In Haiti
July 17, 2010
Back in Haiti again. Why does Port au Prince look like nothing has changed since the earthquake, yet Jacmel looks like a lot has changed? I am very impressed with how well Jacmel is being cleaned up after the quake.
So, we just had a team leave this morning that was here all last week. I only got to spend one day with them, but it was good to get to know them, and Fenel told me that they were awesome. We were supposed to take the team to Basin Bleau for a fun day, but as we were heading out, it began to downpour, so we had to quickly abort mission. I am so excited that this team, along with our master carpenter Fenel, built bunk beds for our mission house! Sweet!!! No more sleeping on air mattresses, although the truth is that the air mattresses are super comfortable. The team also did a lot of outreach in some of the communities where we are ministering. They showed the Jesus Film a few times, Fenel preached a salvation message, and 4 people committed their lives to the Lord. God is moving in our midst. They also spent the week ministering to the orphaned children that we are working with.
The team left this morning and another team (team of 4 from Calvary Chapel in Uncasville, CT) arrived a few hours later, therefore I spent the whole day in Port au Prince, leaving at 4AM to drop off the team that was leaving and then getting back to Jacmel this evening after picking up the arriving team. Needless to say, I am beat. The team is great. They are very excited for the upcoming week as this is the first mission trip that any of them have been on. 2 guys will be building a house this week for a family that is helping the orphaned kids, and the 2 women will just do some serious loving on many children throughout the week. I am very excited to see what the Lord is going to do.
I miss my wife and kids, but it was good to see them today via video chat…
Answered prayers in so many ways!!!!
June 30, 2010
Regarding Susana – Every prayer we prayed (and every one you have prayed) has been answered! The line put in her chest was successful without any problems. Thank you Jesus! The stem cells were all harvested in one day! Thank you Jesus! She is doing great and we will be going home tomorrow morning after a quick check up and quick platelets. Thank you Jesus! Lord willing, she will begin her next round of chemo sooner than scheduled since her counts are so good.
Regarding our mission work in Haiti – We prayed that we could start getting food on a regular basis so that we can both feed the orphaned children that we are trying to sponsor as well as start up several feeding programs in the rural communities where we are ministering. Well, we have already had one mission agree to give us food enough to provide for the orphaned children daily as well as enough food for one of the schools that we are ministering to. And now, I have just been put in touch with Kids Against Hunger in Orlando and they are wanting to send us a 20 foot container every 3 months!!! Thank you Jesus! With that much food, we will be able to further develop several feeding programs, especially way deep in the mountains where there is so much poverty. Please pray that we are able to work out some of the shipping logistics so that we can start receiving this food as soon as possible.
One of the things we now need is for churches or individuals to help financially sponsor some of these feeding programs. We will certainly have the food, but now we will need additional money for each program so that they (or we) can purchase oil, charcoal, and bouillon so that they can cook the food for the children every day. And I know that the Lord will provide…
I will be going back to Haiti from July 15th – 22nd. We have 3 teams coming in July (Islego Missions Team from July 10th-17th, Calvary Chapel Uncasville Connecticut from July 17th – 24th, and Calvary Chapel Castlerock Colorado from July 24th – 31st) and I am very happy that I will be there to be part of some of those teams. The Lord is really growing this ministry. We just stand amazed!
Thank you all for praying for our family and for the ministry that God has entrusted to us. He is faithful
Just a personal note to YOU!
June 26, 2010
We wanted to take the time to write you a note and say, “thank you”. June has been an incredibly busy month in our home. Taking care of Susana and Isabela at the same that we are dealing with our new life routines has been quite a challenge. We could not have done without you. So we wanted to take some time to let you know that we truly appreciate you.
- Thank you for all the gifts you sent from the Target.com registry list and even outside the list.
- Thank you for putting together a birthday party for our sweet Isabela. And thank you for all of her wonderful birthday gifts.
- Thank you for all the furniture and housewares that you provided.
- Thank you for your financial contributions to help us get back on our feet and take care of Susana’s expenses.
- Thank you for all the cards and the notes and the simple little things that brought much joy to our hearts.
- Thank you for putting an auction together on Susana’s behalf and for participating in it.
- Thank you for creating and joining a prayer group on Susana’s behalf through Facebook.
- Thank you for coming to visit.
- Thank you for providing a meal.
- Thank you for watching Susana in the hospital while I ran home to let the dog out.
- Thank you for watching the dog while I traveled four hours to Duke for a doctor’s appointment.
- Thank you for calling and checking on us.
- Thank you for driving out of your way (or flying) to come and see us.
- Thank you for the clothes for the girls.
- Thank you for the movies.
- Thank you for the prayer bracelets.
- Thank you for the food and snacks in our pantry.
- Thank you for the gift cards.
- Thank you for the toys for the girls.
- Thank you for flying our dog, Casey, back to the States.
- Thank you for bringing some of our belongings back to us.
- Thank you for Susana’s iPod. I’ve never seen the girls so quiet.
- Thank you for providing phones for us.
- Thank you for the girls homeschooling curriculum.
- Thank you for understanding when we felt stressed and weren’t on our best behavior.
- Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on.
- Thank you for listening to us.
- Thank you for sharing our pain and our joys so graciously.
- Thank you for loving us.
- Thank you for volunteering to help.
- Thank you for giving Cody and I a date night.
- Thank you for your continue support towards our ministry in Haiti. We love knowing that our love for the children of Haiti is mutual and that it doesn’t stop with our circumstances.
- Thank you for coming to Haiti with us.
- Thank you for being a true friend.
And above all, THANK YOU for praying for our family. We truly appreciate all that you have done and continue to do for our family. In many ways the burden is lighter when we know we have you. We could not do it without you. And we thank the Lord for you.
And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. –Acts 2:44-47
Biltmore Baptist Brings the Love of Jesus to Haiti!!!
June 19, 2010
What an AWESOME week it has been to have the team from Biltmore Baptist with us in Haiti to reach out to the people with the love of Jesus. The team consisted of 14 people, all of which have showed such love and care to the people of Haiti. The group was divided into 3 different teams: The construction team which has been helping repair the home of the pastor that we are working with in the community, the outreach/orphan team which has been doing various outreaches in the morning and then ministering to the group of orphans that we are currently supporting, and the soccer team which has been joining the outreach and construction team in the morning and then have conducted soccer clinics/games in the afternoon with a large group of kids from a school in Marigot that we are partnering with.
Day 1
The team arrived on Monday afternoon. After having to file claims for 8 lost bags, we left the airport and began our 3 hour drive down to Jacmel. I absolutely love having new teams that have never been to Haiti before. Their comments and observations remind me of what my very first visit was like. I too would marvel over seeing pigs in the streets of Port au Prince eating the garbage, or the sight of a person bathing in dirty brown water. But, now after having lived in Haiti, its like I don’t even notice those things anymore because they are just so common.
Anyway, after getting to the mission house in the evening, the team was greeted by our awesome house staff with a meal that knocked their socks off. I had told the team that they would not suffer with regards to lack of good food. I think they finally believed me after eating dinner. They all ranted and raved over the food!
It was so late by that point and the team was so exhausted that I decided to postpone our orientation/devotion time for the morning. After dinner, everybody crashed hard. Well…not exactly. First, the girls got all wigged out because there was a huge cockroach in their room. So, after disposing of that, they found another one. So, after taking care of that one, I heard one of the girls say, “um…Cody…there’s a crab in our room…”. I didn’t believe them at first, but they insisted that they were telling the truth, so I went downstairs to investigate, and sure enough there was a crab about 5 inches long crawling in the corner. So…being a man as well as a missionary as well as a great host, I um….well I uh…kinda…got wigged out and asked one of the ladies to capture it so that we could get it out of the house. hahaha. Francie stepped up to the task and captured the little bugger and then I threw him over the fence. After sweating off a few pounds in the intense heat, the team finally fell asleep with the sound of fans blasting throughout the house.
Day 2
The day began very early for both Fenel and I, as well as our house staff, which consisted of a woman from the states named Sharon, who is kind of like Fenel’s adopted Mom as he spent 3 years living with her family in Ohio many years ago. Anyway, Sharon came down to help specifically with the team and she did an incredible job. So, Fenel was at the house early trying to fix our water pump which just happened to break just before the team was arriving. As he was working on that, I was on the phone with American Airlines trying to track down the lost luggage from yesterday. They told us that the bags had arrived and that we could pick them up at the airport in Port au Prince. So, my schedule for the day was instantly changed as I now had to spend the day driving to Port au Prince…again. Sadly, I had to take a team member with me so that the bags could be claimed. I felt bad having to take a team member since the whole group was so excited to start their week of outreach and ministry.
So, as I headed out to Port au Prince, the team broke up into their groups and headed out. The construction team headed down the street to work on Pastor Jean Franko’s house which sustained lots of damage from the earthquake. He was so happy to have a team come down and spend the week repairing his home. The outreach team headed over to the Sister’s of Charity orphanage to minister to the children. They had an awesome time holding babies and playing with children. They also saw baby Mackenson and prayed over him. They said that he looked very good. Praise the Lord. The report from the soccer team was great as well. Levi gathered the entire group together before starting and shared the gospel of Jesus with them, letting them know that this was most important. Many of the kids said they wanted to pray to receive Christ. Then they did the clinic and it went great. I think he said there were about 75 kids that showed up.
After making the long drive to Port, picking up the bags, and driving straight back, I felt like I wanted to take Robin (the team member that had to go with me and miss all the other outreach) to the places that the team went to earlier and even to some other places so that she could still get to reach out to children that day. So, we first went to the hospital infant room and prayed over a newborn baby who was very sick. Then, we went over to Sister’s of Charity orphanage and she got to see all the babies and little children. We also saw baby Mackenson. He looks great!!! He looks so healthy. I was so happy to see how well he is doing. I held him, kissed him, and prayed over him. I also got him to smile and giggle which made me so happy. It was hard to imagine that this was the same baby that was nothing but skin and bones when we first brought him in. Many thanks also to Hands and Feet orphanage who have helped care for him and visit him often. This is definitely a team effort and we are so blessed to be part of it.
After leaving the orphanage, I brought Robin to see Peterson and his wife. Peterson is the guy we helped get married by providing the funds, rings, clothes, etc. Unfortunately, Peterson was not home, but we did sit with his wife and other family members for a bit and spent some time with them. It was really good.
Lastly, we headed over to Hands and Feet orphanage to say hello to the staff and children there. It was great to see them. They are such cute kids. They call me Ti Kabrit, which means little goat. They are a lot of fun.
We then went back to the mission house for dinner with the team and then followed that with a recap of the day and a time of prayer and devotions. It turned out to be a fantastic day for everybody.
Day 3
This day was definitely the highlight of my time spent in Haiti. First, after the construction team departed, we headed up into the mountains to Kap Wouj, which is my favorite place to go in the mountains. The team was in shock with the steepness of the drive to get there and the level of poverty that they saw along the way. We did an outreach at the school where we are partnering with. There were about 100 or so kids, and they were very happy to see our group. The BBC team taught them a song in english, then told them a bible story. After that, we all went outside and just played like crazy! We played soccer, jump rope, did the limbo, threw a football, etc. Then, we gathered all the kids together and I shared a short message about sharing God’s love with others. We then gave them each a little stuffed animal on our way out.
When we got back to the Mission House, the team started preparing their craft activity for the orphaned children that would be arriving shortly while I took some time to work on my message since I would be preaching later that night.
Having the orphaned children come to our mission house was really a milestone for our ministry. Remember that our original vision for coming to Haiti was to develop a ministry for orphaned children. And now, the Lord has brought us a group of 23 orphaned children that we are starting a ministry to help care for them. This brings great joy to our heart as we are able to bring great joy to their hearts.
The kids all arrived and the team was so excited to see them. It was the first time for us to have children from the community into our home, and it was such a beautiful sight to see these 23 kids come in with anticipation of having a good time. We sang songs about Jesus. We shared the word of God with them. We did a craft activity. We did face painting. We measured their feet so that we can give them shoes the next day. We took a profile of each child so that we can begin getting these kids sponsored. It was an amazing time we had. The kids were so happy and thankful. They all gave us kisses and hugs before they left. It was definitely the highlight for me because I believe that it was the first fruits of many great things that the Lord is going to do now that we have a mission house to bring kids from the community into for discipleship, love, and encouragement. Many thanks go out to the awesome Calvary Chapel Castlerock Colorado team that came down a few months ago to paint the inside of the mission house in anticipation of what we are now experiencing. Again, a great partnership effort in order to grow the Kingdom of God.
After the kids left, we had just a few minutes to shovel down some good food and get ready for church and the fun night that we had planned for the church after service.
So, church was awesome. I love preaching the Word of God, especially in Haiti. I shared from Psalm 62. I talked about the victory that we have in Jesus, that the victorious life is not at all one that is pain and problem free, but rather one that can rejoice in the deepest pains and struggles of life because of our hope in Jesus and the power and love that He has. Just like David said in Psalm 62, “He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will never be shaken”, we too can say the same thing because of our hope in Jesus. It was a good message that the people could relate to, and of course, I can relate to also. It is in the ability of us to be able to rejoice in the midst of such pain that will be a testimony to the world around us that Christ is indeed real and powerful and loving, and this testimony will bring glory and honor to God.
After service, we set up shop to make peanut butter sandwiches to give to everybody as well as juice. Then, we set up the projector and showed some Tom and Jerry cartoons. Everybody had such an amazing time. I am so thankful that the Lord is using us to be able to minister to this church. I really love Jean Franko and the people. They are very special to me.
Day 4
Well, this was my last day in Haiti and I had to get up at 4:00 AM to get to the airport by 7. I flew back to Ft Lauderdale at noon, jumped in my car, and headed north as far as possible to try to get as close to Asheville as I could before having to crash at a hotel. I made it to Savannah, GA.
The rest of the team is staying until Sunday. So, their plan for this day was to go to the school in Marigot where we are partnering with and deliver them food for our feeding program that we have started. Then, the team would have the orphaned children come to the mission house again for some fun and outreach. The team would also give clothes and shoes to each child. It would be a great day again for the team. The following day, they would go around our neighborhood in the morning to spend time with the kids in the area and just get to know them. Then in the afternoon they would go to an after school program in Jacmel and do an outreach with the kids.
Today (Saturday), the team is having a fun day. They will have a short tour of Jacmel in the morning, then in the afternoon they will go to Basin Bleau and swim at the waterfall, and then they will go out to eat at Cap Lanmandou Restaurant for dinner. Then, they will fly home early Sunday morning.
It has been a great blessing to have the Biltmore Baptist team come and serve with our ministry in Haiti. I know they had an awesome time, and it was so great to have them share in the work that we are doing in Haiti. I only hope that they will come back again.
I was very pleased with my trip back to Haiti. While there, Fenel and I spent some time planning and strategizing for the future of the ministry. I will say that I am VERY excited to see how the Lord is blessing the ministry and I am VERY excited for the things that we have planned for the future. I will be sharing more about this soon.
I also will post many pics on the next post, once I figure out how to upload them from my new Mac.
What love can do
May 23, 2010
It has been a week since we came back to North Carolina and a month since Susana was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. I (Maria) have been through a roller coaster of emotions. Some days are definitely better than others. I can still hear the news being spoken by an unfamiliar person holding a stethoscope in her hand, “Your daughter has cancer”. It became even more real when my precious daughter went from a head full of long brown curly hair to none at all just two weeks later. Today I look at her and although I see no hair, I thank God that I still see Susana.
It has only been a month and I can tell you that it has not been very easy to let go and move on. At least no for me. Although I am in familiar grounds with familiar people and surrounded by incredible beauty I am often drawn back to the fact that my world was rocked and attacked by some ugly words doctors call childhood cancer. I can tell you right now that the journey so far has been hard, painful, uncertain, dark, and looks very much to me like the valley of shadow of death that I never wanted to pass through. Yet, in the midst of this emotional turmoil in which I find myself at times, I am able to stand up higher, walk straighter, and trust Christ more because God has brought you to hold my hand.
Yes, every single one of you who read our posts and keep up with our messages on facebook is a gift and answer prayer to us. You who came to the hospital and mailed packages and sent cards and bought toys and gave gifts and prayed prayers as if you were praying for yourself and were the healing balm we needed. And you still do these things. You are all evidence of God’s unconditional and unfailing love to us. You thought you gave a card or brought a meal, but in reality you were an extension of His love and mercy when my emotional world was crumbling and my faith was lacking and I needed to know He was right there next to me. That’s what love does!
While in Haiti, one day Cody and I were driving down the main road in Jacmel when it occurred to me that somehow I was an answer to someone’s prayers. Whenever we fed someone, whenever we clothed someone, whenever shelter was given or a word of kindness was expressed, I was God’s way of showing love to someone else. Somehow the thought humbled me. I know the many flaws I have and the weaknesses I struggle with and the thought of being “an answered prayer” or “an expression of love” was beyond what I could even understand.
But now I do. I do because I am on the other side. You are all God’s answer to my prayers when I need to see His love the most. Every single one of you is God’s way of loving us and providing comfort, support, mercy, grace, and all the things that I secretly pray for in my own times of despair. Somehow your love brings healing to my heart. And it fuels faith when mine is very little or non-existent.
I wish I could list on this post every single one of you who has held us through this time individually by name, but there are just too many of you. So, please receive this as our way of personally saying thank you to all of you. Your support, love, prayers, and encouragement means so much to us. You have no idea how much you do. I am in awe of God even more because you have chosen to love the way you do. And your love does not go unnoticed in His eyes. You are storing treasures where it matters most. And I can’t wait to see you in Heaven wearing the jewels you earned on behalf of the love you shown to us. We love you. Thank you!
Here are some recent pictures of Susana and Isabela.
Susana.
Isabela.
Sisters.
“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”–Matthew 25:40
Colorado Represents!!!
April 17, 2010
The Colorado team that has been here this week has been awesome! The only problem is that none of them have up to date SD cards, therefore I don’t have many pictures to share at this point. So, they have really connected with the kids around our mission house and this has enabled us to get to know them more. This morning, they led a bible study outside the gate and several kids and adults came to hear the word of God. One kid gave his heart to the Lord!! These guys are serious when it comes to sharing the word of God.
On Wednesday night, we went to the church down the street that is caring for many orphaned children. We went to the evening service and then afterwards we had an outreach for the kids and adults there. We gave them peanut butter sandwiches and showed Tom and Jerry Cartoons on our projector. It was awesome!!! The kids loved it!!! I never had so much fun and laughter watching Tom and Jerry. This gave us a great time to get to know the kids. We are trying to develop a program that will help care for these orphaned children as well as orphaned children in other areas. We also are praying about helping rebuild this church since it suffered a lot of damage in the earthquake. The pastor’s name is Jean Franko. He is a very humble man who loves God so much and really loves the people who God has put under his care. We are going there tomorrow for Sunday services. The pastor asked me to preach there some time. I will take him up on that in the near future.
Today, we took the team up to the mountains in Kap Wouj. We didn’t have anything planned, but it turned out to be a great time. We walked around the village just spending time with families and many children. Then we gave some frisbees, bubbles, candy, and other things away to the children. We played with them for a while and the kids had a great time. I also learned from the school director up there that there are about 25 orphaned children who are attending the school. We also were at the school in Marigot yesterday and learned that there are about 15 orphaned children that attend that school. So, as we are preparing to start a ministry to help orphaned children, it seems that we have quite a few orphaned children to get started with. Please keep these things in prayer as the need is so great.
We had the team over here for dinner tonight. We fed them chocolate cake for desert and they all felt guilty for suffering for the sake of the gospel:) We ae about to kick them out so that Maria and I can watch the newest episode of LOST.
The team has had a great week. They have been a real blessing to us. They painted the mission/discipleship house, so soon we will open the doors to begin discipleship among the youth in the community. I just spoke with a handful of kids who have been hanging outside the gate of the mission house all week I asked them who would be interested in starting a bible study that would meet in the discipleship house. Every kid there raised their hand with eagerness. I told them that this would not be a time to mess around or make jokes or whatever, but this would really be a time to learn the bible and worship Jesus. They all said that they would definitely want to do that and they asked me when this will begin. So, it looks like we already have our first discipleship group ready and waiting to go.
I look forward to seeing what the Lord does as we begin to get more intentional on sharing and teaching the word of God to the kids in the community. We still need to furnish the house with chairs, couches, benches, etc, so please pray that the Lord will provide all that is needed so that we can get things started.
We thank the Lord for all of His provision, mainly His grace that has saved us from our sins and bought us a place in heaven for us who trust in Him. He is good!!!!
From Mississippi to Colorado
April 13, 2010
So, our Lifebridge team left last Saturday. They did an absolutely amazing job building a house from virtually start to finish within a week. The family was so happy. I drive by them every day and they are still all smiles and waves every time I pass by.
Now, there is a team from Calvary Chapel Colorado that is here visiting the area and doing ministry. They have connected well with the kids in our neighborhood and are really enjoying getting to know the haitian people. They have also been helping us get our new team house in order. Tomorrow, they will begin to paint it and hopefully they will complete it before the end of the week. There is a Calvary Chapel house up the steet from us, therefore we see a lot of the teams that come through there. We work well together and we help each other out often. It is good kingdom building work that is going on between us.
So, we really enjoy these Calvary Chapel Colorado guys that are here for the week. This is their first mission trip, and they are loving it! Tomorrow, after painting, we will bring them down the street to a church that we have been helping. We will do an outreach for the children there, 20 of them which are orphans who we are wanting to begin a ministry to support them. So, we will bring them some sandwiches and snacks and we will show a kids movie for them. We should have a great time.
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!!
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.
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