Posted in Personal Stories

WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Perhaps it was all the emotional drama from yesterday – I’m not sure. But I found myself back on IV’s around 3am this morning. I had a really rough night.  I’m beginning to feel better but Magdala wants to keep me on IV’s until tomorrow night so that I’m good and strong before the group arrives. Tonight the church is praying in the New Year. Jose and I got fireworks a few months ago – So all the children are excited about tonight. We plan to shoot them off around 8pm. The little kids don’t stay up until midnight for the most part – so the early timing will allow everyone to see them. 

Tomorrow will be the big celebration with Pumpkin Soup. I’ve already been offered a bowl but with my stomach the way it is – I’m not going to take any chances. 

WE JUST UPDATED THE TAB ABOVE CALLED “OUR NEEDS“.  PLEASE CLICK ON IT TO FIND OUT WHAT OUR CURRENT NEEDS ARE. 

We pray you all have an amazing night tonight and even a better tomorrow! We’ll see you next year 🙂

LOVE YOU ALL!

Posted in Personal Stories

Mimose…..

Rosie’s grandmother just came to deliver the news that Mimose has just passed away. We are having a small wake tonight for her and then she will be buried first thing tomorrow morning. Jose went to go get the casket we made and is taking it to her house.

It amazes me because this was Rosie’s fate. Had we not taken her in a long time ago – today she would have watched her mom die a very slow death. She would have no father or no mother and on one else to look after her. As skinny as her mom was – I imagine she would be very malnourished. Perhaps she would have already died because of the Tetanus and Cerebral Malaria that she had when she was just a baby. It amazes me how God intervened on Rosie’s behalf and placed her in our care.

Please be in prayer for her family and for our family as we close a significant chapter in Rosie’s life.

Posted in NW_Medical, NW_Personal Ministry Update, Personal Stories

Update on Rosie’s Mom – – Mimose

Today we received the news that Mimose was breathing her last breaths. We decided to go to her house to see what we could do. I’m completely overwhelmed with emotions. The smell itself took my breath away – almost like the body was already rotting right in front of us. She’s nothing but a skelton with skin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ADULT who looks this bad in all my days here. I couldn’t even look at her without sobbing. I mean this is Rosie’s mom – she’s only 20 years old. I’m trying to think about how I will talk to Rosie when she asks me about her mom as she gets older. I could never tell her what I saw today. 

She wanted to see Rosie one last time – I told her there is just no way Rosie can come see her when she is this way. No one else in the house wanted me to bring Rosie down either. I did get the video camera where we had recorded Christmas a few days ago. I went back down and showed her Rosie opening up her presents. I think she was crying but she was too dehydrated to produce tears. She told me to please tell Rosie even though she wasn’t a good mother that she loved her so much and she is so happy that she has a new family to take care of her. She begged me not to let Rosie forget her. 

I asked her if she knew who Jesus was – if she remembered when she was baptized. She told me she remembered. I asked her if she had talked to God lately or prayed. She was very quiet. I explained how important it is for her to be in Heaven so she can see Rosie again. I explained how much God loved her and how He wants so desperately to have her in His home. I prayed with her and now all I can do is pray FOR her. 

I’m back at the mission right now. Someone thought something had happened to my family – I said – well – something kind of did happen to my “family”. She is Rosie’s biological mom – which makes her family. I called Jonas and we are preparing the casket today….it’s only a matter of time now- maybe hours…..

 

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Posted in NW_Personal Ministry Update, Personal Stories

Rediscovering The Word……

The last few days have been a little frustrating. Just having to deal with a few things and I continue to be off and on IV’s. I am sitting in my office right now – trying to get ready for the next group coming in. I haven’t been in my office in awhile – because I’ve been sick and on IV’s and mainly working out of my bedroom. As I was printing out papers – I looked at my little bulletin board that is above the printer.  I see a posty note that says THE SPIRIT OF THE SOVEREIGN LORD IS IN YOU. I remember a guy from Northside Christian Church doing a devotion on that one night and I decided I wanted to take a moment to look up the scripture reference. Even though we went to church today – I didn’t feel fed. I thought maybe God was nudging me to have my own little quiet time today. 

I don’t know if you ever use Biblegateway.com but it’s a great resource. I just went to it now to find the scripture and on the homepage it has a SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY. Guess what it is? 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”-Matthew 11:28

Now you all know that this verse has been very special to me since my favorite worship leader Curt came in this past July and wrote a song about it. Time and time again – this verse popped up – always right when I needed it. It’s probably been a month or two since I thought about that verse. 

In searching for a different scripture – God just threw that scripture in my face. I wasn’t even looking for it and yet God knew exactly what I needed to hear even when I didn’t. The tears just streamed down my face.

We are very excited about this pregnancy but I have felt so frustrated that I have been so sick and not able to do the things I need to do. I have felt so guilty knowing that after February – I will not be able to be in Haiti until the babies are born. With my headaches starting in July – it feels like I haven’t been home very much this fall and now I’ll be out in February for about 4 months. 

I really didn’t think those things were weighing me down but I don’t think I would have cried if it weren’t true. Have you ever carried burdens and you didn’t know you were? Sometimes when I have negative thoughts – I just think they’re that – thoughts. But when those thoughts keep re-occurring – maybe it’s time to admit that it’s not just something little but it’s actually a burden we’re carrying. Our back has probably been killing us – our stomach in knots – our knees feel weak – and we just grab a Tylenol when we should have been grabbing the Bible. 

I see my pretty little pink Bible laying on my desk – covered in dust. Has it been that long since I’ve opened it? Yeah I have a devotional book and I listen to Christian music – but I’m talking about when was the last time I actually opened up my Bible and sat down and read it? 

I am a very good student. I wasn’t the kid that asked for homework but if I did have it – it was done immediately and I got an A on it !:) When I was in a Bible study – I had weekly homework and I had to open my Bible to read it so that I could do my homework. But what happens when you don’t have homework? Do you ever crack open a book to “learn” when you aren’t being graded on it? 

Janeil and Sam have both talked about starting weekly devotionals and I’m so excited about it because I know we will have weekly work to do – and be expected to read our Bibles! Heather is talking about having a special women’s Bible study too. For me – Bible Studies are like Accountability partners. I’m happy to have them – I see right now that I’m thirsty for the Word. I forgot how good I feel after a quiet session with God. 

Is your Bible collecting dust? I know what helps motivate me – group studies and homework. What motivates you? I encourage you if it’s been a while – to wipe the dust off that Bible. You may just rediscover that thirst – that passion – you once had. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was until today.

Posted in Personal Stories

Malaya’s Candy Give-Away

So what do we tell groups when they come to Haiti – please don’t start handing out things in the middle of a crowd. Well we’re still showing movies and the kids are back in the courtyard again tonight. Malaya came up here and said that “the people” want candy. I told her we don’t have anymore candy to give out. So she left. The next thing I know Jose is telling me to come downstairs. Malaya only 3 feet tall has about 50 kids twice her size surrounding her. She took her candy that SANTA brought her and was passing it out – piece by piece – twizzler by twizzler – gold coin by gold coin. I asked her what she was doing and she said “SHARING IS CARING”. Someone taught my kids that this past summer and they never forgot!!

It was truly precious! I am just so blessed – more than I could ever imagine!

Posted in Mission Stories

AFTER CHRISTMAS SHOPPING…..

Wish we were out for all the great sales – but YOU are out – so you can help us. We sent out a newsletter asking for Christmas decorations to over 12,000 people! Guess how many boxes of lights we got – about 12 boxes! SO don’t think someone else will do it. Go out and shop for our campus!

Here are things we could use:
Christmas Lights
Table Cloths/Table Decorations
Anything that lights-up – yard decorations – reindeer, snowman, etc.
BIG Christmas Bulbs to hang from the trees
Inflatables
Garland
Ribbons/Wrapping Paper
Artificial Christmas Tree
YOU NAME IT – WE’LL TAKE IT!!

PLEASE Don’t Forget About Us! We want to make each year bigger and brighter for all the kids here in St. Louis du Nord!

Posted in Personal Stories

Christmas 2008

I was on IV’s until noon on Christmas Eve! Talk about God’s perfect timing! We enjoyed a great evening with the kids and Santa came Christmas Eve! I was glad Santa came early since I was kind of sick this morning!! All the kids were in the back bedroom with Eveline. Now the weird thing is this is the first time Santa brought Eveline gifts – which I never really thought about that before. She was just as excited as the other children. Santa ate their cookies and stomped out the door and yelled Merry Christmas. The excitement from the back room was crazy! The girls were screaming and jumping up and down – they wanted me to open that door so they could come out.

Well Gabriel was the first one to dart out! He was actually the hit of the night! Watching him play – it was so funny. We were given a train that was for all the kids but Gabriel ran to it first. Well he played on it for a good 20 minutes while the girls opened their gifts. When he went over to his pile one of the other girls jumped on the train. He popped right back up and ran over and was holding onto the caboose trying to stop the train. He was yelling at the girls to get off. 

Gigi was a lot of fun. She should have been born a fish – she loves water. We got her a sink that keeps recycling water but has a real faucet that runs. Well she played with that for forever. Her favorite gift though? The gift she fell asleep on the couch playing with – it was a witch’s broom with purple streamers! If you’re wondering why her shirt is off in the pics – it’s because before we could take a photo she had already dived into the sink full of water!

Eveline savored every gift she had. No question that her theme was High School Musical! She must have asked me four times – Did Santa really bring this for me? She even got teary-eyed – which made us teary-eyed. It was really precious. 

The kids stayed up till the wee hours of the morning – I think it was 3 AM before Gabriel fell asleep. It was okay because he slept in till 10:30 am!!! 🙂

Here are some pics of our very eventful night:

Posted in Mission Stories

Christmas for the Street Kids…

We’ve been showing movies every night! The kids line up at the gate around 6pm. We pass out Skittles and Pop! One little kid told me it was all he had to eat today. It’s amazing the things we take for granted. It’s amazing what a $1.00 (skittles and drink) can do for just one kid! The excitement on their faces – priceless! The kids were all spread out on blankets – we had about 400-600 each night. These pictures are not that good – with it being so dark and –  them being so dark – it makes it hard to get a good photo 🙂 

I asked the girls why we did movies like this and gave out treats to the kids. Malaya said because at Christmas everyone is supposed to get somethin’. Rosie said because if we don’t then that not nice. Mikela said because it’s Jesus Birthday and Jesus would want us to do nice things for others – – – We have to celebrate His Birthday with everybody!!! – – – – OH – My precious little girls!!

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Posted in Personal Stories

Our Christmas Miracles…..

 

You are looking at BABY A and BABY B!

You are looking at BABY A and BABY B!

Not to sound like a Christmas Song  – BUTDO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? 

That’s right – you’re looking at one of the first pictures of our twins! God doubled His blessings on our family and gave us two little miracles! Looking on the ultrasound screen – seeing two floating little lima beans – it’s no wonder that we are in Awe of our Father in Heaven! Who else could create just delicate little “beings”? While it took a little time to adjust to this new adventure at first – it hasn’t taken long at all to embrace these miracles and to already be head-over-heels in love! As we finish our first trimester and begin the New Year – we couldn’t wait to share what God’s doing in our lives! Please keep our family and these little babies in your prayers. We know we still have a long way to go – but we’re so grateful we don’t have to do it alone!

May God Grant You Miracles and Blessings Beyond Belief!

Merry Christmas!

Jose, Jody, Gigi, Mikela, Rosie, Malaya, Gabriel, and (2 to be named later!).