Manna

We are back from our two week trip to the states and have begun to settle again into our 'real' lives. This last week back the Imslands have had a relatively blank look to their face, cry often, and are incredibly tired. Coming back to America was a lot; a lot of fun, driving, talking, connecting, transitions, food, activities, friends, and family. Halfway through Shane and I looked at each other and said, "We are about ready to go back." God isn't done with us yet. It was a nice affirmation. 

I made a silly list of the things that our family appreciated as we stayed in America:

Warm showers 

Forgeting to use hot water knob when washing hands and dishes. 

Ability to drive anywhere, anytime

Jimmy Johns

Static electricity

Sleeping with LOTs of blankets on

Enjoying a hot drink

Soft toilet paper 

Movie theaters

Dry skin/flat hair 

Carmel latte 

Hugs from family and friends 

Eye contact with those who love us 

Listening to the radio while driving and listening to the kids in the back singing along with the radio. 

Great steaks

Apples 

Knowing that for the most part, people will follow the rules of driving

Snow storms

The way snow sticks to the trees

Fireplaces

Return to Haiti:

Getting out of a shower and not freezing

Changing the drinking water 

Warmth 

Greeting the Haitians I missed 

Amazing fruit

There are so many things we appreciate about Haiti but I think the biggest is knowing that we are being obedient and watching God use us. It isn't about how great we are, we just show up. God does the work. One of the things he does EVERY DAY is allow our family to see what we are calling 'manna'. In the Bible the Israelites were miraculously freed from the Egyptians and were following a cloud of the Spirit of God around a desert. They were wandering and had no way to produce food, but every morning there was manna from heaven. God informed them to only gather what they would need for that one day because it would not last longer. He used this manna to teach the Israelites how to trust in God's provision for them daily. Well, He is doing the same thing for us. 

Things are never boring here and there are many times that we feel dragged down, but we have noticed that God provides enough 'manna', or encouragement and affirmation, to continue on to the next day. He doesn't give us extra but he gives us just enough for the day. Shane and I know that he is doing this for the same reasons he did it with the Israelites, he wants to know, "Do you trust me to provide what you need every day? Will you surrender to me?" Our answer is, "Yes. We trust and are SO grateful for the daily manna!"

This is half of Landens face from the customs in MIA. The machine was broken and didn't go down for him. (FYI everyone looked like a zombie in these photos). We laughed about this for two days. 

Sierra loving on our little dog Zoe

I just love a Panera Carmel latte. Mmmmmm. 

My Cece.  

Sierra got to spend a weekend in Rochester with her cousin/best friend Cara. 

The look says it all...we are now 13 years old and you are annoying me (Austin's cousin Kaitlyn is only 2 days older and they have grown up together). 

Awww...

Dress up with friends. There were 3 or 4 rounds of changing outfits. 

It snowed...a lot. And was very cold. Beautiful and cold. 

Almost 17 years of marriage and I still like him. :)

If you have ever wondered why I am so strange... Meet my parents. (Mom looks deceivingly normal here). 

Sierra and Auntie Shannon. 

Shane's cousin Jessi was in Haiti this week. Shane was able to go deliver water with them in Cite Soleil and then the kids bonded on Thursday when the team came to Grace for a tour. 

A friend of ours gave the kids clay. They made volcanoes. I started to talk to the kids about volcanoes before we did our baking soda vinegar experiment and Austin says, "Mom, I've got this." And proceeds to explain better than I could how they are formed and why they explode. He is so smart...seriously. 

The kids watching tv. I know I have posted this before, but every time I see them like this, it makes me chuckle. 

Is dentistry our calling?

Grace Village had their very first dental team work in our new clinic and stay on the property. It was amazing how many needs they were able to fill and how many lives will be a little more pain free because of their visit. My daughter decided that she wanted to help so she was an assistant for the first full day and half of the second day. Here are some pics. 

Of course the boys saw how much fun she was having and wanted to give it a try. They only lasted about 20 minutes. :) 

Austin gave it a shot too but I missed him with my camera. Anyone who knows Austin knows he moves fast. 

We are coming home in two days and I keep getting asked if I am excited. The answer is yes and no. Yes I am excited to see my family and friends, I have missed them immensely! I am excited to be able to take a break from the togetherness and to be able to take a break from cooking every meal (Shane helps but still). 

But part of me is not ready to go. I will miss the Grace kids and my friends in Haiti. I will miss the slow pace of life and the togetherness (I'm tired of the togetherness and I love the togetherness). 

I know that I will be asked a lot of questions, many of them I don't have an answer to and thinking about this makes me tired. But I also know that sharing our story is part of our ministry and allows others to share in the ways God is using us and helping us grow. Sharing also allows others to know how to pray. 

A part of me knows that I may not want to come back. Serving God this way is hard. He is refining me and teaching me what sanctification in Christ really means. It means death to all of the parts of me that want my way and allowing Christ to really live in and through me. My stubborn, sinful self does not want to let go. I like to joke with Shane that God sent us to Haiti because it was going to take something this challenging to get us completely reliant on God. We are willing and we are learning, but man...it is painful. 

I cling to Philippans 1:6:

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. 

So after this reflection...I would say yes, I am excited to come to Minnesota. I trust God completely. I look forward to seeing what God wants to teach us in America in these next two weeks. I am just so glad that he is allowing us to continue to be part of creating His kingdom here on earth, both in Haiti and in America. 

 

The influence a family can make

One of the Haitian employees at Grace had a dream the other night. She said she dreamed that Shane was walking around Grace Village with many of the other workers following him. As he was walking around the grounds, Shane would stop and point to a place in the ground and say, "Here" and he would bend down and begin to dig. He would then remove a voodoo bottle. In her dream, Shane would then continue to another place and would point again and remove another voodoo bottle. 

What an amazing dream! A dream of God using Shane to lead those at Grace Village, of those at Grace trusting Shane and following him, and of this group routing out the evil so that Grace can shine God's light. 

I read this verse this morning and it fits the dream of our employee/friend. 

"Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is bad, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light." Luke 11:34-36

One of our missions here at Grace is to just be an example of a family. We are broken, as I have said very often in this blog, but we love Jesus, we love each other and we know how to say we are sorry and mean it. Some ways we are an example is just by living here. The Grace kids are able to see that families eat together, they look after each other, they fight and get into trouble sometimes. 

One time, my children were being very naughty so I sent them to bed at 6:30pm. I then went out to hang out with the Grace kids for a couple of minutes. They started to ask for my kids and I told them that my children were not listening so they had to take a punishment and go to bed. The Grace kids where incredulous! My kids didn't listen?? They got in trouble?? The questions went on for quite some time. I know that the Haitian culture often thinks that white skin means better, but we are human and we get to show them that humanness. Who knew our humanness could be part of our ministry. 

Another way our family is being used is an example of a father's protection. One of the boys at Grace intentionally hurt Sierra. Normally this is something that we would encourage Sierra to handle with her words or would help her work through with a monitor and the child to understand what happend. This time was different; the boy was older, we know this boy struggles being kind to others, and Sierra was really hurt. So Shane went to have a talk with this boy about how he treats his daughter. It was done respectfully but with force. Every child that was near stopped to watch Shane. The point was made, a dad protects his child. 

The best thing was the follow up. Later that night Shane made sure to find this boy and give him a hug so that he knew there was forgiveness. I am not sure they see that very often. For a while after, the other children were careful around him, but they soon realized that he really did forgive the boy. 

This ended up resulting in another lesson as a few of the boys talked about how if Shane hit me, he could kill me. We were able to have a very good talk about how Shane NEVER hits me and never has. That hitting a woman can never be an option because a man has so much strength but instead a man is to protect his wife. In a country where it really is about survival of the fittest, this is something they don't understand very well. In fact, it came up again with two of our young men that live at Grace. We found out that they hit one of the girls and we were able to discuss "What is a real man?". I pray constantly that this message seeps into their hearts and minds and that they are able to apply this in their life inside and outside of Grace. 

The children play a lot of games with each other's emotions and use manipulation to get their way. This is no different than any child, except they don't have parents that are helping them process through these emotions and make better choices. One of the things the children like to do is to be mad at one another. I have been on the recieving end of this mad (which looks like ignoring, talking about, and dirty looking) and it can last for as long as a month. The person on the receiving end can have no idea why the other person is mad. Our family is combating this by addressing the person that is mad. When we notice a child is acting mad at us, we ask them if they are mad, we then let them know that we are sad but that we are here to listen if we have offended them somehow. Sometimes they stay mad a long time, but more often than not, they decide that since we are not trying to take their power, it is more fun to just address the issue and be friends again. 

Our house is also a place of safety. Some of the chidlren received Legos for Christmas and we gave them the option of putting their toys at our house. Quite a few took us up on that offer. They know that at our house, we will respect their things by not touching or allowing anyone else to touch their toy. Our hope is this will teach them that there are safe places. 

One little boy that has been having a very hard time, has found our house to be a place of refuge. He often spends time in our time-out room, but he also spends a lot of time on our couch. Sometimes he is playing video games with one of our phones and sometimes he is building Legos. Recently he came into our house, lay on the couch, put a pillow over his head, and cried. It is a safe place to be sad. 

One of my favorite things to do is to go to the dorms and kiss the kids goodnight. We don't do this every night, but it is a fun way to see the kids and let them know we value them. The little boys will get a kiss from me and then run to lay in their beds so that they can get another one. Or sometimes they will offer a kiss back. So sweet. At first I thought the older boys would not be interested, too cool, but they always offer their cheek and a shy smile. The little girls always welcome the kiss and will often squeeze in a hug. The big girls are tricky, but one of my favorite things to do is tell them how gorgeous they are as I give them a kiss. 

God is using our family. It isn't the huge things that we do that is making the biggest difference, but the little things. God is using our relationships to make change happen and to make a positive impact. Life in Haiti is never boring.  

 

Austin has found his favorite spot to sit and read. 

Sierra doing homework. 

The boys practicing their soccer skills. 

Shane was able to be a firefighter in Haiti. There was a grass fire and he ran this water down the school's roof to put out the fire. 

Our Grace kids are SO creative. They used construction equipement to make a drum set. (photo compliments of Rachel)

Culture Shock

We have hit the three month mark. We have survived and even thrived in many areas. So it got me thinking, what is the process. What is normal? So I did a little bit of research to find out the stages of culture shock. 

First Stage: Honeymoon or tourist stage

I think this lasted like 2 minutes. :) No, not really. I think that this stage actually lasted about 3 weeks for Shane and I and maybe a little longer for the kiddos. Some fun things about this stage:

1. There were times we were sort of bored

2. Every one we met had a clean slate

3. The kids favoite part was hanging out with so many friends

Second Stage: Irritation and anger stage

So this stage is where you feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by all of the differences in the culture. Apparently it is normal to get mad at the differences and feel like your home culture is superior. 

I think we jump in and out of this stage regularly. It is just SO different. 

1. One of our biggest challenges has been food. If you remember my earlier blog we seriously struggled with how to eat a balanced diet,  how to eat food found in Haiti, and how to have food we enjoy. (Good news is in this department anyway, we have moved to the next stage). 

2. Why is it so hard to develop unity at Grace? 

3. Why is driving so dangerous in Haiti? 

4. The kids would wonder why it is so difficult to be friends with children from another culture & from an orphanage. 

Third stage: Adjustment & reintegration

This is the phase where you become more open and accepting. You begin to understand how the culture will react, you know how to do 'life' in a way that is acceptable, and you begin to be proactive. 

We are toying with this phase. We are working on self care and putting up good boundaries. We live at our job, with our coworkers. Its a lot of togetherness. Don't get me wrong, I like togetherness...this is a lot. :) So we are communicating a lot with each other as a family and making sure that each persons needs are being taken care of. Some fun things about this stage:

1. I know where to go to get food that I can't buy at the local market! Yea!!

2. We are making friends with those in the community and feel safe driving home at night. 

3. The kids would say, they are learning more and more Creole which is helping them communicate and avoid some friendship pitfalls. 

Fourth Stage: Integration and assimilation stage

In this stage, you compare both cultures but you do so realistically. You feel comfortable and settled. You are just living a normal life. 

Someday we will be here. I'll keep you posted when we get here. 

Fifth Stage: Reverse or reentry stage

This stage is being excited about going home. Yet slowly realizing that things changed while you were gone. 

Sixth Stage: Shocked about the differences

In this stage you realize that things are not better at your home country. You even begin to miss where you were. 

So there you have it. We are working through the process. I know that one blessing has been that we are here for a two year commitment. This length of time has kept us from looking at our end date and instead keeping our eyes focused on the now. We are coming back to Minnesota Feb 10th-24th and that has got us missing our family even more. We are so excited to be able to visit them and refill. 

I have been making a list of things that I want to remember about our first year in Haiti, before we get to the Fourth Stage of culture shock. 

-Everyone shares what they have

-For Christmas they stay up late Christmas Eve and sometimes set off fireworks 

-I bought a laundry basket for $250 goudes (about $5 American dollars). Before that we were using a black plastic bag. It's the small things that make a difference 

-The reason the Haitian's use baby powder is that the sweat starts to hurt

-You can not flush #1 toilet paper or it will fill up your septic system. 

-If your system gets filled, someone (who gets paid a lot of money) will go down and shovel out the stuff that is left (apparently they drink a lot before they go down...yuck). 

-When you see someone for the first time of the day, it is required that you greet them. If you do not, they will think you are mad at them. They will probably ask you why you didn't say hello. 

-While driving, it is considered 'ok' to pass someone as they are passing someone else.

-Glasses of water left unattended often have small bugs floating in them. The bugs need water too and it is the drought season. 

-The kids play soccer on cement. This is an upgrade from rocky terrain. 

-Taking a shower the American way is tricky because there is little water pressure. It's easier to do it the Haitian way, with a little bucket. 

-It is important to tuck your sheets VERY tight so bugs don't crawl in there during the day. This also keeps the dust out of your bed.

-2 hours after cleaning the house we can write on the dresser because there is so much dust. 

-Haitians almost never fall even though their ground is really rocky. 

-All windows have bars, doors have locked gates and it is very important to make sure they are locked at night. (The police will probably not come if you call in case of an emergency)

-Church is held Mon-Fri from 5-6am, Wed 6-8pm, Sun 10am-12pm. Their worship is amazing. 

-When there is a grass fire in the mountain no one is able to put it out. 

So often when we drive or walk through the streets of Haiti I am overwhelmed by the love I feel for my Haitian brothers and sisters.  I know this love is only a fraction of what God feels for the Haitians. I am so grateful we get to serve here. 

(The information on culture shock was taken from expatcapetown.com blog. So good, thank you!)

Pictures of the Imslands in Haiti

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!! We want to thank each of you for your financial support, prayers support, and amazing encouragement we receive from you. Thank you for helping us follow God's call on our families' life. We could not do it without you!

Here is the Christmas tree that the Grace Village staff set up in our feeding center.

We had a beautifu dinner for our Grace kids and our Haitian staff. I absoltely loved being able to serve them. To be able to look into each of their eyes and show respect and gratitude for all the hard work they did this last year, what a blessing!

The Grace kids each recieved a gift. Many of the younger girls received dolls, the younger boys received legos and the older children received small personal radios. All were thrilled. I gave a short talk on how to take care of their legos and how to follow the directions to make the creation on the picture. Many of the boys came to our house later for help put their creation together. They had never had anything like those Lego kits before. Christmas morning, Austin, Landen, and I took hours to help walk the kids through the step by step directions to make their legos. This allowed them to learn the value of follwoing directions and the rewards that come when you do. So proud of my boys! 

We were able to attend the marriage of one of our friends the weekend after Christmas. It was a fun excuse to get dressed up and take pictures. A couple of the things unusual about Haitian weddings; they can start very late after the proposed start time (this one started 1hr 48 min late), the bridesmaids wear wedding dresses as well, the wedding lasts 2 hours and the reception is a time to distribute food to those that attended the wedding and then they imediately leave the reception. 

Bianca & Sierra

Hannah, Sierra, & Landen

Vanessa & Sierra

The beatiful couple!

One of our 4 year old Grace kids. Heat, 4 hours, and the necessity to sit still = nap time. 

One of our missionary family friends invited us to a beach that cators to missionaries and orphanages. We had such a wonderful time! Being a missionary family can be hard but we get to see the Caribbean daily and every once in a while we get to swim in it. Blessings. 

Daphne comes to our house 3 times a week and cleans our laundry and house. She is not just an employee, she is becoming part of our family. We just love her. During this Christmas vacation time her girls came to visit us. We had a great time talking, playing jumprope, playing soccer and sharing a little chocolate. 

We were able to visit our pastor's new baby. He is adorable as you can see. Such a sweet heart and his mom did an amazing job. The most fun thing for me is that I was able to help her with breastfeeding, doula training coming in handy. I stole this picture collage from one of the other long term missionaries. 

Austin and Landen have really fallen into the rythm of life in Haiti. One of the things they do daily is play soccer. They never played in America so they didn't bring any skills to Haiti. However with daily playing and practice outside of our house, they are getting better. Sometimes the big boys even let Austin play. 

This picture is of them sittling...waiting. 

New satellite instalation at Grace, this is Jean our fearless Hatian leader eating lunch 30 feet off the ground, sitting on the ledge,

Jonas, our Haitian maintenance man, is creating an extension cord in true Haiti fashion by connecting a plugless cord to another...

Today is New Years Day and we had friends from Shane, Bianca, and my May trip. We had a wonderful time connecting and enjoying friendships, new and old. 

2014...We can't wait to see what God will do this year!

Fighting on our knees.

Sometimes being a missionary is amazing. You get to serve God every day and your service is so apparent. For instance, we work for an organization that is directly impacting 52 children's lives. We get to see these children every day, to interact with them, and to love on them...daily. We get to watch our Haitian staff grow in wisdom. We get to play a part in encouraging our church's pastor and our school administer and those men are and will continue to impact even more lives. We get to be a part of our clinic and the vision for bringing knowledge into the community. It is a wonderful job. 

Sometimes being a missionary is just hard work. It is easy to feel alone, to get our feelings hurt, for misunderstandings to stop good work from happening. It is easy to get tired and it can be easy when you spend a lot of time with your family to long for the comforts of America. 

We have only been here for 3 months and we have already experienced both sides of being missionaries. 

We have noticed an increase in spiritual battles since we arrived. They found a bottle that is used for voodoo outside of our church. Its a small wine bottle with liquid in it, a paper with writing, two candles that have been partially burned, and ash. To be honest it looked just like they do in the movies. Except to know that someone's intent was to harm with this bottle makes it look a little more scary. 

Some nights I can not sleep because I feel that I must pray for protection. Often times the next day I will ask the other missionaries how they slept and will hear the same thing, they too where awake and praying. 

Our Grace Village kids heard noises outside of their dorms and voices. They were filled with fear. 

Satan is alive and spiritual warfare is real. The good news is that if Satan is working so hard to fill those of us at Grace Village with fear, we must be doing something right. God's light must be shining a little more brightly. We are clinging to these verses;

Ephesians 6:12-17

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

Because of the power of Jesus' name, we do not have to be afraid. We will continue to trust and follow our Lord and Savior. Our devotion time has taken on a new meaning as we cling to the truth of God's armor. We are literally on our knees daily in prayer. From what we can tell, when we get on our knees, God's power begins in full force. 

One of the things happening for God's Kingdom is a few of the local gang members have begun to attend church. One of the young men, named Johnny, was taken in by Shane. He was given help to go to schol but he did not have any clothes to wear when he went to school. We felt lead to help him with this and have become friends with him over time. Recently, Shane invited him to church. He said he doesn't go because he does not know if he wants to believe in him. So Shane said to come and see what God shows him. 

Last Sunday, we had 4 gang members sitting in our church pews. I sat behind them and didn't hear a word of the service because I spent the entire time praying for them. I spoke to our friend Johnny afterwards and told him how glad I was that he came and how I hoped to see him again. He said he would come. What if he turned his life over to Christ? What if he became a witness to our gang in Titanyen and more of them became Christians? I'll tell you what will happen, demons will flee Titanyen. 

One of our security guards is also, we believe part of the gang in Titnayen. He doesn't scare me because he is on our side right now, but he is one scary dude. He is not a Christian and was recently sick for two weeks because of a voodoo curse. He is filled with anger most of the time and walks with a chip on his shoulder. Last week, Shane had to give him a warning for his behavior on the job. We were very concerned with this warning. In the past, he has reacted very aggressive towards anyone who questions him.  So we sent out a prayer support request to our board member and she got her prayer warriors on it. When Shane and our Haitian HR talked to him, he actually listened and agreed! He even made some good points himself.  

Then later that day, I had the chance to show him support and respect in an issue he had with one of our children. God just used us to affirm him and hopefully to show God's grace and love. We believe that God is working in his heart and that he too could be softening to God's calling. We are praying for his salvation. 

God is moving at Grace Village. Please pray with us for:

-the salvation of these two young men

-our children at Grace that they would find freedom from their past

-Grace Village that it would shine God's glory

-that the demons in Titanyen would flee 

 

The stockings are hung with care.

Our little Christmas tree. 

I know its cruel, but the weather is so nice!

Christmas crafting with the Grace kiddos.

A missionary friend of our took this picture. He said it was the day chasing the night. This is about 5 in the morning east and west. 

Tiny acts of obedience

Grace Church is a wonderful place to worship. Pastor Wesley has a passion for worship and praise that I have seen in few others. He is also a very gifted speaker that keeps the audience engaged and makes listening to him fun. 

Grace Church holds its services in the feeding center at Grace Village. The room dimensions are approximately 40' x 80' and hold our 52 children that live at Grace comfortably during meal time. However during the Sunday service there are anywhere from 150-300 people attending church. It is close, hot, and filled with God's spirit. 

Last week I was sitting about 5 rows from the front. As I was sitting there I became aware of the woman next to me. The reason I noticed them was because they smelled very bad, it was the smell that comes from bodies that have not been washed for many days. This told me that she must be very poor. So I began to discreetly observed them. She was very slim and had on a long green skirt and a bright yellow shirt. Sitting with her were three little girls approximate ages 6, 4, and 1 1/2yrs old, dressed in their Sunday best. Their little white dresses looked like confirmation dresses and one of the children had on soccer cleats. They were incredibly cute and it was obvious that their momma loved them and took care of them as best she could. Everything about them screamed absolute poverty and love. 

During the hour worship, the smallest little girl began to cry and throw herself around while the mom tried to get her to relax and to fall asleep. She did eventually fall asleep, cradled in her momma's arms. As a mom, I know what a hungry cry sounds like and that is what she was, hungry.

I have a job during the service to help put the offering in a safe place and when I returned,my spot was taken. The service was full so I decided to go sit on the medical clinic stairs so I could listen in the shade. As I was sitting on the stairs, the same woman was being helped out of the church by the ushers. I watched as the woman held her sobbing middle child, and two of our ushers helped the other two kids follow their mom. They came and sat on the stairs near us and I felt a prompting, "Feed them." 

Immediately I had a million excuses why this was a horrible idea, but I said to the woman, "Bonjou. Pou kisa pi ti ou ap crye?" (Good morning. Why is your child crying?) She patted her stomach and said that her daughter was hungry. That was all the confirmation I needed. I told her that I was going to give her some food but that it would only be this one time. I gave her 4 granola bars and then hung out with her as her little girls ate the snacks. After a little bit, the girls where finished and the momma moved them back into the feeding center to finish listening to the service.

After the service I went to Pastor Wesley, the woman and her children were still sitting in the feeding center, so I pointed to them and asked Pastor Wesley if we could do something to help her. And thats when I heard the rest of the story. 

Pastor Wesley had been working with this family for the last month and had actually just recently asked us if we had clothes donations to share with this family. The family had come from the country; a father, the momma, and three little girls. The father was a voodoo priest and a rival priest was trying to kill him and his family. So they moved to Titanyen. They are living with another voodoo priest in Titanyen and yet somehow the man got connected with Pastor Wesley and they began to attend our church. The man accepted Christ recently and Pastor Wesley was mentoring him in what it means to be a believer. 

Two weeks ago, the man mentioned that when he was sleeping he had spirits attacking him with faces in his dreams and lots of fear. Pastor Wesley told him that he was saved but he needed to use the power Jesus' name to cast out the demons so that he could be free. The man did this and the next morning, he told Pastor Wesley that it was different...he was free. Well, the wife has noticed the difference too. Pastor Wesley told me that was why she came to Grace Church today. She had decided to give her life to Christ as well. After she had gone back in, she had given her life to Christ. 

1 Chorinthians 12:12

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 

This story isn't really about me. My part is tiny and relatively unimportant. All I had to do is to listen to God's prompting and give 4 granola bars so that the woman could go back inside and accept Christ. But this family is going to be saved for eternally because of many tiny acts of obedience by believers. Our God is SO big!! It is an honor to be able to play a role in someone's eternal destination. 

This puppy is 3 months old and our missionary friends have adopted him. (He's huge!)

The parent child team in Haiti had a Christmas party for the elderly. They also acted out the Christmas story. My kiddos had so much fun. 

 

Sierra calls Maxim her Haitian dad. He's a huge softy.

Salsa Dancing with Jean. He told me Sierra reminded him to, "Do the dip". Austin did amazing...and his partner was Jean. :) 

Landen is our Dog Whisperer