2000 Miles

I looked at my odometer the other day and realized that I have traveled almost 2000 miles in the last month.  That’s mostly highway miles. 

Its been a great few weeks on the road but it’s been good this week to be in a familiar place (Jacksonville) to regroup and recoup a little.

Without too many boring details here’s a bullet list of my activities in the last two weeks since leaving Gainesville.  I spent a couple more days in Jacksonville and then a day and a half in Orlando before I…

• Traveled to Miramar and had dinner with some of the former Haiti team members.
• Attended the Florida Bible Church wide Picnic at which I got invited to share with two Sunday School classes the following morning and made a couple solid contacts.
• Took a convertible to the Everglades Holiday Park where I:
  • Saw this guyHe’s on Animal Planet’s Gator Boys. 
  • Rode in one of these out into the Everglades
    
  • And held this guy.  His name was Wally.
    (I may have photoshopped the tape around his mouth out of the picture for dramatic affect…maybe.)
• Shared with two Sunday School classes at Florida Bible and attended a Haiti Team meeting where I got to meet most of the team who will be coming to Haiti this summer.
• Watched the Super bowl with two great folks, Joanne and John Miner (my great hosts for the weekend)!
• Bought a $70 pair of sandals at a Thrift Store for $4.50.  (Can we say thrifty?)
• Took the ‘avoid the toll’ route from Miramar to Lehigh Acres and almost(should have)ran of gas.  Who knew those roads were SO long and desolate??  I started looking for gas as soon as I left the house, just for the record.  Had no idea it would be that hard to find a station! 
• Attended an RMI meeting with Auxano to help us reevaluate our vision, mission, and goals (looking for great things to come from those meetings- btw! So stay tuned!)and got to see Rob Thompson and Benjamin Altema who had flown in from Haiti for the meetings.
• Traveled back to Orlando and spent a couple days where my 15 month old nephew would run around the house and squeal my name! EHMAY?  EHMAY?
• Celebrated my dad’s 76th birthday with dinner at the Cracker Barrel and ice cream back at the house.
• Headed up to Jacksonville, had lunch with my mom and aunt and then spent the afternoon with them, my dad and his two brothers at the Respite Care facility where my Uncle currently resides.  Great time with family.
• Went to the Optometrist and got my eyes checked at no cost (thanks to an awesome friend for the hook up!).  Got a prescription for glasses and was given permission by the doctor to decide if I wanted to fill it or not.  Its for distance…

I’ve got a few dinner dates scheduled with friends while I am here and a support dinner on Friday night (pray for good connections and that God moves hearts) and then I head back up to Orlando Saturday for a LOOONNNGG time friend of family reunion of sorts…

Busy much?

And to top it all off- I am currently 76% funded and am at only $840 away from reaching my goal!  Yay God!

I made myself tired just thinking through all that again.  I am going to go take a nap!

Here are a few more pics to peruse while I sleep.  These are all  awesome shots taken by Joanne Miner on or before our trip to the Everglades Holiday Park.

On the Road…again.

I head off to Miramar today to spend the weekend with the folks from Florida Bible Church.  I’ll get to share an update of my life and of my ministry in Haiti at a dinner get together tomorrow night.  Then on Saturday there is a church wide picnic and Sunday the “Haiti team” from Florida Bible will be meeting in preparation for upcoming fundraising events and their next trip to Haiti so I’ll get to be a part of both of those.  Then on Monday I’ll head over for a couple days in Lehigh Acres (home of the RMI Florida office) where I’ll get to share a meal or two with Benjamin Altema and Rob Thompson, who will be flying in from Haiti for some meetings, and the rest of the RMI family (read: staff) and maybe a local friend or two. And then its off to Jacksonville again…

Busy days but lots of great things coming from the activity and enjoying the chance to see some “already” friends (I hate the idea of calling someone and “old” friend…)and familiar places as well as meeting new friends and visiting some new places. 

And incase you didn’t see the update, I am 71% funded and only have 29% to go to head back to Haiti!

In other ‘fun’ news- my 14 month old nephew, Colin, is learning to say my name…he walks around the house saying something that resembles “Amy’ so we’re counting it as such! And when I’m not home I’m told he spends a lot of time looking around corner to see if I’m in my room.  I’m loving this chance to get to bond with him (and his two older brothers) while I’m in the States.

the 29%

As of 12am, February 1, 2012 I am 71% funded.  That means I only need the last 29% to be met and I can had back to Haiti!  I have $1035 left to go monthly and I can board the plane and get back to my ministry in the Caribbean. 

If you’re already part of the 71% thank you so much!!!  You’re helping me to do this and more importantly, you’re playing an important part in the kingdom of God with your faithful giving.

If you’re not yet involved, would you consider becoming part of the 29%?  Together we can do this!

Gainesville and…

I just returned from a short but fruitful visit to Gainesville.  I saw lots of familiar faces and met a lot of great, new people. I made some solid contacts and have recently had five additional monthly donors join my support team (some of whom I met on this visit)!

It was great to get to spend the week with some “Haiti” folks and get to know them in their ‘real’ lives, visit them in their homes, and fellowship with them around a dinner table filled with American cuisine.  It was also fun to get to share a little bit of the ‘other’ me as well…the me who wears make up and dangly earrings, likes to do artsy- craftsy stuff, watches reality TV (don’t judge!), and likes HIGH heels. Having lived in Gainesville from 1986-1993 it was also fun to be back and visit some familiar places and see how much has changed and how much has stayed the same.

I am in Jacksonville today and head back to Orlando tomorrow for a couple days of regrouping and to see my family.  Then on Friday I’ll head to Mirimar down in South Florida.  Looking forward to spending some time with the folks from Florida Bible Church! 

Ale La

(I’m repeating a post I did about a year ago.  Forgive me if its uninteresting. But it’s a great reminder for me…It’s a poem from a collection of Haitian Poetry; Open Gate- Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry.)

Go There

Go there where you see your hearts
Leading you keeping you from changing
Into a dry desert of sorrow
Worse than the skin of a drum.
Go there even when you’re discouraged
When you end up as salt meat
In banquets for bigwigs.
You have to go there, my bothers and sisters,
Where the people suffering
Never hear “Good Morning”
Where there’s no light
To enliven a day with hope.
Go there and bring the warmth of your love along
To make the people's heart happy
To defy injustice and evil
Endured by the wretched of the earth
As if they had no right to be there,
There in the morning splendor of being alive.
You have to go there, live there, join us
If only with the little smiles of your mouths
O my sisters and brothers, we have to be there
Where together, without any dirty tricks,
We can grow corn, oranges and friendship
For all of us on earth so in need of transformation.

                    -Tontongi

P.S.

I updated my newsletter for the new year- click here for the latest version. Be sure and check it out!

Three Weeks In

Its been about three weeks since I started hitting the fundraising trail…its been a little slow getting started but it seems like things are starting to move forward!  I’ve been in Jacksonville since Thursday and I headed down to Gainesville yesterday afternoon for my first of three appointments to share with three different small groups this week.  I  look forward to seeing some friends from Creekside (one of RMI’s Sister Churches) and connecting with some new folks.

It was a long awaited and desperately needed visit to Jacksonville and its been a great (and emotionally and spiritually) uplifting time here in Jax.  It was SO awesome to see so many of my friends and supporters at church on Sunday. Over the past few days I had a chance to spend some time with some really special friends (there are still friends I have yet to see and I look forward to sharing some time with you in a couple weeks, next time I am in Jax!) and have had some really encouraging(and sometimes hard) conversations.  Other than about 20 hours I spent in Jax in December for a couple doctors appointments I haven’t spent any time here and hadn’t even yet had the chance to attend Crossroad until this weekend so it was definitely way passed time!

Here’s a snap shot of my time in the states thus far:

• Visited the eye doctor and my endocrinologist and got good reports from both (A1C is 6,5 if you’re counting!)
• Spent the holidays with family and rested up for the busy new year
• Rented a car (for two months) in order to be able to get around locally, make appointments, and travel.
• Shared with the Sweetwater Baptist Kingdom Praise Sunday morning children’s program and Sweetwater Baptist Women on Mission Tuesday Morning Bible Study about Haiti and my ministry within.
• Attended a community meeting of local Haitians who gather monthly and do service projects, take trips, and have fundraising events to benefit Haiti.  I was able to share briefly about the work of RMI in Haiti and I passed out my information.
• Met with the Koinonia class at Crossroad Church and updated them on my ministry in Haiti and answered lots of great questions.  Love that group of folks!
• Spoke to Mrs. Hopkins 3rd grade class at Harvest Christian School.  I talked about life as a missionary and answered a LOT of great questions.  (They wanted to know if Haiti had electricity, a Walmart, McDonalds and Publix, and if any one in Haiti had blue eyes among other more thought provoking questions!) Lots of fun! 
• Shared with one small group in Gainesville and am now setting up appointments to meet individually with those who attended. (I meet with another group tonight and yet another one tomorrow night!)

Please continue to pray that I can make good, solid connections, and that God will continue to orchestrate divine appointments.  Pray for safe travels and a good ‘soul refreshing’ time here in the States.

From the Silence…an Update

 

Many people have asked if I am no longer using the blog or if I’m ever going to write again.  I have been longing to write as so many things have happened, but life has just been so incredibly busy that at that at the end of a long busy day, I just didn’t have the inner reserve to sit down and process my day into words.  But I am happy to ‘announce’ that there is finally an update available for your viewing pleasure. 

In this update you will find information regarding:

• my visit to the US
• my home assignment
• specific needs and prayer requests and
• an update on RMI’s activities for 2011.

(click image below)

I will arrive in the States on December 16, 2011 and hope to be able return to Haiti in March 2012 or once my home assignment has been completed.

I’ll also be sending copies of the update in the mail.  If you don’t think I have your address and you’re interested in a copy, send a message to amy.long@rminet.org with your full name and address.

P.S.  You can also check out my new website www.amyruthimages.com.