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If you saw my link in the Henry County Local or are just stopping by, the last several posts I've made were of Trinidad, a Christmas visit to Kentucky after being away 2 years, and some other random happenings.  If you want to learn more about my time in Haiti use the timeline on the side to check out different months that I was there.  I arrived in December of 2004 and was there until October of 2006.  I love to see comments too!

Life is Moving On

I can't believe that I left Haiti over a year ago now! I am almost finished with school (my 2nd degree) and ready to start student teaching. I am heading to Barren County on January 3rd and I am pretty excited. Obviously I haven't been updating my site lately but feel free to look around my archives and leave me a message. I miss getting random, sweet emails from people all over the country!

Summer Camp

Well, I have been at Jonathan Creek for almost a week now. We have been so busy! But it is a lot of fun and I am pumped to see what God will do this summer. I am having trouble accessing my Hotmail account but I will be able to check my Yahoo. Send me a line if you want. If you want my address just let me know.

Big Surprise

Well, it has been quite a week. Some of you are probably aware of my big change but some aren't. As of today, Monday, Jan 22nd, I am a student at WKU again! This all started coming about Wednesday and I arrived home on Saturday. I haven't even made it back to Upton yet but have stayed in Bowling Green where my school and friends are.

You are probably wondering why this all came about so fast. The first 2 times I came to Trinidad I went in on a tourist visa since I planned on leaving before 90 days. But after my third time of entry they would no longer let me in on a tourist visa. They only gave me 30 days and said that I had to apply for a work visa, which may or may not have been granted. And it turns out that we aren't having any volunteers coming to Triniday anyway. We decided that I could continue helping out via email from KY. But instead of coming home just before my deadline I asked my supervisor if I could come back in time to start school which they allowed me to do.

I have had to do so many things in a short time and I still have a lot left to do- find a cell phone service, get a car, something to put my clothes in and something to sleep on, maybe look into a part time job and so forth. So I think I am going to be so busy for the next couple weeks that the return culture shock might take a while to settle in. But that's okay with me.

So, I am back! I am looking forward to speaking at churches, school, groups, etc. If you know anyone who's interested just let me know. I was already asked by a middle school geography teacher to come to her school, and I am at BSU now in their computer lab and I'll probably speak here. One of my old professors asked if I would do some speaking. It was good seeing my professors this morning. It's fun going to a school where you get a hug from all your old professors.

I'll be in touch and I'll update again soon. I've got some pictures from my going away party to post soon. But that's not my number one priority at the moment!

I appreciate so much everyone who has kept up with me for these last 27 months! And all the prayers and support that was offered on my behalf. I never could have done this on my own!

Shine, Jesus, Shine

I was reading some of my friends' blogs today and thinking about their impressions on readjusting to American culture. I was trying to think about what I would miss most. I think the biggest thing I will miss is the people and their genuine friendliness and love for me. This applies to the Haitians and Trinidadians. I just arrived in Trinidad in October and yet I was given 2 Christmas presents. One was a silver ring and one was a light-up, red-blinking, metallic Jesus. Both were unique gifts from the heart and were given from people who didn't have that much to give. But they gave anyway and were glad to do it. There was nothing in Haiti that would make me feel more special and loved than when I was given a gift. It took on new meaning. A family that is hungry all the time and struggles with their 9 kids would give me a whole stalk of plantains, or a family of 7 would give me a little sack with 5 valuable eggs. These people gave not out of excess or duty but out of love and sacrifice. They showed me what it meant to act like Jesus. I hope you enjoy the picture of my Jesus. I even caught Him with his lights on.

Back in Trinidad

I had a great 3 weeks at home. It went by way too fast. I got to spend a lot of time with my family and friends but I still wasn't able to see everyone or do everything that I missed! The weather was awesome! It was one of the warmest Decembers ever which turned out good for me. I wanted it to be really, really cold since I have been in summer weather continually for 3 years now! But I didn't realize that sometime between last Christmas and this Christmas my blood thinned, or something, that got me adapted to hot weather. It was 55 degrees outside and I felt like a popsicle sometimes. So I am glad that it wasn't any colder. It also made it great weather for repelling which I got to do twice, running around and not having to worry about slick roads.

I posted several pictures below from my time at home. They include Christmas at Grandma's, repelling and hanging out with friends in Bowling Green. I hope that you like them. I had a lot more pictures but chose some of my favorites.

Other than that I got to go to a little surprise party in my honor, have prime rib Christmas dinner at Mammy and Harry's, antique shop, visit an old college roommate, see some new movies, spend a small fortune shopping, ate way, way too much:), listen to 3 friends play their music onstage, play the spoons game twice, speak at my church in my sari, go to a Cottrell reunion, get a new tooth (it broke 2 Octobers ago!) and the list goes on and on and on...

Now, after another long delay in immigration, I am back in Trinidad- at least, for a month! Yes, I had some problems and was only granted a temporary visa for a month. It'll take more paperwork, which I hate, but I think we'll be able to work things out. To this point though I must say that I dread Trinidad's immigration! It was way different coming into Haiti. They never gave me in trouble and my visa was always expired. But you can hardy compare these two countries. I can think of one thing they do have in common though sadly enough. A week after I left a lady that lives just a quarter of a mile from me was kidnapped upon arriving at her house. Her husband paid the ransomed but there is another ransom demand now and she hasn't yet been released. People are being more careful around here, including myself. But she was CEO of a major grocery store and I am a missionary living on a stipend... I am trying to finds the balance between being safe and understanding the dangers without sacrificing too much. I won't give up running but I'll pay more attention to the times and places I go.

I guess that's about all for now. Please be praying for the cricket ministry as we work to get things together these next two months before the first guests arrive.

Winfrey family Christmas in Campbellsville

We decided this would be a good year to try and make a new family picture especially since all 3 of us that were overseas last year would be at Grandma's Christmas Eve. (Not everyone was there but my cousins who couldn't make it will later be "Photoshopped" in.) We all wore our blue and white and headed to the park near my Grandmother's house in Campbellsville, Kentucky. Here is my favorite group shot and family shot.

Girls' Nights

I was glad to be able to get to spend a lot of time with friends while I was home even though I still didn't get to see everyone I wanted to. Here are a couple of pictures from our girls' nights...

Repelling at Cub Run

This picture shows Lindsay Preston getting ready to repell. It is a pretty good shot of the entire cliff but it looks higher in person- especially from the top. But we are always looking for bigger thrills- I was excited about the new place!

Repelling at Cub Run

Here is one picture of me on my way down and a picture of Ginny and I standing in front of the big cave right beside where we landed. You can see the ropes dangling in the foreground.

Repelling in Cub Run

The left picture is me looking down about halfway into my reppell at the belayers below. The right is some pretty little waterfalls on the beautiful hike to our repel site.


Here are Em and I testing out some of our mad repelling skills on a ledge.

Touring CMT

Here I am taking a tour of CMT where my sister works. We went to Nashville for my Mom's 50th birthday and my brother's 17th. We ate downtown just a couple blocks from CMT. Erin gave is a tour but I think most of what she does was way over our heads. The picture on the left is me with Harry, Mammy and Dad in CMT's studio. The picture on the right is Erin and I in front of a CMT advertisement.

Holiday Season

I haven't had much computer time since I have been home. And that is a good thing! I made it here safe and sound. I am not getting the cool weather that I wanted but it has been cool enough. I never really believed that my body would adjust to the hot weather of the Caribbean but apparently it has. I am always cold now even when no one else it.

I have had chances to visit with friends and family, go rappelling into a cave, tour CMT in Nashville where my sister works and of course do lots of shopping- both for myself and for Christmas presents.

That's about all for now! Merry Christmas.

New Pictures!

Yea! I finally got some new pictures! I took these at our Bible study today. These will most likely be the last ones I have a chance to take before I leave Tuesday so enjoy! If you want to see any of them larger just double-click and they should open up larger. The kids had had a Christmas party today somewhere else just before class and were all super-hyped up on sweets! They are usually pretty calm but not today! I guess they have the Christmas time bug- or magic depending on how you look at it:)

Beautiful!

Is she gorgeous or what? Look at those eyes!

I got plenty of pictures of me with some of the kids at Bible study today. I know I am posting a lot but they were all so good and I'm only posting half of the total! They are silly, silly kids.

Lindsey with the kids piling on

I remember this picture very well! They were all trying to pile onto my lap and they just about knocked me over! They would have all landed on top of me too. But I managed to not tip over somehow.

All the kids wanted a turn taking pictures with my camera. I was surprised at how well they did. I did a little bit of cropping but for the most part they were good!

Lindsey and the girls

Me hanging with some of the girls. I really like this picture.

Carlson Field Class

Here is part of the class sitting on benches out on the side of the road. There are a couple of adults and a whole pile of kids!

Joshua- Child of God

This is Joshua. I wouldn't be surprised to come back and find Joshua leading a church of his own in 15 or 20 years. He's a sharp kid!

We had a time keeping the boys out of this "girls only" picture.

2 Girls in Carlson Field

These are 2 girls that come to the Bible study. The oldest is really hyper and quite a handful but she's a sweet girl.

Brenda with the kids

Notice the house in the background. It's not so different than what I was used to in Haiti. We hung the blue tarp to keep the rain off us but it was so muddy we had to move the class to the street. It has rained for about 5 days straight!

The Nativity

Tuesday night I was asked to play guitar for a group of elementary school carolers for Friday (last) night. I only knew 2 Christmas songs. So in the last 3 days I learned 9 more. I was ready to go. But at the last minute we got a call saying that caroling was cancelled. I would have enjoyed it but I was a little worried about the whole playing-guitar-while-walking thing so I wasn't too disappointed.

Since caroling was cancelled we decided to go to the movies to see "The Nativity". I am not real big on going to the movies, I usually wait for the DVD. But this is a must-see before Christmas. I really really liked it. I don't think I have to worry about ruining the story for you since I am sure you are familiar with it:) But I want to say that one of the things I liked best about it was how the story became a love story between Joseph and Mary. The way their characters were developed you couldn't help but fall in love with them. It was a beautiful film.

On the subject of nativities... on the way home we drove past the big Hindu temple here. (Well, I don't know if it's a temple exactly but it's a big building with Hindu decorations where they had the big Divali celebrations.) Oddly enough they had a big lighted nativity scene outside of the building. How wierd is that? I said that I was sure glad that none of the Christian churches put up Hindu decorations during Divali! The people here are proud that they are "accepting" of their blend of religions and everyone gets along. But to me it's watered down religion in the extreme. I want to love people of other religions but I will never accept their religion. I wrote a letter to an editor here to this effect. She had written a article on all the different religious influences here she had growing up and how they were basically the same. One of the things I said was that, as a "religious" person, if you accept another religion as truth you are forfieting the idea that your religion is true.

Christmas is coming!

Well, I am afraid that I don't have any pictures or exciting stories today. Life here is just ticking by. I've been on the phone or the computer several times over the last couple weeks. I've called every coordinator in the Caribbean as well as every hosting church here in Trinidad. I get frustrated sometimes with the way the pastors here. They give you an email address but they won't respond to emails. Or they say they will call and won't. But I am working through that. I guess it's just that laid back Caribbean lifestyle. I know they have good intentions and honestly plan on getting back to me it just slips their mind after a while. But I am trying to get things lined up before I leave. We have less than 100 days until the games. After I get back to Trinidad on January 4th we wil have just 2 months before the first group arrives.

So that is pressing on my mind along with the excitement that in just 5 days I will be on my way to Kentucky!!! I am so excited! I have been on the phone as well making plans and appointments for my time at home. I want to make the most of every moment so I figure that takes some planning! I'll have just over 3 weeks.

We are entering the month of prayer for international missions as well as the Lottie Moon offering. I will be posting some stories, information or prayer requests in the coming days. And I already have plans to speak at my church about the Lottie Moon offering. (It will also give me a chance to wear my new saree!) In regards to prayer I am also looking for 5-10 prayer partners to join with me regularly in prayer for the upcoming World Cup Cricket ministry. Please let me know if you are interested. I'll be sharing more specific ways you can pray for it in the future.

Lindsey with the Trinidadians at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Group 2
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

Here I am on Thanksgiving with the 2 local families (plus one) that joined us here for Thanksgiving. They don't get off work since it's not a holiday here so they came around suppertime, about the time we were pulling out the desserts or going for round 2:) Like always, we all had a good time but ate too much. We all have so much to be thankful for and the chance to spend a day thinking of those things is another blessing to be thankful for! I missed going to my Grandma's for Thanksgiving and I'll miss going to my Mammy's tomorrow but that will make me look forward to Christmas that much more!

A slideshow from Hartley's Ranch in New Mexico.

I've had some time recently to organize and go through some old pictures. I thought you might enjoy these. They are from Roy, New Mexico where I worked on the Hartley's 50,000 acre guest ranch the summer before I became a Journeyman. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to go west and "be a cowgirl." Even though it was only for a summer I feel like I got to do all that I had ever dreamed. I rode for hours a day working cattle, learned to flank and, as every cowgirl needs to know, 2-step. It was a great summer and I thank the Hartleys for taking a chance on me and my buddy Emily and then for loving us and treating us so well! I sure do miss them all.

Sweet and Sour.jpg

Sweet and Sour.jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

This little story was at the over look we stopped at on the way to the beach at Maracas Bay, about 2 hours from our house. It sold lots of local candies or homemade goodies. But some things are really spicy so be warned!

Sweet mangos

sweet mango.jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

3 for $2.00, or 3 for 33 cents US

I think I'll have one of these and some spicy pineapple chow. I'm always up for trying new things. The pineapple chow really opened up my sinuses and about choked me the first bite but I liked it. Here is the story of the mangos...

Trying a new food photo story...

Lindsey wih mango 1.jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

Mmmm, I really like mangoes and it's been a few months since I've had one. This sweet mango looks good.

Lindsey with mango 2.jpg

Lindsey with mango 2.jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

I'm licking my lips but I don't know about this...

Lindsey with mango 3.jpg

Lindsey with mango 3.jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

I thought this said "sweet". This is NOT sweet and really NOT good. I can add something else to the short list of foods I don't like. The rest of these are going over the hillside.

Ahhh...

Maracas Bay at the overlook in the rain.jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

This is looking down at the bay where we eventually went swimming as the rain was falling on it.

View to the left of overlook

View to the left of overlook .jpg
Originally uploaded by lindseyinhaiti.

Post card perfect, huh?