Annual Christmas Present

Above was my Christmas present from Brice with a handwritten letter.  For 7 of the 9 Christmases we have been married we have been living overseas.  So, whether lack of finances or the unavailability to have access to Christmas gifts we started a tradition of giving each other a special candy that was hard to get.  In Haiti it was a snickers bar. 

This Christmas Brice knows my secret love for soda and found this coke here.  He hides his romantic side, so I loved this public declaration from this treat!

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas feeling the God's love through His gift of a Saviour!

Christmas Gift Ideas

     It can be hard for anyone to have extra money for Christmas gifts.   We serve with such amazing students and staff that doing these ideas together for others this year was such an enjoyable time.  And most only cost time or a few dollars.

Idea #1 - Clean/ Help a Friend for an Afternoon

Our sweet friend is a seventeen year old momma with 2 toddler boys.  Us girls told her we wanted to honor her for the afternoon.  We did bring presents for the family, but the real gift was the girls braided her hair for her and pampered her.

We helped watch her boys.

And we cleaned her house!

Idea #2 - Food Bags

Everyone loves food and most are baking around the Holidays.  Through our church we were able to pass out 55 food baskets in the community.

Even just putting a few baking items together and leaving it on someone's doorsteps is such a treat!

And guaranteed to pass on smiles!

Idea #3 - Happy B-day Jesus Party!

Gather the neighbor kids around and do an impromptu party singing to Jesus for his b-day!

Who doesn't love cake?

And friends and frosting?

Idea #4 - Adopt a Student

Invite a student into your home.  We are blessed to work with and know through the Bible College students well.  But, some can't go home for Christmas and don't have families that care.  Let them see your family's love and see Christ that way!

Christmas Crash

Kaboom!  Last night  at 9pm a drunk driver crashed into the main school vehicle.  We were so thankful as our neighbors who live below us had just walked into the house seconds before.  If they had been any later, they would have been hit.  We were also thankful the truck was in the driveway, because if not he would have hit the house where 2 families live.  So, thankful all were okay.  

Above is the truck who ran into ours.

Below is our driveway where he hit the truck and turned it sideways.

We were so blessed to have supporters and churches work so hard to raise money for this truck to haul supplies, haul all our students around, and to use for much needed errands.  While we are bummed as this week we were going to use it to carol around the countryside, take the students on hikes, and tour our family coming in around - and the unknown of finding something else we can afford or getting parts to fix it.  The biggest relief is no one was hurt.  

Would you pray for the driver, though? He is a neighbor who witnesses say regularly has almost run them over when drunk.  There is no law here the police told us that you can't drink and drive.  This is scary and we don't want anyone hurt.  After the accident, the man staggered back in his truck and got to drive on home...still intoxicated.  We are praying a way we can reach him for Christ and he can change. 

A Christmas to Believe In

This Friday was our big day for the preschool party.

So many fun foods were shared.

That night we all gathered for the Annual WISE Christmas play put on by the students.

The students practice from Oct until now and they always do so amazing!

Most of the costumes were made by a student last year and our intern and adjunct's wife helped on props with some of the students.

3 Baby Jesus' showed up.  I guess I kept asking all the mom's.  One got too hot being swaddled, one would not lay down and kept wanting to sit up, and one did perfect.  So, he played baby John and  baby Jesus.

We were so glad Zachariah did not drop the baby here!

Joseph was so caring to Mary.

Behind the stage here, Bro Dave is recording, Bro Brice is capturing pics, Sis Angie is preparing snacks, Sis Pam baked cookies and ran the sound system.  So many hands pitched in.

We had several solos from the students.

The live animals stole the show.  The narrator's had to ask for the crowd to sit down to get control.

This baby goat was the favorite!

Preschoolers sang "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus".  It was precious.

A special from the girls.

And the King scared many, so thankful He didn'te reign forever!

So thankful...

We had a huge week of events planned.  The preschool went on a field trip to a farm.  It was one for the few farms that let groups come.  So, I admit to picturing cows, horses, pigs, etc.  They had plants galore, goats, and rabbits.  And our kids were thrilled with those!

Then, we got the pleasure of hosting Thanksgiving at our house.  I love having it filled.  I feel so guilty that this house has 3 bedrooms, so I loved having it all full. And the staff ladies all cooked several things, so it made serving the meal so much easier to have all the help and yummy food!

We played games and watch the movie "Mom's Night Out".  The students laughed harder than ever at this one.

With a break the next day, we all went to the Botanical Garden's, which are the oldest known gardens in the Western hemisphere.