We're home!  Thank you so much for investing your time by checking in and praying for us! It was such a blessing to come on and see how many people were looking at our site each day.   Thank you for the texts, calls, emails etc.  Your prayers were felt. It's bittersweet being home.  Lots of processing. I'll post more later on the last few days of our trip! They were the best! xo!

Quick praise and prayer update: I had a spiritual attack this morning and this afternoon got a migraine. I text some of my friends to pray and the Lord was gracious to me. Usually during migraines I can't open my eyes much because light hurts too bad. This happened some but I eventually was able to and got some amazing time in the word. The Lord heard my cry and was victorious. I took my migraine meds and they were barely touching the pain earlier but now it's just an annoyance more than anything. Thank you Jesus! Another praise: I had been hoping and praying for the opportunity to check out and connect with other ministries here and see what else the Lord was doing in Haiti. That was kinda my hope for the last week here by myself but I gave up the thought when I knew I was going home early. Tonight I told Josie I'd like to take her and John to lunch or dinner before we leave Wednesday and she said that would be great because she was wanting to take me to show me a ministry called Heartline. I know it's a pregnancy center but I think they also have classes on mothering for moms or maybe it's just for single moms? I'm not sure but we'll see! Either way it sounds like something that's right up my ally! The Lord is just so kind to answer that specific prayer!
Please pray for Micah. I think he has an ear infection and is in pain. I've started him on some antibiotics I brought. He got bitten up bad again last night (he even got 5 bug bites on his little face last night) and the itching is really driving him nuts. He said he was freezing tonight so I'm guessing he has a fever considering its 90 degrees and SO humid! I think this is the hottest night we've had. Anyway if you could be praying for him. And also just that I would stay on top of my headache with the medicine. Evan is doing great besides a little itching here and there. Thank you!!

Thursday morning we had bible study at our house again.  We are going through the book Bait of Satan and it is so good!  Every Christian should read it! Evan helped Rod with some plumbing stuff on the roof.  Susette brought over Kenny and Micah played with him.  Bible study went until about 1 and then we headed over the boys home for the afternoon.  Thursday nights Rod and Brittany have prayer and worship here and we were excited for that.  Except that when we got home Micah had a complete meltdown and really needed me.  The Lord keeps reminding me I am a mom first before anything else here and that I need to be continually dying to myself which is hard because there is so much I want to do here.  On that note, I changed my flight to come home Wednesday with the boys instead of the following Wednesday.  So I wont be staying the last week by myself.  I am bummed but have total peace in it.  I didn't anticipate how hard it would be for Micah and then for him to adjust to being back and staying at Evans all week just didn't seem right.
Friday we walked around the outside of the tent city and tried to talk with people. I wish I knew more creol. I was able to communicate some with people. They are do drawn to Micah's hair! Then I packed a snack for us and we went up on the guesthouse roof to look out over the city and eat. While we were at the guest house I met these 2 guys from San Diego who are also here visiting a friend. They said they were going to head into a local tent city to pray for people later that day so I made plans to meet up with them but our translator fell through. So, hopefully we'll get to do that before we go. It's kinda sketchy in there so we have to make sure we at least have a Haitian with us. I showed Evan the transition house yesterday. Some of the kids after graduating out of the orphanage work at the transition house. They learn skills like carpentry, t-shirt making, sewing, baking. It's pretty cool. We then headed over to the feeding program. After that we decided to make it an early night and headed back home. Some awesome local ladies had been at our house all day cooking to make us an authentic Haitian meal. I accidently ate a huge habanero pepper that was just in the sauce to give it some spice. I was dying!!
I've been doing a lot of haircuts which is fun! Brittany said I could move here and easily have a business of just cutting missionaries hair....tempting! :)
The little girls from the orphanage came over to play this morning and now some of the younger boys are here recording some music stuff with Evan. Tonight I asked Rod and Britt if we could take them out to dinner somewhere so I think we're going to do that.
Today Brittany said we are the best house guests ever. It was such a Complete blessing to hear those words. My hope was to come and just serve her and the ministry and support what God is doing thrPugh them. So to see and hear some fruit is always such a blessing.
Please just continue to pray that the Lord would give me insight and that I would completely abide in him these last 4 days. I don't want to miss anything He has for me here. Also, pray the Lord brings Micah JOY and peace. He just is a little teary and agitated. I think he's ready to be home but still loving it so much that he doesn't want to take time to sleep :)&

Monday morning we all woke up really early to go hike.  There were about 30 of us hiking straight up this mountain and it look us about 3 hours.  It was hard but so amazing once we got to the top.  The weather has been about 90 and super humid but once we got to the top I would say it was in the 60's and a little foggy! It was nice to have a break from the heat and humidity.  Micah rode in the car up the back side of the mountain with John and Josie and Brittany's kids.  It was all 4-wheel drive up the mountain and I guess they had to stop once cause Micah thought he was going to throw up.  We all had lunch and hung out at the top for about an hour before heading down.  It took about an hour to get down the mountain and about 5 minutes from the bottom Micah started throwing up all in the car.  Luckily I had a bag handy and he gave us good warning!  We laid low the rest of the day cause I wasn't sure if he was just car sick or had a bug.
That afternoon I got a text from Evan that his flight was leaving that night...not Wednesday like we thought.  So, Tuesday morning Micah went with Rod to get Evan from the airport.  We were excited for him to come and show him one of our favorite places on earth and a place that is so close to our hearts! He showed up around 10 but without his bags!  Apparently they were on the next flight so they headed back an hour later to get them.  Thank goodness it was there because it had expensive recording equipment (so he could play around with the older boys, they have rap group), more scooters for the girls and boys home, a new dress for the little girl with the urine soaked dress at the feeding program and all his clothes! Once he got settled in we took him on a little tour of the neighborhood.  We walked by a tent city, the guest house where we went up on the roof to get a view of the city and even saw the ocean, we went by Bill and Susettes, the girls home and finally the boys home.  We stayed and hung out with the boys most of the afternoon.  Brittany invited the little girls over to our house to make popcorn and watch a movie.  So I left the boys at the boys house and came home to hang out with them.  It was fun! 
John and Josie invited us over to dinner.  I just adore that couple and it was so great to get to spend time with them.  I had to rush out with Brooke and Ashley (they work here) because we were going to the older girls bible study that night at Suzettes. Pray that the girls get a steady older mentor and house mom. They really need a full time person like the boys have with Cindy.  A married couple would be perfect so they could have a good male/father figure in the house too. 
This morning I went with Brittany to the market.  It's very similar to the markets we have but we got our eggs and produce from a stand on the side of the road.  Rod, Asher, Evan and Micah went to the hardware store...they got chicken and rice from someone cooking off the side of the road and spent some of the afternoon working on the roof here.  We then went to the feeding program. I love getting to love on those kids. How crazy to be the poorest kids in the poorest country in the western hemisphere!  It's heartbreaking.  Tonight we made pizza for dinner and got to watch Asher and Isaiah while Brittany and Rod went out on a date. 
I've made friends with some of the street kids around here. One in particular, his name is Jeff. He is the sweetest most genuine boy but has absolutely no boundaries. Josie, who lives next door, has Jeff and his two friends over every tuesday and Thursday to have a meal with them and  let them bathe. Well tonight there was a knock at the gate. I asked Evan to ask who it was and if they didn't speak English to not let them in. He came back and said it was Jeff asking for me. He told me he was really hungry tonight. Normally if you lived here you'd have to have some good boundaries set up or you would get hounded all the time for things. It's overwhelming. Like josie. She has it set up twice a week they get a meal and shower (the other days they eat at the feeding program) and tells the boys to wait outside her gate abd not to knock and she'll come out and get them. But we don't live here so I figured what the heck?! I don't need to set up boundaries for the short time we are here, and I can give so I will.  So I ran inside and made Jeff and his friend a sandwich , gave them a banana and a sucker. That was a big highlight of my day. I want to be out there, in the streets, roaming the tent city praying and giving to the poorest of the poor. But recently there have been a lot of kidnappings here so best to play it safe and follow the rules....for now :) there is something just so amazing when God brings the wealthy and the poor together....the ones who know Christ inspire me. They are so rich in faith.
I am being eaten alive!!! I lost count of my bites but they are driving me absolutely nuts! I have bad reactions to bug bites and they swell up like crazy. I've been a little out of it on Benadryl the last day or two. Micah's legs are pretty much healed but he too is still being eaten alive, but that sweet boy barely complains. Thank you all for praying! It's been a great trip so far. I have a few fun things planned to do with the kids the next few days. Life in Haiti is so up in the air we'll see if we get to do them :) but I've come to realize I work really well on Haitain time....or it just encourages my laziness :) But it's my kind of living for sure! 

The Lord answered a hope and prayer of mine with a slight break through with the girls on Saturday. The older girls at the orphanage were stand off-ish and closed off last time I was here and I was wanting to get to know them more but it is hard. But Saturdayh morning while walking to the boys home I decided to just stop by and say hi. EVERYONE here remembers Micah and they call him "America"...not sure why but he answers to it now. So the girls were excited to see Micah and that was my in! We sat around and chatted a little. Saturday is hair washing day so I helped take out a few of the little girls braids before bath time. One of the boys from the boys home Evnell was there visiting his younger sister. I would guess he is about 9 or 10. This boy has the sweetest heart! If I could bring him home I would!! Susette told me his prayer for past year has been that his little sister Estaline would know him. So every Saturday he goes over to spend time with her. If he does well in school or gets a reward for something else he always asks if he can walk over and give it to his sister. The other day when he was leaving his sister started crying for him and he got so excited :)
After the girls house we walked up to the boys house. I was going to bring the scooters over in the afternoon so I got some sidewalk chalk and asked Immanuel to help me draw some tracks for the boys to ride on and race. Immanuel is SO rascally and disobedient and is always getting in trouble. I wanted to ask him to help me so I could spend a little time with him. I told him how I used to be rebellious and rascally too and how the Lord totally changed me. Well not totally changed me, I'm still pretty rascally :) anyway since he helped me he got to use the scooter first. He often gets privileges taken away so it was fun to give him one. While I was hanging with Immanuel, Micah and the other boys made guns from paper...they were pretending they were water guns and were squirting each other to cool each other off.
We went back later that afternoon to bring the scooters and it was crazy! I should've know! I set a timer and they had to trade every 5 minutes but man, I've never felt so popular! The boys were swarming me asking if they could be next, how much time was left, etc.
I played volleyball for a while and I had no idea I could suck so much at a sport! Haha but I'm getting better, we played again yesterday.
That night the boys hosted worship with the community. It was all in creole with a few English songs. It was beautiful. A little girl named Daphne crawled up in my lap halfway through and quickly fell asleep. There's not much better than getting to rock an absolutely beautiful Haitian girl to sleep.
Sunday Micah and I rode to church with Josie and Brooke. During church a local boy from our neighborhood who Josie takes care of, was at church and got sick and was throwing up. While he was in the bathroom his bike got stolen. But one of his friends saw who took it and knows where he lives. So after church we loaded up the car with the poor sick boy who's bike was stolen, the boy who knows who took it and a big Haitian dude. The boy gave us directions to the house where the bike was. The boys dad put up a little fight but we eventually got the bike back! It was such a fun adventure and Micah loved being a crime fighter!! :)
Micah and I then headed to the Manessero's for lunch. Micah and their son Kenson (who they adopted from Haiti) had fun shooting BB guns off the balcony. We went and hung out with the boys and came back to watch a movie at the Meadths.
Micah threw up this afternoon, I'm hoping he was just car sick. But he was also complaining about his head. He's getting a lot of rest and seems to be feeling better but just pray it isn't a bug! Micah is still winning the competition but I'm catching up!!! He hasnt had any new bites but I have. M:81 K:22

Dad dont read this: It's 1:30 Sunday afternoon and we've already tracked down a stolen bike and went and got it back, rode in the trunk of an SUV all over town and Micah shot guns (bb) with his buddy Kenson. This is Haiti! :)

The internet is SLOW so I'll try to post pictures when I can :)

Hi! I'm trying to type on my little phone screen so forgive me for this post being super scattered!! Thursday was long! We flew all night and got into Port Au Prince around 9:30am. We got settled in at the Meadths, took naps, went to the boys home. We woke up Ti- you, Micah's best bud and the boy we sponsor, he was so confused! No one told him we were coming so he wouldn't be disappointed if we didn't make it. So he was super surprised and out of it when he saw us. But quickly snapped out of it and the boys had so much fun playing. We then headed back home had dinner and crashed listening to people worship from our balcony.
We woke up refreshed yesterday morning and had such a great day! I am in heaven and loving every minute here!!! Brittany's husband Rod is the principle of a local private Christian school so he was off to work early in the morning. I did school with Micah and Asher, their oldest joined us. Sue Manessero (whose family started child hope ministry), Brooke (the nurse), Cindy (the boys house mom), and Alicia came over for bible study and I joined in, in between watching Micah, Asher (2) and Isaiah (8 mo). I've really enjoyed those sweet boys and giving Brittany little breaks.Poor Isaiah is teething and having a hard time and not giving Brittany much sleep.
This afternoon Micah and I walked to the boys house and helped with the feeding program. They bring in about 150 street kids, sing worship songs and give them a plate of rice and beans. It's so amazing to see the kids, who live in tent cities, giving away their food to the more hungry kids. I saw a girl who I had remembered from when we were here last time about 8 months ago. She was extremely malnourished and had even lost the color pigment in her hair. This time her hair was a little darker and I was so happy to see her. She was wearing the same dress, and it was still soaked with urine. She loves to be held and cuddle with anyone that will love on her so we sat and played, and cuddled for a while together. Pray for her...it breaks my heart that in the 8 months we were gone her life has stayed the same. Nothing has changed just like most of the kids here. Still each day struggling to survive with not much hope things will change. It's easy to endure hardship with hope, knowing things will get better. But to endure hardship with no end in sight or no hope blows my mind. I don't know how they do it. They need Jesus.
We stayed and skateboarded and played basketball with the boys at the orphanage before heading home. On our walk home a young girl came up to us and told us she was really hungry and wanted food. I was bummed to not have any food on me but we got to pray with her which was better anyway.
Last night we went to dinner with a group of people that work here in a town called Haitianville. It was about 45 min away and the driving here is crazy!!! We rode with Rod's parents Josie and John Meadth. John is a pastor over her and they are from Australia. They are so hilarious and it's been super fun getting to know them and spend time with them. Josie is so funny!
As we were laying in bed falling asleep in started to dump rain and it was so beautiful to fall asleep to. Micah and I are having a bug bite contest. Whoever has the most at the end of the day gets a special treat (protein bars I brought). So far Micah is killing me! His poor little body has 81 bug bites! I have 6. They aren't bothering him too much yet but they are itchy! He's been teary and homesick off and on. We pray and talk and he seems to feel better after that. Just pray that he continues to be open with me about how he is feeling and that I would have discernment on when to help him sacrifice and push through things and when to let him step back and rest and have quiet time. We've been having good "mommy and Micah time" :) thanks for checking in and praying for us! The Lord is being so sweet to us here and really giving us our hearts desire. Oh, yesterday Cindy told us the boys are off school all week next week! How awesome is that, that it worked out for us to be here then! So Cindy was talking about us maybe doing an art class or computer class or something like that with them next week. We'll see!

We're here! Thank you so much for praying! Travel couldn't have gone more smooth.  We even had fun at the airport...we danced to a band playing and the guys who helped us with our bags were really nice and stayed with us until we met up with Brittany.  We ended up tagging along with a group of missionaries through the airport from South Carolina but lost them pretty quick but I had such a peace and was able to chat with a couple people and it was fun.  Brittany just went to the market and I'm here watching the boys so more later....

And we're off...

Our flight leaves at 9:35pm tonight but with the arrival of President Obama at LAX we're going to have a get there early!  We'll be getting into Miami around 2:30am, have about a 2 hr layover and then we'll be off to Port Au Prince, Haiti!! We'll be landing in PAP 6:20am (9:20am Haiti time).  The most nerve racking part of the whole trip last time for me was the airport.  Please be praying that the Lord gives us favor through customs, that Micah would stay close with me and be extra obedient and aware, and that everything would just go smoothly.  We are also praying that there would be a group we could attach ourselves with on the flight from Miami to PAP or at least a guy we trust that we could walk through the airport with.  Thank you!!!!! We are SO EXCITED!!!!

My friend Shea asked me to write a little blurb and description of why I will be going to Haiti so they could be pray for me at Perspectives...this is what I wrote: 
I will be going to Haiti for 3 weeks and Micah will be coming with me for 2.  I knew the Lord had been calling me for some time and after going this summer when I walked off the plane I felt like "Ok this is where I belong, these are my people," and I immediately had an overwhelming love for all things Haitian! He confirmed that Micah and I take this journey together through Jeremiah 1:4-12. 

     My love first began to grow for Haiti as I became close with Brittany Meadth and her mom Joy. Hearing the huge need there and their love for the nation of Haiti stirred my heart.  The Lord has called me to love, support and pray for Brittany, the Meath family and the Child Hope ministry.  Life is very hard in Haiti and I'm unsure of the specifics of exactly what I will be doing but my heart is just to come along side and serve in whatever way needed. And to also come along side the leaders of the ministry and orphanages to serve them too so that they can continue to be faithful to the Lord call of serving the country of Haiti.  The Lord has so redeemed my life and although that nation of Haiti has been dedicated to Voodoo, I have hope that the Lord can and will redeem it for His glory! 

"I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine." Isaiah 43:1b

Brittany Meadth and Me

Word from the Lord

Last spring when we were preparing for our trip to Haiti, I had a few people ask about why I would take Micah to such a dangerous place.  Well...because I wanted him exposed to life outside of America; specifically our beautiful, wealthy beach town in southern California.  For him to know how blessed we are.  That we have been blessed for a reason and are mandated to proclaim the gospel.  I wanted to cultivate in him at a young age a love for people and to be excited about the opportunity we get to fulfill the Great Commission. To understand that when God calls us to make disciples of ALL nations that includes the poorest of the poor: Haiti.  And I needed to see and experience it all too. But I began to question myself and if the Lord was really calling me to bring my sweet 4 year old to such a horrific place.  Would he even get it? Would he remember? What will he even do there? And the Lord spoke so clearly it was undeniable His will for the trip.

Jeremiah 1: ⁴ The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

 ⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
   before you were born I set you apart;
   I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

 ⁶ “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

 ⁷ But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

 ⁹ Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

So, that was it, he was coming with me. We get there and on the 3rd day I took this picture of the boys getting almonds off the almond tree at the boys home.

So we come home a week later and I am preparing to share about our trip at my bible study.  I went back to Jeremiah 1 to read it over and this time I kept reading and read: ¹¹ The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

 ¹² The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching^[b] to see that my word is fulfilled.”

What?!! So crazy right?! Anyway,  by the grace of God, Micah totally thrived there.  I couldn't believe the transformation in my little boys heart.  God chose to use my rascally, spoiled, southern Californian 4 year old to glorify Himself. By the end of the trip Micah was laying hands and praying for other kids. His worldview has changed.  He says his "bestfriends" are in Haiti and wants to talk about the country and people there daily and feels called to pray for them.  Man, the Lord blows my mind...Glory to God.