Did she?

Amy made it to Haiti with all her luggage!  Let the adventure begin!

Amy is on the plane!

Amy Long, RMI's new missionary, is on the plane to Haiti today!

Pray for the Lord to calm her nerves, have good connections, safe travel and strength to make it through the long day.  She is a Florida girl, coming from CrossRoad United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, FL  (Tiburon's Sister Church).  She will be going through field orientation, language study then will be working in a variety of areas including communications and photojournalism for RMI.  Pray for her as she settles in and adjusts to life in Haiti!

An exciting announcement!

 

RMI is pleased to announce the

completion of our new

Orientation Training Materials!

RMI firmly believes that in order to have a “Forever Relationship”, you must have adequate preparation. It is crucial to a successful visit. This Orientation Training is one of RMI’s distinctive features.

Our aim is to prepare you well for this spiritual adventure. To be effective, and to avoid some of the common pitfalls of short-term ministry, you will need comprehensive cross-cultural training, professional guidance and support before and after your trip.

The Training Manual is the core of our Team Orientation. It is written and edited by RMI founders, Herb and Shirley Shoemaker, who have over 100 years of missionary experience between them. It is jam-packed with practical, pertinent and up-to-date information that you will find essential in your preparations for cross-cultural ministry to your Sister Church in Haiti.

We have gathered additional resources that will be included. They also have practical and pertinent information that you will find very useful in your Partnership. They dovetail beautifully with the Training Manual.

We believe the training that you will receive by using these materials will uniquely prepare you for what you will experience as you go.  There will be a substantial return on investment.

There are 2 groups of materials…

1.  “One Time Resources” - Each church will receive the following resources 1 time.

Pimsleur Creole Language Training Audio Course

Go Prepared DVD short-term missions preparation series (can be used on any missions trip!)

Foreign to Familiar Excellent, short study to help team members understand other cultures

2.  “Pre-Trip Consumables” - Each church will receive the following “consumable” materials approximately 6 months prior to each trip. You will need to order these so we know how many to send.

Team Leader’s Manual – 1 for the Team Leader

Team Training Manual – 1 for each Team Member

Before You Pack Your Bag... Devotional – 1 for each team member

We care deeply about making sure you are trained and prepared to go.  Therefore, these materials are required. Each and every team member is to go through the training, no matter how many times he or she has been to Haiti.

To order, contact Debbie Shoemaker, RMI Director of Communications at 877-RMI-5439.

 [Yes, this is the big project that I've been working on!  I am so excited that it is finished.  It's a fantastic thing for RMI!!]

It hasn't been writer's block

I (Debbie) haven't had writer's block.  I feel prey to the tyranny of the urgent - so much going on that I couldn't see straight.  What's happened since Dan's birthday?  Well....volleyball, lots and lots of volleyball.  Tournaments in Orlando, Tampa and locally here in Ft. Myers.  Volleyball practices.  Work, lots of working.  Dan has been on ministry trips to Chicago (lots of snow!), New Jersey (cold, but no snow) and Ft. Lauderdale (definitely no snow).

I had a birthday.  I got just what I asked for...supper with family and friends at Lozano's Mexican restaurant (the world's best Mexican restaurant which just open right around the corner from our house!!) and a chocolate genache cake from Publix.  It all softened the blow of getting older.  Thanks to everyone that came to help me celebrate!!

Dan and I celebrated our 26th anniversary.  We didn't do much celebrating since he flew to New Jersey that day.  Story of our lives!  After all these years, I still think my hubby is "super delicious"  (you have to see the T-mobile phone commercial).

I finished a major project at work, but I'll leave that for another entry.  It's taken a lot of time and energy; it's been an all-consuming project, so I'm happy to get it done and move on to other urgent projects.

Dawn is considering colleges.  She wants to major in agricultural missions.  Several options are open to her, but the significant lack of finances is severely hindering the process.  She's been sent one letter of intent (to play volleyball) but again....we have no money!  Please pray for her as we all try to seek God's guidance and figure out out the money end. 

We're trying to survive tough economic times, like most of everyone is.  Our support is down considerably.  God knows our situation and since He is sovereign, we know we are in good hands and are trusting in Him for his provision.

Spring break is almost over. Dawn has spent a lot of time at the beach even though she is currently in an orthopedic boot and on crutches.  She rolled her ankle severely a month ago in a tournament.  Two weeks later she rolled it in practice.  The next day the orthopedic specialist said that the X-rays didn't show a clear fracture, but there was one area that wasn't real clear.  He put her in a boot and on crutches for 2 weeks.  She is to stay off of it and then we'll have another appt. to see how it looks.  And yes, she's been to the beach with it...very carefully.  She's tried to not let it slow her down.  She went to cheer her team on yesterday at a tournament and will have to do the same thing at this coming weekend's tournament.  We'll give an update once it's available.

Easter service was very nice today - very different from our Easters in Haiti.  All the missionaries would meet on a missionary's cement roof for a sunrise service.  The sunrise was always beautiful there in the tropics.  After the service we would all head to another missionary's home, a German gal, where the kids would search out the eggs she'd hidden, then enjoy a breakfast together.  By the time it was all finished, it was time to head to the Haitian church services.

Devon came in last night about the same time Dawn arrived back from the tournament, so they were both with us to attend the Easter service here with us.  We had a great meal of "fall off the bone" ribs (that I made!) and my special recipe of scalloped potatoes and little trees (that's what my kids called broccoli when they were little).  It was great to have everyone together for a meal!

The RMI Board meetings are at the end of this month (April) so that means reports, budgets and such are being prepared.

Dawn graduates in May!!  Wow.  Hard to believe that our baby is ready to graduate from high school.  Again - we'll be updating that subject in the near future.

Look for the next update, featuring the finished work project! 

They didn't think he'd live

52 years ago, a baby was born in Columbia, South Carolina.  He was premature, so teen tiny that his parents had to use handkerchiefs for diapers.  It was touch and go and they didn't think he'd live.  But he did!  I'm very thankful too, because he is now my wonderful husband, Dan. 

Happy Birthday Honey!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a 5 year old in Haiti.

This is what 14 years old in Haiti looked like in 1971.  [A new picture just found!  Thanks Bev Wright Whitcomb!]

Married at 26 in Miami, FL.

RMI Prez at 47!

I love you!  ~~Debbie

We lost our van

Yesterday we lost our van.  It was an event that we knew was coming, but still weren't quite prepared for.  We went to this building and after an exam, a lady handed Dawn a piece of plastic that entitled her to drive BY HERSELF.  And then all we saw was the cloud of dust as the van took off into the sunset!

We have a new driver in the house!  She got her license on the first try.  She was nervous, but did fine.  She is a good driver and has had her permit for over a year. 

It was still hard to let her go off by herself, though!  She had a great time going out to dinner and shopping (she's a great bargain hunter!) with a girlfriend.  We let her drive herself to school today - it was the first day back to school.  But I'm afraid that she'll have to re-join the ranks of the lowly bus riders tomorrow.

Now we all have more to pray about!  Can't believe our baby is driving.  There's just something about that that is hard to adjust to.  It is a giant leap toward independence....one apron string cut.

Where do I begin?

It was such a busy holiday season that I hardly know where to begin!

We did something this Christmas that we'd never done  before.  There were so many great sales before the 25th, that the 3 of us went shopping together.  We showed each other 2 or 3 things that each of us wanted (in the real cheap price range!), found them on super sales and went ahead and bought the items.  So, since I wanted a couple of purses and they were on sale, I looked and found what I wanted.  Thus we all knew what we were getting from each other.  No one could use their items or see them until they unwrapped them Christmas morning.  It was much more simple, less stressful, cheaper, we all got what we wanted and there were no returns to make!  It actually was fun to shop together this way.

Dan, Dawn and I had Christmas morning together, then joined Mom and Dad and one of our nephews and his wife, Caleb and Katarina, for Christmas dinner in Naples.  We also entered into several rounds of Pit, a raucous game that is a Shoemaker favorite.  All in all it was a good day.

Dawn was determined to squeeze, squash, cram and jam in every possible activity that she could during her Christmas break.  So we were kept busy going here, there and everywhere.  There were beach days, movies, shopping, girlfriend gatherings, times of hanging with friends, a volleyball club team sleep over, and lots of other activities. 

Devon came home from CIU.  That is a sentence with some finality to it.  He is not returning due to lack of funds.  He's disappointed about it, but is taking it in stride.  He was able to get back on the crew at his former job.  It's a company that pours / applies a specialty flooring for warehouses, garage floors, etc.  It pays well and they seem to be able to keep business going even in this recession - and they like him and want him working with them.  What a fantastic thing for a young man his age to have a job at this time!  He's living with his grandparents in Naples for the time being.  He's not sure what his future holds, but right now he's working and just trying to get his feet under him.

He decided to go camping with his cousin, Jonathan,  over Christmas.  They went to Peace River (about 1 1/2 hours north of us) where they fished for their meals, went fossil hunting (found a giant sloth bone, a mammoth tooth, quite a bit of shark teeth and other bones yet to be identified) and had a great time. 

Dawn went to the same area over New Years with Caleb and Katarina.  They enjoyed their time there as well.  The water was frigid, the stars were bright, the fire was warm, the schmores were great and they sure were freaked out when that coyote howled his heart out just yards from their campsite!