i'm here!

okay, as you probably know, i am in Haiti now! i arrived Friday evening (the 5th). although the days feel long, i can't believe it's almost been a week!

i know most of my blog followers are involved in Three Angels, but for those who have started reading to keep up with my stay in Haiti...let me give you some background.

i am here as a part of Three Angels Children's Relief. i think i've told everyone how i got involved...so i'll skip that and tell you a little bit about Haiti and what i'm doing here.

first, please continue to pray for Haiti. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere...and all the hurricane's that have recently hit have made things even more difficult. here's an article i found from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/10/2360479.htm:
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Haiti hurricane death toll tops 100

Posted Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:00am AEST

More than 100 bodies have been found since Monday in Gonaives, the Haitian city hardest hit by Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike, Vicky Delore-Ndjeuga, a spokesman for the UN Mission in Haiti said.

"As the floodwaters recede, we found three more bodies in the city," he said. "The total is now 101 dead," she said.

"If we don't find a way to deliver massive humanitarian aid, we will see fights and riots that will kill more people than the cyclone did," she warned.

Gonaives was flooded when Tropical Storm Hanna lashed the low-lying northern city surrounded by deforested hillsides at the start of September.

Four major storms, two of them hurricanes, have struck Haiti in less than four weeks.

All told more than 600 Haitians have died, and the disaster is still unfolding due to the challenge of delivering aid in the impoverished and waterlogged Caribbean country.

"We estimate that 800,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian aide in Haiti," a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in Geneva, adding that almost half of them were children.
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please pray that God would show this country mercy!!

i recently sent out an update email explaining what my days have looked like so far. if you didn't get it and would like to, please email me. (my email address is on my blog profile)


this is how i shower. don't be mislead by the facet handles. only a drip comes out of the facet. i leave it on and the drip keeps the blue tub full...so i'm always good to go for a nice bucket shower!


and this is our lunch. beans and rice!! it's actually pretty good!


okay... that's all for now. i promise i'll keep you more updated!!

Why I'm here.

Do I love it? Yes. Is it easy? No. But, I think that is okay. We've gotten so use to things in life being easy, that when things get hard, we think something is wrong.   

God cannot mold us to who we need to be unless He first breaks us. He disciplines because He loves. God never said He would command only what was easy for us to fulfill, but that He would be with us. He never said we wouldn’t walk through fire, but that it wouldn’t consume us. (Isaiah 43:2)

Haiti has taught me more about God than I could have ever learned in a Bible class or by reading a theology book. Would I say I understand Him better? Not really. Maybe He is even more of a mystery to me now than ever before. Sitting around a table discussing God, life, theology and doctrine is easy. You can believe God is Sovereingly in control. And I do. To sit in your comfortable chairs, sipping coffee, and declare that God is in control of a hurting child in Haiti is one thing. To stare that child in the face is another thing. It changes things. It does not change what I believe to be Truth. However, it does make God all the more mysterious to me. But seeing things from this point of view, realizing how little I know of God, does not complicate things. It simplifies them, really. We can argue and debate these great mysteries of God. Or we can simply work on living out what Jesus referred to as the Great Commandment. To love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. We are called to live as Christ lived. We are called to deny oursevles. Jesus spent His time on earth showing compassion to the sick and hurting and teaching the gospel. Jesus lived His life serving people. And we are called to do the same. All the mysteries of God do not change that simple fact and command. 

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” John 13: 14-16

How I got here.

...I sat and listened as a co-worker told me about her previous and upcoming trips to Haiti. She told me stories and showed me pictures. I've heard other people talk about their mission trip experiences. I've had other opportunities to go. But God placed Haiti on my heart. I didn't even know how much at the time. I just thought, "hey, here's an opportunity in my lap, so I'm just going to take it." But it was more than random happening. I thought it was just a one time trip to Haiti, but it changed and influenced every part of my life.

After my first trip to Haiti with Three Angels Children's Relief in August 2007, I took two more trips, one in October and then again in February. Then June of 2008, I did something crazy. I quit my job, told my roommate we couldn't renew our lease like we planned, packed my bags and said good-bye. I drove across the country to California. Why I did that is still a mystery to me. I lived with a friend and her family and got more involved with Three Angels. And really, part of my hopes all along were that I would get the chance to do a long-term stay at the Orphanage. While in California, I was able to help out some. Mostly data entry type stuff. Making sponsorship cards. Helping with the newsletter. While my desire was to be in Haiti at the orphanage, I knew that there were so many other ways I could help. I had watched the leaders of TAs put so much time, work, and money into what they do. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes, I was happy to be any small part in that.

And then it came. The opportunity for me to serve as a temporary House Manager at the orphanage. I arrived in Haiti September of 2008. I worked at Three Angels for a year, then transferred to Heartline Ministries, working with processing adoptions. I was in Port au Prince for the earthquake Jan. 2010. That changed things. Like, everything. :) I spent a little over a year in the states building the foundation for a new ministry, Leve Project and now live in Cayes Jacmel, Haiti. God has brought me this far, so I will trust Him with my future! 

update...

well, Gustav and Hanna have gotten in my way a little bit, and i have yet to make it to Haiti.

last Wednesday (the 27th), i made it to Miami only to find out my flight to Haiti had been canceled. no problem, i can easily book a new flight, right?? there wasn't another available flight until 5 days later, Sept. 1st. SO i rented a car and drove 4 hours to invade the Huijskens home. I booked a flight from Jacksonville to Miami and rescheduled my flight to Haiti for today. after checking several times to make sure my flight was still good to go before we left the house...i get a message as Gretchen and I are on the way to the airport saying my flight has been canceled. so here i am, still in Palm Coast. it's been a grand adventure. thanks Huijskens, for taking me in!

i am now re-re-booked for the next available flight- Friday. hopefully Hanna will let me out of Florida.