Communiqué #042
TO MY PARTNERS in MINISTRY
to the PEOPLE of HAITI
July 25, 2007
Invasion of the frogs! It was dark! As I headed into my bathroom, before reaching for the light switch, I felt a thud on my chest. Much to my surprise, when I turned on the light, I discovered a large frog on my bathroom floor that had used me as a spring board. I tried to capture it, before it disappeared somewhere in my bathroom. You can be sure that from then on, I was sure to reach for the light switch, BEFORE I entered the bathroom. No more surprises!
The following day, I was moving the furniture on my balcony, when my friend re-appeared. This time Léon was nearby, so I called him to the rescue. Comically, he chased the frog around. It skillfully avoided him while jumping around the balcony and into one of the vacant rooms of the guesthouse. Léon ended up opening the entrance door of the room, allowing the frog to jump to its freedom! I had to catch a photo, before I let Léon issue the frog down the exit stairwell.
It was only minutes later that the girls of the orphanage scurried up the stairs to come to ask us about something. But of course, they did not make it up the stairs. We could hear the screeching from our room, knowing exactly what was causing it. People here (not only children) are terrified of frogs. It is similar to some people’s fear of snakes, but seems so much more unreasonable to me. I have tried to explain to the kids that they should not kill the frogs, but rather let them do their job of eating mosquitoes and other unwanted insects. They want nothing to do with that plan! I explained to them that some people in the states actually eat the legs of the frogs. That grosses them out even more. They shudder when I explain that to them. After much to-do about this particular frog, the girls went about their day, until another, smaller frog was discovered on the screen of the bathroom window of the orphanage. Once again, Léon removed the frog amidst the screams of the girls! Funny thing though, the girls who hate to brush their teeth, scurried to do so, when Léon jokingly told them if they did not brush their teeth, they would find the frog in their bed that night! The orphanage boasted of the cleanest teeth in Les Cayes that evening!
One would have thought that would be the end of the saga. But alas! It was not. During the early morning hours of the next day, while I was beginning to stir from my sleep, I felt a tap on my pillow. I raised my head quickly enough to see a smaller frog leap from my pillow to the side of my filing cabinet. I turned to Léon and said, “Krapo anko!” (“another frog”), but he was too deep in dreamland to hear me. Sigh! No more sleep for me!
We have had a lot of rain in the last couple of days. I think that has caused all the tadpoles in the sewage ditches to turn into frogs and seek higher and drier land. I had forgotten about this type of occurrence, until all of these recent visitors had paid me a visit. Memory lane helped to recall the time that I came to Les Cayes with Pastor Israel on a night after a weeklong rainstorm had buried Les Cayes under water. As we arrived at the church compound, during a power outage, we entered the church. I felt something on my legs. In amazement, I looked down and there were dozens and dozens of frogs in the church, some of whom had been captured by upside-down Dixie cups. I guess that explains why people here do not like them. The frogs can appear in droves. It kind of reminded me of the plagues in Egypt! It is just another one of those Haitian adventures!
The “frog event” was not the only reason the month of July brought lots of smiles and laughter. On July 22, Léon and I celebrated our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary. What a year of blessings it has been!!! And then, on July 24, Léon traveled to Port-au-Prince and is now the proud owner of a VISA to the United States, after 2 ½ long years of filling out paperwork, attempting to get hard-to-attain documents, repeated trips to Port-au-Prince and delay after delay. July 2007 has become a month of celebrations! We are so very happy that now we can travel to the United States TOGETHER!
Léon has been accepted to a 10 week training program in Alabama. While he is there, I will be traveling to Wyoming to await the birth of my newest grandson. Following some time with my daughter, son-in-law and grandsons, I will head to speaking engagements in Oklahoma and Ohio. Léon and I will reunite in early November and finish our time in the states together! We are really looking forward to Léon’s adventures in the U.S. – first time meeting of family members, seeing missionary friends and exploring the sights that Léon has only heard about, read about or seen on TV. We are so thankful to God that finally this will be a reality!
Nora Léon
Missionary to Haiti & the Dominican Republic Until next time ………….
