Learning Haitian Creole

At the end of my 8th grade year we selected foreign language classes for our freshman year. Spanish would have been a good choice, and something I could have used on a daily basis, but instead I signed up for French. My friends were taking it and we all thought it would be fun to learn the "Language of Love." Well I survived four years of French in high school, and if you were in class with me, then you know that "survived" is an accurate description. To put it plainly, I wasn't very good - probably the worst in the class my senior year.

As if four years wasn't enough, I decided to take another three semesters in college to fulfill my foreign language requirement. I did much better in college - straight As. I even briefly considered minoring in French (ha, very briefly).

Little did I know that years later all of those French classes would help me with learning Haitian Creole, which is based largely on French, with influences from various West African languages. It has been one of Haiti's official languages, along with French, since 1961.

I've been studying Haitian Creole periodically since my trip in 2012. I thought I'd share a few of the resources I use. Learning just a few words can dramatically change your experience. I'd encourage anyone traveling to Haiti to at least watch the video above and try to pick up a few words to use while you're there.

HaitiHub - Online Haitian Creole courses

Sweet Coconuts Blog - Free resource and learning site for learning Haitian Creole

byki - Haitian Creole mobile app

Creole Made Easy Book -  A simple introduction to Haitian Creole for English speaking people

There's More to Haiti

I love listening to and telling stories. So it's no surprise that one of my primary goals with this ministry is to simply, "Tell the stories." Often times when people talk about Haiti, and other third world countries, the stories tend to focus on poverty. This is understandable, because poverty is real. Very real. I don't want to turn a blind eye or downplay it in any way.

But, there's more to Haiti. So much more. And I hope to show the "more" by sharing a variety of videos, pictures and stories with you. Who knows, maybe you'll see Haiti in a whole new light.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day here in the United States. Mother's Day in Haiti is the last Sunday in May. On this special day, I can't help but think of all the Haitian mommas I've met. The picture above shows some of the Haitian mommas that were part of the Women's Bible Study we held on my last trip. One of my favorite memories with these women was when we taught them the Macarena. Oh how we laughed and laughed. We had such a great time. It's like all of their cares (and ours) melted away when we danced to that song. I wish we had a video, but it is forever etched in my mind. These sweet women have touched my heart, and when I think about these women, I can't help but think about how this new sewing program has the potential to dramatically transform women's lives....mentally, physically and spiritually. But, not only their lives, but their families as well. I am excited just thinking about all of the God-honoring stories that will one day come out of this program.

So today we wait...expectantly...for God's plan to be revealed.

We know He knows the perfect location in Port-de-Paix to house the sewing program.

We know He knows each of the sewing program participants by name.

He knows who's going to partner with us.

He knows how the story will go.