Francoise is expecting her 4th child and last night spend a sleepless night in pre-labor and sporadic contractions.
As you may remember, Francoise is the young mother who lived with us for a year after the earthquake. Please pray that she would have a healthy baby and a safe delivery.
We will let you know the news as soon as we get it.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Rich meets President of Haitian Soccer Federation
Many thanks to all who prayed for me this weekend! In spite of many obstacles, the training was completed, and in the process we learned many things.
On Saturday there was a full schedule of training in the morning. I arrived at the training center about 3 PM after a busy morning of preparing food, buying water and ice, and gathering all the things we would need to print the certificates to give the coaches. When I arrived at 3 PM Lucasse grabbed my hand and said we needed to go into the conference room right away. It turned out that the President of the Haitian Soccer Federation (FHF), Dr. Yves Jean-Bart, was on campus and had agreed to speak to our coaches! Here I was in dirty shorts and hadn’t even had time to shave and I found myself sitting next to the President of the FHF. Thankfully Dr. Jean-Bart was dressed in casual clothes. Nevertheless, they videotaped the presentation with me sitting right next to him. Every once in a while he would tap me on the leg to add emphasis to what he was saying.
Although this was not the first time I had met Dr. Jean-Bart, it was my first time sitting next to him and hearing him talk about his personal life and his public life as head of Haiti’s Soccer Federation.
He spoke for about 30 minutes about the challenges the FHF faces in general. Unlike most countries where the national soccer federation makes millions from television contracts and club fees, in Haiti these sources of revenue are not very developed. He did say that the FHF was trying to create a television channel that would broadcast professional and international games and seek to get advertising income.
Dr. Jean-Bart also spoke about his life as a child, including how he would steal sugar cane from the back of big carts when they passed by his house, and then resell it to local vendors. He said that soccer and school saved him from a life of delinquency.
He said that the FHF wanted to develop Futsal in Haiti at every school and make it into the national sport since it closely resembles the “Ti Kant” (little goals) type of soccer played in the streets of every town and city. He called the coaches we trained “pioneers” and encouraged them to go out and spread the sport throughout Haiti.
After this exciting meeting it was time to play the championship match of the Futsal tournament that went on during the training. (Please see a description of this game below). Then it was back to the mundane task of feeding the coaches, figuring out the money to give each participant for transportation and printing out the certificates.
We left the dinner of Oatmeal and bread for the coaches and then headed back home arriving shortly before 10 PM (which is really late for Haiti!)
So thanks for all your prayers!
On Saturday there was a full schedule of training in the morning. I arrived at the training center about 3 PM after a busy morning of preparing food, buying water and ice, and gathering all the things we would need to print the certificates to give the coaches. When I arrived at 3 PM Lucasse grabbed my hand and said we needed to go into the conference room right away. It turned out that the President of the Haitian Soccer Federation (FHF), Dr. Yves Jean-Bart, was on campus and had agreed to speak to our coaches! Here I was in dirty shorts and hadn’t even had time to shave and I found myself sitting next to the President of the FHF. Thankfully Dr. Jean-Bart was dressed in casual clothes. Nevertheless, they videotaped the presentation with me sitting right next to him. Every once in a while he would tap me on the leg to add emphasis to what he was saying.
Although this was not the first time I had met Dr. Jean-Bart, it was my first time sitting next to him and hearing him talk about his personal life and his public life as head of Haiti’s Soccer Federation.
He spoke for about 30 minutes about the challenges the FHF faces in general. Unlike most countries where the national soccer federation makes millions from television contracts and club fees, in Haiti these sources of revenue are not very developed. He did say that the FHF was trying to create a television channel that would broadcast professional and international games and seek to get advertising income.
Dr. Jean-Bart also spoke about his life as a child, including how he would steal sugar cane from the back of big carts when they passed by his house, and then resell it to local vendors. He said that soccer and school saved him from a life of delinquency.
He said that the FHF wanted to develop Futsal in Haiti at every school and make it into the national sport since it closely resembles the “Ti Kant” (little goals) type of soccer played in the streets of every town and city. He called the coaches we trained “pioneers” and encouraged them to go out and spread the sport throughout Haiti.
After this exciting meeting it was time to play the championship match of the Futsal tournament that went on during the training. (Please see a description of this game below). Then it was back to the mundane task of feeding the coaches, figuring out the money to give each participant for transportation and printing out the certificates.
We left the dinner of Oatmeal and bread for the coaches and then headed back home arriving shortly before 10 PM (which is really late for Haiti!)
So thanks for all your prayers!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Let me watch you play soccer for 20 minutes and I will tell you what I think of your Christian Character!
Let me watch you play soccer for 20 minutes and I will tell you what I think of your Christian Character!
It is easy to put on nice clothes and listen politely to a sermon and smile and greet people after a church service. But it is hard to hide your true colors when you are playing sports.
Sports can bring out the best and the worst in us. Much to my shame I remember one time I was playing soccer in Haiti and swung my fist at my adversary after a particularly hard tackle.
During the training we had lots of opportunities to share the Gospel with the approximately 20 coaches that were not part of our program. I told how my Father was murdered and I was shot, and how God had worked in my life through those events. We also showed three evangelistic films in Creole and gave a seminar on what it means to be a Christian coach. Many nodded their heads in agreement and some even said they were Christians.
But the real test came when a team made up of AFH (Ambassadors Football Haiti) coaches faced a team made up of non-AFH coaches in the intramural futsal tournament final on Saturday night.
I volunteered to referee the game and quickly realized I had made a mistake. The non-AFH players argued every call and even threw the ball off the field when they didn’t like what I decided. On one occasion a player yelled obscenities from the sideline and I gave him a red card. This demonstrated a lack of respect for authority.
They played rough and dirty and tried to dribble the ball through 3 defenders instead of passing. This was an example of selfishness. When I tried to remind them to think about their behavior and what message they would be sending to the young players they work with if they were there, they ignored me and went back to arguing. This showed they did not have a teachable spirit.
Not surprisingly, the AFH team won the game fair and square 3-2, much to the disappointment and protest of the other team.
So what did I learn from this? No matter what people say, it is in their actions that they show their true selves, particularly in sports. People can say they are “Christians”, but on the field and anywhere else, actions speak louder than words.
It also helped me realize how much Haiti needs godly coaches to teach young players how to respect authority, play like a team, encourage one another, and develop a life-long habit of learning. Any coach has a chance to influence his players, either for good or for bad.
I was proud of the way our coaches handled themselves in the face of adversity and realized more than ever that our leaders’ Christian example on and off the field will help our players develop godly self-control.
It is easy to put on nice clothes and listen politely to a sermon and smile and greet people after a church service. But it is hard to hide your true colors when you are playing sports.
Sports can bring out the best and the worst in us. Much to my shame I remember one time I was playing soccer in Haiti and swung my fist at my adversary after a particularly hard tackle.
During the training we had lots of opportunities to share the Gospel with the approximately 20 coaches that were not part of our program. I told how my Father was murdered and I was shot, and how God had worked in my life through those events. We also showed three evangelistic films in Creole and gave a seminar on what it means to be a Christian coach. Many nodded their heads in agreement and some even said they were Christians.
But the real test came when a team made up of AFH (Ambassadors Football Haiti) coaches faced a team made up of non-AFH coaches in the intramural futsal tournament final on Saturday night.
I volunteered to referee the game and quickly realized I had made a mistake. The non-AFH players argued every call and even threw the ball off the field when they didn’t like what I decided. On one occasion a player yelled obscenities from the sideline and I gave him a red card. This demonstrated a lack of respect for authority.
They played rough and dirty and tried to dribble the ball through 3 defenders instead of passing. This was an example of selfishness. When I tried to remind them to think about their behavior and what message they would be sending to the young players they work with if they were there, they ignored me and went back to arguing. This showed they did not have a teachable spirit.
Not surprisingly, the AFH team won the game fair and square 3-2, much to the disappointment and protest of the other team.
So what did I learn from this? No matter what people say, it is in their actions that they show their true selves, particularly in sports. People can say they are “Christians”, but on the field and anywhere else, actions speak louder than words.
It also helped me realize how much Haiti needs godly coaches to teach young players how to respect authority, play like a team, encourage one another, and develop a life-long habit of learning. Any coach has a chance to influence his players, either for good or for bad.
I was proud of the way our coaches handled themselves in the face of adversity and realized more than ever that our leaders’ Christian example on and off the field will help our players develop godly self-control.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Futsal Training with the Haitian Soccer Federation starts today!
Today we are partnering with the Haitian Soccer Federation to train 40 coaches from around Haiti to be level 2 Futsal coaches. Last night about 20 coaches arrived and we fed them dinner and went over the basic rules of Futsal.
We have invited about 25 Ambassadors Football coaches from all over Haiti. In the evening we will train them the principles of being a Christian coach and also show some evangelistic films to reach the other coaches that are there.
The training is scheduled to last 4 days: Thursday through Sunday with meals and lodging for 40 people.
Last night when we arrived, we found out that the people responsible for welcoming us knew nothing about the training so today we are trying to make sure all the arrangements are in place so we can hold the training. Logistics are always a challenge, no matter where you are!
Thanks for praying for this training!
Our first distribution of goats to our players!
October 19, 2013 was a historical day for Ambassadors Football Haiti!
We distributed 72 pregnant female goats to four of our teams in Gonaives, Ennery and Gros Mornes.
The children were delighted to finally get their goats and start taking care of them after being trained over the summer. One parent kept saying "Thank you, Thank you" over and over.
The day was not without problems, however, as one of our trucks broke down that morning and so we had to do the distribution with only two trucks instead of three.
However, everything went very well and there was much joy on the faces of our players when they got their goats.
Please pray that our goats would be fruitful and multiply!
One of our players fills out the contract that says that after he gives back 3 goats to the program, the goat is his to benefit him and his family for years to come!
Happy kids and parents with their goats and feeding buckets
Our leaders are happy after a great day!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Our kids get kids!!!!
Our kids get kids!!!!
October 19, 2013 is a big day in the history of the “Give a kid a kid in Haiti” program! It is the first day some of our players in Gonaives, Gros Mornes and Ennery receive their pregnant female goats.
They have been trained by our leaders and now they need to put their learning into practice.
In order for us to entrust a goat to them, they had to pass an exam and also prepare a secure, dry place for the goat to live. In addition to giving them a goat, each player receives a bucket to be used to bring food and water to the goat.
We are distributing 72 goats today to 4 teams of 18 players. Within a year we should have double that number to distribute to other players in our program if all of us “work as unto the Lord”.
Please pray that we would, and that God would bless our goats so they are “fruitful and multiply!”.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Driving with the Windows down!
Travelling in Haiti with the windows down
The air conditioning in our truck broke just as I was setting off on a trip to visit our teams in Verrettes and Gonaives (About 3 hours north of Port-au-Prince). I took it to a mechanic to see if it was a simple fix, but alas, he said I had to find a part in order to fix it.
So we have been travelling with the windows down and it is amazing what I have been noticing.
First of all, I have been missing the smells of Haiti. Some smells are terrible, as you can imagine in a country without a good sewer system. But some smells are quite refreshing, like when we pass by fields of rice, or groves of trees along the road.
Right now we are passing a diesel truck with an oil leak and black smoke pouring out of it, and that smell is really bad.
Then there are the times when we slow down and pass through an outdoor market. The smell of raw meat baking in the sun mixing with the scent of human sweat can easily turn your stomach. But the smell of fritters cooking in oil or fresh fruit can make you hungry.
You have to remember that we live in a capital city, and lately traffic has been terrible. Right now we are in a traffic jam, and every time we get some shade, we get a little relief from the hot sun. Normally I sit in the front seat with the A/C blasting, but now I sit in the back where there is more shade, and I can move from one side of the car to the other depending on where the sun is.
Everyone here is saying that September is much hotter than last year. I don’t think you can get much hotter than 100% humidity and 90-100 degrees.
It also makes me appreciate the importance of wind. When we are sitting in traffic in the hot sun and there is no breeze, the heat is oppressive and sweltering.
I’ve learned in my 50 years of life that there is often an important lesson in suffering. To quote C.S. Lewis ““We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
So I thought about how the Bible personifies the Holy Spirit as wind in John chapter 3: ”5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Just as the heat was almost unbearable when there was no wind to cool us down while driving, so it is with us without the “breeze” of the Holy Spirit working through us. Our spiritual lives become stale and unbearable without the “breath of life”, the Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed on his disciples in John 20: 22 “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
When we grieve the HS it is like closing the windows in a car with no A/C. We suffocate spiritually and our spiritual lives become unhealthy.
So if your spiritual “air conditioning” is broken because you are not listening to the Holy Spirit, get it fixed by confessing your sin and tune into the Holy Spirit and you’ll feel a lot better!
The air conditioning in our truck broke just as I was setting off on a trip to visit our teams in Verrettes and Gonaives (About 3 hours north of Port-au-Prince). I took it to a mechanic to see if it was a simple fix, but alas, he said I had to find a part in order to fix it.
So we have been travelling with the windows down and it is amazing what I have been noticing.
First of all, I have been missing the smells of Haiti. Some smells are terrible, as you can imagine in a country without a good sewer system. But some smells are quite refreshing, like when we pass by fields of rice, or groves of trees along the road.
Right now we are passing a diesel truck with an oil leak and black smoke pouring out of it, and that smell is really bad.
Then there are the times when we slow down and pass through an outdoor market. The smell of raw meat baking in the sun mixing with the scent of human sweat can easily turn your stomach. But the smell of fritters cooking in oil or fresh fruit can make you hungry.
You have to remember that we live in a capital city, and lately traffic has been terrible. Right now we are in a traffic jam, and every time we get some shade, we get a little relief from the hot sun. Normally I sit in the front seat with the A/C blasting, but now I sit in the back where there is more shade, and I can move from one side of the car to the other depending on where the sun is.
Everyone here is saying that September is much hotter than last year. I don’t think you can get much hotter than 100% humidity and 90-100 degrees.
It also makes me appreciate the importance of wind. When we are sitting in traffic in the hot sun and there is no breeze, the heat is oppressive and sweltering.
I’ve learned in my 50 years of life that there is often an important lesson in suffering. To quote C.S. Lewis ““We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
So I thought about how the Bible personifies the Holy Spirit as wind in John chapter 3: ”5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Just as the heat was almost unbearable when there was no wind to cool us down while driving, so it is with us without the “breeze” of the Holy Spirit working through us. Our spiritual lives become stale and unbearable without the “breath of life”, the Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed on his disciples in John 20: 22 “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
When we grieve the HS it is like closing the windows in a car with no A/C. We suffocate spiritually and our spiritual lives become unhealthy.
So if your spiritual “air conditioning” is broken because you are not listening to the Holy Spirit, get it fixed by confessing your sin and tune into the Holy Spirit and you’ll feel a lot better!
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