For Now

My journey in Haiti is over for now. This blog has come to an end.

But my life here has started. Therefore, so has my new blog: www.allthingslovelyandtrue.blogspot.com

:) orevwa

My

heart is longing to be home.

I'm back.

I'm back home, but in reality Haiti will forever be my home.

Mwen vle yo an Ayiti.

The Journey Is Just Beginning.

Well, what can I say? Today is my last day in this beautiful country. This time tomorrow I'll be on my way to the airport. Have 5 weeks really come and gone that fast?

Since it was my last week teaching the mommies I decided that we were going to have a fun week and make our own English books. So that is what we did. We made a 15 page English book (everyone made their own) with words in English and creole, a picture, and then an English sentence with the word. It was so much fun!

Yesterday was my last morning to teach them and we were finishing the books. I wanted to make it special and it sure was! When we finished the last page of the book all the mommies got up and each of them handed me a note they had written to me the day before. Oh my word, I've never read such sweet notes in my entire life. These women (and Frantz) mean the world to me. They drew flowers and hearts all over the envelopes and paper. These are notes I will keep for my entire life. After they handed me notes we sang all the worship songs I know in Creole together. So priceless. Then I taught them "Lead Me To The Cross" in Creole which turned into all of them pulling out their cell phones and recording me sing it-hilarious since I'm not a singer at all!! Even the "head mommy" came over and attempted to tell me in English that I was appreciated. And of course, then to finish off an incredible last day teaching, the mommies, Rose Melaine in particular, made me a huge lunch!! It was honestly one of the best mornings of my life. The mommies mean so much to me and have taught me way more about life than I can explain. I somehow have a connection with each one of them differently. It's beautiful. I love them so much and miss them already.

Ana and Mina have been wanting to spend every minute of every day with me since I leave... tomorrow. So this week we've had Salon day- got my hair done and my nails done, gone to the playground multiple times, gone to the Hope House, drawn pictures, colored, they've come to class with me, and today they're coming to the beach with me. :) I'm going to miss them. Precious.

Last night we had "Friday Fun Night on Thursday" with all the interns and a few staff, which consisted of awesome costumes, silly relay games, quiz games, and pictionary. It was hilarious and quite the fun way to close of an incredible last week in Haiti.

So now I'm here, Friday morning, sitting in my usual spot on the balcony, watching the sunrise and thinking that today is my last morning to do this. I cannot explain the way that makes my heart feel. I can almost feel it breaking, literally. But I've come to accept it (you kinda have to at some point) and I'm leaving tomorrow. This is the same feeling I have every time I come to Haiti and have to leave again. Although this time its amplified by 500. In the past 5 weeks my life has changed. I can't explain it or put it into words but I know it will show in the way I live my life. I know without a doubt the Lord has called me to live in Haiti full time and to serve Him wholeheartedly. I know I will be back. I have no doubt in that. Now, when? or how? I am not sure. But I know it will happen. I just do.

So as I leave this place I consider home to go back to America, my heart is breaking. But I know that one day soon I'll return home. The Lord is faithful and I've seen that full well these past five weeks. This short journey is coming to an end, but stay tuned, the real journey is just beginning.

Best Last Sunday.

I couldnt have asked for a better last Sunday church service! Thank you, Jesus :)

One of the mommies, Roseline handed me her baby girl, about 8 months old to hold during church. First of all, I love love love that these mommies trust me enough to let me just take their baby for the entire church service. I love the mommies so much, they light up my life. Her baby girl is BEAUTIFUL! And the sweetest little girl ever. After about 2 worship songs she fell asleep and remained asleep for about 2 hours in my arms. I loved every second of it.

I also loved how I knew almost every worship song we sang today in Creole. I love that after 4 weeks I can understand the majority of a song and sing it wholeheartedly to the Lord in another language. I love it so much. More than I can explain.

So, thank you Jesus for blessing me with a beautiful morning! No better way to spend my last Sunday morning in Haiti worshipping the Lord and holding a sweet baby girl. :)



3

Be Still.

As I sit outside my room, enjoying a beautiful cool morning breeze, I cannot stop thinking that in 6 days I will be leaving. I can’t help but think about all the things I am going to miss so dearly: seeing a child’s face light up with a smile, babies falling asleep in my arms, walking ½ a mile down the mountain to teach English and praying for the mommies while I walk, being greeted every morning by a huge hug from Frantz, watching the sun rise and set over mountains, feeling God seep through every pore in my body, being able to love everyone I come in contact with, eating delicious Haitian food, Haitian thunderstorms and lightening that lights up the sky, and so much more. I know I’ll even miss the cold showers, sweat soaked clothes, the lovely rbh smell that seems to be found all over the place, and even the cow that wakes us up by his moo every 10 seconds, which sounds like a dying cow. (He’s still going at it after 1.5 hours! Haha)



Every morning I come outside and enjoy the birds chirping, the sun rising, and the beautiful weather. But most of all I enjoy basking in the presence of the Lord and soaking in His word. This time of the day is when it’s just me and Jesus. This morning my mind is filled with so many thoughts about leaving that my time with the Lord is being distracted. Yet, in the midst of all the thoughts I can feel the Lord saying, “Be still and wait on me.”

So here I sit, learning to be still and wait on the Lord. In this moment that’s what He is asking of me as I spend my morning in Him. In this time in my life that is what He is asking of me as I continue down the path He has set for my life. Just to be still and wait on Him.

My heart longs for nothing more than to remain in the love of the Lord every day of my life and truly experience Him. My time with Jesus is the most valuable time I ever spend. Acts 4:13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” They, whoever “they” was could tell that Peter and John had been with Jesus. I desire for this to be so true in my life, especially my last few days here in Haiti. I pray that my time with Jesus every morning will be reflected in all my actions, all my words, all of me. I pray that I can be bold in my faith and share truth with those who need it without reservations. I pray that my life will be a living testimony of the love and power of Christ.

And as for this moment, I pray that I will be still and wait on the Lord.

One Week.

In one week I will be arriving in America. My stomach feels sick just thinking about it.

As much as I'm excited to see my loved ones, I am dreading leaving this place I call home.

Mwen pa vle ale.

But.. I'm learning to be content where God has placed me. Whether thats in Haiti or America. I know I'm where He wants me for such a time as this.

This Heart.

Today my heart is truly overwhelmed.

This heart is broken over the numerous sick babies I saw yesterday at Good Samaritan. It is broken over the fact that people refused to hold a child because they either smelled, weren't wearing bottoms, were crying, or were clearly sick. Instead, they just watched these beautiful children stand and cry. All they wanted was to be loved. All they needed was love. A comforting hug or someone to just hold them and help them feel safe and cared for. Someone to show them the love of God. How could anyone refuse that? The entire time I sat there, holding three small, very ill, malnourished, and complacent children this thought kept running through my head: "How much would it cost to buy this orphanage and run it?" Seeing pain in the eyes of these children truly broke my heart.

This heart is full of the love of God which has become the rock I place my life on. It is the sustenance of my life. This love is greater than I can comprehend and what I do understand of it is the most beautiful thing I've ever felt and experienced. Abiding in the love of the Lord has filled my heart with a love that overflows.

This heart has hope. As I watch the sunrise over the mountains and see the sunlight trickle through the trees, I'm reminded of the promising hope for Haiti that is only found in the Lord. I see this hope portrayed every day when I see Frantz, the most amazing Haitian man who is full of joy and has hope glistening in his eyes-all because he is madly in love with the Lord. I've never met a man who loves life the way Frantz does. This hope he has is real. Best of all? If every day of life on this earth is terrible, every follower of Christ has the most incredible hope of all-hope for a perfect life with the Lord in heaven. Frantz sees this. I pray that all the people in Haiti who are following Christ will embrace this and wake up every day knowing that there is hope in the Lord. How beautiful.

This heart is hurting over the fact that in 10 days I will be leaving this country and returning to my "home". When in fact, this place is my home. I'm longing to stay and remain in this beautiful place, surrounded by the love and magnificent creation of the Lord. I'm longing to spend every day for the rest of my life in this country being a steward of the Lord and making His name known among this nation. Now, I love my friends and family there and am excited to see them! I know I'm still living in America because that is where the Lord has placed me for such a time as this. However, Haiti is in my heart and will never be and I cannot wait until the day that I can return. Ayiti Nan K em.

This heart is amazed by the Sovereignty of God and how perfect His plans are. I know full well that His timing is perfect and mine is worth nothing. I know that the dreams the Lord has placed in my heart and in the hearts of my dear friends and loved ones will turn into something beautiful. The Lord will be glorified and His name will be made known. Everywhere I look I see His hands. And everywhere I go I'm in His hands.

I pray that I, and you as well will learn to be content in His hands. Wherever that may be. Because there is no place better than that.

In His Hands.

Have I really been here over 3 weeks?
Am I really leaving in less than 2?
Unreal and not okay!

Last Friday was Katie's last day here so we went with a group to the beach. :) Nothin like spending time outside looking at the beautiful water and mountains that so vividly depict the love of God with a good friend. The beach resort we go to, Wahoo Bay, serves an AMAZING Haitian lunch/dinner-probably my favorite. So much amazing food. That made the day much better too! It was really weird being there without my team from school. But it was really cool being there again and reliving the memories :) The whole time we were at the beach my breath was taken away by the Sovereignty of God and His love for us. Its crazy that we don't come close to deserving His love but He chose to love us anyways. That just blows my mind.



Saturday, Katie left super early which was really sad. The weather was beautiful though. It was really windy which kept it really cool all day. We went to the market in Cabaret. I actually bought fruit at the market, which was such a fun experience. Got a bag full of keneps for $1. Perfect. I'm officially Haitian. Then we went to Grace House, the homeless shelter. Most of the kids at Grace House were running fairly high fevers which was heartbreaking. Its hard knowing that I cant go and make them better or give them what they need. But I'm so grateful for the opportunities to go and love on them and get those precious children to smile. There really is nothing more beautiful than a smile from a child.

Saturday night I had a "sleepover" with Ana, Mina, and Jaima. Nothing like a sleepover with 3 six year olds :). Although once we put them to bed I headed back over to my room to sleep. Jaima fell asleep on top of me during the movie. I love these girls.

Jaima :)

Sunday was a lovely day of worshipping the LORD. I honestly love worshipping here more than anywhere else. Theres something so beautiful about praising the LORD in a different language. It brings my heart so much joy. I cant explain it.

Class today was wonderful. I found dry erase boards which helps a ton in doing lessons with the mommies. :) Yes, thats the teacher in me coming out... I get excited about dry erase boards haha. This afternoon we unpacked and organized a ton of bags of food to stock our kitchen. Of course, the one thing we needed we didnt have but we got a ton of food organized, stored, and the kitchen looks great! The mass amounts of pringles, cereal, peanut butter, and canned chicken were slightly ridiculous. But we made it fun.



I miss my beautiful friends I made and wish they were back here rather than at home in the states.

I miss Abby B and her sweet friendship. I miss spending all day, every day with her!
I miss Abby L and her constant reminder of how much she loves people.
I miss Ashley and her joy that overflowed into everything she did and to everyone around her.
I miss Bailey and her passion for Haiti and love for the Lord.
I miss Brianna and her love for sharing the gospel with people all over the world.
I miss Tex (Katie) and her passion and excitement for what the Lord is doing in her life and the lives around her.

I am seeing God work in so many ways its incredible. Every day I'm falling more and more in love with Haiti and the beautiful people of this nation. I love seeing glimpses of how this place will be part of my future. I'm taking it day by day and step by step. Thinking about leaving this place in 11 days breaks my heart. But I know that God will fulfill His plan for my life and that He places me where He wants me. Psalm 138:8 couldn't say it any better. "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; Your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands." I know I'm in His hands. It doesn't matter if I'm in America or in Haiti, I am in His hands and there is no other place I'd rather be.

Colossians 4:2-6

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."


This is my prayer as I finish my last two weeks here in Haiti.
That my heart will be devoted to prayer.
That the Lord will set up divine appointments so that I may share the love of Christ to everyone I come in contact with. For I am bound to the mystery of Christ and woe to me if I do not proclaim the truth!
That I may be wise in all my actions, that the people who do not know the Lord will see Him in my life.
And that everything out of my mouth will be glorifying to God and full of His wisdom and grace.

My heart longs that every person in this country-men women, and children-will hear the truth and see the beauty, hope, and love of having a relationship with the Lord.

A Heartbeat More Like His.

The past few days have been quite beautiful in many ways.

The intern team is now lacking three of the most amazing girls I’ve ever met in my life. They’ve returned home and Mission of Hope just doesn’t feel the same without them. I miss them dearly and I cherish the sweet friendship I built with them in just 2+ weeks. These friendships are beautiful.

My first morning teaching the Hope House mommies alone really made me realize that the workbooks we are using aren’t catering to the academic needs of these beautiful people. It’s quite the challenge to try to teach 6-10 Haitian adults English when they are all on different levels. Abby’s last morning I had all the mommies write her letters and then give them to her as a going away present. They loved it! The past two afternoons I have been coming up with ideas to make learning English fun and entertaining for the mommies. This morning was my first attempt and they absolutely loved it! We played interactive vocabulary games and they just wanted more and more of it! In the process of them learning new English words, I’m learning Creole words! It is the most amazing experience ever. I wish I could do it all day every day and not just for a short period of time in the mornings. I’m excited to see these precious women (and Frantz) start to understand and be able to speak English. I love love love the mommies and I’m starting to feel sad that I only have a few more weeks to spend with them. They are beautiful.

This whole experience is challenging in the best way possible. My relationship with Christ is first and foremost and I love feeling Him move and work in my life and around me every moment of every day. I love that in my weaknesses He is made strong and that He is continually deepening my love for Him and for others and for the people of this country. My personality is being tested and I’m learning things about myself that I’ve never truly seen before. I’m seeing strengths I didn’t know I had and I’m learning that all my weaknesses can be used by the Lord to bring glory to His name. Because of Christ, my weaknesses are beautiful.

Within the next week the majority of the other interns will be gone. I have grown to love all of them in so many different ways and for so many different reasons. I’m so sad to see them go but I’m excited to see where God takes them in life. If any of you know me, you know that I love companionship and love being with people and sharing life with them. The next few weeks will be a big challenge as I finish up this internship without these incredible girls to share it with. Although I’m sad that they wont be here I’m so excited because it will be just me and the Lord and I’ll be challenged to rely fully on Him for every little thing. I cannot believe my time here is halfway done! It breaks my heart to think that I'll be leaving here in a matter of a few weeks. There is no place I’d rather be right now than in Haiti surrounded by the presence and love of my God. I love being challenged to grow. I know that the Lord is equipping me to love these people better with the genuine love of Christ. I’m digging the roots of who I am into the love of Christ and watching Him transform my heartbeat to be more like His. And His heartbeat… is beautiful.

Beautiful Jesus

Today we had the lovely opportunity to go an hour up the mountains to a waterfall.

I cannot explain how perfect it was.

There is just something about being surrounded by the beauty of God's creation that makes me feel at home. I love just being able to soak in the presence of the LORD in the beautiful setting of His masterpiece. Today, there was no place I would have rather been.







The entire time we were at this waterfall there was a song running through my head, over and over. These are the words I know the LORD placed on my heart while I was soaking in His love and beauty all around me:

"Beautiful Jesus
How may I bless Your heart?
Knees to the earth
I bow down to everything You are
Beautiful Jesus
You are my only worth
So I will embrace You always
As I walk this earth

Be blessed, be loved, be lifted high
Be treasured here, be glorified
I owe my life to You oh Lord
Here I am"

Oh, How I Love Life.

This morning is beautiful. For many reasons.

I am truly in love with life in this moment. And it is only because I know the LORD is Good and Sovereign.

This morning I am sore from a crazy cake fight birthday party we had last night where we all ended up covered in cake. It's lovely.

This morning I can look outside and look over the mountains and across the ocean to see the beautiful mountains and city of Port Au Prince. This is so rare since it is normally really hazy outside. But today the sky is clear. It's lovely.

This morning I'm filled with a joy that I cannot explain. Nor do I have any reason for it besides the goodness of my Savior. It's lovely.

This morning the power didnt go off at 6am like it does every day. It's currently 7:50 and it's still on. It's lovely.

This morning I woke up to a beautiful and encouraging email from my best friend. It made my day and touched my heart. It's lovely.

This morning all us interns are sitting around listening to worship songs and just soaking in the LORDS presence. It's lovely.

I am truly in love with life in this moment. And it is only because I know the LORD is Good and Sovereign.

And the best part of it? This life is not my home. And on the days where I see how lovely this life can be, I am reminded how unbelievably perfect and lovely the life in Heaven I have to look forward to will be.

Listening, Learning, Loving.

What can I say besides that the Lord is good and is alive and working in Haiti. I have never seen the Lord so active than I have these past two weeks. I'm learning to be still and listen to His heartbeat and it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced.

Wednesday morning before and after teaching English to the mommies Abby and I went down to the prosthetics lab to meet the two sweet little boys, ages 4 and 7, who were getting prosthetic legs. Oh, these boys were SO precious! I cant explain the emotions that ran through me the second I saw their one little foot and knowing they will always only have one. My heart broke, yet I could see hope and joy coming in the process of getting these little boys legs so they can walk again. Unreal.

In the afternoon we went back to Good Samaritan to play with the kids. The same little boy from the day before passed out in my arms :). There’s something about this week that makes kids fall asleep in my arms. It was precious. It was a beautiful afternoon with the kids.



Wednesday night we went up the hill at night to have a worship night. Katie is a wonderful guitar player and has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. It was a beautiful night listening to the Lord and soaking in His love for me. My heart has been longing to move to Haiti full time, but 1.5 years left of school stand in the way. But the Lord really reminded me that His love for me is greater than I could imagine and He has me where I am at this time in my life for a reason. I love when I’m capable of listening to what the Lord is saying to me. Brings such joy to my life.

Thursday was incredible! We taught the mommies and then spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon creating care packages to take to a tent city to distribute. Each care package contained: 3 reusable water bottles, 2 t shirts, a baby blanket, 2 granola bars, Neosporin, protein shake powder, soup, oatmeal snacks, and rice/potato manna pack meals. So awesome! When we finished making 120 of them we loaded them into a canter truck and drove to the tent city to distribute them. It was unreal and beautiful. All at the same time. We started distributing them in a very orderly manner thanks to the chief of the tent city. As they were passing them out a few of us got to go outside the distribution tent to visit and play with the kids and talk to the people. I found a little boy who was sitting by himself looking very withdrawn and exhausted. After about 5 minutes of trying to get him to hold my hand he did and before I knew it he was in my arms and sound asleep. I’m telling you… something about this week that involves little kids falling asleep on me. I absolutely love it. It broke my heart that I could never get him to smile but it was good to know that he felt safe enough to fall asleep in my arms. That makes me feel much better. It was really hard to see where these families were living. The tents were literally made out of sticks and scraps of tarp and cardboard. Basically, whatever they could find. I feel unbelievably blessed to have the opportunity to give these people something to help them out. And all for the glory of God and furthering His kingdom. I love it.





Today was also great! I mean, every day in Haiti is great for different reasons. This morning a few of us went down to the prosthetics lab which was incredible! The two little boys were learning to walk on their new legs! INCREDIBLE! I cant explain the joy this brought to my heart. The smiles on their faces as they started walking were unbelievably priceless! Before lunch we made 20 more care packages to make sure everyone in the tent city got one. After lunch we had a game day in the pavilion with the kids from Summit Church, my church back at home. Theres a group of families here for a few days from my church which is great! I love it. Its funny because I don’t really know any of them personally but it’s cool to know that we go to the same church in the US. It started to rain which created slippery mud on the edges and naturally I completely wiped out. Flat on my butt. Covered in mud. But it made everyone laugh so I guess it was worth it. It was a very muddy afternoon and we were all covered in mud from walking down to the patient ward and back up the hill in the mud. But it was fun.



I’m loving being here. The Lord is so good to me and is continually showing me His love through people and situations. I am honestly blessed beyond measure to be able to share the love of Christ to the people of this nation. What I can give is nothing without the power of the Lord in me. I pray continually that it is God’s work in me not my own.

Time is going by so fast. Most of the other interns leave next week, which breaks my heart. These girls have quickly become some of my closest friends and I love seeing what the Lord is doing in their lives daily. They’re incredible. I’m so sad they’re leaving. I’ve been here 2 weeks now. It’s unbelievable. I only have three weeks left here and I’m already dreading the day I will have to leave this place that my heart calls home.

What Is My Joy?

This question isn't looking for the Sunday School answer: Jesus.

Yes, Jesus brings joy to my life and I find joy in Him. But the real question is what brings my heart joy on this earth? There is only one word that keeps running through my head over and over again: LOVE.

I'm not talking about any form of romantic love or conditional love. I'm talking about a genuine, unconditional love for others. I love loving. God created me to love and I know that completely. There is nothing that brings me joy the way love does. I was created to love others with all my heart and hold nothing back. I was created to love people regardless of color, size, status, beliefs, etc. My God is a God of love who calls His children to love. I am a child of God and I've been called to love.

In John 15 it says, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep my commandments you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."

It is so clear that God intends for us to find joy in abiding in His love. As a result of abiding in Him, we then are commanded to love one another with the same love Jesus has for us. It is impossible to love like Jesus without abiding in His love and allowing Him to lavish His love on us. I love loving others but some days I find myself so wrapped up in loving others I forget to abide in the love of my Savior. How much stronger my love for others is when I abide in Jesus' love! And it is only when my love for others is an outpour of Jesus' love in me that my joy will be complete. I'm learning to be still and listen and to abide in my Redeemer's love.

I am grateful for this opportunity to love others in Haiti and I pray that it's not my love but Jesus' love in me.

I See Jesus In Them.

I'm at a loss for words to describe the past two days. All I can say is that I've seen Jesus work in the lives of others and I've seen Jesus in the eyes of these people. I love it.

Monday morning we went to teach and the mommies weren't ready yet so Abby and I played with the babies :) While we were playing a little boy came in that doesnt live at Hope House and was watching us. We asked him what his name was and he said "Undelo". My heart started racing- Undelo is a little boy from Tytoo, an orphanage I visited when I was here in March. When I was here Undelo was one of the first little kids to come up to me. I held him for quite some time and just loved this little boy. He didnt smile much but he sure was precious!!!! Abby asked him if he remembered me and he said yes. My heart was smiling so big. I saw Jesus in Undelo that morning.



In the afternoon we had a feild day with the kids from the Hope House which was slightly chaotic but SO much fun! It was pouring so it turned into a mass water fight! So much fun!

This morning we went and taught the mommies. It was conversation day so it was great! At the end Frantz prayed for me which was beautiful. This man is in love with God and I see Jesus in him.

After teaching I went to the prosthetics lab and played with a little 4 year old boy who is getting fitted for a prosthetic leg. I cannot explain to you what it did to me to see this sweet precious little boy smile. The second he took his one sock off and I saw his little foot my heart just broke for him. He will never grow up with 2 feet, but thanks to mission of hope he will have two legs. And will be able to walk normally. This precious little boy made my day. I see Jesus in him.

This afternoon was so much fun! Adventure is the only word I can use to describe it. A few of us went with a team to a village to go on a riverwalk and to go to the Good Samaritan orphanage. It was a hot but beautiful day out and the scenery in the mountains was beautiful. We hiked through the mountains for a while and then through a river to get to the orphanage.





It was so much fun seeing all of the children at Good Sam again :) In March, most of the kids were still clearly traumatized and wouldnt smile. This little boy was crying and wouldnt smile at ALL in March. And here he was today.... I saw Jesus in Him.



God is faithful, I've seen it full well here in Haiti. I see Jesus everywhere I go. This is the life I love. This is the life I was created to live. I love loving these people and being the hands and feet of Jesus to them. Little do they know I see glimpses of Jesus in them.

How He Loves.

These words keep running through my head. Although I feel as if they are running through my heart:

"He loves us, oh how He loves us."

If I have seen anything this past week in Haiti, it has been the love of the LORD for His people. I've seen injured healed, hearts come to Christ, babies smile, children laugh, people worship. I've seen it all. But what I truly see in all of those things is love. I see the love that God has for His children displayed for all to see by His son dying on the cross for us. I see the His love being poured into and out of the Haitian people. I see love. Love from the LORD.

So here I am, just an average 20 year old woman in the midst of life. Surrounded by the love of Christ. I see it everywhere, in everything, in everyone. It is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'm soaking up the love of my Savior. I'm longing to pour it out onto the people who need it the most. I find myself wrapped up in loving others and forgetting that I am loved as well. I am loved by the God of the universe. Without embracing His love, the love I give is limited. As this new week starts all I want to do is love. I want to love the way my Redeemer has shown me. I want to love unconditionally, wholeheartedly, unrestrained. And as I sit here, eyelids slowly closing, I hear a simple whisper:

"I love you, oh how I love you."

One week? Wow.

Have I really been here one week already!? It doesn’t feel real! It has gone by so fast!

Things here have calmed down since the accident. Thanks for all your prayers for the patients and the staff as we worked in the clinic! Friday we spent the morning just catching up on rest and spending time in the Word trying to unpack what happened the night before.

After lunch we went over to Maggie’s Kitchen to paint the inside ceiling and touch up the walls. This was really exciting for me because when I was here in March we painted the outside of Maggie’s Kitchen! Naturally I wore the same shirt I wore in March that had paint all over it (cough cough, thanks Matt!) Maggie was a little girl that was brought to Mission of Hope when she was about 12 years old. They found her in a dump burned and beaten, left to die. She regained her health and strength at Mission of Hope until she got really sick. Not long after she passed away from what they believe was Leukemia. Maggie wanted to grow up and become a chef so they dedicated the new cafeteria for the orphanage in honor of Maggie. :) Her favorite color is pink so naturally, the outside and inside walls are pink.

This is Maggies Kitchen :)

Today we woke up and went straight to painting again. We worked on the ceilings, touching up the walls, and finishing the trim on the outside of the building. That was fun because we got to be on big ladders. After lunch a few of us went back to finish painting.

Compared to the day before, these few days haven’t been too eventful. But we are all very grateful for the downtime. All us interns have been spending a lot of time together and bonding a lot. I love these girls. I’m so grateful for the relationships that have been built already.

Abby, me, and Ashley :)


New teams arrived today. Its a huge group of about 40. I'm excited to get to know them and see how God is going to use them this week!! We've got a lot of things happening here this week!

Its crazy to think that one week has already gone by and I only have four more to go. I just know it’s going to fly by. So much has happened just in one week. I cant wait to see what the next few weeks hold!

Unreal.

This morning started out great! We’ve been meeting as a group in the mornings at 7 for a little devotion time and then to talk about what were doing that day. Vanessa has been wonderful in encouraging us girls to pour our all into what we’re doing. Brad and Vanessa are the president of MOH and are incredible people.

I got to go back down and teach the hope house mommies. There is a guy named Frantz who is the supervisor of the kids in the orphanage and he is so amazing! When he found out that my dad died a while ago he decided I could be his daughter. He greets me every morning “Goodmorning daughter!” How precious!

After lunch all the interns went down to the warehouse to organize and sort through medical supplies, food for the guest house, and the most random things you’ll ever find. It was a lot of fun but draining at the same time.

We all came back up to shower and get ready for dinner… then our day was thrown a curve ball. We were sitting upstairs talking to Vanessa and just hanging out after showering when Brad yelled up the stairs that an accident happened and they were coming in to the clinic. All the medical personnel rushed down as fast as they could. After thinking about it, we decided to go down there to see if we could help too. We got down just as the patients were arriving.

A tap tap is a form of public transportation. Many tap taps are different sizes. This one was a size of a bus. I’m not sure how the people were sitting on it. They usually sit on benches that line the sides of the tap tap or they pile on top of it. Sometimes they’ll be sitting on the side of the window. Not exactly the safest form of transportation, let alone in Haiti. Apparently this tap tap hit a cow, which caused them to swerve and sway until they hit a truck coming the opposite direction. Terrible accident.
I had no idea what to expect. The first few patients were covered in blood but were walking. Then some of the worst came. One man had both feet torn off and they were dangling barely. His feet looked as if they had been shredded to pieces. He is currently having both feet amputated as well as possibly his arm if they couldn’t salvage it. Another man had a broken leg, shoulder, and possible back and neck. It was overwhelming to say the least.

I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do, if anything. I put gloves on and as I was standing around waiting I went over to a group of people and got us all together to pray. They started moving patients from the trucks and ambulances onto stretchers, beds, and boards. It was pure chaos. After we got done praying I went over and started filling out charts for the patients. Jotting down their names (or what I could understand of their names) and if they had been given morphine or any drugs yet. It was crazy! When that was done we helped holding IV bags, comforting the patients, and grabbing supplies that were needed.

I sat down next to this guy named Jean Phillips Mario, he went by Mario though. I sat and prayed with him and then was “assigned” to stay with him while he was there. I sat and held his hand for a good 2 hours just reassuring him that he would be okay and just letting him know that I was there. Every time his pain got really bad he would squeeze my hand. Come to find out he is the same age as me. Breaks my heart. He had an injury to his hip and a ball of blood was gathered above his nerve behind his hip and it was causing shooting pains down his side and leg. It also affected his kidney, which could have ruptured, but they haven’t figured that out yet. I felt completely helpless holding his hand while he muttered to me how much he was in pain and seeing his face tighten up every time pain would shoot down his leg. I wished so badly that I could encourage him more, but language barriers made that difficult. The only words I could utter to him were “desolei”-“I’m sorry” or “mwen kone”-“I know” or “Jezi renmen ou”-“Jesus loves you.” I tried a couple of times to ask him if he knew Jesus but I couldn’t understand what his response was. Finally we got a translator and after asking him about church and if he knew Jesus and telling him about Jesus he decided he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart! :) I can’t even begin to tell you what I was feeling in that moment. We all prayed and he prayed and then we talked about how just praying doesn’t save you and how it is how you live your life following Jesus. He got really happy and excited although while in very extreme pain. The pastor of the church came by and gave him a bible and talked to him a little. It was unbelievable! I stayed with Mario until he fell asleep. There were also a few other people in the accident that accepted Christ! :) Praise the Lord!! Crazy to think that sometimes things like this could happen, a tragedy, yet something so beautiful could come out of it.

There was also a 13 year old boy who I believe had a fractured femur and he kept saying that he didn’t know where his mom and brother were but he thought his mom died. She did in the accident. My heart breaks for this boy so much. My heart breaks for all the family members that lost a loved one in this accident. Toward the end of the night when things were calming down, there was a man who couldn’t sleep because he had a bad head injury so he was singing. It was beautiful. He was singing, “God, bless my soul” and “I know Jesus loves me”. Unbelievable to think that after this accident, a very traumatizing one, this man was singing to our God. So beautiful.

I was supposed to go for a ride in the ambulance to take two patients to a hospital, but I could tell the Lord was telling me to go spend time with Him. Its currently 11:25 here and I’d still be on my way in the ambulance if I had gone. It was a hard decision because I want so desperately to do what God wants me to do and to have no reservations and do anything! But my emotions started running and what I saw started to hit me.

So here I am, writing. I’ve never worked with medical before until tonight. I can honestly say it was the Lord’s strength in me. My stomach was never weak, I never felt lightheaded. The Lord sustained me and I’m so grateful. My desire is to be the hands and feet of Jesus regardless of what it requires of me. Whether that is to hold an orphan baby or help take care of accident patients-I’m serving the Lord with all my heart and will hold nothing back.

Please be praying for all the people involved and affected by the accident. And please continue to pray that the Lord will use the accident to further His kingdom like He already has!

EDIT 7/9/10: I am seeing the Sovereignty of our Lord more and more every single day. Yesterday morning, the day of the accident, I read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 which says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." I cannot explain to you how perfect this fit for yesterday. In my weakness, in the moment I thought I was useless and couldnt help, the power of Christ enabled me to do His will. What a Mighty God we serve. Now, this morning, as we are all processing what happened last night and the things we saw, I read this verse: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4. Perfect. On the day where we feel shaken up and brokenhearted for these people involved in the accident, the Lord reminds me to trust in Him and I will be filled with peace that surpasses ALL understanding! Although this morning my heart is still hurting for these people and my mind is registering what happened, I see that the Lord is good. I see His mighty hand through all and in all. I am blessed to be His child.

1 Samuel 12:24

The past few days have been great!

Monday was the first day of doing things. My job is to help one of the other interns teach English to the mommies at the Hope House (orphanage). Its so much fun!!! I love getting to know them and seeing how excited they get when they learn something new and actually understand it :) The afternoon was spent going into Cabaret, a village nearby and we went to Grace House which was a shelter for people of all ages. Got to hold a 1 month old sweet baby girl and a 1 year old baby girl. They're so precious! They were really malnourished though which I could tell by the color of their hair and how they had no responses to what we were doing. But they were beautiful and precious anyways. I'm grateful for the opportunity to love on them :) After Grace House we went to the market which was incredible! I love going to the market because there are so many people in their everyday Haitian lifestyle. I love it! I love walking around and seeing the people and saying hello to them ("Bonswa!") It really makes you feel like you're embracing Haitian culture and I LOVE it!

Tuesday was good! Taught the mommies again and then we just hung around and went down to the Hope House and just played with some kids and held some babies :) I love it. Tuesday night was church, which was a big time of worship and dancing and having fun!!

This is Matthew :)


Today we taught the mommies and then we spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in the prosthetics lab! Its so cool watching and learning about prosthetics and how they make legs! We also go to see a fitting and watch the Physical Therapist work on helping teach a guy to walk :) Its such a cool experience to see! I helped organize some parts which was cool. I loved spending the afternoon in there! Wish I could do more and help make them! Haha maybe one day!



The LORD is teaching me a lot and I love seeing Him all around me all day long! I'm getting really close with the other interns. They're such awesome girls! I love it! Its awesome being with girls who have a heart for the LORD and furthing His kingdom! The intern program is getting more structure so our afternoons will be on a rotation schedule between working in: construction, medical, the school, and going to villages with teams that come in.

I'm excited to see what is in store! God deserves ALL glory! He is so good and faithful to His children! I'm reminded of it daily.

Cant believe almost a week has gone by already!!!! Its crazy!

I'm in Haiti. Life doesnt get better than this :)

Getting settled in.

The past two days have been wonderful! I couldnt have asked for a better first couple of days in Haiti. I'm here alongside 6 other awesome girl interns who I've been getting to know. They're so awesome and they all have such a heart for missions so we get along great :) Yesterday was just very low-key. Got all my stuff unpacked and my bed set up and we just had fun. Got to go down to Hope House (the orphanage) and play with the kids. We also had a pretty legit dance party with some of the older girls at the orphanage last night at our place. So crazy, yet so fun!

Today was unbelievable! Woke up a little sweaty, but not as bad as I had expected. Power went out at 4am so the fans turned off much earlier than they were supposed to. The morning was good. Nice and slow getting up for breakfast and getting ready for church. Me and all the other interns dressed up in red, white, and blue for the 4th. It was fun!


Church was absolutely incredible. Theres just something breathtaking about worshipping our God in another country with people who are worshipping in another language. All the songs they sang at church today were sung in Creole but they always did one verse or chorus in English. :) And I knew all the songs so half the time I was attempting to sing in Creole and then I could just sing in English and worship wholeheartedly. It was beautiful. Everything about it. One of my favorite lyrics from a new song they sang were:

"For I am after Your heart, I'm after Your heart, I'm after You."

So beautiful.

Got to go to Gwapapa Poul (Big daddy chicken) for lunch- authentic Haitian food=AMAZING! :) I also got strawberry ice cream! haha so fun! Then since the heat was pretty intense we just came back to our rooms and hung out :) Ana and Mina came up and played with us for a little.

We baked cakes for the 4th of July and decorated them like a flag and fireworks :) Dinner was mac 'n cheese and hotdogs to celebrate America!


The Lord is already doing some mighty things here and I love seeing it! Tomorrow Ill start off by going down with another intern to teach the Hope House moms! I'm so excited! Itll be a really neat experience.

Please continue to pray for all the things that the Lord is doing here. I've only been here two days and I'm loving it more than ever! :)

I'm in HAITI!

I'm here safely and loving it already!
Today was the perfect day for me to come because its been a low-key day for all the interns so everyones just been hanging out. I'm still not sure what Ill be doing but I'm sure Ill find out soon.

Still hasn't hit me that Ill be here for 5 weeks... but I know Ill love it all! :)

Thanks for all the prayers!

Tomorrow!!!

This time tomorrow, almost exactly, I will be on a plane taking off for the country that has so simply stolen my heart.

HAITI

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me and praying for me. It's so appreciated!

I'll try to post as soon as possible when I'm there safe and sound. Please continue lifting me, this trip and Haiti to the Lord. :)

One Week

In one week I will be in Haiti!

It has come so fast, and I'm getting more and more excited every day. My heart is longing to be there already. Yet at the same time my heart is telling me to enjoy my last week here.

I am blown away by the way the Lord has been working in and through all the people serving at Mission of Hope. I am so excited to be apart of His work in Haiti. This trip has nothing to do with me. It is all about the Lord's work and His glory being made known among the Haitian people.

Getting ready has been fun yet somewhat stressful. I have pretty much everything I need, other than some little things and my malaria pills. The malaria pills aren't exactly cheap and I have to get 45 days worth! Gross. Haha part of me wants to just risk it and go without, but I know that would not be very wise in the long run. We're praying our insurance will cover the pills and they wont be nearly as expensive.

This next week will be filled with lots of catching up with people, enjoying time with good friends, and last minute shopping trips to get random things.

7 days and I will be in Haiti. Unreal

10 Days

In exactly 10 days I will be finishing packing, getting all my stuff together, and getting ready to head to Haiti.

My excitement is building more and more each day. It still doesn't feel real to me. I'm not sure it will hit me until I board the plane, or maybe even until I land on Haitian soil. Although it hasn't hit me yet, my heart is already there.

I'm finding myself more and more conscious of my surroundings. I'm enjoying my warm showers with running water, being able to cool down in an air conditioned building, sleeping in a cold room just so I can stay warm under the covers, etc. You may think that I'm going to be missing all these luxuries that are an everyday thing here in America, but I'm honestly more excited for the cold showers and warm weather more than anything. I'm excited to be sweaty and dirty and not even care. I'm excited to leave my comfort zone. I'm excited to grow. I'm excited to share life with people in Haiti. Basically, I'm excited.

By the end of this week my payments will be in, my flights are already booked, and all I will have to do is prepare. Honestly, I don't know how to prepare for five weeks in Haiti. Where to begin? The next 10 days will be filled with lots of time praying and spending time in the Word. I don't know any way to prepare better than that. Of course Ill be running around picking up a mosquito net, sunblock, bed sheets, all the last minute random items. But all that aside, my preparation needs to be solely centered around preparing my heart to serve, love, care for, and share the gospel with the Haitian people.

I know the next 10 days will fly by. I'm so excited.... that may even be an understatement :)

Flights are booked!

I will be leaving for 5 weeks in Haiti on

July 3rd

and I will be coming home on

August 7th


Words cannot express my excitement :)
The LORD is so good!


AU

I'm off to HAITI!

On June 16th, 2010 I received a phone call asking if I would be an intern at Mission of Hope, Haiti for the rest of the summer :).

Of course, I said yes!

I am so excited to see what the LORD is going to do in Haiti and how He is going to use me and all the other staff to reach Haiti for Christ. I feel beyond blessed to go on this journey and to be a part of God's movement in Haiti.

My dates are not set yet, but will be as soon as I book my flights. I will be leaving sometime between July 1st-7th and will be returning around August 7th. I will be gone for about a total of 5 weeks and am so excited for the experience.

I went to Mission of Hope in March 2010 with a group from my school and fell in love with the people there and the ministries. I'm so excited to go back and see the people that I have built relationships with already-especially Ana and Mina, two beautiful 6 year old twin girls :)

I'll be leaving in about 2 weeks but will be continually updating this blog while I'm gone for anyone who cares to read :)

AU


Prayer requests:

-The time up until I leave as I prepare for 5 weeks in the country I love, Haiti. Booking flights, payments, packing, etc.

-That the LORD will begin opening doors now to use me while I am down there and that He sets up divine appointments and opportunities for me to be able to share the love of Christ and the gospel with the people of Haiti.

-For the country of Haiti and Mission of Hope and all they are doing to reach the people of Haiti for Christ. :)