Fundraising, Machines & Other Stuff

Fall Fundraising Appeal

While all the tower work's been progressing at Petite Anse (see previous post, New Towers Up), back at the ranch (read: home office), I've been working on a mailed and online fundraising appeal for Radio 4VEH broadcasting (which I do a few times a year, for Radio 4VEH broadcasting, or Resounding Hope radios, or special projects like the Towers project). It's a lot of work to think and pray through, to plan and create, to write and edit, to design and package, but it's all done, and I got my copy in the mail earlier this week. 

Donations are usually lower during the summer months, but costs of running the station don't change much from month to month, so we're facing a shortfall in funds right now. Would appreciate your prayers for a generous response as this appeal is in the hands of friends and supporters of the station in the US. 

More News about Machines...

Lots of stuff can go wrong at a radio station. In June, the AM transmitter - the engine that sends the radio signal to the towers for broadcasting - broke down. Big concern. Especially as we were making progress with the new towers. Even with new towers, a broken transmitter means no signal going anywhere. Thankfully, after some hard work - troubleshooting, taking apart, replacing pieces, putting back together - by technicians Jerry, Jonathan, Danny and visiting AM technician from HCJB, Tim, the transmitter is now fixed! Phew, and PTL!

It's fixed...and turned off. 

What?!?!

Yep, turned off so that the crew working on the new towers don't get fried (important point...) Hopefully within the next few (2-3 maybe!) weeks, the transmitter will be turned back on and the new towers will send the radio signal for hundreds of miles across all of northern Haiti, where about four million people live. That's what Storly's going back to Haiti for. 

Other stuff

While we were at the station, Hannah was practicing her skills as a reporter.
(From July)

...while Esther took photo of me and Storly hard at work (in his office at the station).
It's not all happy, happy, happy all the time, just in case you're wondering... :)

Our recent conversations...made possible by internet and Skype. (As I'm writing this,
Storly is within my reach in our office at home, and he's on Skype now with Witny at the station).
Being able to communicate like this makes a big difference. 

And a couple of Esther to finish up, as Ariel for ballet recital at the end of last school year. 

Playful one to end with. 

P. S. 

In this thing called the blogosphere, we've reached more than 5000 pageviews, meaning some people are reading what we post. Whether you check here often, or it's your first visit, thanks for reading! We hope you get a glimpse of what God is doing in Haiti, in Indiana, and other places too, and will want to join in with Him somewhere and somehow.

It's a gorgeous afternoon here, blue sky, sunshine - wishing you a wonderful weekend where you are!

New Towers Up - Woo-hoo!

We're all together again...Storly's been back with us a couple of weeks - and we're happy!

...And he's just booked his trip back to Haiti for about 2 weeks' time. Just for a short trip this time. 

New Towers Up - Exciting!

If you've been getting updates from us here on our blog, email, Facebook, have read anything about Radio 4VEH or have talked to us in the last year or so, you probably know about the Towers project: to replace two 40-plus-years-old, crumbling AM radio towers (270 foot and 200 foot tall), all the ground wires (that are as long as the towers are high and dug into the ground) and tuning system at Radio 4VEH's AM transmission site at Petite Anse. This site is a powerhouse for the Gospel in Haiti, for getting life-saving information, farming and health advice, and a friendly voice to people. When the work's completed, the AM signal will reach all across northern Haiti again, to an area where four million people live.

We've reached a milestone in this project - both new towers at Petite Anse are up (just a few more weeks until it's all finished and we can turn 840 AM back on). 

And I'm so jealous! Storly got a ride to the top of the first tower before he left; and our colleague Witny got a ride to the top of the second tower, enjoying the two flags attached at the top as a testimony to the partnership of God's people to restore 4VEH's AM signal and proclaim Christ across Haiti.

Here's some photos:

Beginning of August: Storly with part of Towers for Jesus crew.

Jim, leader of Towers for Jesus, starts off all the work on the towers with prayer. 

First tower comes down - safely. Phew!

Crash!

Jim, the leader of the crew, just celebrated his 71st birthday. He's put up many radio
towers all over the world, so that good news can reach people through radio. 

Storly's all strapped in, ready to be hoisted up to the top of the first new tower. 

Storly (with Tower Bob).

"Tower Bob" takes a pic of Storly as Storly takes a pic of him.

Storly's legs, quite a long way off the ground:)

Jim instructs Storly on controlling the winch (and whoever is hoisted to the top of tower). 

Two flags - American and Haitian - were attached to the final piece of tower
before it was put in place. People living in the area, who have gathered on rooftops
to watch this project progress, broke out in cheers and singing when
the final piece was in place, and flags were flying. 

View of the Petite Anse area and bay of Cap-Haitien, from the tower. 

Witny, our Operations Director, at the top of the 2nd tower. A proud wonderful moment!
(And a great picture - thanks Towers for Jesus team!)

Witny contemplating the view from the tower. 

Towers for Jesus team and local workers at tower base.

Glad to see Storly's learned a few tricks with that camera (that I kindly lent him :)

Thanks for your prayers, support and encouragement for this project. It's a big deal, and we're excited to be nearing completion!

Holiday Weekend Update

Today's Labor day, an extra day off in the unofficial end-of-summer long weekend here in the USA. Last weekend was a similar holiday in the UK.

We've not seen family, been away, had a barbecue, or bought anything in the Labor Day sales. But...we have watched a family movie, went for a bike ride and enjoyed icees at the local snow cone kiosk.

We've slept in and had lazy mornings. Enjoyed the fellowship of House Church Sunday yesterday at Luke & Billie's. We picked up a wheelbarrow from a friend, and have shoveled dirt from our neighbor's truck (I'm working on a landscaping project to stop water getting into our basement). A major task every weekend is doing the girls' hair - just done that. I finished the 600+ page At Home by Bill Bryson, a fascinating book about the history of all the stuff in a mostly British-background home. Laundry's all done (if not put away yet).

Packing

I didn't expect to be doing any more packing for a while, but on Saturday, I was packing up various pieces of equipment - laptops, hard drives, printer cartridges - to be carried down to Haiti for Storly by our friend Rob, who has gone down for a week or so to work on the computer network at the station. Glad to hear from Storly just now that Rob (and all the stuff) arrived safely this morning, and Storly will have a housemate to help keep him sane over the next days.

Though we're not ready for the summer to end, (the word is this coming winter in Indiana is going to be brutal...again)...we're at least ready for tomorrow and the week ahead.  And we're ready for Storly to come home.

The end in sight

We left Storly in Haiti on 1st August. It's now 1st September. And we're expecting him back on 13th. Glad we're almost at the point where I can count the number of sleeps left in single digits. (And I'm still getting more unsettled nights with the girls than sleeping-peacefully-all-the-night-through, though it's a little better than it was. And monitoring what they're watching on TV or reading is helping!).

Hope you've had some refreshing, restful time over the last few days. Thanks for all you do to support us in what we do - whether you're sharing tomatoes from your garden or enchiladas that you made too much of, welcoming us to be part of what you're doing, or using your skills and resources to serve alongside us in the work in Haiti. We appreciate it!

Church In The Sticks

Yesterday, as part of our church's (Community Church of Columbus) annual House Church Sunday, the girls and I went to church - to be the church - at Luke & Billie's lovely Indiana farmhouse, armed with a pan of French Toast to share for breakfast. Digging through Mark chapter 2 together with the kids, we marveled at the friends of the paralyzed man, who knocked through a hard mud roof to lower their friend down so that he could see Jesus in this crowded gathering. The kids escaped to play around the farm, and the rest of us chewed over things like the sovereignty of God, why God allows suffering, His eternal plan of redemption, and the fact that Job (a man famous for the book in the Bible bearing his name and story of his suffering) probably wasn't thinking how his story was going to be used to teach so many of us in centuries since. Job was just trying to be faithful. 

Ah, the challenge. To be faithful to God today. Whether my circumstances are bringing me oodles of joy or the deepest heartache.

Bwa Nèf - New Wood Church

Back in Haiti a few Sundays ago, we joined about 20 people, mostly women and children, to worship in their stick-framed church in Bwa Nèf, about 30 minutes’ drive on rough roads from the OMS mission compound outside Cap‐Haitien. 

Just minutes into the service, Esther was already asking if it was gonna be
over soon. A couple of sweets I had stashed in my bag helped her endure.

We'd heard about Bwa Nèf for a while—it’s a village where our co‐worker said: "There are people there, but there's no life", speaking of the physical and spiritual poverty, where people are yearning for something more, not realizing what they’re lacking is a living relationship with God. It’s an area where voodoo has a strong grip on people. Our teams have done outreach many times here, sharing the Gospel again and again, leaving households with a solar radio so that people can listen to Radio 4VEH, and to the New Testament in their heart language (read by Storly). It’s all been encouraged by a dedicated pastor, Pastor Janiel, who's a leader and church planter with OMS' Every Community for Christ church-planting ministry. 

I've been needing a photo of Haitian children praying, for some Vacation Bible School
materials we're working on for the Resounding Hope radios initiative. Glad I got this one. 

"Please, take my picture!"

It was great to be with the people of Bwa Nef church, quite literally out in the sticks, with families being nurtured by the daily broadcasting of Radio 4VEH. During the service, this lady (above) sang, to “thank God”. When she committed her life to God, she worried that she still owed a (spiritual) debt to the voodoo spirits, paid via ceremonies performed by the local witch doctor. She learned from Pastor Janiel that through Jesus, all debts have been paid, and she's free. That's something to sing about.

Plenty of smiles from Hannah (now the service is over!). It's a challenge as they
understand very little of what's going on. 

Villagers gather at the water pump just down the road from the church.

Whether it's in a church building, a home or in the middle of a bunch of sticks, it's good to be together as His church.