I'm Back! (And have been..)

Friends and family! 

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this blog out. I'm back in Columbia resting and gearing up for school. But first, here is how the rest of my time in Haiti was...

Doing laundry is Haiti is so rewarding to get clean, dry clothes and there's something so perfectly simple about line-drying.

Loved getting to spend time with people I love and catch up on where we've been.

Great to enjoy Haitian meals again! This is fried goat!

The views are incredible!

It's hard to see them all because of all of the growth, but these were gray cinder-block houses that some of my first teams in 2013 painted and are now homes to many.

LOVE spending time with these cuties. A perfect way to spend your afternoon.

I had the chance to attend Kindergarten registration at Leveque again this year. So sweet to see families catch our vision and see the value in education.  

One Sunday on a trip out to Leveque, a little boy brought me a little girl and the little girl kept asking me in Creole to pick her up. So I did, and she was very lethargic, dirty, and seemed sick. There wasn't much I could do but hold her while I was there. Fast forward a couple of days, and I see that same little girl and her mom at Kindergarten registration!! Great news! This means she will receive an education, hot meal, and learn about Jesus at school every day starting in the Fall! Praise the Lord for hope and for a family that sees value in education!

Here is a picture from the day I met her mom and her at registration! (I get to sponsor her now too! And her name is Sophia too!)

I had the chance to visit them one more time before I left!

VBS happens every summer with MOH in Haiti. I had never been to Haiti in the summer, so I had never gotten the opportunity to see this in action. Each child gets to have a hot meal, learn a Bible story, play sports, do crafts, sing and dance! 

It was a great month with a perfect balance of work and rest. As always, the Lord taught me a lot and gave me perspective just being away. I love this place, and it never gets any easier to leave, but I'm grateful to call more than one place home. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! I feel refreshed, encouraged, challenged and I'm looking forward to this year back in the States!

Spend Your Life

A week ago today I spent the day with a girl named Jamilyn. It came as a complete shock to us to hear that she passed away last Thursday. I'm thankful for the circumstances that led me to get to join the trip into town with Jamilyn, Britney, and Emily to purchase Haitian artisan goods. In that day I got to learn about her life, her love for the Lord, and her dreams. She served in a role in her church as a buyer for their fair trade market, so she got to travel to different countries, listen to people's stories and support their businesses which is what brought her back to Haiti. What an amazing woman and follower of the Lord she was! We can celebrate what she was for us and for Jesus and that she's with Him now more perfectly and wholly than ever before. This has served as a reminder of the brevity and mist of life. Her life and her soul is gone from this earth and that's sad. We miss her. It's confusing and we mourn. But there's a tension of joy and sadness. Without Jesus, there would be no hope in this situation. There's a richness about moments like this where the Lord is near to the broken-hearted. The three of us here in Haiti were honored to spend some of Jamilyn's last days with her.  I'm grateful to have met her and experience her life. Would you join me in lifting up her family and friends in prayer for the Lord's presence as they process and mourn the loss of their daughter, sister, and friend?

I'll end with a quote from Jamilyn and her time on earth:

"Things don't go to heaven, people go to heaven, so that's what I'm going to spend my life on." Jamilyn Hull 

Here's a clip from her church in Texas:

https://www.facebook.com/susan.f.thomas.5/posts/10206248980639084 

Week 2-Can you believe it's halfway?

A couple little updates from this week...
 

I tried to see Sophia, the student I sponsor as soon as I got here, but it was too late because school had already gotten out for Kindergarten students. So we began to get help from the Village Champions to find a way to see her, but hadn't been successful yet. Fast forward to Wednesday, and I had walked down to the church to meet with our Pastor and on my walk back up, I see a little girl(bigger than the last time I'd seen her) standing on the steps of the school in her precious Kindergarten uniform. I read her name, because in Kindergarten it is sewn onto the front of their uniform, and out loud shrieked "Sophia!!" She is a little shy, and didn't recognize who this crazy lady was yelling her name, but after showing her a few pictures from previous visits, she understood. Then it gets even better! Her mom was with her! They had come to pick up Sophia's grade card. So I asked her mom if she knew who I was, and she said "Yes, I know you from letters." Melt. My. Heart. We exchanged a few words in Creole and snapped this picture together. I'm so thankful for this unplanned (by me) visit with Sophia!

 

On Wednesday afternoon, I got to help facilitate a sponsorship visit that was like none other I had experienced before. A couple of years ago, the student needed surgery that was too dangerous to perform in Haiti, so he was able to be sent to the States. Throughout his time in the States, the Haitian student needed a place to stay, and God knew just the right people. There is a family who has a heart for Haiti that live in the same city that the surgery was in and were able to take care of and fall in love with this student. When it was time for the student to move back home to Haiti, the Miami family wanted him in a good school where he would learn academically and grow in his love for the Lord. They got in touch with Mission of Hope and were able to get him in our school. Since then, they've been his sponsors and able to encourage him with gifts and letters through our sponsorship program.
 

The student's biological family and Miami family both have a deep love for the student, but hadn't had the joy of meeting each other until this day. It was beautiful to see both families interact and communicate their love for the student and gratitude for the other. The Gospel was shared, stories and ways of life were exchanged, and we all left feeling encouraged. The student is doing well in our school, and living a successful life in Haiti. The two families remain in touch.

 

 

 

On Friday I had the honor of celebrating 125 Haitian students graduate. It was so encouraging to see them sent out to play a role in the transformation of this nation with their knowledge and their God. There were songs, poems, speeches, and the whole bit. It was cool to see the North American church and the Haitian church come together and support these students. One of the students graduating was from our orphanage, so it was an extra special graduation for us.

 

Looking back on this post, you can see the thread of student sponsorship throughout. Students were able to graduate with the help of sponsors, lives have been changed because of sponsors, and God is sovereign over that relationship with the sponsor and the student.

 

 

Summertime in Haiti

I assume many of you have seen my family's post on Facebook about me being in Haiti safely, or maybe you saw some of my Instagram posts. If not, I made it safely to Haiti and have been back for almost a week!

 

The students are still in school so I've gotten to do some of the Child Sponsorship work I did before to facilitate the relationship between the sponsors and the students. Things like delivering gifts and letters from sponsors, getting to take pictures of students for profile cards, and letting the students write to their sponsors as an end of the year note. I also got the chance to see a Bible study of high school girls meet the two Haitian students they've come together to sponsor. It was really great to see how both the students and the sponsors were encouraged by their time together. 

It has been fun to reconnect with friends on staff and Haitian friends. I'm getting back into the flow of Sponsorship and also learning new things with Mobilization. My Creole (the little that was there) is coming back and it's so fun to use. There are exciting changes around here that have happened since last year. Staff in new roles and new growth in ministry and projects. 

 

I ask for your prayers for Haitian schools that they would catch the vision of Mission of Hope, live it out, and stay accountable for the children. 
 

I'm thankful for work, rest, and growth in this country. I'm challenged by the chance to be relational and look past tasks and the importance of not letting them keep me from the Lord and ministry. I'm grateful to be back after a year in the States and reflect on how the Lord is continuing to teach me things that I was learning when I was here last year.

 

On the way to one of our schools in the mountains.

The littles!

My friend in the office!

Sponsorship team up in the mountains!

Mr. Frenel on our Sponsorship staff hard at work reading a letter from a sponsor to this student so that she can respond.

 

A student at the school in Turpin!

 

 

"That my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my savior."