I should of stayed in Haiti…58 hours later…and finally Home

Well, after a long, exhausting God filled trip home I have finally made it home. I have to tell you all it sure was an adventure home but God was so present and worked in so many different ways. I am going to write about them in small posts breaking up the long story. Into different sections.

I will post more stories from Haiti I did not post while I was there due to time restraints later on this week. Please pray for my health as I got sick on my trip home and have sinus infection and my jaw is acting up pretty bad. Please pray for me as I start my internships tomorrow and I have no clue what to expect. Also please pray as I go Thursday to see a specialist in Clevland about my Jaw.

Thank you all for all your prayers and support while I was in Haiti. I had the most amazing month of my life and my heart hurt that I had to leave what the children I love so much and the place where I feel I can make such a difference and my talents are best used. Every time I come to Haiti I fall more in love with these kids and see more potential for these children. I am leaving Haiti with a broken Heart and part was left in Haiti and I will be going back God willing to meet back up with it. Until then, I know God has great plans for me in the states with internships and teaching me more things spiritually and occupational therapy wise that will be helpful in the future in Haiti.

SIT BACK AND ENJOY MY ADVENTUROUS 58 HOUR TRIP HOME!

My Last Day

So it all started on Thursday. I woke up at 6AM knowing it was my last day there and I wanted to make the most of it. And what a busy day it was finished typing up some evaluations, helped the kids put another layer on the piñata so it would have time to dry before the afternoon, went to the Gran Moon Carnival, prepared for a meeting with my workers in the Miriam center, helped feed the kids, went over to the roof of the church to get some pictures, and filled the piñata for the party… That afternoon at like 3:30 while Courtney and I were with all the Miriam Center Workers having an educational meeting about the children. How to properly feed the kids, how to take care of Job, What to do when Belle acted out, ect. As soon as the meeting was over Danielle came up and informed me that a big group of us was going to have to ride the buses out tonight at 7PM because the little planes were not flying tomorrow morning. My heart dropped and I just wanted to start crying right there. Not only was my time cut short with me kids, I was not prepared to leave in 3 hours I still had Steven’s B-day party, paperwork to do, pictures to download for people, and goodbye’s to say PLUS 9 hour off roading bus trip through the night to Port-A-PrinceL not much fun especially when you have been sick all day… BUT I pulled myself back together and decided I was going to make the best of my last 4 hours at the mission. I made priorities first Steven’s Birthday Party, I wanted to be part of it and it turned out to be a huge success. I will blog later on this week about Steven’s Party and some other specific events I did not get a chance to blog about while I was in Haiti.
I fed Job for the last time and then carried him upstairs to hold him while I ate dinner (well, I did not eat dinner because it was something I didn’t like), I finished packing and then sent a quick email home and posted a quick blog letting you all know I was leaving early. I then went back downstairs to take a few pictures and say goodbye to the kids and then came back upstairs to pack. We ended up leaving the mission closer to 6 which was probably better because it gave me less time to say goodbye and cry.
I said a lot of goodbye’s and shed a lot of tears as I made my way to the buses. I was showered with love by my mission family and going away gifts. Miriam and Courtney stocked me up with snackfood (which came in Handy on the long trip)and the kids made me the most amazing pictures. When I finally got to the bus I realized I forgot my journal and had to run upstairs and grab it. It was funny because all month I was constantly losing something and looking for it. In fact one of my going away gifts from Miriam was her shoes since I lost mine 5 days before and I did not think they would let me through the airport with no shoes.

The Bus Trip to Pourt-A-Prince

We took 2 mission buses down over the hill into town where we unloaded onto 2 school buses that were going to drive us to Port-A-Prince. I piled onto one of the buses and was amazed at how nice it was. It had real padded seats, there were airfreshners hanging from the ceiling and the seats were even bolted down. I was impressed. We were sitting there for about 20 minutes when Curtis came on and asked for 2 people to move over to the other bus. I volunteered. So I grabbed my bags and headed over to the other bus which I sadly found to be a normal Haiti bus with uncushioned seates, seats not bolted down, and thin isles you can’t walk through. I stayed positive hey, I get my own seat at least. HAHA well, not so right before I left I got a seat buddy. I started thinking I was crazy for leaving the comfy bus but thought God has a reason for everything.
Well, we started down the road and I began talking to the man next to me. I found out he had been to Haiti 4 times, He had a daughter going to PT school and had 3 other kids, we talked about the work he did that week and I shared my passion for the Miriam center. It really made the first hour go by fairly fast. The next thing I new we were past Port a Pey. Well I knew it was going to be a very long night and if I was going to make the trip it was going to be by God’s grace. So I put in my headphones with worship music blasting and held on to the seat in front on me (for safety reasons ;) The next two hours I worshiped God and was overwhelmed with gratitude for the past month God had allowed me to be a vessel he used to touch these kids lives. I was overwhelmed by His presence and His perfect plans and perfect timing and most of all His love. The verses that kept running through my head were your strength is made perfect in weaknesses and God never gives us more than we can handle. I felt so weak and exhausted and I did not know how I was going to make it through the trip. This made me think about Christ long and exhausting journey to calvary and the suffering he went through for me. After about 4 hours every time we hit a bump I thought my back and head were going to fall off. Around 2 AM I remember praying to God and telling him I can’t take this bus ride anymore I am so tired and every muscle in body hurts and about 5 minutes later we stopped at a mission outside of Port-A-Price to sleep for 2 hours. It was the most amazing 2 hours of sleep ever. I was laying there and in the morning I realized one reason I took that bus ride. I did not want to leave the mission I was not ready to go home but after that bus ride I JUST WANTED TO GO HOME! Lol got to love God’s sense of humor.
I took a flight from Pourt-A-Prince to Miami at 8:00AM landing in Miami at around 12 in the afternoon.

My New Friend

After landing in Miami I went through customs and went to pick up my luggage. While I was waiting for my luggage to come I met another young girl who had been doing mission work in Haiti in the Port-A-Prince area. I later found out her name was Lydia. We helped each other recheck our bags and headed to find some food. We both had not really eaten much yet that day. We ended up going to a Mexican restaurant where you went down a food line and picked what you wanted but then they had a place where you could sit down and eat. She was so sweet and tried to buy my lunch but I told her that was very sweet of her but not necessary. While we ate we shared stories and talked about our lives. She is a nurse at a hospital. After we got done eating a shared a few pictures off of my camara and then she shared with me pictures off her camara. It was very enjoyable and it made my 4 hour layover go by really fast. At the end of our time she gave me a painting she bought in Haiti and said she wanted to give it to me because when I was going through my pictures I showed her a picture of painting I thought about buying but ended up not getting it. She insisted I keep it. I will never forget who gave me that picture and the country where it came from. God sure works in amazing ways to bring people into our lives.

Trials Begin in Miami

After lunch I went to find my terminal for my flight from Miami to New York Laguardy airport. I found my gate and made a few phone calls while I waited out the last hour. My flight ended up getting delayed an hour and not boarding till close to 5. When we got on the plane we departed our gate but soon we stopped and the pilot came on to tell us all flights in and out of the NY airport we on hold. He said we would wait an hour for an update. So I turned on my worship music and tried to sleep a little. At the 6 we got told we would know something at 7 and then at 7 they said 8. Finally after 3 hours of waiting on the plane they took us back to the gate and let us off . They said in 2 hours we would be able to reboard and fly to NY. While in the airport waiting I called mom and dad crying because I was exhausted and just wanted to go home. At this rate I missed my connector to clevland (well, it was delayed till 8:30AM the next morning) and I knew I was going to be spending the night in an airport. Pastor Doug and Dad were on the internet trying to find the best flights for me to be on and they decided staying on my original schedule would get me home the quickest. So I went and got a ticket for my new flight from NY to Clevland.
Just as I sat down they announced our flight to NY was cancelled all together. I began to cry and went and found a place to plug in my phone and tell mom and dad. Poor mom and dad had to deal with my emotional phone calls that whole night. They are such troopers. Doug and Dad had a back up plan already together and gave me flight numbers and what route I wanted to take home. My plan was to catch a flight in the morning from Miami to Chicage and then to fly Chicago to Clevland.
I proceeded to pull myself together and go wait in line at the customer service desk to try and get new tickets. While I was waiting in line I decided to look at the paper I wrote the flight information on. I opened it up to find a Bible Study I did 2 years ago with my small group at school on Satan’s attacks. How appropriate in a time when I was so underattack by Satan. Satan was trying everything possible to get me while I was down. It was such a blessing to open that paper and read verses to help me in that time. One verse to popped off the page was the verse that came to me the night before on the bus “God’s strength is made perfect in our weaknesses”
When I finally got up to the desk. The women asked how old I was, I told her and she said I looked really young and she wanted to make sure I was old enough to go to a hotel. She asked where I was coming from and I told her Haiti. I then learned she was from Haiti. I told her about my extremely long day and my crazy bus ride. She was funny. She looked at me and told me I was crazy for riding a bus in Haiti she lives there and has never done that and that I was even more crazy to ride one at night. She told me I was lucky to be alive. J I smiled and thanked God for his provision and safety he provided. It was nice to talk to someone who understood what a busride in Haiti is like. I told her how rumor has it that we hit a donkey last night but I did not even know I just thought it was a bump in the road. She laughed and said she could not wait to tell her mom and sister that story. I told her I would never want her job, there were so many angry and mean people that night and I am sure many nights. She said yeah you would not believe how rude some people are. I felt really blessed to have met her and I know it was a God thing that she was my customer service person. She hooked me up with a hotel for the night and gave me 2 food vouchers for Saturday.
I went to the curb to wait for my shuttle to my hotel. I waited a about 15 minutes and saw about 15 different shuttles but none were for my hotel. So I called the hotel and they said they had a shuttle on the way but it was only for American Airline passengers who’s flight was cancelled (that was me). So about 15 minutes later the shuttle arrived and I got on with 7 other people. 4 of them were from Brazil and 3 were from Portagual. When we arrived at the hotel around midnight we were checking in and acquiring about when the shuttle would take us back to the airport. They informed us the shuttle did not start running till 7 in the morning. The problem was our flight left at 7AM. We asked what we were suppose to do since our hotel was 20-30 minutes from the airport. They told us we would have to get a taxi. My heart dropped I only had 14 dollars and when I asked how much a taxi was they said $35 dollars a person. I began to panick I was like God what do I do I don’t have a credit card or my debit card. I looked at the 2 people behind me and said I only have 14 dollars. They calmly said don’t worry about it we will cover the rest. So we all decided we would leave the hotel at 5AM and all ride together because they would give us a discount that way.
I went up to my room and set 2 alarms for 4:45AM and got some well needed sleep. It was the best 4 hours of sleep ever. So in the morning we all piled into a van to head back to the airport. The driver said it would be $50 total. So that was $10 a person. NOT BAD…I can handle that. We arrived at the airport and the couple that said they would help me pay ran inside to get money out. They could not find a debit machine and came back out panicked. I pulled out my $14 and another couple with us threw in 16 dollars to cover the other 2 people. We were told don’t worry the airlines will reimburse you inside.
So we got inside and went through security to try to find the customer service desk to get reimbursed. They told us it did not open till 11 and we would have to go back out of security to the front desk. We went to the front desk and got sent to a side area that opened at 6AM (we had a 10 minute wait). So me and this other women waited and talked a little bit. When the desk opened he sent us back to the ticket counter who tried to send us back to him. After a while of waiting while the staff discusses our situation they informed us they did not get petty cash till 9AM and so if we wanted to reimbursed we would have to mail in our receipt. The problem is we only have one receipt and 3 people who needed reimbursed. So I said the couple that paid the most should get reimbursed. I was not in the mood to fight over 14 dollars.

The Home stretch

I made my way back through security and found my gate. On my way to my gate I ran into a group from the mission who had also had a long night. This group did not come out with us on the bus. They were still able to fly out of Port-A-Pey to Port-A-Prince but they waited 11 hours at Port-A-Prince to get on a plane to Miami. After they boarded the plane they found something wrong with it and made them all get off. Curtis and Grant came back from the hotel to get the group and take them with them back to the hotel. But at 11PM they got the plane fixed and they flew into Miami at 3AM and now they were going to be on my flight from Miami to Chicago. It was sure nice to see familiar faces after a very long, emotional and draining day by myself.
On the flight from Miami to Chicago I sat next to a guy who about an hour into the flight we hit up a conversation about Haiti. I soon learned he knew a lot about Haiti and had a passion for helping Haitians and other underprivileged individuals. He told me all about the History of Haiti back to Christopher Columbus. He talked about the corrupt government and how He works with a group that tries to find ways to help Haitians that does not involve money directly since the government takes it. He said how they buy pigs, chickens, and donkeys to give out. How they teach them how to plant crops and how they try to help educate the people. He said he lives by the quote give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime. He later went on to tell me he was born and raised in Guatamala and came to the states to become a dentist. He ended up staying because of the fighting going on in Guatamala in the 80’s. He now on Saturdays has a clinic for underprivileged families and in his free time he fought for the rights of the poor immigrants. He was on his way to a meeting in Chicago to fight for a Bill for Congress. I am not real into political things but he sure knew his stuff and I know I did a horrible job explaining what He does and what he fights for but it was totally a God thing that I was sitting by him and I was inspired by how he helps people. I was reminded how God gifts each of us individually to help people in our own specific ways. I told him all about the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission and the different areas they have ministries in and how they are helping the Haitian people. He was very impressed with all the mission does.
Once I landed in Chicago I had a 3 hour layover till my last flight to Clevland. I took that opportunity to make some phone calls. I talked to a few friends from home and listen to some worship music. Finally we began loading the plane and I looked at my ticket and realized I did not have a seat number. My heart dropped NOOOO I have to make this flight, I just want to go home…lol…So I went up to the counter praying the whole way that I had a seat on this flight. The person behind the desk said we have someone here who needs to fly standby I was thinking oh no but they the women next to her goes no she has a seat look. I began thanking God. YES!!! I was going home. I boarded the plane and sat next to a woman who was from Brazil and was going to the Clevland clinic for a 4 rotation, she was going to school to be a doctor in Brazil. My last flight was awful I think part had to do with it being such a small plane but also me being so tired. I was nauseous the whole flight and felt like I was going to puke. I was praying the last 15 minutes while we were descending I would not puke on the plane.
When I landed I called mom and dad and asked if they wanted me to get them any food, because I had $10 left in food vouchers and I was too nauseous to eat. So I got them a fruit smoothy and milk shake. I went to claim my luggage and found out that not much luggage came on the plane at all and of course mine was not there. I went to the office to tell them mine was missing and well, THERE IT WAS sitting there inside the door. It must of came in on the flight last night.
Mom and Dad came and picked me up. It was so great to see them and to be in the truck heading to Camp where there is a bed. It feels great to have now gotten a good nights sleep had some fresh vegetables and fresh fruit and got to go to my church in Erie this morning.

Ps. Courtney I really tried to get my parents to send me back to Haiti. I belched really loud in the car when I got in…but it did not work. I would have had to tell them to give me a couple days to recover before they sent me back anyway J

change of Plans

I just got told at 4:30 that there has been a change of plans and I have to go home tonight instead of in the morning. We are loading a bus at 7pm and riding the bus all night to Pourt A Prince and then I will get on a plane 8AM to Miami and then Miami to New York and then New York to Clevland and then drive back to PA. I should get home by 12 or 1 AM. It is going to be a rough 48  hours please say a prayer for everyone.

UPDATE: Jody had her babies today, they are doing well both weighed 6 lbs still were pretty premature but doing well. Keep their family in your prayers

Love you all! See you soon!

Fun with Miriam Center Kids

The past few day have been full of Miriam Center Fun. We took them swimming yesterday in their new pool, they loved it. They shot lots of water guns, Den-Den loved kicking his feet, and lost of waterball were thrown. Later on we took them on a train ride and then after Devo's we brought all the kids upstairs and watched a cars and shared popcorn and juice with them.

Today was church and we took 4 of the Miriam kids to church. Dend-Den, John, Steven, and Mary-Julie. John was so cute when it was time to pray he closed his eyes and put his hand over his face, he was waving his hands in the air during worship. It was priceless. We took them to children's church and they got to participate by holding signs that said the fruits of the spirit. 

This afternoon I went over to the Baby orphanage for a while and played with the kids. Then I got to talk to mom and dad which was great, then I worked on some evaluation stuff, and finished up working on a few wheelchairs. Then I sat down and played file folder games with the kids for the first time. They loved it. Thanks shirley for all your help laminating :) Then I got Kim to feed herself on her own :) I was so excited.

Courtney and I went into the new building and admired our walls. It is coming along so good. Then we were planning and imaging what was going to go on all the walls. It was fun :)

Happy Father's Day

Meet Job

A few Photos

Meditation on Hands

So tonight all the staff girls got together and someone read this devotion. It was so powerful and I wanted to share it with you all. If possible have someone read it to you...if  not it is still powerful

Sit erect, feet flat on the floor, eyes closed, hands resting in your lap. Become aware of the air at your fingertips, between your fingers, on the palm of your hand. Experience the fullness, strength and maturity of your hand. Experience the fullness, strength and maturity of your hands. Think of your hands- think of the most unforgettable hands that have rested in your hands. THink of the hands of a new born child, of the incredible beauty, perfection, delicacy in the hands of a child. Once upon a time, your hands were the same size.

Think of all your hands have done since then. Almost all that you have learned has been through your hands. At one time the greatest accomplishment was tying your own shoes.

think of all the learning your hands have done and how many activities they have mastered. The things they have made, Remember the day you could write your name?

our hands are not just for ourselves but for others. how often they are given to help another. Remember the tears they have wiped away. How much hurt, anger and even violence they have expressed, and how much gentleness, tenderness and love they have given.

How often have they been folded in prayer; both a sign of their powerlessness and of their power

Now raise one hand slowly and gently place it over your heart. Press more firmly until your hand picks up the heart of your own heart, that most mysterious of all human sounds, one's own heartbeat, a rhythm learned in the womb from the heartbeat of one's mother. Press more firmly for a moment and then release your hand and hold it just a fraction from your clothing. Experience the warmth between your hand and your heart. Now lower your hand to your lap very carefully as if it were carrying your heart. For it does carry your heart.

Think of all the hands that have left an imprint on you. Fingerprints and handprints are heart points that can never be erased. The hand has its own memory. Think of all the places that carry your handprints and all the people who hear your heart print. They are incredible and will last forever.

Now without opening your eyes, extend your hands on either side and find another hand. Do not simply hold it, but try to convey a message- friendship, love, concern,. Let your hand speak to it and let it listen to the other. Try to express your gratitude for this hand lingering upon your hand. IT was His hand. Jesus has no other hands than ours.

Our hands continue His work here on earth as we reach out to those around us and as His love works in us and through us. 

Construction update

Sorry I am writing alot tonight...lol...but I forgot to give you a construction update. Things are coming along soooooooo fast and it is so pretty. Courtney and I keep going downstairs and petting our walls and starring at all the progress. All the demolition is done and all but part of one wall is up and now they are starting to go back and smooth out all the concrete so soon paint can begin to go on the walls. :) It is amazing all the change that has happened in the short time I have been here. I can't believe we did not even have this building the day I arrived and now WHAMMM we have a huge new building and old walls knocked down and new walls put up. I can't wait to show you all pictures.

PS. I am in charge of media this week and am posting all the pictures so check out the website there are actually miriam center pictures going up.

Job Update

So the past few days have been draining and rewarding at the same time. Last time I blogged I told you about one of my little kids Job who had a 105 fever. He is our sickest kid. We got his fever down he has fluid in his lungs from Aspiration and has pnemonia. His blood work came back showing he was very low on IronLuckily we have 2 ER nurses on this trip, they have been a huge help in helping Job get better. The workers used to feed job laying down, since I have been here me and Courtney both said this needs to change so 2 days ago I took over feeding Job for every meal. I worked on different feeding techniques. not giving any textured chunky food and only giving baby cereal enhanced with iron and putting baby formula mixed into it to make a consistancy I could suck into a seringe. I found the best place to feed him is in his wheelchair but he spit out half of what I would get into him and it would take over an hour and half each feeding and probably only got 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup of food in him each time. He has been the same weight for the past 7months which is not healthy to begin with and now he was beginning to lose weight and he was severly dehydrated and it was so hard to get liquids into him because of his underdeveloped swallowing reflex. Courtney and I brainstormed and if he were in the states he would be tube feed but that is too dangerous here because of infection rate. Courtney said why don't we tube feed him from the nose down straight into his stomach. We talked to the ER nurse and she felt this was a good idea. So last night we had him tubed. We called him our little snuffulucus. He hated the tube and was very uncomfortable with it. I heard him crying from upstairs so I went down and got him. everytime I set him down he sobbed. So I decided He would sleep with me last night. I moved a pack and play and a rocker into an extra room and I kept him all night. He would not sleep in the pack and play. So I used a boppy pillow to lay him in because his head always has to be elevated or the tube will come out. He would go to sleep by me bouncing on the bed. He woke up every 30 minutes all night long and would go back to sleep with me bouncing until 5 AM and then I moved into the rocker and propped pillows all around and we snuggled. Though is was a really hard night It really gave me lots of time to pray and communicate with God and to bond with Job. He is so darn cute and I so much want him to start feeling better and get Healthy. This morning we had the tube stitched into his nose which was hard to watch them do but I am glad I was there to comfort him and love on him. We call him our little fighting drama king because he makes everything worse than it is but is a true fighter. I am giving him 60 cc of pedialite every hour and it took him till 3 this afternoon to finally pee he was that dehydrated. At 4 this afternoon I gave him formula for the first time 30cc and then 30cc pedialite. He is tolerating tube feeding much better this afternoon and if I do it while sleeping some times he does not even wake up which is the best. Please continue to pray for Job and for all of us working to help get him better for wisdom and guidance and for comfort for Job.

When I am not with Job, I have been busy doing evaluations. Miriam is so awsome to work with, God really gave me someone who our personalities mesh and we are able to teach each other alot. We got the evaluation down to a routine and it takes us about an hour a kid to evaluate and about 30 minutes to write up the results. We are evaluating 11 areas of fine motor and doing a GM assessment, wheelchair assessment and fixing their wheelchairs when needing, evaluating feeding positioning and tummy time positioning. We are taking pictures of all these positions and all the appropriate toys for them to use which will be used to educate the workers and laminated and posted to remind the workers. Evaluating has been very rewarding and I have learned so much and been so blessed. 

Yesterday I evaluated JU-JU who has CP she gets around by flopping around of her knees or scooting on a little car. We got her to stand up on her own (AMAZING) and then stand there for a whole minute (WOW!) and by the end of our evaluation we made her a walker and she is able to walk around now! WE also got a stander and got her to fit in there to do activities and she can already tolerate 10 minutes. This will really help her strengthen her legs and be able to walk better. Another girl Kim is always slouched over in her wheelchair so we rolled up towels used lots of ductape and hot glue gun and adapted her wheelchair so she is sitting properly. I took her in to evaluate her and I have never seen her do any activity, I never thought she was capable. I layed her on the matt and there was a stacking toy to her left and I walked away. when I came back she was unstacking all the blocks off and she put them back on (AMAZING!). We got her a table that comes to her height in the wheelchair and she able to do so many activities I never thought she could. This is going to enhance her life so much to have stuff to do and not just lying around. Our next goal with her is I think she can feed herself and we are going to work on that. 

Today I evaluated 5 more kids...after I took a lil nap because I was exhausted...lol... but today I was saddened more than surprised because I evaluated my 3 amigo's Den-Den, John, and Steven. All have detoriated since I was here last in their mobility which makes me sad. Don't get me wrong they all surprised me in one way or another. Den-Den is my most determined kid. He has very limited use of his hands due to spasticity but he works so hard to complete activities and completes ones I never thought he could. He constantly amazes me. He used his feet alot to help him. Steven amazes me with his fine motor skills despite his spasticity he was completing some of my hardest tasks. John has an amazing tripod grasp and can color and cut amazing. He is my only kid that can cut well using the adapted scissors and he not only cut through paper but also cardboard. 

To top off my day I am eating pizza right now and having a coke. Delicious!!!! I have been trying not drink pop but have caved a few times. 

We watched the second Beth Moore Video today. It was so good. It was on Singing the Psalms and the power of songs. She talks about how songs are outlets to express our deepest feelings that we can't put into words. This is so true, songs and psalms help me put to words what I am feeling when I can't. Emotions and experiences can be expressed through songs in ways spoken words never can.  There is so much power in worship songs and allowing yourself to enter into worship with the God of the universe. A song can greatly change our entire perspective and can also greatly affect the heart of God. I encourage you all to spend some time worshiping to God in the car, lying in Bed, sitting in your living room. You can break out in song to God anywhere. 

I found a verse last night that describes Courntey and my relationship..."Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down his friend can help him up!" Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. I am going to miss Courtney so much when I return home. We are both counting down to when I can return hopefully next summer. I am praying about it. please pray for me on this decision as well. Courtney has done an amazing job with running the miriam center and developing programs and taking time to learn about the kids. She amazes me more everday in the way she loves and serves these kids. Her major in college was Bible and she new nothing about handicap kids when she started working with them. You would never be able to tell. 

I miss you all! Thank you for all your prayers and support. It really helps knowing I have all you at home encouraging me and supporting me.

Help has arrived...and so has more work :)

So the past few days have been extremely busy. Last night I found 2 of my kids with high fevers one 102 and the other 105 we rushed them to the showers, had a doctor look at them and then Courtney and I wrapped them in wet towels and syringed fluids. A nurse came and took Job for the night and took care of him and I sat with Walden till 10 and his fever was down and he had a normal temperature again. I had him sleep back downstairs in his bed. Please Keep them both in your prayers. Walden has had a fever the past 4 days and Job just spiked a fever last night. Job keeps aspirating on his food. One because of poor positioning during feeding and 2nd he has a poor suck swallow breath. Today I did a feeding evaluation with him and I am working on coming up with a feeding plan. He really needs to be tube fed but that is not possible here. So please pray for wisdom for us as we try to figuere out the best way to feed him and get him hidrated. We are hoping to get an IV in him tonight. And are thinking about putting a tube down his nose just for liquids.

We had a group of 100 people come in yesterday and it is crazy. The good news 70 of them are leaving campus tomorrow and spreading out all around haiti. Which will be nice for everyone to be in smaller groups and awsome how many places are going to be ministered to this week.

In this group a physiotherapist (physical therapist) from Canada has joined me in the Miriam Center. It is so exciting all day today we worked on brainstorming and we developed an evaluation tool that will evaluate the children's Gross Motor skills, FM skills, and a basic cognition evaluation. We were both brain dead at the end...I am not in school mode any more and brainstorming hurt...lol...I guess it is good to get back in the groove to prepare me for placement :) We are trying to make it personalized to the Miriam center and writing up the results in "lay person terms" so it is easy to follow. This week we hope to evaluate all the kids and develop a treatment protocol for each kid. This protocol will have pictures of the kids being stretched, of them in proper feeding position of them in proper wheelchair positioning, of the kids in proper sleeping position. We are trying to makes things very visual to break the language barrier. Next Monday we are hoping to do a staff training to show the workers how to properly feed, how to properly position, introduce them to our new activity schedule, ect. It is going to be a very busy week with alot of work but this is very important information for the next few months. I also found a whole box of AFO's (feet braces) and I am working on getting a heat gun so I can remold some of them to fit the kids. Some of the kids would really benefit from this. I am super excited to work with Miriam (the PT), she is great!

This evening I spent some time with the kids. I got Ju--Ju to stand unsupported for a whole minutes and to walk with holding on to only one hand. We played playdoe and legos. Jimpson and I went for a long walk and when I tried to bring him back he fought me. He loves to walk and sadly he does not get to near enough. He is the oldest boy here and he craves attention. 

The thing I was reminded of today through my personal Bible Study and through Group Devo's today was how Big the God we serve is. He is always with us, always protecting us, always guiding us, he never slumbers, he never leaves us. He is creator of all, He is our Father, our Savior, our Redeemer. How awsome is that.

Please keep Miriam and Me in your prayers as we start evaluations tomorrow, Keep Job and Walden in your prayers as they continue to heal from infections.

Love you all!

Attempting to sew

Today has been a crazy busy day full of randomness. I started off the morning cleaning up all our random stuff lying around, then went down stairs the the royal disaster zone to try to clean up one room to put all the toys and supplies in till the rest of the building is done. The kids the past week have been bored because they have been kicked out of there playroom due to all the construction, it just isn't safe with concrete flying everywhere. So this morning Courtney and I worked on creating an outdoor play area in their hallway we took out a couple tables, big mats to sit on and lie on and then everyday we will wheel out a cart of toys to play with during the day. We are hoping to start a regular schedule starting wednesday with activities 8-5. I am super excited to do this and get to play with the kids. So today I have been busy working on lesson plans that will be used for the next 6 months. 

Construction is well on its way, 3 more wall went up today 80 it is crazy how fast they whip up these things. Funny story, I was running down stairs to get something out of the miriam center and forgot they put up a wall where I was heading and WHAMMMM definitely ran into it...lol I almost did it in a different place later today....I got to get used to this new floor plan. 

Courtney and I raded Magdala's office today where all the extra supplies get put after groups leave and we found 3 boxes of goodies for the Miriam center. We found construction paper, bean bag balls, bouncy balls, popsicle sticks, color yourself stickers, ect. It was so much fun, I felt like I was shopping for free. :)

Mom I finished sewing the sensory matt today, so it is ready to go. I started on the bean bags but realized one of the women who was helping sew last week sewed the bean bags shut without putting anything in them...whoops... so I need to pull them apart and put stuff in them and then start sewing them again. I got 3 done so far. 

I also worked somemore on my sensory box I am making...it is coming along well but I ran out of ideas for 2 walls...I am in brainstorming mode again. 

I started into my Beth Moore Bible study and am super excited about it. 

I prayer of praise is that for the first time in a week I am feeling good. I don't have a headache, my jaw is not killing me, and my stomach is not upset :)

First group is leaving :(

It has been a crazy few days of demolition and construction and creativity in the miriam center. More walls have come down and many walls have come up. It is a disasterous mess down there. All the organization and cleaning we did previous demolition...well you can't tell we did any. Most of the past few days has been spent creating a huge sensory box out of 2 huge wooden crates. I got the idea from looking at the crates they ship all the missions supplies in. Me and Courtney bought them from the mission and went to work creating each wall. We did one wall with black paint and glow in the dark stars, another wall with tin foil and 1,000 colorful tin foil stars, I did one wall with the textures alphabet I made at home, I painted a landscape theme running across both boards in the front and made foam flowers and clouds and different things that will be velcro'd on so that the kids can take them off and move them around. We made big cushions to go at the bottum of each of the two sides of the box. I used a power drill (but it got confiscated from me :(  but I had fun while I was using it :) Things are coming along really well. I am sad though because I realized I will not get to put my huge box together while I am here because we are going to tile the room and it takes a month to cure and the box is to big to fit through a door. 

Today we had an autism specialist come in with a group which is really exciting and a surprise and the second group that is coming in next week has a physiotherapist and some other group members coming specifically to work with miriam center. So Courtney and mine goal is to set up a new play area outside to hold over till construction is over so we can start the new schedule and activities we have planned.

All the girl interns and full time staff started a Beth Moore Bible study entitles "stepping up" today and we will meet every week to watch a video and discuss what we learned during the week while studying and doing daily devos. I am super excited about this.

Tonight was a touching night with a time of reflection and sharing for the group that is heading out tomorrow.  It is amazing to hear the stories and how God has been working in and through people this week. I could sit here and list stories upon story it is so amazing what God is up to.  I have been reminded of how God has appointed each of us here for a very special reason, how he speaks to each of us in unique ways. Seeing Haiti through each individuals eyes was very eye opening to me. I was reminded why I love Haiti so much. How though the Haitians have so little they have so much love and Joy to share with us. They truly know how to worship God with their whole heart and how to lay their burdens at the cross when they walk into church and give all the strength they have to worship God. I pray that I can learn to worship as they worship. That is one thing I am amazed at all the time. Also how they have such child like faith. They trust and rely on God for every meal, for their health, for their safety, often for a place to sleep each night. They are able to see God as their father and run to him and just be with him. It amazes me.

My favorite part of the night was at the end of devos all the interns went up front and had all the full time missionaries come up and we each washed each of there feet and prayed over them and then we had a corporate time of prayer for where individuals from the group came up and we layed hands on them and prayed over them. I am so thankful for the service they give and all they have given up to serve God here. The staff here is so wonderful and they all have such a heart for God and the Haitians and are so good as accomodating all the short term trips that come in. It was a very powerful time. I pray that each of the missionaries knows how thankful we are for all they do and all the hardwork they put in serving. 

Well, I better get off of the computer and let someone else on. Thank you all for your prayers!

ps. I am still not feeling great please pray for my health, I am getting really frustrated and sick of not feeling well and feeling hindered from fully working for God. 

Love you all!!!!

Ancephalor

Today has been a rough day physcially. I went to bed last night at 8 with a horrible headache and my jaw acting up and it was still there when I woke up. I debated on whether to go to Ancephalor or not but decided I wanted to go.  Since I have been back I have iced, tried more IB Profin and now I am trying some Mountain Dew for the Caffeine. Please pray I can knock this headache so I can focus and be productive because right now I can't consentrate on much of anything

So, this morning we all climbed into the back of a tap tap (20 of us) and headed out. We prayed we could get through the river and there were many times today that I thought we were going to get stuck. The drive to Ancephalor is beautiful it along the coast up in the hills with lots of trees. I got some great pictures.  When we arrived at Ancephalor we started to go to hike up the mountain that houses a voodoo monument and alter. When we got to the bottum of the mountain they wanted us to pay to hike up it and we refused so we circled up right there at the bottum and prayed for This city to see God and wisdom to know he is above all other Gods and is the one true God. We prayed that Satan would flee from this city and for revival. The story behind this monument. It was originally build by the Catholic church as a huge cross but during a big storm lightening struck the cross-beam and it fell to the ground. Teh Haitian people believed that was a sign from Satan that he defeated God. 

From there we started to hike to the voodo temple, we were not sure if they would let us in or not but they did. It broke my heart what I saw and it took everything in me to not start to bawl. When we walked in there were lots of people sitting around and as you walk into the temple there are tables and tables of things you can buy to offer as an offering or a sacrafice to the "doll." The first place we went was to the upper room where the doll is housed. The whole way up to the room there are pictures of Jesus and mother Mary and then when you go into the room there are more pictures of JEsus around but in the front of the room there is a huge porcelin doll and people are praying to it. Much like we do in church and it is so sad because they truly believe this doll can intercede on there behalf. We came down from that room and we walked back a hallway on one side there were tons of people in a dark room laying on mats and they were fasting I think someone said they fast for 7 days. Then we entered another room where there were tons of people on the floor on mats who were sick and there families were around them. They believe that if they come and stay there and live there and offer sacrafices and offerings to this doll that they will be healed, if they are faithful enough then they will be healed. It is soooo sad because like I said before they truly believe with all there heart that this doll has power. Then we walked out to a coutyard where a small child was having oil dumped over it and they were making it drink it (they called it holy water) as we walked further there was a swamp and a lady was washing herself in it. They go up and pray to the doll and ask for forgiveness and then they come down and wade into this swamp and if they come out they have been forgiven but if they drown and die then they were not forgiven and die. We circled up right there and prayed for eyes to be open that they would see the bondage they are in. 

It is so hard to make someone see how they are believing lies but how do you show someone that who has been raised to believe this and that is all they know. IT would be like someone coming up and telling me that this Jesus I believe in and this God I worship do not really exist. I would not be willing to drop my beliefs cold turkey and go on believing something else. This is how it is for the many Haitians they have been raised on Voodoo and that is all they know. I mean look at how they worship they pray, they fast, they bring there sick, they believe in forgiveness look how similar it is to ours but there is one major lie they have been taught this doll has the power to heal them, this doll has the power to protect them. My heart breaks for them. I am left with heartache for these people but filled with Joy knowing that I have the privlidge of knowing the truth, that I have a personal relationship with God. That I have been blessed enough to be raised to know the one true God who brings joy, peace, understanding, power, healing and life. 

My prayer as I walked through the city was God may this nation be changed may this nation be turned back to you, I am on my knees. Lord Bless me so that I might be a blessing, Lord Heal me so that I may bring healing, Lord cover me so that I might be a covering to the weary and weak to the broken and Meak. God let your wisdom fall on these people, may there eyes be open, may this city be flooded with understanding. 

We left there to go to the mission church in Ancephalor and do VBS for 140 kids. VBS went really well we did the story of Daniel and the Lions Den. Which was perfect because it talks about how powerful our God, the God of the universe is and how powerful prayer is. Daniel prayed every morning, afternoon, and evening. We had some children wear headbands and role play the character they loved doing that. I am always amazed at how loud these children sing and how happy they are. At the end we gave everyone a peanut butter sandwich. All the children there were children that go to the mission school at teh church. So at the end we prayed for them and told them they have the power to change Ancephalor for God and the surrounding areas and even the country of Haiti. There God is powerful and nothing is impossible with him. 

On the way back to the mission we stopped at a peice of land the mission is hoping to buy and build a new church in Ancephalor. The old church will be a community center and the school and this new property will house the church. We prayed over the land. This church I feel can make a huge impact in this city it is the only christian church there.

Demolition has begun

The past 2 days have been very busy...

Yesterday I finished organizing all the stuff in the Miriam Center, I blew up the therapy balls and all the balls for the therapy room. Most of the day yesterday was full of paper work. Me and Courtney drew up plans for a wall unit we want to build and ordered all the wood for it. I also worked on filling in activities for our daily schedule for the next few months so when I leave groups will have activities to do with the kids.

Today, our trip to Ancephalor (the voodoo capital of the world) was cancelled because of all the rain we have had the last few nights and the river is too high to cross. This turned in to great news for Courtney and I because we then got 8 hands to help us with stuff in the Miriam Center. We had the guys knock down 4 walls with 1 sledge hammer and then I helped them carry all the rubble out of the building and pile it outside. they have 1 window and one door to knock out yet and all the demolition will be complete in the new building. The girls put together our cardboard bricks for the kids and a play kitchen set that we have.  We also prepped the rooms for painting hopefully tomorrow. I am soooo surprised at how fast this project has got underway and it is soooooooo exciting to know these kids are going to have an amazing place to live and grow. 

Den-Den is loved watching all the demolition and he held his small handheld hammer the whole time and watched and smiled and laughed. I did noodle play with the kids early today and hid a bunch of different items in different types of noodles and they dug through it and found them. They absoultly loved doing that. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish up there sensory table right now it has sand but we are going to put 3 slots in it. 1  will hold rice, 1 will be gravel, and the last one will be sand. The kids are loving playing with all their new toys and they never cease to amaze me. Ju-Ju yesterday did the hardest FM task I have down there and spent an hour determined to complete putting small, thin metal turtles into a piggy bank. She is so smart and wanted to do every activity she could get her hands on.  

God has been so faithful this trip and He is up to some awsome things. My heart grows more and more everyday for these children and the people of Haiti. God has really been speaking to me through the book the Dream Giver, the book just keep confirming my dream for the disabled children of Haiti. To care for them and to educate their families to care for them and to see how special they are and how God made them just the way they are for a reason. 

YEsterday I had a mother from "Jonathan's Sake" The community program we started bring her child in while I was sorting toys out. I played with him for while and then I took him in to the trampoline and the ball pit he got the biggest smile along with his mom. I then put him on a therapy ball and did some exercises with him. I then took him in the hallway and put him in a wheelchair where he was able to sit up and have control over his arms.  I brought toys to him to play with.  A little later on another mom brought her son in. This new program is going to have a huge in pack on the Hatian community. 

well, it is time for dinner

Pray that the river goes down so we can go to Ancephalor tomorrow to do VBS and pray over the voodoo alter and possibly go to the voodoo temple and pray against the evil spirits. This will be pretty intense, every time you enter this city you can feel the heaviness there.  THe song I always think of is "Can this nation be changed" I do believe that this nation can be changed and that this nation is being turned back to God and it is exciting to see Hatian Christians fight for their people with joy overflowing out of them into communities. 

Things have been going very well the last few days. We have been busy organizing the miriam Center. I spent 3 hours on Friday organizing all the stuff that came in on the boat, my stuff and the stuff courtney  brought in. We spend 3-4 hours organizing that stuff and yesterday we pulled everything out of the Miriam storage closet it filled up a huge room we spend 4 hours working on organizing all that stuff. We got a lot done but it is going to take a while because there is so much stuff and we want to take an inventory. I brought in a book that has things you can build and how to build it. We asked how much the wall organizer would be to build and Janeil told us it would cost 450.00 because wood here is so high. A women said I will pay for it, all non shelant and me and Courtney's jaw dropped did she really just say she would buy the wood for us. We are so excited to have a storage unit. If we decide what plastic containers we want, Courtney's church is going to buy the plastic containers to store the stuff in. 

Me and Courtney the last few nights have had a lot of fun playing with our new toys with the kids. 2 night ago we put together a trampoline. It was hilarious watching us trying to put it together. It a decent size one with safety poles and netting going around it. After it was built we put ball pit balls in it so when they bounce they bounce all around them. The kids smiles were so big and they laughed and laughed. We have been wanting to build a ball pit but wood is so expensive but I found in our closet a pack and play and popped that up and filled it with balls and made a ball pit. Only the smaller kids can fit in it but Walden had a blast and he played in it for a good 20 minutes. Last night I took Jebson the oldest boy who is often left alone and in a corner. He laughed so hard on the trampoline I thought he was going to pee his pants. Things are going great in the Miriam Center and alot of good things are happening. We are hoping to start painting our new building tomorrow. I recruited some of the miscelaneous group to help us out with cleaning, organizing and painting. They have been so much help. 

Yesterday morning Magdala the manager of the mission called me over and took me in to see a birth. It always amazing me seeing the miracle of giving birth. It was an adorrible 8lb baby girl. The mother actually works at the mission as the cook for the baby orphanage.  

Today I went to La Fordge to church it is a 2 hour walk from the mission but I took a moped. I was very scared to ride on one but I made them go slow and had a translator and Cara on ones next to me. We rode them down to the river and then walked the rest of the way (45 min). Church was so good today! I always love seeing their passion and joy in worshiping and singing to God. 

Thank you for your prayers! 

Pictures....

Here is the website all the pictures will be posted on from here on out. and it goes by the dates for each day.

http://nwhcm.smugmug.com/Trip%20Photos

The rest of today has been exciting, We moved about 15 boxes and trunks down into the new building and I spent 3.5 hours sorting through and categorizing all the amazing supplies into Bible lesson material, FM, GM, Language, sensory, Music, Books, Movies, Educational play, ect. Some of the favorite things I found were a big pool, a big trampoline with safety poles, a big hefty duty wagon, so many textures toys and building toys. I had a lot of fun. Tomorrow we will be moving more stuff into the room and continuing sorting and categorizing stuff. We have a lot of work to do....I do want to start taking a few hours a day to be with the kids though, because I have not got to do that yet, but I also know that my talents are needed for the planning and organizing and creating everything so when I leave other groups can pick up and keep this program running. 

overwhelmed with Exitement

So yesterday and today has felt like a dream...In the morning yesterday we finished up our training and I worked on finishing up my file folder games on every break and relamenating some of the stuff because I cut them too close and in the humidity they started curling. 

In the afternoon courtney and I began planning a detailed schedule that the Miriam Center will be run off of. It detailed enough that at any time during the day someone could walk in and know what they can do. It is going to be very organized with all the enormous amount of educational toys, craft supplies and therapy supplies :) will be organized in sections so that they can look at the schedule see FM skills is on for 10:00 am they can go to the closet and there will be a binder with all the FM activities and they can just pick one and get the supplies. It is going to be awsome. So I was so excited about this...

Courtney and I then went to look at the property we are going to build the new Miriam center on to one side of the mission and was planning where to build it, where to put the playground...where are apartments were going to go :) just dreaming....Then we saw the wood crates they ship supplies in on the boat and she decided during here meeting with Janeil she was going ask if we could have one because we have so many ideas for it for the sensory/PT/OT room we are making. WE are going to put a different activity on every wall on the outside and on the inside put lights on the ceiling and paint the walls fun colors and put mirrors inside and put cushions on the floor. It is going to be sweet. 

Well, in celebration of finishing training we drove 30 min to get some ice cream...it tasted so good. I thought the day could not get any better...well, I was wrong

When I got back Courtney had been meeting with Janiel for 2 hours already talking about Miriam Center stuff. I jumped in on the conversation. I learned that the Miriam center is not longer in debt and there is no way it is going to be closed. In fact there is a organization that is willing to match up to 50,000 dollars which a church already said they would donate. so instead of building the new building we may wait and Janeil the executive director wants to build a million dollar facility it will probably be its on mission a break off of this one that is a huge orphanage for disabled children. The only one in Haiti and would hold up to 100 kids. The exciting thing is the new program For Jonathans Sake which the parents bring the kids in and get 2 meals a day and therapy and educational play and learn to take care of there kids. This is sooooooooooo exciting because at the new facility we would still have this new program so actually this facility would probably help 200 kids. This is a big dream that is totally possible. We are starting to look for property to build starting today. 

We will no longer build the building we were planning on building. we are moving starting today into the old birthing center which triples our space. WE went down last night with Janeil and looked at the structure of the building. We planned out what wall we will knock out and where the halls will be, ect. IT was sooooooo exciting. Usually around the mission it takes a while to get a project started but Janeil is so excited with us about this me and courtney are going to pick out paint today and we have a group coming in today which hopefully some of them will want to do construction and we could start as soon as tomorrow. This new building triples the space we have to work with. It is going to have a therapy/SI room, feeding room with special seating, a play/education room, we have a pool to put up and 2 sleeping room. The goal is to make these kids as independent as possible and so we got them new big kid beds so they are not in cribs, we are planning to give them each a cube of drawers for there own stuff, set up routines.....ahhhhhh I am soooooo excited. 

The goal they have for me is to set up the schedule, get the therapy room/SI room done and we want to organize all the toys and supplies that came in because on the next boat we have a lot of big therapy supplies coming in like a huge foam playground with slide and all, a foam cylinder, all the handicap feeding chairs and tables, ect. I am sad I will not be here to get everything set up because that is my nook :( but placement calls....if I could change it don't think I have not thought about it...lol...

so my first night here for devotions someone read from the book "The Dream Giver" it spoke to me and I asked to borrow it and read it. The book starts out with a parable about a Nobody named Ordinary who lived in the Land of Familiar and a Dream that the Dream Giver (God) gave him. so the following is a quote from the book that really sums up how I feel.

"ordinary's longing for his Big Dream grew and grew until finally he realized that he'd never be happy unless he could pursue it. Why didn't the Dream Giver make it possible? If the Dream Giver didn't, how could ordinary ever leave familiar. He had payments and expenses. He had regular duties. A lot of Nobodies counted on him for a of things. Ordinary felt completely stuck."

so please pray for me as I have so much going through my mind...God has given me a dream for Haiti and I want to pursue it but how is the question...

Pictures

Here is a link to some photos....there will be photos posted daily of what is going on at the mission so feel free to check them out any time. Chances are I will not be able to post too many because of how long it takes 

http://nwhcm.smugmug.com/Trip%20Photos/801953 

I'm Here

Hi everyone! sorry I did not post sooner the internet has been down at the mission.

I had a good but long trip into Haiti. I met up with 6 other interns in Miami and we all flew into Port A Prince together. We stayed over night in a really nice hotel that had a pool with a lil waterfall in it and the rooms had air condition :) I did not feel like I was in Haiti. In the morning we took a small plane to Port a Pey and then took a tap tap the rest of the way to the mission. WE got to the mission around 10 AM. We were all surprised how quickly we made it.  

The first thing I did was go down and see my kids :) It is so exciting to see what Courtney has already done down there. My heart jumped for joy when I went down and saw the kids being played with and they had educational toys to play with. The walls are painted and it is so kid friendly. Also the kids no longer are sleeping in cribs they have big kid beds :) this is so exciting. God is doing some amazing things in this area.

For those of you who do not know. There are alot of changes happening at the mission this summer especially with the special needs kids. There are now going to be 4 programs for these children. One program is a residential home for 14 disabled children (the old heaven's waiting room now called the miriam home), then there is a feeding program for community disabled children. They will be given 2 meals a day along with their caregiver. The third program will provide therapy and educational play for these community disabled children. The fourth program is called Rous corner and it is for terminal babies to die in peace. These programs are my baby for the summer. I have done a lot of planning and will be helping courtney set up a schedule for these kids and therapy programs. A church just donated around 100 educational toys thousands of dollars worth which is such a blessing so me and courtney are going to be working on organizing all the toys and building some different equiptment. 

All the interns are very nice. The first 4 days here at the mission is staff training. Yesterday I learned a lot about the mission and in more detail I learned all the different programs. 

A few minutes ago I just got back from walking to the waterfall a 6 hour walk but we took a truck part way so it was only 4 hours of walking. It is so beautiful and it is really nice to walk and hold kids hands and pray over them while I walk. I climbed up a little bit of the waterfall and climbed some of the rocks with the kids (MOM I was safe...I opted not to jump off rocks into the fall :) We had some quiet time at the falls to read and pray but it was kinda hard with 5 or 6 kids leaning over you and sitting on you :) My favorite part of the day so far was on the way back I was holding the hands of 2 girls and I sang christian songs to them and then they would sing to me. 

It is so great to be back in HAiti I so wish I could stay all summer, they were trying to convince me but there is no way, but I am soooooooo excited for the month God has blessed me with to be Here. 

Thank you for all your prayers :) I can feel them!

I took lots of pictures at the waterfall hopefully soon I will post them.

every few days pictures will be posted on the mission website under the date the website is www.nwhcm.org if you want to check it out.