Good afternoon everyone! We just wanted to stop and say thank you to everyone who stops by and hears about all the crazy adventures we have every day (If you are reading this then this thank you would be for you!). It is a real encouragement to keep on posting the updates when we see all the number of people that visit us each and every month.

This past week has come to a close and placed in the history books.

We had some fun trying to figure out whether or not we are participating in daylight savings time or not. Historically, Haiti has not taken part in daylight savings time, but this year they decided it was as good of a time to start as any. We had some phones that moved an hour ahead and other phones that stayed the same. After a full day of confusion though, we had everyone switched over and onto the new Haiti daylight savings time (Which matches the eastern U.S. time zone if you were curious).

We hosted another team from PA this week, this time a mission builders team. The team was specifically put together from working professionals to come down to perform specific projects. It was the first team that I have been almost exclusively responsible for and I saw that I had some strong areas and some weak areas, but in the end the projects we prepared for got all wrapped up.

This 10 person team had managed to pour a concrete apron around the new mechanic depot, install the electrical in the depot, fix numerous vehicles, and complete various roofing projects around campus in preparation for rainy season. I have to admit I was very surprised at how fast and efficient these guys and gal worked. They were a great group and I was only sad that we only got to spend 4 days with them.

This week has me getting some paperwork and forms together for the guys in charge of transportation and maintenance. I will also be communicating with "my people" (As Kate puts it) in a group of electrical engineers and electricians to get them some measurements of our campus.

Kate will continue to be her awesome self! Raising our growing little boy (Who has now learned to not only pull himself up onto objects, but he can also get down without any struggle or fuss. And while his crawling isn't perfect yet, he can almost walk along the front of the couch back and forth) and communicating with teams that are looking to come down (Which means that if you want to bring a group down or know somebody that is looking at doing a missions trip, then you can know that Kate will be handling the communications and you can talk to her rather than someone you don't know!)

That's all for the night folks! Hope you had a good Monday and have a great rest of the week!

-Jay

For the first time in a month I give you..... an actual update! 

First off, I'll start with going on here on base. We have been constructing a prayer chapel since the beginning of 2013 and it was finally completed! We had a beautiful dedication service to celebrate its completion a few weeks ago, and put it to good use this past weekend for a 24 hour prayer time. The chapel is a sight to see! Each stone used in its construction was hand carved by Haitian masons and, from what I understand, the doors took 3 months to complete. The eventual hope is to hook up a live feed to the 24 hour prayer room at IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Kansas City, MO and stream it round the clock.

Another project the base has been working on has been a large transportation depot to house and create a space to maintain our vehicles. We had a team here helping to pour a concrete slab and put a roof on the building a few weeks ago, and we have another group coming this week to finish the slab and put in the wiring. 

Now for the family! Jay had been working closely with the DTS outreach team from Mendocino California for two months, and we were all sad when they had to go back home.  We became very close to the team, inviting them over frequently to have tea, watch movies, and play games. Its was very sad to see them go, but its a comfort to know many of them would like to return someday! 

Since the team left, Jay has been working closely with Terry and Philipson (another staff member) to help streamline many of the vehicle and base maintenance tasks that happen on base. Because the base is so large and we have quite a few vehicles, it has been easy to miss many little things that need to be replaced or repaired. So far the systems seem to be working, and will hopefully continue to help the base run smoothly in the future.  In addition to these systems, Jay has been putting together the wiring plan for the depot, which will be installed this next week.

Isaac has been on busy little boy! He is now army crawling really well, and trying to figure out how to crawl on his hands and knees. He also has learned how to pull himself up, so here starts the baby-proofing! Still no teeth, but he is most definitely teething (The copious amounts of drool and crabby days are proof!) He is starting to eat solid foods right along with us at meal times (no mush for him!) He LOVES his fried plantains, but also enjoys rice and bread too. And, if you give him an orange, don't expect to get it back any time soon :P

As for me, I have had my hands full taking care of the little man BUT, I have had enough time to start my new job here on base! I am now in charge of outreach communications! With this job I coordinate with teams wanting to come to our base and help plan out their missions trips! I am very excited to be doing something helpful to the base overall, and the best part is, I can do it from home! I am very excited to see where God takes me with this job!