Merry Christmas!

We hope & pray that you & your families are doing well this holiday season.  We are doing wonderful here in Haiti.  December starts the busy time here, as we know it does for everyone back in the states.  We are busy getting our classroom decorated, getting ready for our big Christmas program in just 8 days, getting the students Christmas gifts organized, & getting packed to come back to the states!  

We are so very excited for the Christmas program.  Brennan is playing in the praise band & also playing the guitar for my students song, each class sings a Christmas song for the program.  We are singing Away in a Manager.  None of my students knew the song so we have spent these last 2 weeks learning the words.  They love the song & do a great job.  One day when Brennan was playing, they said "Mr. Brennan please pray with us before you leave".  It was the sweetest thing.  They love Jesus so much! They love to learn more about Him each day at school, love to talk about Him & pray to Him.  We are so proud of all our students & so blessed to be here with them all.   They are getting so excited about their Christmas gift from their sponsor & I can't wait to watch their faces while they open their gift!

Prayer Requests:  Please keep praying for continued good health for our family.  Pray for all teachers as we begin our journey back to the states in just 11 days, pray for everyone's safety.

Pray for our students while we are all off school for 3 weeks.  Pray that we can continue to get support in each month.  Pray that we can all come back refreshed from break, ready to teach & serve the Lord here in Haiti.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Brennan, Janna, & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

13 more days of school

It is crazy for us to think that we only have 13 more days of school until Christmas break.  We are very excited to be able to come back to the states to see family & friends. We miss everyone & know everyone wants to see Lyndlee!  She is doing great.  She loves her preschool, her friends & teachers there, especially her best buddy Naiyah. Her teacher told me a story last night so I thought I would share.  Everyday before snack they pray, than the teacher will say, "Okay eat your snack, yum yum yum.  So now right after prayer, Lyndlee says yum yum yum!  She loves the snack, peanut butter on bread.  

Class is going well for both Brennan & I.  My kids were hyper these past 2 days!  We did a lot of fun thanksgiving art projects.  

Since I wrote last I visited an orphanage again.  This time I had to leave Lyndlee with Brennan at home, because my sister Julie sent over 50 pairs of flip flops for the kids at the orphanage.  So I asked 2 other teachers to help me get the shoes there.  The kids loved them & it was neat to be able to hand them out.  So there are some pictures from that visit.

We are so thankful for so many things, for having Lyndlee in our lives.  We are so blessed that she is our daughter.  We are so thankful to be here in Haiti & do be in good health. 

We love you all!

All for Him,

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

Another week has gone by here in Haiti.  All is well here, we are getting excited about seeing family/friends in just about 30 some days!  Enjoy the new pictures.

Love to you all.

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

Lyndlee is feeling better!  Thanks for all your prayers for her!  We love you all.

November Already?!

Hello Everyone,

Can't believe it is November, time flies here so quickly.  We are doing great.  We do find ourselves missing the cooler weather back in Columbia, the change of leaves, the pumpkins.  But than all we have to do is go on top of the school roof & look out & be okay.  We have a beautiful view of the ocean from there, I can't describe it in words so here is a picture for you to enjoy.  Every Saturday now we take time to do something different so I lay out & let me tell you, it was strange laying out knowing it is November.  Brennan plays baseball with our neighbor Brice, they pretend to have a whole game even though there are only 2 people playing, makes me laugh!  And Lyndlee, well she really loves to swing on the swing set at school so that is her thing to do!

Answered prayer:  the boat arrived!  Yippie.  They started unloading it today, it has 19 cars on it we were told, so it probably will still be about 1-2 weeks before we get our things but still, the boat is here in Haiti!  

Blessing: Last night there was a fire in the garages that are underneath our apartments but everyone is safe.  There garages hold extra furniture, freezers, tools, etc. Some wiring caught on fire, and thus caught some mattresses on fire.  The only thing left of the mattresses is the mostly the springs, picture is included.  Also one of the garage door melted.  It was a blessing that the walls & floor were cement so that the fire didn't spread quickly.  The men worked hard all yesterday afternoon & today, putting the fire out & cleaning everything up.  We are blessed that everyone was safe & that little damage was done.  Right now we have all our electricity but hot water & a working stove but we are blessed!

Exciting news for Lyndlee & Naiyah is that the school dog had puppies, so included is a picture of them petting one of the puppies, it is an everyday thing for them.  Also I thought the picture of them is cute by the school gate. They love school so much that they were trying to break down the gate to get in!!

Prayer Requests:  Continued good health for our family, that we can bring in our monthly support, all the teachers & students at Sonlight, Roger & Norma Alexander as they are away for 3 weeks.

Enjoy the pictures, much love to you all.

All for Him,

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

New Week

Hello everyone!

Well the start of a new week & we are just praying we can all get better soon.

Lyndlee was seen by a doctor again last week & we were told she had scarlet fever.  But the fever finally broke praise the Lord, now she is starting to peel at her fingers, toes, knees & elbows which is apart of scarlet fever.  She seems to be getting better each day but now I seem to have a little something. We are just praying it isn't strep throat.

We finished up first quarter grades, hard to believe time has gone by that fast here.

We enjoyed a nice weekend & had some great family time.  We are looking forward to a Halloween party we are having this Friday night at a teachers house.  We don't have costumes but Lyndlee will be going as a Chinese girl since we have her dress from Taiwan with us!  We will post pictures later of that!

Funny story from this week, we went to the 7 eleven to buy some more powder milk for Lyndlee & were also excited to see some apples there!  When we were paying, the cashier asked if Lyndlee was my baby, I said yes!  She said oh no, you lie to me.  She just kept saying that so I tried to explain she is my baby, that we adopted her from Taiwan.  Not for sure if she really understood!  It gave us good laughs though.

We are so thankful to be here in Haiti, continue to pray that we can all start feeling better.  Continue to pray for all teachers & students here at Sonlight.

 A praise, the boat did leave Miami last week, should be here soon in Haiti with our new generator & packages from friends & family.  It will feel like Christmas in October!

Much love,

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

A Hard Week

This week was probably our hardest here in Haiti.  Lyndlee has been very sick.  We were hoping the doctor would be here this week so that he could look at her.  Luckily there was a nurse here this week with the group that came in & she was great help, along with advice from our mothers, sisters, & several women here!  Lyndlee was running a high fever, had a rash all over her body, wouldn't eat & sleep.  We were told to keep her cool but that was a challenge since we didn't have power.  So most of the days we put her in the tub with cold water to keep the fever down & to relieve her from the rash.  We still don't know exactly what she has, we have her on medicine right now thinking possibly she may have strep throat or an allergic reaction to something.  So this week has been hard watching our baby girl be so sick, not being able to help her much.  Than there is this awful virus going around our students & teachers that Brennan got the beginning of the week & I got it towards the end.  We appreciate all your prayers during this time, please keep praying for Lyndlee & that she will continue to feel better.  Our good friends/neighbors had quite a scare with Amanda being very sick.  But she also is on medicine right now so please pray for their family & that she can continue to feel better.

Yesterday morning we wanted to get out of the house & enjoy the holiday/day off here in Haiti so we took a hike.  It was beautiful sights we saw, from the ocean view, the mountains, the Haitian people coming out to greet us & smile at Lyndlee.  It was a great day & we thank God for it!  

Enjoy the pictures!  We love you all!  Please keep praying the boat can make here to us with the new generator, they are telling us it will arrive Oct 22nd so we wait & pray!  We have had power for 4 days now & are loving it!  We feel spoiled even!

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

We slept great last night!

Well, last time I wrote, I said we had power, well we lost it that very next day & went another 7 days with no electricity.  So we survived 14 days with no power!  It was long & hard at times but the Lord brought us through.  Last night about 8pm we got power, we slept so great!  It went off once, & I was thinking Lord why would you give us a taste & than have it taken away again.  But Brennan reminded me that we need to praise Him just for that taste, even if it was a short one!  So we went to bed thankful & woke up to power still.  I can't tell you how excited we are to do laundry, to cook again, to have light, to shower with hot water!  There is a new generator on its way by boat, we are all hoping that we can raise enough money for a second generator.  

Thanks for all your prayers & support during this trying time.  We appreciate it so much & you have all uplifted us!

Lord Bless you all!  Enjoy the pictures, the girls got so good at helping wash our clothes by hand!  The days we have been off school we spend lesson planning, going to see my students at their homes, one day I had some students over to play.  There is also a picture of some of Brennan's students at the Bible College!  

Tomorrow we start at school again, please be praying for all the students/teachers at Sonlight!

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee

Haiti!

Life seems easier now.....

Well hello to everyone, we hope & pray you are all doing well.  We can't thank you enough for all the encouragement/prayer support that you have blessed us with.  Oh how you have lifted us up during hard & trying times.

We were without electricity for 7 days, it was a long 7 days but we made it & are just fine.  It opened our eyes to how our students & Haitian neighbors live everyday of their lives.  It made us more thankful for the small things like a breeze from the wind, a hot meal, a hot shower, a washer & dryer!!

We are almost to our week 2 of no school, we are ready to be back & running again.

Wednesday we enjoyed a motorcycle ride to a hotel near us where we ate a Haitian meal. Lyndlee & Brennan swam in the ocean, I however was not that adventurous!  Lyndlee has grown quite accustomed to life here in Haiti as on the way back she feel asleep on the taxi, I still don't know how she did that, they aren't the smoothest rides/roads!

We have visited some of our students at their homes & were able to meet their families.  Tomorrow we are having 3 of my students over for lunch and a movie so that will be fun.  Lyndlee will love having company over!

Our generator is up & running, we are just praying it can run, we have another part coming in for it this week.  The guys works so hard getting it to work for us!  

We are thankful to be here & be apart of the Lord's ministry here in Haiti.

We miss you all.

The Lord bless & keep you.

For Him,

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

Seriously......

Hello everyone, just wanted to share some recent news from here in Haiti this week.  

Sonlight is the only school in session here in Port de Paix.  All schools are closed until October 6th due to the hurricanes/economy.  So we had a visit from the minister of education earlier this week saying that we needed to close as well. Our director discussed the issue with him, saying our kids aren't affected by these things, that they are all still attending school each day & want to come but that didn't seem to matter. It ended with Sonlight being able to stay open everyday 8-12 "to tutor" our students.  So we have been doing that for the last few days, the students were all still coming to school, they aren't wearing their uniforms but they were all ready for learning!  Well as of today, they came to school again, & gave our director no choice but to close until October 6th.  This was very hard for our students to understand, some did, some however too young to understand what is going on.  Some of the older students don't understand & kept asking Brennan in class why they are getting punished & school taken away from them.  We don't understand as teachers why the board of education here in Haiti would want all their children sitting at home for 2 weeks doing nothing, when instead they could be learning everyday in school, doesn't make sense.

So that is the latest here.  Also, we are still waiting for fuel so have been limited on electricity, the guys have been working hard when the generator goes out.  The roads were destroyed from the hurricanes so we are waiting for the roads to get rebuilt so the fuel trucks can come through to bring fuel. We have enough to last the rest of this week.  Please keep praying for us all here at Sonlight. Pray for our students during this break from school & for their safety.  Pray for all the teachers here as well.  We love you all & miss you greatly.

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying

First Week of School

So we had our first week of school, we had only 3 days this week. It went great. We were nervous at first but all went well.
I love my students, all 32 of them! They keep me busy, I have been so overwhelmed this week with emotions. They have brought me such joy already! They make me pictures everyday, they always greet me with a kiss & say goodbye with a kiss/hug.  One student had a birthday this week, her name is Baldine.  The next morning, she brought me a piece of cake wrapped in a cloth.  I thanked her & asked her if she had gotten a birthday gift.  She told me her cake was her present & that she wanted to bring me a piece.  I started crying & just kissed her!  And when my students pray, oh I cry than too!  We pray in the mornings, before snack & before we leave for the day.  One day my student named Lovena prayed before snack & this is what she said:  Dear Jesus, thank you for this bread, thank you for this peanut butter, thank you for my cup of water.  Jesus I love you, please love me, Amen.  

They are so precious, so grateful for what they have, so content!  

Brennan has really enjoyed teaching at the Bible College & getting to know his students there.  Lyndlee goes to preschool in the mornings for an hour & loves it.  Her teachers says somedays she will sit with the kids & listen, other times she wanders around the room!  All we know is that when Brennan picks her up & takes her home, she is so happy & hyper.  She will sing & say different things!  She also is very big on cleaning lately from watching our maid.  And she also is wanting to be a teacher I think.  She always wants a pen & paper to draw & talk with!  I think she has watched us too much at night as we sit with our books to make our lesson plans up!

We have had several hurricanes pass through Haiti, if you are watching or paying attention to the news, I am sure you already know.  We are safe, we get heavy winds/rains.  There is flooding that happens here too but we are doing great.

We love it here in Haiti.  We love the people.  They are such loving, friendly hard working people & we have learned so much from them.  We feel blessed to be here & ask that you continue to pray for us!  Thank you, we pray you are all well! 

Much love to you all!

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee

Beautiful Haiti

We have been so busy getting our house set up, getting our classrooms ready, working on lessons plans that today we decided to take a little break.  So our friends Amanda, Brice & Naiyah took us to the beach to swim.  Both Lyndlee & Naiyah loved it & it was so sweet to watch them both.  The water was so beautiful, I got to take some really beautiful pictures & video which we still hope to share as soon as the generator gets fixed here.  Please still pray about that, we are down to one & it keeps Roger & John so busy.  

We start school on Wednesday, we are so looking forward to meeting our students.  Brennan has started teaching at the college & loves it!  Lyndlee is doing great, she loves her little friend Naiyah so much & says her name, they like to hold hands & walk together too!  

There are lots of dogs here so we always have to wave, say hi, & say dog although she calls them gogs.  She is so friendly when we are walking around, just waves & waves at everyone we pass! 

We have met more people & more students which has been great.  My teacher aides are teaching me Creole everyday, although they laugh a lot at me trying to say things, they are sweethearts.

All is well with us, the Lord continues to bless us.  We love you all & miss you!

Haiti

We made it safely to Haiti.  All is well, Lyndlee did great traveling, what a trooper she is.

We are very limited on internet usage right now so we will give a better update later & hope to post pictures.

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it here.  Thanks for all the prayers & support.

We love & miss you all!

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee

Only Days Away.......

I can't believe that in only 3 days, we will be heading out for Haiti.  We are so excited, ready, nervous, scared, & sad.  There are too many different emotions all at once to try to explain what we feel.  We are so ready to get there, to meet all the wonderful people we will be working alongside, to meet all the wonderful people of Haiti.  We can't wait to meet our students & their families, to see where we will be living for the next 2 years.  We can't wait to start unpacking & stop living out of our suitcases!  We can't wait to start working & just let the Lord use us for His ministry there.  We know we are going to teach in Haiti but also know we will be the ones learning everyday!  We are ready to learn & to soak up all the Lord wants to teach us. 

The goodbyes have been hard, so hard but we know the Lord is right alongside us every moment of this journey.  We rejoice in the Lord & all that He has blessed us with.  He has given us so many things, so many blessings, so many wonderful friends & family that have been such a great encouragement to us.  We know this move will be hard for everyone involved so we just continue to ask for prayers, for wisdom & strength from the Lord.

We have had a great last 3 weeks, visiting with friends & family.  I wanted to include some photos from our time.  Probably the next time we write will be from Haiti, from our new home! I am hoping to be able to upload videos/photos to show everyone where we will be living! Thanks again.  We love you all!

For Him,

Janna, Brennan & Lyndlee Jya-Ying  

Week In Texas, Family Fun & Wedding

We had a great time in Texas with our family.  It was a long drive to Texas with 7 kids in car seats & 13 adults.  We stayed at a beautiful home by the lake that also had a pool.  We all had a blast. Jeremi & Jenni's wedding was beautiful, & the kids loved the dance time!  It was precious.  We have really enjoyed this week with our family & the special memories we have made.  Hope you all doing well, we love you all!