As Tough As an Ox

Well, the day has been good. Finally got myself into Cite Soleil and was greeted by the kids and them hanging on me. Ahaha, pretty sure I am coming home with ring worm. I also think I planted my lips on ring worm, bonus..hahhaha. That’s ok, wanted a souvenir for when I got back to the states. The day was good. Headed in to figure out the details for the camp, arrange the church to fit the children, and talk with the staff that will be working with us. We have one woman working for us. I like her; she is as tough as an ox. She as sweet as a flower, but you can tell she has some toughness and sassy in her. Women are often “behind the scenes” in Haiti. They are at home bathing kids, laundry, cooking, but not Dorothy. I often think they would love to be working, but often think it is the norm and expected of them. Often you see the women oppressed into the situation and there is little way out of it. Last time we were here we met a woman that was raising her three children in a room about the size of an SUV van. We asked her where the father was and she said, “He comes every month.” Today I called out a man that said he had two wives. Don’t think he likeed it, but asked him why, then preceded to tell him if my husband or boyfriend ever did that to me, I would kick him to the curb. Don’t know if he liked it too much, but started up a good conversation about how God wants us to treat wives, women, and girlfriends. I asked Dorothy if she had a boyfriend and she waves her head in disgust..had to laugh. She has got a good head on her. I told her to wait for the right one. She smiled, she knew what I was referencing. Referencing the large amount of men that have lost the ability to know how to treat a woman by having two women. Called her my sister today and she laughed. I followed it up with; we look the same, don’t we? She laughed and some of the men said, “yes, you are milk and she is coffee.” I like her strength and sassy. She is my tough as an ox woman and I can guarantee that she will be the one that carries the load. Excited to work with her. Time in Cite Soleil was good. Got ready for the camp and we are going to employee some people in the afternoon to teach little trades that they have taught themselves. Two of the people will be teaching crochet so today we found ourselves walking through the shacks to find yarn, and wouldn’t you know we came to a little shack that was selling massive amounts of yarn. Kind of made me laugh, you can find everything in ayaiti, you just need to know someone who knows someone. So tomorrow we begin. We have as much in check as we can. Food..check…materials…check....workers …check…lots of Jesus…check…church…check…energy for Leah…we shall see…hahah....yarn..check. Be praying the camp, the logistics, the energy of the workers, the spirit of our good Lord to infuse that place. Pray for the workers that they might see it as the glory of God and not just a job. Pray that the children would feel the love of Christ. Pray for the community that they might continue to see the Lord through this. Pray for safety. We will be driving into Cite Soleil, my first time driving in Haiti. Pray all the things that need to happen. Continue to pray for the teammates that are on there way. My Ryna comes in on Saturday, excited to see her face and get her Creole and joy in Cite Soleil. Following her is our “gwo blanc” Ricky. That means big white person. Hahah…he brings the energy and always carries massive amounts of JOY. Following him will be my sista, Caitlin. Pray for her hands and her ability to sling that paint. We have a strong team this year, so blessed by their joy, energy, faith, and joy to be walking in this mission. Love you all, could not do it without you all. Pictures soon to come.

Haiti Time and Maybe Fishing

The first blog while in Haiti and many more to come. I am safe and sound, the team has yet to arrive, and they are coming in one by one. Ryna will be my first partner and in crime, followed by Ricky and Caitlin. I was able to get all the bags here, no problems coming in, and another easy flight. Thank you Jesus. Had a neat day embracing Haiti. Took off with one of my friends to a village that is on a salt-water lake. Kind of crazy, the road winds you down to this little village that is on a lake full of water, but undrinkable. They struggle to get water. Did a hut visit. There is a woman that is about to have a baby and went with my friend to check in on her. Imagine being 9 months pregnant and being in the middle of nowhere, couple days from birth without a car or any form of transportation? This little hut was the size of a small room, closed in and hot. We left and she was so grateful for the care. Another world… Found our way outside and rocked it out with some kids and sang a little, “Joy in my Heart” in Creole. We threw it down, danced it out, and pretty sure the elders laughed at me like I was a crazy blanc. Love being a crazy blanc, seems to fit in and help you adapt to unfamiliar situations. Got to head down to the lake and talk with some guys that were fishing. They were fixing their nets and getting ready for the next day. The wood boats seemed like a floating device that could possibly work, possibly. Had a fun little convo with them and asked if I could come back and go fishing with them. They laughed and said yes. Ryna, if you are reading this you might be my partner in crime for this. How much fun does that sound, waking up nice and early and spending a day in the “boat” to learn how the Haitians fish….hahaha, are you in? Neat to visit the village. Continue to be amazed at their strength. Every situation, home, story I enter into continues to amaze me. Their strength is such a beautiful story. Taking the next couple of days to see friends and rest. Getting to Haiti, leaving home had a bit of opposition so going to just embrace a couple days off. Monday is go time. Continue to pray for the children and the camp. Pray that God would use this summer as a tool to reach the communities and children. Pray for our team as they come and go. Pray that God would continue to show us how to move forward and vision for Making Roots. Pray for the paint. Trying to get it here now so that Caitlin can paint up a storm with the people. Love you all, so thankful that you are walking in this with us. We are blessed to know you, have your support, and feel your love through this ministry.

God is Working

WROTE this blog two days ago and since then she had been released. Hard morning, the craziness of getting ready for Haiti is kicking in and in the midst of the blessings that God is pouring on us to get ready I came up weeping for the people and country of Haiti. Just got word from a friend that her Haitian boyfriend, his aunt got kidnapped yesterday and the kidnappers are asking for a lot of money. Got news that up North where we are headed there is a big drought and food is scarce and very expensive. Seems constant, the daily opposition that Haitians face. This morning I am working at remembering to worship God in the midst of valleys and obstacles and burdens. Remember after the earthquake footage and viewing women worshipping in the streets, hands thrown up and praying and worshipping. We visited a home last year. We met a young man that was rescued and brought to the home (he was a restavek, term used for child slavery) He spoke about his battles as a restavek when he was 6. Then he spoke about how when the earthquake was happening (now 28 years old) he was on top of a 7-story building. The building came down and he jumped to a tree, tree saved his life. They lost most of their project, 7-story building that supported children housing, and school. I asked him what they were going to do. He said something that will forever stick with me. Not just because it was powerful scripture, but because of the person that was speaking it. He said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. We will rebuild” I thought about what this man had overcame, walked through, been subject to “embrace”, and here he was continuing to claim God’s love and provision and say, We will rebuild. Haitians continue to amaze me with their strength and faith. Leave Haiti humbled. Thankful for this place that God has brought us. Thankful for the people that God has aligned with Making Roots. Went back and read this email to post today. Since this post I wrote two days ago the woman in Haiti has been released. I didn’t get many facts, just heard she was safe and well. I believe that God works in all things. Many of you have followed us over the years as we have been given the opportunity to venture in and out of Haiti and work with the people. God has laid many burdens on our heart for the people of Haiti. As I found myself getting this news yesterday I was reminded of the constant opposition that Haiti faces, but also the deep need for leadership to rise up for that country. Leadership of integrity, leadership led by faith, leadership that comes from good intentions and a heart to serve the people. As we enter this summer there is a lot going on that we are excited about. We have a couple new people coming over to Haiti. Our fundraiser coordinator will be making it over for a couple days to see Caitlin paint a mural the 1st week in August. We are excited for her to get over to Haiti and see first hand how she has been supporting Haiti. This will be her first time to Haiti. She has been committed to fundraising and supporting Making Roots for the last two years and we are so thankful for her commitment and joy to travel over with us. Please be praying for her as she gets herself ready to head over and embrace the people. We have some “old timers” coming over. We have our good ole sidekick Ryna coming along again and she will be helping with the camp for all five weeks. She is Haitian at heart, speaks Creole like a Haitian and can snap her fingers like a Haitian. She is going to do some health lessons in Cite Soleil with the children and also help to support the other weeks of camp. Always grateful for her leadership, strength, wisdom, and love for Haiti. We got another faithful servant, Ricky. This will be his second time back and he will be throwing it down with us in the mountains and in Cite Soleil. Brother, has a heart for the people and specifically working with the men, which has been a sweet blessing to ministry. Thankful for his leadership and willingness to serve and work with the Haitian people and us. Then you have the Beidler sisters. We are just excited to get back on the ground with the people. I was back in February, but Caitlin was not able to go in Feb. We are excited to get our hands dirty and “sling some paint,” work with friends, chat some Creole, be with the people and continue to learn how we can be available to serve with and for Haiti. We will be establishing youth workshops and growing camp by serving more children, providing more weeks, and hiking into the mountains to reach out to children that might not know about camp opportunities. Caitlin, will be painting it up in Cite Soleil in August. Always love those times because it brings the community together to voice what they want on the mural, work together, and grow together. We will be blogging while we are in Haiti. We are looking for prayers. Please pray that God provides safety for our team. Pray that the camp runs smoothly and we have more boldness and freedom to let the youth run things. We are working to let go of more because we want to equip and empower the locals to take ownership over the camp and youth workshops. Pray for wisdom in a knowing of how to hand more off to the locals so that they can have greater ownership for the camp. Pray that we may reach some children that need to be reached. We have never hiked into the mountains to try and get children that don’t know what we are doing. We would love to take this year to go beyond the local community. Pray for our workers, that they would feel energized and equipped to work, bold to speak up and take leadership, joyful to serve the children, and respected working with us. Pray that the Lord would continue to reveal to Making Roots how we should move forward in this season. Pray that God would provide more than enough finances. Pray for strength for both Caitlin and I as we are tired already and we have yet to go to Haiti.hahah, I laugh because the heat alone in Haiti makes one tired. I personally take off June 28th and come back August 17th. Volunteers’ will be coming and going throughout the summer. Pray for travels and that transitions would be swift and easy. Love you all and continue to be blessed by your involvement with us. Thank you for your prayers, financial support, and encouragement. We love you. Below is the link to our blog. While I am in Haiti I am just going to blog, not send emails. We would love if you followed us while we are there. Thank you for all your support and prayers.

Hope

This little girl had been in the hospital to get treatment for TB. She came to late and because of that her back had already created a hunchback like posture. Her spirit was something beyond words. I wanted to weep everytime she spoke because her joy was that beautiful, her hope would put me, us, to shame. I asked God to let me hear a mighty testimony while I was there, I didn't only hear one, but I saw one. It is her. A true encouragement to my heart. This is her singing to me one day. I could not help but record it. Listen to all of it. Look at her smile. Hope.

Being with the People

One day we found these kids..they made their own slip and slide

Home

Sitting on the plane now and heading back into the states. Crazy trip that I am still in the midst of processing. Scripture spoke loudly to me during this trip. Moments in Cite Soleil helped expose me to more of the truth of the slums. Looking into the eyes of the women as we walked around to talk with them exposed me to behind the scenes of the streets. Got just a glimpse of life at home for the women and children. It is so complex like any country, neighborhood, culture could be. But somehow this place seems even more complex as it is so saturated in poverty.

Read this verse the other night and it spoke very loudly to my heart. Spoke loudly because in the middle of Cite Soleil it is so complex that is becomes overwhelming and exhausting at times. But this verse became a sweet comfort.

When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. 1 Cor 9:22

We are called to share the oppression with others. In sharing this oppression the word claims that people will see Christ through us. The last day in Cite Soleil we sat in the streets and talked for hours. In my head I wanted to be planning for the next trip, look at land, but then I thought of this verse and it brought a stillness and peace. We are called to share oppression with our brothers and sisters. I know I get so caught up in doing that I sometimes forget to just be his child and be with his children. Told Ryna that sometimes I just like being in Cite Soleil because I think so much of it is about relationships. Working together, embracing struggles together, fighting together, rising up together, worshiping together, weeping together, laughing together, and visioning together.

We are thinking about sending some young adults to trade school and visioning about how we can create a platform/base to bring that back into Cite Soleil for the other people and children. I asked the seven young adults I was sitting with to write me a letter telling me about their heart for the vision, his/her dream for themselves, his/her dream for Cite Soleil. One young adult wrote, “Thank you in advance because I see we are thinking with Cite Soleil.”

It was a neat sentence to read, as a prayer for Making Roots is that we are always working to equip, disciple, and empower. In that sentence I heard the voice of one communicate that we are in this together for the good of the people in Cite Soleil.

A friend told me a story the other day. He said that his father came to serve at their home they were supporting in Haiti. The father saw one of the ladies that worked in the kitchen opening a can with a knife. She got it open, but the father could not help but think there is an easier way. He went out and bought an industrial can opener for the kitchen, but it still sits in the corner of the kitchen unused. My friend said it perfectly, “You didn’t solve her problem, and you solved your problem.” A neat sentence to hear.

The trip held so much listening, working together to think about the future plans in being in Cite Soleil. While the place can seem overwhelming, and exhausting, one thing is sure; Making Roots feels called to that place and our partner Robinson. The passion that flows from the people is contagious and they are hungry for so much more.

Lamentations (chapter in the bible) spoke loudly to me this trip. Feel like you hear such sadness, oppression, sorrow in the chapter, but at the same time you also hear that there is still hope in the Lord. The Lord is my inheritance, therefore, I will hope in him.” That verse was confirming in that Cite Soleil is so vast, overwhelming, full of this chapter, but I believe in the inheritance and hope of Christ.

Day by day..looking forward to the summer. Until then I just want to say thank you to all of you for your support, joy, prayers, love that you pour on us, Making Roots, and the people of Haiti. We could not do it without you all. More pictures coming….