A Place Called Home

What an amazing trip we had taking Ezai to his new home!! He is such a great travel buddy! Here's a lil picture of us leaving the Butch and Trisha's house:

We found the lil stuffed dragon for him in Justine's closet. He loved it... okay, not so much, but he did love throwing it at Matthew and I in the truck and laughing and laughing! Sooo cute! You can't tell from this picture, but he's wearing PANTS for the first time ever! In Haiti, if you're a little kid (or it seems if you're not potty trained) you're not obliged to wear pants ever! I thought that pants might be a good idea for the trip. :)
Here he is happy on the boat as we ride through town on the way to the wharf. I kinda always feel like I'm in a parade as I ride through town in a boat being pulled by a tractor.

And he looks a little sleepy in that picture... because I gave him a little tiny bit of travel medicine to make sure that he didn't get motion sick since this was his first EVER ride in a boat and vehicle!
Jon Bena, our buddy, Ezai's friend, amazing interpreter, and great copilot, with Ezai! To find our way to Ezai's new home, we used a map, just like the one that Butch keeps on his wall (not quite an atlas, but the best that we've got) and in every town, Jon Bena would ask an older person which way to go. When we got a few people to agree, we when in that direction! It totally worked! 

Butch, our fearless leader, driving the boat (the Wish Fish) with a shot of LaGonave, the only home Ezai's ever known until now:

Matt and Ezai in the back seat... and I'm a bad mom-- I let him eat just Doritos for lunch! ;) It was all that he wanted! At this point he started calling me "manman m" (my momma), which was sooo sweet and flattering... until I heard him calling Jon Bena that too! It turns out that he only knows that word and one another, which is a good bit more colorful! Sorry, new orphanage!

Butch carrying Ezai HOME!!! 
It's the perfect place for him!!!! Seriously, he fits right in! It's like the place was made for him! Also, God is so amazing in how He works! Ezai makes them cap out at the number of kids that they have. They only have space for 32 at their current facility (which is right in their huge missions compound), and the week after I started dialoguing with her about placing Ezai there, another missionary got in touch with her about a disabled orphan, and that kid got wait-listed until the new facility is done sometime next year. God orchestrated this perfectly, right down to the HUGE blessing of letting me take him home myself. And he truly is home. It's the perfect fit for him. There were even other kids there making the exact same laughing moaning noise that he makes! I got to talk with some of the Haitian staff (they speak a really neat dialect of Creole up there!) and one of the ladies told me, "I am his momma now." And another added, "Me too; I'm his second mom." To which the first lady replied, "He has 12 mommies now." I almost cried. I definitely cried when we left. I know that he is in the very best place for him-- and what an amazing place that is-- but I still miss him. It was the greatest trip, though! Here's some pics of Ezai in his new home with new friends!

A Home for Ezai

Psalm 68:6
"God sets the lonely in families..."


Ezai has the best smile. I know that I've mentioned him before in my blog, but with every visit to the Poor House, I eagerly anticipate his huge grin, giant hug, and sweet enthusiasm. He always leaves me a little something to remember him by-- usually a smudge of his breakfast on my shirt or some dirt on my cheek-- but those serve as tangible reminders of his friendship and hugs. He is 14, orphaned, and while he cannot use his left hand, flex his left foot, or tell you anything about himself, he can sing songs clearly word for word. 


The last time that I flew back to America, I sat next to a lady who was returning from a short-term missions trip to the northern part of Haiti. She had been working at a mission station that has several ministries, including an orphanage and a group home for kids with cerebral palsy.  Kids just like Ezai!!!!! As I shared with her about some of things I've been involved with here, she got really excited about Ezai's story. She urged me to contact the orphanage and see if there might be a place for him there. 


Ezai has been living at the Poor House, a place for the destitute in town. The majority of the residents are elderly, and it's a fairly depressing place to be. How wonderful it would be for Ezai to have brothers and sisters and clean sheets and healthy food and good medical care!! All of those things are available at this orphanage for kids with CP.


Eagerly, I contacted the orphanage, and after several emails, I just received word today that it looks like they have a place for him!!!! Yay!!!! Praise the Lord!!!! I am overcome with joy. How precious for this sweet little one to be so well taken care of! We are hoping to get him settled in up at his new home in early October. Please keep him in your prayers as preparations are made. How incredible! Ezai is on the right:

This Week in Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this blog post is gonna be a novel! :)


Fun times at the girly-girl orphan party/Bible study as the girls show me their nails and we sing (in English! :)

And I got to assist in a C-section... Isn't he adorable!?!?

And pray with a little one with AIDS... he's 12 months old, and I'm not sure that he has much time left...

And today we hosted a continuing medical education seminar for the doctors and nurses. God sent us an AMAZING turnout as 27 people showed up!! It was incredible! We discussed HTN during pregnancy (eclampsia is a common thing that I've seen in our hospital) and management, which lead to an incredible discussion, lots of questions, and the consumption of tons of homemade cookies and juice!

It's been quite a week! Thank you for your prayers!!! 

Coincidence?

... I think not...


The last 2 weeks have been filled with incredible little details from the Lord! One might call them coincidence, but as for me, I think not. Are you seeing them in your life too? Those special details, that little extra preparation, that touch from the Father who loves you more than you can imagine and has plans beyond your comprehension? What wonderful treasures He places in each day!!


It sure is getting hot down here! In this land of perpetual summer, when summer truly does arrive, it gets quite toasty down here! And for the hottest part of the year, God has given me a summer home! How sweet! One of our missionary families is back in the States for the summer, so they invited me to housesit and dog-sit for them. And there are so many perks-- the bedrooms are cooler than in my house, there's a great view of the ocean from the kitchen (and great ocean breezes) and I have a sweet, hyper dog for company (i've really been missing my boyfriend's family's sweet goldendoodle, isn't God the nicest to send me a pet?!)! What a great way to spend the summer! Anyone wanna come visit? :)


God also special-delivered the book that I'm using in my Bible study with the orphan girls (and Esther, and her youth group! :). At Christmas, I looked for a good study book for them, but never really found what I was looking for; and then after the earthquake, things were on hold for quite a while. While back in the States for a little rest earlier this month, my wonderful boyfriend David's wonderful momma asked me if I still thinking about doing a study with the girls. We looked online for potential books, and then she found the perfect one!! It's called A Daughter's Worth, and it talks about your relationship with your heavenly Father, how He wanted you to be born, how He celebrates your every breath, and how He loves to hear from you. So, I ordered the book, and I had it sent over-night delivery as I was supposed to fly back to Haiti the following afternoon, which was a Tuesday. That day, I also learned that my flight back was cancelled due to the pilot strike of Spirit Airlines. So, I booked new tickets back for Wednesday, and the book arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Only, as I ripped off the packaging, I found not my awesome study for orphan girls, but rather a college course critical thinking book!! O NO!! So, I called amazon and had them rush-ship me the right book, knowing that it might not arrive before my departure the next day. Thankfully, the book came 3 hours before I left! Pilot strikes don't scare God! :) He can still get you where you need to be and exactly when you need to get there!


God's also been teaching me the Creole words that I need to know right before I need them! This week, I have been working hard at building up my Creole vocab base every day, and every day, God brings up words in conversation that I just learned! These words have made my daily activities easier, enhanced conversations, and make me laugh! :)


One of the words that I just learned became very important yesterday! Yesterday afternoon, at the hottest part of the day (a day where I started sweating at 7:30 am and pretty much didn't stop all day :), I went out swimming at the sand bar with several other missionaries. After a couple of hours, it looked like a storm was rolling in, so we packed up and turned the boat towards home. After a few minutes of cruising, we heard yells from 2 men in the ocean bobbing up and down and waving their arms frantically! They had been out fishing and their boat sank, leaving them stranded. With the incoming storm, the current was very strong, and they were having trouble swimming in to the shore. We tossed them each a rope and towed them in towards the shoreline. We would have invited them up into the boat but (here's my new creole word)-- they were completely naked!! Only in Haiti...


This morning, I headed to church alone. As we began singing, I felt a wave of loneliness wash over me. I asked the Lord to meet my needs, and just a few moments later, some of the other missionaries showed up. And I realized that one of our translators was in the row right in front of me. Since church starts at 7am (to beat the heat), I was back home after church by 9:15. I was praying for some friends, and God showed me verses on hospitality to pray for them. Soon, there was a knock on my door, bringing me a translator friend who wanted to check his email. And then a phone call from another friend who wants to come over and play video games (my summer house is totally decked out! :). And then yet another knock at the door from another young friend, a boy from Port who was orphaned and homeless after the quake. He wants to learn English and how to play guitar. He's also someone that I felt led to pray for yesterday. I was in the middle of a few things and a little preoccupied, so I asked my visitors are coming back this afternoon. I read a devotional book (it's my substitute for a sermon in English today) and it was talking about loving our neighbors. And it hit me all of a sudden-- how kind of God to answer my prayer with so many friends! And those verses on hospitality are definitely for me too! God sent me not one, not two, but three friends this afternoon!!


Hmmm, maybe it's all coincidence. But I prefer to think the Father is sending me tokens of His love and reminders of His presence.

A New Prayer

Reality can be heavy here. Several items have been weighing on me this week as I'm stuck on the couch recuperating. This year has been such a different year than I had envisioned, but I'm so thankful that none of it takes the Lord by surprise! It's been a year of the reality of poverty and death and hungry orphans. It's been a year of typhoid and PTSD and grief and love.

This morning I read a passage of Scripture that spoke so much truth into this crazy year... this year of earthquakes and death and squalor and typhoid...Jesus was on His way into Jerusalem for the last time before His death, and He was talking to His disciples and said, "Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save Me from that hour'? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to Your Name." (John 12: 27-28)

I know that in so many ways, I am still learning to be like Jesus. But especially in this way, I want to be like Him, so that my heart's cry is not, "Father, save me from Haiti and disease and poverty and a broken heart," but rather, "Father, bring glory to Your Name!" Glory to Him in the midst of typhoid and earthquakes and nightmares. As you pray for me, please join me in praying that it may be so and that the Father may get much glory from my being here. I'm praying that we all seek not to avoid pain but to glorify Him.

Angels Unawares

Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

I think we might have done just that this week...

A couple of weeks ago, I met with the medical director of the hospital to discuss the hospital's needs, post-earthquake. Our supply line for the hospital has disintergrated with the crumbling of Port Au Prince, and the Lord has touched the hearts of many generous donors to supply us with needed items to keep the hospital running. On the list of items still in demand were tents, as our in hospital patients are now being housed in tents. During the earthquake of January 12th, our hospital building sustained several areas of structural damage rendering out in-patient wards unusable. The US military showed up at my hospital while I was in Peti Goave and brought several army tents to house the in-patients. It was so helpful but also not quite enough. 

Thursday night, Pete Thompson got an email about tents. Pete is an awesome guy from NY who's here this month helping with food distribution. Pete and his nephew Caleb helped to arrange the donation and distribution of over 80,000 pounds of food to the needy of LaGonave. At dinner, Pete mentioned the email about tents, and I told him about the hospital's need for a few more tents. It's neat how God networks things! On Saturday afternoon, a group of 7 people from YWAM showed up to put up tents for the hospital! Ask and you shall receive!!

And it sure seemed like we entertained some angels unawares.

Another one of my new jobs post-quake is arranging medical supplies and personnel as they come to my town of Anse-a-Galets. I am so thankful for the donated supplies, but I wasn't here for the arrival of many of them. They got stacked into 2 rooms almost up the ceiling and in no particular order. Saturday morning, the hospital staff informed me that they are almost out of pediatric nasogastric tubes and very much in need of more. I was worried that they might be in the boxes of donated supplies and Saturday afternoon had a rather stressed prayer time about it. I ended up telling the Lord that I wasn't sure how I, one girl, would be able to sort through 2 rooms full of boxes to find the right supplies. I prayed (with probably not very much faith I might add) that He would move the mountain of boxes just like He promised that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, it can move mountains. Twenty minutes after my SOS prayer, I got a phone call from Caleb that the YWAMers put up the tents really fast and were asking for more work.

What a blessing!! In a little over 2 hours, they rearranged and inventoried every box of donated items. God moved the mountain of boxes for me, using His sweet servants the YWAMers!!!

Sunday morning, they were supposed to travel back to Port. I went on the boat with them, only we realized shortly after leaving that the transmission was having trouble. We returned back home to change to a different boat, only to return to an even rougher sea. For fear of capsizing, we returned to the mission station. We had left early to hopefully have smoother seas and missed church, so we had a small service here. One of the YWAM guys leads worship in the States, so he offered to lead us in worship. With the craziness of the earthquake, I've only been to church 3 Sundays this year, so it was wonderful to sing in English and have a church service! We listened to a sermon podcast that Matt had downloaded, and I was so blessed by the message on the end of Matt. 11. There, Jesus invites us who are weary and heavy laden to find rest in Him and a light load in His yoke. I was so blessed to hear that after last week's heavy burdens. 

At the close of our impromptu service, the YWAM group asked to pray over us missionaries. It was such a sweet time! I truly feel like we may have just entertained some angels unawares.

Anpil Mirak

Anpil mirak... Many miracles...

As devastating as the earthquake has been and continues to be, I keep hearing stories of miracles...

Feb. 12-14th were declared days of prayer and fasting by churches all across the country. Many, many lives were changed. I've even heard it said that President Preval became a Christian! Wow! Praise the Lord!!

After those days devoted to prayer, there has been a different feel to this town. A little more peace, a little less fear. A little more light, a little less darkness.

Pastor Willy has a church down on the Saline. The Saline, or Salt Flats, are the poorest parts of our town. This week, he has been fasting and doing prayer walks around town. This week,  two witchdoctors accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior!!

Esther told me several testimonies from people in her church. There was a man who was buried under the concrete in his house in Port Au Prince for 8 days. His wife was crushed and killed beside him. His wife's cousin and his daughter were also killed. He prayed fervently, asking God to spare him and to take away his hunger and thirst. For 8 days, he did not hunger nor thirst. Last Sunday in church, he praised the Lord for sparing him and is confident that God has a plan for his life. Wow.

Another woman lost her entire family-- husband and three kids-- as their home fell on them. She was trapped for three days. During that time, she testified that an angel brought her food and water. Wow.

Anpil mirak.