowed to sing. We were still there. We even got to see a little snow a couple of days after Christmas.

- Moving home - We moved house 3 times in 12 months and we are truly grateful for the 'missionary house' as its known in our house, where we stayed when we came back in March. We have a few places which feel like home to us but it was so good to move into our own home in August.  I have been sorting through all of our stuff and am thoroughly enjoying getting rid of a lot of it! Packing your life into suitcases and moving overseas definitely puts into perspective what you really need to live. Even though only Sam really lived here the boys are enjoying being in our own house.  

- Access to speech therapy - There is zero speech therapy in Haiti (SLT's something I would love to develop at our therapy clinic if your interested??).  By January we knew Jacob was really struggling with his speech and needed some help, we had tried a zoom session which was helpful but if you know Jacob you will also know there is no way he was going to sit by a computer, with a stranger and participate.   Jacob started speech therapy in July and is really making great progress. Not only has his speech improved, but his behaviour is much easier to manage, he is so much less frustrated and the other boys now think he is hilarious when he talks.  And the three of them have been playing together much better just in the past couple of weeks. We are really thankful for this extended time here and to have access to speech therapy. 

- Adaptability - To be honest, our boys have amazed us. Those first few months in  Bangor were hard.  Our kids had been told we were leaving Haiti the morning they woke up, they then travelled for more than 48 hours to a house they hadn't been to for a year.  We were not allowed to see anyone, we were not in our own home, all the places they associate with Bangor were closed, it was cold and we had no idea how long we were staying.  They have really done well, moved house, settled into a brand new school and pretty much took the whole thing in their stride.  They do ask often about going back to Haiti and are looking forward to going.  We always try to remind them of the many experiences they have which so many other kids do not get to have and we hope that we are instilling an attitude of gratefulness for those experiences instead of feelings like they missed out. Sams sums it up well 'When I am in Haiti I miss Bangor, but when I'm in Bangor I miss Haiti.' However their adaptability only goes so far, moving house / country is fine but they all explode if I make something for dinner they have never had before! 😂😂

- Food - at the risk of sounding superficial I'm going to put this in here.  There are so many foods we just can't get in Haiti and sometimes things are just a lot easier when you are able to throw something in the oven for dinner.  We just don't have that option in Haiti.  All meals have to be planned out and thought through.  I can't just nip out to the shop if I forget something. We are enjoying things like strawberries, blueberries, grapes, cheese (unrationed!), chocolate biscuits, sweet potatoes, crisps, sweets, parsnips and of course sausages.  I think we have eaten more sausages in the last 6 months that we have ever!! 

- Staying involved in our work in Haiti - We all may be feeling a little 'zoomed out' but the internet has enabled us to  not only stay connected but to be a part of our work in Haiti.  Bill has been able to continue his role at Emmaus through teaching online and going to meetings on zoom and registrar duties.  It's not ideal but its been possible.  Five years ago it would not have been possible.  I have been able to get stories, photos and information through whatsapp from Bethesda to update the social media accounts and send out monthly updates.   I have also had weekly meetings with Altidor and Echebert through messenger. It really is amazing what we can do with technology from the UK to Haiti. 

- Rest - although life is always busy with small kids, I do feel that we have been able to get some rest.  The past few years have been pretty intense,  and this extended time at home has taken off some of the pressures of cross cultural living and allowed us to relax a bit.  

I can honestly say that we have no idea what 2021 holds but the Lord does and well that's enough for me. 

Happy New Year! 

Proverbs 16 v 9 

The heart of a man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. .

Not where we thought we would be part 2!

 I couldn't write a post called not where we thought we would be and not give you a little update on where we are! 

When we left Haiti in March we had no idea we would be in Northern Ireland this long.  We literally walked out of our house like we were going out for a few hours and didn't get a chance to pack anything up!

When we decided to stay in Northern Ireland we talked about maybe returning to Haiti in January 2021.  We talked about Bill going on a trip or two and me going on a trip aswell.  We also talked about Bill perhaps going to Canada to do some speaking and help with our support raising.  With the US border still closed, even for transit to anyone from the UK none of those things have been possible.  We are so thankful for God's leading and guiding in making the decision to stay here in Northern Ireland until summer 2021. 

It has allowed us to really settle and get some stuff done we really needed to get done.  We have sent off Jacob's application for British citizenship to the UK home office, the guidance has told us it could take up to 6 months before we hear anything so we are waiting and praying that it will go through and Jacob will be granted his citizenship before we return to Haiti next summer. 

Jacob has now been going to speech therapy for about 5 months and has really made some good progress.  From saying just a handful or words he is now putting 2-3 words together, although it is funny what he has learnt.  He definitely learns words which he wants to say like bin lorry, drone, saurus rex and many words to do with toilet humour! (can you tell his has brothers.)  Being able to communicate has really helped with his behaviour and there is a lot less screaming in our house.  We are really thankful for this time for Jacob which he just would not have been able to get in Haiti. 

We have also been able to empty our storage unit, organise our stuff and move back into our house.  Our house needs some things done before we rent it out again next year so its good to be able to be at home and get those things done. 

So we are not where we thought we would be, we miss parts of life in Haiti and it is much more challenging to do our work from a distance but we are trying to make the most of this time at home even with all the covid restrictions. 

Jacob had his first birthday in Northern Ireland, Sam's first since he was 2 and now Joel can't wait for his birthday! 

It has been really fun to watch how the boys have adapted especially to the winter. When it first started getting dark early Joel just loved driving in the evening and looking at the street lights! Now you can imagine what its like with all the Christmas lights! He has changed his mind and decided that Santa might just be real!😀 😂 On Monday it was icy when they were walking to school and they thought it was the best thing ever and couldn't believe they could step on the frozen puddles without getting wet. 

We are just wrapping up, getting wet, embracing the weather (even though I really strongly dislike the cold!) and just going outside to meet up with friends. I'm pretty sure we have been to every playground, forest and beach near us!

This coming week is the last week of the semester for Emmaus so students are (hopefully!) busy revising for final exams, Bill is trying to get all his marking done so he can take some time off over Christmas.  Emmaus graduation, postponed from May, will take place on 18th December where there are 12 students graduating. 

Bethesda is open and seeing patients every day! The design for a new Bethesda is almost complete and we are praying and working for end of year giving asking the Lord to provide many funds so we can get started on construction.  Please pray with us for this. 

Even though we are not where we thought we would be we can look back we can see God's hand in bringing us back to Northern Ireland and thank him for what we have been able to do while we are here and are enjoying spending this time with family and friends. 

And Joel cannot wait for Christmas! 

Not where we thought we would be

 I am guessing most of us can say that about this year! 

In March 2019 when the Bethesda Medical Center board made the decision to move and build a new Bethesda we had no idea what would lay ahead of us.

 Little did any of us know Haiti would continue to go through months and months of political unrest making it almost impossible to look for a new property.  At that time our patient numbers were very low but we praise God we were able to keep our doors open and God protected our staff as they journeyed to and from work often through roadblocks and violence.

In October we found property and God provided for us all the funds we needed to pay it all off by the end of 2019. 

Then COVID.  We all know how COVID has affected and is still affecting our lives everyday.  For Bethesda in Haiti, this meant we had to stock up on PPE, add handwashing stations and social distancing markers at our clinic.  We had months with very low patient numbers which have now gradually increased but we praise God we have not seen one single case of COVID at Bethesda.  The other way COVID has affected us is in fundraising for a new Bethesda.  The boards plan was for Dr Rodney to travel every 6-8 weeks to share the vision and get people involved.  Obviously this has not been able to happen nor does it look like it is an option in the near future.

All this to say, we are not where we thought we would be BUT looking back we can see God’s faithfulness.  Our doors are open and we are treating patients.  God provided an excellent team of engineers, construction workers and architects and the design process is almost finished. 

So today I am excited to share with you some of the most up to date renders from the design team from one of the buildings at the new Bethesda.  The plans consist of four main buildings each having a particular purpose depending on what service they will provide.  This new layout will give us more space, improved waiting areas and will allow for better patient flow.  Here are some of the renders from building one. 

Don't they look amazing?!?!

Being in Haiti we have to install all of our infrastructure.  I really had no idea how much work goes into some, ok, all of these systems.  Having a good water system starts with drilling a well and includes water storage, water pumps, waste water treatment and a lot more that I have no idea about.  We will also be installing solar power and I won't even attempt to go into any more detail than that! 

If your interested in seeing more I will be sharing lots more images and information on the Bethesda facebook page. 

Tomorrow is giving Tuesday and Bethesda are raising funds towards the water system at a new Bethesda.  There is also a $10,000 matching donation which means when people give their donation will be doubled! 

Please pray for the plans to build a new Bethesda.  The final design is almost finished and raising funds has been very difficult during the pandemic.  Please pray that God will provide all that we need.  Pray especially for fundraising this month with giving Tuesday and end of year giving. 

If you follow Bethesda on facebook please share our posts! 

Finally if you feel led to give you can do so here from the US or the UK.  

or here if your giving from Canada. 

Its been a long road through political instability and COVID times to get here but the best is yet to come! We believe God will provide all we need to build this new Bethesda Medical Center in Haiti so we can improve our quality of care and reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ and ultimately see lives transformed.