Month: October 2013

This week I would like for you to pray for our upcoming Women’s Conference! My parents and Magdala are headed this way on Thursday. The conference will begin on Friday and ends Sunday night. My mom and I will speak Friday & Saturday Morning, Magdala will lead the ladies on a prayer walks in the afternoons, and we will hold a revival each night!

Please pray that God will begin to soften and open the hearts of those ladies who will be attending this weekend. Please pray for our Women’s Bible Study Group who will be hosting this event. Please pray for safety for our special Evangelist coming from Gonaives to help lead our revival.

Please pray that we will have 3 days without rain! It has rained almost every day for the last two weeks. Please pray for our musicians  – that we will feel the very presence of God as we worship. Please pray for God’s wisdom as we speak – that it will be HIS words flowing from our mouths. Please pray for our health! There is a nasty virus going around this week that is taking its toll on our staff and kids.

Please pray that we will not have any generator issues! Almost every revival we have – something happens with the power or the speakers! There is no doubt that satan does NOT want the people to HEAR the Word of God. Pray that our ladies will walk away from this conference with a better understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. Pray that those who participate can say with confidence that this weekend was a life-changing and true uplifting experience.

The theme of our conference comes from our study on James. 

James 3:9-12

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

We have lived in the Mole a little over 3 years now. Yet today it feels like I’m actually a resident….I really am home.

We’ve been on the St. Louis Campus the last few days. While I was in meetings all day long – Jose began packing up our remaining items that we had left behind.

When we first moved to the Mole and were renting a house – I didn’t want to bring everything we owned. Everything we own is in Haiti. We brought it with us on a big boat when we moved here 13 years ago. (This is the reason I hate boats! It was a 3 days trip from Miami to Haiti with 2 dogs and lots of sea-sickness).

When I was in grade school Santa brought me a glass curio that lights up. I collected Cherished Teddies since I was really little. I would put all those little figurines in that cabinet and as our family got bigger – we collected special ones for all the girls.

Everyone knows that I’m a big lover of Christmas. My family has always been the house that is covered in a thousand lights!  We would decorate right before Thanksgiving and children would come from all the different subdivisions so they could see the pretty lights and all the cool things we had in our yard. I remember several years where we would go and get 12 trees and we would plant them in our yard just so we could have a Winter Wonderland.

I have carried that love for Christmas to Haiti. We loved having Christmas in Haiti. We decorated the entire campus just like I would my house. Thousands of lights and decorations. Then we would invite all the village children to come and watch movies inside the most beautifully lit campus!

While I know some may think that’s silly – I cannot forget the smiles and the way their eyes twinkled when they would walk inside those campus gates. Haiti is so hard – it’s so difficult just to survive each day.  There’s so many children hungry – so many children abused – so many children left at home while parents look for work – so many children who feel all alone. But for one entire month of December (well let’s be honest – in Haiti I started decorating in October) – they were able to come inside our compound, have special treats, watch movies on a big screen and ……. just for a few hours  – they got to forget how hard their lives really were.

We loved to do the 10 days of Christmas. We served treats every night but on Christmas Eve we would show the Nativity Story. Then we would cook a huge meal – at least 300 children would come and get spiritually and physically fed. My kids would help pass out the food and sugar cookies and although they were so little –  they were so excited to serve those precious Haitian children.

Here’s a Christmas Post from 2009 – http://lifeoffering.org/2009/12/26/christmas-eves-celebration-and-feeding/

Here’s a Thanksgiving Post from 2009 – http://lifeoffering.org/2009/11/27/thanksgiving-in-haiti-2009/

Here’s a Christmas Post from 2008 – http://lifeoffering.org/2008/12/26/malayas-candy-give-away/ and http://lifeoffering.org/2008/12/25/christmas-for-the-street-kids/ and http://lifeoffering.org/2008/12/18/pictures-of-the-courtyard/

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So today I watched Jose and my dad (along with several folks from Northside who were with my parents)  load up all my special memories on a truck & then eventually a plane  (as it was all breakable).

I know it may seem silly but I found myself in tears as I watched Malaya’s tall giraffe on the back of the truck – what she had in her room when she arrived in Haiti at just 2 months old. I saw Gabriel’s little stuffed animals that covered the floor of his toddler room.  I watched the 8-foot tall Cinderella cut-out that Mikela & Rosie had in their room peeking her head just above the tubs. . There was our Christmas tree – our Thanksgiving dishes – all the kids’  nursery items, all the things we brought over on that horrible boat ride –  all the things that hold such special memories of our time serving in St. Louis.

And although I’ve lived here for awhile now – there was always a piece of me left in St. Louis. And today those pieces are now apart of new memories we are making in the Mole.

I am SO grateful to God that HE has allowed me to serve in Haiti since I was just a little kid.  As we cleaned out our depot and pulled out of the gate –  my mind drifted to memories of playing with nutritional children when I was just 7 years old, helping nurses deliver babies at 12 years old, sleeping on the roof of the compound and staring at the stars while I had little Naomie (who was just a baby) sleeping beside me in a little box, sitting in the courtyard hanging out with the birthing center nurses and security guards –  laughing and joking until the wee hours of the night.

Thank You Lord For Your Blessings On Me.

It’s our first week back home & now  the kids have officially started school!

Praising God EVERY SINGLE DAY for Beth’s dedication and love for my children!

Here are a few of her posts from this week:

So it’s Sunday… And Tut Tut it looks like rain…oh wait it is raining, so a nap is necessary, right? Wrong! Knock on the door is Rosie and Asher…it’s time to eat? No Asher. It’s time for school? No Asher. How much longer until School? You have one more night to sleep and then we wake up it is time for school. I can’t wait that long!! Nothing like a little pressure;)

The girls and I are going to begin a journey of what it means to be a missionary and why is it that we are here and what part do they play in this work. Reading about missionaries from the past and leading it off with the great commission that calls all of us to “go” and make disciples. We don’t have to go to a different country…we can go right next door:) Pray for the girls as they read about men and women of faith…that their belief and faith will grow and that they will continue asking questions. Pray for their hearts as we read His Word that they will grow in wisdom and understanding.

Knowing how God has wired us differently…the boys and I for the next 40 or so days (probably longer:) to show them that they are the child of a real King and that they can be Mighty Warriors for Him…young boys with integrity, honor, truth, courage and love. Pray for their hearts as the Heavenly Father speaks to them through His Word…never to young to get wisdom and understanding…Amen?

Busy beavers this morning as we start our first week of school.

Gabe had the joy of doing push-ups. He got in trouble:( we need to work on his form!!

Gabe has redeemed himself by helping Levi sew up his animal:) lol

Do we know our numbers boys?

Science work in the making…studying environment right now:)

Rosie working hard at math!! She continually amazes me! Mesi Jezi!!