out of the pews

Two Hats

2012-03-01T17:51:00.002-08:00

I have two hats that I wear regularly (really four, but the other two are for another day's discussion). It is fun deciding which hat to wear every time I go out.

Now you have to understand that I am not a hat person. I grew up in Tennessee and don't remember owning a hat until the Marine Corps issued me one. But a Minnesota winter will kinda push you into a hat; and I have collected a few through the years. I don't wear them in the summer or in hot countries which may explain in part my hospitalization and near death in Nigeria awhile ago.

My two most fun hats are a Marine Corps hat and a Haiti hat. To the extent that clothes define how people see a person, I can wear one and be a salty old Marine, anxious to talk about the military to anyone who cares to talk; or I can be a "bleeding heart liberal" ready to ask for a contribution to the needs of some sick, hungry people.

USMC

Both hats will start a conversation. Frequently the Marine Corps hat initiates comments or questions from old ladies who have a grandson in the military. They like to tell their stories and see the hat as an invitation. Sometimes it will cause a "thank you" from someone for my service time. That makes me a little uncomfortable because my time in the Corps was so much fun,

Haiti Hat

The Haiti hat doesn't generate as much reaction. I have to believe people see it, but just don't know how to respond. Usually a comment (I guess not unlike the military discussions) will come from someone who has been there or who knows someone who has been to Haiti or to another third world country. They will frequently ask whether Haiti is making any progress, why they are not progressing faster, and what it will take to help them out. Those conversations make me wish I had more answers. Maybe I should be saying that God will bless that nation when they turn away from voodoo and look to Him. I do believe that, but I also see a lot of earthly factors keeping them down and I believe it is our responsibility to clear the way for them. God did charge us with sticking up for them.

Sometimes I wear the USMC hat when I am going to be around those I think will relate to it - like if we are going to McDonald's at the time that group of construction guys meet. And if I am going to be around people who have a heart for helping out poor people, I'll wear the Haiti hat. I enjoy both conversations.

But sometimes I will wear the Haiti hat when I will be around military types or the USMC hat when I will be with "liberals." I try hard not to put people in categories. It is not helpful and often you miss so much of who people really are when you label them. And by being who I am, a Marine Captain who loves the people of Haiti, maybe I can stretch someone's ideas of who the helpers are in this world.

Rachel

Then again, sometimes I don't want to represent anyone, I just want to pass by without notice. So I wear a warm, insulated skull cap.

BTW, I asked Rachel where she got her Culver's hat. Without missing a beat, she replied,"DQ."

Comments?

Density of Population - Can Haitians feed Haiti?

2012-02-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

I would appreciate your comments on this.

Population Density and Agriculture
For some time now I have wondered what role population density plays in keeping Haiti so poor. One would think that a higher population per square mile would make it harder to produce enough agricultural products to feed a nation. And third world countries do tend to be more agricultural based rather than based in manufacturing.

Manufacturing?
There are other factors that make it harder for poorer nations to establish a manufacturing base for their economies, not the least of which is the lack of stability in government and therefore in the control of land. Companies are reluctant to set up a plant in a place where they reasonably may believe the government or rebel forces could destroy it or take it over.

Could they feed themselves?
But, if there is enough land, it seems that Haitian farmers could produce enough food to feed their own nation. I don't have enough information to fully answer the question, but by comparing population density maybe we can start an interesting conversation.

People Per Square Mile
Haiti is often compared to Maryland for land area. With an estimated 10,032,619 people (not sure who counted them) in a little over 10,000 square miles, Haiti has 936 people per square mile. Maryland has 12,407 square miles and so is comparable in area, but the population of Maryland is a little more than half the estimated population of Haiti at 5,773,552. That gives Maryland 465 people per square mile, compared to Haiti's 936. A state that closely resembles Haiti in population density is New Jersey with 1,008 people per square mile compared to Haiti's 936. With modern farming techniques, I don't know whether New Jersey could feed itself. Do any of you know?

Comparisons
For comparison's sake the Dominican Republic, which shares the Island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has 498 people per square mile, about half the density of its neighbor. The state of Florida has 286 people per square mile compared to California with 228, Texas with 94, and Minnesota (where I live) with 61. For every 100 people per square mile in Haiti, Minnesota has seven.

Rwanda
Looking around the world, a nation comparable to Haiti in population per square mile is Rwanda at 1,087 "the highest in continental sub-Saharan Africa" (whatever that means). Though they are making some progress, I haven't heard a lot of good news from Rwanda lately either.

So What?
So what? Unless we want Haiti to become a permanent welfare state (where it seems to be headed) we need to take the population density into account in our discussions of how best to be a help to them.

What do you think?

Stuff I Learned on My Trip to Nigeria and Cameroon, 10/26 - 11/3, 2011

2011-11-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

· Richard Inyang, my Nigerian travel companion, is a very loyal friend; and his sponsors, the Northern Light Church of Christ, are very generous. A head shorter than I am, Richard carried me to the third floor of the hospital on his back.

· The people at the Ikop Usen Church of Christ and at the nearby Palma memorial Hospital were very glad to see me. The last American who had been scheduled to visit them had cancelled because of security warnings. They were anxious to use my visit to invite American visitors again. The hospital needs new mattresses. I don't know what else.

· Because of the reception we got from the Ikop Usen church and the Palma Hospital, I say that at least in their eyes the trip was a success. The church gave us each an expensive looking authentic African set of clothing, and the hospital gave me a large woven hanging with my name and the date on it commemorating our visit. Richard's parents killed a goat in our honor and fed the whole church Sunday after church.

· African countries are not much like Haiti. The Black/White relationships are different somehow. I can't really put my finger on it. Not necessarily better or worse in general, just different. It would take a lot of study and is probably not worth it. Relationships are what they are.

· Take cash money - cash cards and credit cards are not reliable.

· Take a watch.

· The speed boat ride from Nigeria to Cameroon was very crowded with cargo and passengers. They fill them up, then add 5 or 6 more people. The sun on the water, two degrees above the equator, was gruesome, especially for a 70 year old. I will never again complain about the leg room on airplanes. The round trip boat ride threw my sodium levels way out of kilter.

· Cameroon officials, at least the one I met, are rule followers, if not people who make up rules. I believe that in another place, they might have let me fly back to Nigeria for health reasons rather than put me back on the four hour speed boat ride.

· Being deported is not a pleasant experience. We spent the night in the immigration office on the docks.

12 hours in or near coma status

· Being nearly in a coma, and speaking to people for whom English is a second language made it hard for me to communicate to the staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital that my problem was one of very low sodium chloride levels in my system. It was also difficult for them to obtain the cortisone supplements I needed. The people, however, were friendly, concerned, and solicitous. At one time I counted six medical professionals gathered around my bed.

· Coca-Cola is harder to come by in Nigeria.

I remember very little of this

· Delta Airlines' people are friendly and well organized. Their seats on the 11.5 hour overnight flight to and from Nigeria do not incline as far as the domestic flights, but they served two meals and a snack.

· Don't expect people overseas to know the phone access code for the US.

· In Nigeria the airports, roads and cities are more modern than Haiti - the villages not so much so.

· If you travel with Richard there is no need to take along two novels. He moves fast and steadily

· Start international trips with the conviction that nothing is unexpected. Therefore, I was not really surprised when Richard could not arrange to fly from Lagos to Ugo as planned and we had to go the following day; when neither Richard nor I could access our money through our credit or debit cards; when I lost one lens from my glasses; when the speed boat ride was so hard; when my immigration to Cameroon was denied at the dock; when I kept losing things, among them my hand lotion that could have prevented the sunburn I got on my face on the speed boat rides, the book I was 3/4 finished with, and even the other half of my glasses on the plane home, but another passenger found them and turned them in; when I figured out that what I had brought along was Kaopectate when what I needed was Imodium A-D (look them up); when I ended up in the emergency room of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital; and when my cell phone started buzzing and refused to turn on - grave yard dead.

· There are no coins in Nigeria - just paper money.

· Life is not necessarily something to hold on to.

· God is still good and is still in charge, even half way around the world.

The Eagan Church at Feed My Starving Children 11.7.2011

2011-11-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

The labeling crew

Sue McNamara filling packets

Several affiliated with the Eagan church went to make food packets at Feed My Starving Children Monday night. It was great fun! Some of us labeled the packets; some filled them with four ingredients, sealed and boxed them; and some of us worked the warehouse, keeping ingredients handy and weighing, sealing and palleting full boxes. Along with other groups, in an hour and a half, we filled 61 boxes. That is 13,176 meals that will feed 61 children one meal a day for a year! Afterward most of us retired to McDonald's for dinner or ice cream.

Margaret sealing packets

If you cannot attend one of these sessions (we go 3X a year), or if you prefer not to, you can still help by contributing to purchase of ingredients. $20 will buy enough to feed a child for almost 3 months. $50 buys one box of food and $90 will feed one child for a year. 93% of all donations go directly to the feeding program. http://www.fmsc.org

Charlene adding veggies to the packets

Shalee and Mike filling the bags

Tommy and David keeping empty boxes handy

Tommy keeping the work tables with enough soy

Dave, still showing up, enjoying a shake after

Part of the crew at McDonalds

Nigeria and Cameroon

2011-11-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

To the faithful, loving, longsuffering supporters of my trip to Nigeria and Cameroon:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love and support. I am now safe and well. Whether the trip was a success or not, you will have to judge.

This is of course not a full account of everything we did. My hope is that it is enough to give you an understanding of what we did accomplish and why we came home early. I will also attach (or enclose) a copy of a second document, "Stuff I learned on my trip to Nigeria and Cameroon" that may help you further understand.

Richard Inyang and the goals of our trip

I was traveling with my friend, Richard, who is a native Nigerian and was a long term missionary to Cameroon. This was essentially his trip and I was there to support him. Richard is currently the preacher for the Roseville church in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He has not been at Roseville long, but he is doing a marvelous job connecting with churches in the area and reestablishing connections between the churches.

Our primary goals for the trip were two. The first goal was to visit Richard's home congregation in Ikop Usen, Nigeria, preach there and visit the Palma Memorial Christian Hospital nearby. The Ikop Usen Church of Christ is reported to be the first church of Christ in western Africa. The Palma Memorial Hospital is supported by African Christian Hospitals of Searcy Arkansas. Our second goal was to go to neighboring Cameroon and conduct a three day seminar, then to visit local churches, giving them encouragement and teaching.

Ikop Usen

We visited the hospital and people were delighted that we had come. There I was presented with a woven hanging with my name and the date woven into it acknowledging my visit. Richard preached at the congregation Sunday morning and I taught the class. Richard's older brother wanted to be baptized. This thrilled Richard in particular because Richard had been "preaching to him" for decades. About a dozen of us left the church to go down to the nearby river for the baptism and, when we returned, the church took the Lord's supper together along with the new brother.

After the service we took a lot of pictures. Everyone wanted to be photographed with the visitors from the United States. They explained that the last person who was scheduled to visit, someone from a well known preaching and missions training center, cancelled because his bosses thought it was too dangerous for him to be there. The Ikop Usen church wanted to use the photos of me to illustrate that a white man can indeed go there and come away unharmed. Afterward they presented Richard and me with an expensive looking set of authentic, traditional African clothes and then Richard's mom and dad invited the whole church to their house where the night before they had killed a goat in honor of our visit!

Why we didn't do the workshop in Cameroon and came home early.

Our plan had been to travel to Cameroon on an overnight ship, but the ship that was supposed to go the night we needed to travel "was broken" and the next one was three days later, after the seminar was scheduled to start. We decided to travel on a speedboat, a decision that, in retrospect was a mistake for me to accept.

In 1994 I had surgery on my pituitary gland which controls the hormone system throughout the body. As a result I have to supplement the salt and the cortisone in my system with pills. Normally this is not a problem for me and does not limit my activities in any way other than I need to keep the pills nearby. The speedboat ride was open to the equatorial sun. Cameroon is about 2 degrees north of the equator and, for comparison, Minnesota is 45 degrees north. Since my luggage was stowed I could not get access to my medicines or to water and, frankly, I didn't recognize the danger to myself. The hot sun depleted the water in my system as well as the sodium levels. When we arrived in Cameroon, I was weak and wobbly.

Richard had been advised by someone in Nigeria that I would not need a visa from the Cameroonian Embassy, that we could appear at immigration and get our passports stamped, and indeed Richard had travelled that way for years. The Cameroonian immigration official, however, informed us that was only true if your home country bordered on Cameroon. We had made a grave mistake: I needed a visa, which could only be issued while I was in my home in America. I was denied admittance; we would have to spend the night in their office (on a bench); and we would be placed back on a speedboat the next morning (deported). I tried to explain my medical situation to him and asked for permission to fly back instead. The official said that he doesn't write the rules, he just enforces them. By this time it was after closing hours for everyone and there was no one to appeal to. The next morning we left before anything opened. I did call the American embassy in Cameroon and was told that they have very little influence over the Cameroonian immigration department.

At that point I felt sure that a second boat ride might be seriously hgarmful, but could see no other option. I did not want to end up in a Cameroonian jail for an extended time. So we rode back to Nigeria on the open speedboat. I took extra salt and steroids before and after the boat ride and when we got back to Nigeria I was shaky, but seemed generally okay.

The Nigerian Teaching Hospital

That night, however, I asked Richard to share a room with me. Before the night was over I was woozy and was not making a lot of sense. I could not answer most questions. Richard and our driver got me up and took me to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital emergency room. This is a different hospital than the one mentioned above.

I was admitted to the hospital and Richard carried me on his back to the third floor. There were no elevators. By that time, the only thing I could tell the medical personnel was "sodium chloride and cortef (a brand of steroid)" and to point to the medic alert bracelet on my wrist. I remember very little of my stay there other than a very nice young man accompanying me to the bathroom numerous times, and at least once realizing that about six medical personnel were gathered around my bed. Later I asked Richard how long I had been there and he said 12 hours.

At that point Richard made the decision to take me out of the hospital and return me to the states for further treatment, almost a 24 hour ride counting layovers. It was a good decision. By the time we got to the airport, I was feeling the effects of the sodium chloride I had been given IV. I likely would have been okay to return home alone, but to Richard's credit, he was going to accompany me home, postponing the seminar in Cameroon and other visits there.

We have now arrived home safely, having been here about 48 hours. I have given a copy of the Nigerian hospital report to my endocrinologist and have an appointment Monday

Regrets

My major regrets are three:

1. That the money you spent to get me there did not result in the work being done in Cameroon as well as what we did do in Nigeria. I will always wonder what more could have been accomplished had I been admitted to Cameroon. I was excited about the seminar and about the visits to the small country churches. I am disappointed.

2. That I was not alert enough before the trip to go ahead and get a Cameroonian visa in spite of the advice we had been given from people in Nigeria, I should have been smart enough, and cautious enough to take that precaution.

3. That I was not cautious enough about my own medical condition to refuse the speed boat ride. Frankly the speed boat ride sounded like fun. It was not; it was too crowded and was extremely uncomfortable. My medical condition has been so well under control by my excellent Health Partners physicians that I almost never think of it. I should have.

What's next?

If any of you want part or all of your money back, please let me know. Those of you who know me well, know that I will pick up and move on. In the movie "Batman Begins," the young Bruce Lee has fallen into a well (with bats). After Bruce's rescue, his dad asks him, "Bruce, why do we fall down?" Then, after a pause, he answers his own question, "So we can learn how to get back up." I guess that is where I stand today, ready to learn from my experience and to look for the leading of the Spirit of God. God has a plan for Nigeria. He has a plan for Cameroon. He has a plan for Richard. He has a plan for me. And He works all things together for our good. God is in charge. Satan did not win. And he will not win. It is exciting to live God's life. Each day is a new adventure.

Thank you.

Thank you again for your love and support.

Impacted Bowels

2011-10-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

Not a pleasant topic on a sunny day. But I had one a few months ago. It was horrible and the treatment as bad as the original problem. But one unexpected positive result ensued. I now thank God every time I have a successful encounter with a toilet. One more reminder that all good things come from Him.

Agricultural Policy

2011-09-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have developed an interest in the effect of US Agricultural policy on third world farmers, but have not found a convenient way to explore my interests. At the fair this year I spotted a US Senator's booth and stopped by to ask who in his office might help me. The fellow pointed me to the booth of the other US Senator from Minnesota and noted that she is on the Agriculture Committee in the Senate. I spoke with someone there who referred me to someone else who in turn said that I would likely have to talk to one of the Senator's Washington staffers.

What I am looking for is not that complicated, if anyone were interested in looking into it. I am just suspecting that no one has asked the questions.

While living in South Florida I became aware of what, locally, was known as "Big Sugar." A couple of Sugar companies around Belle Glade, Florida, were said to make large donations to candidates of both parties in the interest in obtaining legislation favorable to their businesses. Later I learned that policies that are considered favorable to large agricultural interests, are also very unfavorable to small farmers in the third world - places like Haiti.

The interactions are at the same time political, economic, and sociological; yet they are not that complicated to understand. My initial questions, when we talk later this month will be:

1. What are the major goals of the Ag subsidy system?

2. What is the total of all federal assistance given to farmers?

3. What are the different kinds of Ag subsidies and how do they break out %wise?

4. Is there a breakout of the income level of recipients?

5. If I were a farmer looking for advice on how to get subsidies, who would you send me to?

6. How do agricultural tariffs work to help American farmers?

7. Where can I get an understandable list of ag tariffs? Are they different depending on where the imports would be coming from? For example would a tariff be different on sugar from Haiti as compared to sugar from Mexico?

8. Do you have a sense of what the combined effects are of ag subsidies and ag tariffs on third world farmers? If not, who might you refer me to?

9. What do you know about the political activity of the highest 20%, income wise, of farmers? Who might have done a study and written a coherent report on this subject?

10. Does Senator Klobuchar have an up to date written policy on agricultural funding issues? If so may I have a copy?

3 Ways to Recover from a Blunder

2011-09-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Today's blog is from the Harvard Business Review's "Tip of the Day."

Eventually, every leader will need to apologize for a mistake. Here are three steps to take when it's your turn:

Admit the mistake. Fessing up expedites the recovery process. While it's tempting to shirk responsibility or slink away, it only makes matters worse.

Try to laugh at yourself. If it's appropriate, go ahead. Joking around gives others permission to do the same. After all, nobody wants leaders who take themselves
too seriously.

Reframe the discussion. People will want to talk about the mistake forever. Give the blunder its due, but refocus the conversation on what matters most: moving forward.

Today's Management Tip was adapted from "How to Recover from a Blunder" by Dorie Clark.

Teeth

2011-09-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

When I was little, "they" said I should brush my teeth. Regularly. So I did. Much later "they" said I needed to floss as well. I declined. I even got a dispensation from a real dentist because my teeth were so crooked and I was afraid I would pull out one of the many, many fillings. But then "they" said I should brush my tongue too. So i did. But now, so many years later, "they" are telling me to brush the top of my mouth. Where does this all end?

National Night Out 2011

2011-08-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

We did the National Night Out Block Party at our house again this year - second time. About 35 people showed up, not counting the Mayor, his entourage, the police and fire departments. No, no one called 911 on us, the officials were part of the city's plan for the evening.

Marketing:

Sidewalk Pictures:

Lots of Good Food.

Fire Trucks:

Police Cars:

The Mayor.

"The Box" by Lascelles Abercrombie

2011-06-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

I have long loved this poem. Recently thought of it and looked it up. Hope you appreciate it as well.

"Kindly do not touch, it's war."

Once upon a time, in the land of Hush-A-Bye,
Around about the wondrous days of yore,
They came across a kind of box
Bound up with chains and locked with locks
And labeled "Kindly do not touch; it's war."
A decree was issued round about, and all with a flourish and a shout
And a gaily colored mascot tripping lightly on before.
Don't fiddle with this deadly box,Or break the chains, or pick the locks.
And please don't ever play about with war.
The children understood. Children happen to be good
And they were just as good around the time of yore.
They didn't try to pick the locks, Or break into that deadly box.
They never tried to play about with war.
Mommies didn't either; sisters, aunts, grannies neither
'Cause they were quiet, and sweet, and pretty
In those wondrous days of yore.
Well, very much the same as now,
And not the ones to blame somehow
For opening up that deadly box of war.
But someone did. Someone battered in the lid
And spilled the insides out across the floor.
A kind of bouncy, bumpy ball made up of guns and flags
And all the tears, and horror, and death that comes with war.
It bounced right out and went bashing all about,
Bumping into everything in store.And what was sad and most unfair
Was that it didn't really seem to care
Much who it bumped, or why, or what, or for.
It bumped the children mainly. And I'll tell you this quite plainly,
It bumps them every day and more, and more,
And leaves them dead, and burned, and dying
Thousands of them sick and crying.
'Cause when it bumps, it's really very sore.
Now there's a way to stop the ball. It isn't difficult at all.
All it takes is wisdom, and I'm absolutely sure
That we can get it back into the box,And bind the chains, and lock the locks.
But no one seems to want to save the children anymore.
Well, that's the way it all appears, 'cause it's been bouncing round
for years and years
In spite of all the wisdom wizzed since those wondrous days of yore
And the time they came across the box,
Bound up with chains and locked with locks,
And labeled "Kindly do not touch; it's war."

The Graduation!

2011-06-11T18:24:00.001-07:00

Click here for some pictures of the graduation itself.

Alex's Grad Party

2011-06-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Al's Graduation for Facebook

Click the pic for 12 of the better pictures from Alex's big graduation open house.

2011-05-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It by Paul Collier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was a hard read for me, but I finished it. It counters a lot of what I have read about what keeps poor countries poor. It is very well documented and is quite convincing. The solutions are sometimes difficult to understand and are always difficult to implement, making the book discouraging to me and to others who are looking for easier answers. I recommend it for any serious student of the elimination of poverty.

View all my reviews

Haiti Report April 2011

2011-04-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Who: Charlie McGee: Preacher, St. Joseph (MI) Church of Christ & Proprietor Piggin & Grinnin BBQ Joint. Matt May: Minneapolis, MN, #3 son of David May, 1^st trip to Haiti. David May: Author & Lecturer, Inver Grove, MN.

What: Mission trip to deliver four lessons on Faith, Peace, Hope, and Love and otherwise speak and help out as the opportunity arose. We delivered the four lessons twice and otherwise lost count of speaking engagements. We also reviewed an orphanage on behalf of Orphan’s Lifeline.

When: April 12 – 23, 2011

Where: Port au Prince, Cap Haitian, and Port de Paix Haiti and the roads and airways between.

The Short Story: On Tuesday we met up in Miami then flew to Port au Prince together, each with 100 pounds of frozen meat for Roberta Edwards’ children’s home (total 300 pounds). In Port we stayed in the new guest house operated by the Estes Church in Henderson TN. There were several very interesting and helpful people there. To tell their stories would take more space than I have here, but I will say that they represent a great deal of wisdom and lasting concern for Haiti that transcends the problems they encounter along the way.

Days 1-5, Wednesday- Sunday, Port au Prince: Early on Matt decided he could be of best use to Roberta helping her with maintenance and repairs at the children’s home. He went with the guys building houses for refugees about three days, then he developed his own list of things that needed doing and Roberta had one for him as well. Roberta left the country on Tuesday of the second week we were there.

Larry Waymire of Caribbean Ministries, Lexington TN, is working with Estes on the Haitian disaster relief effort. He took us to the (Home Depot style) hardware store to pick up supplies and to see a church building and some individual homes the Estes church is funding. Joe Holley, Lexington, AL, is staying long term to help Roberta with driving, repairs and in any other way he can. We went with him to a huge warehouse to pick up two large truck loads of beans and rice and unloaded them at Roberta’s. From there they will be further distributed.

We took Roberta to lunch; drove by “Cananan’s Land,” a very large refugee camp; toured the Santo School; and saw the poorest orphanage I have ever seen. We were at the orphanage courtesy of Harry Hames of Healing Hands International. I will try to raise some funds through Orphan’s Lifeline or elsewhere for the home. There will be a separate report on it.

We had a BBQ dinner one evening courtesy of Charlie and Roberta along with a large medical mission team. Charlie and I delivered our four basic lessons, one each night, for about 300 people. I spoke Sunday morning and we did an extra session of one lesson each for Fedson Gustanville at a little denominational church he is working with. It was followed by a rousing Q&A on baptism.

Days 6-8, Monday - Wednesday, Cap Haitian. Transportation within Haiti was a bit of a nightmare this trip. On our last trip (October 2010), we were able to borrow a vehicle and Brother Fatton travelled with us as tour guide and interpreter. This time we were pretty much on our own. It took two trips to the airport to get tickets to Cap and learn that catching a flight from Cap to Port de Paix was highly unlikely. Roberta said not to worry because Brother Fatton would come after us in Cap to get us to Port de Paix. He had said to me that he would try to get a truck to come get us. He did show up in Cap, but no vehicle. We went to the airport there to try to get airline tickets. No luck. They thought they might have something around four, but by that time it would be too late to get to Port de Paix any other way. In the final analysis, we caught a tap-tap, a small pick-up truck with a lot of people in the back, to ride about four hours over the rough mountain roads to Gonaives where we met Fatton’s cousin for a another long ride to Port de Paix. Along the way we encountered several Rah-Rah parades. Rah-Rah is a voodoo ritual at this time of year. The parades have some interesting music with drums and homemade horns. One of the parades asked for money to let us pass, but Fatton spoke to them and they let us through. All in all, it was the hardest day of the trip.

While we were in Cap we met the new administrators of the Cap Haitian Children’s Home, Hunter and Jillian Kittrell - neat young people with a big new job. We spent one whole afternoon and a long morning with Tabitha who runs a children’s home funded by Orphans’ Lifeline. I was asked by Orphans’ Lifeline to do a thorough update on the home. It was a delightful experience, but a lot of detailed work. Charlie took care of a lot of the detail. I had lunch with them and she sent us off with gifts.

Days 8-10, Wednesday - Friday, Port de Paix. Wednesday night after the grueling rides we went home with Fatton, his wife had prepared a dinner for us. Roberta had warned us that Madame Fatton would treat us like kings. She did indeed. She is a delightful woman and they have a very bright, English speaking, 10 year old daughter. After dinner we went to the church building where I delivered a lesson as a part of an ongoing nightly seminar. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were pretty well wiped out.

The next day, Thursday, we did the four lesson seminar we had done in Port au Prince. That afternoon we toured some mission points in Port de Paix, bought tickets back to Port au Prince, had another dinner with Madame Fatton, and Charlie did a lesson that night. Friday we toured the actual port at Port de Paix at my request. That was fascinating. Then we went to the airport (with an outdoor terminal and a waiting room under a mango tree) to catch our flight back to Port au Prince.

Friday night and Saturday morning we checked out and flew home with a stop in Miami. Our closing meeting was in a food court in the Miami airport with a drink from Starbucks and a pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. A fitting ending to a good trip.

PHOTOS (FROM THE TOP)

1. Charlie in the tap tap

2. Charlie reviewing his lesson at the hotel in Port de Paix

3. A man unloading a boat at the port in Port de Paix

4.Matt, Kerlange, and the garden Matt Weeded.

5. One of the houses Estes is building for refugees.

6. Rice and beans at the warehouse.

7. Charlie unloading 100 pound bags of beans (I waited for the 55 pound bags of rice).

8. Charlie and the toilet for the little new orphanage Harry Hames showed us.

9. Matt and Magalie.

10. David at the plane to Cap.

11. Tabitha jumping rope with her kids.

12. David preaching at Santo.

The Eagan Church's recent outing to Feed my Starving Children

2011-04-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Adam preparing boxes for the workers to use in making bags of food for the children:

Sealing the bags:

Filling the bags:

Tom McNamara working the warehouse:

All ages filling bags

Labeling bags:

It was great fun and we filled 50 boxes of food for hungry kids.

The Minnesota May Family

2011-03-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

You may know a lot of this, but it is time to do a family update.

Charlene was in Haiti in February. I am putting a picture at the bottom of this post of her speaking to about 200 ladies at the Santo church. Charlie Mcgee (our brother from St. Joseph, Michigan), Matt May (our #3 son), and I are headed back there in April. We have planned three seminars in different places and a review of an

orphanage for Orphan's Lifeline. That will involve considerable in-country travel.

That's good because this is Matt's first trip. BTW, if you don't understand how Charlie can be "our brother" we will be glad to answer your individual inquiry.

Alex May (#1 grandson) lives with us and is finishing high school. He has been accepted to Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, and to their Honors College. He plans to attend. Rick May is home from school for awhile to catch up on some debts. He is working two jobs. So there are four of us living here again.

Without going into all the detail, there are 17 relatives of various ilk plus the two of us plus several honorary relatives and friends who show up here for birthdays. We are doing two birthday celebrations in April - one for three people toward the beginning of the month and another for Charlene toward the end (after the Haiti trip).

I spoke at the Northern Light church last Sunday and just finished a series on Malachi for the Eagan men. The book signing was a lot of fun. I interviewed for a little community TV program about my books a couple of weeks ago. Haven't seen the results yet - will try to get them posted when they are done.

Hope you all are well and are excited about your work for the Lord.

Passports and Haiti trips and birthdays

2011-02-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

Matt and I got his passport application submitted today, hopefully in plenty of time to get here before our April trip. He and I and brother Charlie are planning to go do three seminars for churches (two in the south and one in the north) and visit an orphanage on behalf of Orphan's Lifeline. It will be a busy two weeks. We have a lot of planning to do.

Talked to Charlene this afternoon, only the 3rd time since she got to Haiti Thursday. Her fibromyalgia kicked in yesterday and put her down. She countered with prednisone this morning and is feeling much better now. That should last at least until she gets home Thursday night late - hopefully through Alex's 18th birthday party Saturday.

Harding University sent Alex a BD present today - notice that he has been accepted into their Honors College.

If you will give me a few minutes, I plan to post an update on my next book on Dead to My Flesh. I had encountered a deal killer of a problem with it and a solution hit me in the shower this morning. There is a direct connection to the spirit of God from my shower.

Hanging fliers and selling cookies

2011-02-17T06:57:00.000-08:00

I spent most of yesterday hanging fliers around the neighborhood for my upcoming book signing. I am excited about the book signing; it was what I call "a God thing." My friend George would say, "God told me..." I was in the local Caribou Coffee Shop with a friend and noticed their community bulletin board when it hit me. Maybe I could do a book signing somewhere like the coffee shop and hang fliers about it on community bulletin boards. It sounded like a lot of free publicity.

Before I left there I asked to speak to the manager, but she was not there. I verified that I would have to connect with her to get permission for the signing, so I took the number and left. The following week I called a couple of times without making contact, but eventually got her on the phone. She sounded gruff, but she was there and willing to see me. I rushed up the street and started to tell my story: "I am a local Christian author and am wondering whether..." "God is in this place," she interrupted.

So, I booked it and another friend helped me post it on facebook as an event and a lot of people wished me the best and yesterday I went out to hang fliers. I have done some church related door knocking before, but this seemed different. It wasn't nearly as scary. My first stop was a bank with a policy that only non-profits could post on thier board - understandable, but discouraging. But I only ran into one other place with a policy like that. Most places had day care announcements and all kind of local small business ads. I got fliers posted at the bowling alley, banks, grocery stores, exercise centers, senior living facilities, the staff lounge at a government office building, and churches. The "old folks homes" were the most excited about it. Two of them wanted my phone number so they could follow up. At one of the churches the pastor invited me in to sit and chat a bit and quized me on several controversial religious issues. He said he would be at the signing and would post the notice in the church building.

I am not finished, have covered less than half the area I want to post in, but it was a great day. I thought it must be like selling girl scout cookies. Everybody buys girl scout cookies, right? At least we do. What I was selling was an idea. And it was truly exciting to see the receptiveness that exists in the neighborhood - just like selling trefoils and thin mints.

Taking e-mail to the cloud

2011-01-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

I have taken my email to the cloud. For years I have used Outlook and later Windows Mail to download my email to my computer and have worked with it and filed it there. There was always a certain comfort in having it all stored right here in my lap.

But I became uneasy about local data storage a few years ago when I had a computer hard drive crash on me. Lost a lot of pictures in that one and all my saved emails and other documents. Interestingly I had recently bought an external hard drive to store data in case of a computer crash. It didn't work either. Somewhere in the fruitless search for someone who could get my pictures off the external hard drive an expert told me that since a hard drive is a mechanical instrument they will all eventually fail.

About a year ago I started backing up my data on-line (i.e. on "the cloud"), primarily so I don't lose my photos, but since I haven't had to use it to retrieve my data, I still am uneasy about it. I am not especially concerned about someone else getting into it, because one of my principals is transparency. I don't have any secrets other than social security number and the like, and they are not out there.

I have held off to the last on going on'line with my email, but have recently made the change. I am still a little uncomfortable not having it stored right here with me, but am gradually building confidence in the cloud. Wish me luck.

Last Year's Resolutions

2011-01-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

It's frustrating. I wrote this once, then lost it. So I'm going to try again.

In a way it's a metaphor for last year's resolutions. I tried, I failed, I have a decision to make. Do I try again? Or do I trash the idea?

One thing I enjoy about the new year is revisiting last years resolutions. Though in recent years I have come to call them "goals." It seems less threatening somehow.

I can revisit them because I have them inscribed at the bottom of my "To Do" list. So as I finish the year I am confronted with the chore of rewriting last years goals. Last year I had four. I know I will reveal something of myself, by talking about them, but that is in keeping with my (unwritten) goal of transparency (maybe more about that in a later post).

Last year's goals tend to fall into three groups: 1. Sucessfully completed, Hallelujah, Amen! 2) Missed it completely, try again this year. Ugh! and 3) Missed it completely, drop it, forget it, Whew! It is that third category that prompted me to write this little piece. It makes me smile.

You see, for years I have compulsively carried over all of last year's unmet goals into the coming year. They constituted a huge collection of difficult expectations with which to confront the new year. Instead of fresh opportunities, the coming year looked rather bleak against the back drop of old failures. Maybe at 69 it is the approaching decade of the 70's that has prompted me to start dropping goals from the list, but it has proved to be an exciting prospect, rather than the bitter nostalgia you might expect.

In 2010 I met two of my four goals - both causes for celebration. I failed to meet two others. One of the two unmet ones goes to the top of the new list with excitement for early work on it in the coming year. The other one goes into the trash can, with a certain glee. It's not that the fourth goal was not worthy. It is just that I have carried it over for far too many years. It was at least as unlikely to be met in 2011 as it was in 2010 and 2009 and...

Goal 1 was to finish the third book: "Relax Christian: God Still has Your Back." I didn't get that done, but it goes back on top for 2011. Goal 2 was to rework my web site (an important step in marketing the ideas that have become an big part of who I am). Got that one done! It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I could have done it sooner. But it is done! It will need to be an ongoing project, but doesn't need to go back on the goals list. Goal 3 was to learn 300 new Haitian Creole phrases by the end of the year. I flunked that one. I don't do well with things that require daily drill. I took some delight in not repeating that one for 2011. I still would like to be able to converse with the Haitian people, but I will have to continue my search for a method other than the "phrase a day" method I had devised. Goal 4 was to clarify for myself my focus on Haiti. I did that one. It took a good deal of time (both mine and that of a large number of other people) and some money, but I got it done. I am not sure anyone but me will benefit from it but I feel a lot better about my interactions with the Haitian people.

So I crossed two off as successfully completed, eliminated one as failed, and carried over one that I want to continue work on. Maybe I'm just old and easily distracted, but it was an interesting and exciting time for me.. I hope the new year brought new joys for you as well.

Helping people in the third world

2010-11-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a lengthier article on how to (more about how not to) help people in third world countries. From the New Yorker

Americans in Haiti

2010-10-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back from Haiti. Here's a picture of Magalie practicing to carry stuff on her head. She is doing well and was running around with the other little kids, laughing and playing. She is staying at Roberta's for awhile. She had a place on her face that her mom was concerned about, so we accompanied Roberta on two doctor's visits. Turned out to be stitches working their way through (like the Mayo folks said they would).

The short summary of the trip is that Charlie preached a lot. we did most of the stuff the Haitian Christian Development Project wanted done, and we interviewed four orphan's home directors (or wannabes) for Orphans' Lifeline. Oh, and we drove from one end of the island to the other and back, quite a feat for American drivers. I have lots of pictures and will likely share a few more in a day or so.

I am sure you are anxiously awaiting my conclusions about how Americans can best help Haiti. I did talk to several people about it. Haitians didn't usually want to answer, but when they did, they spoke of helping individuals "get their feet under themselves" (my paraphrase). They meant things like helping people start a business. Americans living full time in Haiti had some interesting advice. One fellow I met in the airport said he was a paper pusher in the military attache's office at the American Embassy, I think that's code for CIA. His advice was for all the Americans to clear out and let the Haitians figure it out. He mentioned both the churches and the NGOs. The fellow assured me that the Haitians were capable of solving their problems if they would let go of the expectation that the Americans were going to fix things for them. That was strangely consistent with the advice I got from many of the resident missionaries and a few Haitians.

Recently I have been reading some books about raising kids, particularly about under-achieving gifted kids. The best advice from those books was very similar to the advice I got about America's relationship with Haiti. The kids' books said if you help them too much, you rob them of their chance to develop independence. If you don't help them enough, you rob them of the sense of security that they need in order to take chances and move forward. And here's the trick. How do you know how much is enough? The answer is that you have to know the kid. Or in the case of helping the Haitians, you have to know the people involved and the nature of the project. It is about relationships. Please understand that I am not comparing the Haitian people to American teenagers, just making a parallel in terms of the nature of helping relationships. The bottom line is you can't help very well from afar. You or someone you know and trust has to be on site with some regularity, to know the people involved, to know when you are stifling the development of independence and when you are not giving the security needed to reach out, to experiment, to strike out on their own.

It is a hard answer because it requires so much more from the helper. But Jesus said "Go."

Let me know what you think.

Headed to Haiti Tomorrow

2010-09-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Charlie McGee and I are headed to Haiti tomorrow. Charlie is my brother, and Charlene's. You'll have to ask him about that. Our calendar is full for two and a half weeks. Charlie is doing a gospel meeting at Roberta's the first week and we have several appointments related to my agenda. More on that in a moment.

Then we go to Gonaives to do some work on behalf of Healing Hands Int'l. That's stuff like building bunks, making a VOIP system work ("voice over internet protocol" - that's Charlie), and checking on some water wells and filtration systems. From there it's on to Cap Haitian to see some old friends, check out funding eligibility for a couple of orphanages for Orphans Lifeline, and check on little Magalie. See the earlier posts on this blog, If you are not aware of Magalie.

My larger agenda is to get a better feel for the relationship between Americans and Haitians. I plan to ask everyone I meet three questions, to be answered in whatever order they choose:

What are the best things Americans can do that will help Haiti in the long term?
What are the things that well intentioned Americans are doing that might seem to be helpful, but that are actually hurtful in the long run?
What things are Americans doing or proposing to do that really will not make any difference in the long run.

It will not be a scientific sample, but it will give me a good idea of the conventional wisdom of both Haitians and Americans. I plan to compile and summarize the answers, report them here and and elsewhere and shape my personal efforts from what I have learned.

This research is prompted in large part by the earthquake, by the hundreds or thousands of rescue workers who responded, by reports of a lack of coordination among them, by the subsequent disappearance of most of them, and by my long existing goal to learn how best we can help the Haitian people without fostering dependency. May God bless me in my search.

Hummmpf! Blogs!

2010-09-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Well am I ever behind? When Magalie left I lost interest in this blog. It didn't have a serious purpose. I think the purpose has to be to talk about me and the family and what we are thinking and doing. I see problems with that format. 1) I'm shy. 2) I don't want to appear to be self-focused (I'm shy). 3) I want to respect the privacy of my family and others with whom I deal. 4) A lot of what we do is boring and I don't want to bore folks. 5) I know a blog needs to be kept up in order to keep interest and I'm not sure I have the diligence to keep it up (as witnessed by the last several months of inactivity).

Why would I bother with a blog, If I am not really interested in drawing attention to myself? Basically I have some ideas I want to promote. As I have researched how to market these ideas, what I have learned is that I need an identity to tie them together. That identity is me. If I were a corporation or a church or an agency of some kind, I could hide behind that identity, but in reality it's just me. So, I have to market me in order to market the ideas. That sounds crude to me - downright repulsive.

But it's really about integrity. I decided a long time ago that who I am is a single individual. I am not someone at work, someone else at home and a third person at church. Being the same person wherever you are is the definition of integrity. And my ideas, my way of looking at the church and at God's will for our lives is a part of who I am, wherever I am. It is with me at the Minnesota State Fair or in Port au Prince, Haiti. I can't separate the ideas from what we do, though I do work at not being a bore by talking about them all the time.

One thing I keep forgetting, that makes it a little easier, is that "marketing" ideas is not about trading money for something. All the money from the sale of the books goes into publishing more books and making a few copies available to give away. My ultimate motivation is to further the kingdom of God. I need to pray that He will teach me how to do that without becoming prideful.

So here goes. I am going to attempt to keep this blog up with family news and thoughts on what's going on in the world. See also my web site which badly needs an update as well. Started working on that this morning.

Kitchen Tile Project

2010-05-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

Some folks really enjoy this kind of work. Not me. I do like seeing it done when it is over, but I have never gotten into the work itself. I'd rather be reading, writing, or riding a bike through the woods. I have determined that this project has six steps: removing the old tile, sanding, spackling, sanding again, priming and painting. Last night we completed step one. Don't be fooled by the smile on Alex's face. He can be happy because it isn't really his project. He just pitched in to finish up the end of step one.

Magalie in Haiti

2010-04-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Kim Meredith flew to Minnesota from Texas at the last minute to escort Magalie back to Haiti because Charlene was too sick to go and I needed to be here with Charlene. All these pictures and those on the previoius post are Kim's. Thanks Kim for your love for Magalie and for God's work Back in Haiti.

Being cute.

With her mom, Marie Rose. Haitians typically do not smile for photos. They prefer what I was told is the french style of posing. It's kinda like a fashion model or something.

The bus to take them back home to the northern montains.

Magalie Goes Home in Haiti

2010-04-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

But first, as promised, here are the pair of mallards who have been hanging out under our bird feeder out front.

Magalie stalking the mallards:On the slide at our local park during the final interview with Tim Sherno from KSTP-TV: Our front porch on the last day here:

At the airport at 4:30 a.m. to catch the plane, with Kim Meredith and David. Kim flew to Minnesota from Texas at the last minute to take Magalie back to Haiti because Charlene was too sick to go and too sick for me to leave at home. Kim took all these pictures and those on the next post. Thank you Kim for your love for litttle Magalie and for God and for His work!

Charlene's Birthday!

2010-04-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

As many of our family as could went to Feed My Starving Children last night in honor of Charlene's Birthday.

#1 Making packets of food, using chicken flavoring with vitamins, dried veggies, soy, and rice.

#2 Jennifer (Mick) sealed each bag.

#3 Mike and Gypsy held and weighed the bags while the kids loaded them.

#4 And Charlene, still recovering, took a job with a seat, putting the labels on the bags.

We all had a great time and the kids are already asking when we can go again.

Marie Rose & Magalie

2010-04-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

MarieRose, Magalie's mom, made it down from the mountains today and they have been joyfully reunited. Film at 11 (or whenever we can get it). Kim is still there, so hopefully we can get pictures.

She's Gone

2010-04-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

Magalie left this morning, is in Port au Prince as of this writing. It was a sad time, but rewarding at the same time. She did what she came to do and is going home a very different looking child. May God bless her and protect her.

Magalie's New Glasses

2010-04-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Magalie and I have been hanging together a lot since Charlene got sick about a week and a half ago. One of the places we went (twice) was to Rochester to get her glasses fitted, then to pick them up. We also did Aunt Jennifers' birthday party last night. At the end of the day we were both worn out.

Kim Meredith is here now from Haskel Texas. She came in this afternoon and will accompany Magalie to Haiti on Friday. Our remaining time together is short.

The Chicago Experience!

2010-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

We have lots of photos of Chicago (though not as many as we might have had since both cameras broke down at one point). To pick a group that would be representative of the trip was very difficult, We did two museums, an art gallery, an aquarium, the top of what used to be the Sears tower, and several really good places to eat. We really enjoyed being together, and enjoyed Chicago.

Here is Magalie showing us something on the Chicago skyline from atop the sears Tower.

A stroll down a Chicago Street & heading to the Field Museum (Day 2).

David, Magalie, and Pat's son riding a cow.

Mike and Pat Odum, Mike's former college roommate, outside the church where Pat preaches

Why was the snake allowed in the garden (and in the church)?

2010-03-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Check out this blog entry: Here

Here is the Latest from Roberta's House

2010-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Check out this link: Roberta's

Contribute to Haiti and get a Haitian made figurine

2010-02-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

This is an easy way to encourage entrepreneurship in Haiti. I have seven of these figurines, plus some larger art. This one is about 4" by 5.5". It was hand made in Haiti by Haitian artists. If this works, I am going to offer them one at a time at auction. I have nothing invested in them, so 100% of the highest bid (after shipping costs) will go back to Haiti and to the artists' studio where they were created. If you bid and are not the highest bidder, of course you will owe me nothing. Place your bid by an email to dmay1113@comcast.net. Put the word "Bid" on the subject line. Bidding ends one week from now at 5:00 p.m, on Sunday, March 7, 2010.

I am also posting a picture of one of the men at work.

More of Alex's Birthday

2010-02-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

You may notice that there are two birthday cakes here, plus some donuts, and at least three sets of clothes. That's how we do birthdays. Don't ask why. There is the occassion of the birthday itself, then the "family" gathering, and the next Sunday morning meeting of the church - not necessarily in that order. These are:

1. Alex lighting the first cake...

2. Gathered with friends and family...

3, Uncle Mark lighting the second cake...

4 Posing uncomfortably at church function in his honor...

Alex's 17th

2010-02-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from Alex's birthday. I have more and will post some of them as soon as I find the other camera. The one that that didn't quit on us has turned up missing. ["Turned up missing." There's an interesting phrase.] You can see who showed up in the middle of everything. But I do have more pix of Al, like blowing out candles and stuff. For real.

Magalie taste testing the BD cake icing.

Helping Uncle Mike read his book.

Jamming with Matt and Alex.

And showing Matt a new chord.

Time

2010-02-26T16:56:00.000-08:00

Our oldest grandson lives with us. That makes the passing of time as indicated by his birthdays more vivid. He just turned seventeen. I hadn’t thought about it like this before, but there is something different about seventeen. Sixteen is exactly the midpoint of the teen years – neither a child nor an adult. But seventeen puts him in the last half of teendom. It’s like at seventeen he is no longer half-child, he is more half-man. It could be a sad time. A time to grieve over the loss of the bright eyed, ever-learning little kid he used to be. And there is a bit of that in it for me. But there is also an excitement at what he is becoming. I can still see the bright eyes, and the endless desire to learn in the man he is becoming. He will be an incredible addition to the adult world in a few years and maybe adulthood won’t be so stuffy any more.

The little Haitian girl who is staying with us just turned three. Three is an amazing age. Always learning; always excited. Excited about things like Granny coming home, about ice cream and bananas. I like to preface her name with the word “Princess” and to say that she is to be the first female president of Haiti – the one who solidifies their place as an equal partner in the world’s commerce.

And I just turned sixty-eight. Sixty-eight was hard for me. I have always enjoyed birthdays, and the party was great this time. But sixty-eight is closer to seventy than it is even to sixty-five. Suddenly I felt old. And there is so much left to do. I don’t have my PhD, yet. I haven’t figured out how to really help the Haitian people on a very large scale. I haven’t published half the books floating around in my head or really found out how best to market the ones I have published.

Time is a strange thing. Sometimes it moves so fast we can’t even see it flying by. At other times it crawls so slowly we cannot tell it is moving.

The Preacher who wrote Ecclesiastes said “Do not say, ‘Why is it that the former days were better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.” (7:10)

“Consider the work of God. For who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider-- God has made the one as well as the other,” (7:13-14)

And finally (12:14): “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”

Magalie's New Face

2010-02-24T10:54:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Magalie since her eyes were straightened. Her eyes are still a little bloodshot from the surgery, but that will fade.

Note the strategic product placement in the second picture. We get a nickle every time one of you drinks a coke within thirty minutes after viewing this picture.

Back to straighten the eyes

2010-02-22T05:49:00.001-08:00

Magalie went back to surgery last Wednesday February 17 for outpatient surgery to make her eyes point in the same direction.

Listening to Grandpa's heart.

Getting her heart checked.

Doped up and headed to surgery.

Minnesota winter.

Magalie loves helping Granny cook

2010-02-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

And looking at the snow.

Latest from Roberta

2010-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

This comes to us from Jesse Robertson in Henderson, TN, by way of Facebook.

"Today Team 4 is on its way to Port au Prince. Roberta reports that she has already distributed about 50,000 lbs of food, and has several more tons at her house waiting to be packaged for families. The security walls have been closed to a height of about six feet, and gates have been installed at the group house. The church is receiving compliments on its show of Christian generosity, and worship is standing room only. For the next few weeks we will focus on keeping some helpers on hand to facilitate food distribution."

Magalie has a cold

2010-02-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

Magalie has been alternating between feeling okay and feeling pretty miserable. Charlene has been in touch with her primary care doc at Mayo about it. Right now we are in a "wait and see" mode. Her surgrey is not until Wednesday of next week, so hopefully the cold will be cleared up by then. Here she is looking at the most recent snowfall. Check out the flamingo on the lower right, asking to be let in.

Book Review

2010-02-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Prostitutes, Tax Collectors, and You by David May

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An important book. It will encourage all Christians to take a new look at the mission of the church and at his or her role in it. A quote: "You see, that is what church leadership should be about - people of integrity doing what the church needs to do, and inviting the church to join them. Isn't that what Jesus did?"

View all my reviews >>

Dead To My Flesh: When Michael May hits you hard

2010-02-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

A great testimony to Michael. Check it out by clicking here:

Dead To My Flesh: When Michael May hits you hard

Magalie at Home and Plans for the Future

2010-01-28T16:39:00.000-08:00

Princess Magalie taking care of business.

At Jerebek's Bakery this morning.

Getting ready to go out. It was 1 degree this morning.

Helping Grandpa finish off the banana pudding (made with Haitian vanilla)

Checking the photo wall, looking for Roberta.

I have applied for an extension of Magalie's visa because of a follow-up surgery, now scheduled for February 17. It is a 20 minute outpatient surgery, but they want to see how it worked as much as eight weeks later. The surgery is to correct the muscle in her right eye to line up the eyes to point in the same direction. There is a small chance that she will have to have another small surgery after that. Right now her flight to Haiti with Charlene is scheduled for April 16. So we get to enjoy her company a little longer.

More Pictures From Magalie's Birthday Parties

2010-01-26T13:53:00.000-08:00

I lost count of all the celebrations of Magalie's 3rd birthday. Here are some more pictures:

Please Pray for Those Transporting Supplies

2010-01-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

As you pray for the people of Haiti, please include the safety of Roberta and her kids, and of the MGM crew, as they transport relief supplies across the Dominican border. A truckload of supplies is a high visibility target for looters. And the looters are desperately hungry and thirsty people.

Prostitutes, Tax Collectors, and you

2010-01-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

What?! You haven't bought a copy of my new book yet? It's less than $10 and only 100 pages, INCLUDING 14 pages of appendices. It has some fun stories and a discussion guide with some fascinating questions. And it is based on a premise that will change the way you look at church leadership. Click here to get it from Amazon.

Magalie's Birthday!

2010-01-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

Happy third birthday to Princess Magalie Toussaint! She's had two parties already and another is planned for today. The first was a party for six birthdays in our family in January (including hers). The second was Sunday morning between the worship service and class. This morning she and Charlene started opening the ton of BD cards she got from people in Texas and now they are off to ladies class at Woodbury. We are planning a Chinese buffett dinner this evening followed by the singing at the vets' home.

Update on Roberta

2010-01-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Roberta has made a successful run to the Dominican Republic for supplies. Manna Global Ministries (MGM) has provided the supplies and transported them to the border. MGM has a crew of looooong time Haiti missionaries, including some of the people we met the first time we went there almost 20 years ago.

This relief effort will be a "long haul." Some folks will stick it out and others will fade away as soon as there is another crisis somewhere in the world. Haiti needs some big picture problem solvers who will challenge Haiti's assumptions about itself and the world's assumptions about Haiti.

I like David Brooks' take on it from this morning's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/opinion/15brooks.html

Don't Forget Haiti

2010-01-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

Several have commented that what Haiti needs now is food, water, medical and building supplies. But ironically, that is what Haiti needed all along. It was just that people were not noticing. This Tom Toles political cartoon comes to us from the Washington Post and is right on target.
What Haiti also needs are hope, education, good health care, farm to market roads, a stable government, and a place in the world market. The challenge for all of us will be to keep Haiti on the radar when the next disaster strikes somewhere else and the world's relief organizations rush off to help out there. Haiti needs people to love her. She needs people who will respect her citizens, and who will work to assure that they have a voice
in their own government and in the affairs of the world market. Let's don't forget Haiti when the excitement is over.

Update on Roberta

2010-01-15T05:01:00.000-08:00

We have heard that the US Marines have taken over the airport in Port au Prince and some planes are flying. US embassy says US citizens can get out now. Ironically our citizen is trying to get in. As of this morning Roberta is in Tampa, still planning to fly in on Missionary Flights International. Lynn and Cynthia Parker have bought her some meat to take in with her.

No direct word on Marie Rose, Magalie's mom, but we figure she's okay. She was supposed to be at Roberta's house and everyone there except for Nicky is okay. If she were not there, she lives far enough away to not be affected by the quake. Still no phone service.

Magalie's neurosurgeon himself called here last night to check on her and her mom. Those people at Mayo are amazing!

More on getting into Port au Prince

2010-01-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

American Airlines is not flying into Port au Prince. The tarmac is said to be loaded with aircraft and there is no fuel at the airport to refuel them to get them out. Roberta is in Miami. So far her flight on a smaller airline has not been cancelled. Plan B is to catch a train to West Palm and a ride from there to Ft. Pierce to get the Missionary Flights International flight into Port au Prince.

Brian Wallace's crew grew to nine people. They have safely arrived and are setting up operations at Mission of Hope. Brad Gautney, a nurse, is already at work in the clinic.

Haiti

2010-01-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Roberta is headed back home to Haiti. The airport is open again. She will arrive in Miami tonight and back in Port au Prince tomorrow. We have not heard anything from Thomas at the children's home since that first message.

The Estes Church of Christ in Henderson, Tennessee, will be coordinating some relief efforts through churches in the area. Since they are a volunteer organization, any money contributed will go entirely for relief. They will wait for Roberta's assessment of the needs before making purchases, but anticipate medical supplies, food and water, and building materials. They have a man on the way there now.

Contributions can be made to:
Estes Church of Christ
Attn: Richard Taylor
464 Crook Avenue
Henderson TN 38340

Haiti Update

2010-01-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Heard from Thomas this morning. One boy, Nicky, died in the quake. He was new to the house within the last month. The barrier wall fell on him. They are burying him this morning behind the house. Everyone else is okay.

Everything fell from the walls of the house with the initial quake. The kids moved outside (per the drill Roberta had with them earlier). Thomas said the earth shook every 40 minutes.

Don't know about the structure of the house yet.

Meanwhile, Magalie is doing great! No meds last night. We were planning a celebratory trip to the coffee shop this morning, but that will have to wait now.

Haiti

2010-01-13T05:38:00.000-08:00

We don't know much about the effects of the earthquake on Roberta's place or her kids. She is not there right now, left the kids in Thomas' charge. Can't get through to Thomas.

We are hopeful because the center of the quake was in a different direction from downtown than Roberta's house. The US Embassy was unharmed and it is in the same general direction as Roberta's place.

We have three friends on the way there from Florida by way of the Dominican Republic. Will try to keep you posted.

Feed My Starving Children

2010-01-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is a Minnesota based organization that ships food packets all over the world to hungry people. They purchase the basic ingredients for the packets, then invite volunteers in to make the packets. The organization is amazing. They take a group of strangers of all ages, give them a quick briefing and quickly have them making packets like mad. Each session is an hour and a half from the greeting to the prayer over the finished product.

Last night the Eagan church went for our quarterly session there. Here are a few pix:

Another Good Night for Magalie!

2010-01-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Magalie had an even better night last night. Awoke only for her medication. She is bright and alert this morning, sharing Charlene's cappaccino. We will start trying to wean her from the pain meds today.

She was the only person at Feed My Starving Children last night who had been on the receiving end of the supply chain.

She was an instant celebrity.

For more on FMSC, see the next entry.

Magalie is doing great!

2010-01-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

Magalie had a good night last night and a great day today. We all went to make food packets at Feed My Starving Children tonight. Pictures tomorrow.

Magalie Friday January 8

2010-01-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

We went to Rochester this morning to see the docs. They said she is doing okay and changed her meds. She has been alert and playful all afternoon. The outside temp was -1, a full 20 degrees warmer that the -20 it was Sunday when we went down. We are hopeful the worst is over. Please keep us in your prayers. Here is a picture of the road to Rochester this time of year, and one of Magalie back at the house this afternoon.

Please Accept My Apologies

2010-01-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

Mia Culpa! It has been almost a week since I updated the site. Magalie is recovering steadily but very slowly. We've actually been back in the hospital since my last report and I just got overwhelmed. I was in church last night for the first time in almost a month. Charlene hasn't been yet.

We came home Friday. Saturday was okay; we had a big gathering at the house - family game day, about 15 people altogether. Diane did the cooking for two meals. Charlene mostly cared for Magalie. Saturday night was rough. Magalie didn't sleep well. Sunday morning she could not be consoled. We called the neurologists and together decided to take her back to Mayo on the theory that her spinal fluid might be building up. We checked into the ER and they admitted her.

Monday she was released again on the theory that the spinal pressure issue will resolve itself. They said it was not uncommon for a patient to take this long and longer to recover from the kind of surgery she has had. She has periods of feeling good - playing and singing and dancing. And times of feeling really bad - needing to be held. Sometimes she eats very well and other times she won't eat or drink anything. Each day is a little better than the one before, but very the progress is very slow.

Magalie Is Back At Our House

2010-01-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

We got out this morning, just before lunch, and stopped to eat at a pizza joint in Rochester. The other picture is of our friend, Dr. Henry, the infectous disease doc. Our next appointment is a week from today - follow-ups.

Medically what we think is going on is that her system learned to produce enough CSF (cerebral-spinal fluid) for the protrusion between her eyes in addition to the normal amounts needed. When they removed the protrusion, the system kept producing the extra fluid. The docs were most afraid that the excess would come out of her nose and create a permanent path, so they put a temporary drain in her lower back. When they took it out, the pressure built up again and in a couple of days she went into crisis. They let off the pressure and waited. She got better right away. Right now they are hoping the system has adjusted the volume of the fluid. If the pressure builds up again, we will have to go back in to reinstall a drain. For an American child they might put in a "stent", a permanent drain that drains into the abdomen. But too many things can go wrong with a stent to think about sending a child with one back the mountains of Haiti. We think we are in a good place now, because it has been three days and she is doing great. We will keep you posted.

AND, My New Book Is Out

2009-12-31T17:14:00.000-08:00

My second book is out: "Prostitutes, Tax Collectors, and You: Church Leadership for Non-Leaders." $9.95!

It is based on the premise that church leadership is really about people of integrity doing what Jesus intended the church to do whether anyone else comes along or not. It has some fun stories as illustrations and a different kind of discussion guide.

You can get it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Prostitutes-Tax-Collectors-You-David/dp/1432752472/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top. Buy three and get free shipping/

Or you can get it from BarnesAndNoble.com for $8.95 if you have a Barnes and Noble Membership card. Free shipping there too, if you buy three: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=prostitutes%2c+tax+collectors&box=prostitutes%2c%20tax%20collectors&pos=-1.

Let me know what you think of it by writing a review where you buy it (and the other seller, too). Thanks again to all who helped. Look for your name in the acknowledgements section.

Magaile, Going Home Tomorrow!!

2009-12-31T13:28:00.000-08:00

Magalie is doing so well - eating like a pig, walked to her new room, got her hair done, sitting up in bed, playing, going home tomorrow.

Magalie Day 19 Since Surgery

2009-12-30T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well, we are back in ICU. We scared all the docs yesterday. They were rushing her down the hall to her 2nd CAT scan of the day. They drew blood twice. Once is traumatic; her veins are hard to get into - takes two or more tries. Then they reopened the lumbar drain. All that was about her spinal pressure. We are all wiped out by the end of the day. Charlene went back to the guest house when it was over. Magalie and I had a good night and she has been alert and playful this morning. The ICU staff were glad to see us again (for the 3rd time).

Now we are back in a wait and see mode. Now that the pressure is off her spinal fluid, will it stay down or go back up? If it stays down, we go back home. If it goes back up, they are talking a shunt. A shunt is a problem because of where she lives, but as one of the docs said last night, "If she needs a shunt, she needs a shunt." Please keep her in your prayers.

Magalie, Day 17 Since Surgery

2009-12-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

We are still in the hospital. Charlene was here with Magalie Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She is home now, will put Ricky on nthe plane for south Florida this afternnon then head down here. I'll go home to be with Alex tonight.

The one remaining issue here is drainage from the former lumbar drain site (in her lower back). The doc found where it was leaking this morning and put another stitch in it. She is resting now, but took three walks this morning on her own two feet. We laughed and shared sugar coated corn flakes. She waved at a nurse - a first since surgery.

These pictures are of her discovering her new face for the first time (Saturday), and her playing with her "Princess" baloon." I often introduce her as "Princess Magalie Toussaint."

Magalie Surgery Day Plus 15

2009-12-26T12:09:00.000-08:00

We are still in the hospital. The original projection was five days, we are now at three times that target. Still don't know when we'll get to go home. We are all three here now, but Charlene will go home this afternoon. She'll go to church with the boys tomorrow and probably stay long enough to get Ricky back on the plane to south Florida on Monday.

Here is the first "after" picture. Her face obviously has some more healing to do. I am also including a before picture for comparison.

Magalie, Day 13 Post Surgery, Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the gap in reports. We divided our efforts in order to cover two fronts. Charlene came home for two nights to get ready for Christmas; I stayed in Rochester with Magalie. Now she is at Mayo and I am home. Matt, Alex and Ricky are playing Monopoly. We are planning dinner here tomorrow for the whole group, minus most of the kids.

Magalie's lumbar drain has been taken out and the brace is off her face. She just moved from ICU to a regular room. Progress! She seems to feel better, too. I won't have pictures until I get back to Rochester on the 26th. Sorry. She still has to stay in the hospital until the infectious disease doc takes her off the IV antibiotics. No date set yet.

Magalie, Day 10, Monday, Good News

2009-12-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

Back at the hospital. Charlene and Magalie had a good night. Magalie slept most of the night, was snoring this morning and slept into the morning for awhile. The doc has been in and is allowing her to sit up. She is in Charlene's lap in the rocker and is about to transfer to my lap when I finish this note. Ricky arrives from south Florida tomorrow for the Christmas break. Magalie should be home by Christmas Eve.

Magalie, Day Nine

2009-12-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

Today has been both uneventful and trying, if the two are not mutually exclusive. Right now we are playing a music CD of little kids songs (not Disney tunes - more like "The More We Get Together," and "Ring Around the Rosie"), very lightly done. The CD and the player are courtesy of the hospital. Magalie is quiet for one of the few times today. She has been agitated most of the day.

But there is a group of the people in the dreaded yellow gowns coming into the room. They have to put another IV line in. We have had a lot of trouble with IV lines and the current one is getting sore. They are putting in a second so they can switch off. She is sooo tired of being poked, prodded, and even looked at.

And there seems to be something else bothering her, but so far we have been unable to identify it. We were thinking earlier that she might be disturbed at having to use a diaper, but that seems unlikely at this point. She still has to lie flat. We are hoping she will be allowed to get up tomorrow.

Writing is my distraction. They are finished now. Our night nurse is going to do all her checks so Magalie can rest awhile. Meanwhile, Alex called and I have to run back to the Twin Cities to take his backpack. Goodnight.

Magalie With Santa

2009-12-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

We missed the party last night because Magalie wasn't feeling well enough to truck down the hall. Soooo Santa came to us!

Today, day eight since surgery, has been an okay day. "Granny" has had to hang right with Magalie while Magalie had to lie flat to let the lumber drain do its work. That's hard on anyone. Especially, though, I think, on someone not quite three yet. She did perk up enough to eat - popsicle and ice cream. Here is a picture of Charlene feeding her - a rough life. She may be surprised when it is all over and she has to go back to feeding herself, sleeping alone, and using the toilet.

Magalie Surgery Plus 7 Days

2009-12-18T04:59:00.000-08:00

I am in the hospital cafeteria. Magalie is back in surgery. Charlene and Mary B are there as well, until she gets to sleep. Then they will join me here. The docs are going to put a spinal tap in. The theory is that by relieving the pressure on the spinal fluid they can allow the leak in her head to heal. If that does not work, they will have to go in through her new nose to try to find and patch a leak. The Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat people are not at all enthusiastic about that option, saying it will be very difficult to find. Our prayer is that this pressure relief effort results in successful healing. She should be singing and dancing by now, but is hurting instead. Please keep the prayers going.

Magalie Day Six - Good News and Bad

2009-12-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

This has been a mixed day. It started well. Magalie pretty much slept through the night. She was in decent spirits early and ate the most for breakfast she has had since surgery. We went for a wagon ride down the hall and met a little boy with terminal cancer. He had a brain tumor removed and was out for a walk. Since then, though, Magalie lost her IV line and they had a terrible time replacing it. It took four tries the first time. Then the new one got infiltrated, and Magalie was uncomfortable all afternoon. They quit using the new line and it took two more tries to get another one in.

Meanwhile the docs are all concerned about her losing spinal fluid out her nose. They are going to put a drain in her spine tomorrow (Friday the 18th). Not sure when we may go home. I will stay in the hospital again tonight, then go home
tomorrow to spend some time with Alex and pick David up after school.

Pictures from yesterday's CAT scan:

Magaile Day Five

2009-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

One major pre-release goal is for Magalie to eat, and we have passed that mark. The first food since Thursday. She had a softened popsicle, and some baby food bananas. She is scheduled for a CT scan and then we plan to get her into a wagon or stroller for a ride. One other concern is some clearish drainage from her nose. They are testing that now to be sure it is just nasal fluid. Nothing further on release date, except that they went from saying "Thursday or Friday" to saying "Friday or Saturday." I title this photo, "How many women does it take to feed a three year old?"

97 different people have checked the blog so far.

Magalie Day Four

2009-12-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

It has been a layed back, slow day. She is still in pain when they let the morphine expire. The morphine makes her sleepy, and she is still not eating or drinking anything. She throws up ocassionally from the drainage from her head collecting in her stomach. So the recovery is going slowly.

The good news is the swelling is going down. They are taking tape off and tubes out. She has been in Charene's lap most of the afternoon.

The docs are still unsure when she will get out of the hospital. Two things are required: that she be off the pain meds and starts eating and drinking.

Magalie Day Three

2009-12-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

Magalie is out of intensive care and safely in her new hospital room. She is still pretty miserable, but is looking better each day. The docs are saying she may be able to go to our house sometime later this week - Wednesday through Friday. The brace should come off her new nose about Friday.

After the Surgery - Day 2

2009-12-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

They got the tubes out this morning and Magalie is waking up. Charlene and I both got to hold her this afternoon. She looks like she got run over by a truck. She will not be able to open her eyes for a day or two yet because of all the surgery around them. They have been greased up, so don't look so good. With all that said, here is a picture.

World Hunger

2009-12-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

World Hunger: Twelve Myths by Frances Moore Lappé

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This one really makes you rethink your ideas about humger. The authors take each of the presumed causes and presumed cures for hunger and show why they are not accurate and will not work. Each chapter in well documented, making it a little harder to read, but easier to believe. Toward the end, it begins to feel like a science fiction novel in the vein of 1984. A little scary in that respect.

They assert that the free trade legislation, agricultural trade laws, and even hunger relief efforts go to support the acquisition of more land by the big international corporations, reducing the land owned by individual families. Even when a smaller country is exporting huge amounts of food products, local people are still starving, because it is the international corporations that are doing the exporting, and sending the money out of the country.

The only solutiions, they say, are rather dramatic. They call for land redistribution, and greater sharing by the big international agricultural giants. They call for a balance between the free market and government regulation, in the interest of everyone having a way to produce enough to eat.

I recommend this one for everyone

View all my reviews >>

Sunday Morning

2009-12-13T04:39:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!

They plan to bring Magalie out of sedation about 7:00 am CST and pull out the breathing tube. We may be busy for awhile after that. It is reported to be a miserable 15 minutes or so, and I am dreading that part. But on the other side will be the delightful little girl we have come to know so well.

I am struck with her awakening on Sunday morning, having been out since Friday. Coming "back to life" while people all around the world gather to celebrate the coming of life to another who was dead. Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah!

Tubes, Terminals, and Staff

2009-12-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted you to see this one:

She remains stable. They have decided to leave the breathing tube in tonight to give her a little more rest and healing time before waking her up. Keep praying.

Saturday Morning - Surgery Day +1

2009-12-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

Magalie had a good night. Charlene stayed in the hospital and I went to the House of Compassion about 11:30. She is over there now to clean up. Magalie is still sedated and has a breathing tube in. She will stay sedated until they take out the breathing tube. She also has a feeding tube. It will stay in a little longer. They are not yet sure whether the breathing tube will come out today or tomorrow. It depends on the numbers on the monitor - something about how much oxygen is in her system as I get it. Here are three pix from her arrival in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit last night. As she rounded the corner there were at least six medical professionals hovering over her. Charlene may have better pictures. If so I will post some of them later today. She has her camera with her.

Last report of the Day

2009-12-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

They are done! Eleven hours of surgery, fifteen and a half since arriving at the hospital this morning. She is not in the room yet, they are washing her hair, but we should see her soon. We just spoke with the plastic surgeon who has been working on her all day. He described in detail what they have done, said it all went well. We expressed our thanks and he talked about how much they all enjoyed doing this kind of work. God is good and has done an amazing peice of work in bringing all of these people together for this precious little girl, including each of you who have been praying for her. Please keep the prayers going up. Good night.

7:00 Report

2009-12-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

We just spoke with the neurosurgeon. Removal of the mass was uneventful. They are constructing a nose now. The eyes have been pulled together. He said she has been stable all day - no problems and none anticipated. Still no concrete time to finish, they will not hurry. He said she is going to look good.

Thanks for your continued prayers. Keep praying, it is not over yet. Last night in Port au Prince 50 people came together for a special prayer service for Magalie. God is good and He has brought her this far. My prayer is for successful surgery for her and for His glory.

I continue to marvel at the generosity of these people who are being paid nothing for all this highly skilled gruelling, technically challenging work. I think especially of the plastic surgeon who is sending so many hours of delicate work for no charge. And of all the others. Thank you, Lord for putting these God-hearted people in our path.

Blog Attendance

2009-12-11T14:41:00.001-08:00

So far 70 different people have checked this blog. Keep praying.

4:30 Report

2009-12-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

They are predicting the surgery will go til 10:00 p.m.

Latest

2009-12-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

Latest at 4:20. "She is stable." No other news.

The Latest Non-Report

2009-12-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

We had to show up here at 6:00. Went to a prep room, answered tons of questions and got her dressed. She left there a little after 8:00. They put her to sleep between 8 and 9. According to the board surgery began about 10:00. It is predicted to go 10-12 hours, so it could be a very long day. I will attempt to keep everyone up to date via this blog.

Surgery Day!!

2009-12-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

Today is the big day. She is in surgery and has been since about 8:30 this morning. We had to be at the hospital at 6:00. Surgery will run 10-12 hours, the first two with the neurosurgeon, the rest with the plastic surgeon. The plastic guy will build her a nose out of her rib. He said the rib cage will be the sorest part. We will stick here until she is out of recovery. Charlene will spend the night tonight. We have LOTS of pictures by now. I will share three from this morning and yesterday.

Discussing the CAT scan with Dr. Wetjen, the neurologist.

Last minute encouragement from Chaplain Stacy Sikes.

Off to surgery.

Pix From Last Few Days

2009-12-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Hanging with Granny and Mary B in the waiting room at Mayo.

Enjoying a Cupcake

Getting to know Kevin and Rachel

Checking out the books

Learning about the backyard from Grandpa.

Off To The Mayo Clinic Again

2009-12-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's report from Charlene:

Charlene sent the following to her prayer list this morning. It is much better than what I could have reported, so here it is in full:

We had a full day at Mayo yesterday --- saw the plastic surgeon and neurosurgeon; very impressed with both.

The surgery will be much longer than what we were first told ---- at least 10-hrs. The growth on her face is filled with nonfunctional brain matter and the doc assures us there is no danger in removing it from the rest of the brain and said not to be scared about it (easy for him to say :). The neurosurgeon's part will only take about 1 1/2 hrs; the rest will be 8 or more hrs.

The more the plastic surgeon told us, the more I thought, "poor Magalie".
They will take a part of her rib to form a ridge for her new nose, because it will then grow with her. They will use some kind of thin wire to pull her 2 eyes closer together. Amazingly, all the plates and wires they use will ultimately be absorbed by her body. And there are more parts to the surgery, but those are the biggies. He said the main pain following surgery will come from the rib area; minimal pain will be in the head area, for which we are very thankful. I said, "I bet she will
feel like a truck hit her" and he said probably not.

The plastic surgeon said she will have a scar going down the ridge of her nose, but he hopes everything else will be close to normal. Getting the eyes to be the exact same level is tricky but possible and he will do his best. There are so many outcomes from the surgery that will depend on how well her little body heals.

She was a trooper for the 5 hrs we were there --- no surprise. She is an amazing little girl. No whining. Again, she stole the hearts of everyone she came in contact with. Pauline is the woman who has coordinated all the appts. When they phoned her to tell her Magalie was in the office, she said, "Is my baby here?" She'd been eager to meet her. Magalie took to her right away, especially after Pauline carried
her to the break room to a table ladened with Christmas cookies. She took her to every work cubicle she could find to show her off. Fun to watch and great that Magalie "performed" with cute smiles and hand waves.

We travel back down to Rochester late this afternoon in the snow storm to spend the night. She has a CAT scan at 8:30 in the AM (they'll have to sedate her) and then 2 more dr appts. Surgery will probably be around 6AM Fri. What a long-g-g day that will be.

Things have gone so very, very well. Please continue to pray for her these next days. I have no doubt she will continue to be a trooper. It will be hard letting her go to surgery.

Blessings on you all. Charlene

Magalie's mom & friends

2009-12-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Magalie's mom, MarieRose (on the right), and Roberta.

And another with Magalie's friend Kim Meredith who flew from Haiti to Minnesota with her and Charlene.

Today was an uneventful day. Got out and did some shopping, picked up David who thinks Magalie is soooo special, went to dinner at Subway with David and his dad. They were going on to see a play - "Cinderella." Next appointment at Mayo is 11:00 Tuesday.

KSTP

2009-12-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Magalie and her friends from KSTP, channel 5, Tim and Kevin. Check out their story at http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1280263.shtml.

Magalie's New Friends

2009-12-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Magalie makes new friends wherever she goes.

Marie B, our interpreter.

She thinks her sunglasses are so funny.

Dr. Bibovic, the geneticist.

New Info

2009-12-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

This morning, Charlene and Magalie took off for Rochester on thier own. Alex has an appointment this afternoon and I need to be here to get him to it. Magalie was not able to eat anything solid because they are putting her to sleep to do an MRI. Apparently that is standard procedure, but it makes us nervous because it was the anesthesia the hospital mentioned in conjunction with all the bad things that could happen (paperwork written by their lawyers, I am sure, but no less scary). As I write this Magalie is in the MRI and it will be another hour before she is recovered.

Also, we learned yesterday that what we have been calling a tumor is actually part of her brain protruding beyond the cranium. That makes me much more nervous about the surgery than I was. Please keep this little girl in your prayers.

Magalie Meets New Folks

2009-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Magalie got to hang with Stacy Sikes for a bit. Stacy directs the House of Compassion in Rochester (http://rochesterchurchofchrist.org/hoc.html) and serves as a Chaplian for the hospitals there. It was Stacy who first directed Charlene to a doctor at Mayo, who directed her to someone else who directed her to someone else (you get the picture). We spent the night with the Sykes Monday night and he helped us get to our appointments Tuesday.

Magalie and Charlene filling out paperwork.

Magalie the TV star

2009-12-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

Right now we are at the Starbucks in the Barnes and Noble in the Rochester Mall. it doesn't get much better than that. Magalie is napping, Charlene is reading, and I am blogging. We have second and third appointments this afternoon. This morning we met the primary care doc, a pediatrician named Dr. Phil Fischer (photo on the left).

Magalie was on local channel 5 Sunday night. Since then every time we go out someone will say, "We saw you on TV." It's a wonderful conversation starter. You can see the short version at http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1280263.shtml. They plan to post the longer version later in the week. When I catch it, I will let you know by posting the link here.

Magalie meets the bankers and goes grocery shopping

2009-11-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Magalie went to the grocery with Granny and got her hair done by a novice.

And she met the people at the bank who handle the sponsorship money for Roberta's kids.

We are having a great time together.

Magalie

2009-11-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

Magalie Toussaint is an almost three year old girl from Haiti who is visiting with us for a few weeks. She lives in the hill country of northern Haiti. Evelyn Boyd of Haskell Texas discovered Magalie shortly after she was born with a tumor between her eyes. Evelyn connected Magalie with Roberta Edwards, a missionary in Port au Prince, Haiti, who in turn told Charlene about her. It is a longish story which I will probably tell in a later post, but Charlene was able to get the world famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to agree to take the tumor off for free. Roberta, Charlene and others got all the complicated paper work together to get the visa and Charlene flew to Port au Prince last week to bring her here. Kim Meredith flew here with them and plans to return for the surgery. I intend to chronicle her visit here. Stay tuned.