Update and Pictures from Phyllis Schmid

Hi,

These are pictures of the renovations making “Almost Heaven” (most recently Boggs Home) into administrative offices for STEP.

As you walk in the front door – Jacques Louis’ office is on the right – where Boxley’s office was – Jacques is the Administrator.


The glassed in area is for the secretaries.

The kitchen\Dining room area will be divided into smaller offices.

The large back bedroom will be President’s office and the other large bedroom will be divided between the Dean of Students, and Academic Dean. Not sure who the back little bedroom by the bathroom is for.


The following pictures are of the temporary classroom building.

McMartin's team is doing the installation of fans, lights, outlets and wooden shutter windows.
The Haitian masons will do the front porch, steps and sidewalk. There will be a covered porch on the front of the building towards the basketball court.

The last picture is of the finished retaining wall by the house that used to be Bitner's, See's, Laloi's and several others.

Update from Phyllis Schmid

Had a little scare in church this morning when before the service began we heard a loud crashing noise behind and above us from the stairway to the balcony. Everyone around us responded in the same way - panic on faces until we realized it was a folding chair that had dropped on the stairs and tumbled down. I wonder when these panic responses will fade - everyone smiled at each other because we all had the same reaction.

I wanted to tell you about a good story on Haiti in the Newsweek magazine dated July 26, 2010. It is called A TreeGrows in Haiti. It is a good review of the situation here withdeforestation, etc. Don't know if you can read it on line or not. (Here is a link to the article: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/16/a-tree-grows-in-haiti.html)

We arrived home to Haiti via Miami yesterday (Saturday) morning around 8 our time. That was a bit different than we planned when we left Amy's at 3 am on Friday to catch the 7:20 am flight to San Juan Puerto Rico with a connecting flight to Port-au-Prince. Karen drove us to Philadelphia and everything was going well until the time for boarding passed and they made the announcement we all dread - there is a problem with the plane. The problem with the plane was that the plastic EXIT sign cover near the front of the plane was missing and they can't fly without it. They could not find a cover in Philadelphia airport so one was being driven down from JFK in NYC which is a good 2 hour drive in good traffic conditions. So they called anyone who had a connecting flight to come up. In the end we were switched to fly to Miami but would have to spend the night and then fly to Haiti on Saturday. Our plane for Miami flew before the one for San Juan. It was really delayed even more than 2 hours.

We were given a voucher for lunch and then got our plane to Miami. In Miami there was a little bit of a tense time when we didn't know where our luggage went. It was supposed to be pulled from the San Juan plane and taken to the Miami plane. We were told that had happened and that we would have to claim it in Miami and then recheck it the next morning. The agents in Miami said we did not have to claim it and it would be put with the Haiti stuff and be on the plane. Well, experience told us that perhaps we should pray about this so we did. We were put in the Airport Hotel because we had such an early flight the next morning. We had a great dinner, wonderful room, and nice breakfast all compliments of American Airlines.

We originally were in the very back of the plane for the Haiti flight, then moved to an exit row - seats #10 A & B. When we went through security I got stopped because the security agent looked at my boarding pass and my passport and said, "Did you change your name?" Of course I looked at her like she had grown horns and said NO. My boarding pass had the name of a man - Daniel Weissman - on it. So off we go to the AA desk and got my correct boarding pass and got back in the security line. Thinking "what else can happen on this trip?" we were getting ready to board the plane and David was called up and we were put in FIRST CLASS!

We were the first ones on the plane. As we were sitting in these incredibly large comfortable seats and being served orange juice we heard them ask for Daniel Weissman - yes that same name that was on my boarding pass to come to the front. We heard him say "yes, they gave my seat away" so I guess they did it again as they already had given it to me once. Anyway what a mess but at least we got seats in 1st class and got another small breakfast and enjoyed our flight back.

That was to prepare us for arriving at the Haiti airport just after the Fort Lauderdale flight had landed so the baggage claim area was absolute BEDLAM. Thankfully everyone laughed and helped each other and we finally found our suitcases (thank you Lord) and got out of the airport. We went to the outdoor market to buy veggies and fruit since I knew I had none at home and finally got home.

David had his stuff from his STEP office sorted, packed and organized before we left for our 10 days in the states but now needs to get it out of the house where they originally put it so that area can be made into administrative offices. That will be his job this week. Then in mid August he goes to La Coma on the north coast to teach the continuing education seminar he was supposed to do the day of the earthquake back in January. Remember it was cancelled due to heavy rains up north which meant he was here with me for the earthquake - praise the Lord! We also need to work on getting his teaching materials.

I need to catch up on the earthquake finances and have a few other things on my "to do" list. It was not easy to think about returning once again but now that I'm back I'm ok. I am SO glad we had the time at the Bala Goodbye. The fellowship, sharing, rest away from the stresses of Haiti were really what we both needed. It was great to remember with so many co-workers from many different fields how God provided that beautiful property 56 years ago. At one of the meetings during the worship time the leader had us all sing "God is so good" in the language of the country where we live at the same time. What a neat experience it was! She hadn't planned it but we had sung "oh for a thousand tongues to sing" and so she suggested it.

The temporary classroom has a roof, outer wooden walls completed and 2 interior cement block walls done. There is still a lot of work to get done so keep praying that this building will be ready for classes to begin.

We enjoyed some family time and even went to see "Joseph" at Sight and Sound in Lancaster. I was reminded once again of the "power of forgiveness" and how many times I read and teach these Old Testament stories from the Bible and don't really let the truth impact my life. I was in tears at the end after seeing the "power of forgiveness" in Joseph's life.

My niece in Illinois just got on skype with me and the call lasted 10 minutes. I was able to see her kids and they could see me as I took them on a little tour outside. They wanted to see our lizards and tarantulas but alas none were around for the viewing! Maybe next time. That was fun.

Love to all,
Phyllis

Share your memories

If you have memories of Haiti, please share them with me. If you have pictures, send those too!

I have a set up a second blog to pass them along for others to share. Send me an email at Haitigirl1976@hotmail.com. I will share them on http://HaitiMemories.blogspot.com.

Update from Phyllis Schmid

Hi Everyone,

Wow, where does time go? We leave tomorrow for Philadelphia and the "Bala Farewell" at our mission headquarters before the big move to Kansas City. I think we both might be a little more enthusiastic if we hadn't been sick all weekend. I am not a last minute person and my energy reserves have been depleted and so today getting everything done before we leave seems insurmountable but I know it isn't. It will all get done!

Duane Brown and his friend, Jeff, left on Saturday morning with the classroom building tin roof almost completed. Cindy's brother in law and nephew are here until Wednesday and continue to work on the remodeling of one of the houses for administrative offices for STEP. It is hard to leave Bruce and Cindy behind as we are all stretched about as tight as you can get. On top of that Cindy turned her ankle on an uneven floor on Friday and broke a bone in her foot so she is in a cast for 6 weeks. A friend once shared that even a "strong rubber band" snaps eventually under too much pressure and we are trying to avoid that by all means. Bruce and Cindy are leaving for a period of time this fall for some vacation, family time and work. Pray for added strength for them during these 10 days we are away and for good healing in Cindy's foot.

Pray too for the campus and STEP administration as they follow through and complete the temporary classroom and administrative office work this summer. There is still a lot to do.

One of our main projects when we return will be preparing David's student materials for hermeneutics and Daniel/Revelation for the fall semester.

David just got back from the American Embassy. Two answers to prayer – we needed new pages in our passports but didn't know if David could do it for me or if I needed to be there in person. He was able to get mine done so that was great. We had been notified that they were now charging for this service but when he got there he found out that today it was still "FREE" and tomorrow they start charging for the service. Thank you Lord.

I probably won't be able to send an update until we get back to Haiti but we will be able to communicate by email through David's computer and at the same cell phone numbers we've always had in the states.

Phyllis

Pictures of the changes on campus