Hello Everyone,

My monthly update is slowly evolving. Chris and I have combined contact lists so that we can stay in touch with everyone that has been supporting us until now. For those of you that are new, “Welcome” and for those that have been getting this regularly from me, it may be a bit different from what you’re used to because I’m writing for two now. Chris usually writes the mission’s monthly update so he’s left this one in my hands, but I’ll do my best to get his contributions regularly so you can see things from his perspective too.

Things here are quiet for the most part today, with the exception of the ‘dezaud’ that just occurred with me letting some of the neighbor boys climb the gynep tree. I’m still not used to the way Haitians speak to each other. I don’t actually know if you could call it speaking. To me it sounds like very dramatic yelling. Apparently the boys shouldn’t have been up the tree because they could fall (check, I understand the reasoning) and only ‘gran moun’ (older people) should do that. Ahh. Kompren (I understand). After several minutes of listening to Camilla and Moliere ‘discuss’ (enter the dramatic conversation/forceful speaking) I quietly reminded them that the boys had asked me if they could go up the tree and that Jean Frantz does it every day. Oh yeah, and that I also know they could fall. I wasn’t being irresponsible. I know that most Haitians could climb a tree better than anyone I know and I’m getting used to hearing Jean Frantz walk around on my roof every day to reach the branches he can’t climb up.

The reason for the chaos. This is a gynep. The orange pulpy stuff surrounds a pit that you spit out after you’ve sucked all the pulp off. They’re sweet and everyone loves them. Moliere asked me how you say gynep in English and I had to tell him that no one in North America would know what I was talking about if I said the word because we don’t have them. He thought that was pretty interesting.

The causers of the chaos…Jean Frantz (by my neck), Danny (center), Peter (right side) and the nameless boy in the yellow shirt. I know he has a name, I just don’t know it yet.

Life Around the Base

I’ve had to pick this up a couple days after I started writing because as usual something else came along needing attention. Chris and I are getting more settled into life here again, though the adjustment has been harder this time. We really had a great honeymoon. We were relaxed and able to just have fun. There are so many responsibilities with being here and cultural/country issues to deal with that it can be very draining. We’re becoming more aware of the things that may be issues and are trying to set some good boundaries so we can have a healthy marriage and ministry. It’s definitely challenging though and we would love your prayers around that.

The mission now owns the property and we’re very happy about that. It gives us more permanence as an organization and more freedom to make changes where we know there is need. One pressing thing is getting the roof over the deck fixed. It’s had some leaks for quite a while and while we were away one of our workers, with good intentions, checked on one of them to see what needed to be done only to have a big section of the roof fall in on him! Hmm. Getting it fixed is reminding us of how frustrating things can be here at times because they no longer sell the material that the roof is covered in. Chris is looking at other options and reading up on how to install tar paper shingles (those are available). Some days he’s a mechanic, some days a plumber, others a roofer. Versatility is the key! We have other ‘plans’ for things around here, but those will all happen in good time. We’ve also been adding onto our main shop. This caused quite a disturbance in the community as the building will block off a path that people have come to see as public even though it’s on our property. For the first few days of construction there was much yelling (note: this is part of the process of doing many things here) from various people, but thankfully God sent along some key people in the community with a sense of reason that told everyone else that it was ours to decide what we wanted to do with our land, not theirs. The shop (depot) will give us a lot more space for supplies and blocking off the path gives us more room to work and more security because there will be less access, something our neighbors were also grateful for.  

Taken two days ago. This is the back corner of the new addition to the depot. The foundation was built by digging a trench and cementing a rock wall in place. After that the blocks were added. When the walls are finished a new roof of wood supports and corrugated tin will be added.

When we returned last month we knew we would have a lot of work to do with our filter program. We were concerned about funding as we are working off a grant and weren’t sure how long it would last. After doing some figuring we realized that we will have funds to keep going at the rate we were for about 5-6 months. We had warned our workers that we may need to lay some of them off, so it was a relief that we didn’t need to. This gives us time to secure more regular funding for our programs. We noticed that there seemed to be a bit of a moral issue too but that seems to be slowly improving. This is also the first time the filter program is being completely run by our Haitian staff and the shift has brought some challenges for everyone, but we’re all learning through the process. Please pray for our workers. We also need a lot of wisdom with how to lead the mission in the everyday things. This can be very challenging in a culture that does things quite differently from what we’re used to.

Things We’re Looking Forward To

A couple weeks after we got back Chris’ parents wrote and said that they wanted to visit this fall (Yay Mum & Dad)! They’ve bought their tickets and will be coming at the end of November for a week. We’re really looking forward to their visit. They have both been here before so they know what to expect. It’s going to be so nice to have family around for a little while. Haiti isn’t exactly on the “Most visited vacation spots” list so we don’t have many people that just want to come for a visit. My parents haven’t had a chance to make it out yet, but I think that’s in the plan for next year sometime. I’m looking forward to having them visit for the first time because it can be hard to tell them what life is like here without a context for them to put it in, and I know it’s difficult for them to have their daughter in the third world with only pictures to show them that I really am okay.

It looks like we may be taking a short trip to Chicago at some point in October or November thanks to the generosity of some friends (you know who you are J). Their church has been supporting Chris and the mission, as well as a Rotary club there. This would be a great time to connect with all of those people again as it’s been over a year since Chris was able to do so. I’m also looking forward to seeing Chicago as I’ve never been there before other than to fly through.

Christmas. We are really looking forward to Christmas. We are planning on spending this Christmas in Canada with my family. Chris has only spent one Christmas away from his family, and I have never been away from mine, so having to decide what to do with this married thing was tough. We have to be away from Haiti for a week in mid-January so we won’t be able to take a longer break over the holidays this year, which means we won’t be able to see Chris’ family. We also got word a few weeks ago that Chris’ best friend will be getting married in December (yay Joel & Trina!) and they really want us to be there. So much that they’re actually planning the wedding around when we can arrive in Seattle! The only catch is this. We have the funds to get home for the holidays, but don’t know if we’ll have anyone to look after the mission while we’re gone. We can’t just leave without having someone to keep an eye on things, and our options are limited. Please pray that God will bring someone along that will have a good understanding of the country and will be able to look after things so we can have a holiday with family and make it to the wedding.

Support Update

Chris and I have felt incredibly blessed in the last little while. Support has been quite regular in Canada for some time now, and it doesn’t always come from the same people, which is encouraging. It’s amazing to see how God provides when you let him. We have also seen an increase in support from the US which has also been a big blessing. We now have enough money to take care of our airfare home at Christmas if we are able to go, as well as money needed for staff fees and other living expenses for the next several months. Thank you so much for supporting us this way. Please know that it’s not something we take for granted. We feel very blessed.

Because we have friends and family that live in both countries we would like to update our support information for you so it may be easier for those of you that want to be involved in this way.

Donation address for the US:

Hillcrest Chapel

1400 Larrabee Ave.

Bellingham, WA   98225

Please make checks payable to “Hillcrest Chapel” and include a note designating it to Chris & Leslie Rolling.

 

Donation address for Canada:

Clean Water for Haiti

c/o 2601 43^rd Ave.

Vernon, BC   V1T 3L1

Please make checks payable to “Clean Water for Haiti” and include a note designating it to Chris & Leslie Rolling.

In both cases our names cannot appear on the checks for processing reasons so a note is necessary. All donations are tax deductible and you will receive a tax receipt at year end.

Prayer and Encouragement

We also want to say thank you for all of the prayer support that we receive. We know there are many people praying for us, probably more than we know. Haiti is a dark and hard country to work in and can be very discouraging at times. Please continue to pray that God will give us what we need when we need it. If you are praying for us and want more specifics, please feel free to send us a quick email. It would be very encouraging to know that God is laying us on your heart. If you just want to write and say ‘Hi’ we would LOVE that too. There are times where we feel lonely and isolated and a note from a friend is such a gift. You can email us at: chrisrolling@chrisrolling.com and lockhartld@yahoo.ca (I still haven’t changed my address to my married name…oops). We would love to hear from you!

Thanks for loving, encouraging, supporting, and praying. It means the world to us!

Our first family portrait.

Blessings,

Chris & Leslie (and Jabez)

Clean Water for Haiti

Pierre Payen, Haiti