Kristin's Birthday Weekend

I can’t even think of where I should begin. This weekend has possibly been one of the best weekends of my entire life. I have passed more than 1,326 weekends in my life and this one definitely stands out as one of the  top 3, although, I can’t remember any other weekends that may have even ranked among it. To sum up this weekend, I would say that it was blessed by the Lord and that is why it was so good. I could give you each and every single little detail, but you still would not understand the magnitude of joy and gratefulness in my heart for what God did for us. It is only something that can be explained by knowing how good our God is, and that even in the darkest of times with Him there is joy, and in the most lovely of times in the world without Him is emptiness.

Saturday was Kristin’s Birthday. Now, if you know me well, you will know that when it comes to things like Birthdays, I am a person of great intention and desire to bless, but have an even greater lack of ideas or follow through of how to make anything blessed happen for the person I love. That said, this weekend, I wanted nothing more than to make Kristin feel overly loved and appreciated… and yet I forgot to even write her a card. Praise our Lord God that He had it all worked out and didn’t forget a single detail… and that He never forgets a thing.

Saturday started out with a party in our room, because one of Kristin’s dear friends from Oregon had packed her a Birthday “Party in a box” that she had to wait till her birthday to open. We then headed out with our Moto driver friend, Jean-Mary to go to the market to find “American food”. We spend every Saturday with his family and they spoil us with tons of food and even more fun. So this week we decided to make them BLT’s and show them how to roast marshmallows. We have been to quite a few markets in Haiti, but the one he took us too out ranked them all. If you have ever been too Santee alley in LA you might have a slight feel for what this market was like. It was blocks and blocks and blocks big. And each tiny nook and cranny of this outdoor market was crammed with some sort of good for sale. From flip flops to cow carcasses, we saw everything. We succeeded in finding the lettuce and tomato we needed, but then had to go to 3 other small little stores to find the bread and bacon to go with them. We went to their house and had a blast getting to cook for them and sneaking around their back yard looking for sticks to roast marshmallows on. Then we watched the new Karate Kid in Spanish.

One of the sisters of the family was out of town for the day visiting her boyfriend’s brother in the hospital. So we figured we would have a mellow birthday day for Kristin. Someone made mention of going to bathe in the river, and it being an incredibly hot day, we excitedly asked if we could come too. We ran home real quick and changed into our bathing suits. 4 of us walked maybe an eight of a mile through the lushest tropical land I have ever seen or imagined and come to the river where lo and behold, there were a plethora of people without clothes sudsing up, taking baths. I don’t think when Kristin and I asked to “go bathing” we realized that literally, they were going bathing. We found out that our friends bathe in a warm, clean river every day. Unbelievable! We all played around and bathed (fully clothed and appropriate) for maybe an hour or so in one of the most epic of God’s creations. One of the guys mentioned that his dad’s horse was tied up just on the other side of the river and asked if we wanted to see him. Who wouldn’t? so we hopped out of the river and ran barefooted and swim suited across the  river, to even more fertile, lush land where there we dozens of cows, horses and goats tied up.  It was like the community feeding ground where people take their livestock to graze for the day, and they tie a rope to a tree and leave them. We came to their horse, and he untied the rope from the tree, wrapped it expertly around the horse’s mouth to make a bridal and hopped effortlessly on the horse’s bare back. It kicked and bucked for a bit and he stayed on as if it was nothing. We pet the horse for a moment  then he got off, tied the horse back up and fetched us some mangos from a nearby  tree for us to go back to the river and wash and eat.

Then Jean-Mary told us to go get changed real quick and he was going to take us back to the market so we could look at stuff. We rode toward the market, but then he passed it. And kept driving. He took us quite far, through the most beautiful country side I have ever seen. We drove through a narrow winding dirt road that ran through a corn field until it ended at a breathtaking Cliffside that led to the ocean. The night before I had asked him to think of things that we could to bless Kristin on her birthday, and he said that this place was the idea that God gave him as he was lying in bed that night. And I do not doubt for a second that this was a God inspiration.  I have never experienced the ocean the way we saw it there. We walked around for a while just breathing in God’s creation. Both Kristin and I were overwhelmed by God’s glory to the point of tears and couldn’t speak.

After that, we didn’t think the night could get better, but then went and had our favorite food, Patay (its like a deep fried hot pocket with pretty much a whole chicken inside, bones and all) with 3 friends and played games until we were ready to fall asleep.

Sunday the Pators took us to the beach where we relaxed and enjoyed God’s  creation. That night Jean- Mary told us he was going to take us for another drive, this time to Carrefour (which is a 3 hour drive through the mountains) for Kristin to see our friends there. Instead, he took us to his house where his sister had planned a huge feast for us where we enjoyed great company and the most giving people imagine able.

This weekend God made us fall so in love with the people here and His glorious creation.  This weekend we experienced blessings poured out over us form the poorest people on the face of the planet. They have taught us so much about what it means to give unrestrained.

answered prayers

Today during beginning  worship at church, I had a vision. It was not your normal sort of vision… if there is a sort of thing as a “normal vision”. It began with a thought from Revelation and memories of a sermon from months, possibly years  gone by. Revelation 4 speaks of the 24 elders bowing before the throne of God and throwing their crowns before Him and worshiping Him saying :

                “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory, honor and power; for You created all things and because of Your will they existed and were created.”

One of the lovely things about not understanding all of the words of worship songs in service is that there is a blessed freedom of prayer in the midst of a congregation of worship, ascending to Our Father. These times for me are precious. So, in the midst of not understanding what everyone else around me was singing to Our God, I began to speak to him, and all of a sudden, before my eyes was Zelda. Yup. Zelda. I don’t even think I have ever played Zelda. I remember once watching my little brother play it and not being interested enough to try it myself.  However, this Zelda had a different mission. He was running about hurriedly seeking out and picking up crowns. When he reached the end of the level, he rushed into a glorious palace where you would expect to find a dastardly foe for him to obliterate, but instead, he ran to the feet of the master of the house, and threw down before Him all of the crowns he had collected. There was an expectation in Zelda of one who has a present for their dearly beloved father, waiting to see if He likes it or not.

This made me contemplate quite a few things. First off, what exactly are the crowns I am to collect for my Master, and it made me think about some of the vocabulary I use in a different light. When I say to someone “oh, it’s all for the Lord” do I really mean that the things I do are for the Lord? That if I receive a crown or prize for anything I do on this earth, that I am doing it with lack of selfish desire, and solely as an offering to my creator? Do I honestly go about life looking for the fruits of His kingdom to gather and bring to Him on the day of judgment, to cast them down at His feet and wait to hear Him say “well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the Joy of your Master.”? Is this really the works of my hands and the intention of my heart? I would of course like to say “yes, all that I do is for the Lord with no selfish ambition what-so-ever.” But if I am honest with myself, I would love the credit for the things that God has done in my life.

It made me laugh too, that right after I had this epic thought, I got so angry at the girl sitting next to me for doing something childish, that I almost was incredibly horrid to her, and had to go through some intense repentance and forgiveness before I could receive any more form the Lord.

I was intrigued to find that when the pastor got up and spoke, that he preached about John 17:3 which says”

                “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

The sermon was about differences in the characteristics of this life, and the life to come, and that how God desires to know us, and that He has us here as shining beacons of light into the dark that we may attract others to Him, that they also may know Him, and spend eternal life with Him.

He right off answered my question about the crowns. What greater joy could a father have, than adopting new children, that his older children had brought to Him? Now my theology might be a little off here. But really. Think about what will transfer into the life to come? 1 Corinthinans 13 says that Love never fails, and will not cease. And I know that those who are saved will live on with our Father into eternity. So I can imagine that the crowns that delight our Father are those of souls saved and love. So I prayed. I prayed today for divine appointments to love, and share His word. And our God never fails. Today Kristin and I had 2 very blatant chances to share the gospel and love today, and we were so honored that the Father would bring these 2 needy souls into our path. And it was SUCH a blessing to talk with them!  I do not say this to boast, I say this as an encouragement for your faith. Ask! Ask our Father to put people in your path to love. Then stop and take the time to love them. There really is no greater joy in this life, than to do the will of the Father, and be His hands and feet to a world that is lost and dying.

Rain

It now has been raining for 21 hours non-stop. Now, for Portland, that is nothing abnormal and infact, when I woke up this morning, I'm quite sure I thought I was in the great NW, but rain here is a very different story.
It all began last night around 4:30. We had decided to cancel our english class early because only 7 out of our 20 students had showed up and dark clouds moved in threateningly overhead. The wind whipped around us as we began our 1/2 mile trek home. We thought if we walked quickly we might make it home before the storm, but to our dismay, a torrential downpour began pelting us before we were even a 1/4 of the way home. we started running, thinking that it might help our efforts of keeping us and our phones and Bibles dry, but to no avail. Within 60 seconds we were soaked to the bone and slowed our blind run to a chipper walk through the rain. Ususally these rains last no longer than an hour or so, then the sun comes and burns the clouds away and the rivers of rain water are dried up by the next day. This rain however has been quite a different story.
Last night we decided to skip dinner and dine on crackers instead of venture through the storm for a mile to the Pastor's house, figuring that things would clear up by this morning. But alas, we woke up to the greyest, coolest day I have yet beheld in Haiti. It was so Portland-esque that I put on a light weith sweater for the first time on our trip. Strangely enough though, ther rain of this morning is not a down-pour, but rather it is just a constant, rain. We decided that breakfast also was not worth the drenching muddiness that the trek to the Pastor's house would have ensured, so we asked the hotel for bread and coffee. They were out of coffee, so they gave us hot tea. I had never had Haitian hot tea. It was the strangest thing I have ever tasted. It was very dark, like coffee and had a pinkish hue. It was so thick with sugar and spice that I almost felt as if I was drinking a strange Haitian pastry. For lunch, the pastor and one of the girls from the house brought us lunch. I was delighted to see that they had resurrected the church pickup to venture out in. It has not been working since we have been here, and they were trying to fix it yesterday. Praise the Lord they got it running enough to not have to walk through the haze of rain and clouds just to bring us food.
I feel so blessed. God is SO good to Kristin and I. We are not wet. We have more than enough options for food, and He has given us a day of gracious rest in which we god to spend time in his presence, undistracted, and we cleaned our room :)

Impromptu Church Dance Party

I have always been the kid that loves church. I always have looked forward to it. When I was younger, I’m sure it was more about the singing, friends and free cookies after service, but in the years since I have truly fallen in love with Jesus, going to the building that we call the church has changed in to one of the greatest joys of my life. It is a time to come together with your friends, your family and brothers and sisters in Christ to tell Him together how much you love Him, praise Him for the things He has done for us, learn from Him and fall on our faces in need of Him. It is no exception here in Haiti. In fact, I’ve got to say that last night was possibly one of my favorite church services on record.

We got there early and two of our friends were playing key board and drums (Kristin got her first drum lesson… she may have a new calling on her life ;)) then this family of about 5 little kids came in and started grooving to our friends’ jam session.  So, Kristin and I went over and started dancing with them. We danced until service started, and by the time we composed ourselves to have “orderly worship” we realized that quite a few others had filtered in and were dancing in the pews, praising our Lord too. Prayer time began. Now I’ve got to say. I would be SO stoked if we prayed like they do here in the states. I don’t think first time visitors would like it too much but, who knows. In our church here, the prayer leader gets up and opens us up in community prayer, and then there is a time for us all to pray out loud together, and let me tell you! Those times of community out loud prayer are some of the most powerful prayer times I’ve had in my entire life. (and for the record, this isn’t a Pentecostal or charismatic church… not that there is anything wrong with that, we are just a Jesus loving church here in Haiti)  After prayer, last night’s worship was unearthly. We sang… and we danced, and let me tell you… Haitians can dance for their Savior. I personally have no rhythm and no moves, but last night, I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t know the words to sing, but the amazing thing about worshiping our God is that you don’t always have to use words. I’m pretty sure He likes it when we let go of our inhibitions and dance and clap before Him with our brothers and sisters. Moments like these remind me of David in 2 Samuel 6 where he is celebrating with all of the people and he dances before the Lord with all of his might. Then when his wife despises him because of his celebration before the Lord and David responds "Therefore, I will celebrate before the Lord and I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes." (6:22) I can’t tell you how much joy and celebration of the Lord there was last night. Oh! The Wonder of our God.

Demons, Death, and Daylight

The last two weeks have been yet again, eventful for Kristin and I. I have either had no chance to write, or the times I have had to write, our internet was down. However, I will try and sum up these last days for you.
 May 18th is a big holiday in Haiti called flag day. It is a day of remembrance of when the first Haitian flag was born, and it represents freedom from the French oppression. So, for most of the week, we had it easy. We didnt teach the preschoolers, and our adult english classes were smaller.
In the midst of our not working a ton, God showed us some pretty crazy stuff.
One of the girls at the pastor's house has become very dear to me. Her and I joke that I am going to bring my little brother over here so that they can get married and she can be my legit sister, so I always call her my sister. I think it was Wednesday, she looked like death. I asked her what was the matter, and she couldn't even resond, but shook her head with tears in her eyes and walked away. Her wisdom teeth have been growing in and have been causing her pain to the point of tears, so I figured it was that and told her I would pray for her. The next night at church she got up infront  of church and they prayed for her, and I couldnt understand what they said it was for, but someone told me it was because of spiritual attack. Then friday came around. Our moto was a bit late and we were sitting at the pastors house and asked how she was doing. One of the other girls said she was doing better but asleep. I then asked one of the little boys (he's 9) in the house what had been wrong with her and he very blatantly said she had demons, and he started demonstrating for us what it looked like, and it was super creepy. As he was talking, one of the other girls came out of her room, and very calmly told the pastor that my dear sister needed prayer. He very gently and calmly went over, got his hymn book out and walked to her room. We asked if we could join in praying for her. We went into the room, and tried to wake her up, it took so much effort just to get her to open her eyes, that I almost thought she had died. When she finally did open her eyes, tears immediately spilled down her cheeks and sobs began to rack her body, again, I dont think she could physically speak. She calmed down a bit. Pastor began to sing over her, and started praying. We all prayed under our breath with him. His voice was so calm and soothing, that I was shocked into atention by the blood-curtling, yet short scream that came out of our sister. We continued to pray. Her body began to tense and her back arched, and she screamed then relaxed once again. We finished praying for her. She was able to sit up and the tears were gone. She was able to speak again, and her eyes were normal. They got her to walk to the living room and sit down. she seemed pretty normal, except for the fact that she was incredibly weak and needed to have someone feed her. It was the most intense thing I had ever seen. Definately not what I ever thought it would be like to pray demons out of some one. My heart was SO broken for her. It literally made me cry to see her in such despair, and it was one of the most calm prayer sessions i've ever been in. I've heard people pray with more fervency over blessing their dinner, and yet the marked difference in her blew me away. Krisin and I came away, not exactly knowing what we had seen, or what exactly had happened, but are so blessed to know that prayer changes things in a big way.

This week we attended another funeral. This time was very different for me. The last funeral we went to, we had no association, except through the brother of the deceased. This time, we had met the woman who died just three days before she passed away, and she was in seemingly good health.  She was the sister-in-law of one of our favorite friends here. What was even sadder is that she had just given birth to twin boys 10 days before. She died of in infection from her caesarian section. Remember me telling you about the wailing at the last funeral we went to? I felt like it was magnified ten-fold. And it was crazy, because I knew most of the people who were mourning her loss, and it absolutely broke my heart to hear them wail as if they had lost the dearest love of their lives.

Although this week brought experiences of things not so pleasant, God showed us a lot. A big reminder to us was that spiritual warfare is real. He tells us that in Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It was good for us to hear again, and see so vividly, and to realize that spiritual warfare can affect even us. Halleluiah that Greater Is He Who Is In Us Than He Who Is In the World. I think both Kristin and I were experiencing more spiritual warfare than we had realized, but once we did, and addressed it, we were very much more clearheaded and light hearted. What a fantastic God we serve!

Hmmm…. Some highlights for the past week:

1)      Diana. The Cutest, daintiest little 3 year old lives on a corner that we walk past every day on our way to work. Each morning she hears us coming and comes running at full speed, screaming Kristin’s name and dives off the mound of dirt at their front stoop into Kristin’s arms. After she has filled her quota of Kristin kisses, she reaches for me, and I scoop her out of Kristin’s arms for the most delightful good morning hugs, and the saltiest good morning kisses. I set her down then we walk around the corner. By the time we have reached to other side, she pops out of the fence with a smile reaching from ear to ear, ready for another round of hugs and kisses. We are blessed to have the same warm welcome each afternoon as we head home. There is no better fuel for a mile long walk in 90 degree weather than the joyous love of one of God’s little children

2)      We got to go to the beach on Sunday. It was so nice to have a relaxing day of sitting in the shade of palm trees and swimming in the warmth of the Caribbean. My favorite moment from the beach was one of our pastors swimming out to sea on his back with a goofy grin on his face, and singing at the top of his lungs to the Lord, sputtering every other stroke as water got into his mouth.

3)      Today our friend asked us if we would like a mango, and who can’t resist a good mango? So he did what any good Haitian friend would do, and he slipped off his sandals, scaled the nearest mango tree in 10 seconds flat and started dropping mangos down to us. Amazing!

4)      One day after we finished painting, we said good bye to our painting buddies as they went off to school, and we stopped off at the pastor’s house for lunch.  About 30 minutes later, we stepped onto the street to walk home. Lo and behold! Who are walking toward us, but our two painting buddies carrying legit 6 foot long tree trunks nonchalantly on each of their shoulders.  As they stopped to say hello, one of them let go of his shorts to wave at us, and a machete fell out of the leg of shorts and almost stuck him in the foot. And when we asked why they weren’t in school, they said that they needed to bring fire wood for the family. I like Haitian priorites. It is more important to help a friend cut down fire wood with a machete than go to school. Done and done.

5)      Another joy of this week was sitting in church, this time without an interpreter, listening to the hundred questions about Matthew 5:31-32. Through my broken creole, I’m pretty sure the congregation asked every individual scenario of the terms and rights for divorce. Including, but not limited to “well, what if I move to Miami, and my wife has to stay in Haiti, and I get lonely and want another wife, can I divorce her and not sin?” I love question and answer time J

Haitians: A People of Passion and Patience

On thursday, we were at church and something that I found profound happened. The pastor was preaching very passionately about something that I only understood about every 3rd word, and as he finished up, members of the congregation, one by one and very politely stood up to ask him questions. Apparently, his message had been either new material to some, or rather controversial. He was speaking about Romans 8, and walking in the flesh as opposed to walking in the Spirit. Afterwards, I asked him to repeat the sermon for me in Creole/English so I could understand, and he did so for me very graciously. He was right on. He spoke of how we no longer live according to the law, but now we have been set free by Grace. The thing that got eveyone riled up, was when he began to speak of what things are considered sin. As in, looking lustfully at someone or thinking evil for someone in your mind. Alot of people were asking about how could you be sinning if you weren't "doing" anything. The message itself was not too profound to me, nor peoples questions. The thing I found revolutionary that night was that people would stand up in the middle of a packed out church service and ask the pastor questions beacause they didn't understand. First off: that takes humility. That takes not caring what man thinks of you and wanting to truely know what God thinks. To stand up and ask questions takes a thirst for God. I was quite blown away. I love the church we attend here they have such a passion for our God. ... and I wish I always understood every word that they say. I've been asking for the gift of tounges :) soon enough :)
Today Krisitn and I are blessed with a day off. We were going to go over to our friends house and play, but we diecided to have them come to our house. They brought a movie with them to watch. We were excited to see a movie... and it was in English. They showed me four burned discs, and I assumed they were probably about 30 min each. After 4 HOURS into a cheesy drama, romantic, action film, we realized that we were still only on disc 2 and it was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and we hadn't done a thing. Our friends had to go, so they left the other 2 discs for us to finish on our own. 8 HOURS of one movie??!! Shoot, I cant hardley sleep still for 8 housrs. Let alone sit through a movie. Haitians, I believe are the most patient people I have ever met. I honestly am blown away at how incredibly hard they can work, and how incredibly long they can sit. I'm not going to lie, my bum is tired. But it was so fun and Kristin and I are so incredibly blessed to have such great friends here. I LOVE IT! God is SO good to us :)

Two Weddings and A Funeral

The last two weeks have been quite eventful. Kristin and I have had the opportunity to serve at 2 weddings and attend a funeral. For the most part, the ceremonies for both the weddings and the funeral were quite what I expected in comparison to American tradition. There were 2 great differences though. In both weddings, there were multiple women dressed in wedding dresses that walked down the aisle before the bride. I asked the reasoning for this, and I was told that they are the people closest to the bride. (Sorry Amber… If I ever have a Haitian wedding, you don’t get to re-wear your beautiful wedding dress, I’ll stick to the American tradition on this one.) At the funeral, the difference was the way people mourn. And when I say mourn, I mean, convulsing, flailing themselves on the ground, weeping, screaming, mourning. It was truly gut wrenching. I did not know the man who had died. It was our Pastor’s brother, so we went to support him as his friends and sisters.  But seeing his loved ones grieve this man’s  death in this way made me realize how greatly this man would be missed, and that it is ok to grieve. I don’t think I will ever find myself mourning in this way, but if the need ever arises, I don’t think I would be afraid to actually mourn over a loved one anymore.

In the funeral, they read Hebrews 11:13-16 (or at least I think that is what I understood from my broken Creole)

 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

 ¹⁴For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

 ¹⁵And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

 ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

This verse has made me think. It perfectly sums up a feeling that Kristin and I have been feeling. We have certain friends here, that when we hang out with them, we completely forget they are Haitian. Yet, at the same time, we don’t think they are American either. We have realized it is our friends and family here who are walking with the Lord. They don’t emanate one country or another, because they are not of this earth, but that they desire a better country, a heavenly one. It is the same way with the weddings and the funeral. So, there may be a couple of marked differences, yet, they both signify love, and death.  (mind you, they were Christian weddings and funeral, I have been told that non-Christian weddings and funerals are different)

Lets see… what other highlights have there been over the last couple of weeks?

Kristin and I began our English classes. So far they are going great. We absolutely love teaching. We have 4 adult classes a week and 2 preschool classes a week. It is a lot more prep work than we expected, but so worth it.  We are still sanding and painting houses.

My skin has been taking a beating. The first week we were here, I had a lovely sun rash that covered my chest, face and arms and was itchy as all get out. This week I got a wonderful burn on my leg from an exhaust pipe on a motorcycle, it is quite ugly and huge even though it doesn’t hurt that bad. And today I realized I have ringworm on my face again. Super attractive, I know. Oh! And,  have you ever had ants in your pants? I have, tonight, and I didn’t realize it till we were at church and I was trying to very discreetly squish the ants that found their way into my leggings. I knew we had an ant problem in our room, but I hadn’t realized they had found my clothes drawer. Praise the Lord all of our problems are limited to skin irritations

Ooh! The rain, I forgot to tell you about the rain. Last year when I was here at this time, I was 7 hours north. I didn’t rain once, so naturally I was expecting a nice, dry Haitian Spring. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It probably rains every other day here. Sometimes it is just a little sprinkley rain, and sometimes it is so hard, that you immediately are drenched the instant you step out into it. I love these rains; in them I feel God’s glory and power, his cleansing and his thundering voice. There is however, a slight problem with rain this hard when you take a motorcycle everywhere; you can’t take a Moto anywhere in rain such as this. Kristin and I walk the mile from our hotel to the church a few times a day, no problem but at night, we have our friend drive us home because it is just not wise or safe for 2 girls to be walking in the dark. A couple of nights ago after church the rain started to sprinkle as we were finishing up dinner. Right as our friend arrived to take us home, it began to downpour more than I’ve ever experienced before. There was no hope of the rain letting up, so we started out on foot back to our hotel, our friend walking with us for safety. Fortunately, he is as good –natured and crazy as Kristin and I are, for we had the most glorious mile long trek back to our house. We sang and danced and shouted to Jesus in the rain, singing in Creole and English for all in Heaven and on earth to hear. I don’t think I’ve ever had quite so much fun in my life. I love God’s unexpected dates, which you could never plan, or scheme up, but that He has prepared for you, if only you will take the time to enjoy them with Him.

I challenge you… take the unexpected God moments in life, and enjoy them with Him this week.

Be blessed!

Haitian Super Star

Last night was SO random.
The First of may is the birthday of the town we are staying in in Haiti. Every year they have a huge festival and bring in the biggest stars in Haiti to sing and party all through the night.
Kristin's and my night started off with wanting to see the festival by motorcyle. We didn't want to get into the midst of the action, we just wanted to see what it was about.So we had one of our friends drive us. On our way downtown our moto ran out of gas. none of us had money on us, so we had to walk back to the hotel to get  cash, walk back to the bike and push it to the nearest gas station. Then we set out for the festival again. When we got to the water where the festival happens, it was so crowded we decided to turn around. Right then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was another one of our friends. The four of us talked for a bit, then decided that we wanted to walk on the beach in the midst of the action. It was fun. We returned home about 9 and  started to get ready for bed.
Our hotel owner is quite a character. His name is Bernard. We enjoy him greatly and have many a funny conversation with him. Last night he came and got us and told us we needed to come meet the Haitian super star that was staying at the hotel. A nice, normal looking Haitian guy came out and made small talk with us. He said his name was Gracia Delva, and said it as if we should know who he was. He called out his girlfriend and she came and chatted too. Immediately, I felt a great love for her in my heart, the kind of love that you want to see her do SO well in life and see all brokenness healed and see her walk with the Lord. They told us that he was singing at the festival that night and they invited us to go back down to the festival with them and watch the show. I wasn't in a mood to go out again and didn't even consider it for a second. however, Kristin is way more adventurous and fun than I am and told me she wanted to go. I reconsidered and Bernard talked us into going by telling us that we would only stay there for 20 or 30 minutes to see part of the show and come home.
6 of us hopped into Gracia's truck with 4 gigantic security guards. As we neared the festival and traffic slowed down, and people could see into the truck, and started swarming our truck once they recognized Gracia inside. As we approached the stage, we had to practically run to keep him from being swarmed by people. Kristin and I had no idea what to expect. We came around the back of the stage and Gracia disappeared. We were ushered onstage where there was music already blaring, and looked out over thousands and thousands of people singing along, dancing, and shouting. All of a sudden Gracia appeared onstage from no where and the crowd erupted. We had no idea that he literally is a huge super star here. We stood on the side of the stage with his girlfriend the whole time and danced and clapped to the music. Before he finished singing, his girlfriend Anne motioned for us to go off stage. we ran down and had to run back to the truck, ushered by the security guards. All of a sudden Gracia appeared in the truck and drove us home. It was like the craziest dream. On the way home, we found out that his second job is being a congress man. Just got elected into the Haitian government on March 20th. We all swapped information.
It was so crazy, because yes, it was a random, unrealistic night, but we know that nothing is random  with our God. I know that it is not random that I have a deep love for Anne already and a passion to see her brokenness mended by Jesus. I also do not believe it coincidence that one of the deepest prayers of my heart for Haiti is to see its government fall in love with Jesus and actually begin to see the country healed from the top down and we met a congress man, have his number and can pray for him. Who knows what God has in store, but I pray that God saves Anne and Gracia and uses them in changing Haiti.

A week of fun

It has been so long since I have had a chance to write, and our internet is not the most reliable thing.

 It has been an amazing week. God is so good. Kristin’s and my week days are full of working on houses and playing with kids and going to church. Last Saturday we were blessed with quite a great surprise. One of our friends came and picked us up on a motorcycle and took us to his family’s house where we got manicures, pedicures and got our hair braided. They made us food and spoiled us rotten. We taught each other our favorite hymns in Creole and English and laughed together. Then we went and cleaned the church for Easter service. We feel so blessed to be here and be a part of this family.

 Easter was a beautiful day here. The service was filled with such beautiful worship, and all of the songs that we learned the day before, we sang in church. We then went to the Pastor’s house and had a huge feast with the family. It was so wonderful. Kristin and I usually eat alone, and it was so much fun to have the whole crew together. The Pastor’s house is amazing. There are 3 pastors who work for Restoration Ministries. One of the pastors, Rodruige and his wife live in “the pastor’s house”. They have taken in 2 boys and close to 10 girls who were abused or have no family to live with them. Kristin and I go there for every meal and hang out in between work jobs. So we have gotten to know them all pretty well and can’t wait to start investing in their lives more.

We have had many great opportunities here to invest, but sometimes, it feels like we are just living such normal day life that we should be doing more for the Kingdom. Kristin and I have been praying that we would have opportunities to share the gospel and be Jesus’ love to those around us and tonight He gave us the most epic opportunity! We had just decided not to go to church tonight so that we could stay in and get stuff done, when we asked our hotel owner if he knew of a good place to get my favorite food, Patay. He called up some random guy named Johnny to take us to the market. So, Kristin, Johnny and I hopped on a motor cycle and headed into town. As we were driving, we were making small talk with Johnny and I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said He didn’t. I asked him if he wanted to know Jesus, and he said yes. So I asked him if he ever wanted to come to church with us. And he said that he would. So we asked if he wanted to go tonight. It was 5:54 and church started at 6. He said yes. So we skipped the Patay and turned around and headed to church. As we were driving, a near monsoon began and by the time we got to church we were drenched, and it was raining so hard, there was no way that we could keep driving so we sat in church. They ended up cutting out on service early, because the storm was so big that we could not hear the pastor. So the three of us went back to the pastor’s house and ate some dinner and hung out for a bit before returning home. Johnny said that was the first time he had ever been to church and that he would like to come back with us on Sunday. So, if you think about it, pray for Johnny. Lord willing, he will come to know Jesus this week! Halleluia!

Can I tell you one thing I absolutely love about Haitian culture that I got to see tonight? Haitians treat each person they meet like family. Tonight as we were introducing Johnny to our friends, they all started up conversation with him like they had known him all of their lives. What could have been a potentially awkward situation of two girls bringing their taxi driver to church spur of the moment, turned into a family affair. Kristin and I have felt that affection and family atmosphere a great deal and are so blessed by it.  I pray that if I ever come back to the states I will bring this atmosphere with me. That each person I come into contact with will know that they are welcomed into my family; the family of God.

Home

This past week has been so crazy busy, that there is no time or energy to write, even thought there is a plethora of things I would love to tell you about.
 Kristin and I have new work out plan. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we worked out our arms by sanding and painting an entire house. Today was legs, while we scrubbed up all of the paint that was spilled off of the floor with our shoes and some gravel. :) We have been having a blast working. We never have a lack of help, even though most of the time we end up cleaning up after them more often than not. The kids in the village hear us coming each morning and come a running to help us.
We get to go to church every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday which we dont understand, but have so much fun goofing around with the bored kids, that service passes by very quickly. It is crazy though how even in the midst of the language gap, you can be enveloped in God's presence and get lost in worship with your brothers and sister, even if you dont understand eachother.
We are quickly making friends with the moto bike taxi drivers. They seem to really like driving the two American girls around and giving us marriage proposals. We never have had to stand for more than 30 seconds before a taxi comes up out of no where to pick us up. I wish we could ride around on the back of  motorcyles in Portland every day.
There is a house that we walk by every day that has two toddlers who live there, and I think the only thing they know how to say is "good morning" in English. from bright and early till late at night, every time we pass by we hear little giggles and squeals of delight as the two little guys shout good morning to us. Oh what Joy!
I have been blessed to make a special connection with one of the girls who lives at the pastor's house. The pastor's house is a refuge for girls who either have no family or were sold into prostitution or were in dire circumstances. Now they have a chance at life and such joy every day. This girl's name is Fafund. I dont know her story, but I do hope to get to know her better. We bonded in the way girls do in the states... talking about boys. I told her that she could marry my little brother. I think it would work. She seems pretty excited, I'm not too sure how my little brother will feel about it. We now call eachoter sister and she says we are "cafe au lait" she is the coffee and I am the milk, and together we are great.
Sorry this is so incredibly random and not too fluid, but I suppose that is what you get when you work and play hard all day.
Well, till next time I have a chance, be blessed. Love you!

Phantastic

This evening, Kristin and I were laying in our luxurious queen sized bed reading George McDonald's Phantastes out loud to each other and I realized that I feel like my life right now could be a chapter from this book. Today we drove from smoggy, grimy Port-au-Prince into the crisp, beach air of Jacmel. We drove into town and it was comfortinlgly familiar, as if we were returning home from a long day of work. I was getting more and more excited by the minute as we approached our hotel, but we drove right by it. I didn't feel like asking our driver why he didn't stop, so I let him go on and see where he would take us. We drove up the street and pulled into a place I had never seen before. He said that Pastor LaFleur (the pastor we are working with) had changed plans. We warily walked into this new hotel, not knowing what to expect and were astonished to find a hotel nicer than any I Have ever been in the States. I'm sure we are staying in no less than one of Haiti's nicest buildings. I will take pictures in the daylight and post them for you :) our room is perfectly pink! We can't believe God's grace upon us. We were expecting to stay in the "Best Western" of Haiti and instead got the Hilton.
Another blessing is the lack of need for security detail on us at all times. We took a walk into town and were delighted to see local life all around us...without 5 guys following us at all times (Don't fret Dad, we are being safe).
We can't wait to see what God has in store for us in these upcoming months, but if this homey feeling continues, we may have to extend our trip ;)
Thank you all for your prayers!
Love you!
Be Blessed!
Dani

A lovely day in the Lord’s Kitchen.

Today was a nice break from the taxing work of construction and garbage pickup. 3 other women and I had the blessing of working in the Lord’s Kitchen.  We got to sort rice and beans. Now, this may sound like a tedious task, but it was one of the most wonderful things I could have done today. Picking out burnt rice grains and deformed beans in and of itself is not fun but it was wonderful for the conversation it facilitated with the other delightful ladies I got to work with. One of my favorite things about Forward Edge trips is that we get to share our testimonies with one another. I was so blessed getting to hear what God has done in these women throughout their lives. All over the Old Testament, God tells Israel to tell their sons of what God had done for them; to tell of all the miracles God had done to bring them out of Egypt; to tell of His wondrous works in the wilderness. I got to hear hours of these stories from women who have walked with our wonderful savior for years. I got to hear about God our redeemer, God our healer, God our comforter, God who still works miracles, God who still speaks, God who has knit us together from before the foundations of the earth, and has great plans for us. I was so blessed by these testimonies. This is the God we serve.

Praying for the city

Sitting on the roof of the guest house (an unfinished hospital), 3 stories above 15,000 people living in tents I am pondering. The clatter of life below is loud, busy and delightfully distracting; a reminder that life in a Haitian tent city is now the norm. Up to 10 people living in one tent, setting up their little stand every day, just to sell enough of whatever they sell to feed their family for the day and buy enough supplies to replenish their independent business for the next day. Is it crazy that in the midst of this intense world, I find an overwhelming peace? That I feel more at home in this place than any other on the face of the earth?  It has been 3 months since I have been here and have missed it dearly. I think one thing that makes it so welcoming to me are the children. There is nothing more satisfying to me in this world than walking through Grace Village and having dozens of kids screaming my name, coming up to give me hugs and kisses, asking where my family is and telling me how their families are doing. They also ask me to bring them bicycles, clothes, and airplanes from the states next time I come. We laugh about our inside jokes from my last trip. I could stay with them forever. In those moments of rapturous joy, it is very easy to forget that their daily life is not so light hearted as our brief meetings on the streets of the village. They work just as hard if not harder than their parents and some don’t have any opportunity to go to school and have a chance of bettering their future. In the midst of these ponderings is the strange truth that I know I could cozy down, make a life for myself right here, right in the midst of this injustice, in the midst of this chaos, and in my overly naive, optimistic mind, could forget any of this sadness exists. As I sit here, I know that I must purpose to live missionally here. What that looks like, other than living a normal life, I don’t exactly know. Except, I know this means to pray.

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. “ Jeremiah 29:7.

It is so easy, no matter where we are at, to glaze over the issues, get caught up in our own routine and forget that God has greater things for the cities we are called to and that we must seek its peace, pursue the welfare of the city and beseech our good God to work miracles in the midst of the turmoil.

I am challenged. Instead of sitting on the roof and just enjoying the view, I should be also praying to the Lord on behalf of the city.

3 Days

In  3 days Kristin Gregory and I will be embarking on an adventure of a lifetime. In merely 75 hours we will be on a plane to Haiti where we will spend the next 106 days serving the Lord and His people.
The last couple of days I have found myself wondering why the Lord is sending me to Haiti. I am not wondering  in the doubting sense, but rather the wonder of what good am I there? Its almost too fun, too fulfilling and sunny to be real.Why in the world would God choose a loquacious hairstylist who is rarely serious and probably has too many tattoos for her own good to go to Haiti? I think that if I were God, I wouldn't choose me. I would probably pick the well seasoned, missionary couple who have had a great marriage for 15 years and have been to multiple bible schools in the African bush together and know how to start a fire out of two sticks and a rock in the middle of a down pour. And then I remembered 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 and life made a little more sense:
²⁶For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
 ²⁷but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
 ²⁸and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
 ²⁹so that no man may boast before God.
I am the weak, I am the foolish, I am the base and I am nothing; that God may be everything. So that no man may boast before God. So that I may not boast of myself before God or men. That He may have all of the gory. I have nothing to boast of except the Lord. He is so good! And I feel honored that I get to experience the things He is going to do in Haiti first hand.
Sometimes, I wonder what good it is to send a bunch of missionaries into a country that is economically debilitated, physically crumbling to the ground and its own people are already preaching the gospel. Are we doing more harm than good? Are we making an impact for the Kingdom in Heaven and Earth? Or are we just more mouths to feed? Then the Lord comforted me. Isaiah 61 says :
¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
         Because the LORD has anointed me
         To bring good news to the afflicted;
         He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
         To proclaim liberty to captives
         And freedom to prisoners;
    ²To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
         And the day of vengeance of our God;
         To comfort all who mourn,
    ³To grant those who mourn in Zion,
         Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
         The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
         The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting
         So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
         The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
There are many in Haiti, and right here in Portland who are the afflicted, brokenhearted, captive, mourning and fainting. The same Spirit of God who is the one to bring good news, bind broken hearts, set people free and comfort is the same Spirit that dwells in any of us who have received Him and we now get to be His hands and His feet. I get to be His hands and feet in Haiti for the next three and a half months. I don't need to worry about the impact I am making, if I know He has called me to do His work. I know that He has called me to to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep myself unstained by the world. (James 1:27) I know that He has called me to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). As I go, doing these things in His Spirit, He will make the outcome He desires, as opposed to what I think should happen. What a glorious God we serve! What Joy to be with the creator of all things and to have adventures in life with Him! I believe there will be many adventures to come for Krisin and I in Haiti and I hope I get to share them here with you. What adventures has God prepared for you, since before the world began? If you listen to Him, to His still small voice, I bet you will find adventures and joy in Him greater than you ever could have imagined.
Be Blessed!