Friday, February 15, 2013

Sponsors needed!

We recently received a letter from a sponsor about the beautiful girl she sponsors at the orphanage in Port au Prince.  We still have about 20 orphans (mostly the older ones) who are not sponsored.  Read what she wrote, pray about it and let us know if YOU would like to invest in the life of a child in Haiti.  Your $32 helps provide food, water, personal items, education and more to a child in need but more importantly he/she will know that someone is praying for them, loves them and will grow to understand and appreciate the love God has for them.  Here's the letter followed by a photo of one of the orphans in November 2011 and again in December 2012 (not the girl mentioned in the letter).

Hi there,
     I am writing this letter as an encouragement. My hopes are that these thoughts and words and stories would recharge those who serve with Heart United with Haiti, encourage others to sponsor a child and inspire sponsors to met their sponsor children.
     **** (name replaced with asterisks) has been our girl since June 2011. When we arrived at the terrible orphanage that she was living in she latched on to me. When she looked at me her face was bright and hopeful. The moment one of the members of the family that ran the orphanage spoke, her face changed and fear came over her. She wanted to go with us. She didn't know where to... anywhere but there. It was difficult to leave her in such a terrible place. Every time someone went to Haiti I sent her a letter telling her that I loved her and I was praying for her. This simple act of writing a letter that was translated to her made a huge difference. God did not leave them there in that terrible place.
     Through many miraculous events and through people that were willing to stand up and shout out for the oppressed, the children at that bad orphanage were moved. I wanted to do so much more to make a difference in her life. I knew that giving her some sort of constant love would make a difference in the name of Christ. He would bind us together and give her a hope for her future. Leaving that place was a blessing and very traumatic. I continued to write her and send her little things when it was appropriate. We heard good reports of the new orphanage- Life is Wealth- and we were hopeful and very willing to sponsor her financially Through Hearts United with Haiti. The evidence of Gods faithfulness was something we got to see the last time we visited ****
     ***** has received several letters that have been delivered by my friends Matt and Crystal. Best of all, my husband and I have gotten to visit her 3 times at Life is Wealth. She is usually quiet and withdrawn yet loving and sweet. She does not cling and want to be held like the other kids. In fact we have to really work to get her to smile for a picture. It's not that she is unhappy just very reserved. But this last visit was drastically different. It has been more than two years since we have had our **** and more than a year that the girls have been with Pastor Yves. Through Christ, with our love and the faithfulness of Hearts United with Haiti, we could see the positive change. We could see her comfort in the expression on her face, the relaxed body language, and the way she engaged with us like never before. Our love and communication with her has made a difference, I believe a life changing difference in the name of the Lord. She is comfortable, safe, growing and learning with the help of our sponsorship. 
     I will leave you with a sweet little story. All of the girls were given a Christmas bag. **** opened her gifts and took a bracelet and hair tie to Crystal to mail to me. This was a sign of our bond and love that has developed over time and over distance. It fills my heart and I know it pleases God. I made certain to wear her gifts on my last visit. I have never seen such a big smile on that pretty face. I have to say that there is a sad part. There are several girls that are that live with **** that are truly precious. They are well taken care of and looked after but they need faithful love. They need thoughtful letters and a sponsor of their own. It is really a very simple gift to give. Taking two minutes to right a simple letter and email it to Crystal is no sacrifice at all. Frankly it costs me so little to give her so much. and the blessings both ways are priceless. 
     Thank you to all that support and volunteer to care for these beautiful girls. I appreciate you and encourage you to continue!


Would you like to sponsor an orphan in Haiti?  If so, contact us via our website www.heartsunitedwithhaiti.org and we will get you in touch with our sponsorship coordinators.  Thank you and God bless.  

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Prayer request...

I will be going back to Haiti in two weeks and very excited to see how God has been putting things into place as we seek and follow His direction for our ministry.  We have a prayer request for those of you who are committed to praying for us.   The longer we are in Haiti and involved in missions in general, the more we are convinced that in order to be part of any long term solutions we need to help provide jobs while working with the people and building relationships.  This way people can support their families and children can remain at home where God intended them to be- with parents who love them and love the One who created them.  Through some generous donations throughout the past year we have started working toward some sustainable programs with the goal not only vocational training and mentorship but Biblical discipleship as well.  This is still in it's infancy but God has opened up a few really BIG doors already so we are trusting Him and stepping through them.  In March when I am down in Haiti for a few days after the team leaves please pray that God will make His plans for Hearts United with Haiti's role more clear and will guide/direct us those we will partner with on the ground in Haiti to properly implement these plans.  I know this is vague, but details are honestly still coming together.  We will keep you posted though and for now, we trust that God will lead and direct your prayers for our ministry and for these projects in our future.

One such project we CAN tell you about is the gardening program at the Orphanage.  Here are just a few photos of the seeds we planted.  Reports are that they are still growing well and that the orphans are excited and taking good care of them.  We pray these seeds will be used by God to ultimately nourish not only the children's bodies, but also their souls as we use the seeds and the gardens to teach MANY Biblical lessons!  For now, they are learning about stewardship.  In the future?  The good soil/bad soil parable (faith), seasons in life/faith (how things may look like nothing is happening right now, but that doesn't mean that God has forgotten them and some day they will see fruit), evangelism (how some plant, some water, etc...), faith as small as a mustard seed (show them seeds that turn into large plants/trees- now they will understand better), etc... You get the idea??  But in the process, they are learning responsibility and how to care for something and literally get fruits (and vegetables) from their labor! If YOU would like to be part of this program- perhaps coming to Haiti to help us build the large gardens this summer, teaching the lessons, planting the gardens, or contributing financially to the success of this-  then please let us know!  We would LOVE to have your help and prayers.  God bless!

Here is the soil before planting (we planted in colanders to start the seeds- best "pots" we could find with drainage)

Pepper seeds-  we started with peppers, tomatoes, basil and spinach

Here are the finished product after planting.  :)  

In less than a week the seeds were SPROUTS..... now they are even bigger.  

First we met with the orphans and we had a discussion about stewardship.  We explained that just like in Matthew 25:14-27 when Jesus uses a parable about bags of gold, they are being trusted with little. What they do with it is up to them. We only started four pots of plants when I was in Haiti in January.  Then, if those seeds are well cared for and we have healthy plants when I return in the end of February we will plant them and give them more seeds to start (and build a small garden with the March mission group).  If when I return in June those are doing well, we will have groups over the summer build a LARGE garden that they can plant and that ultimately can bring them some great fresh vegetables but will also have taught them in the process as stated above.  One reason for doing this is that the orphans have not really been "parented" so they do not have an appreciation of the value of things and the importance of caring for what they have.  Pastor has shared with us that he gets frustrated when we bring things (donations) for the children but they do not care for those items and soon they are damaged and of no use.  So, since we had received this donation toward sustainable food sources for the orphans it seemed to fit together nicely.  We could have just gone in there and planted seeds, made a large garden or even bought them food with the donation, but using this method to teach lessons and having the orphans directly involved in the building, planting and care of the plants is a much more lasting answer we feel.  Pray with us that this idea is used by God to teach them much!  Thank you!!