So much has happened in the past couple weeks I have not blogged at all.

Where is start is a good question.

Lots of people are asking about Sandra. She was doing great here with us, eating great and being a playmate to Odessa. We knew from the beginning of the journey she couldn't stay here the entire time it wuld take to complete her adoption though. So she left about 2 weeks ago. She is staying with a Haitian preacher and his family (who happen to have 3 girls!) while her adoptive family is going through the process. I have called a few times to check on her and they say she is doing awesome! She will be starting school for the first time and is excited about that. Odessa however, asks about her nearly everyday and seems a little lost without a live in playmate. Please continue praying for Sandra and her adoption process.

Speaking of which, we are coming along with Odessa's paperwork. And waiting anxiously with other adoptive parents on the Haitian government to change the adoption rules a little. To make is easier to adopt in Haiti. So send up LOTS of prayers the president of Haiti signs that paperwork!

Right now am in the middle of working with the USS Comfort which is currently in Haiti providing free surgeries and a variety of other medical services for 10 days. It is lots of work but has surprisingly be a lot of fun too! Check out the USNS Comfort's website and the "Continuing Promise" program.

Angel Missions Haiti is helping corrdinate tanslators and patients for the ship.Several patients we had on our list to go to the US for surgery (Nadine has gotten some care-see below for her story) are receiving care here in Haiti thanks to the USNS Comfort!

Haitian proverbs

Now that I am learning the Creole language better and better, I am starting to understand the Haitian proverbs people use in everyday conversation. I have used some American ones I have translated into Creole, but they are always well understood. For example-Actions speak louder than words, or One man's trash is another man's treasure.

There are several Haitian proverbs I really like.

• Sonje lapli ki leve mayi ou. (Remember the rain that made your corn grow.)

• Bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje. (The giver of the blow forgets, the bearer of the scar remembers.)

And my favorite...

• Woch nan dlo pa konnen doule woch nan soley. (The rock in the water doesn't know the pain of the rock in the sun.) 

We can think we understand. We can try really, really hard to imagine. 

But we don't know the pain.


Sometimes we are so quick to judge others. Even if we don't do it out loud, we do it in our heads. 


But walking a mile in someone else's shoes doesn't really cut it b/c at the end of that mile we put our own shoes back on and are thankful for them. 


Countless time I have heard short term missionaries who come to Haiti for a week or 2 say things like, "I had no idea how lucky I am." or, "Now I am going to be thankful for everything God has given me-a house, car, food."


But do we ever think that we were given the opportunities we have been given in life to help others?


The first time I came to Haiti in 2008 I met a lady who was my age (28) with 5 children whose husband had died a couple months earlier. Through an interpreter I listened to her story as I stood in front of a banana leaf shack looking into the eyes of someone who was my exact same age-yet we were so different. Her and her 5 children were literally starving to death.


I think aggravated is the best work to describe the way I felt towards God. Yes I asked him why. Why did I have all the opportunities I had had in my life while she had NONE. Why didn't God "even the stakes" just a little bit?


She was baking in the sun while I, in my cozy life, was lounging in the water. 


I have never seen her again. It's amazing how big of an impact 3 minutes with a stranger can have on your life.


Without this 3 minutes I never would have returned to Haiti. This was my first experience with "a rock in the sun."


But as much I want to think I understand that rock, I never will.





Click here to read more Haitian proverbs.

Bring on the Food!

So Sandra looks scared to death in this picture! But I assure you she is ONE HAPPY GIRL!

She got the hardware removed that was wiring her broken jaw together! It was wired for 5 weeks. See previous blog for Sandra's story. But to jog your memory she was the former slave child. She has been living with us in The Shoebox since she was released from the hospital.

She has been on a liquid diet for 5 weeks-and I will tell that is no easy task in Haiti! She was also extremely malnourished so we had to get vitamins and lots of protein into her liquid diet. We are all glad she is back to eating regular food! And boy can she eat.

Thanks for all the prayers lifted on her behalf. There is an American family seeking to adopt her so keep the prayers going for that process also. 

Gotta go...somebody wants cake!

Summer camp!

We all packed up last week and headed up near Port au Paix to run a week of church camp. We started out only accepting 50 Haitian kids but by the end of week somehow had 73-with kids outside begging to get in everyday.

Odessa and Sandra had a blast! Sandra (6yrs) had never seen anything like that before. Being quite the tomboy, she loved the recreation games and was better at them than some of the older boys! Odessa loved being the center of attention with the American group from California and she loved the craft time. 

The team from California put together a bible story plan around the story of Jonah. They did skits, had colorful displays and surprisingly they learned church songs in Creole! The Haitian kids were so excited that the Americans were learning the songs in the Creole language. They learned, "Jesus Loves the Little Children, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, and Lord I Lift Your Name on High." The group leader, Jason, came with a guitar-I think the kids would have sat and sang with him for the entire day if they could have! 

These kids live so far out in the country that they do not get programs like this at all. One day I was dying for a Coke or Pepsi. David and I left the camp and went out looking. No luck. There was literally NOWHERE 20 minutes in either direction to buy pop. SO you can see how the week long camp was a big deal to them.

I pray it has a lasting effect and they hold onto the bible lessons.