BIG DECISIONS….TRAVELING….RAISING SUPPORT…MOVING….FAITH

June 15, 2012 BIG DECISIONS….TRAVELING….RAISING SUPPORT…MOVING….FAITH As many of you know in 2007 I traveled to Haiti for the first time and fell in love with 13 children in a disability orphanage called Heavens Waiting room (now Miriam Home). My first summer in Haiti I left very much so impacted by the poor conditions these children were living in (dark room, cage like beds, little stimulation, and children forming contractures and bed soars) BUT I also left overwhelemed by how much joy and happiness these children had and see an AMAZING staff with so much potential. Ever since 2007 my deepest desire and calling from God has been to fight for these children and my Haitian staff to make sure that they are seen, that their needs are met and provide therapy to the children and training to the staff and parents. As bad as I wanted to move to Haiti full-time in 2007 that was not God’s plan. I still had Alot to learn in the states. I needed to finish getting my Masters in Occupational Therapy, needed to gain some more experience job wise and through continuing education classes. I needed to move away from home and learn to stand on my own two feet and rely on God more fully. The past 2 years God has taught me so much through different circumstances such as stepping out in FAITH, trusting him, relying on him, coming out of my shell and gaining boldness, learning to make decisions, seeking Him for comfort, wisdom, joy, peace. Has it been an easy road from to 2007 to now…NO WAY…BUT would I walk down the same path if I could go back and do it over…DEFINITELY…WHY???? Because God has placed each event, person, job, friends, situations, etc. in my path to refine me and prepare me to be where I am at today. So really the question is where am I at today…at this moment. Well, I am EXCITED to tell you that God has finally given me PEACE and is opening doors for me to FINALLY go full-time to Haiti. THAT’S RIGHT…I think God has been preparing me for “Such a Time as This”. The past few days especially but also the past few months many things have happened and I am stepping out in FAITH…Trusting God. So many emotions are running through me right now…EXCITEMENT (that I finally am about to enter into my dream), FEAR/ANXIETY (over raising funds, finalizing everything, and all the unknowns), JOY, etc. So I am going to take a few minutes to try to help you understand how I went from thinking I was still at least a year or more away from going full-time to where I am at now. As many of you know, I have been working to pay off my student loans. I have a very strong belief that my supporters should not pay off my loans for me but that their donations should go fully towards ministry. I have worked the last two years to pay off about half of my school loans. God has slowly been softening my heart and reminding me that He is in control and not me and I cannot put stipulations on Him. Ultimately He decides when I go full-time to Haiti not my loans and not me. I have heard many different opinions on this like…”if you did not go to school to get your occupational therapy degree you would not be able to serve the way you serve in Haiti and the only way you could get your degree was to take out loans and thus it is ok for your supporters to help you pay your loans”….”you could just put your student loans in forebearance”…you should not go into missions till you our out of debt”…etc. Well, I have come realize that none of these are the ultimate right or wrong answer and it all comes down to God and His plans and His timing. Scripture says that He knows the plans He has for us and that his timing is perfect. When I came to Haiti I had decided and had verbally accepted a job in the Lake Tahoe area and was planning on moving back up to that area to save money for 1 more year and put in savings to pay my loans while I served in Haiti for a year. I had it all planned out that I would come back from Haiti spent 3-4 weeks in Pennsylvania with my family, fly back to Vegas and pack up my apartment and move to northern Nevada and start my new Job September 4th. And spend the year raising support and saving money while being surrounded by friends I had made the year before and I knew I had a spiritual family and support up north. Well, I have come to realize that those were my plans and not God’s…About 2 weeks before leaving for Haiti I put in my 2 weeks notice in Vegas. 1 week before I left I found out my new boss for my job up north had resigned which made me anxious/nervous not knowing who would be taking her place and who I would be working under. Then 4 days before leaving for Haiti found out that I needed to be completely moved out of my apartment and into storage before I left for Haiti instead of moving when I got back. It was craziness. AND now I am laying here writing this smiling knowing how God was all over this. When I arrived at the mission, I walked into A LOT….ALOT of CHANGE…some good, other hard…It has been an interesting somewhat hard summer. The mission is definitely in a period of going through the fire and refinement…and although God has called 4 families and a few other staff to leave and stop serving with NWHCM…for some reason He has increased the call on my life to join the Miriam Center staff in country and serve “NOW…For such a time as this.” He has made clear that now is the time. He has made it clear that I am to walk through this storm…fire…refinement process….whatever you want to call it alongside my mission family…TRUSTING fully in the beautiful end point. The things that happened in last 48 hours that made this clear. First of All Kimmy’s House has been here the last 4 days. For those of you who don’t know, kimmy’s house is a mission organization that is all about global disability orphan care. Their ministry partners with other ministry to carry out care for these special children and staff. They were our biggest advocators and supporters for our new building project in Bonneau where we have been working for 3 years to build a new disability campus for the Miriam Center. They are the organization that built our playground on that land. Unfortunately that land has been dubbed un-buildable and we need to look at other options for space and expantion. They have been wanting to take a more active role and become partners with the Miriam Center and NWHCM to enable us to meet the needs of our staff and children and missionaries. The past few days have been AMAZING going through meetings where we honestly laid everything out on the table…we looked at the needs of the Miriam Center, the children, the staff, the missionaries. We made a hierarchy of needs and made plans to what needs to be done to meet those needs. They took the time to listen and observe not only missionaries but Haitian staff and as I write this they in PdP getting clean collagen water to set up a water system in the Miriam Center so that our children and staff are guaranteed clean water. I could go on to tell you all about what was discussed, the plans we have, the needs that need met and all of that but that is not what this email is for and it is not time yet BUT I will tell you that we serve a BIG God and that BIG BIG things are to come in the next few months and year. That This is a year of pouring a strong foundation/blueprint for what good, Christian disability care looks like and really focusing on meeting our staffs needs and the childrens basic needs of hygiene, nutrition, sanitation, and space. Back to how I am making the decision to go full-time to Haiti. The other night after one of our meeting to discuss things with Kimmy’s house God just really laid heavy on my heart the need to call a friend/co-worker and discuss my job situation. In my head I had made a verbal commitment and I wanted to be a women of my word BUT I felt that God was calling me here now BUT I didn’t want to leave everyone in a bind. So I texted her to see if she was up for a phone date and she was. Unfortunately the electric came on over an hour late or maybe it was good because I spent that time in prayer over the conversation and asking for God to make clear what his will was and to open doors He wanted open and close doors that He wanted closed. Long story short I needed 3 people to give me their blessing to not take the job and God did that. So at the end of my phone calls with those people I sat their in shock realizing…I am jobless, homeless, all my stuff is in storage and having a strong desire to be in Haiti full-time more than ever and yet with a peace that transcended it all. So God! So where do I go from here…when do I go full-time…Well my new goal is to move full-time to Haiti by the new year (January 2013). With that said I will be leaving Haiti July 20th to go home for a friends wedding and spend some time in PA with family and friends. In that time I would like to do some traveling and speaking to start raising a monthly support system. I am looking at joining Kimmy’s House who would help me with managing my money and raising support and keeping my supporters informed on what I am doing while I am in country. I will also being use that time to set up a therapy/medical specialist network database to send monthly updates, therapy needs, and to have it ready to start making aware the needs we have and open communication and opportunity for therapists/medical professionals to come in and serve for 1-2 weeks throughout the year. My goal is to have 1 team a month come into Haiti. I am also working to set up with a few colleges to enable fieldwork students to be able to come to Haiti and receive college credit for doing their fieldwork in Haiti. I will at some point need to go back to vegas and sell my stuff and move back across country. I plan on joining a travel therapy company and work one 3 month stint to raise money to put in saving to continue to pay off my loans while I am serving in Haiti. I plan to be in Haiti 9 months out of the year and to be stateside 3 months out of the year to raise support and work on therapy networking for Haiti in the states. By traveling 3 months out of the year I will intentially be placing myself a new environment to meet new therapists/medical professionals to share what I do and to meet knew people and make connections. I am also looking at what it would look like to do 1 3 month travel stint a year to raise the money to pay my monthly student loans…so my time home to raise awareness and support would also be my time to have a job to put money away to pay loans. I hope this makes sense. So PLEASE let me know if you having any churches or groups that I could come speak at while I am stateside. With that said 1.) I am asking all of you to pray about considering making a monthly or 1 time donation to enable me to serve in Haiti full time (instead of running my fund through my home church I will run them through kimmy’s house and so once I get that all set up I will send you an email with that information and how to start making donations. 2.) I am asking you to be advocates for me and tell your friends and family about what I am doing and ask for their support. 3.) If you attend a church I am looking to travel and share what I do in Haiti and what I plan to do in the coming year to raise awareness and support (financial and prayer) 4.) I am also asking for prayers as I discern timing with everything and trusting God for the finances and details of selling my stuff, moving the stuff back to Pennsylvania, finding a travel company or job for a few months. Please let me know ASAP if you would like for me to come speak at your church as I will need to schedule a time and plan transportation and everything. Thank You for all your prayers and financial support because I could definitely not be able to do what I do in Haiti without each of you. I will keep you up-to date on my plans and the doors God opens and where I am financially and where I will be speaking. I will also do my best to keep you up on what happens in Haiti the next month. I am humbled to serve such a BIG, Sovereign, AWSOME God.