Rick and Cookie Ireland

Spaghetti for breakfast? I have been in Haiti now for a couple of years and I have to tell you that the thought of spaghetti for breakfast has never been appealing.  I have known it was a common breakfast for Haitians, but I had no desire to try it personally.  A few weeks ago I [...]

Rick Reflects: February 21, 2012   Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But [...]

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.   Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining [...]

“Dad, how come . . .?” “Because. . .” Boy, did I find that frustrating as a kid!  I heard it a lot because I had a lot of questions growing up.  I remember promising myself that when I had kids I would not “because” them.  But of course I did.  I discovered as a [...]

  Our Haitian friends frequently urge us to stay in after dark.  I know this is a good idea.  I say to myself often, “I will not drive after dark”.  I have every intention of sticking to my resolution.  Then life intervenes and  {{sigh…}} I find myself driving after dark.  A special evening service is [...]

As a missionary, one has feet in two different worlds. When I left my world of origin (Western New York) and moved to Haiti, I had a great deal to both learn and to unlearn. I am learning a new language. I have had to learn to drive as driving here in Haiti is a completely different experience than in the US. I could go on but I suspect you don’t have too much trouble coming up with things one might have to learn when one moves to a different country. It didn’t surprise me that I had new things to learn.

It happened . . .again. One of the projects that had been in the works when I arrived in Haiti shortly after the earthquake was the purchase of some property for the John Wesley School in a poor urban neighborhood of Port au Prince, Haiti. There was a piece of land just behind the existing [...]

I’ve been reflecting on “reflecting”.  It might be more accurate to say that I have been thinking about how hard it can be to reflect.  Those of you who follow “Rick Reflects” have noted that it has been a while since you received a “Reflects”.  I have even gotten  emails from people who wondered what [...]

Two kids, about age 5. I think I am getting ahead of myself here so I will back up a bit.  This past weekend I traveled to Port de Paix.  I had been invited by the Pastor Jute Simon to come and preach there.   As I had not yet been to that part ofHaiti, I [...]

I would guess that most of you don’t know what this is a picture of.  Here in Haiti electricity is a problem.  Rarely does it work for 24 straight hours.  Often we feel fortunate if it works for 10 to 12 hours a day.  When it does work it often doesn’t come in full strength.  This is [...]