Daneilson

Daneilson Joseph (pronounced "da- neil- son") is one of the children of Chaveneau... He started coming around almost the first day we were there and we saw him every day for the two weeks.  We would often comment that he seemed older than he physically appeared and his school uniform was that of an older child even though his size was that of one of the preschool/kindergarten children.  He is smart and LOVES to be carried around like a little one- hanging onto your body like a monkey for attention. 

Finally after about a week or so we asked how old he was.  The response?  EIGHT years old.  WOW!!!  One would think he was only 5 at max if judging by his physical stature.  That is when Pastor Duval reminded us of his vision to begin a feeding program this fall and an orphanage in Chaveneau. Many of the children we saw in our two weeks of living in Chaveneau were malnourished.  Many had the red hair and swollen bellies which are signs of starvation.  Many were sooooo skinny it hurt to hold them on your lap.  ALL needed love and attention in addition to food, clothing and medical attention..... all needed hope...  

In Haiti the word orphanage means a place for children to come and live and be taken care of because their family can not afford to.  Most of the children are not orphans in the true sense of the word, but are just the victims of poverty.  Parents can not afford to take care of the children they have so they put them in orphanages to receive food, clothing, education, etc...  Either that or put them out on the street to take care of themselves.  An orphanage in Haiti is kind of like a boarding school- but instead of paying to put them there, children are put there because parents have no means to keep them at home. Sometimes they are sent home to be with their families during the two months when there is no school in session. Sometimes they stay at the orphanage year-round.  

This system is in dire need of rehabilitation.  The answer is not to just build another orphanage in Chaveneau.  It is to work WITH the families and keep them together, but also to provide ways for them to care for their children.  To provide opportunities for them to succeed in a country with an 80% unemployment rate.  To provide education and teach skills so they are no longer dependent upon others to help their family and so they don't feel the only alternative is to "give up" their child so they have a "better life". 

But.... in the meantime, there are starving/malnourished children in Chaveneau (and all over Haiti) who are in need of FOOD, medical attention, clothing, education, etc...  Won't you please consider helping them in some way??  Pray for these little ones and pray for the families who must watch their children starve and suffer just because they were born into a family who has no opportunity to provide for them.  Pray for Daneilson... pray for us as we work here in Haiti.... pray for the five loaves and two fishes we currently have to go a LONG way and to be used by Him to show how He provides for not only our physical needs, but ALL our needs if we only look to Him and trust.   Thank you for your prayers- 

Exciting Day... :)

We had an exciting day today... first of all THANK YOU    THANK YOU   THANK YOU for your prayers for the car... it is still leaking a little transmission fluid but yesterday it got us to Jacmel and back (up and down HUGE mountains- bigger and more treacherous than the road to Chaveneau) and today to way north of Petionville to an old fort (Fort Jacques) where we could see the entire city of Port au Prince and the ocean beyond....  Haiti is an amazingly beautiful country and we are blessed God has brought us HERE to minister. The stalling seemed to be an electrical issue and after the mechanic tightened a few fuses the car ran like a champ the past two days.  SO...... it seems the major repairs MAY be over... I pray that is the case...

Both yesterday and today were uplifting because we got to see two totally different ministries but God is at work blessing both of them.  Yesterday in Jacmel we went to visit Hands and Feet orphanage which was started by the men from Audio Adrenaline (a christian music group) years ago.  It was amazing to see the facilities there and to dream about what can be accomplished through Him when we are faithful to serve Him with all we have.  They have a great ministry there- the children are blessed to have that place and to be loved by those working there.

Today we visited a pastor in Port au Prince named Moise.  His church was lost in the earthquake but his faith was not.  God promised to rebuild his facilities and to create a mighty church where his old one had stood.  Well we were able to see just that.  His church is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL... and we were amazed to hear that construction was begun the first week of November last year and their first service was held on the one year anniversary of the earthquake- Jan. 12th.  They have over 750 on a Sunday morning and one of the most encouraging things is that Moise said most of them are young adults and older teens.  The hardest group to reach.  Praise God for what He is doing through this ministry! 


Moise was able to show us his school on the property as well as the area where they are digging footers to put in an orphanage, kitchen building and playground for the children.  Wow!  Then we were soooo blessed to be able to spend some great time in fellowship with this man of God.  We talked about Haiti and some of the spiritual challenges facing the nation.  We talked about the strongholds the enemy has on the country and the fact that he doesn't want to give up easily.  We prayed together.  I left with such a sense of awe at the God we serve.  It is always good to be among those who "sharpen" us and help us become more and more fit for service.  I would love to attend church there someday.  :) :)

That's it for now... having an amazing summer so far- to God be the glory!  Tonight or tomorrow we will work together as a team/leadership to set guidelines for future staff and for the ministry.  We are all praying about it individually and will see what He brings to each of us.  Then, together, we will form them. 

Thanks as always for the prayers.  God is good... very good... ALL THE TIME!!

What a difference a day makes...

Yesterday  I wrote that I really felt like we were under attack. That is so true... for the last few days I have felt such an incredible weight on me as leader and the mood around here has been one of "heaviness"  The enemy had definately tried hard to develop a stronghold and to wear us down. I have not felt such frustration, sadness, depression, anger, etc... in a long time.  I was physically and emotionally drained.  But, thanks to some mighty prayer warriors today I wake feeling refreshed and ready to begin the next chapter for this summer.  So I send a HUGE thank you to those of you who were praying... God has used you to speak truth to me.  His truth.  He is a God who will not leave me alone to manage Hearts United.  Quite the contrary.  He is with me each little thought and step.  He loves me and has called me here to Haiti this summer and He will be my rock if I allow Him to be.  So... today I leave you with this verse that Zick (one of our translators) shared with me the other day.  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  - James 1:2-4

under attack

Well... it was bound to happen.  Things here in Haiti were sooooo good- the trip was amazing (some hiccups but that's expected with a first year or so), the staff and participants were amazing, etc...  Hearts United with Haiti is going to be used by God to bless many in Haiti in the years to come.  Going into this weekend there were some items that could cause stress, but due to the prayers of many of you and the relationship I have with God and the fact that I KNOW this is the ministry He is directing us to I had such JOY... incredible JOY here in Haiti. 

Why wouldn't the enemy try to take that from me?  Of course he would.  One of the reasons I chose the name I did for Hearts United with Haiti was because of the verse in Ecclesiastes (4:12) where it says "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not easily broken."  I think upon this verse and it tells me a few things.  The main one is that we need to stay UNIFIED in our mission.  We need to be UNITED as we go along this road He is leading us on.  And, we need to rely on Him through it all.  To protect us, to guide us, to be the head of this organization.  If we try to do Hearts United on our own strength we will certainly fail.  But if it is where He is leading us, it will be a blessing to many. We truly need to be UNITED with Haiti (and with God) and not just coming here to give handouts and put bandaids on problems.  We came here to establish relationships.  To disciple.  To be UNITED with one another.  To receive as well as to give.

The best way for the enemy to try to get a stronghold on this organization is to cause problems within the leadership.  And that my friends is exactly what he is trying to do.  We are under such attack here.  Haiti has been enemy territory for so long and he is not giving up the fight easily.  Pray for us- that we stay UNIFIED, that we SEEK HIM, that we are bold enough to FOLLOW where He leads, and most importantly pray that we will remain in Him and close to Him and His word so there be no area in our individual lives and as an organization for him to have ground to set up camp. 

Hope that is not too strange and makes sense to you all.  It is early in the morning but it is what God put on my heart to share. Yes, we are in desperate financial need with this organization, we are in need of partners/partipants who desire to work with the community in Chaveneau, we are in need of direction for Ron and I personally as we discern if we should move to Haiti, etc... But most importantly, we are in desperate need to submit to God and to rely on Him to direct this ministry.  1 John 1:5 says "God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all."  I pray we remain in Him...stay in the light and give NO ROOM for darkness.... . as individuals and as an organization.  I ask that you pray the same. 

THANK YOU- 

God's been blessing Haiti!

Hello world outside Haiti! This is Emily. I am so excited to be back in this country! The flight down was good, and the closer and closer it got the more and more anxious I got. When we landed, the whole plane burst out in a fantastic Haitian cheer of clapping, whistles, and "Halleluia"s. Even in the airport, I could see an improvement since I was there last year. It upgraded from a building that resembled more of a warehouse to an actual airport. The city itself has improved too...on the drive to the Arrises' I could see the small things that have changed. As a whole, you don't see a huge difference, but when you look at the details, you can. The amount of trash has gone down a lot, some of the roads are having work done on them, some tent cities are completely gone, others have improved some (public showers, nicer tarps, etc). It's the things like that that give me hope and those things that I need to keep realizing. On our way in we actually got to see the President too! Well, we saw his motorcade at least :) It was cool to think that we were like 50 feet from him.

So after we got here, we made a quick stop at the house to drop off my luggage and eat a quick PB&J, then me, mom, and Obed headed straight over to SOG orphanage to see my girl  Sarafina :) When she came out, she didn't run to me, didn't jump into my arms, didn't shed tears of happiness, but she smiled the most pure and happy smile that I have ever seen in my life. She is an incredibly shy little girl, so I know that was the most affectionate welcome I could have gotten and it was more than enough! We were welcomed into the parlor at the orphanage where she sat perched on my lap while me and mom got to know her better. For the first time, I could actually ask her everything I wanted to know unlike when we were crowded around by the other 100 kids. She opened up to us and told us what she remembers about her life before SOG. She said she had an older sister named Daphne, and they lived with her aunt. One day her aunt sent her out for something, but Sarafina got lost. She had no idea where she was, or how to get home. A missions organization found her and brought her to the orphanage where she has been ever since. This prompted mom to be hopeful and say "Well then you could still have family out there looking for you, right?!" Her response, with a solemn, heart-breaking face replied the simple words of "No, I don't think so. There's no hope." Wow...that devestated me...she doesn't know how old she was when she came or when her birthday is. She says she is 8, but she told me she was 8 last year, so I think she's 9, but it is possible that nobody in this world knows for sure. We did get to know some good things about her, too :) I now know that her favorite color is white, her favorite animal is a lion (because it's the king of all the other animals, haha), she wants to be a pilot when she grows up, and she loves school. I fall more and more in love with her every time I see her! We are hoping to get to take her for the day at least once while I am here, but we'll have to call that by ear.

Today I got to go to church and see some more old friends which was great :) I can't wait to see what else God has in store for me on this trip!!

In HIM,
Emily

Emily's girl....

I won't write the story because it's Emily's to tell but this is one of the most amazing moments of my life so far.... getting to see Emily and Sarafina reunited.  They had not seen one another since last July and we literally went from the airport to the orphanage so Emily could see her (quick stop at the house to drop luggage and eat a PBJ).  How it blesses my heart to have my daughter share in this ministry and to have the love she does for Haiti too!  God is good!!!  Pray we have much time the next two weeks that Emily is here to see Sarafina and to spend time with her.  :) :) :)  Our greatest desire is to let her know she is loved and never forgotten...... by God and by us! 

Alexis gets in today (we pick her up in about 3 hours) and then we will start about a 2 week period where we will be working to find partner ministries, people to work with our ministry here in Haiti (like a Haitian "crew"- translators, people to run errands, drivers for teams, etc....),  Pray that God will lead and direct us and will help us use this time effectively. 

The mechanic is working on the vehicle now... we are still moving toward buying it because the man selling came down another $500 in price because it needs so much work.  We currently need $1500 ready to send to Haiti in 2 weeks!  We pray people will desire to help with this expense so we can pay the man quickly and we can start to use it.  The mechanic seems to think the transmission is fine now and it is only a seal that needs replacing.  This would mean a $100 job instead of $500+.  Praise God and pray with us that this "fix" does the trick please!  :) 

We will still work to get the short bus because we will still need a way to get teams to/from Chaveneau with luggage and supplies.  That would be SUCH a blessing- as well as a way to get teams from the airport... if we use it only 10 times it will be paid for.... or 5 times to Chaveneau.  Renting in Haiti is sooooo expensive.

Emily is off to church- I have been having great time with the Arris family, life is good... thanks again for your support and prayers... :)    Serving Him in Haiti- Crystal

almost done "phase 1"

Sitting here at the Arris house with Steve and Auston- the only two from the team left here.  They leave for the airport in 2 hours and then I will return to the house, clean and probably nap.... It has been a blessed three weeks and it was soooooo hard to say "goodbye" to Jordan and Michelle- they did a FANTASTIC job with being summer staff.  They were such support to me and I thank God for leading them to us this first summer. 

The next two weeks will be more "foundation building" and I am starting to see why God chose to not send many people to us.  We are making so many contacts and learning more and more about the country and language.  God is using this time to teach me much about myself and relying on Him for things... if He truly has called us to this ministry He will provide us with the people and resources we need to run it.  It is good feeling less and less dependent on a few people and broadening my circle of contacts here in Haiti.  But is is kind of sad at the same time.  I had "expectations" about how/what this ministry would look like- those of us who would be working side by side with one another and now that it appears that might not happen it is just a bit sad.  I know that God calls us each to different ministries in our lives and has different ways for us to each serve Him and I would never attempt to push someone to mold to MY idea of what God wants.  So, I must continue to remain in the Word and stay close to Him and trust that He will make His ways for our ministry clear to those who He has determined should partner with us.  And those that should not??  I pray He comforts my heart and helps me release them to Him and not try to put them into a mold they were never meant to fill and that He makes it clear to them as well- that they may have peace about their decision.  

Hope this makes sense.  I am tired and sleep deprived and will post later when I have had some rest.  Know that your prayers were answered and it was a fantastic three weeks in Haiti!  God is soooooo good. 
-Crystal