Happy Thanksgiving

Pray that you all have a great and wonderful Thanksgiving day. Our Buxman tradition followed us down here and we are hosting the feast today with at least 70 missionary adults and kids. Since we have no TV and there is no parade here we just might go out to the street and watch people, that is almost as amusing as a parade! We miss all of you and traditions we have back in the states.

Good Eats

There are some very good reasons to live on this Caribbean island, mangos, avacodos, bananas, breadfruit and acra. We love mangos here, they are huge and sweeter than western slope peaches. The avacados are as big as softballs and great to eat just by themselves. That is one avacodo on a dinner plate and I am ready to eat. The mangos are on the left.

We now have a vehicle, it is a Mitsubushi io, not sold in the US but is a smaller version of a Mitsubushi Montero. It will do for now but it is only for 5 people but already we have had 7 in it going to church and I am sure a few more could get in somehow. There are no seatbelt laws here and so we just cram in because of the cost of transportation.

Lisa has had about 7 births since she has been here and Tuesday and Thursday are prenatal days with about 20 women in the program. Word is quickly speading about the quility of care, love and compassion that is provided to these needy women who have never had that type of care and a waiting list is growing fast to get in.

We are hosting Thanksgiving here for some missionary families this year. So far it looks like 75 are going to come. Almost a Buxman family reunion.

Sunday Evening wrestling match by Don

Sitting here getting ready to write and two boys and two dogs, one big and one smaller of each, or maybe all 4 are smelly dogs. We have 2 Mastiff dogs here, the larger named Larry who is 1 1/2 years old and not yet fully grown and a mixed Mastiff/Labrador puppy named Nora. There are here as guard dogs and when clean can come in and out of the house. They do a great job of security just by the site of them, some people will not even come in our gate but wait outside to talk to us. Trent and Joey got into a wrestling match with them and as you can see who the clear winners are.

Lisa and Shane are getting haircuts by a beautician that has here for a couple of days to visit someone and some of the women and Shane go and get theirs done while they have the opportunity. We had a great morning at church, our church here is like the old time camp meetings that I remember going to. Everyone and I mean everyone is singing loud and praising God, it is a great worship time.

We are planning to go look at a vehicle tomorrow and hopefully it will be available so we can have transportation on our own instead of walking or finding rides. Lisa and I will start language classes 3 nights a week also, I was told there is a lot of homework and I want to think my brain is to full for that. But to build relationships with the Haitians, we must be able to converse well with them, so I will streach my brain. There is still a lot of issues with this house that need attention and will try to do plumbing and electrical work in the next few weeks. We would like to have a working sink, it really makes cleaning up easier we have found.

Lisa has really settled in well with the Women's Clinic and doing awesome things. Lisa, Shane, Joey and Corrie really did well surviving in this house with all that went on while I was gone. I will tell more another time what needs to be done with electric and water at this house.

My work here with Heartline will be watching over the three generators and maintenance of them and the batteries and inverters too. Also being involved in the roof top gardening and tilapia fish and the chickens. I guess I am a chicken farmer again! As of right now one of the generators is down and needs the timing belt replaced.

We will be planning over the next months for what God wants us to do with a mens program here. Please be praying with and for us to see what God's plan is to make an impact on these men here that will someday make an impact on the future of Haiti.

Thanks again to all of you that made Trent and my last days in Colorado special with your love and support and goodbyes that were hard to do. May God richly bless you this week.

Thursday - prenatal day click on pictures to enlarge

All of these women are so special! Nicole (below) will need to have her baby in a hospital because of her previous C.section. She would love to have her baby at the clinic. We love caring for her, listening to her and praying for her.

random pictures Of life here!

This is Clercine, the road we live off. We live in a 'gated' community called Village Theadot. I walk this road several times a week to the Birth center, or to meet up with Beth to run. Sometimes the foot path is just trash that has been packed down. This is where I have seen the dead rats - lovely sight!