One Week

As I sent off a team this morning it hit me that that will be me leaving MOH and flying out of Haiti this time next Saturday. As I go into my final week as an intern at MOH, please keep me in your prayers for this time of transition from a 3rd world to 1st world, safe travels, and for my next step after this adventure. 

I pray for this Christmas season that it's a joyful time as we gather to adore Him. 

Thank you for following my journey and making it possible!! With your support, you're helping MOH carry out the vision of bringing life transformation to every man woman and child in Haiti. 

I'm sure I'll continue to have some thoughts to post once I'm back in the States, as the journey will continue to affect me even after I leave Haiti. 

Here's a picture of some of my sweet friends before we went into Port au Prince on Saturday. So thankful for them! 

Happy December! And happy first day of Advent!

I had such good time in the Word today and it was a great way to start the advent season. A lot of this is from the devotion and my study Bible and not my own thoughts, but I just wanted to share. 

The advent devotion that I started this morning goes through "The Songs of Christmas." I feel like knowing and spending time learning the meaning of the songs I hear every season will give me a new view on these songs and be able to worship Christ in a new way. 

The scripture that went along with the devotion was Luke 2:13-14 "And suddenly there was with the angel  a multitude of the heavenly host (thousands of angels) praising God  and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!"

Jesus kept me right here and I stayed in this passage for a while. This is a familiar text that is read during the advent season, but God was gracious to give it new meaning for me today.

The notes for verse 14in my Study Bible:

Angels are proclaiming the news about Jesus. 

He is the eternal, omnipotent, Son of God. 

He is taking on the “form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Phil 2:7

The “fullness of time” has now come.

God has “sent forth His Son born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.” Gal 4:4-5

Jesus is the “Prince of Peace” prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 9 verse 6.

He is fulfilling promises by His birth!

The devotion material was on the Chris Tomlin song “Angels We Have Heard on High” and I just so happened to be already listening to it when I saw that was the song for today. 

His birth radiated glory. The glory was so bright that the shepherds went to find the source. In Luke 2:15 they say “let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing…”

Shepherds why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be

Which inspire your Heavenly song?

So I’m reading this, and I’m like, wait. In the scripture it says that Angels are praising, thousands of them to be exact, but what are the shepherds doing? The song says they are singing. So I look back at the text in Luke and Luke 2:20 says “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told to them.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always just sung that part and never really listened to the words and sung from the heart. But now that I have spent time in that passage, I can!

Jesus entered the earth in the same way He enters our hearts: right in the middle of the mess! You know, the manager, with the farm animals, to Mary and Joseph. Just like He didn’t look for a palace to be His birthplace and an earthly throne His dwelling, so does he not look for clean hearts to come into of perfect people who have it all figured out.Praise the Lord!

He came for us, that He could dwell in our hearts. Ephesians 3:17 “…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…” while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8

This is what He has been telling us since birth, an invitation that never expires:

Come to Bethlehem and see

Him whose birth the Angels sing

Come adore on bended knee

Christ our Lord, the new born King!

Let us join with the shepherds and the Angels in the awe of the birth of the humble Son of God that came for us!

Here’s the link to the Advent plan if you’re interested! 

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/775-the-songs-of-christmas 

Life Around Here

Enjoying learning new healthy recipes with this gem of a friend!

I'm in charge of the schedule on the board here. This is it the night before we got 130 new team members on campus! Jam packed!

Just chillin with some of my favorite drivers! You gotta trust your driver on these roads.

Helped the mobile medical team count vitamins for their mobile clinic this week!

Meet my friend Michelson from Leveque. When I asked him "Ou renmen Jezi?" Which means "Do you love Jesus?" His response was "Mwen renmen Jezi anpil!" meaning " I love Jesus so much!" Precious. He also didn't wear pants all day. :)

Got to ride in this this week! With 40 high schoolers that liked to sing. It was wild!

Fun Haitian friends!  

He's riding on the back of the King of the Road. There is no fear in the hearts of Haitians.

The sweet little Toms that Haitians receive when you buy Toms!

The delicious pumpkin muffin that Amanda  and Matt (check out their blog here) made for us for Thanksgiving! So thoughtful.

Our hard working Haitian kitchen ladies that learned some new recipes in order to fix us a traditional Thanksgiving meal!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture these two and their outfits. :)

Importance of Education

As I’m getting to serve in this country and with MOH, I’m learning tons about poverty and what it’s like to aid poverty. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that the way to solve poverty is not an immediate fix. For there to be lasting change in the pattern of life, you have to be rooted in the country, committed, and create sustainable practices. Immediate relief is only that, relief for the moment.

 MOH (and I) believe that the best way to change this nation is through Education. Education gives the students opportunity to succeed in their country in ways that they wouldn't otherwise be educated to do so. 

I've gotten to see multiple sponsors meet their child and it has been such a sweet and beautiful thing. 

Currently, we have over 2,500 that still need sponsors! What a great Christmas gift idea!! :) If you’re interested in sponsoring a child, you can go here:
https://secure3.convio.net/mohh/site/Donation2?df_id=1500&1500.donation=form1

I've actually just started sponsoring a child and I can't wait to get to meet her. I'll be sure to post pictures once that happens! For now, here are some pictures of when some of my team members have gotten to meet the precious children they sponsor!

 

 

 

Spotlight on Haitians

At the beginning of my internship, village times were harder for me than work project days because I know what to expect from a work project, and I can control it to an extent. As I've had more and more village time experiences, I have grown to love, value, and actually enjoy the time with people in the villages. As we're going around meeting people and praying with them, we meet some people that aren't receptive, but God is always so gracious to cross our paths with other believers. It's so encouraging to hear the heart of the people for our God, for their village, and to know that they are sharing Jesus with their neighbors.

A lady in Simonette that got out her hymnal and sang "How Great Thou Art" in Creole while we sang in English.

When we do meet people in the villages that are Christians, one of my favorite things to do is ask if they have a favorite verse or favorite worship song. Chances are, if they can name a favorite worship song, then they will sing it for you. And if you can figure out a song that you both know, then it's like you've just scored Heaven on earth. I've been fortunate enough for that to happen a couple of times, and it is truly one of my favorite things to be able to worship our Lord in two languages with someone that we've just met. 

The field in Titanyen where we play soccer, throw the frisbee (my favorite), and play other games with the kids in afternoon village time. 

This is a friend that lives in Minoterie. I met her when we painted her house with one of my teams. When I had village time with a team a couple of weeks later, I went by her house to see if she was there because I had promised her I would visit. As I anxiously waited for her to come to the door, I wondered if she would remember me. She was so so happy and it was fun to get to visit her and introduce her to that team and we then got to pray for her. She always greets me with kisses on the cheek and was so so appreciative of our paint job and prayers. She's raising children on her own in a tough situation and it's by His grace that we became such close friends in such a short amount of time and with such little communication-ha! 

This lady was by the stream was worshiping, washing clothes, shoes, and dishes. She said she wanted to teach us the song that she was singing but she couldn't because she said she needed to finish washing to go get lunch ready for her children that were getting out of school soon.We got to sing "Amazing Grace" with her in our own languages. :)

In many houses in Haiti, you see fences made from weaving together two palm branches. So talented and resourceful! 

These are pictures of the kitchen of a lady that teaches cooking classes and disciples her graduates. One of her graduates is now a kitchen lady at MOH! So inspiring to see a woman doing what she loves and sharing Jesus while doing it. 

Through the church advancement program, one of my teams partnered with the village of Source Matelas and paid for three latrines to be put in the village. Once they came in country, we got to build latrines alongside the Haitian contractors!

Worship was wonderful this week. It felt so intimate, we sang all my favorites, and it was as if God was speaking straight to me, that he was really there with me, encouraging and challenging me with the words we sang.  Here is a version of one of the songs we sang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfPJ4j5P5X8  

With Christmas right around the corner, let me share some fun shopping that I've discovered recently. Each of these organizations provide shopping with a purpose, not to mention there's some fun and trendy stuff! 

http://www.3cordshaiti.com/    
http://www.apparentproject.org/
http://shopwalkinlove.com/
http://fightforthem.com/
http://www.vibellajewelry.com/

The Giver

I wrote this out for an intern devotion and honestly, I'm speaking to myself throughout the whole thing. Maybe it'll be a blessing to you as well.

There's a devotion I've been going through and one day it ended with a phrase that has stuck ever since. "He wants the glory as the giver." It's all through His power as the Giver that we’re able to do anything. (Even our salvation is through His power, Ephesians 2:8-9,  it’s by GRACE that we are saved) I think I have trouble remembering that sometimes. I'm one that likes control, order, productivity, things I can predict. I literally wake up in the mornings thinking about what I need to do, how I’m going to do it, and I start by trying to do everything myself.  But I realize there are lots of “I’s” in that.

Scripture tells us that we can’t do anything alone. John 15:5 says "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Romans 7:18 says "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out." When I'm believing that I can do everything on my own, then that makes me the star when, in reality, Jesus is. 

So we know that He is the Giver. The Giver of strength, salvation, life, power, peace, ability, thoughts, realizations, even this breath. If that’s true, and we live that out, then He can be praised for what gets done. John 15:8 tells us that when we give Him praise for that, He gets glory and we bear fruit! So it’s a win win. And it always is. Because Jesus is for our good, our joy, and His glory. Its silly that I would chose my power over His power, because His power is the power that raised Christ from the dead. My power is small, but with Christ, our power is infinite, we are able to do all things THROUGH CHRIST! 

So recognize Him as the Giver in everything you're able to do today, be thankful, praise Him, and give Him glory as the Giver. Psalm 50:15 says "call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” When we do this, it shows the world that we are helpless, and that our God is strong and able because we are asking for His help and counting on Him.

Turpin

This past week I had the opportunity to go with my team to a village in the mountains called Turpin. It was beautiful! It was about an hour ride up through the mountains every day and it was so refreshing to be surrounded by such beauty. [Pictures in previous post]

One day we got stuck in the mud, [Pictures in previous post] and as we’re jumping up and down on the back of the canter to gain some traction, the driver turns off the canter. And at this point, we remember the 25 minute hike we took on Monday [with our 5 gallon buckets of paint, all of our other paint supplies, and water] where he has parked is further away than Monday, and we’re down two people from the day before. Things are looking pretty dismal and attitudes have plummeted. So I asked for someone to pray. And as she started praying, the driver turns the canter back on, we make it through the mud, closer than we did on Monday, and when we park, our translator comes to the back and says, “We’re gonna wait here for a minute because they're sending a donkey to carry the supplies today.” WHAT?! That’s awesome!! Because a. we don’t have to carry all of our supplies, and b. we are in the middle of nowhere in Haiti, using a donkey. [Pictures in previous post]There are just some days here where I laugh and say, I live in Haiti. This was definitely one of those days. Not to mention the sudden change of events was awesome and we were so thankful to the Lord for providing (a donkey, y’all!) for our needs. He is so trustworthy.

Some pictures from time in the village this week:

As I’ve been here for a little over a month and a half now I’m able to process more and see that I’m learning how to trust Him more, rely on Him, and through His gentle grace, learning more about the Holy Spirit. 

Thank you to all of those that were willing to support me financially to be here in Haiti. You are a part of this journey too and through that, you’re loving and serving the Haitian people as well. If you’re reading this and feel led to do so, I would still love your support as I have not yet met my goal. You can go to www.mohhaiti.org/ There is an orange button in the top right hand corner that says DONATE TODAY. Click on that and then fill out the information it asks for. In order for MOH to know that it is to fund my internship, please be sure to put my name in the notes box.

Pase bon nwit, zanmi mwen! That's Creole for "Have a good night, my friend!"

Since the last time we talked...

With the internet going in and out and my pure exhaustion at the end of the day, it's taken me a little while to update y'all. But...since the last time we talked, I've...

Eaten fresh mango and quenepas

Seen some beautiful sunsets

Spent more time with the kiddos

 

Found a few more notes that were hidden by my mom :)

Spent  time in the mountains of Turpin

 

 

 

 

Used a donkey to carry our paint supplies! [Haha. I live in Haiti!]

Got stuck in the mud

 

Celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving

Received a care package from my family! 

There's no denying this is an adventure!