April 15, 2009 update

Hello from Haiti!

This is Gwenn here. I am in Haiti as a part of a team of 11 people comprised of my family and friends and we are getting everything ready down here in Jacmel for our move. It is SO exciting. I finally was able to see our new house and drive our new truck! It's a dream.

With a lot of elbow grease, an unanticipated kitchen remodel (LOTS of water damage), 3 gallons of bleach, 25 gallons of paint, hardcore weeding, some masonry repair, power washing, and just general hard work-- it is looking great. I LOVE this house. I REALLY love this house. It is going to be perfect for our family and our family to be! I am incredibly grateful for the hard work of this team, plus several local missionaries, and community members who have come out to give of their time and talents to make our home comfortable.

I have to tell you, even though I really miss Nick and my boys (Nia is here with me), I am grateful to be here at this time. It's nice to move down knowing that our living space is so well prepared for us! It also came at a good time as I was starting to get overwhelmed with the grief of goodbyes. But God, being so gracious, knew exactly what I needed, and nearly the moment I walked off the plane, I remembered the unspeakable joy it is for me to be in this country. I love Haiti. I especially love Jacmel. I love the entire HCH family (about 40+ of them these days between children and staff!) I love being a part of this journey on which God has called us.

Please pray for the remainder of our trip. Please pray we'd get done all that needs to be done in time. (It's looking good that we will!) Please pray for our safety as we travel to Port Au Prince on Saturday to work on cleaning our apartment where we'll stay during language training. Pray for easy travel with no interruptions. I *may* be driving for the first time in Port... Yikes! (We're staying in a guest house there.) Pray that there are no complications with our flight on Sunday afternoon.

Please pray for our family. The next time we update you we will ALL be in Haiti. For good. Wow. At times it felt like this time wouldn't ever arrive. But we're extra thankful for you as we think about the future, but we're also extra sad as we grieve the loss of regular contact with our friends, family, and church in the US.

Please pray for our initial transition-- we fly from Raleigh to Haiti on April 27!

Please pray that God would provide the remainder of funds we still need and that we will be able to live within our budgeted means.

We love you all. Thank you for your part in making this dream God planted in our hearts blossom.

Always grateful,
Gwenn (and Nick + the kiddos too!)

HCH Mangine! Check it out!

Vicki paints Nia's "loft" (it's actually a salmon color even though it looks orange in this pic...)

My sister-in-law Kristi prunes the hedges with a leatherman. (Nothing like the right tool for the job, eh?)

Our new truck! Woo Hoo!

John and Mikey work on building kitchen cabinets.