Bella's Home

It has been so long since I posted here I almost decided to just forget it. But instead I decided to start fresh and get back into the habit. When we moved here in 2009 we lived in a little apartment above a boy's home. Our kids did not get to have a pet. So when we moved into the house at the ocean after the earthquake we went through several pets. We had a dog that was taken back because the person that gave it to us had stolen it. We had a wild cat that nearly ate Joy and then we suspect was eaten by the neighbors. We had two Haitian parrots that did not get their wings clipped often enough and one glorious day found freedom. Hundreds of crabs, hermit crabs, a baby mouse, fish thrown into the saltwater pool, even an octopus, and then Bella. Bella was a typical little Haitian mutt that became Josie's best friend. Anyone who knows Josie already knows that she is a fearless animal loving fanatic! You could hear the bellowing of the baby goat long before you could hear Josie's ecstatic laugh as she came around the corner at the mission one afternoon carrying a terrified baby goat and screaming "I got me a goat...I got me a goat!". Now she had Bella. She would carry Bella around the yard by the head. Bella would just hang there with a mixed grimace/smile on her face. But then the word came we had to move. The hotel we were moving into did not allow dogs and the mission already had a dog so Bella was doomed to living at the fish house in Calulan. A poor dog in an even poorer community. Broke Josie's heart. She would cry at night and get mad at me for not letting her see Bella. Then to top it all off, Bella was hit by a car and broke her rear hip. That made her not want to eat. She became the thinnest, ugliest, limping dog you have ever seen. One day Josie found a red ribbon and made me promise to take it and tie it around Bella's neck and because Josie loved her so much the fishermen and women at the fish house took an uncommon interest in Bella. They fed her and cared for her and only kicked her when she needed it. Bella became like the New Vision mascot in the fish village. Then after a year at the hotel, we moved out last week into a house. Yes a full blown house with doors and rooms and everything. We even have a kitchen with a stove. The house is closer to St. Marc so Joy and the kids are closer to the school. It is in a pretty safe and peaceful area. We are thankful for our time at Indigo and all the friends we made but we are glad God opened this new door. I am sitting on the front porch right now waiting on the tanks to fill on the roof so I can stop the pump. With new freedom comes old responsibilities but it is worth it. The biggest blessing is that Bella is back with us and all the kids love it. Little Justice keeps kissing her on the mouth but we are getting beyond that soon. I will post a blog with pics of the house soon. We spent today doing typical new home stuff like installing over 2000 feet of rolled razor wire on top of the wall around the house and running electrical wire high enough from one mango tree to the next that no one can easily steal it. We poured the roof on the clinic we are building in the fish village today. We have motor boats for the fishermen now and will be using them next week to go to the island of Lagonave for a week of clinics. Feeding programs, building programs, school sponsorship, fishing ministry, Liberty Academy, Celebration Children's Home, eye clinics, small business development, and our family and friends here are all doing well. We have some new friends, Dr. Dennis and Sarah Cowley from Indiana here making a huge difference with us now. Stephen and Autumn are starting a guest house for helping host some of the teams. And we are looking for a piece of property to buy to build the mission before our lease expires next year. More updates to come as I have a renewed desire to digitally vent and share.