Mangine Family update-- December 1, 2008
Hello Friends-
I am writing to you tonight LIVE from Haiti! Nick and I have been here for the past two weeks with our entire family and it has been an incredible joy. We've felt over and over God's protection and provision during this trip and it's made us anxious for the time when God will provide a way for us to be here full-time. We're so thankful for you, who have joined us in this journey.
Here's a not-so-quick recap of the past MONTH (yes, we realized about a week ago that we forgot to do a mid-month update!)
Our vacation to Mexico at the beginning of the month was TREMENDOUS! We stayed at a beautiful new resort in Maroma Beach along with our friends, the Gilliams. We ate and swam and ate and relaxed and ate and... (are you detecting a pattern here?) Our kids stayed out in Manteo with my family and they had as much fun as we did.
We only had about 10 days in between returning from Mexico and leaving for Haiti, so that was a crazy several days-- unpacking, doing laundry, shopping re-packing... It went much more smoothly than I imagined it would, and for the first time ever we were packed a day and a half ahead of time, which in and of itself was no small feat since we had to pack Thanksgiving dinner for 60 people-- including two large frozen turkeys in coolers. (We didn't actually pack those until the morning we left.)
The past few weeks here in Haiti have been, once-again, very eye-opening. Nick and I got to play "Dad and Mom" for a week while Danny and Leann were in the US for Thanksgiving. It was fantastic, because we feel like we did get a good idea of what we are "in for" as houseparents-- both in good ways and bad! We loved watching our kids' personalities here in Haiti-- each child responded so differently this time. Nia was a little more shy this time around, but loved all the attention once she warmed up. She's enjoying learning and using more Creole (as we all are) and has developed a love for goat meat.
It was a lot of fun to watch Nico in his native environment. It's beautiful to see him interacting as a Haitian child. Beautiful. It's as if he's come alive in ways we have not seen before. I cannot explain the depth of feelings this has awakened in us. We truly desire for Nico to know and understand his culture, and we're thrilled at the prospect of him being raised in it, and yet fully OUR son. I cannot think of a way for God to grant us this desire in a more complete way.
Josiah. Ah, Josiah. He has been a handful. He's such an active child, so Haiti this time around has been more challenging for us than any previous trip. You never realize the full extent of the "risks" in any place until you bring a toddler. Wow. We've been constantly on our feet. If he's not hitting the dog, he's overturning the washbasins full of wet laundry. If he's not playing with spiders or roaches, he's trying to sneak out the gate. I can honestly say he's been as much work as the other 24 children combined, but he's so darn sweet, it's hard to get frustrated about it.
One of the biggest challenges of this trip was the pink eye that ravaged the home and our entire family during this trip. For some reason, I had a larger than average reaction and although I have been on antibiotic drops for 9 days now, I still have one very pink eye.
The kids here at the home have welcomed us here. We've really enjoyed our time with them. They were very obedient and helped us a lot with language. Creole (while we are still FAR from fluent) is becoming more intuitive for all of us. We're VERY excited about language school once we arrive "for good"-- there's a certain respect that we've noticed that comes along with speaking the native language.
A highlight of the trip was preparing and serving Thanksgiving for all the children and all the staff, as well as their families. It was about 60 people-- including a few crashers. We all assumed someone else knew them. Sandra, part of the HCH family here in Haiti, worked all day along with me-- literally from 6AM-8PM. Fun was had by all, but I WAS EXHAUSTED.
We return to NC tomorrow with a bit of a heavy heart. We're glad to be going back to our own beds and familiar things, but as always, we leave a piece of our hearts here. We love Haiti. We love Jacmel. We love the Haitian Children's Home and the stories of redemption we see LIVING and BREATHING before our eyes. We feel so priviliged to be called to work in this way. Seriously, we can't imagine anything we'd love more.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the people who are already a part of our prayer and financial support team. Keep it coming! We're currently at about 12% of our monthly need and 5% of our one-time costs that need to be raised before we can leave. We trust God has called us here, and we eagerly await the time when we can say that we are fully funded and ready to go. Will you consider being a part of sending us?
With grateful hearts,
Nick and Gwenn Mangine
Josiah and Nia caused quite a stir as white children in Jacmel. Jacmel, a city of about 30,000, has ONE white child (literally), the Pye's daughter, Riann. So white kids are quite interesting to many kids.
A few of the MANY plates.
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