Phew, everybody! I do apologize for the delay in getting a blog post up these days. For one thing, the internet (need I say more?). For another, there’s been a lot going on as we close another school/work year.
So let me catch you up on what’s been going on as we wrap up:
Music Group Outing
For the May 18th holiday, Krischelle took the girls/singers from Lemuel’s music group to a performing arts event in Arcahaie. The purpose was to observe performance techniques, while at the same time providing an opportunity for meaningful investment in the lives of these girls. Brad was the trusty chauffer/chaperone.
The weekend outing went very well, and the girls made some great observations. They afterwards presented to the church what they had learned. One of the lessons was as follow: “We learned that we shouldn’t adopt every practice that we observe. We can choose to apply the good things and leave out things that we wouldn’t feel right doing as followers of Christ.”
School Construction
The kindergarten has tile!
There has also been work continuing in the primary school as they go through the stages of finishing cement walls and preparing for more construction on the porch and stairs for the second story. We have windows ready for pick-up too!
Speaking of the school…
…they took a field trip at the beginning of June to visit some historical sites in Marchand Dessalines. Dessalines poses in bronze in the picture below.
There are many forts around Marchand Dessalines, and they require quite a bit of hiking!
On June 24th, the school held their closing party.
The class of third-year kindergartners (pictured here with their teacher, Therese) will be moving on to primary school next year!
The third graders put on a skit about the importance of trees. You can see a short from it below:
Team from Ogema, WI
In the middle of June, we received the Ground Zero youth group from Ogema Baptist Church. Their main project was putting up fences for reforestation, but they also did much more!
The first fence was installed around a community structure called the Anga. This gazebo-type building was constructed many, many years ago, before Lemuel started working on the Plateau. Not only does it serve as a space to hold community meetings, but it also provides shelter for people stranded in the area for one reason or another. Unfortunately, over the years, it fell into severe disrepair. The community has been asking Lemuel to help them fix up the Anga for quite some time.
This project was a true partnership: the community participated, Lemuel participated, Ogema participated, and a team in July will also participate to paint and plant trees.
The youth and our development department also put a fence up for a local family, who had already been taking steps towards planting trees in their yard.
The team members offered their skills in various other areas as well. One of the highlights of their visit was a Gospel-centered concert that we put on for the community. Both Lemuel’s music group and the Ogeam team performed together and separately. It was a good time! (I hope I can add a video someday!) During the week, the Ogema group performed their songs for various sick and handicapped people in our area too.
Kaarin used her crochet skills to teach some new patterns to the ladies.
Rick (who is a nurse) brought a medical bag with a few advanced items in it. You know, “Just in case.” He thought he probably would not need to open it.
He did….many times. For instance, one of the school kids needed stitches in his head. Yeah, we’re always glad when someone is here to do that.
The team also sanded down the kindergarten. This is not fun or easy! First of all–which may surprise you–rubbing sandpaper over cement inside a building is LOUD! You definitely need ear plugs. Secondly, its a hot, sweaty, crusty job. But they did it! The July Canadian team will hopefully be priming the Kindergarten building as well.
Nathan updated our sound system in the church and built some badly needed screen doors.
We had a great time with our new friends. Thanks, Ogema! We look forward to seeing you again!
Hello, Summer!
This past Saturday (June 23), we had our last General Assembly with our staff before the close of the 2017-2018 work year. It was a positive time of reinforcing Lemuel’s purpose, reviewing the year, and challenging our staff to deeper commitment as we look ahead to next year. There will be a couple activities during the month of July, but we are hoping to catch our breaths before jumping into staff training in August and final preparations for next year.
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