Happy New Year!

Wow, what a year! We would like to wish everyone a happy new year. I know we overuse the word "blessed," but we sit here at the end of the year and are shocked as we count our blessings. The struggles remain, but we rejoice as we reminisce. Obviously, our year will be remembered by Daisha's entrance and as we remember that story, we can hardly believe it ourselves. Thanks again so much for your support and love.

Merry Christmas!

The rest of the story - Mary, Jesus, and the baby

So, here it is. What do you think?


Honestly, what are the chances that Joseph was bald?

Is this really all that JA$2500 will buy?

What is with the baby Jesus looking like he is 4 years old?

What do you think the age difference was between Joseph and Mary?


Here it is adorning our end table. The question now is, can we even find redemption in this story of Jesus. I think so. We hope this does not turn into a family heirloom in which our great-grandchildren are wondering what was wrong with great G-Pa and G-ma Plattner. Instead, I think we can make a few trades and make this work. I am guessing that the current Joseph could pass for a wise man. So, maybe sometime in the future we will order a younger looking Joseph, and demote the current Joseph to the position of shepherd or wiseman. About the Jesus figure, ummm, we will keep thinking about that.

The week in review - G-pa and G-ma Plattner

We enjoyed a wonderful week with Grandpa and Grandma Plattner. We were blessed by their fellowship and time with us. The kids loved having them visit. We spent 2 nights at a hotel and the rest of the time we spent at our home in Knockpatrick. We did a little Christmas with the kids. The kids loved making Christmas cookies, working outside, getting pulled in the wagon, getting too much candy, and all the little things that only Grandparents can do. It was a blessing for us in the midst of our homesickness during the holidays. Here are some PICTURES of the week.

Mary, Jesus, and the baby?

Not long after arriving in Jamaica, we began to be introduced, not by choice, to a guy who sells crafts at the local shopping center where we get groceries. Most times, while getting our groceries, we would try to put off his pleas to buy one of his carved turtles, birds, or monkeys or to give him a little money to get home in a taxi. Realizing that this would be an ongoing problem, we decided to change our approach. While we are owners of a not so finely carved turtle with eyes that are out of place, we thought that buying a herd of turtles or goofy animals may not be productive. So, we decided to see if he could carve us what we want him to carve. Last year, we asked him to carve a nativity set for us. Jamaica is a very "Christian" country and we were shocked to realize that he did not know the story of Jesus. We tried our best to share with him the story, but we were not so sure that we got through. After printing him off a picture of the nativity, squabbling over a fair price, and giving him a few weeks, we got an interestingly carved nativity that we gave to some friends for Christmas. At mothers day, he carved us an interesting mother with 2 boys at her side for Keri's gift. And, just the other day he wanted us to place another order. We thought maybe we could start putting together a nativity for ourselves and ordered Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Tony, the carver, replied, "No Problem, I will do Mary, Jesus, and the baby." Wow, we have a long ways to go, even after trying to straighten him out again, he repeated that he will carve Mary, Jesus, and the baby. Unfortunately, Tony cant read, but hopefully as he is carving Mary, her spouse who is not named Jesus, and Jesus, that his interest will be perked to pursue who this Jesus is and seek the answer to the real meaning of Christmas.

P.S. - We will try to post a picture of "Mary, Jesus, and the baby" when we pick it up next week.

Grandpa and Grandma Plattner

Lord willing, Kirk's parents will be flying in on Monday for a week. What a blessing! With Keri's parents hoping to come after the new year, we feel blessed with so much support. We are hoping to spend a couple of days at a hotel and then the rest of the week at Knockpatrick. Our parents have really invested in our time here and have shown such strong support even through the pain of the separation by miles. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and we are continuously growing in our understanding of the power of Godly parents. It raises the bar for us and takes us to our knees seeking His grace in raising our kids. I am sure we will check back later in the week with some pictures of our week.

The Christmas Program pics are HERE. Sunday, we had the church Christmas program and the kids sang and signed "Away in a manger." We did not get a video, but we did put up some pics.

The star of the show!

Ok, we may be a bit biased, but you will have to admit that he does look adorable. We appreciated the school's focus of keeping Jesus the star of the show. Drew was so proud to be in the Christmas program. He talked about it all week and Friday morning he asked us about 10 times before he left if he was late for the program. For him, it was a badge of maturity to stand in front of his parents and be a part of the show. What a guy!

P.S. - We have many more pictures, we will put them up and let you know.

Its Grandma's Fault

Last week we put up Christmas lights in our living room. Since then, Truitt has been instructed and fairly warned many times about not plugging in the lights without permission. In reality, he has received many spankings for his plugging in of the lights without permission. This morning, out of the corner of my eye I saw Truitt leaning over to pick up the cord to plug in the lights. I said, "Truitt, who told you that you can plug in the lights?" He said, "Grandma told me to plug in the lights." It was then that I noticed that he was in the middle of an imaginary conversation with Grandma on his play phone. How convenient that an authority figure was asking him to do the very desire of his heart. Who teaches them these kinds of things?

Why are we missing it?

Shouldn't we have been saying something like this?

"Til death do us part? The vow would really hold true in California if a Sacramento Web designer gets his way.

In a movement that seems ripped from the pages of Comedy Channel writers, John Marcotte wants to put a measure on the ballot next year to ban divorce in California.

The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that's the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce.

"Since California has decided to protect traditional marriage, I think it would be hypocritical of us not to sacrifice some of our own rights to protect traditional marriage even more," the 38-year-old married father of two said." from CBSnews.com story.

I understand that this is coming from a viewpoint that is opposite mine and that this is not an approach I support, but I think in many ways we are guilty as charged. Don't start carrying me to inquisition, I am not supporting a movement such as this, I am simply wondering why the church has not been singing both verses of this song. If we are for traditional marriage, in every breath that we condemn gay marriage we need to be calling Christian marriages to a God-honoring standard. If you can, put aside the realization that gay marriage may represent a moral tipping point for our culture and consider which has a greater impact on our lives. Divorce has touched us all and the damage is not measurable. If christian marriages were committed to a biblical standard we would not need to be worrying about gay marriage. The beauty of the collective church displaying God honoring marriages would turn the world upside down and would make everything unnatural reveal its ridiculous self. I am not ignoring our fallen selves and thinking that this is only a matter of our collective wills, I am simply using this as an example of the ease with which we throw ourselves out of balance. I see this daily in Jamaica. Jamaica is highly homophobic and they are very outspoken about homosexuality. But it is not homosexuality that is destroying the fabric of Jamaica, it is fornication and adultery that are destroying Jamaica. Again, I am not ignoring the realities of the issue, but I am saying that as long as we put more of our energies to fighting the war outside while losing the war inside, we are in trouble. By God's grace, lets seek to represent Him through God-honoring marriages.

November Plattner Family Update

What confounds you most about Christmas? Is it the shocking lineage of Jesus? His arrival in the humblest of circumstances? His teenage mother? The virgin birth? The prophecies? Etc. The beauty of the story is its depth and the new fascination that can be found every time we read those words. For me, this year, I am struggling to get my mind around “Emmanuel” and what this means for our lives. “God with us,” “Emmanuel,” is not just an idea that works well in song lyrics, it is a reality. A reality lived out in Christ’s passion for us, but also as a model for us in ministering to others. A song lyric I heard recently said that “we must become what we want to save.” Is that true? It is true in Christ’s example. What does that mean for our lives? What is your call in ministry? What does it mean to become the person to whom you are called to minister? This question makes me tremble, because I think more often than not this “incarnation” involves a stepping out of what is known and into the unknown. We seem to be on this path of the Lord slowly drawing us into a deeper understanding of what this may mean in our lives. For us, maybe it is giving up our way of relating to people and committing to trying to be more “deaf” in our relationships. Maybe for us it is deciding not to go home for Christmas in an effort to spend money more like our Jamaican friends and to show our willingness to experience the holidays Jamaican style. We are not trying to tell you what we think this means for your life because the deeper we walk down this road the more difficult it is for us to know where to “draw the line.” So, we have no suggestion, but the tension and the challenge has blessed our family. We would encourage you to commit this idea to the Lord in prayer and ask Him what part of your ministry could be more incarnational. I wonder if the Lord won’t bring some clarity to the beauty of His incarnation as we seek to live out His example to our “neighbors.” May the Lord Grant Grace>

Wow does time fly. I don’t know if I believe it or not, but the month of November is over. The majority of our month was spent plugging away at our projects. Keri and I both had Chapel duty in which we are responsible for the Wednesday night and Sunday teaching to the kids. I have continued working to develop the Agriculture Education program at Knockpatick. There has been some exciting developments that we hope will allow us to grow into next year. We have harvested some callaloo (close to spinach) and pak choy (Chinese cabbage) from the kid’s farm. Our chickens are improving their egg production. And, we hope to begin an entrepreneurship program at the beginning of the new school year. CCCD continues to struggle financially and we pray that as an organization the struggle can be used as a time of growth for the ministry. He is Faithful!

A different aspect of the ministry here is the distribution of Material Aid to orphanages, hospitals, infirmaries, and communities. Last week, our team had the privilege of unloading a sea container and delivering the aid. As I have probably written before, the real blessing of this ministry is the opportunity to see the work of the body of Christ. The aid is generally packaged and loaded by many brethren from across the states. It is then shipped down here where we deliver it to another group of people who then get to act as the hands and feet delivering the things to people who need it. We often get thanked for delivering the aid, but what people do not understand is that we may actually be the least important part of the puzzle. It is the body of Christ in the states ministering to the body of Christ in Jamaica who ministers to people in need. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to witness these blessings.

We continue to give thanks. Our Thanksgiving this year was not characterized by a turkey or cold weather, but we did give thanks and share love. It is our plan to stay here for Christmas as well. The time commitment away from those we love continues to be one of the most difficult aspects of our calling, but we pray that the pain we feel can call us to a better understanding of “God with us.” Our family continues to experience blessing upon blessing. The kids are growing and by grace we pray that they are building a foundation for lives in Christ. Lord Willing, we hope to fly home over Easter Break, March 23, to spend a few weeks with family and friends. We appreciate your support so much. Your prayers are so humbling. Thanks!

By Grace,

Kirk, Keri, Drew, Truitt, and Daisha

Fall Getaway!

CCCD Montego Bay celebrated their 15th year anniversary with a special service this weekend. It had been a long time since we had visited the MoBay campus and we were looking for a good excuse to go down to see all of our friends there. We were also looking for a good excuse to get to the beach as it had been a long time since we had enjoyed that blessing. With such great excuses, we decided to get a hotel for a couple of nights and we enjoyed swimming and spending some great time together. What a Blessing!

The Many faces of Joy

A couple of years ago my brother surrounded his Christmas card picture with the many different faces of his kids taken from all the attempts at getting the perfect Christmas card picture. I guess pictures never fool anybody. We put on our best clothes, take about a hundred shots, and then we pick the best one. Is that really a good representation of us? We know that the smiling faces in the pictures are generally screaming of boredom and frustration on the inside. What is it about a Christmas card picture that is trying to display our best that brings out our worst. For us, we have already taken several hundred picks and we may even try again. Anyways, I put together some of my kids faces from our first round of pictures. Enjoy!

Chickens? Really?

Farm Update v.1

Can ministering to chickens really represent a ministry to the deaf? CCCD agriculture education program is a new venture in which the kids are working and learning on the school farm. Since the beginning of the school year, the kids have been cultivating, planting, and caring for a small farm at the school. It has made great progress and we will be posting some pictures of that soon. The most recent acquisition of this tutorial program has been a chicken house in much need of repair. The chicken house project overtook our work as it was in serious need of attention. The picture below is of a room we renovated for the chickens. I have not gotten a picture of the old area where the chickens were stored, but I hope to soon to give you some perspective. The area in the pictures below was where the school used to locate their broiler chickens, but have since disbanded that program. The kids and I set into this ministry of reconciliation and the pictures below will tell the story.

We gutted the room. The process of destruction was quick and fun. We tried to salvage everything as to reduce the cost of the remodel.

As you can see, it was a cluttered mess with no airflow and not alot of light.

The destruction continues!

After everything was cleaned out, we added 5 windows to the room. 3 on a side wall, one in the front, and one behind me in the photo.
Next, we built some chicken boxes, added feeders, and plumbed in automatic waterers.
Here is the finished product with the chickens checking out their new digs. The project was virtually free as we reused most of the material out of the old coop. We only bought 2 sheet of ply for the boxes and so we hope the project is very cost effective.
Today, one of the kids who is responsible for the chickens knocked on our door and told me that he collected 46 eggs. So, we hope this is a good sign of the chickens producing better in a better environment. We will give thanks and maybe we can call some good work with the kids and 46 less eggs the school has to buy a ministry to the deaf. Praise the Lord!

P.S. - We will hopefully be posting an update of the vegetable progress as well. With the apparent success of the pictostory about the coffee, we will try this a few more times regarding the farm.

A few pics

Friends,
Just to keep everyone up to date. Here are a few recent pics. Some older pics of Drew at school, the kids playing on campus, etc. I added the picture above of Truitt and Daisha as everyone comments how much they resemble each other. In some of the other pics, you will notice how Daisha is developing some eyes that can kill. Also, some pictures from Sunday afternoon at the playground. Enjoy!

From the Cherry to the Cup

An idea popped in my head. How many people have the opportunity to walk out in their backyard, pick coffee, process it, and drink the freshest coffee possible? The answer is, not many. Being presented with such an opportunity, I felt compelled to give it a try. I documented the little experiment and thought I would share it with you here. Enjoy!

It all starts with the picking. Drew loves picking coffee and I find it very therapeutic. It is monotonous and labor intensive, but that is nothing that an ipod full of good material can't fix.

Here is what we hauled home. Not alot, but maybe thirty minutes worth of picking.

I made a drying pan out of some old zinc roofing and here it is in the pan on the day it was picked. As you can see, the berries are supposed to be red when they are picked. I picked all of these berries off of the same tree that is under full shade.
After sitting for a day, it is "floated." Floating determines if the beans are good or bad. The good beans sink and the bad beans float. As you can see, there were only a few bad beans that floated. From the outside, it is impossible to tell, but the test sorts the "sheep from the goats." Yea, I think that will preach.

Maybe day 3. The beans are drying in the pan. As you can see, they are losing their color. As they dry, they turn black.
Day 14. It is hard to get good information on home processing coffee. The best I could come up with on recommended time for drying is 14 days. It may been a bit "wet," as compared to more commercial processes, but I was getting impatient. Here, I am "hulling" the coffee, taking off the skin. There are several layers to the bean, but at this point most of it has dried against the bean or against the skin.

Here is half way through the "hulling" process. The skins are on the left and the dried coffee beans ready to be hulled are in the corner on the right. In the middle of the pan is the beans that have been hulled. This was a ridiculously labor intensive process. Commercially, it is done by machine, and it took me a couple of hours to work through the beans. I had a second set of beans drying at this time, but after hulling these I decided to throw out the other beans.

After hulling, they are ready for roasting. Here they are in the roaster ready for around 400+ degree heat.


About 10 minutes later, they are roasted. They go from smelling like wet grass, to burnt wet grass, and eventually to smelling a little more like coffee.

Off to the grinder. They roasted pretty light, I think due to their wetness, and therefore I tried to grind the coffee pretty fine as to get a little stronger taste.


Ready for brew. Into the basket waiting for the cup.


Ahh, a thing of beauty. Here it is in the cup. Approx. 17 days after being picked. It would be hard to get a fresher cup of coffee anywhere in the world.

This was the freshest cup of coffee I have ever drank, but was it the best? No! Freshness in coffee generally refers to the length of time after it was roasted and not how long after it is picked. Green coffee can be stored for a long period of time. Anyways, they say there is over 700 flavor characteristics in coffee that can be affected by where it is grown, how it is grown, and processing. So, I have no idea how my processing affected the coffee. It was drinkable and I finished the cup and brew all of the coffee I processed. But, it wasnt the best.


Was it worth it? Yes! Would I do it again? Maybe next year. Once for this year was enough. As the kids get older, maybe they can start doing more of the work and then it may be worth it. It was fun and educational. And, it added an educational aspect to this blog which we hope is becoming more well rounded by the day. Thanks for checking this out and let me know if you have any suggestions.

October Jamaica Update

Plattner Family Update - October



“Don’t waste your life is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside every day with trembling.” When these words first jumped off of the screen of an article I was reading, I loved the dichotomy this idea presented. I quickly wrote the quote down to sit on it and as I learned from my dad, “to sleep on it.” After some considerable sleeping on this quote, it has only become more real to my life. Not the idea of “Don’t waste your life,” although I think that catchphrase holds its own merits. My thoughts regarding this phrase were transferred to our family’s catchphrase and I found myself asking if our catchphrase is anything more than just that, a catchphrase. For anyone who has read even one of our updates, you have noticed a consistent reference to God’s blessing on our life. We have come to see God ridiculous blessing on our life and are trying to understand our subsequent responsibility. So, for us the quote would read, “Blessed to be a blessing is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside everyday with trembling.” Our prayer is that we are walking deeper into this truth everyday. We feel the dichotomy. We know that our focus on this idea holds an inherent risk that we will become overly saturated with the idea and walk too close to the edge of the cliff such that we lose focus and fall off. Conversely, I think we feel the very natural tendency to step away from the risk of the edge of the cliff of blessing and take everything for granted. I think we all know from any experience in the mountains that beauty is most fully realized on the edge of the cliff with the full expanse in view. We know this is also true as we dance on the edge of the cliff of understanding the reality of God’s blessing on our life. We pray that the trembling keeps us on the edge of the cliff. Pursuing blessing, taking in the full beauty of the blessings, and using these blessings to encourage others to step to the edge of the cliff to share in this call of our Father. Please help us in our pursuit. We ask for accountability and that as a community we may press towards that mark of our high calling. To Him be the Glory.

Maybe we said this in the last update, but we have never been this “settled” in life since August of 2007. We have had 2 straight months of life in a “routine.” Ok, maybe we had a routine before as we found ourselves routinely moving every few months, but is not always a healthy routine. We have both really enjoyed having some semblance of consistency in our lives. We pray that we can maximize this blessing for His purposes. During the moving, we feel like we were able to meet the needs of the ministry that required our moving. We are thankful for that and now feel a similar call to use our consistency as a way to be a blessing to the ministry.

Keri continues to threaten to take a picture of me in my Jamaican farmer garb. Trust me, a picture of her would be twice as cute as she fulfills her daily roles, welcoming Drew home from school, teaching Truitt his ABC’s, and being a wonderful mother to Daisha. This is what we are doing. I am trying my best to be a Jamaican farmer as I work to put together a sustainable agriculture program for the school. What this looks like in a picture is a man wearing tall rubber boots with his pants tucked inside the boots, red hands from the dirt, and a machete in one hand. It is a funny picture, but I guess that is the cost of contextualizing our lives to the culture. Keri continues doing a great job with our kids, our home, and her teaching the little kids chapel for CCCD. What her picture lacks in humor is made up for in cuteness as she goes about her duties dressed in kindness, love, and joy. We praise the Lord for the sense of teamwork we can feel in our lives together.

The kids continue to do well. Drew is becoming more deaf everyday. For the most part, we are excited to see his growth and to see how much he loves school. On the other hand, it comes with some mixed feelings. It feels like he is growing up too fast. And, we are beginning to deal with “things he learned at school.” Other than Truitt being lonely when Drew is gone, Truitt is doing well. If you know him, you know that he is special. While he follows directions dutifully from his leader, he is his own man and has his own way of living life. Daisha continues to do well. We had her 4 month doctor appointment last week and the doctor was pleased with her progress. It was a funny feeling to go in and see her doctor again. We have kept her with the same doctor that managed her care in the hospital here in Jamaica. So, the last time we had seen her was when we rolled Daisha out of the special care nursery on the gurney at the Mandeville Hospital on June 18^th. We continue to be so thankful for His provision for our little girl. He has blessed our family in ways so far beyond our understanding.

We continue to try to learn what it means to live a life of faith. One of the profound ways that we have sensed our blessings has been through our struggles. I always forget what I have shared with who and in what forum, whether through the blog, reports, phone calls etc, but we have continued to pray for God’s direction in the future of our ministry. As a result of differences of opinion and administration, we have had our struggles in understanding God’s call remains for us to continue in Jamaica. We have continued to pray that He will be the lamp to our feet and a light to our path. The Lord has not opened any other doors at this time and so we remain in service here. We ask for your continued prayers for our understanding and sensitivity to God’s calling and direction for our lives. We again thank you for your support. The invitation remains open for anyone who wants to visit; just contact us let us know when you want to come. We also welcome your phone calls and emails in providing for us accountability and fellowship.

Love,

Kirk, Keri, Drew, Truitt, and Daisha

Riding in style!

For the past 1 1/2 years, our team has shared a vehicle among the Hubers, Erin, and us. With the addition of Blake to our team, it was time to add another vehicle. Hubers kept the van due to their need for space and Erin, Blake, and us will be sharing a new vehicle. Well, not new, but new to us. Due to price and availability issues, we went with a wagon instead of a van. It limits us to 7 seats instead of 10, but it is definitely better to drive on the curvy Jamaican roads. So, we introduce to you Team Jamaica's 2003 Honda Odyssey.

Uh-Oh

Yes, this is the girl that Drew talks about the most from his class. How worried should we be?


P.S. - Thanks again to Erin, our roving photographer/babysitter

Another Sunday Morning Photo Shoot

What are you to do when the kids are looking too cute in their church clothes but to snap a million pictures. I know we post alot of pictures of the kids, but we hope it is a way to keep people connected to our family. If it annoys you, think of their grandparents, it is a great way to try to give them a glimpse of the kids as they grow up so fast.