Psalm 94:19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me,Your comforts delight my soul.
I am SO excited to tell you that today, we officially obtained the girls’ visas and this whole nightmare is over! Jose was really nervous about going to the Embassy today by himself. BUT God is SO good! He gave Jose the exact same lady I had! She remembered our case even though it’s been 3 weeks! Jose said she was very friendly and told us from now on we must travel with this new Social Service paper because Immigration is supposed to ask for it!
I have been trying to process this whole thing. It’s been a roller-coaster of emotions! But God revealed to me two specific things – although I’m sure there are more.
1) These children are His first. He is all-knowing! He performs miracles every day!
2) We are not alone. We have a community of people who love us.
Many of you have a church family you turn to in times of trouble. You are a part of a small group or regularly spend time with your friends. For missionaries in foreign countries – having that sort of community is often difficult.
When my family lived in St. Louis du Nord we were surrounded by community! There were groups non-stop on that campus. While the community changed every 10 days with a new set of short-term travelers — we were still surrounded people we could talk to – people who would encourage us – people who became our very dear friends!
When we moved to the Mole things really did change. We only have a few teams in the Mole each year. Starting a new campus plant is difficult. We work tirelessly every day and often the fruits of that labor isn’t seen until weeks if not months later. It’s easy to become discouraged or to feel cut-off from the rest of the world – even the rest of the mission!
I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for the community that surrounded our family over the last few weeks. People I have never even met were emailing me, facebooking me, twittering me, & putting our family on prayer chains in churches we have never been to. One group of ladies prayed for us every single day at 3pm for 3 weeks straight! 7 different small groups dedicated a special hour or prayer each week for our family. The church here in Haiti spent 5 minutes at their 4am services specifically lifting up our family.
I can honestly tell you that we have often felt lonely out here and discouraged. Yet, in our darkest hours people just came out of nowhere and showed us that we do have a community out there – our own “small group” – they’re just spread out all over the United States!
Matthew 18:19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”
3 responses to “Community…”
I am thrilled for you guys!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Heb. 12:1. Not only are there these, there is also those of us who keep you in our prayers…There will be warriors going before you to protect as angels from heaven..never think that you are alone..
Hi sis, Yes God is Good all the time. He knows how much those kids mean to you as they do to him. Prayers have come from all over the eastern part of the country for you and your family. Prayers in numbers work. Look at Dad. Anyway we are so glad that it has come with a happy ending. God Bless you and Jose and your family. Will talk with you soon.