Back in the US, for now...

Sorry for the delay in wrapping up the trip. The internet connection was down at the guest house most of Sunday and into Monday morning.

After the service Sunday morning we came back to the guest house for a while. It was nice to spend a little time relaxing. Pastor CJ's wife made us an amazing dinner before evening services. We had turkey and lots of other amazing foods! She is such an amazing cook! After dinner Pastor Sanousse showed up to take us to Black Mountain for service.  As we were leaving he said we were taking a tap tap. This was the first time on this trip that we rode in a tap tap, and we were so excited that Susie was getting to ride in one before we went home. What better ride in a tap tap than to Black Mountain! It was completely dark by the time we got there, and if you have been there before you understand that darkness makes it more interesting to negotiate the walk to the church :). The service was wonderful. I have attended a number of Haitian worship services since my first visit, but believe me when I tell you that even though the attendance that night was not enormous, the people that were in attendance were by far the most excited and full of the Spirit I have ever seen. They were singing so loudly, clapping, and dancing. I have never seen that much dancing in a worship service before. It was amazing!

While we were at Black Mountain we were able to look at the new roof that Pastor Sanousse has had put on the church. Our church had previously collected funds toward this project and it was great to see that the rotten wood has been replaced with a solid concrete roof, and now when it rains the church won't be flooded! Pastor Sanousse also shared what he plans to do next with the building. The current church building is small, and is one level. With the new roof, he plans to build a second level on top of the current one so they will have school in first floor and hold church services on the second floor. If you knew what it looked like in Black Mountain around his church, you would know that putting the second floor on will elevate the church up above it's surroundings and when they hold services, many more people in the area will hear the music and the service.

When we got back to the guest house after church, we had a great time. Pastor C.J.'s wife had made a chocolate cake for us! We sat around and talked for quite a while. We talked to Pastor C.J.'s wife about the women's ministry and she shared her thoughts and experiences on why the women's ministry is so important in Haiti. The next morning (Monday) we went back to Sherrie's. Susie sat down with Sherrie to go over more of the accounting work they had started earlier in the week, and Arnie went around fixing a few things that needed to be repaired. Me, well I got my Kervenson fix! He is such a sweetie!! I also got to meet two amazing kids that attend school at Christian Light (Sherrie's) through the Restavek Freedom Foundation. Unfortunately, the time came to head to the airport. It was hard to leave Haiti, as always. Overall, we had a great trip and remain in amazement at what God did during our time in Haiti. We look forward to what God has in store for us next. Time to start planning the next trip!

God bless,

Patricia

Day 5: A Day of Worship, Part I

It is sad to think that today is our last full day in Haiti for this trip. The time here always seems to go by so fast. Of course we are already talking about the next trip!

Today is Sunday and here in Haiti that means it is a day of worship! This morning we went to church with Pastor Odvin. The church was packed with every row squeezed tightly with people. We were guessing there were probably close to 400 people there this morning. Pastor Odvin asked Arnie to greet the church and tell them hello. As always, service in Haiti is amazing! While we could not understand the majority of what was being said, we recognized many of the songs from those we sing in the US, and we were able to follow along in our Bibles as various passages of scriptures were read. We were also blessed to participate in the Lord's supper with the church this morning. Pastor Odvin asked Arnie to help serve! What a blessing! They do the Lord's supper much like we do, except they use real wine :).  The passages covered this morning included Psalm 111, Psalm 73, and Matthew 7.

Psalm 111
Praise the Lord
I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.
Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever - holy and awesome is his name.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.

Psalm 73: 23-26
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Matthew 7: 24-27
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and he winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

We were blessed beyond measure to spend three hours in service with our Haitian brothers and sisters this morning singing, praising, reading the Word, and participating in the Lord's supper. This evening we are heading to Black Mountain with Pastor Sanousse, where Arnie will be preaching!

More later! We hope you have a blessed evening!

Patricia

Day 4: Africa, Moses, and the Bigger Plan

Good evening from Haiti!

What a beautiful day the Lord has given us today. We had set aside the day to spend with Ryan & Heather Forman and their children in Montrouis, about 2 hours north of Port au Prince. Ryan and his translator, Jack, took a tap tap down to Port au Prince early this morning and had breakfast with us at the guest house. It was a neat experience to meet up with someone you know and love while you are here, just knowing the Lord has brought you all together in this place. For me personally all I could think about this morning as Ryan got out of the tap tap was the first time we came to Haiti in July 2011. He was so very cautious and timid, almost to the point of being overprotective. He didn't like to speak in front of people because it made him nervous. And here was my "little brother" running all over Haiti, being a leader and following God into places he would have never chosen on his own to go.

We had planned to leave the guest house by 8:00 am, but were running a little late because we were waiting on the driver that Ryan had arranged to come and pick us all up and take us back to Monstrouis. The driver arrived and Susie and I went up to our room to get our bags for the day. As we were walking back out a beautiful young lady appeared in our doorway. She said her name was Dora and that Sherrie had told her she should come and introduce herself to me. Dora is from the Congo in Africa. As a victim of rape in her country she went to school there to become an attorney in hopes of understanding why these things had happened to her and her family. As an attorney she began working in the area of women's rights, and was asked to do a radio program about the subject. As part of this program she denounced the rapists, who then attempted to kill her three times. This is Dora's first visit to Haiti and she leaves tomorrow. But this won't be the last time we see each other. Dora is living in the United States, going to college in Tennessee, and her host family lives in Somerset, Kentucky! We exchanged contact information and plan to get together after we are both back in the US. Amazing!

Still in amazement at the amazing new person that God put into my life this morning, we all loaded up into the van with Ryan and off we went, headed out of Port au Prince. The drive was beautiful.

 

 

 

Once we arrived we spent some time loving on and playing with the kids! We read stories, played with toys, and we all ate pizza together for lunch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before we headed back to Port au Prince, we went with Ryan to the crèche. I actually rode with Ryan as he drove us to the crèche. It was very odd to be in a vehicle with only another white person driving around in Haiti! He did a great job! What an amazing ministry they are working with! All of the children there are either already matched, or are awaiting families for adoption. As he showed us around it was so evident that the kids love him very much. I walked with him back into an area where babies were in their cribs. In the corner of one of the rooms, just as you walked in, was the cutest baby boy who just looked up at me with these amazing eyes. Ryan told me that his name is Moses and he has AIDS. I just kept looking at this precious child, thinking about how rough his little life may become so very early, and how he doesn't have a mommy there every day to give him one-on-one attention, to rock him, to love him, to give him comfort and tell him things will be ok. My heart just broke for this child. We are called, by God Himself, to care for these children yet so many remain in need.

 



 

As I think about the things we did and saw today, the things that have happened throughout our week so far - not planned things but things that have been God-orchestrated, I am reminded of Ezekiel 47. The river referred to in this passage parallels the Holy Spirit and the different depths described (ankle, knee, waist, and over our head) refer to the depth of our spiritual walk and the extent that the Holy Spirit provides our direction. I can picture Christ standing at the edge of the water, waiting for us to take that first step of faith by trusting Him enough to get our feet wet. Everything changes in that moment. The world is alive and new to us, even those things that had always been there but we had not seen. What happens next is hard. You see, Jesus asks us to follow Him. By definition this means that He isn't going to stand still there in the shallow water. He will keep walking forward, leading us into deeper water, marked by a deeper relationship with Him. If we feel like we always need to be in control this can be a very difficult journey; surrendering more and more of ourselves by relinquishing our control and trusting God's perfect plan. If we find it difficult to trust others, including God, this requires us to open ourselves up to being vulnerable; something that can feel like an impossibility. As Christ moves, we have a choice. We can stay behind and watch Him move, thinking 'I'll just wait here where it feels safe', or we can follow Him and trust that He knows where He is going. If we wait in the shallow water where it feels safe, we will miss out on what God is doing in the world. We sacrifice possibilities for familiarity, and we miss out on unimaginable blessings He has in store along the journey for those that follow Him. If we stand there and watch Him walk away, our relationship with Him will not grow. We will never see the heights and depths of what He can do. And when our lives on earth are over, we may stand before Christ as He proclaims that He never knew us.

 

I know that along my walk with God I have had moments when I have felt pretty comfortable and then it would feel as though He was so very far away from me. I have come to realize that when I feel distant from God it means He is out ahead of me in the water and I haven't kept up with where He is going. I know He can accomplish His will with or without  me, but I also know that I was created for His purpose and that I have to decide whether or not to surrender to it. The deeper I go into the water the harder it will be for me to run away. So the question is do I trust Him? Absolutely! Do you?

 

Goodnight from Haiti!

 

Patricia

 

 

Pictures from Haiti

Here are some photos from our first few days on this trip. Enjoy!


Visiting Pastor Odvin's orphanage:

 

 

 At Christian Light, helping Ms. Sherrie with accounting:

Meeting with the Haitian Board for Hope for My Sister:

House #1: I fell in love with the look and layout of this house. Beautiful! FYI, houses in Haiti are built of brick and concrete and then they come in apply stucco over the brick and concrete.

House #2: They haven't started on the second floor yet, but the yard is amazing. A rare find to get a yard this large! It is in a great neighborhood!

Day 3: There is a First Time for Everything

Good evening! We are winding down our second full day in Haiti for this trip, and it has been a very good day! After a wonderful breakfast, Pastor Odvin picked us up and took us to his church for a meeting with the Haitian Board we have here working on Hope for My Sister. We were very pleased that Blonnedyne was there. She is the young Haitian lady who gave her testimony at the inauguration ceremony this past July. We were also pleased that Pastor CJ's wife was there. The interest in this organization continues to grow and we know God gets all the glory for that! During the meeting we talked about what the Haitian Board has been working on. They have developed organizational objectives:

• To fight against violence toward women
• Prevention of violence against women
• Provide short- term and long-term support services for women

The Haitian Board will meet monthly on the first Saturday of the month. We will most likely hold January as an annual meeting between the US Board and the Haitian Board, to be held in Haiti. We are still in the process of putting our US Board together and we trust that God is assembling the right people in His time. Next month is Mardis Gras in Haiti and February 8-10 the Haitian Board is going to hold a program\conference for youth that is focused on understanding sexual violence. We discussed the process for filing all of the legal paperwork to establish Hope for My Sister both in the US and in Haiti, we discussed a job description for a secretary\office manager for Haiti, and went over the initial budget projections for getting an office in Haiti up and running. We discussed services to be provided to women, including: medical examinations, testing and treatment of disease, and training volunteers to escort women to the hospital or doctor for this process. The organization will develop a process for providing counseling options for victims, and in the long term will develop a transitional home\shelter where women can stay temporarily while working through the healing process, receiving training in various areas of trade, and receive assistance in job placement or micro enterprise opportunities to become entrepreneurs.

Recently Pastor Odvin met with around 40 pastors to discuss issues related to violence against women and to promote the organization.  We also had the privilege of seeing Pastor Sanousse today! And while he was here he told us about a new organization close to Black Mountain that is focusing on sexual violence of youth. He is going to put us in contact with them, and he wants to be involved in helping with the organization as he sees a tremendous need for prevention and support in the Black Mountain area. At dinner this evening Pastor CJ spoke with us about how much he wants to see his wife be involved in the organization here, and we are going to place her on the Haitian Board. Praise the Lord for volunteers and obedient hearts!

The discussion on the transitional home leads me to the next thing that happened today, that was something I truly never thought I would find myself doing in Haiti. We drove around and looked at real estate this afternoon! We looked at two houses that are currently under construction. The first house was beautiful and very unique in its design and layout, but the second house was in a very good neighborhood, close to an orphanage ran by an American from Ohio, and has a very large yard! We will find out more about the second house on Sunday. Very excited to see what God has in store for this work! When I look back over the past year and a half I am amazed at what has taken place and none of it has been anything we have done!

Prayer Requests

Please help us pray for the following:

• That God will bring together the right people for the US Board for Hope for My Sister, and that we will have the patience and discernment to put the correct Board in place for this very important work.
• That God will keep growing the Haitian Board and will bring together the right resources to drive this important work in Haiti. It is difficult when we cannot be here full-time and have to depend on things getting done with no supervision.
• That God will give us guidance as we consider the opportunity to lease or purchase a house and property here in Haiti. That it will happen according to His will, in His way, in His time. If it is in His will, He will orchestrate it!
• That any of us involved, being called by God to enter into this difficult work, will surrender to what we are asked to do. That we will have faith that He has a bigger plan and purpose, and will accept that it may be scary or uncomfortable but it is what we are called to do.

There is no bigger blessing than to do God's work. The more uncomfortable we are the more we know He is in control and all we have to do is be obedient to what He places before us. As another day draws to a close, we are excited about tomorrow. Ryan Forman will be here early tomorrow morning and we are going to spend the day with Ryan, Heather and the kids at the beach! What a blessing!

May you all have a wonderful, blessed night. And may you consider what it is that God may be speaking to your heart about His purpose for your life.

Patricia

Day 2: First Full Day

(This is from Thursday but internet was down and we couldn't post it.)

 

Today was our first full day in Haiti for this trip, and it was a busy day! We finished sorting the items we brought and packed much of it up into suitcases to take with us for the day. After breakfast Pastor Odvin and Pastor Daniel took us to Pastor Odvin’s orphanage. Those babies are so precious and it isn’t possible to hold them all in your lap, even though they all want you to. They sang songs to us and just held on to us as tightly and as long as they could. We were able to take a couple of bags of items to the orphanage, including towels, underwear, primary paper, tablecloths, crayons and markers.

We then headed to Sherrie’s (Christian Light). Pastor Daniel stayed with us for the day. It is always great to visit with Sherrie. We just love her so much! We asked what we could help with and in no time she had plenty of things! Arnie and Pastor Daniel worked on hanging screen between the walls and ceiling on the third floor, Susie helped with setting up some accounting spreadsheets, and I started working on making curtains out of screen and scrap material to keep the flies out of the screened porch. I have made my share of curtains in my life, but cutting and sewing screen was definitely a new experience. The sewing machine doesn’t like screen, so we sewed by hand! Susie helped tremendously and we had two little girls from the orphanage that came in and helped, and they did a good job! We were also able to take a couple of bags of items to Sherrie’s with towels, underwear, primary paper, peanut butter, pillows, table cloths, deodorant, socks, etc. Anyone that has come with us to Haiti has met Ms. Sherrie. It is amazing what God has done with her as His servant.

I spoke with Sherrie for some time about the issues women in Haiti face. I know that often those working in the mission field in other countries are asked why they go when there is so much need in the United States. I want to give you an example of why it is so important, particularly in helping women. In the US we take for granted what we know. We have good medical care options, though we complain about what we have. The majority of women in Haiti who become pregnant never have any prenatal exams or care. If temporary clinic doctors come in they give prenatal vitamins but the women are scared to take them for fear that it will make the baby larger, therefore making delivery more difficult. For most women here they deliver their babies at home or wherever they are at the time they go into labor. I was told of an example of what it was like for a woman to go to the hospital to deliver a child. After stepping over puddles of blood across the floor, and being in the waiting room where women were delivering babies on the floor while men watched through a wall of railing, if the woman is lucky enough to make it to a bed before delivery, the doctors sit around and wait for the head to come out before they come over and catch the baby. Then a nurse will come around with an empty plastic butter bowl filled with water, give the woman a towel, and stand at a distance slinging water on the mother while she cleans herself up after childbirth. If a Haitian woman has her child at home, it is often a mid-wife that will deliver the child. Once the woman goes into labor the neighbors will go out into the community to find the mid-wife in the neighborhood and the woman in labor will meet her for the first time during childbirth. If there are complications during pregnancy (breach, cord wrapped around the baby, etc.), neither the mother nor the baby survive the delivery.  There is also a broad misconception among men here. Many believe that the way to cure themselves of AIDS is to have sex with a virgin. The young girls here pay the price for that belief. There is so much education needed here. Women here need support to build their self-esteem and confidence. They need opportunities to rise to the potential that God blessed them with. And they should be able to live their lives with dignity and respect. This is something I am very passionate about, but I will step off the soapbox on this for now.

We left Sherrie’s around 6:30 and headed back to the guest house for the night. While it wasn’t the 100 degree weather we work in here in the summer, mid 80’s to low 90’s is still much warmer than home right now! We were certainly tired. Food tonight was wonderful! Baked chicken, rice and beans (with that great sauce) and potatoes. Then it was cold showers and winding down for the night. Tomorrow we will spend time doing a devotional together, have breakfast, and then head out with Pastor Odvin to work on the women’s ministry.

Goodnight and God bless!

Patricia

Day 1: We Finally Made It!

Our team made it safely to Haiti this evening. It was, thankfully, an uneventful day. The days leading up to this trip certainly had their challenges! Three days before we left the Department of State issued a revised travel advisory for Haiti, emphasizing the poor systems of security and healthcare. After much prayer and discussion with families and within our team, two members of the team made the decision to stay home for this trip and join a future trip. We certainly miss them here, but we look forward to serving with them in the future. They both played an important part of the preparations for this trip. They helped collect items that folks had donated and helped us pack everything for the trip. And we are especially appreciative of Cindy's help in purchasing and preparing the mosquito nets for us - I am laying here under mine as I write this and my legs thank you!

The day before we left my husband and son woke up with a horrible stomach virus. They were so sick. I could not leave them like that so we cancelled our tickets for January 1 and were fortunately able to book the flights for today. I am thrilled that my family is feeling better. I myself have been pretty sick today but am hoping that a good night's rest will go along way.

Pastor Odvin and Pastor Daniel picked us up at the airport and I have to tell you that we were in shock at the improvements made to the airport. For those of you that have been here before you just wouldn't believe it! It looks like an American airport. We didn't have to walk through crowds of people when we went outside either. As we approached Pastor Odvin's car we realized that he had a flat tire. Welcome to Haiti! Thankfully it was only in the mid-80's today while we stood there waiting for them to fit it 😎.  We were then able to squeeze 5 adults, 6 large suitcases, 3 carry on suitcases, and 3 backpacks into a small Nissan sport utility. Off we went! Soon after arriving at the guesthouse  Samuel stopped by (a friend of ours who interprets for us sometimes). Then we had dinner, which was very good! After we finished eating we unpacked all of the extra items we brought and began sorting them into stacks for where they need to go this week.

It's been a long day, and we have been up since around 3 am. Time for bed to rest for a full day of orphanage visits tomorrow! Can't wait to love on some babies!!!

We hope you have a blessed night!

Patricia, Arnie, and Susie