Answering the call...

Remeber that Facebook post a few days ago about me feeling sad because this is the time of the year a lot of people come to me asking for support to send their children to school?

Well that post generated enough money to send 14 children to school. I only had 7. So I thought, "Well Lord, who else do you want sponsored?"  

Yesterday, I went to visit two of the children who are now sponsored to get their pictures and stories to share with their sponsor. As we were walking through the the neighborhood of Lafito, my friend Daphne said she wanted to introduce me to someone. 

That is how I met Fifin, a mother of 9 with another on the way. She is shorter than I am and very petite. She said that all of her 9 (10) children have the same father but that their father doesn't live with her or support her. Her kids ages are (20, 16, 15, 13, 10, 9, 7, 5, 3...wow). 

Fifin said that of her 9 children, 5 have never gone to school. She has one little boy who is special needs but when asked if he could learn she gave resounding "Yes!". She said that he loves to ask his momma to show him how to write things, he follows directions well and he loves to be around his peers. 

I asked Fifin how she has paid for the school of of the kids that have gone to school and she said she makes things to sell. I am thrilled to hear this because it shows she is motivated to work to support her children. 

So, I'm pretty sure we found the family that we are supposed to help with that extra funding. 

We will be watching this little family to see if maybe Fifin would qualify for an Elevate micro loan and to see what their food situation is (hungry children don't learn well). 

I'll keep you posted. And a huge thank you to those of you who felt the nudge to help!

Here she is with 5 of her 9. The rest where off playing in the community. 

The $10 lady's story continues...

Do you remember Mdm Volcy who started with $10 and with that money built a home for her family? 

Check out this link if you want a reminder;

http://imslandfamily.blogspot.com/2016/02/give-woman-10-and-she-can-build-house.html

Well, Mdm Volcy received her loan and last week I went to visit her to find out how her business was doing. When I arrived she was inside her home and her two children, ages 11 and 9, where hanging outside the home. I noticed an older woman laying on a piece of cardboard under a tree and near her was a young man sitting on a pile of rocks. 

Mdm Volcy came out as soon as she heard that we were there to greet us and welcomed us to her home. She has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen (she is the lady sitting down, with the black tank top in the picture). She introduced us to her children who were well mannered and had kind eyes. 

We asked about her business, which is selling charcoal. Charcoal is used to cook everything and it is consumable so it is a business that can make a decent profit. The day we visited her was market day but she wasn't there because her charcoal was not ready yet. Mdm Volcy said that she will take her profits and purchase wood. She then pays a man in the mountains to make it into charcoal and to bag it (this takes 8 days). She then can begin to sell. She said each batch she makes sells in about 15 days. 

Mdm Volcy shared that although her business was growing she was having a hard time making ends meet. Her mother has some kind of mind issue (possible Alzheimers?) and can't take care of herself or her four youngest children (ages 22, 20, 19, 17) so they all moved in with Mdm Volcy. The responsibility of purchasing the daily medication for her mom and feeding her siblings now falls to Mdm Volcy. 

After hearing her story, we think that her mom is a perfect candidate for an elderly feeding program. It fits in with what Elevate wants to do, which is help people get above the median. We hope that by helping her with food for her mom, she can another boost to start to get ahead.

 

We are looking for sponsors for Mama Volcy, her name is Lamise Laurent. If you are interested please go to elevate-Haiti.com and send me an email. Pray for this sweet family would is welcome! 

Missionary Kid Life

My kids started school this Monday and one of their assignments was to write a short poem or paragraph using as many descriptions of color as they could. 

Not only do I think that they did a good job, but it is so interesting to me to see something concrete that shows a small impact being a missionary kid has made on each of them. I wonder all the time what God will do with these experiences my kids have. 

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Landen, 6th grade

In Cabaret I see the green mountains all foggy in the white clouds.

The red gates and the gloomy black gates. 

Down the road that giant, pink house sticks out from all the gray gloomy houses 

Same with that white house right across from mine.

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Sierra, 8th grade

I see gray buildings standing tall. 

Black eyes staring at me in the shadows

The sky a deep dark endless blue.

A dark narrow road leeds into a house built for two but ten live inside

I walk in and see gloomy faces looking up at me.

I came to give hope but find a loss for words.

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Austin, 10th grade

In the middle of the night Port-Au-Prince is shimmering with color from afar; 

The houses lit yellow and white. 

There are sudden flashes of blue, red, yellow, and white. 

Even at night, the dark blue of the Caribbean,sparkling in the white moon light. 

Over to the right an occasional flash of blue from an airport. 

The dull green brown of the mountains behind and the white and black helicopter flying over the water with a flash of a red light. 

When I think about the city, I imagine all the buildings colored blue, pink, red, yellow, and orange. 

Sometimes there is a wispy gray smoke coming from a large orange fire that is blown by the wind across the land and hills of the tan green field. 

I pray daily that they are dangerous for Christ and that God uses our experiences in Haiti to teach them that following Jesus is never boring!