Haiti Love Trip 2015 - Of Granola Bars & Size 4 Diapers

Our luggage from McPherson at the Miami airport! They were heavy!

As we stood in the room where all the team's donations were being brought in we slowly, joyously began sorting through them.

So much had been given to help the people of Haiti. You friends, you purchased and gave and we were sitting surrounded by your outpouring of love for people you will never meet.

Each team member had brought two 50 lbs. bags filled with supplies to be handed out between two orphanages, two churches, a school and a hospital. That's 1,600 pounds of supplies! So many supplies to try to put a dent in so many needs.

It put tears in our eyes seeing the different things that had been donated, knowing those things cost so much more here to purchase if they are even available.

On the first go through, we sorted by content. Piles of school supplies, pain reliever, cough syrup, ointment, band aids, shoes, socks, fun activities, pillowcase dresses and piles of ziplock bags filled the room. It was overwhelming. It looked like someone's bag for summer camp had exploded a hundred times over.


Once all the team members had arrived and all the supplies had been sorted by kind, a few team members worked to divide them between the places we would be taking them. Gertrude's orphanage, Josie's orphanage, then Pastor Thomas' church & school, Leonard's church and the hospital.

At times it felt a little like the story of Elisha and the Widow's Oil (2 Kings 3-4). No matter how many diapers were packed in to other bags or granola bars eaten and handed out - those piles continued to loom large.

At several different times we said to each other, "What are we going to do with all these diapers and granola bars?" At one point we even took extra granola bars with us as we traveled to work sites to hand out at traffic stops to those walking on the street but even then we didn't have great success getting rid of many.

Little did we know but God had a plan for those diapers and granola bars. It would take us a few days to know about it too, but when we did come to know why we had them, we understood the provision of God in a new way.

During an evening chat with a resident volunteer at Gertrude's orphanage, Lauren (who is a story of God's love in herself) shared with me that her fiance had an orphanage. He was homing 13 kids that were found on the street, homeless, some due to the earthquake in 2010. That Chedner had plans of attending pharmacy school and had started but after the earthquake he simply could not bear seeing all the parent-less orphans on the streets. He allowed God to break his heart for those children and quit school, took what money he had left and opened his orphanage, Family Care Home.

She shared with me that he didn't have support from any organization to run it and that what fed the kids, kept a roof over their heads and sent them to school were what he made from his construction supplies company. Sometimes it was good, when times were good, but sometimes it was tight when times were lean. Doubly, he spent what profit was made on the kid's needs so he lacked funding to continue to invest more into growing his business.

What a story. What a man. What a God who continues to sustain him, those kids and that orphanage.

So that night during team devotions we were talking about the $5,000+ that had been donated for purchase of rice and beans (God is so good and you all were so faithful to give out of your excess to physically put food on the table for so many families) and I mentioned learning about a small orphanage just down the street that could probably benefit from some beans and rice. It is my first time traveling with this group and I wasn't really sure if I was overstepping any boundaries by suggesting this as they have places they return to and support each year but in hindsight I am so thankful I did. Keith, one of the trip coordinators nodded that there would be plenty to share some there as well.

In a turn of events caused by political demonstrations and a transportation strike due to increased gas prices, our team was unable to go offsite to jobs that had been planned the two days before we were to return home.

On the first day of our "house arrest", a few members of our team decided to make use of the time and deliver some supplies we had held back to Chedner's orphanage since it was a 10 minute walk away.

Family Care Home

When they came back you could tell that the conditions at that place had been rough by their expressions and quietness. They packed up more supplies including additional medical supplies, shoes, dresses and food. I went with the group on the second trip to the orphanage and all they shared was true.

Dirt floors. Dark rooms. Bare feet. Crowded sleeping areas. You can imagine and you cannot imagine all at the same time. Much work to be done.

At the Family Care Center, they are safe, they are cared for and they are loved. It's not the best accommodations but they are not living on the street, hungry and unsupervised. Chedner and Lauren have plans for improving the orphanage that I would love to share with you as well as some fundraisers they have coming up in the US for that purpose. They will be redoing the kitchen soon, making repairs to the second floor to make a separate bedroom for boys and girls and doing work on the roof to make a play area.

On the second day of our house arrest, another group of our team went back.The team noticed that the kids had their Sunday best on and later we found out it was because they had heard we were coming to see them. Such sweet kids.

The kids all dressed up to welcome their guests. They sang songs and had colored pictures for the team.

The kids enjoying a meal of beans and rice that had been provided by the donations we had brought.

Like the Widow's desperate need was filled by God's supernatural provision through the multiplication of her few drops of oil, the orphan's needs were met through your donations and our gift of service and time to say yes to Haiti, to show up, ask questions and to pour out love on them.

The size 4 diapers? The orphanage had taken in a little one with cerebral palsy. That precious child wears a size 4. Bless it.

Those granola bars? It was shared with us that the kids were embarrassed at school because other kids were able to bring a snack to eat and the orphanage could not afford to send anything with them. Problem {temporarily} solved.

When we were packing those bags in Kansas and Nebraska and Michigan and Washington, we had no way of knowing that a mile from our guesthouse there would be an orphanage desperately in need of the very things our friends and families had given us. But God did. And He knows of many more needs in Haiti that He is waiting to show me. And you. And provide for His children there through us by His grace.

In Matthew 6:24-34, it is written; "Do not be anxious saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What clothes shall we wear?' ...Your heavenly Father knows you need these things. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"

In Luke 12:48, it is written; "But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required."

Face Painting Fun

I have a creative soul and love to express myself through art, photography and writing. 

Something I've discovered that I love to do is face paint. I started face painting at McPherson's annual Scottish Festival a few year's ago and realized how much I enjoy it! 

This last Christmas I had the opportunity to volunteer in Little Man's kindergarten class. I let them pick something for me to paint and tried to do it. It was all free hand and fun! And they loved it!!

Use an old ice cube tray to hold paint! Genius! Thanks Pinterest!

I need to work on my technique a little bit I think I'm getting the hang of it! 

I'm looking forward to volunteering again at the Valentine's Day party!

What's something fun you've discovered you like to do?

Haiti Love Trip 2015 - Travel Day, Part 2

We made it!!

My first look at Haiti! Beautiful mountains and water. I hope I have an aisle seat on the way home to get a better look. 

We were met at the airport by our driver Leonard and several friends. From what I have heard the airport has came a long way in the last several years and everything ran pretty smooth. 

There was no sugar coating or dipping your toe into Haiti. You walk out the airport doors into the heat and into the culture.

You can't help but take notice of all the locals trying to "help" you with your bags for a fee. This is their income so they are a little aggressive. We already had arrangements with our driver so during that part we were most untouched. I didn't feel threatened or annoyed. They are trying to do honest work to earn money. 

Your nose picks up all the smells. Your face feels the breeze. You can hear the airline noise as well as street noise beyond the parking lot. Soon our team was leaving the fortified walls of the airport and our eyes began taking in the sights. 

Beauty, destruction. Nakedness, well dressed adults. Homes made of tarps leaning against a wall, homes behind ornate gates and high concrete walls. Joyous singing, people crying. 

Haiti is a junxapose. 

Dozens of kids walking home from school made me smile and think of the hope they represent for the future of Haiti. However, just behind where they were walking, I see the pain of the past as the remains of the whole buildings covering lots in rubble from the 2010 earthquake. 

It is clear that life here is not easy by American standards. Sitting on the hot sidewalk trying to sell your wares or bottled water. Walking while balancing large containers on your head. Children that should be in school instead walking together carrying large containers of water. Whole families huddled close to the concrete city walls trying to find even a little shade. None of these activities are typical in my safe, comfortable American culture. 

We arrived at Gertrude's guesthouse and orphanage and it was great to be welcomed in and start meeting everyone. 

I made several tours through the baby room and played a version of patty cake over and over until my heart about exploded. They are cared for well and several have very bubbly personalities. 

I excused myself to the roof to collect my thoughts and spend a little time alone. It is so much visually to take in. I needed some time and space to start processing it. 

The view from the roof. Gorgeous!

I was able to help feed two kids on the other side of the campus. It was nice to be able to jump in and serve in that small but tangible way. Because of their challenges and our language barrier I wasn't able to talk with the children I got to work with but we exchanged some smiles as they were able. I was able to talk some with some staff. 

After our dinner and devotions as a team we started unpacking and sorting donations. These will bless many. 

Thank you for giving. You did this!

Kim and Gertrude catching up. 

Kim is co-coordinator of our trip and shared our first team devotion. She reminded us of why we are here. To encourage and support our brothers and sisters in Christ and to bring relief to help them help the people here. To serve where we can by helping the Haitians with their work. We are not in charge, we are along for the ride.

Sarah and Leonard, our driver. One example of established friendships in this place. It's not a one week a year investment of time, it's a year round yearning to support one another, pray for one another and love however you can. 

I have seen this fleshed out in so many ways already in the short time I've been here. I think one of my favorite things so far has been seeing old friends greet each other and reconnect. You can tell these people love each other and there is a mutual relationship there build on faith as friendship. 

Gus was very excited to hear his long time buddy was coming to stay. Keith is Kim's husband and our other trip coordinator. They have been visiting this place since '99 bringing teams here. Their flight was later arriving than ours so Gus had a couple hours of waiting. This picture is their embrace when they arrived. So moving. 

More thoughts tomorrow I'm sure!

Now it's definitely time for a shower and sleep. Blessings on you and contined prayers for us. Specifically for one bag that still has not been found and also for our work day outside tomorrow. Pray for the health of the team that everyone does okay doing the physical work in the heat. 

Haiti Love Trip 2015 - Travel Day There, Part 1

It's finally Tuesday ! Travel day from home to Miami, the first leg of our journey to Haiti to serve for a week.

This morning my husband and I both took a deep breath and smiled as it soaked in that I really was leaving! He has been so supportive of this trip and I am so thankful for both him being a man of faith excited for me to serve this way and a wonderful father that is looking forward to lots of dad on kids time. 

My mom and mother in law and father in law will help out with grandkid duties as well on the days Michael is working. It is so nice to love so close to family. 

Sarah's husband dropped us off at the airport and after shuffling donations in our duffles we were able to check on 200 lbs. of donations without having to pay an overage fee which means more cash for rice and beans to give out! Praise God! Our carry ons are a little fuller now but we will manage. 

Altogether we gathered 300 lbs. of donations. You did that! There is a ton of medical supplies, diapers, formula, shoes, zip lock bags, granola bars and tons of school supplies. These donations will be split among 2 orphanages, a school and a hospital. 

This verse was my Bible app's verse of the day when we packed donations. We asked, you answered. Your gifts will definitely be a blessing on those that receive nourishment, health and happiness from them. 

Our other trip mate was flying a different airline and had already boarded by the time we went through security. We will meet up with her tonight in Miami as well as some of our other teammates. 

Our flight was delayed three times out of Wichita and we barely made our connection in Dallas! We are thankful for the air tram system, it got us there with 3 minutes to spare to board. 

It was fun to see I was flying right past my hometown on the seat back gps. It's been a while since I've flown and I forget how beautiful the sky is and how majestic the clouds are. 

Sunset as we approach Miami, Florida. 

Looking out always makes me think back to Genesis when God separated light from dark and the waters. Our atmosphere is amazing! How great if flying that we get to see it up close!

Once we landed we met up with Cassie, checked in to our hotel then are found a nearby dive Chinese restaurant to eat at tonight. 

The Ping House

We were going to try to make it to the beach but it's a ways away and we want to get some rest before our early airport wake up call tomorrow. 

But really!?! Haiti in the morning!

Works For Me Wednesday!

I don't know about you but I feel like my six year old son is either playing Legos, running around practicing his ninja moves or begging for a snack! 

Before we had to avoid dairy with him, he had a go to section in the fridge door holding go-gurt and cheese sticks. Since that doesn't work anymore I revised the plan and have designated a drawer that is his height for snack foods. 

Not ground breaking I know, but it's helped in an unexpected way: faster lunch prep! Now I can stock the main sandwich and he can add a protein and fruit or veggie option! It's been great!

It worked for me, can you make it work for you?

And So It Begins...

Showers are amazing things. You step into the warm, soothing waters and your mind is suddenly free to roam in the open spaces that time and distractions normally rush you through. Showers when the rest of the family is tucked snug in their beds, sleeping tight. Nothing like them. They are amazing and refreshing. A great time to argue with yourself and think things out.

Should I stay or should I go? 

No, I'm not singing Clash in the shower. I'm debating about whether or not I should go on a short term missions trip to Haiti in February.

One of my friends, Sarah, has been several times before and had told me about the trip last year. I talked to my husband. We decided we both could go. He has never been on a mission trip before and it was something he had been thinking of doing. Then life. He got changed back to the alternating swing shift schedule at work, my thyroid decided to go crazy requiring surgery sometime soon, I worried about how I would feel like leaving my not-yet-2 year old for a week. Slowing any serious consideration to go eroded down and just tapered off in the midst of the daily busyness.

Last week a different friend, Heather, who has gone to Haiti with Sarah before and belongs to the same denomination posted on her Facebook wall a list of needs that she will be collecting to take over. This post made me pause and remember all the thoughts I had begun thinking when I my heart had begun stirring months ago about how I could serve Haiti and learn from the people there.

I'd done missions before several times in Western Europe over the course of high school and college. My formative years were marked with the travel and mingling and different languages and spilling out God's grace and developing a love for people who had a different nationality than me. Thanks to the wonderful thing of Facebook I still keep in touch with some of the teammates from the agency I worked for as well as am still connected to some of the church staff and students from Ireland and Belgium. It is amazing to still be seeing ripples of God's goodness and continue to be blessed today through relationships from trips I took years ago. I know there have been a lot of negative conversation surrounding short term mission trips recently--and some things resonated with me--but my life was drastically changed by my experiences abroad for the better. I never set out to be a hero bent on saving souls during any of my trips, I just set out to be a friend.

In my previous trips their culture was beyond America's in terms of the cultural perception of God and how they felt about Him. They were over Catholicism. The were over Protestantism. They were over war. They were over division based on religion. They were done with Jesus. They were post-modern before it was cool. They were... empty.

Belgium was one of the darkest places I have been in terms of walking around in the midst of crowds and feeling a void. Ireland, was different culturally, in that so many were Catholic by birth but didn't practice Catholicism or truly have relationship with Jesus at all. Religion was not a topic discussed that openly due to all the violence in the North. In both places, we were able to come in alongside local churches, support them and connect with the community through sports which opened dialogue and helped form relationships between the community and the local church. I loved it. I also had the opportunity to write and lead some of the Bible study material that our athletes used daily for devotionals. I felt so engaged with what the Body at large was doing during my time with SQ.

But Haiti.... What would a third world country be like? Not only a third world county, but the third hungriest country in the world. There are 196 countries in the world and they rank #3 in hunger. To think of it differently, they rank 194 out of 196 for best fed countries. I don't even want to know where America, in all our excess is listed. 15% of Haitian children are orphaned or abandoned. 70% of the people live in poverty, living surviving on an average of $400 per year. Going to Haiti will be a significantly different experience for me.

So, in what she calls "a weird twist of circumstances," my friend Sarah is now going back to Haiti with the group in February. She had previously decided for many reasons to sit this trip out but now she is going.

I don't think I have been on a single missions trip, ever, that God didn't show up in a big way to provide the way for someone to go that was supposed to be there. So here and Sarah and I were, sitting in our favorite coffee shop, talking about the trip and whether she should or shouldn't go. What reasons were valid for each pro and con and what to do/think/choose when fear/finances/faith complicate decisions. About how when we make hard choices, after the fact, we turn around and see how God orchestrated this huge thing getting us where we are today, fulfilling needs we didn't even know we had.

I said something like, "Your heart is there and you feel called there. If it's just money holding you back then do it! The missional economy and how money seems to fall into place never makes sense! He always provides! It's not like me just saying I'm going and it being just for selfish reasons to go and see this place I've heard so much about. You are connected there!" As soon as the sentence left my mouth, it settled in my stomach weird. Later when I was rethinking the conversation it was like God said, Uh, I never un-called you to missions. And I never un-called you to go to Haiti. And I remembered a sermon about the Great Commission and how "Therefore, go..." is actually translated more meaning "as you go, wherever you go" than it is a direction to geographically go somewhere different to spread the gospel.

You see, after the busyness of summer had hit and plans for us to make this trip had taken a back seat I had started seeking God to clarify my gifts that I was to be using here to serve His body and my community. One thing He revealed to me was my ability for organization. If you could see my house, my van, my desk or could see into my mind, you would laugh. I laughed. But what I heard from God was not about organizing things but hearts. And not just organizing them but connecting them. Meeting people, identifying their strengths, encouraging them and plugging them into the community in the places they fit for the common good. Being able to see needs, recognize resources and connect the two. In essence, exactly what I did as the Volunteer Coordinator when I served in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. I might have been tearing out sheet rock or interviewing homeowners painting rooms or feeding hundreds on the beach but all in all, at the bird's eye view level, that's what I was doing. Equipping and encouraging people and sending them out in the world to do the work He has lined up for them to do. I like the busyness of the beehive, every one doing their own part but some people would crumble in that environment. I don't and that's just because that's how He made me.

So now, realizing the February trip was out of my reach this go around, I prayed that God would show me a way to make an impact in Haiti without me actually getting to go there. In August, not long after I prayed that prayer I saw a mutual friend on Facebook post that they were going to Haiti on a missions trip. Light bulb! I contacted Naomi to get the details of their trip and contacted Sarah to see what the needs were and prayed that He would make it happen. And He did. Area friends filled up a large bag of medicine and supplies needed to replenish what had been so quickly depleted from the orphanage while caring for children and staff from the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus outbreak. It felt so fulfilling just being that middle man that was used to make it happen! I was thankful I had felt that nudge to reach out to Naomi, who I didn't really know and listened to that still small voice of the Spirit leading me to serve. to coordinate. to make a difference.

I've also been praying a lot (still) about what I am supposed to be doing with this one, short life He has given me. There has to be more than going to work every day and church on Sunday. I have a passion for photography and do something meaningful is the theme I keep coming back to concerning where to go next with it. As much as I love child and family portrait sessions, I am craving more. I have always been drawn to photojournalism and how one picture can tell a whole story. I think that is why I dream of someday being able to do birth and newborn photography - it's a new story that needs to be told! It allows me to introduce a new little person to the big world in a way that only I can do. Photography and writing are always things that I have loved doing. So if we are supposed to do whatever we do for the glory of God, how can I use these two things to glorify Him?

In the shower I thought about the last confirmation lesson I had taught the week before Christmas. We talked about Gideon and faith and his fleeces. Before I knew it, I challenged God - Please, if I am supposed to go, give me a dream. Whoa, where did that just come from? Are New Testament Christians even supposed to put God to the test like that? Did I? Will I get a dream? If I do it will definitely be confirmation but if I don't do I accept that that is my answer as well? Craziness.

Where do I go from here? I have to make a decision in the next few days. Go to Haiti? Help coordinate a drive to raise funds and supplies to go with Sarah to Haiti? See what my dreams hold tonight?

And so it begins... This blog (of course) will officially begin with the click of one Publish button. My first official blog post will be published. To the public. Yikes. For year(s) I have logged on to this blog and written and saved to drafts. I have driven my car and talked to Siri, she lovingly dictated my verbal blog writings into sometimes awfully transliterated posts that have never seen the light of day. I'm sure she rolls her robot eyes when I tell her to write a note. More like a novel, she says. Well, now there's no turning back, hang on for the ride - I guess I'm a real blogger now.