Helping out Your Neighbour

For over 2 years now, our main mission office has been surrounded by a tent camp. These people were mainly people living in the area of our office who have not gone back to their original living situations for 1 reason or another. Many of them come from the ravine behind our office which is not a great situation either. They represent approximately 120 families, but the average Haitian family is around 5 people so that is a lot of people! Living in a tent camp is miserable. Recently I believe it has been unbearable. Haiti's rainy season started early this year in mid-March and we've received over 16 inches of rain already! It has rained night after night in Port-au-Prince. I can't imagine trying to sleep in a tent while inches of rain are dumped on me every night. It has been horrible. Our office has been planning for almost 6 months how to resolve the issue of this camp outside. We wanted to help these people but we weren't sure how to go about it. We have developed a relationship with the Mayor of Delmas who offered to help us with security and logistics if we were to provide the funds for helping the people find another suitable location to live. Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) agreed to provide $500 USD to every family (which is a government mandated amount) for better living conditions for 6 months. We worked alongside the government in meeting with the people and sharing with them how we wanted them to move on with their lives after the earthquake and find something that can more adequately take care of the needs of their families. Last week, before Easter the people received their money and were supposed to vacate the property in 2 days. Today, outside our office looks like a wasteland of people living and then having moved on. I pray that all the people in the camp have found somewhere dry to stay and that God will bless their families and provide for the next 6 months after our gift is over.

Amazing results!

How do you reach the masses in Haiti? What technology do they have access to... internet, television, radio? RADIO. For decades, radio has been the sure-fire way to reach many Haitians as electricity is totally unreliable. Our ministry has been sharing the Gospel through the radio for many years in Haiti, and we just found out how it is touching people! This past week we held an evaluation of our ministry, which includes the radio messages, our bible study program and our pastoral counseling project for those affected by the earthquake. The results were outstanding. Listeners of Perspectives Reformees, a evangelical program animated by Rev. Paul Mbunga Mpindi, along with radio stations testified how the program edified them and helped them in their own spiritual walk. They also said how Pastor Paul teaches practical ways to help them grow in their relationship with God.
Another great success of the evaluation were the results from the pastoral counseling ministry. Our pastor, Gregory has been entering refugee camps (there are still half a million people living in these camps) to meet with people, encourage them and help them talk about their problems, earthquake related or not. Gregory has already seen over 500 people and we've heard many stories of the impact of his work. One young woman was ready to kill herself, and upon meeting with Gregory and talking, praying and reading God's word, she now has new meaning for her life and has returned to school. We've also been preparing messages of encouragement in Creole for those living in difficult situations after the earthquake. People love these programs! They even go to the radio station to hear them when they don't have access to a radio.

I thank God for all the volunteers, without them these results wouldn't have been possible.

Please pray for this ministry in Haiti as we are facing some staff changes and many other challenges.

Planning gone awry!

I’d really like all of my plans to turn out just the way I planned them. Is that selfish?? Honestly, YES! God really keeps me in check on that one, by reminding me its His plan, not mine. Sometimes though, its easy to get a little disappointed when an idea we’ve worked so hard on doesn’t go the way we’ve planned. A good example for me recently is our Pastoral Counseling program, which we started as a response to victims of the earthquake who are still so affected by trauma. In our plans, we imagined people would be breaking down our door to receive the free pastoral counseling we were offering. Big surprise, that is not the reality. 1 month we received 4 visitors when we had averaged 125. Now that is a little off! So we looked at other solutions to reach the people who weren't coming to us. Now our pastor is going into camp cities and seeking to talk with the people living there. But again, I am disappointed in my plan. I thought, a little naively that people receiving pastoral care, and spiritual counseling would be touched by God's spirit, transformed and be able to leave the camp situation which is making them so miserable. However, that is also not the case. In hearing so many stories from our pastor, I realize our plan was faulty big time. We can't just address the emotional and spiritual needs of the person without addressing their physical needs, such as food, water, and a way to make a living. Our approach needed to be holistic. Even in my disappointment at the whole misconception of our plan to help people, I can smile at the lesson learned and know I won't make the same mistake again. I thank God for keeping me humble.

Julianna's 1st birthday

Last weekend, we were able to celebrate with many of our family and friends in Haiti, Julianna's 1st birthday. One of the best memories was a game we played with the kids using a pinata. What fun! Each child from 2 to 8 years old took a turn trying to beat the pinata and cause it to break open and spill the candy. We had fun blind-folding some of the older participants and watching them swing at air, missing the pinata entirely. Finally it took the eldest boy a good number of strong swings before the pinata burst open spilling candy for all the children to run and collect. We thank God for our little girl. She is growing up so fast! Thanks to all our friends and family too who shared in this special day with us.

My God-Mother experience

Recently I had the opportunity to be a god-mother to my sister-in-law Guerdie as she prepared to get married at the end of December. In Haitian culture, the god-mother is an important role. You actually sit with the married couple during the entire ceremony and it is considered a role of spiritual wisdom and guidance for the couple. I was very flattered and pleased to do this for Diego's sister. Haitian weddings are an entirely different breed than North American ones. I recently stood up for my brother as well in his wedding last October and I can't help laughing at some of the huge differences that presented themselves between the 2 ceremonies.

1. Lateness is very common in Haitian weddings. Guerdie's wedding started 2.5 hours late! A good Canadian friend of mine shared that if that had happened in NA, many people would have left the wedding and she is probably right.

2. The bridal party is 2 or 3 times the size of NA bridal parties. Haitian bridal parties often have many different roles that I never knew existed, such as King, Queen, Princess, and Announcer. I think Guerdie's wedding party had over 20 people. No wonder we were late!

3. The reception is another huge difference between cultures. In NA cultures, the meal is usually the start of the festivities and the night is followed by speeches and dancing. In Haitian culture, everything happens before the food, because once the food is distributed the party is done and people go home. Another important difference is that there is no dancing in Protestant weddings in Haiti.. I'm not exactly sure why.

However, despite all the differences, there is still the incredible moment when the Pastor/Officiator pronounces the couple married, they kiss and you see first-hand this amazing joy on their faces. Thank you to my brother, Geoff and his wife Julie and my sister-in-law, Guerdie and her husband Delince for allowing me to be apart of that special moment. Blessings to you as you start your married life together.

Best Christmas Gift Ever

Today I received one of the best Christmas gifts I can ever recall. A dear friend of mine told me a story where a life was impacted and Christmas cheer was spread to a family who couldn't make ends meet this Christmas . I feel blessed to have had this story shared with me! Sorry for the lack of details but I don't want to give anything away for my friend who heard this story in a confidential manner. Just use your imagination!

If you know of stories where our Lord has touched someone's life, PLEASE SHARE IT. We need to hear these stories to be encouraged of the work our GOD is doing in so many situations.

I pray that this year you may receive the treasured gift of that warm fuzzy feeling when you have true joy.. The joy that comes from our knowing our Saviour.. Joy to the World!

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!

Our work bearing fruit

I have to say in Haiti you have to be prepared for all things for every day is an adventure. I was busily working and my colleague Magguy popped in the office to say that 1 of our volunteers was here with his "foreign" wife and mother-in-law. Now the first thought that ran through my head was, "are they foreign because this the first time they've visited our office?". It never occurred to me that she meant foreigner, meaning blanc.. So I come out of my office and am very surprised to meet 2 Americans from Kentucky. It turns out that one of our volunteers who corrects bible study lessons for us is married to an American who he met here on short-term missions. Unfortunately, his mother-in-law was in a bit of rough shape since she had taken public transportation to get to our office and passed out from the heat, or crowds of people.. we're not exactly sure. So I offered to give them a ride back to their hotel. On the way back, my volunteer Denis Jean Rodolph was telling me how much he loved the bible study program and how he wanted to start an office in the USA when he immigrates there. He told me how much the lessons changed the way he read the bible and his wife even told me that he had said that everyone needed these lessons. I was very pleasantly surprised. It is so great to hear when God uses the work you are doing to bear fruit in someone's life.
Sorry i didn't think to get a picture of Denis with his wife until later so its just him.

Spiritual Rollercoaster

I feel as if over the last 3 months I have been on a spiritual roller-coaster, sometimes experiencing amazing highs and sometimes realizing heart-breaking lows. My time visiting churches and sharing about the work we do in Haiti was a huge high. I love to share with people about what it is like to live and do ministry in Haiti. However, being back here and encountering so many challenges and difficulties in my first month leaves my mind reeling and wondering where my spiritual highs went. But maybe, I think God is trying to teach me something. Trials are about growth and maybe I need to do some stretching and be stretched. I remember the Psalms, David’s Psalms where he cries out to God, asking are You there? How long will I have to endure this? But in the end, David relents his soul to the Lord and says I trust in you. Even though things are hard, and life is difficult I trust in the unfailing love and salvation of my God. I pray that God will use this time to break me and teach me in order that I may grow and bear His fruit.

When the going gets tough, the tough do what??

I’ve been asking myself this question a lot lately and some days, I have different answers than others (leave, give up, cry, yell and just be faithful). These are just a few of the myriad of emotions I feel all the time; I don’t think it helps being 7 1/2 months pregnant! But lately I have been trying to analyze the biblical answer to this question. When faced with trial after trial after trial, how did some of the people in the bible respond to God. There are many examples we can draw from: Moses, Job, and Elijah are just to name a few. In the face of suffering, I think we can choose 3 things: we can reject God, we can harden our hearts toward Him or we can be broken by Him.

God doesn’t do these things because He is mean or unfair. On the contrary, I think it is because He wants us to change and He wants to use this experience for our growth and renewal. So now that really has me thinking, what is God’s plan for Haiti? What is the purpose of all this suffering? I don’t know.. I don’t have the answers but I do have a choice in how I respond to the events taking place here. I can’t begin to explain to you how frustrating, and heartbreaking it is for me to watch Haiti be afflicted by cholera, and have the election be called a fraud. All this in the aftermath of an earthquake! But I know I won’t reject God, because He has already won that battle with me. I pray that my heart will not be hardened towards Him, so that leaves the only option of Him breaking me and Haiti and using this experience to change us and shape us for the better. This is not easy and it is painful but I’ve already seen the transforming powers of God in my life and I pray that I will see them in Haiti as well.

Giving thanks to the Lord

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you all! Recently we celebrated Canadian thanksgiving here in Haiti with fellow Canadians and Americans (they just wanted to get in on the food). Despite the earthquake and all the changes we've seen in Haiti, we have a lot to be thankful for. \

First off, for us personally, Diego and I have been blessed with the opportunity to start a family. We are looking forward with much anticipation the birth of our baby girl in January 2011. I can't wait to be a mom and I know Diego is really excited about being a father. Also, I'm so proud of Diego and the way he responded after the earthquake. He had lost his job shortly before the earthquake but after Jan.12, he was ready and willing to help out where he could, volunteering with our mission until they hired him at the beginning of Feb. Now he is a changed man, I see him devoting so much time and effort to the work being done with CRWRC in Leogane, it makes me proud that he is so dedicated to his work.

Second, for the country of Haiti, I am thankful that so many volunteers and organizations have come to help out and begin to restore Haiti to what it was before the earthquake. I am thankful for new opportunities to share the gospel with those who've never heard it. Also, I am thrilled at the opportunities our ministry has had to grow and reach almost 3,000 bible study students. People are more and more thirsty for God's word and want to learn and apply it to their lives. I am thankful too for the possibility of a big change in the way Haiti is run. There is an upcoming election in November and we pray that God will choose His leader and Haiti will be able to take a turn for the better in terms of administration of the country.

Please continue to pray for us and Haiti as it is a turbulent time.

New additions to the family

Well we recently have grown our family to include 2 german shepherd-rottweiler puppies and 2 new kittens. It makes life very exciting at my house! We originally thought about acquiring some good dogs to act as security for our home in Haiti. Now as you can see in the pictures, these little guys aren't protecting anyone just yet! However, they will get big and we'll train them to be guard dogs. They are so much fun. But, you know what they say about puppies.. THEY ARE LOTS OF WORK. This is proving to be very accurate but it is good practice for growing our family.
Cats also have a purpose in Haiti, not for security obviously. However, they play an important role in keeping out unwanted rodents, like race mice and even lizards. So I guess in a way, they do protect us from having to deal with those rodents ourselves! There's always lots of excitement at our house with 2 puppies and 2 kittens and we look forward to watching them grow and protect us in many ways.

Road to Recovery

Recently, CRWRC celebrated a monumental event of their work in 5 communities in the area of Leogane (the hardest hit area of the earthquake) They were able to give out the certificates of ownership for the new houses that they have built for those people who lost theirs during the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. There were over 160 people in attendance, including dignitaries, spiritual leaders, community-based organizations, community members and key players that helped make these housing gifts possible. There were some incredible testimonies from the community members who received their ownership certificates that day. An elderly lady could not stop the tears when she exclaimed that she didn't have to be victim to the rain any longer. All the community members shared stories of how CRWRC's work in their communities has changed things for the better. I felt very proud that my husband and his team had played a significant role in accomplishing the work in these communities and changing these people's lives after the earthquake.

Currently CRWRC has built over 300 houses and plans to build 1,200. The director of Disaster Relief, Wayne de Jong had some very valuable words to share with the community members. He said "CRWRC feels deeply honored that we have the opportunity to serve God and serve you in this amazing way" I give thanks to God for this example of servant-leadership and I look forward to seeing many more joyful moments as CRWRC continues to serve and provide housing in their communities.

Girl Power

I was blessed to be apart of the third annual woman's conference of the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti. Despite the difficulties this year posed, the women were still dedicated to making this event happen to inspire and teach their fellow sisters in Christ for 1 weekend. Myself along with 3 other women were the speakers during this weekend and we addressed the topics of the woman's role in her marriage, as a mother as well as her responsibility in the community all from a Christian perspective.

This weekend was a time of remembering too. Women shared their testimonies of how they experienced the earthquake, what they saw and how they dealt with their friends and family who lost people dear to them. One women shared her experiences working as a nurse in the General Hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. She painted a truly disturbed picture of death and suffering and I can only imagine the distress that experience still brings her to this day.

The women particularly loved the presentation done by my colleague Marguelita Petion. She taught them a very challenging song and shared with them how as Christian women they can cultivate good relationships with their husbands which will then affect how they raise their children. She used all sorts of examples that apply directly to Haitian culture and made everyone laugh. It was really good.

Even though the weekend was a lot of work and I did complain some about it :) God used it to bless me incredibly and I will never forget all the laughs and fun we had.