Anachemie...

The problems in Haiti are big. Too big for me to comprehend, to big for me to fix, to big for me to shoulder. But I have learned that God does not need me to do any of these things. My only job is to be intimately connected to Jesus and to listen to the Holy Spirit's whisper. When I focus on Him and not my task, that is when He can use me. 

While we were waiting we very clearly felt led to help my friend the 'rock thrower', Anachemie. I blogged about her before, I'm not sure if you remember. She used to throw rocks at us when we would pass by her house. Yet one time, I stopped walking and asked her to be my friend. For the last 9 months we have been developing that friendship. 

Anachemie is the second of five children. Her father died two years ago and her mother does not work. They do not go to school, they have no money, and they have very little hope. God decided to use us to show them that He does hear their prayers. 

We were able to enroll all 4 of the school aged children, purchase uniforms, books, and school supplies. We will be checking up on them quarterly to make sure that they are doing well and to help address problems as they occur. We are also supplying food each month, as it is impossible to learn when your physical needs are not being met. We are working with the mom to see if there is some job or small business that she can do to supply her families needs by herself. 

The best part is that we have not done this all on our own. We have partnered with two of our Haitian friends to help this mom get things moving, to purchase the food, and to help us begin to understand this families dynamics so we can help, not harm. We are also using this opportunity for our two 'workers' to earn a small income and build trust and responsibility in them. One thing that struck me is that both of our Haitian partners have come to us, after visiting Anachemie's home, and expressed their shock at the poverty this family is living in and their gratitude to be able to be part of helping. 

I don't know if this is something we will continue to do or if this is a one time event. I do know that when I visit my friend Anachemie, she has a look of hope in her eyes. I also know that serving God is never boring. 

Two of Anachemie's siblings outside of their home. 

Prayer requests:

-Pray for Anachemie and her family and that we can find a way for them to be self-sufficient. 

-Doors continue to open for us to share the vision God has given us. 

-That we can be present, appreciate all the good in America yet still stay intimately connected to God (tricky in all the good). 

Daphne...

There is a woman, named Daphne, that worked in our house in Haiti. We have enjoyed working with her and getting to know her. She has three daughters ages 18, 16, 15. Her husband does not live with the family and does little to support them. This woman and her three daughters live with her mother, brother, and probably a couple of other random people. Their house is brick, which is actually not a bad living situation, and has 4 square rooms (dining room, kichen, and two bedrooms) and each room is about 10' square. It is clean and very crowded. Oftentimes the girls will sleep at someone elses house just so they have a little more space. Daphne is hard working, loves my family, and loves Jesus. It has been a joy to get to know her. 

Since moving to Global, I have asked Daphne if she would be willing to help me with my Creole for an hour about 2x a day. She doesn't speak a bit of English which is good because it means that she won't adjust her Creole for me to understand. So for the last three months, we have been able to discuss things on a deeper level. She has become a trusted friend. 

Daphne recently brought to my attention her desire to do more to support her family. People come to us all of the time to ask for help because the 80% unemployment rate in Haiti is one of the main problems in Haiti. However, hers was different. She came with a plan to raise and sell chickens. I asked her to put together a business proposal, I gave her the questions to answer, and told her if she put these things together, then we would talk. My experience in Haiti is that requesting this information is the end of the conversation. The asker very rarely comes back with it put together. However, she came back to me less than a week later with a pretty good business proposal. 

I sent this proposal to a friend of mine to ask him to look over it and help me decide if it was a wise business to start to which he replied, lets do it. He wrote up a contract for us which laid out the details of the micro-loan. I then explained to her that she will be required to pay the loan back and that whatever money she pays back will be used to help another woman start up a business. 

So, 3 weeks later, she was able to purchase 200 chickens. I don't know which one of us is more excited. By the end of October, she should be able to sell her first 200, and then purchase 200 more. I am so excited to be able to be part of helping her take the steps needed to take care of her family by herself. I am so excited to see the sparkle in her eyes. I can not wait to find out how this develops. 

"Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." Andy Stanley

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Mother Teresa

The little chicks. 

The chicks need constant management so her brother is partnering with her by spending the night there to watch them. 

The blue tarp thing is a place where they can put very small chicks that still need warming lights. Chicks this small are less expesive so they can purchase more next time. 

They have a sign. :)

Poverty

 We have been preparing to speak with some churches, small groups, and individuals. We want to share the vision that God has given us and find out if people feel called to join us in this vision. Do they want to support us, financially or prayerfully and by doing so invest in God's kingdom? As we prepare, we are becoming more aware of what God is calling us to do and why he chose our family to do it. 

One of the things that we continue to come back to is relationships. Our entire family is passionate about developing relationships. We want to connect with our Haitian staff, other American missionaries, Haitians in the street, Haitians our organization supports, and visiting short-term missionaries. We love to connect.

So, what does this really means for us? We are becoming aware, on a deeper level, that relationships, through Christ, are all about loving. Love is a word that is overused, but it is real. Its not the kind of love that is looking to 'get something' but the kind of love that IS, simply because the other person is a valued child of God.

One of the series of verses we stand on is 1 Corinthians 13. It talks about doing many good works, but without love, those good works are nothing. It then goes on to describe what love is. I believe everyone has heard the list, and everyone, especially me, can feel convicted by some description of true love. But it gives us something to aspire to. 1 Corinthians 13's final verse is this,

"Three things will last forever- faith, hope and love- but the greatest of these is love" 1 Corinthians 13:13

I was watching a tv show the other day. It is about a woman that was a midwife on the east side of London in the 1950's. The poverty was great. She was struggling with the reality of poverty and was talking to a priest. He explained to her that poverty was not a lack of money, hygene, or personal property. Poverty is a lack of being loved and being treated respectfully. 

This is so true! Love and respect. This is something we try to give to those we encounter, through our actions, our words, our eyes. Our family wants to be used by God to show others that they are loved, they are respected. They are a valued child of God. To be called to be an ambassador of Jesus is the highest honor. We are thrilled that we get to do this in such an impoverished (loveless place where people are treated with little respect) area. 

I stole this picture from a friend. :) Love that smile!

Quick update

This is just a quick update. We were able to spend an amazing week in Florida with Shane's parents and my parents. It was the best vacation I have ever taken with our little family. We were able to have so much fun, enjoy each others company, and truly rest. What a blessing!

This week we have missionary training with Global Outreach in Tupelo, MS. This training is one of the ways that God has already started to open up the doors for us to serve at Global. Global requires that the missionaries they support go to this training before they serve with Global. These trainings are held 3 or 4 times a year and fill up quickly so we thought that we would not be able to attend one until February at the earliest. Then we  found out that the training this week happens to be a fast track training (only 2 days instead of 5) for people that are already on the field and there just happened to be some cancelations so we can attend. This allows us to speed up the usual process of a 1 year preparation to go out into the field where we feel called. We are praying for a 3 month process, knowing God can do anything and trusting that His time table is perfect. And it doesn't hurt to ask. :)  

After that, it is time to get to work fundraising.  We know that many of you are already financially supporting some sort of organization. We know that it can get tiring to be constantly asked to fund yet another missionary, organization, need. The needs are big and there are many good places to donate your money. We want you to know, that regardless of whether you are able to help us financially or not, we value you and your prayer support. 

That being said, there are some of our readers that know in their spirit that it is time to step in. We know that God has called us to Haiti and we trust completely that He will bring the funds in. And we know that God uses people to do His work. So if you are one of those that feels the nudge to help, we need you. We need monthly commitments so that we will be able to plan for the next year. No donation is too small. 

Pleasse consider it. Pray over it. 

If you don't want to pay for your taptap ride, just hop on the back. 

This group of people sat in the back of this truck for 5 hours. We followed them the entire way back from Port Salute. 

This pole is in the center of a very busy road. It made me smile to see this man using the shade. Why not?

I'm not sure if this is how a truck bed liner should be used. 

Loving on a friend's baby. 

My young friend's siblings.

The pictures below were borrowed from a short term missionary's fb post. :) 

One of Global's water pumps. They drill them and then maintain them. Very cool. 

Chris Brumley, the director of Global Outreach Haiti. 

Shane and Nicky 'working' in the shop. 

A beautiful long term missionary that we have the pleasure of serving with. 

If you have made it to the end of my blog, I have been making a list of things that are better/different/now feel strange (not in order of importance);

-So many options 

-the roads (every one follows the rules)

-soft water in the shower

-pressure to look a certain way

-family and friends

-worshiping at our home church 

-freedom to drive with relative safety

-easily accessible grocery store

-when I walk I now look at my feet (trying to make sure I don't trip on loose rocks..not really needed in MN) 

-remembering to pray (in Haiti before we do anything we always pray, ie driving. Its harder to remember in America) 

-quote from Landen when asked why he was eating so much, "There is so much to eat I'm trying to make sure none of it gets wasted". 

-sleeping with lots of blankets on

-leaves changing colors

-being clean all day long