Being a single mom and abandoned is hard in any country

I have known this woman for a little under a year and a half because she comes every Monday to pick up food for an elderly in Global's elderly program. Everytime I see her, her little boy is with her attached to her breast or her hip. I think he is about 18 months old. I never really paid much attention to her except to notice that she is an older mom, her clothes are always tattered and she always asks for something extra. 

I recently spent some time talking to her to find out her story. Her name is Cadelt. She is about 40 years old, she has one adult daughter and her surprise baby, Lilou. She said that this last baby was not planned because she is not married. The father is not involved in either of their lives. When people found out that she was pregnant, she was evicted from her home and it appears that help was mostly cut off. She told me, "God knows. I could have thrown this baby away but I chose to honor God and keep him. But this life we are living is not good for my baby."

Since we are considering Cadelt for a micro-loan, I visited her at her home yesterday. She lives in a depot, a place where merchants store their goods, which means that people are in and out of her room constantly. She doesn't have a bed, she has borrowed a pot from her mom to cook her food, and she has very few items of clothing. Her little man clings to her side whenever I am around and yet she so obviously loves him. Despite what she doesn't have, Lilou is always relatively clean.

After visiting her, I know we are going to be starting a micro-loan with her this Monday. However, I don't believe she can succeed unless some of her living situation is improved. We have decided that we are going to help her rent a room for the next year to provide a safe place for her and her baby to live. We are going to provide a bed, her own pot and small charcoal burner. We are also going to start giving her a small allowance for food and clothing each month for the next year. 

We are praying that through Elevate's micro-loan, supplemented with monthly support, we can help her find hope again. We are praying that Cadelt will step up to the task and take this opportunity to provide for Lilou and that she will be able to succeed. 

I'm writing this to ask you to pray with us. 

If you want to help, please go to imslands-in-Haiti.com and press the donate button. (Put Cadelt in the notes). 

Debt pardoned

We currently have 20 loans out. Of those 20 there are three people who are not paying back their loans regularly. This is actually pretty good considering how difficult it can be to make a profit in Haiti. 

One of the ladies received her loan in November, made one payment, and then since December I have not heard from her. December can be tricky because of the holidays so I assumed that she would begin her repayment in January or Febuary. However, instead she avoided my calls and spent time at her mothers so that I could not visit her. I was sad for her, but not mad. I chalked it up as a loss. 

This woman came and visited me yesterday. Apparently Daphne ran into her the day before and encouraged her to come and speak with me, face to face. Her entire demeanor was so sad. Her eyes were heavy, her back bowed forward a little, when she said "Bonjour" to me she was hesitant. We sat down together on my porch and she explained what had happened and why she could not pay back her loan. She told me that her house had been robbed and that immediately after that she got malaria. She looked sick as she explained these situations and said that the loan has been on her mind and she is sad about it. 

I told her that I understand. That I am not mad at her, I am sad for her because her situation has been hard. I asked her to look me in the eyes so she could see that I was not mad. I then told her that we will take her loan and close it. She no longer has to think about it, it is a forgiven debt. I had to say this three times before she believed me and her face changed. It was as if a weight had been lifted from her. She smiled at me and thanked me. 

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matthew 6:12 ESV

Do I think she told me the truth? My discernment says no. But we were able to close our meeting soon after that on good terms. While she knows that she can't receive a loan from us again, she also knows that she doesn't have to hide from me. We are on equal grounds. 

The entire purpose of Elevate is to show the Haitians Jesus' love. We do this through micro-loans that allow them to begin to help themselves and take care of their families. We do this through classes that teach them about what God says about money and business and relationships. And sometimes, we do this through the forgiveness of a debt.

All of these things we can do because we have been loved and forgiven first.

For more information go to Imslands-in-Haiti.org

Our friends from T12 came and stayed with us this week. We were able to spend 3 days serving with them. They had 4 young men on their team that are incredible soccer players, one of whom is an adopted Haitian. This is a picture of him sharing his story and the hope of Jesus with the young men in Sport Disciple. 

I know it's blurry but I just love this man. He danced almost the entire time we were there saying how happy he was that his brothers and sisters in Christ had come to visit him. 

Shane's aunt and three cousins came to visit us in the last couple of weeks. We visited a struggling orphanage with them. 

Shane's aunt, Linda, loving on the kiddos. 

Isaac spent all day Saturday driving back and forth to get water for Sport Disciple. His sidekick is Patrick. He is a 35(ish) year old Down syndrome Haitian. Through Sport Disciple he has gained respect in the community, earns a wage, and we have started to see the sassy side of him. Sometimes he forgets who is the boss. :) 

This is Eddie, Shane's cousin's husband. We took them to visit one of the schools for 3, 4, and 5 year olds. They hang on you like little piranhas. 

A family pic.