Category Archives: Haiti

Farewell to Haiti

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Wow!! It never crossed my mind that I would welcome the new year in thousands of miles from home serving on the mission field, but here I am. It’s officially 2013 and I’m in Haiti. I can’t help but think God was very intentional regarding my location for the first day of the year. My hope is 2013 will be filled with opportunities for me to serve in a missions capacity.

Tomorrow I board a plane for Texas, and I am sad to leave. I truly love Haiti and it’s people. I was told once that there is healing in my smile.  I’m not really outgoing, but it’s easy to smile. What I found amazing was how easily a smile can change someone’s countenance.  Every single person I smiled at smiled back, and not one of them had seemed to welcome my presence before I smiled. One lady was sitting in a crowded tap-tap just scowling my direction. I fixed my smile on her and watched in awe as she shrugged as if to say, “okay you win” and smiled back. Tonight at the grocery store a man kept staring at my feet. I caught his eye and smiled. He immediately broke into a grin and even asked how I was doing. I think I’ll continue this practice stateside.

Loving on orphans is definitely where I’m most comfortable. I try to show them all attention, but inevitably I always end up bonding strongly with one or two.  Yesterday I walked by the toddler room at bathtime; all those cute little kiddos, running around soaking wet and naked. One of them just stood there scowling. He would not smile. I kept trying to change his countenance, but eventually ended up in tears, overwhelmed that a child who’s barely three could carry so much sadness. Fortunately he’s matched with a family. My prayer for Hugo is that soon he’ll be with his forever family, and the sadness would be replaced with joy.  Then there’s my most favorite, not quite six month old Baby Q Tip. His real name sounds something like Gerbil, but he earned the Q Tip moniker because of the fluffy little tuffet of hair on top of his head.  He has soft, chubby cheeks, beautiful dark, smooth skin and the sweetest little grin. He has such a peaceful disposition, he fell asleep in my arms three times. He’s been at the orphanage most of his short life and is not yet matched with a family. I left tear stains on his cheeks as I laid him in his crib and kissed him good bye for the last time.  My prayer for him is that not only will he be matched quickly with a family, but that the process will be quick and he won’t have to spend two years waiting to go home with his forever family.

Haiti, I bid thee farewell, but will carry a piece of you in my heart always.

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Doing it Haitian Style

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Whenever I visit a foreign country I love to immerse myself in the culture.  I want to eat what they eat, travel how they travel, just experience, on a very small scale, what their lives are like. While in Haiti the team has a choice of travelling in the orphanage van or a hired taptap. A taptap is basically a small pick up truck with two benches bolted in the bed, an open back, no seatbelts and an corrugated tin roof. It’s hot, dusty, terribly bumpy and comfortable, but the best way to see what’s going on in the streets of Haiti. The Haiti of today is much different from when I came after the earthquake in 2010. Much of the rubble is gone and there are many more street vendors selling everything from furniture to toothpaste. It was exciting to see all the fresh fruits and vegetables available.

Some Haitian crusade workers joined us for lunch at the orphanage yesterday.   A spontaneous time of singing and dancing broke out. They were keeping a beat with drums, pots, lids, etc.  One of our team members even had a dance off with a local. Tiffany totally had her beat until the other lady threw her hips into it and literally bumped Tiffany across the floor.  We had a great time.

There has been a nightly open air crusade that we’ve participated in. It’s pretty amazing to worship with Haitians, its a full body experience. They dance with wild abandon and sing with passion. It’s really hard to allow myself that type of freedom. I think I have much to learn.

This is short, but breakfast is served. Bon jour.

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Adventures in Haiti

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Friday was the team’s first full day in Haiti. We were rudely awakened by a rooster crowing at 2:45 a.m. Apparently he was confused about when daybreak occurs.  Fortunately we were able to get a few hours more sleep after our wake up call.  Breakfast was actually quite “American”; scrambled eggs, toast, jelly, bananas and fresh squeezed juice. I was particularly excited about the banana as I’d prepared myself for the absence of fruit or vegetables this week.

After breakfast we loaded up supplies for the treacherous drive to a retreat center. Traffic in Haiti is something you just have to expedience for yourself. I’m not even sure Nascar drivers would survive, but our Haitian driver was quite skilled and we arrived with all body parts intact. 

We spent the remainder of Friday and all of Saturday hosting a conference for about 50 Haitian women. I was admittedly apprehensive. I don’t mingle well with women who speak English; add a foreign language to the mix well, it’s even more of a struggle. I have very çonflicting emotions about the weekend. I’m not sure my presence added any value. I did get an opportunity to share with the women part of my testimony and also some things I felt like the Lord had spoken just for them. I was honored to have that opportunity as I’ve prayed for the Lord to open doors for me to share how He saved my life. 

Tomorrow we are off to spend some time at the orphanage. Loving on babies who have no mama is where I find contentment. 

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Chosen Half Marathon for Adoption

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Spend any time at River Stone Community Church in San Marcos, Texas and I guarantee the subject of orphan care/adoption will come up.  I was raised in church, but prior to our arrival at River Stone in 2009, never before had I heard orphan care preached as part of the gospel message. I naively thought adoption was something only people who were unable to have children in the traditional manner pursued.  Boy was I wrong!!!

When we arrived at River Stone in 2009 there were already five former orphans living with their forever families; four international adoptions and one domestic. Since 2009 eight more families have adopted eleven children.  Having closely witnessed many of these adoptions unfold, I can honestly say, adoption is a completely unselfish, expensive, complicated, difficult and heart wrenching but extremely beautiful and worthwhile process.  Not only have I witnessed these children united with their forever families, but I have been honored to play a role on many different levels; one of my favorite has been participating in the Chosen Half Marathon for Adoption hosted in Gruene, TX.

Had I not been challenged to register for the Chosen in 2010, I don’t believe I would be the runner I am today.  Training for that race is where I got my start as a distance runner, but no matter how many half marathons I run, none will ever have the special meaning this one does.  When registering, runners may choose to run for a certain team; the teams are made up of families who are in the process of adopting.  In 2010 I ran for the Bollinger Family. When I crossed the finish line their beautiful new Ukrainian daughters, Olivia & Natalia were there to greet me.  In 2011 I ran for the Guenther Family. Heart breaking to me is the circumstances that keep their son, Wilson in a Haitian orphanage, held up by paperwork.  Yesterday I ran for the Simmons Family.  I met their son Leo, also from Ukraine, for the first time today.

In 2010, I completed the race in 2:28, my goal was 2:30.  I spent the next year training hard and finished 2011′s race in 2:08!!  There were quite a few runners from River Stone & I was the second member to cross the finish line.  I had planned for a sub 2 hour race in 2012, little did I know I would be side lined after a terrible car accident in November 2011 that left me with a broken neck.  Starting the race yesterday, my only goal was to finish.  I finished the USAF Half Marathon in Dayton, Ohio 6 weeks ago in 2:25, but I had only completed two long 10 mile training runs since then. I honestly wasn’t sure I was prepared, but this race was all about Leo, I was out there for him.  Surprisingly I finished the race in 2:16, faster than I’d run just 6 weeks ago!!  Part of me struggled over the athletic set back, part of me struggled with being the last River Stone runner to finish this year, but then I stopped to think about what could have been, and realized that I had nothing to be sad about.

James 1:27 has become one of my favorite verses; “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” My hope is that every aspect of my life would be a reflection of this verse.

A Runner’s Purpose

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April 2010 marked the beginning of my competitive running career. In the last sixteen months, I’ve competed in seventeen races; one 5K obstacle course, ten regular 5K’s, two 4 Milers, two 10K’s and two half marathons. Not only are the races fun and a great workout, but proceeds from the registrations fees go to support good causes; adoption, scholarship funds, cancer support, families of firefighters who die in the line of duty, school athletic programs, and that just covers a few. I started running competitively because I wanted to, but I’ve kept running to bring glory to God.

When I first started running I never dreamed I’d run further than a few miles. But God’s plans are so often much different than our plans. One morning during my workout I started thinking about distance running. I thought, “I wonder if I’d ever be able to run ten miles?” “Nah.” It wasn’t a week later that a friend posted on twitter asking for runners to join her in the http://www.marathonforadoption.com. At the time our pastors http://morelovetogive.com were planning to adopt a child from Ukraine. Funds raised via the race would help offset their adoption expenses. The thought of running 13.1 miles made me want to vomit, but I registered anyhow. Six runners from our church http://theriverstonechurch.com participated in that race. Waiting for us at the finish line, just back from Ukraine, were our pastors with their two new daughters, Olivia Kate and Natalia Rose. Hanging proudly on my cubicle wall is a picture of me and the girls from that day.

There are all types of runners. Me? I’m a slow, distance runner, but after running my second half marathon, and taking 10 minutes off of my time, I decided to train for speed. I spent several months trying to break a consistent 8 minute mile but I just could not do it. I could run a 7.5 minute mile, but maintaining it for an entire 5K was impossible. Frustrated. Frustrated. Frustrated. Not even in training did I once hit my target. As half marathon season began to roll around again, I started praying about what to do. Do I skip the half marathons this fall and focus on speed or do I revert back to what I know and do well? This really was a difficult decision as quitting is not in my nature. I didn’t want to give up speed work having not achieved my goal. There was also another issue, I had no intention of running the http://www.marathonforadoption.com again this year. “I” wanted to run the Tyler Rose Half Marathon. “I” wanted to run the La Porte Bridge Half Marathon. Sense a theme here? The races are too close together for me to run them all, I had to choose.

Several weeks ago God gave me an answer. I picked up my race packet for the Dog Days 4 Miler in New Braunfels and tucked inside was a http://www.marathonforadoption.com postcard for this year’s race. Smiling at me were the beautiful faces of Olivia Kate and Natalia Rose, the former orphaned sisters rescued from Ukraine by our pastors. I began to weep and knew what God would have me to do. The next day I resumed my half marathon training work outs. This year I run http://www.marathonforadoption.com in support of Brian & Christy Guenther http://www.raisingthehope.com , and Wilson, the little boy they are adopting from Haiti. I run with purpose. I run for the glory of God.

Contemplation

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January 2, 2011: It’s the second day of the new year. For many people that means the opportunity to start over again, to succeed where there has been failure, to bring life where there has been death; but because somewhere along the way I became a cynic, to me a new year just means I have to remember to write 2011 instead of 2010. Why does the turning of a calendar page give me the right to anticipate great and wonderful circumstances? I face 2011 with trepidation. Dare I hope that deliverance will come and finally I’ll be set free to live out my dreams?

2010 was actually a pretty amazing year for me, one of the best in a very long time. I traveled to China and Haiti, became a published author, and completed my first half marathon. That’s a lot for one girl to do in twelve short months. But, it’s not enough. I’m that spoiled child in the toy store who wants one of everything! At this juncture, there are no plans on the horizon. The only thing I know for certain is tomorrow morning I have to get up and go to work, something I really don’t want to do. Accounting is NOT my passion.

What is my passion? Adoption and orphan care. My experiences in China and Haiti opened my heart and eyes to the world of abandoned children. This summer I followed closely the journey of our friends and pastors as they traveled to Ukraine to adopt two sisters. I wept at their heartache and rejoiced at their victories. Those two little girls are precious to me in a way that I can neither understand nor explain. The team leaders from our Haiti trip recently returned to that country to spend time with the little boy they have chosen to be their son. They posted a “family picture” from Haiti that caused me to weep for joy when I saw it. You see, I’ve met their son, I’ve hugged him and played with him. I understand what being adopted into a loving family means for these beautiful children.

My desire for 2011 is that will God open doors of ministry, only for me to travel to more foreign lands and love on babies, but opportunities to share my experiences and thereby ignite a similar passion in others. It takes no special degree or skill to love a child, it only takes a willingness to serve, and a desire to reach out beyond our own self inflicted borders.

Why Are You Here?

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IMG00464-20100718-0631An interesting thing happened on my last night in Haiti ; I came face to face with evil. Most of our evening meals were eaten at the hotel restaurant. The food was rather expensive though, so the team requested dinner at a local café’. A boisterous Haitian celebration that weekend left our security guards reluctant to allow us outside of the walled hotel grounds after dark. By Sunday evening, much of the fanfare had settled and we were granted furlough.

IMG00447-20100717-1149Walking into the restaurant that evening was overwhelming; noise and chaos saturated my senses. Barely ten feet inside the door, a Haitian man with vacant eyes reached out, touched my shoulder and asked, “Why are you here?” There was no time to respond as he continued his journey out the door. In that moment I felt no fear, my only thought was, “Who do I know in Haiti?” Exchanging glances with my roommate, standing inches away from me, we shrugged our shoulders and proceeded to order dinner. It was such a strange, random occurrence, but too many other circumstances begged my attention that I took no time to ponder what had happened.

IMG00513-20100718-1359Sharing the event with my husband was eye opening. He knew exactly what had happened. In Matthew 8:28-29 Jesus encounters a demon possessed man. The demons cry out saying, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?” Just like in scripture, a demon recognized the Christ within me and wanted to know my purpose in the region. Wow. How many times have we heard pastors instruct, live your life so that when you set your feet on the ground each morning demons tremble and say, “Oh no, she’s awake.” Being recognized because of God’s spirit excited me, it brought confirmation that God indeed sent me to Haiti. My presence in that country had purpose.

IMG00514-20100718-1400Why was I in Haiti? I was in Haiti to see the people of that nation through God’s eyes, to feel his love for them. I was in Haiti to hear the vision of Pierre Alexis, Director of Maison des Enfants de Dieu , to stand beside that man both prayerfully and physically in the years it will take to accomplish the vision. I was in Haiti to speak words of hope/encouragement/truth over a beautiful eight week old baby boy named Samson. I was in Haiti to bring laughter and kisses to sad little Beatrice. I was in Haiti because I said, “Here am I Lord, send me.”