o.h.i.o.

I'm going to Ohio. But, without Josh. That silly guy. When we went to Haiti we switched our vacations around. Well, so I thought. Bless his heart, he switched the wrong vacation so he cannot come with me. I'm so excited about seeing family. Taylor's graduation party is on Saturday. I'm really proud of her! It's going to be a celebration! I'm planning on doing some much needed scrapping! I'm going to be scrapping Haiti, graduation, dogs, and who knows what else. Stay tuned for some pictures. 

It's crazy. My suitcase was just packed. Now, its packed again. I'm excited about seeing the dogs. I miss them. I'm sure they are having a good time away from mom, you know grandma spoiling them and everything.

 

Yeah, they're sweet. 

Journey to Haiti Through Pictures

While we were in Haiti one thing struck me the most that was said. Haiti is the most evangelized, yet the poorest country. That is devastation.  Where are God's people? They are there, but are they really there?

Journey to Haiti: Day Six

Day six in Haiti? I can hardly believe it. The heat is hot and our sweat is heavy, but we all are doing wonderful.

 We did some traveling today. But first we went back to the tent orphanage. Yet again, this place broke my heart into more pieces than ever before. It rained last night. As I said before, I wondered what would happen to those children. When we walked into the tent orphanage, my heart ached. All over there were mud puddles. The children had no room to play because water and mud was every where. Then, I looked under the tents where they sleep. Remember, there are no beds. They only sleep on blankets. Water was all around and the blankets were wet. I was overwhelmed with heart ache. Those poor children out in the rain under torn tarps trying to sleep. Then they look around while the water gets deeper and deeper. I know this breaks God’s heart. Then we walked over to where they were all sitting. They were singing and praising God for the day that He had made. Those children who were sleeping on the ground while it was raining actually think they have something to sing about. How humbling that is for me. I have the whole world compared to them and I still complain. But here are these sweet innocent children just thankful for the life they still have. I hope this does a work in your heart too.

Water everywhere in the tent orphanage. 

 Water all over their play area.

 Singing with a smile on their face even though they have just slept in water.

Triplets. The one on the left spilled an oil lamp on her body.

After the orphanage, we drove out to an over look to where we could see all of Haiti. How beautiful it was. The hope of restoration flooded my mind. Haiti could thrive again if the right people were in place and were committed to the vision.  To think that by you reading my blog could empower you to make a difference in Haiti is humbling. I hope this makes your heart break and want to do something about the problem.

Overlooking Haiti.

Before we went back to the house we stopped at Chadasha’s Children’s Home. Josh and I got to see our babies. How incredible to know that they will be taken care of and loved while we work through the process.  I got to see four miracles happen this week. Children being brought from almost death because of dehydration and malnourishment. Then within a couple of days with some food and love being filled with life and laughter. How awesome God is! 

 Ruth

Naomi

Journey to Haiti: Day Five

Wow what a day! We had breakfast on the beach. It was nice to see what Haiti was before the earth quake and what it could become.

We stopped at some places today to do some miscellaneous things. We went out and cleaned up some property that is going to become a children’s orphanage resort. It is right on the beach. It is an absolute beautiful piece of property. I am can’t wait to see what it is going to become.

Today Josh and I decided that God is leading us to adopt the two twins. We are going to be raising money to help us. Here is the story of the twins.

The mother has two other children. She got pregnant right before the earth quake. Her husband was killed in the earth quake. She was left to raise four children. When people found her, she was almost dead because of depression. The twins also were almost dead because they were malnourished. When we got to the guest house, the mother and the twins were staying in the room across from me. As I said in me earlier post, we wanted the twins from the beginning. The adoption was pretty much set in stone from another couple. I told Greg, the main guy of the orphanage, if the adoption fell through we would take the twins. Three days later, yesterday, he came to me and told me I must have a good prayer life because the adoption fell through.  Now, Josh and I are trusting in the Lord that the finances will come because we know this is what God has for us. We have committed to adopt them. Please pray that the finances come in. We will be doing fundraising and other things. More to come on that.

As the trip comes to an end, please pray for our team. We are all very emotionally drained and our hearts have been broken. We know God is in this place. The question now becomes: what can we do for Haiti?

Journey to Haiti: Day Four

We traveled a ways today-two hours. We passed down a road through City Soliel. In 2004-2005, it was the most dangerous road in the world! Today we went to Real Hope for Haiti. This place takes in malnourished babies and children and gets them better. Then, they return the children to their homes. They have 70 children. There are a lot of children and not a lot of workers. Real Hope for Haiti is way out of town. It took us a while to get there.

 Babies that are malnourished

 Toddlers that are malnourished

 A ten year old boy weighing 35 pounds

We stopped at a mass grave site where over 150,000 bodies have been buried. We were told that 60 trucks a day were coming in for a month full of bodies. This broke my heart. They have no idea who is buried in there. They had no choice but to just dump the bodies in there. What devastation. How many people were left without families? How many are still wondering where their family is. How many children have been left without their parents wondering where they are? People to go on with life and never have closure to their lost loved ones. Although I know what death can do to close friends and relatives, I have no idea what the magnitude of the heartache Haiti felt and still feels today.

Mass Grave

Then, we went to the beach resort. There was a lot of trash in the ocean because of the flow of the water. However, it was very beautiful. We got to spend some time worshiping God on the ocean. It was amazing. It was such a great time. How awesome it was to worship God right on the ocean.

 Josh and Kessy playing pool

Not a whole lot happened today. It was nice to be able to talk to Josh about the things we have seen and the possibilities we have.

The set of twins Josh and I fell in love with the first day, are now free for adoption. The people who were adopting them have backed out. Josh and I are praying about the possibilities that God may have put in front of us.

Journey to Haiti: Day Three

At the orphanage, Doctor Steve did a medical clinic and I held babies. One of them peed on me! Any other time I may have flipped out, but it did not even phase me. This little girl, Wilmin (unsure of spelling), grew attached to me. Frankly, I did to her. She followed me everywhere and held my hand. I held her in my arms and she held back so tight. She told an older girl, Nada, that Wilmin said she was coming home with me. Up until this point, I had been good with holding back tears. This just completely broke my heart. I would have done anything to be able to bring her back with Josh and I. I am completely convinced that nothing is worth more that I have than those children having the things they need. What that looks like for Josh and I, I’m unsure of. But I do know that God has a special place in His heart for each and every one of these children.

We brought two children back with us. I held one all the way home. We put diapers on the babies. I’m pretty sure they’ve never had diapers.

On the way home a woman was begging for food. It turns out she had a baby with her. The baby was 22 days old. This was the smallest baby I’ve ever put my eyes on. The probably weighed four pounds, and that is being generous. The mom said she wanted to give her baby up for adoption. So, we went to this woman’s house. She said it wasn’t far. It took us a long time to get there. I’m not sure how long, maybe 40 minutes. She lived in downtown Port Au Prince. She lived in a one room shack. It was only maybe 5x8 feet. The woman decided that she was not going to give the baby back tonight, but in the morning. Then, it was mentioned by someone walking by that it was not even her baby. She had taken the baby to go and beg. If that is the case, trafficking is happening amongst the native people. That breaks my heart. Someone is going back tomorrow to pick the baby up and sign papers. It is uncertain if she will be there.

As you pray, please pray for our emotional conditions. It is a lot to take in. Children are in dire need. Although they know no better, we do. They go crazy for one life saver. What does that say about us? Also, pray for yourselves. What can you do? Pray for the continuing strength of our team. While everyone is feeling fine, we still have several days to go. Thank you for your ongoing prayers.

Journey to Haiti: Day Two

Today most of us woke up when the sun rose at about 5 am. We were not scheduled to head off until 8:30 so we got to hang out this morning and drink some good Haitian coffee. When we got on the road, I was no longer afraid of anything else. If we could make it through the streets with that driving we could do anything. If there was any space between cars, I mean ANY, someone was cutting in there. The best part, a horn is a "courtesy" thing; I could get used to that! :) 

The first thing we did was visit an orphanage. For those that know me, this was the best place in the world for me. The kids totally took care of each other. They loved each other. One boy, Junior, was given a Life Saver and he bit it in half to give to another boy. It was so precious to see their genuine care for each other. I think we could learn something from them. We got to love on these children. There was nothing more precious than to see them smile and have such a great time because someone was paying them some attention. They loved taking pictures and seeing themselves. They probably would have done this for hours if we had a never ending supply of batteries. This orphanage is in need of supplies: paper, glue, crayons, scissors etc.

We went to another orphanage. What a devastation. The orphanage had broke out in cholera. One boy, Michael, is really sick. He was throwing up blood. Please pray for him. He is six years old and in very poor condition prior. Two other children are showing some symptoms as well. At the orphanage we did not get to play with children. We cleaned everything. All of the clothes, mattresses, toys, and books were contaminated. We had to sort through clothes that we should be kept or throw away. The mattresses were in such poor condition that we had to burn them, along with a lot of the clothing because of wear and roach infestation. Please pray that the orphanage can get back to operating condition. The new mattresses will be coming in tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow we will be going into one of the tent cities into an orphanage. Please pray for us as we grow attached to the children and have to leave them in the conditions that they are. Pray that God uses us to show His love to these people. It's so easy for us to grow unattached to the rest of the world because of the wonderful condition and luxuries we live in. Pray that God sends the right people, supplies, and love to Haiti. They door is wide open. I hope you are open as well to the leading of God's call. 

I will leave you with this verse that just resonated in me today.

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. Isaiah 1:17