Moving Day in Haiti

Thursday was moving day for the Joel and Laura Sutton.  Cite Lumiere (near Cayes) is where RMI's Haiti office and facilities are located and is also where our missionaries live.  But housing there is maxed out (many other missionaries live there as well).  So RMI  has rented a building in the local village of Simon, which is about 2-3 minutes from RMI's center of operations.  The building provides 2 apartments, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs.  The Suttons are in the upstairs apartment. 

We're thankful for the teams, missionaries and RMI staff members who pitched in to tile, paint and help finish the inside so it would be ready for them.  The pictures tell the tale of moving - there were many hands helping. 

Did you notice what the back of their RMI shirts say? "Serving with Passion"  That's what our staff do!

Joel and Laura are enjoying being in the middle of a teeming Haitian village.  They get to hear the regular rhythm of life… as Joel put it, “there is a cacophony of sounds including, but not limited to, dogs, roosters, goats, donkeys, pigeons, motorcycles, people calling out their wares for sale, pounding, chopping, digging, children laughing, crying, and/or singing, but they are all the sounds of life in Haiti and right now I wouldn't trade places with anyone.”  Laura added, “The HUGE Simon Baptist church is up on the hill above us. The village almost sits in an amphitheater. We hear all of the music from there - funerals, children's programs, lively hymns! The last two mornings have been a joy to watch people walking back and forth to market, to church, and to school or work. We are blessed!”

They are hooked up to city power and have an invertor system hooked up that will store power when city power is on then give them power when city power goes off.  They are finishing up the unpacking, setting things up, and decorating this week.  It won’t take long to get settled in.  …and on July 20 they’ll be welcoming the Lee Nunemaker family.  The Nunemakers will live in the house that the Suttons just left (it was also previously the RMI Guesthouse and Office – it has served many purposes).  It’s good to have these kinds of growing pains!