Saturday, August 28, 2010

Update from Phyllis Schmid


Greetings,
I’m sitting on our patio enjoying the view.   I wish I could invite all of you to join me here for a tall glass of iced tea.  It is very HOT and HUMID but there is a breeze and I love sitting here.  Last weekend David worked with Amilus to top some of the overgrown trees giving us a view of the sea once again.  God protected the men as they worked and the result is breath taking.  I can see several royal palm trees and I was thinking about how they are still such a beautiful sight to me.   I came from small town western PA and have now lived in Haiti longer than I ever lived there.   I had never traveled far away from PA and Indiana when David was in seminary so coming to Haiti and all the tropical beauty just awed me and I still love it.


Last time I wrote we were on our way to the beach with McMartins.  We had a WONDERFUL time and Cindy did find the “water therapy” was good for her foot!  Actually swimming helped David with some of the residual stiffness in his shoulder.  We all looked at each other and said why did we wait SO long to get away like this.  The peace and tranquility ministered to our souls.

Progress is taking place on the classroom building.  Classes are scheduled to begin on September  6th.    It is a very nice and practical building and will house 3 classrooms.  The home being converted into administrative offices for STEP is close to completion and will serve very well.  MFI was given some 16X32 heavy white canvas tents with sides and screens. They are like new condition.   MFI covered the costs of shipping 2 of them to Haiti and we will only have to pay for the customs charges.  Please pray with us that customs would be reasonable.  One of the tents will probably be used to place some sturdy metal picnic tables for students to use for studying etc.  There are also plans to put up temporary faculty offices.  Please pray for the STEP administration and board as they evaluate the plans for the future. 

David just returned from La Coma where he taught 3 – 3 hour sessions for pastors and lay leaders in the northwest.   There were 20 new students there this time.  This was the seminar that was supposed to take place the day of the earthquake but had been canceled that morning due to heavy rains in the area.  This permitted David to be here in Port when the quake took place.  Anyway, it was a very good seminar.

It is hard sometimes to see progress when we are in town.  The piles of debris are overwhelming.  There is progress but it is a slow process.  We continue to have people come with needs.  One young man told me of his struggles since the quake.  He didn’t want a “handout” - he wanted a job.  My heart broke because this is the case with so many.  A young woman lost her mother who had a small business downtown.  When the noise of the quake began the mother was outside and she ran inside because she thought it was shooting and she was killed when the building collapsed.  Now there are 3 younger siblings and her father (who suffered a stroke last year) that she is trying to care for and they no longer have the income from the mother’s business.   One of David’s STEP students told us he is responsible for his sister’s 4 young children because she is still recovering from grave injuries in the quake.    This is repeated over and over again.  Thanks so much for your prayers for the Haitian people and for the specials gifts we’ve received in order to help people begin to rebuild their lives.  The affects of your generosity are far-reaching.

Bruce McMartin leaves tomorrow to join Cindy in Portland.  They will return the 18th of October.  Pray for the circulation problem in Cindy’s foot.  The break is healing but there is still a problem there.  We are glad she can be seen in the states.

Bruce and Deb Robinson spent the night here on Thursday before heading out to the states for vacation, meetings and team preparations.  Deb was SO SWEET when she told me the next morning at breakfast that our home was a “refuge” for them.  Even though our guestroom now has a tall bookcase full of David’s books from his former office (just a fraction of his library) and the desk has his stuff on it she still thought of it as a “refuge”.  Thanks Deb, you made my day!

David and I are attending CrossWorld’s leadership conference the 2nd week in October in Kansas City, Missouri.  Last week I was cleaning the dental appliances I got in April.  They have been a tremendous help to me but when I was cleaning them I had the water a little too hot and I guess I warped them!  Believe me when I went to put them in after the cleaning I was SICK.  It didn’t register with me for a second and my heart sank.  A long story short I will be going out ahead of David for the leadership conference and will again see the dentist in Fredericksburg VA to be refit.  The dentist reminded me that God is in control and I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt but I also felt so ashamed that my negligence (granted not intentional) caused this problem.   Oh well, God has once again worked out the details and I’m thankful for the care I can receive.  I’ll see my brother’s family and also Karen, Amy and Jeff for a couple of days.

I always have projects while David is away like he was for the seminar.  I got some finance work done, organizing, baking and other odds and ends then decided it was “ok” for me to have some “me time”.  I worked on a wall hanging sewing project I’ve wanted to do for a while.  I hope to finish it today.  I was talking to my friend, Lamour, about it.  He is the mission chauffeur but is also a very good tailor.  He loves seeing different sewing projects.  I told him I was taking “me time” and he said it was good for me to do that because he knows sewing is “medicine for my spirit”.

Well, enough rambling for today.   Have a great weekend.
Love,
Phyllis 

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