THANKSGIVING, HAITI STYLE. Yes, wherever you find Americans on the fourth Thursday in November, you'll find Thanksgiving. Stargels, Kosters, Blowers, and Smith all joined forces to polish off turkey and ham with all the fixins. So what if it was 85 degrees outside and the kids had to go to school this morning!

NOT SICK ANYMORE. Just received a note from someone who read about us being sick. It is a sad commentary that I mentioned being sick but failed to mention being better! Well we are. Of course there is that nagging cough that seems to hang around forever, but nothing compared to the full-blown symptoms!

A LONGER ROAD. Work is progressing nicely on the campus road extention. The masons that normally help us build churches have been working for about a month now to help us shore up the stretch from the campus to the first two home on the upper campus. We were losing ground due to erosions. The guys are laying paving tiles and have completed about a third of the road.



And of course where there is a pile of sand (for the road) there will be kids!

TRAVEL LOG. Seems like the Dean and I have been putting in a lot of miles lately. Today we returned from a two-day conference in the Dominican Republic. All four Nazarene Bible chools in the Caribbean (Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad, D.R.) met on the campus of the Seminario Theologico Nazareno in Santo Domingo. It was good to visit the campus again. Over 10 years ago, Linda and I were part of a small team that went down and taught a few courses in the extention program down there. We weren't married at the time, but I think that was when Linda fell in love with me! *smile*

LEBANON, OHIO. Received a very nice note from Debbie Hopkins of the Countryside Community Church of the Nazarene (wow, that is a mouthful) in Lebanon, Ohio. She has been checking our newsletter and sharing the information with the folks at her church. Thanks for the encouraging words, Debbie!

LINDA UPDATE. Seems like I have had lots of special opportunities to speak these days. I spoke twice at the Central District Sunday School training. The subjects were: "The importance of personal devotions in the life of a Christian leader" and "Prevenient grace: a Wesleyen perspective." Then just this week, our Bible College students invited me to speak at their spiritual dedication week. Their theme is "Christian hope: towards a new identity" and I'll be speaking next Sunday night. It's a wonderful feeling to be asked to speak, but it sure does take a lot of preparation!

THE THINGS KIDS SAY. Got a note from good friend Kathy Johnson-Warner today. Sounds like her Grace and our Rebecca would get a long great on the "talking" front. Grace's quote-of-the day "Mommy, I had a sneeze but he ran away." I should write a book. Kids Say the Darndest Things... oh wait, maybe someone already wrote that one.

NOT MALARIA. We thought it was but it evidently wasn't. I started feeling sick before my trip to Mole Saint Nicolas on Friday. After I got back, I tucked myself into bed and slept until Saturday around noon. Fever, body aches, headaches. Linda started me on Malaria meds, but they didn't seem to do the trick. We though dengué fever, but didn't seem like I was hurting enough to be that! I was in bed must of the weekend and feel pretty good tonight. I guess we'll see tomorrow if I am over it or not. Well, at least it wasn't rabies. :)

THE FAR FAR WEST. Yesterday (Friday) a delegation from the Bible College traveled to the Far North West for another Extention Center opening. The trip to Mole Saint-Nicolas takes about 15 hours by car (assuming no breakdowns), but only 50 minutes by MAF airplane.

The air strip is right beside the ocean, and you can see Cuba as you come in for a landing. The local police wanted to talk to us and make sure we were on the up-and-up, so we were a bit late getting to the service. Twenty-four new students were present. They had class Thursday evening and Friday morning. By the time we arrived, the service was already going strong. It was great time! This was the last of our scheduled trips. We hope that the other seven district will organize their centers soon!


The service at Mole Saint-Nicolas, already in full-swing when we got there


Normally a fourteen hour trip by car, we were able to make the trip in an hour thanks to the ministry of Mission Aviation Fellowship.