Investments

'...where you invest your love, you invest your life.'

A couple weeks ago, I asked Tim if he could send me a quick update about what he has been doing in Haiti.  We know we need to keep all of you informed as best we can and yet it sometimes is difficult to accurately explain what is going on in our lives especially now as our family is in two separate 'worlds' so-to-speak.

But here it goes anyway...

The following is a summery from Tim, and following that I will do my best to fill in information from times he and I have talked.

* New Christian Academy - We have been making some great progress on the new Christian academy in the last several weeks. A road leading from the top of a hill down to the school has been constructed. This was a huge undertaking that required a lot of construction materials and manpower.  Our unseasonably dry October weather allowed us to finish the work. The next stage of construction will be to finish one of the school buildings so we are ready for school next year.

*  Block Plant - Progress on the block plant has been slow. We have land purchased and all the paperwork is in-line. We also have a contract in place with a construction company to build a bridge to the property and a wall around the property.  As soon as the bridge is built we can work on getting a well dug for water. A large water tank was recently purchased so we can store water for the various construction projects. 

*  Financial - Mission Haiti recently purchased a new financial software system. The new system will allow for greater flexibility and better financial reporting. Transferring all of our information over to a new system has proved to be a time intensive task. 

- Creole lessons - I've been taking creole lessons for the last several weeks. I'm SLOWLY picking up the language.

 From talking with Tim I know that this list is not all that he has done in the past 3 weeks.  While he has been there the Mission-Haiti orphanage has taken in a couple new faces.  He has also been along with other team members to visit a new 'family' who Mission Haiti has been trying to help.  It is a situation where two sets of brother and sister orphans were living in one house taking care of each other with next to nothing.  Tim sent me a couple pictures and a list of clothing items they needed, and asked me to do what I could.  It was nice for me to still be able to play a small role while away.  Tim has also been helping with youth group, keeping up on the day-to-day on the property along with all the team members (which sounds simple but is amazing how busy that can make a person) and of course doing all the chores around our house cause we are not there to assist.....

The girls and I are doing well living with my parents in Sioux Center, IA.  We have fallen into a flexible routine and another period of transition seems to be accepted.  I am also happy to report that my mom has now had two rounds of chemo treatments and has handled it all with much grace.  She got great news last week just before they started her chemo drugs, reporting that her 'tumor markers' had decreased by almost 2/3's.  This tells us that her body is responding to the treatments and the amount of cancer tumors in her body is much less!  Please help us praise God for this answer to prayers, and we ask that you diligently continue to pray these numbers continue to decline.  

A few last thoughts and I will be finished for now. 

A couple weeks ago I heard a sermon preached titled "Living an Everyday Missional Life (That Saves the World and Us from Ourselves.)  It was preached by Pastor Aaron Baart, dean of chapel at Dordt College in Sioux Center, IA.  There were many points in the words he spoke that morning that stuck out and really challenged my thinking. 

One point in particular was about how we who claim to be Christians should always be giving our testimonies, not as something that had happened in the past, but we should speak of our present-tense testimony.  I considered that for our family.  Our present tense situation is drastically different within the five members who make up the Mulder family.  Tim is on a tropical island amongst new relationships and challenges, I am helping to care for our Mom who is battling a dreaded disease, our girls are rolling with home-school while adding a bit of distraction and joy in a setting that might be a bit too quiet when facing very real health concerns.  I tried to imagine if each of us had to speak our testimony how different they would sound... but then I realized instead how intensely similar they would be.

I heard a song playing in our van that next week which helped me realize this.  It is by Momford & Sons called "Awake My Soul." In this song the phrase "... where you invest your love, you invest your life" struck me.  Although the song is not new to me, that phrase helped me shape what our present-tense testimony is.  Think about it for yourself.  Where do you invest your love?  Because I believe it is true, that is what your life is about.  So although our family faces very different circumstances from day-to-day, we are confident we are investing in the people we have been asked to love right now as best we can. 

We want to also take this opportunity to also say thank you for loving our family so well.  Tim, myself and the girls have been so well taken care of in both big and small ways through a time of more changes.  So many of you have also expressed care and offered prayers for my Mom and Dad.  We could never adequately tell you how much we value this, but we humbly ask that you continue.

"The Land Between"

We wanted to give you a little insight into what has been going on in our adventure lately. 
Many of you might know already, but on September 30, our family of 5 traveled back to the Sioux Falls airport.  We made the decision for the 3 girls and I, Sara, to temporarily return and move in with our parents after learning of my mother's stage 3 ovarian cancer diagnosis the week prior.  So we all returned and spent a week with our families, after which we sent Tim off again to return to Haiti and resume his work with Mission Haiti.  We are happy to say he returned to the property safely on October 8, and is again busy.

While we were home all together, we moved into my parent's house in Sioux Center/Rock Valley, and will share time between both sets of our parents.  We had originally planned to return to the states on November 23 with the other American team members and remain until December 30 for a good long holiday break.  So we look forward to the end of November when Tim will return again, and are praying we can return to Haiti at the end of December with the rest of our Mission Haiti team members.  We have learned to be diligently praying for peace, unity and obedience when it comes to making plans...,

This was not an easy decision for us to make and yet we know and have peace it is what we need to do right now.  Our team in Haiti was very supportive of us and prayed diligently that we would be led to do what we needed.  Tim and I talked a lot together as well as consulting with family and friends that we knew would give us honest, and wise advice.  My parents never told us that we needed to come home, or made us feel guilty in any way.  What we kept coming back to was that fact that we would never regret spending time with our family during a diagnosis like this, whatever way this road leads our mom.  We also knew, after spending 7 weeks in Haiti, what it takes to serve and live well there.  I knew for myself that my heart would be wanting to be with my mom and so would not be 'all in' where we were in serving with Mission Haiti. 

We also have been led to take the perspective that had we not moved to Haiti, we would be working jobs and attending school, in which case a diagnosis like my mom has received would have added to our life... now, we had the ability to be flexible because of home-schooling and make helping our family our first priority.

So... here we are, more transition and more adjustments for us all.  We feel blessed to be where we are and for the people both in Haiti and in the U.S. who have supported us through this time.  It is definitely not what we intended, or how we planned things to go, but we know this is right for now.  After returning the first week to the US, we were at a friend's house and he was giving Tim some books to return to Haiti with that he thought would be good for him to read.  One of the books was titled The Land Between, by Jeff Manion.  The tag line of the book reads, "Finding God in Difficult Transitions.'  When I read that I asked Tim if it was okay if I kept it to read while he returned. 

After starting read a little bit of the book, I identified with a lot of what was being said.  One phrase I want to share talks about a choice we all have when any of us face transition.

'The Land Between can be profoundly disorienting.  It also provides the space for God to do some of His deepest work in our lives.  God intends for us to emerge from this land radically reshaped.  But the process of transformational growth will not occur automatically.  Our response to God while in the Land Between is what will determine whether our journey through this desert will result in deep, positive growth or spiritual decline.  We choose.' 

I feel this is what our family is facing after leaving Haiti.  With seven weeks in to our adventure, we were just feeling acclimated to life there.  We were being allowed to see purpose and value in our being a part of Mission Haiti and the people we lived amongst.  And I feel this Land Between is what my Mother is facing as she heads into cancer treatment.  This disease snuck up on our family and yet has revealed already what the body of Christ looks like when they give so unselfishly in so many ways.

So as I said before, we are where we need to be for now.  We will battle this cancer disease however we need to for as long as we need to, and are thankful to have the ability to spend time with our families. 
Keep praying for all involved.  Pray for Mission Haiti, for Tim as we are away from each other, for my Mom and Dad as they walk the cancer road, and a prayer of thanks for all of you who have already reached out to us in some way.  We are grateful and humbled by your willingness to meet our needs and pray us through.