ivy and orchid

About two months ago, before COVID-19 was a serious issue in the United States, I kept having a recurring dream. In my dream, I was driving on the highway when all of the sudden, my view changed. It was as if I had put on virtual reality glasses and I was looking at a roller coaster with all the turns and loops. In my dream, I was aware that I was driving quickly on the road, but I  could not see it because of the wild vision I was seeing in front of me. I had the same dream a second time, and that time the VR image was much more wild. I told myself that although I could not see the road I was driving on, as long as I continue moving forward, like before, I would be safe and get where I was heading. I had the dream one last time and the vision changed from the highway to the crazy roller coaster. More than ever, I remained focused on continuing straight as before and trusting that I would not swerve off course. During the fuel crisis in Haiti last year, we were isolated at ...

Before the new year, a  Bethel Music worship leader, Kalley Heiligenthal, and her husband lost their 2-year old daughter. Over the following 5 days, they asked for bold prayers that their daughter would be resurrected. Crazy, right? But as Christians, we read in the Bible that Jesus did bring people back to life after their death. (Jairus' daughter ( Luke 8 ), Lazarus ( John 11 ), Jesus Christ et al). Each night, she and her husband, along with Bethel and many more worshiped hard . I saw videos of people believing and worshiping like never before. In the end, their daughter was not resurrected but it is what followed that has been on my mind. The Heiligenthals had to face the reality that their daughter was gone and they continue to worship and praise hard . Do you know why? Because God hurts along with us. God feels our pain. And God brings us through these hard times.  So, let me tell you, our experiences in Haiti were hard. I was prepared to have to practically build ...

Have you ever been in a moment of transition and do not know where the road is leading you? This is where we are. I have to admit that historically I have hated being in transition, but this time, it's okay. Even if we do not see evidence of God working, we would know that he is. But we see him working in amazing ways and we feel him working. That is a lot like growing pains. There have been a lot of talks, a lot of tears and most of all, a lot of time with God. It's not easy having God work on you, but you know that because he is good, the end result will be better than we could imagine. He is providing for us in all the ways we need so I'm going to keep trusting that at the end of this chapter, we are going to have such a story to share!   Currently, we remain employees of TeachBeyond, but we are on a leave of absence and continue raising support until God makes his plan clear to us. The stresses that we faced in Cap-Haitien were extremely hard on our family and we a...

We have to admit that it has been a hard few months. If you haven't heard by now, we are back in Indiana because, frankly, everything we have gone through has been difficult on our family. We are back after only four months; now that is a hard pill to swallow. However, since telling people we were returning for a short time, everyone has been amazing to our family and for that, we have so much to be thankful for.  We are thankful for our family who hears the worst part of our stories, they worry tirelessly for us and never cease in their prayers. They answer the phone when we call them swollen and broken out in rashes, connected to IVs and crying. They have had to let us go, serve a mission God has called us to and still support us even though it is absolutely difficult for them. Thank you. We are thankful for those of you supporting us in various essential ways. Just like our family, you worry about us and believe in the work God is doing. Your belief an...

     When we were deciding to be missionaries in Haiti, we understood that life would be more difficult. We wouldn't have the luxuries, conveniences and comforts of our life in the United States. However, our family has always been adaptable and we knew that we could adjust to the everyday inconveniences of Haiti.       Most of these "inconveniences" are still luxuries in Haiti. To have a house with electricity and running water alone is to have privilege and our family is adjusting to these things just fine. However, what is difficult is when everything just stops. There has been very little to no fuel coming into Haiti for about 5 weeks now which puts a hold on practically everything: businesses, hospitals, schools and roads. We did not have school for three weeks and I hardly left our house. I began to wonder what I was doing in Haiti if I couldn't go to school, but how can I understand this culture if I don't truly live it? I could adapt to ...

Friends, the month we have been back to Haiti has been a hard one. We began school and things were cruising. Abigail and Keenen were doing well and making friends while Shawn and I fell into our positions and we were busy! Then Abigail got sick with a high fever (105) and Keenen and I got a high fever and a very sore throat. Then Shawn got Chikungunya (another mosquito-borne virus very similar to Dengue but not as severe as last time) and 6 of our teachers at the school got sick, including the director of the school AND her family. The fuel crisis continues throughout all of this and fewer people are able to make it into town and into school because of the lack of fuel or because of road blocks created by people just fed up with the government. You see, a lack of fuel means no power for your house if you have power, no power for any transportation and this all results in an increase of food prices. Also, because Haiti is in such debt, they are expected to raise diesel next month whic...

I knew once we began school, life would be busy and we would get into a routine and life would feel "normal." We have been in Haiti for one month and there is still so much I need to learn. Kreyol: Next week I will officially begin my Kreyol lessons so I can speak with teachers, staff, people at the market, neighbors et al. Not only do I want to communicate with people, but I want to show Haitians that I am making an effort to assimilate to their culture and not impose mine. Shawn has a good understanding of French (and a lot of courage) which helps him. Abigail is learning French along with her classmates and Keenen has been working on counting in Kreyol. Driving: I have only driven as far as the school which is about a mile and half. I should venture into town, but my fear of causing a lot of car accidents stops me.  People: One month is not long enough to understand a culture. I am still learning my role as a missionary in a country with a deep-rooted history. On t...