Pray with us - Part 2

M came back to Gressier on Saturday and moved in with us yesterday!! Praise Jesus!! Please continue to pray for her.  Pray that this would be a place of healing for her heart and that she would come to know her true identity in Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Other updates and pictures :)

First of all, huge thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to see me while I was stateside!  Also, thank you so much for your donations, prayers, and words of encouragement....it means so much to me.  Here are the other things that have been happening........

• Kids here are so full of joy and it continues to blow my mind.  One evening we were out and about and these kids were having the times of their lives in a wheelbarrow :)

• The neighbors garden is growing!!

• The kids in tutoring are learning to read!  And one of our staff members, Belo (in this picture) gave his life to Jesus this week!!!!

• Our water well on the mountain was re-drilled and the community is using it!

• I tried something new in the cafe to use the leftover cinnamon rolls.  Cinnamon French Toast Squares with Maple Icing :)

• There was a tarantula that came into my bedroom last night.  Scary.  Yucky.  Not fun.  Thank goodness for Patrick who came and killed it for us!  I was too scared to try to get a picture of it :)

Pray with us

I spent the first 2 weeks of August stateside with family and friends.  I didn't get much time to relax, but it was so great to see everyone!!  I've been back in Haiti for a week now and so much has happened.

I arrived back in country on Thursday and was greeted by my neighbors shouting in excitement that I was back and the girls from the Freedom House literally sprinting down the hill to hug me.  So much joy!  Then later that night we found out that our friend, S, who had breast cancer went to meet Jesus.  Sharon went the next morning to try to find her daughter, M.  We had been discussing with S recently what would happen to M and she told us that she didn't have any family that would take M in.  We couldn't find M for most of the day so we were very worried, but in the evening she showed up at our house and we hugged on her and told her how much we love her.  We also told her that she is very vulnerable right now and to be very careful because she might end up in a restavek situation.  She said that she would not tell anyone that she would live with them and she would not leave Gressier without telling us.  We went the next day to talk to her stepdad about the possibility of her moving into the Freedom House and he said that it was not his decision but she has an uncle who has her paperwork and it would be his decision.  M said she thought he would say yes and she was very excited about the possibility of moving to the Freedom House.  We went to S's funeral on Tuesday (my first Haitian funeral experience...definitely different to say the least).  The next day we went to find M only to be told that the stepdad was "obligated" to send her with someone up to the Northern part of Haiti.  He used words that you would use when talking about a transaction involving property.  Please pray with us for M and for her safety and her return to Gressier.  Megan tried to no avail to get contact information for the uncle and was only told that he would be here on Saturday so hopefully we will find out more then.  In the meantime please just pray!

Psalm 147:11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

We are hoping and trusting in the Lord.

Love Your Neighbors

My neighbors have been on my heart for the last couple of months. I love the children who live next door, but sometimes the adults are a little difficult to interact with. A few weeks ago I stopped by to take the children up the mountain for our feeding program and apparently some of the adults were making some very rude comments to the Haitians that were with me.  I started really praying for a way to make our relationship with them more positive and a way that we could help them. It seemed like a bit of an impossible task....how exactly do you help a group of 22 people living in tents with a hand up instead of a hand out?  Only a day or two later I stopped in at the cafe and while I was there a few people from an organization in Leogane stopped in and I started talking to them. They told me about all the programs that they have and as soon as they started talking about putting in gardens for families that need them it hit me that it was a perfect idea for my neighbors! I asked them more questions about what a family has to do to qualify and whether or not it would be possible for them to help my neighbors. They said they could do it...an answered prayer for sure!! We worked out the details and today we put in the garden! My neighbors were excited about it and helped work the soil and plant seeds after participating in a class to learn how to garden and compost.  I'm just so happy that the precious kids that I love will be able to eat more regularly than they do now and they will be eating nutritious vegetables! And if they decide to expand the garden it might even provide a way for them to make some money by selling produce in the market.  I'm going to bed tonight thanking God for answered prayers and new beginnings for my neighbors. Please pray that their garden will produce an abundance of vegetables and that the positive relationships that started today will continue. 

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Happy Birthday Daddy!

I seriously have the best dad in the world.  He is my rock and has always been one of my greatest supporters.  I think the Lord blessed me with such great parents in order to give me a passion for children.  I want every child to experience childhood like I did, always knowing acceptance and love.  Thank you Daddy for being the best earthly father a girl could ask for.  I love you and I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

P.S.  Still hoping and praying that you and Mom are going to come to Haiti to visit me :)   

Wish List

Hey friends!
I've had a few people ask about sending me a care package, but I don't have an address here where I can receive packages.  I am coming back to the states soon so I made a wish list on Amazon in case anyone is interested in purchasing items that I need/want before I return to Haiti.  Amazon may not be the best place to purchase the items, but it was the easiest place to make a list so feel free to purchase them elsewhere instead :)

Wish List

Brokenness and a Rainbow

Every day here is heart breaking but some are more heart breaking than others. Today was one of those days. I hadn't seen my friend Kersland in a couple of weeks and I was starting to wonder about her.

Mwen avek zanmi'm Kersland - 6/23/13

I finally saw her today because she came up the mountain during English class. She had some really bad scrapes across her nose and when I asked her what happened she said that her mom hit her with a cinder block because she didn't go get water when she asked her to.  I had to just hug her really tight, tell her how much I love her, do my best to hold back tears, and pray that God will surround this sweet girl with His love and protect her from harm.

During a break in class I started talking to her about school and we practiced some math problems.  I found out that she couldn't really do any of them even though they were simple addition problems so I went with Bernard after class to ask her mom if she could come to our tutoring program.  Her mom wasn't home, but we talked to her grandma and she is going to start coming to our tutoring program three times a week.  I'm really glad that I will be able to see her more often.  Megan and I are also going to go talk to her mom sometime this week about appropriate discipline.  Please pray for her mom's heart and mind to be opened.

After coming back up the mountain from taking Kersland home I looked over and noticed this beautiful rainbow.

Genesis 9:16  "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

Somehow the Lord always finds a way to remind me that He knows exactly what He is doing.  I am praying and trusting.  I am glad that His promises are trustworthy and He is bigger than I can even imagine.