After making 12 banana breads, over 20 dozen cookies and wrapping up roughly 50-60 gifts for the children in our ministry we were finally ready to head to the party. We were already tired when we left the house at 4 but knew that the evening would provide a great amount of entertainment!

We arrived a smidge late (normal for Haiti, however everyone else seemed to be on time, as all the kids were sitting at their tables waiting for the fun to start).  Tables were arranged outside in a large horseshoe with a Christmas tree in the middle. We had a microphone and keyboard set up at the front and everyone was milling around waiting. About an hour later (see, really we were not late ) Robenson, our field director, took to the microphone. Each of the houses of children sang a song, several people sang duos and a few poems were recited. One round of musical chairs was had and then the adult gift exchange took place.

All those who wanted to participate had chosen a name the week before and spent around $5 on a gift. Robenson started off the fun. I guess its customary to walk around saying you cannot find your person and pretending to give the gift to other people before finding the true person. Robeson and one of our house dads, Adam were the only two people who did it this way though. Finally all of our gifts were given out and the real fun was about to begin.

We had around 200 gifts to give to the children. Each child got a ‘Christmas bag’ donated by an organization called ‘Christmas bags for Haiti’ and then they each got another toy. It started raining before we got all of the gifts handed out so we quickly jammed over 150 people into the school building. This is when for the first time I saw what it means to a child to receive what possibly was their first Christmas gift.

Rose-Carline and Rose-Carmene are two of our newest children. They are 7-year-old twin girls. This was their first Christmas with us. Rose Carmene walked around the corner where I was sitting and had the biggest smile on her little face.

She was proudly carrying HER gifts for all to see. This very well may have been the first time she has received a Christmas gift. It was an absolutely priceless moment that I got to see repeated on so many children’s faces. These smiles melted away my tiredness and replaced it with pure joy to be right there with these beautiful children.

After 6 hours of fun, food, games and songs, we were ready to load up the car and head home to bed. It was a wonderful Christmas present to be a part of the joy these children had in receiving their gifts. One I look forward to repeating for years to come if the Lord will allow me!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who if you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knos that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.” – Matthew 6:25-34

If someone were to ask me, I would tell them that the above verse could be one of my life verses. It always seems to pop up at just the right time. Usually it is around the time of a big change that God is preparing for me. Typically, I have made a big decision and God is reminding me that I can walk forward in my choice and not WORRY about how everything will fit together. It typically is a very beautiful reminder for me that brings much joy to my life.

I have recently been reminded how much ugliness can come from worry. We just returned from a 5 day trip to the capital, Port-au-Prince. It’s only about 160 miles from Cap Haitian but can take upwards of 6-8 hours. The roads are terrible for the first 80 miles. This part alone can take between 3-4 hours to complete. Combine that with narrow, winding mountain roads and fast driving busses and it makes for a very stressful drive. One also needs safe housing, safe drinking water and a safe place to put a car. In addition to this we were doing all of our paperwork for our 1-year visa. So, I was a little stressed and worried.

I did not realize just how stressed and worried I was until I returned home and started to notice several cold sores beginning to form on my lips. Typically after a really stressful event, I will get a cold sore.  They are not pretty and can be very painful depending on where they are in your mouth. I  can count 6 of them on my lips and in my mouth right now. This is by far the most I have ever gotten at one time since I was very little. It is an ugly, painful reminder that God did not create us to be stressed or worried about things. He already has it under control.

We had a fairly uneventful trip to Port-au-Prince and our visa paperwork only took 2 hours to complete (I have heard stories that it can take a whole day or multiple days if your paperwork is not in order). We are now waiting 2 months for them to process the request and send it back to us. The drive to Port was very beautiful and I got to see the kids at the last orphanage I worked at as well as several friends. I also go to attend a dear friends wedding! It was a wonderful trip and in the end I had nothing to be worried about or stressed about.

Sin is an ugly thing and I have a not so fun reminder of that hanging out in my mouth and on my lips right now. Maybe this will help me to remember that God has it all under control and I need not worry about things that in the end will not matter anyway  

In the last month the other longer term missionaries arrived. I took a short trip to the Dominican Republic to pick them up and get some necessary items for our apartment that we could not get here. While we were there, I got to see some friends I have there and eat some yummy food.

I returned to Haiti with Kristen (who will be teaching English at our school) and Brent and Letitia (married and doing a variety of things from hosting teams to creating independence programs for our older kids). We returned on Friday night, November 11, and moved into our apartment on Saturday afternoon. It was a very exciting day, as I have been living out of suitcases since I arrived here on October 1. I now have my own room and can finally settle down. Our apartment is a great getaway and is becoming a well lived in home!

Creole lessons are still going well. It has been interesting since the others have started their lessons too. We are finding that people teach the language differently and so things that I have learned are different than the way they are learning them. When I ask someone, they either tell me a completely different way or that either way is fine to say something. It is frustrating sometimes. I guess that is what you can expect when Creole really has not been a written language for very long compared to other languages.

Ministry is going really good. Each week I meet with our 16 house parents who are beginning to learn English. In fact today I met with them and we played word bingo because they needed practice with some of the words. They are very eager to learn because they want to be able to speak with the teams when they come down. I have also began working with the older children in our homes who are learning English in public school. I am excited to get to know some of these kids as we work together on their English homework.

It has been really neat to see God move in both of these settings. I used to use a translator for all of my English lessons with the house parents but God has given me a greater grasp of the language and the last three meetings I have had with them, I have been able to explain my lesson for the most part. I also was able to tutor the older kids without the use of a translator. It is so exciting to see the Lord helping and moving in that way!

Life is busy but God is good all the time. He shows off his ability to provide all our needs each day.  I continually am reminded that the Lord has called me to live here and minister here and I could not picture myself anywhere else.

Thank you for your continued support. Your daily prayers are much needed as I navigate life here in Haiti. 

I currently live at our team house which is where our school is located. Each morning the kids show up around 7:45 to begin the day. I am usually ready and waiting for them. I have absolutely grown to love the mornings when the children arrive. There are two children in particular that I want to tell you about.

Meet Melanie*. She is 8 years old, lives in one of our residential homes and is mentally handicapped. Every morning she jumps off the bus and runs to give me a big hug. She typically stays attached to me until I tell her it is time to go get in line. More recently, her teacher has been sending her to me during the school day to help her learn how to write her letters and numbers.  This is an entertaining time. With my limited Creole, her lesson book in French and her inability to pay attention makes for a fun time trying to get her to do what I need her to do

We have fun though and I love showing her that someone cares about her and will take the time to help her. This is one of the highlights of my day.

Meet Andy*. Andy is also 8 years old. He lives in the community around our school. We have about 50 kids in our school that come from the community of Balan. My first week here I walked Andy and his 4 siblings home. We arrived at a small wooden house that was barely big enough for the 5 children and dad to live in. I don’t know what the story is with him mother. His father used to leave early in the morning to go into town to try and make some money to feed the children. He would return late at night, so the oldest girl was pretty much in charge of the kids. Last week we were able to offer the dad a job helping to keep the grounds here at the school clean.

The first day Andy’s dad came to work, Andy took me to introduce me to his dad. His dad told me that Andy would often tell his dad that he had a new ‘blan (foreigner)’ friend at school. He was happy to meet me!

Every morning, without fail, Andy runs to me and gives me the biggest hug I have ever received. He then looks up into my eyes with this smile that would melt even the hardest of hearts. It truly feels like I am looking into what I would imagine is the face of Jesus. I LOVE getting Andy’s hugs every day. Typically, I get several of them!

So these are a few of the kids that I get to spend time with each day. I have loved working in the school alongside the teachers, helping them when I can. I am also in the beginning stages of starting English classes with the House Parents and the older kids who are learning English in public school.

It has been an enjoyable time so far learning my new roles and seeing where I might be able to help.

The rest of our North American team arrives next month. I am really looking forward to them being here and creating relationships with them!

*names changed to protect privacy.

We had a construction team here for a week. They left on Saturday morning so we had to get them to the bus station by 8am. We left at 6:40 and arrived a little early. We finally got them on the bus and then left to start our day.

Our first stop was the ‘normal’ grocery store. We picked up a few things here and then headed to the open market for other things that would be cheaper there.  Manno (our English speaking Haitian construction coordinator) and I walked through numerous stalls with people yelling at me to buy things from them. I do not know enough of the language to barter by myself yet so I was reliant upon Manno. He kept walking past things I needed and I was wondering why we were not yet stopping. Finally we stopped at the corner of a busy intersection of people carrying loads of things.

I was introduced to the stall owner and was promptly given a chair. Manno said she had most of the things we needed and if she did not have them, then she would send someone to get the things we needed. As I sat there naming the things we needed they would show up. It was great not having to negotiate the price with everyone and I feel like I got the price that Haitian’s would have gotten. It quickly became a reality that there was NO way that Manno and I would be able to get our things to our bus. So a lady was hired to put our things in her basket and she carried them to our bus ON HER HEAD….now we had rice, beans, eggs, potatoes, oranges, avocadoes, garlic, butter, ketchup, cereal, soap, pasta, tomato paste and a few other things. It had to have been really heavy but she made it look easy.

After putting our things in our bus (that would eventually make its way back to our house) we made our way to the street to find a van taptap (form of public transportation). We drove to where one of the vehicles we would be looking at was located. After looking at the engine and the insides of the car we hopped in and took it for a spin. There was another car we wanted to look at so they took us to that car and then left. We checked out that car and we were not as impressed with the second car as the first. We had the second owner drop us off at the gas station where we proceeded to buy lunch. From there Manno needed to go and buy a new cell phone. He was worried about how full the truck taptaps were so we flagged down a ‘taxi’. Not our normal taxi as we picked up 2 other people throughout our drive to the phone store. About 30 minutes later we were done at the phone store and were waiting for another truck taptap to take us as close to home as we could get. We jumped in the front of the truck and were off!!

About 20 minutes later we got out and had to flag down a motorcycle to take us the rest of the way home. THANK GOD we did not have all of our groceries

A 6 minute moto ride later and we were home! Manno went to take a nap for 3 hours while I put away our groceries, washed dishes from that morning and started my laundry.

Now laundry is no easy task. It is a normal American washing machine they have here but it does not quite work right. I had to fill up the drum with water, turn it on and wait for it to start spinning. Then when it drained the water, I had to fill it up again with water for the rinse cycle. When that was finished the clothes did not go in a dryer like in America…they went on the line to dry. While I was hanging the first load of laundry biting ants ATE me up. It really hurt

So that was my day! I was exhausted by the time I was finished with dinner (which was heated up leftovers from the team). Manno on the other hand, having had a 3 hour nap, was ready to play cards or watch a movie….I had to tell him not this time as I still needed to shower before bed. The lights in my room were out at 9 pm and I awoke at 5:30 this morning when the sun came up

Just another day in Haiti!

This past week we had a construction team here. It was fun getting to know them and see God break their hearts for the children here. I spent the week working with John and Poulin, our sponsorship coordinators. I am helping them to get things a little more organized. I also got to spend each afternoon with some of the Balan community kids who come to school here. I am absolutely falling in love with them. These kids live right around the school in small homes or shacks. It is such a blessing that the Lord has provided for some of them to come to school here.

One afternoon we had the opportunity to go to some of the homes of these children. We stopped at one of them and I was completely humbled by the home that 5 of our children live in. It is a 2 room wood hut that has one mattress and one counter to prepare food on. They only have their dad to care for them (which is rare, it is typically the mother who stays around). There was a small fire pit in the back of their house and that was about all they had.  That day I had been frustrated with the Internet not working on my computer, lack of organized schedule, poor language communications and a few other things. When I was standing at that house I realized that none of my frustrations really mattered. All that mattered was that I was here to show the love of God to these kids and that I cannot let the works of satan and his frustrations allow me to lose my focus on where God has placed me.

These kids who come from the community ALWAYS show up with a huge smile on their face even though they come from nothing. They slept on the floor the night before, possibly on the wet floor if it rained hard enough. They do not have any food in their belly because their parents cannot afford meals for them, so they have not eaten since the previous days meal we provided them before they went home. There is so much more for them to be upset by than I have to be upset by, and yet they always come happy to have the opportunity learn and eat a meal. They are content in their situation.

I think I have a lot to learn from them. I am excited to get more of the language under my belt so that I can really begin to form better relationships with them and get to know them a little better.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I am learning a lot and am slowly starting to get things set up for the long haul here! I should be looking at houses this week and more cars. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks both of those things will be figured out and I can move on to thinking about other things

I was picked up at the Palo Blanco care center at 1:15 yesterday afternoon (about an hour or so after I was told I would be picked up). We then left for Santiago about an hour away to get bus tickets, washing machine, kitchen supplies, and other various items I needed for my house in Haiti. (I bought them here because we do not know what the availability of them will be when I get to Haiti) So, the plan was to go get the bus tickets first, which was successful! When we walked out of the ticket office 45 minutes later it was POURING down rain. I mean streets were flooded, it looked like a river was moving down the street. There was water up to the floor boards of cars. It was crazy.

We headed to La Sirena which is kind of like a super-walmart here in the DR. It was great, I could get everything I needed at one place! We had about 2 hours to get our stuff and get home for a North American Missionary meeting that was supposed to start at 5:30. After getting all of the kitchen items I needed we headed to the back of the store to get my washing machine. (Not a typical American one, this one is a little Japanese one, Ill take pictures later) We were informed that we had to pay for it at the electronics area. So off we went. I was told that my debit card should work fine so that is all I had. Well it would not work, so we headed to the front of the store to get money out of the ATM. It was 4:30 at this point and really was time for us to head home. There were too many people at the ATM line so the person I was with told me he would pay for it and I could pay him back. So upstairs we went to pay for the machine. Well, they put too much on his credit card so they had to refund some of the money….this took an hour to do While he was waiting for them to do this, I took his grocery list and went to get the food items he needed (which was TONS of fun since I dont know the Spanish name of things and walked the entire length of the store at least 3 times looking for things) I finally got everything and they were STILL trying to refund the money We were now going to be WAY late for the meeting.

Finally we finished with the washing machine and headed downstairs to pay for the rest of our stuff. Again, my debit card did not work (which we were told would work at the front ) He once again had to pay for my stuff, but finally we were on our way home.

After about 20 minutes of fun conversations sharing stories about animals and insects in foreign countries, we hear something slapping the side of our car….everyone knows that this is not a good sound  We pulled over to find the left rear tire beginning to shred apart…no es bueno (no good)

Shortly after we got out to change the tire, we had several people around willing to help. They informed us that there was a gas station and a lift that could help us. So we slowly drove over to the lift where 2 nice men proceeded to help us! (well really 1 guy helped while the other ‘stood guard’ with a sawed off shot gun) Let me clarify that we were in NO danger where we were, he was just there guarding the gas station like every other guard at every other gas station. So about 10 minutes later the tire was changed and we were again on our way.

About 20 minutes from arriving we get a call saying that one of the missionaries house is flooding and people are heading there from the meeting that had already started to help her clean out the water. We arrived back at our house about an hour and a half after we were supposed to, but all the guys were gone at that point helping to move furniture at the house that was flooded. So we ate dinner and I left for the house I was staying the night at!

Who knew getting bus tickets and a washing machine could be so much fun! It was an entertaining day, of which I am sure I will have plenty of and hope that I will always be able to smile through them and not get too frustrated

I am heading to Haiti tomorrow and hope to update you all again soon! In the mean time, please be praying for safe travel, and wisdom in finding the house that God wants us to be in (there will be a blog about that later, but the apartment we were supposed to be in will probably not be an option because they decided to raise the price)

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

I arrived last night after a day full of seeing God work through blinding eyes of people who could have stopped me for the size of my carry-ons! All of my luggage made it safely without being checked by the TSA officials (there was nothing illegal in my totes, its just that if they had opened them then the lids may not have stayed shut and stuff could have fallen out, so I was praying they would not need to open them.)

I was greeted by Michael and Katie Anderson, missionaries here in Jarabacoa with Kids Alive. I met them at MTI in August, so it was really nice to see them again! They took me to their new home and I quickly fell asleep on their comfortable guest bed!

This morning I was greeted by Jeff, the VP of Operations for the Caribbean and Latin America. We traveled to Caraballo on the North Coast of the DR to a care center they have there. The care center works to supplement the public education in that community and provides lunch for over 200 children each day.

Caraballo is actually a Haitian community here in the DR. I guess it started a while back because there was a large sugar cane plant there and the Haitians could work there. The plant closed down 5 years ago but it seems that most of the Haitians have stayed and are doing other jobs now. One very interesting thing I found out this afternoon is that most of the Haitians do not have official paperwork (like a birth certificate) so the children cannot go to public high school or really get good jobs even if they are educated because of their lack of papers. So basically they are setup to work labor jobs or create crafts of their own to sell to tourists who visit the area. Its sad that it is so hard to break the cycle of poverty just because of a lack of paperwork.

I was reminded today just how hard it is to be in a country where you don’t speak their language. I found myself attempting to speak to the kids in Creole today, only to be looked at with a blank stare I am looking forward to heading to Haiti on Saturday.

Tomorrow promises to be a full day as I will be going to see ANIJA (the Kids Alive School here in Jarabacoa) tomorrow morning, another care center (Palo Blanco) tomorrow morning as well and then making the trek back down to Santiago to buy bus tickets for Saturday and to purchase some household things I will need once I get to Haiti.

It is shaping up to be a busy few more days here in the DR before heading to Haiti on Saturday afternoon! I am overly excited to get there and start using my Creole and learning more!

Things we look forward to always seem to take so much preparation and then are over with so quickly. Often, I think, we don’t want them to be over simply because of all the preparation that goes into them. We have expectations about how they will go based on how much preparation goes into them. When they are over, if they did not go the way we anticipated or expected, we are left upset. If it is much better than planned then we are sad its over and look forward to planning the next one.

I’ve been preparing to move back to Haiti now pretty much since I got back in March. Paperwork had to be filled out, money had to be raised, churches had to be scheduled to speak at, things had to be purchased, plane tickets bought, visa information gathered, bags packed and goodbyes said.

While I am filled with anticipation, excitement, sadness, happiness, etc. (a true paradox of feelings), I am getting to the point where I just want to get on the plane and be done with it all. I am tired of thinking about what is packed and what is not. I am tired of the anticipation of what is to come. I am ready to start living it. I am ready to get to Haiti and begin resettling my life (even if that will take months).

So there it is for you. A glimpse into what is going on in my life. I still have a few final things to do on Monday before heading to Albuquerque. I fly out on Tuesday morning to the Dominican Republic for a few days before heading to Haiti on Saturday with a team that is going to Haiti to help build the kids new houses!

Everything will come together in time. I just have to be patient!

God is Faithful, God is Good and God is God.