Those Kids

Haiti Day 3.

Ready for another day!

The plan was to go into Cap Hatien (about an hour ride in the back of the truck) to spend time at the children's hospital and maternity ward.  But when we got there, there really wasn't anything for us to do.  All the kids had their moms with them.  We kind of just stood there, awkwardly in the way, until we finally decided it would be best just to leave.  But during that short time, Mindy and I were standing by a crib with two tiny baby twins in it.  Their mom said they were 3 months old, but there was no way.  They were so small.  They looked about 3 days old.  Their mom said they did not eat well, so her milk dried up.  She held up an empty formula can, saying she had nothing to feed her babies.  IN the hospital.  I think about her often, especially when I scoop out formula to give to my chunky, healthy baby.

Some pictures of the drive into Cap Hatien

Since we had driven an hour to get to Cap Hatien, we decided to stay and "sightsee."  Which meant visiting a market and eating lunch.  The Haitian version of pizza, burgers, and fries.  Pretty good!  Julie ordered a plate of goat for us to try.  To quote my journal, it was "not my fave."  

Our team at the restaurant

We drove back to the compound without a plan for the rest of the day.  So we decided to bless the kids that we saw along the road every day when we rode in the truck.  The kids that got so excited when they saw us, waving and yelling "Blanc! Blanc!" every day. We had a bunch of grocery bags and we filled them with FMSC meals, clothes (pillowcase dresses, shorts, t-shirts), toothbrushes/paste, little toys, candy, etc.  (oh, and some recorders that a music teacher had donated).  Jack had picked out some of his books from his own bookshelf to give to the kids in Haiti, so I took those along.  He also had put a "present bow" on the books.  So I stuck it to my shirt before we headed out.  

     

Some shots of us preparing the bags.  I'm writing little cards that say "Jezi Renmen Ou!" Jesus Loves You!  And there's the present bow.  

We piled into the back of our truck with our goodie bags.  And the chaos began...

When we saw a house with kids outside, we stopped to give them a bag.  And then more kids would run over.  And more kids.  And more kids.  And parents.  Begging to give them whatever we had.  We had to drive off without giving something to everybody (and trying not to run anybody over as they crowded around the truck).  Which wasn't fun, but it was reality.  

Some of the kids didn't know what to do with the stuff.  There was one little boy that we all remember...he was all by himself on the side of the road wearing blue underwear.  We gave him a bag and as we pulled away he just stood there holding it.  Didn't open it or anything.  And we realized that he probably had never been given a present before; he didn't know what to do.  Sooooooooo different from kids in the US.  

Our favorite little boy in the blue underwear with his goodies.

There was a boy riding on the front of his bike with his dad.  We stopped to give him some stuff.  And I gave him Jack's present bow; stuck it to his shirt.  He wasn't sure what it was or what to do with it.  But I hope he liked it!  

When we ran out of bags we drove back to the compound.  And on the way we heard several kids playing their new recorders.  Probably driving their parents crazy already.  :)  

A couple things stuck out to me about this day.  First, we thought we had a plan, and that didn't work out.  But it's not our plan that matters anyway.  God knew what we would be doing that day; He just waited until the last-minute to let us know.

And we got to be a part of something very special.  We got to be a part of the completion process.  So often, as the "givers" we send money or supplies and never get to see the end result.  We trust that God will take it to the people who need it.  And that's great and fine.  But this day I got to be a part of the ending too.  When we packed the FMSC meals at Pathway, we prayed for the people who would receive them.  And I saw those people today.  I touched them and handed them a meal.  When Jack and I packed the box full of his books and supplies for people, we prayed over the box and for the kids who would get that stuff.  And I handed it to THOSE KIDS today.  It's crazy to think that his books that were on a bookshelf in our basement in Indiana are now in little huts in Haiti.  

I got to be a part of the beginning and the ending of the process.  I'm so thankful that He lets us in on what He's doing.  In Indiana and in Haiti.  

They Are Weak But He Is Strong

Pretty much gonna copy my journal entry from Day 2 in Haiti.  It explains things pretty well.  :)

1/30/13

Happy 6-month birthday Paisley!  

• Woke up early and went to Prayer Mountain.
• Wait, before that.  Woke up to the sound of singing at the church next door.  At 5am.  Yep.  And they sang for hours last night.  And there were goats and chickens and roosters waking us up too.  :)
• Prayer Mountain was pretty awesome.  AMAZING view.  Seriously.  It looked fake.  And random people were just there, praying and singing.  How awesome to have a place to gather and do that! Anybody, at any time, for any reason.  Hmmmm....

The view at Prayer Mountain during sunrise.

The FW girls in the back of the truck.  Ready for another day!

• Went to the hospital/rehab place/children with disabilities home.  Super awesome. 

***Side note: A little bit about this place.  It's a hospital that's run by a British couple.  Some of the only other white people we saw all week!  It has "regular" hospital stuff...an ER, maternity, surgical, pediatric unit, etc.  But it has an AWESOME rehab facility too.  Extremely nice facilities for Haiti.  Several of the guys were training for the Paralympics in Rio in 2016.  And one of them won a gold medal in London 2012!

There is also a home on the campus for children with disabilities.  Most of the kids only came a few days out of the week, just to give their parents a break.  A few of the kids actually live there.  In Haiti, a child that has a disability of any kind is considered a shame to the family.  They almost never (if ever) are allowed out of the house, because the family doesn't want the child to be seen.  The Creole word for kids like these is the same word as "worthless." At this home the kids are fed and cared for by several caretakers.  

*Back to my journal now. 

• Made salvation bracelets with some men in the rehab center.  They were actually really into it and appreciated it!  And the nurse too. She told us (through our translator, Tiroro) that she never liked the color purple until today, now that she knows what it means.  And she will use her bracelet to preach to others.  And Bernard, what a sweet man!  Taught us how to make a slip knot.  And called us friends!  And the paralympic champion was so cute!  Such a proud/shy smile when we clapped for him!

Learning the slip knot from Bernard.

Some of us with the paralympian!  Leon Gaisli.  Gold medal at London 2012.  It's true.
Fun fact: he also knows how to crochet.  Here he is working on some hats to sell.
Also, the nurse who learned to love purple is on the far left.

• The KIDS.  Oh my word!  So precious.  The phrase "the least of these" kept running through my head.  The little girl giggling when I answered the toy phone.  The other little girl squatting to pee in the dirt.  The older girl's smile when I made a big deal about her.  Little Shante walking with me.  And just looking at them look at me playing guitar.  Ahhhh!

Little Shante.

Making sweet music together.

Connie loving on some boys while I play guitar.

• I found myself calling the little girls "sister" or "sis."  That's what I call Paisley.  It surprised me at first, like maybe I shouldn't call them that.  Like it was reserved for my own daughter.  But then I thought, "Why should I reserve this term of affection only for my own biological daughter? Whey can't I show these girls some love too?"  And just calling them "sister" made me feel more bonded to them somehow.  Did they sense it?  I have no idea.  But I sure did.  

     

• As FanFan and Julie started singing "Glorious Day" I started to get teary.  I looked around at all the precious kiddos.  And thought about how they will be in heaven with us.  And how they will be full and complete and whole.  Oh Glorious Day!

• I got a little choked up on Jesus Loves Me too.  "Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong."

Welcome the Blancs

The "day we left for Haiti" was actually just us traveling to Florida.  There was a delayed flight, but we hopped on the next flight.  That's about as exciting as it got.  Once we flew into West Palm, a shuttle driver took us 45 minutes away to Ft. Pierce, where our MFI (Missionary Flights International) flight was leaving the next morning.

With the delays and everything, we got to our hotel in Ft. Pierce around 1:00 am.  And we woke up at 4:45 am to leave for the MFI airport.  Very little sleep, but enough adrenaline and anticipation to get us through the day.

Our team in front of the MFI plane that would take us to Haiti!

The plane had been described to us as a "cargo plane" but was actually a lot nicer than what we were expecting!  It was definitely the most fun, laid-back flight I have ever been on.  I figured that out when 30 minutes into the flight, the co-pilot came back with a box of donuts and asked us if we wanted any.  

On our way down to Haiti we had to stop in the Bahamas for fuel (literally 15 minutes) and then in the Dominican Republic to drop off a missionary family who was moving there full-time.  Dogs included.  They were a pretty awesome family!  You can check out their blog here.  So yes, from the US to the Bahamas to the DR to Haiti = 4 countries in one day.

Once we got to Haiti, everything seemed to happen so fast!  Here are some highlights:  

• Seeing Julie and FanFan at the airport, so excited to see us! (newlyweds and leaders of our trip)
• That first ride in the back of the truck (there would be many more) from the airport to the ODH compound.  Julie had told us that the kids along the road would be so excited to see white people, and she was so right!  We waved to all the kids as we drove by and they waved and jumped up and down and yelled "Blanc! Blanc!"  (Creole for "White!")  We drove from Cap Hatien (where the airport is) to a small village called Limonade, where Open Door Haiti is located.  That's where we stayed all week.
• Walked from the ODH compound to the orphanage (which was very close, like a 3-minute walk).  Just that walk was so much fun....kids from the village came out to see the blancs and walk with us, hold our hands, etc. (this turned out to be one of our favorite things to do: just walk around the village with the kids)
• Once we got to the orphanage, the kids were so excited to see us!  One little girl in particular latched on to me, and I have to say I didn't mind.  She was pretty cute!  

Me and my new little friend, Keisha, on our first day in Haiti.

The kids loved playing with our hair and our watches and bracelets.  You don't think about the hair thing, but our hair is so different than theirs; they were fascinated by it.  

We walked back to ODH before it got dark (around 5:00).  We made sure we were back at the compound each night before dark, just for safety.  We ate dinner (YUM!) and hung out for a little bit.  We were all ready for bed pretty early.  Which was good, because we woke up at 5:00 am the next morning to go to Prayer Mountain.  

But I'll save that for another post.  :)

CHILL!

I've had lots of people say, "I want to hear about your Haiti trip!"  I figure this blog might be the best way to share my experiences with those who want to hear.  I'll go through my journal to help remind myself of what we did each day and what God taught me while we were there.  Stay tuned for several blog posts over the next week or two....

January 27, 2013: The day before we left.

The week before the trip I was having a REALLY hard time with leaving the kids.  I really believe the enemy was involved with that.  I was almost dreading the trip because I didn't want to leave the kids.  Which is not like me at all.  Normally I'm fine with leaving them.  And they were staying with grandparents or Dustin the entire time, so I knew they would be well taken care of (and probably have more fun than they would with me!). But nine days seemed like a really long time.  And I was stressed about packing their bags to stay with grandparents, making sure there was enough formula/baby food, leaving detailed instructions for feeding, bathing, etc. for Paisley.  I was a mess!

Sunday morning at church my sweet friend Carrie sang "Healer" by Kari Jobe.  And I posted a paper on the prayer wall that simply said, "Peace".  That's what I needed prayer for.  I was 24 hours away from leaving for Haiti and I was NOT peaceful about it.  Not at all.  I got to talk to Carrie afterwards and she promised to pray for me specifically about leaving the kids and missing them while I was gone.  What a blessing!

That evening I was rocking Paisley to sleep, thinking, "This is the last time I'll rock her to sleep!" and suddenly the Holy Spirit hit me like a bag of bricks, saying, "You need to CHILL!"  Seriously, that's what He said.  "This is NOT the last time you will rock your baby to sleep.  You will rock her again when you come back.  You will do everything again when you come back.  Stop being so weepy about it."

That was a huge moment for me.  I guess tough love is my style!  Here is an excerpt from my journal that night:

"Will I miss my kids? Oh yes.  Probably a lot.  But do I need to get all weepy about it? No, not really.  Because I am excited for Haiti. God decided a long time ago that I would be going, and He's been preparing for me to be there this week. He's been preparing me, preparing the people we will meet; He's got things to teach us that we just wouldn't get in the U.S.

So I am excited for that! Excited for a change of pace. Excited to get to know and worship Him with His kids over there. Who are so different than me, yet the same too. I'm excited to have a break from being a mom and just have an adventure. I'm excited to get to know the other girls on the team better and to sharpen each other. I'm excited for Prayer Mountain and to connect with God there in a new and refreshing environment. I'm excited to connect with God through the orphans, the elderly, the babies, and the sick.

And I know when the week is over, I will be so excited to come home and see the kids and Dustin. But I shouldn't be sad now. This is a good thing. They need to see their mom investing is something other than just them. They need to see me taking care of myself and taking care of others. They need to know that they are not the most important thing in my life (although lots of days it feels that way). They need to see me serving God, whether that's by taking care of them or taking care of others or going to Haiti. This week it's Haiti.

God, I know You will take care of my kids this week. Just like You do when I'm with them. Sometimes I like to think that I'm the one who takes care of them because they're mine. But they are Yours. Thank you for letting me be part of their lives.  And thank you for continually reminding me of Your perspective. I am now chill.  :) Thank you for giving me PEACE."

And then the next day we got on a plane.  Stay tuned....

New Every Morning

Being a parent has taught me so much more about how God loves us.  Except He is a perfect parent (I am not).  And He is so much more than a parent (I am not).  But He's using this experience of raising my kids to teach me a little smidgen of how He feels about us.  Take yesterday for example...

Jack was a BEAST yesterday.  The morning was deceptively okay.  Then we had his first swim lesson at the Y.  Oh. My. Word.  He screamed throughout the whole swim lesson.  (Which was extra frustrating because he normally LOVES swimming.)  I made him stay and do everything with his teacher.  He did almost everything.  He just was crying/screaming/flailing while he did it.  So embarrassing.  Then he started to gag as if he was going to throw up (that happens a lot) so I made him get out of the pool.  I made him apologize to his teacher.  Which came out, "I'm saaaaaaaooooowwwwwwwwwyyyyyyyy!"  

Then he asked me if he would get a cake pop (his reward if he had a good attitude at swim class).  I told him absolutely not.  More crying.  

Then we went to the family locker room to get dressed.  He did NOT want to get dressed.  I literally wrestled him on the locker room floor (gross) for 20 minutes trying to get him dressed.  Got underwear and one sock on.  Then he had to pee.  But refused to use that toilet, he wanted a different toilet.  Finally I sat him on a bench and stepped out in the hallway for a time-out.  For him and for me.  

After a couple minutes he finally calmed down and conceded to get dressed and pee.  We picked up his sister and headed home.  He fell asleep on the way home and I thought, "YES! Nap time!"  No.  He woke up the second I laid him down in his bed.  So we ate lunch instead.  During which he punched the dog in the face.  Time-out.  Apologize to the dog.  Then he kicked the dog in the face.  Time-out.  Apologize to the dog. 

Then we tried nap time again.  I said, "When you wake up, Daddy will be home."  So 15 minutes later when Jack heard the garage door go up, he said, "Daddy's home, so nap time is over!" Um....not quite what I meant.  But okay I guess.  Sure, run around in just your pull-up.  It's not cold out or anything.  

Then while I was making dinner, Jack was watching a show on the iPad, plugged into the wall in the living room.  I noticed he had taken his pull-up off and was now completely naked.  I asked him why he took it off and he said, "I peed in it.  And I peed right there on the carpet."  

Excuse me?  You peed on the carpet?  Time-out.  And iPad privileges taken away.  Are you kidding me?  You really peed on the carpet?  

Thankfully the husband took care of the pee mess.  Did I ever tell you thank you?  Thanks Dustin.  

By 5:30 I couldn't wait for the day to be over.  I wasn't mad or upset or anything.  Just exhausted.  And I was ready to start a new day.  Then the phrase, "His mercies are new every morning" popped into my head.  That means tomorrow is a new, fresh day!  I was definitely going to have new mercies for my son in the morning.  He's my kid, and I love him not matter what.  Exhausted or not.  I couldn't wait for a new day so we could try again.  

Just like God has new mercies for us.  How often do we have a "scream for an hour at the Y, punch the dog in the face, pee on the carpet" kind of day, or week, or month, or year?  I know I've had seasons where I've acted that way.  I still have times that I act that way.  And He has renewed mercy for me.  Always.  

Thank God.