In Jacmel.
March 30, 2010
Here are a couple of random pictures of some happy moments we had in the past few days.
Our family worship time.
Susana during our family worship time.
Reading her Bible. Well, attempting.
Susana and her very own “Made by Susana” birthday cake.
Sisters.
Friends.
Tinkerbell wearing her birthday gift.
Tinkerbell getting reading for a cold shower.
Melitha, our house helper. Also a woman with a machete.
Hardworking young neighbor.
Gorgeous.
Gorgeous too!
Isabela, a girl on the path.
How did Daniel get up there? Hey, give me a coconut.
Our neighbor.
The man. The machete. The coconut.
Super cute!
One of my gems.
Puzzle time.
Silly face.
Dirty face.
Cleaning the beans.
Lots of work to do.
Happy together.—Maria
Keep praying for this little guy
March 27, 2010
This is a picture of Mackenson, the baby that we have been getting care for. I (Cody) stopped by the orphanage yesterday to see him and I was told that he was back in the hospital. This is not a bad thing, it is actually good. As you can see, he needs to be in the hospital. He is still severely malnourished. The above picture was taken a few weeks ago.
So, after going to the orphanage, I went next door to the hospital to see Mackenson. It was after hours and the doctors had already left. When I walked into the tent (yes, keep in mind that hospital, especially post earthquake, in Haiti has a completely different picture than the one you have in your mind right now), I told the women there that I was looking for baby Mackenson and they pointed to where he was lying in a metal crib. He looked content, had a new diaper on, and a little blanket. I spent some time just touching his head and talking to him and praying over him. I told him that he needs to exercise those tiny little arms of his so that he can grow up to be a big and strong boy. So, I took his arms and gently made bench press motions with him. He loved it and started laughing and it was the first time that I saw his huge smile. I was so happy to see that so I just kept doing that with him until he got tired and started yawning. Then, I just stroked his head softly until he fell asleep. It was really cool. Please keep praying for this little guy.
On a personal side of things, (yes, we do have personal lives that we are settling into now rather than just all ministry), I took a walk down to a new beach area that my friend told me about that is just a few minutes from my house. It is absolutely beautiful, but that is not what I am after these days. No, I am on the hunt for fish. I am scoping out some places where I can cast my fly line or my new spinning rod that is soon to arrive thanks to a special friend of mine. Yes, God has made me to be a passionate fisher of men, but also a passionate fisherman. It is indeed my favorite thing to do. So, I am hoping to use my passion also as a means of blessing others. When (not if) I catch a bunch of huge fish, I will give them to people who are in great need so that they can have food. Perhaps God will give me more favor that way 
Haha.
The one problem that I have run into here in Haiti regarding fishing is this: I’m never alone. Back in the states, fishing was my time to get away, be alone, just me and God…and hopefully a few lunker fish. But in Haiti, I am a spectacle. There aren’t any white fisherman that I have seen, so when they see me, they are curious and want to watch and talk to me. So, I am really hoping that I can just find this perfect fishing spot that nobody else knows about. But I don’t think that’ll ever happen in Haiti. Even in the most remote places there just always seems to be somebody staring at me or following me or asking me for money. Its crazy!
Today, we spent the whole day in Port au Prince. We went there to get our mail and pick up any packages that arrived (Thank you Gretchen Baker for the care package of goodies), go shopping for an upcoming mission team that will be here next week, and have lunch with our favorite other Global Outreach missionaries who live in Titanyen. We had a great time with the Bruns and pray God’s blessing on them as they get ready to go back to the states for a month or so to raise support and share the great things that God is doing in and through them.
After seeing them, we visited with our good friend Oscar for just a few minutes. We heard that he recently lost his job so we wanted to stop by to bless him with something. I know the Lord has some good things in store for him and I pray that He opens up a door for him soon.
Port au Prince is such a long day for us. It is a 3 hour trip each way, filled with mountain passes, horrible road conditions, and lots of people traffic as well as vehicle traffic. Cruise Control is non-existent for us anymore. Often, we have to drive through the open air market that covers the whole street. It involves constantly honking the horn and squeezing by all the people who try to scatter to the side of the road. 2 weeks ago, I smacked an elderly haitian woman in the head with my sideview mirror as she was walking past with her market produce on her head. It was an accident!!! So, yeah, driving in Haiti is always interesting, but rarely relaxing.
Bon uit… Good NIght
Bringing love, laughter, and the Lord to the children of Kap Wouj
March 24, 2010
Today, we headed up the mountain to Kap Wouj to do an outreach at the school. We brought a mission team from Calvary Chapel who is here in Jacmel for the week. We had a great time ministering to all of the children. We also brought some food to give to the school in addition to sharing a lunch among all the children. We spent the day singing songs to Jesus, watching the God-Man movie (until the DVD broke), playing soccer, making balloon animals, and just loving the children. It was an awesome day.
I really can’t wait until I am more fluent with the language so that I can start teaching the Bible at this school and possibly leading a discipleship group or something. We love Kap Wouj.
After going to Kap Wouj, Fenel and I went to visit a new area where we are thinking about starting a ministry. It is a very very poor area. We spent some time there talking with a family and asked them if they would like for us to come back in a few days and show them the Jesus Film. They were very excited about it, so we will start making a plan to do this. We will show the movie and then share the message of the gospel with the people there. The houses in this area are in horrible condition, not because of the earthquake, but just because the people are so poor that they can’t afford to build anything. Most of the homes are stick, mud, and concrete. A good solid kick could knock the walls down. It is very sad. We pray that the Lord gives us vision for what He would have us do to reach this area.
Here are some pictures of the outreach today in the mountains of Kap Wouj
Yes, they schooled me in soccer…I barely even touched the ball!
The balloon hats were a success!!
Heaping huge blessings!!!
March 22, 2010
So, things have been going great lately. We continue to reach out to our community in various ways. We have been working some with the Calvary Chapel Ft Lauderdale teams that have been through here. A few days ago, we took them up to Marigot where we partner with a school up there. They did a VBS program and showed a movie called “The God Man” in Creole. It was great. After the movie, I shared with them a short message about God’s love. We had a great day telling stories, doing skits, face painting, balloon animals, etc. It is such a joy to continuously sow into the lives of these young kids, knowing that the word of God does not return void. These kids will grow up to know the love and truths of the gospel of Jesus. This makes me so happy.
So, one day, after doing a whole lot of things throughout the day, I was super tired and couldn’t wait to get home, close my gate to the world around me, and just chill with my family. After pulling into my driveway, I dragged my tired body out of my 4runner and walked to my gate to shut it with authority. I was tired and I really didn’t want to do anything more. But there he was, a man that just “happened” to be passing by my gate as I was closing it. I asked him how he was doing. He said ok. I then asked him, “Tout bagay anfom?” Is everything great? He said no, it is not great. So, I told him that with God, all things are good. He agreed, but said that it is not so good right now because it rained really hard last night and his family was soaking wet all night long. I asked him if he had a house. He said his house crashed. I asked him if he had at least a tent. He said he did not. I asked him if he had a tarp. He did not.
So, I then told him that with God, all things are indeed good because He is the One who caused me to be at my gate as he was passing by, and that He is the One who will take care of his needs. I told him that I have a really good tent that I will give him. He was so happy. Then I told him that I also have some tarps that I can give him. He was even more happy. Then I told him that I just came back from picking up some food and that I had a big box of food to give him. He was so happy. I then asked him, “Tout bagay anfom?” To which he replied with a smile, “Wi, tout bagay anfom.” Yes, everything is great!.
After heaping this huge blessing from God upon him, I asked if we could pray together to give God thanks. It was a great moment. I told him that God has heard his prayers and has answered him to show him His love.
You know, this guy does not have a house. I’m thinking that the next house that we build will be his. That way the blessing from God will continue to overwhelm him. This I pray just shows him that God loves him and that will draw him closer into relationship with God. His name is Treber. Will you keep him in your prayers?
Isn’t that the heart of God? To not only bless in an average way, but to heap a huge blessing on us to show us that He loves us and cares for us. Through Jesus, we have been given the greatest blessing heaped on us. He is good and I just get excited that I can pass that blessing along in some manner.
Speaking of huge blessing, 4 years ago to this day, a huge blessing was heaped upon me as my daughter Susana was born. She is a beautiful girl and I am so blessed to be her Daddy. Won’t you share in my joy by wishing her a Happy Birthday.
Well, time to go and have her open up her present – a beautiful Tinkerbell dress. She loves Tinkerbell and has asked for a Tinkerbell dress for so long. Wow, another opportunity to heap a huge blessing on someone. God is good.
Getting back to what we love to do…share the love of Jesus!
March 16, 2010
It is so good to be back in Haiti. God has given us a real love for this place and its people. After chilling out for the weekend since we got in late Friday, we are now back in the swing of things and are reaching our community with the gospel of grace.
One quick note worth mentioning…before getting back to ministry, while I was chilling out for the weekend, I finally got the chance to do something that I absolutely love to do. …GO FISHING!!!! Yeah Baby!!! I was planning on fly fishing Saturday, but my fly rod broke before I even got my first cast in the beautiful blue caribbean. So, after church on Sunday, I headed back to the ocean in hopes of redemption. My spin fishing rod and reel is really small because I usually only have used it for bass fishing in the states, so I knew that if I happened to hook a big fish, that it would be curtains for me. And that is exactly what happened. After about an hour fishing without any action, I put on a lure for bonefish, and after a few casts, BAM!!! Fish on!!! I was so pumped!!! But I couldn’t do anything. My rod was bent in half and then the fish just took me out to lunch. It just ran straight out and was ripping all the line off my reel. It took just about all my line out, and I knew that if I didn’t tighten the drag more, that the fish would have just taken all my line and then snap me off. So, I tried tightening my drag little by little, but the big fish just kept ripping out line. So, I tightened it a little more, and then after several more bursts from the fish, the line snapped. So…you know what’s on my mind these days in addition to building houses and preaching the gospel…
Ok, back to the stories of how God is using us to be fishers of men. On Monday, we visited with a haitian friend of mine and his family who we have been ministering to. His name is Petersen. He called me to tell me that his mother is dying (she is very old and she knows the Lord, so he wasn’t in great distress) and he was really hoping to be able to go to where she lives and spend the last days by her side. So, we went to visit Petersen and his family and we gave him some money that would get him to where his mother lives and enable him to be with her for a few weeks. We spent some time laughing and hanging out together and we also spent some time praying together. Petersen is a Christian and wants to draw closer to the Lord. I have spoken with him often about God and how we can draw closer to Him. Petersen now wants to marry the woman he has been living with for several years because God is convicting him of the fact that he should not be living with a woman that he is not married to. So, I have talked to him and his wife and have encouraged them to obey God and seek to do what is right. I told him that we will pray that the Lord provides for him to get a suit and for his woman to get a wedding dress and both to get wedding bands so that they can get married. So, is there anybody who would be willing to help out with this? If so, please leave a comment and I will be in touch to give you further information. It would be easiest to just get money given so that we could buy the clothes and rings for them here, but we are also open to the idea of having clothes sent to us…it just might take a lot longer for us to get them, thereby delaying them getting married.
The houses are all completed. Praise the Lord that through many people who have given money, time, resources, etc. that five families now have brand new homes to sleep in. We visited the homes today and the people were so happy. What a blessing to see the joy on their faces and seeing them give thanks to God for His provision. We brought Isabela down with us when we visited the families. I love having our children see what the Lord is doing and being able to share in that. All the families love our children and they are really coming to love us. Now, when we go down to visit with them, they get so excited when they see us coming and they give us big hugs and kisses. While we were gone in the states, Fenel and a few of the Calvary Colorado group that was here showed them the Jesus Film and shared the gospel with them. Many people there prayed to receive Christ. And now, we have the friendship, trust, and relationship where we can really sow into their lives spiritual truths, teach them about the Lord, and help them grow in their faith. God is so good.
We also visited the orphanage today where Makenson is now staying. He is looking much better, but still severely under weight. Please keep him in prayer. Our greatest prayer is that he would no longer be HIV positive when tested again. The orphanage is run by catholic nuns through Mother Teresa’s organization. The children and babies there are in great need. Many of them are suffering from all kinds of problems. But it was a joy to go there and just show love to as many as we could. We would like to think about further ways that we can help support orphanages like these. This is something that we are praying about. We know that the Lord has called us to minister to the orphans and we are just seeking Him to know how to best go about doing that. We do believe that He is giving us wisdom and direction.
We have a team from Lifebridge Church in Madison, MS coming in the beginning of April. We are very excited as they will be coming to build a house for another family that we have connected with. We will also be doing a lot of outreach such as giving out clothes to specific families in need, playing with the children, taking food to the mountains, etc. It should be a great week.
Tomorrow we head to Port au Prince to run a few errands. We will also be heading to the orphanage at Tytoo to drop off the many Christmas gifts that were given for the children there. They had been held up in customs for so long. The kids and us are really looking forward to seeing the children there.
Here are some pics of ministry in the last few days…enjoy
This is my good friend Petersen. We are trying to help him get married. He needs a nice suit and a wedding band to give to his woman. Ede li tanpri…
This is Petersen and his woman. She needs a wedding dress and a wedding band to give to Petersen. They are a very sweet couple.
Here is Maria hanging out with Petersen’s girl and many other ti fi yo.
Here I am trying to convince Petersen that he is a short dude. We all got a good laugh.
The orphanage where Makensen is staying. This is a good clean orphanage for Haiti standards. I know it is sad to see so many babies lying in metal cribs with so few people around them. But thank the Lord that people like our good friend Paul have been visiting with these children several times a day just to hold them, play with them, feed them, etc. Perhaps the Lord would have you come down some time soon and do the same. It is a priceless experience to be able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these beautiful little ones.
Here is Makenson. He is looking so much better than the first time we ever saw him. We pray the Lord continues to breathe life and health into him.
Now these babies are getting some lovin’
This is Michelle, our fellow missionary friend, from Hands and Feet Orphanage. She is cool. We like her and everybody else at Hands and Feet.
This is Dyela. She latched onto me the minute I saw her. She is a very sweet little girl.
New house #1
New house # 2 front room
New house # 2 back room
New house # 3
New house # 4
I’d love to get a mission team to come here and help paint all of these houses so that they can look really nice. Any takers?
Many thanks go to all the people that worked so hard in helping build these houses as well as the people and organizations that provided the finances and resources to get the job done. Glory to God for all that He has done and all that He continues to do in our midst.
Little baby Mackenson…
March 16, 2010
We went to visit little baby Mackenson at the Sister’s of Charities Orphanage in Jacmel. He has been at the orphanage for about two weeks now. His mother decided that it would be best to release him to an orphanage because she has been unable to care for him. The baby was tested positive for HIV and must undergo treatment and doctor visits in order to continue to stay at the orphanage..
Little Baby Mackenson in his crib at the orphanage.
Baby Mackenson sleeping.
The room where Baby Mackenson stays with many other babies at the Sisters of Charity orphanage in Jacmel.
Wide awake.
His tiny skinny legs.
Babies who tested positive for HIV can test negative later. Here is what the March of Dimes’ website has to say about it:
“The HIV antibody test is not reliable for an infant born to an infected mother. This is because the mother’s antibodies may be present in her baby’s blood for up to 18 months, even if the baby has not been infected.”
We are working with the staff at the Hands and Feet Orphanage to ensure little Mackenson attends to all the required doctor visits.
Please pray that Mackenson tests negative by the time they test him again. We truly love this baby and would love to see him grow up as a healthy little boy. Many thanks! –Maria
Back in Jacmel things are back to…
March 13, 2010
…the beach! We took the girls and our little friend Wu-chao to the beach yesterday for a couple of hours. The girls had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of their playtime together.
The girls wasted no time. They got to playing right away.
Oh yeah! She is having lots of fun. I am sure she missed the warm weather.
The waves were a little bit ruff, but that didn’t stop them.
Meanwhile, Cody was trying to get some fishing counsel from a local.
While the girls found it more interesting to dance with the waves.
Playing with sand.
Wu-chao is such a pretty girl. We truly love her.
There is Cody. He is trying to catch something.
He is just about to disappear from my sight. I stayed right where I was enjoying the view and taking pictures. Everything around looked so beautiful.
Susana.
Isabela.
Wu-chao.
The boat.
The sand.
The waves.
The rocks.
You have to agree with me. This place is just beautiful!
I love watching them play.
And have fun.
Isabela loves the waves.
Susana loves the sand.
We had a great time at the beach. it was a nice “welcome back to Jacmel” treat for the girls.
And for Cody too.
I missed my little girls.
And I am so glad that we are reunited again.
Home, in Jacmel.
Thank you so much to all of you who supported us through this time of separation. There were so many hands involved and we are forever thankful to all of you. To those who volunteered to take care of the girls, thank you. To those who contributed their time, finances, efforts to get them to the states, thank you. To Grandpa Bruce, and Grandma Judy and Grandma Joyce for all their hard work, love, and support, thank you. To those that coordinated getting the girls on the airplane, thank you. To everyone who donated winter clothes and toys and babysitting time, thank you. To all who prayed and encouraged us, thank you. To Daniel and Tina for hosting us in Florida, thank you. And above all, thank you Jesus for reuniting us again. You are the reason we do what we do. We love you all!–Maria
Home Sweet Haiti
March 12, 2010
We are back! We had quite a long travel day yesterday out of Orlando. Our flight was delayed for 5 hours, so we just had to hang out at the Orlando airport and make the best of it. The girls did great, but they could not fall asleep in the airport no matter how much they really needed to. So, we finally arrived in Miami at near midnight…and the girls were still up!! They totally crashed when their heads finally hit the pillow after midnight, but they literally woke up crying this morning as we had to be up around 6:30 AM. Needless to say, it has been a long two days of travel to get back to Haiti. We are very tired and I hope we can sleep for like 17 hours straight. It feels good to be back home.
Ready to get back home…
March 11, 2010
Our time here back in the states is coming to a close as we get ready to fly back to Haiti tomorrow morning. We are very excited to be going back home to the land we love. Our time here in the states was very good. We had a great few days in Connecticut with family and then we had a great few days in Florida spending time with just our own family. We had a lot of fun with our girls. They are very excited to be back with Mommy and Daddy and we are equally excited to be back with our 2 little girlie girlies.
But now we are even more excited to be getting back to our home in Haiti and continuing to do the things that God has called us to do.
When we arrive in Port au Prince tomorrow morning, we will head over to Tytoo Gardens Orphanage to see the kids there and spend some time with them as well as visit with my good friend Oscar who is now the new Director there. We will be delivering many gifts to the children there that were given by many people from Biltmore Baptist Church. They were supposed to be Christmas presents, but they got held up in customs for so long that we didn’t even get them until the middle of Feb. At any rate, the kids there will be blessed to get these gifts.
We were supposed to have a mission team arriving in a few days from Lifebridge Church in MS, but their plans have been delayed and now they will be coming the first week in April. That is good for us anyway because it will give us some time to get settled back in, focus on language training, and reconnect with our community.
Well…gotta go board a plane to Miami now…Na we pita.
Reunited…
March 4, 2010
We are so excited to be reunited with our girls. We arrived at my Mom’s house at about 11:30 PM Monday after traveling all day. We were so excited to see them, but at that time they were not as excited to see us. The truth is…they were not excited at all as they just simply would not wake up no matter how much I poked them and nudged them. So, we let them be and knew that early morning we would all have a fun reunion.
The next morning, they jumped out of bed as they saw us lying there in the bed right next to them. We have not stopped hugging and kissing them since. They are so happy…we are so happy…Grandparents are so happy since they have been relieved…everybody is happy.
As great as it is to be back with our children after having been without them for a month and a half, it will be even better when we are back home in Haiti with them. Our hearts have been gripped by Haiti and we eagerly look forward to getting back to doing what God has called us to do.
I just spoke with Fenel this morning and was so excited to get such an awesome report as to what is going on regarding our ministry in Haiti. The 4 homes are almost complete. They just have to finish pouring the cement floors. The Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale church that is partnering with us wants to build another house and they will begin that next week. Then, we will build another house in 2 weeks when Lifebridge Church comes down. It is so exciting to see how the Lord is working.
A small group from Calvary Chapel in Colorado is down visiting with Fenel and his family and they have been doing some amazing things. Also, Paul is back as well. I’m sure that many are hearing the gospel even as I write this.
They went out yesterday to a place called Twou Koulev, which translates “Snake Hole”. They delivered a bunch of food to the people there. Tomorrow, they are having a kite fest among the kids of the families whose houses we are building. Then in the evening, they will show the Jesus Film to everybody. God’s name is being magnified in each place He leads us. I am just so overwhelmed that the Lord has called us to be part of His kingdom building work. We are such small, frail, broken people yet our God is so Big, strong, and holy. There is nothing that He cannot do, and in His sovereignty He has chosen to use us to be instruments for His glory.