Dear Friends & Family,

First and foremost, we are safe! I know that many have sent messages after hearing about the 17 missionaries who were kidnapped near PAP.  I posted an update on Facebook, but I apologize that I haven’t been more active on this platform as I know not everyone has a Facebook account.

In general –  my health issues, procedures/tests, and operations have kept me from being online.  We are back in Haiti now and getting ready to enter into our favorite and most active season of ministry!

I do have a few posts from Facebook that I can share below – just to give you an idea on how life has been the past few months. Now that I’m feeling better & back home – I hope to post a lot more often.

🔸🔸

SEPTEMBER 15TH

I’m ready for a life-changing week of renewal, restoration, & healing!

The AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors) happens every 2 years. The first time we attended was in 2019, just months after Lori died.

My therapist, Joan, invited us to attend with her. She had to continually hold me up – hold my hand – and force me to face the grief head-on. This conference played an integral part in helping me process the PTSD & finding my way forward.

This year we are back again with Joan! This has been a traumatic year – crisis after crisis – both for Haiti and our family. My anxiety levels are high & my emotional/mental capacity is waning.

The timing of this conference couldn’t be better…I am SO ready to begin a new healing journey. 🥰

FYI- I haven’t been able to focus on communication/work the last several weeks.

SO – if you are waiting for me to respond to messages/emails… I apologize. Hopefully after this week, I’ll feel renewed and ready to fully engage again.

🔸🔸

October 6th

Comment I made:

While packing the crates, I pinched a set of nerves in the palm of my hand. I’ll have to wear a brace for the next 4 weeks – no writing, making a fist, or grasping anything in my right hand.

If the numbness in my fingers & pain in my palm doesn’t correct itself – I’ll need hand surgery. (Seriously…I can’t make this stuff up!)

So this was my creative way of giving an update without having to type a lot! 😉

Honestly, even if I could physically write it all out, I’m not sure I could put into words – – – all the emotions I encountered this month – or begin to describe what happened when Jesus met me in my brokenness… in front of hundreds of psychologists.

♥️ All that to be said…I’m really doing well. I’m more at peace now than I’ve been all year.

Another comment I made:

Some of the ballrooms are split in 2. So for example: there is a J1 and a J2. I was supposed to be in J1 and I went to J2.  I sat in the 2nd row so I could see the PowerPoint.  So I’m right up front.

About 10 minutes in – I realized that this seminar wasn’t about play therapy with traumatized children.  This workshop was called Suffering, Sovereignty, and God’s Glory.

The speaker stopped in the middle of his speech (while i was quietly sobbing) and asked if he could lay hands on me and everyone in the room joined in….

So wrong room – but definitely the right destination.

🔸🔸

October 17th

Just wanted to let everyone know we are safe. I know a lot of people reached out after hearing the tragic news that 17 missionaries were kidnapped while visiting an orphanage.

The area where these  missionaries are serving is near PAP and is a 7-10 hour drive from us (depending on how many flat tires you have along the way).

I appreciate all of your prayers and messages this morning. Please continue to pray for all of those involved.

Comment I made:

We really appreciate all the prayers for the ministry, concerns for our safety, and the encouragement to not lose hope for the country.

We started the ministry when mom was pregnant with me. We’ve been through constant rounds of political upheaval and horrible dictators.

Nothing has been as bad as it is now in the past 42 years of our ministry. Many people have no food but somehow have access to the internet.

People can easily find out where missionaries are serving and can instantly call people to action with the click of buttons.

I commented on another post, but thought it would be helpful to post here too.

Another Comment I made:
we are safe, but we have also adapted our ministry to maintain that safety.

We already have a voodoo group who constantly cause unnecessary drama – but they would never hurt us. They are just hoping they can intimidate our staff and run them off by having services on our property lines.

We do have locals who follow closely everything we post … and I’m constantly aware of how I word things – and whether or not to share about activities- or even whether to ask for prayers on a public forum.

It’s best to post about a ministry activity AFTER it happens versus allowing others to know where we are and what we are doing ahead of time.

No one knew when we flew in and we never let anyone know when we travel within the country.

That being said, we feel COMPLETELY comfortable walking all over town. We are just taking extra precautions should anything change.

🔸🔸

October 21st

🔸🔸

October 23rd

It’s Campus Movie Night!

This past week the Haitian staff, older kids, Jose, Abbey, Malaya, & myself have been working NON-STOP to prepare for the boat’s arrival.

***FYI the boat was supposed to leave this week but due to bad weather it’s still in Miami. It usually takes 10-14 days after it leaves Miami before items arrive here.

1-Part of that prep involves cleaning every depot, painting, rat-proofing, and building more shelves. We created a new system so that at any given time we know exactly what we have and exactly where to find it.

2-We also went through the manifest and started creating signs (such as medical, soap, shampoo, peanut butter, school, church, etc).These signs will allow everyone to immediately place items into the right category instead of one big pile that takes forever to sort.

3- AND lastly – we had to pull out all of the Christmas decorations and holiday supplies to make room in the depot.

All that to be said – it’s been a long week.

SO- to offer a little encouragement- we invited everyone who helped with the prep to our makeshift outdoor theater!

Everyone is enjoying coke, chips, popcorn, and candy!

In the midst of Haiti’s seemingly endless heartache, drama, and suffering – it’s these little moments that bind us together & remind us of God’s provision and protection.

– – –

Someone made the comment that they thought I was gonna say we are already decorating for Christmas since we had to pull out all the Christmas tubs.

**I assumed that was already implied! 😉 We just started a brand new series for Children’s Church using Board Games each week to tie into our lessons. Just made sense to go ahead and get a jump start on decorating the cafeteria as well! 😂 🎄