I think I gave my heart away..

 

This is Mundy. I love this little guy. Wish I could have brought him home with me.

Here we go:
 

     Haiti may have stolen my heart. I can't help it. I love being thrown into a new and unknown culture and getting to mix it up with the locals. I love getting to meet and encourage brothers and sisters from other nations. How cool is the body of Christ? I love it. I also love chaos and this trip was full of it (ask me later.. I have some crazy stories with robberies, kidney stones, the U.S. embassy etc. fun stuff!).  My favorite thing about chaos is that you just have to rest in God's sovereignty. A situation happens and we rest knowing that God is good and that His plan is perfect. Then we look at the options moving forward and pick the most logical solution. It's fun to me because it is so clear that it's His plan. I also love watching Him provide and protect in the midst of these trials. He is faithful and good.. always. 

       In addition to my love for other cultures and chaos in the midst of it all, I also was reminded of how much I love shepherding/discipling the participants that come. In fact this may be my favorite part. I love meeting them, getting to know where they are spiritually and figuring out how to help them move forward- even in the smallest ways. What JOY this brings me. It's not that I have a clue.. ultimately God has a great and wonderful plan for their lives and I just get to ask Him what they need to hear or how they need to be challenged at any given moment. So cool to be a part of. I love to watch the walls fall down in their lives and see their hearts break for Jesus and for mission. This one thing makes my job worth all of the hard work and sacrifice. 

       Speaking of my job, the deeper I allow the Lord to take me into His plan for my life and for His kingdom the more convinced I am of the current season- living in Gainesville and working in the office while getting to lead teams as often as they'll allow me to. God has given me a lot of vision for the future. Vision and passion that most likely will lead me overseas for a while. Potentially leading longer trips or even moving to another country for a period of time to partner with local churches and develop a training/discipleship program for Americans where they can be immersed in a culture and get both class room teaching and actual hands on training out within the community. When I think about that vision I feel like I could explode with excitement and desire to get out there. But God is reminding me that before I can step into that dream I need to allow Him to continue the work of healing and freedom right here in Gainesville. This is a season of preparation (as are all seasons really).  A little more specifically into this season, I have just recently come down with mono. I am so excited about it. The Lord is inviting me into a season of rest and intimacy with Him. It is challenging to be tired and I really miss my workouts but I acknowledge the season and am praying that I would use it well. 
        In this season I have a neat opportunity to help train a local youth group that will be heading to Haiti with us in April. I am exctied about this opportunity to train and equip the body for ministry. So cool. Pray for clarity and Jesus:)
        Back to Haiti. Check out these pictures:
 

This is a tap-tap. Basically a truck with a lifted camper top and bench seats built in. We used these daily to get to our ministry sites. It's like a taxi.

This is our team time in the morning which including some teaching, small group time, and prayer before we headed out for ministry.

At VBS we would start with a teaching time and about 50 kids.. by the time we would finish for each day we had 100+ kids. They come from everywhere and just want to be loved on.

Carl. Part of our craziness was a robbery which happened in the middle of the night. They were sleeping on the roof of our house (it's much cooler up there at night) while the rest of us were on the ground in tents. Their stuff was taken in the middle of the night including Carl's passport. We were able to get an emergency passport issued same day by the U.S. Embassy. Because of Carl's job and some security clearance cards that were also stolen Carl had to fly back to the states early. He had one full day of ministry with us and when our team returned to VBS without Carl the kids were asking for him. He made such an inpact with only 3 hours of interaction with them. So cool.

This shot is taken inside of the Church at VBS. Sharing the gospel with the kids via translator. This is before they all get crazy and our numbers double!

I've never seen children of all ages sit down and be content with 1 page of a coloring book and just a few crayons. They would've been quite and content for hours. Does that happen in America?

In addition to VBS we also helped the Church with revival. We were expected to facilitate as much as possible. So this is me preaching our first day. I have never done that. It was terrifying but I loved it! It is so incredible to worship alongside of others worshiping in a different language. Our God is God over the nations!

We had a mother and daughter on our team. This is Dakota who is 9 yrs old loving on another girl about her age. Such an incredible picture of the gospel.

Washing laundry. 

Washing dishes. You wash with normal dish soap and water and then dip in bleach water before placing in the drying rack. This kills any bacteria in the water!

Our last day.. saying bye was so hard.

Haiti stole our hearts indeed. 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I am so incredibly blessed to do what I do and I am confident that God has a great and wonderful plan for each of us. Be blessed and enjoy Him this day!