(Update Letter)
My friend Richard sent me this over a year ago:
The Merton Prayer
Our Lord God, we have no idea where we are going.
We do not see the road ahead of us.
We cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so.
But we believe that our desire to please you does in fact please you.
And we hope that we have that desire in all that we are doing.
We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire.
And we know that if we do this, you will lead us by the right road though we may know nothing about it.
Therefore we will trust in you always, though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
We will not fear, for you are ever with us,
and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.
At the time that I received this prayer I had been desiring to do more in Haiti but had no idea what it might look like or how I might find myself there - the path, the journey, was a mystery.
Things are a bit different now. The picture is clearer.
Loved Ones,
I'm writing to share with you that I will be heading to Haiti in January with the UB Haiti team (as I did in January of 2008 and 2009). The trip we had planned for January 22, 2010 was put on hold last year when the earthquake hit Port-Au-Prince on January 12. Our plans, our funds, our tickets - all on hold, waiting to be employed, while our hearts broke for the pain of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Thank you for joining in those plans, though delayed, and in prayer throughout this year.
Now a new group, some from the 2010 team, some new, will be heading to Port-Au-Prince on January 28, 2011. The team's focus has shifted a bit. We plan to be doing more medical clinics as well as some specific construction on a church we've been working with for a few years in the south of Haiti as well as the children's ministry programs that we run while the clinics are happening.
We are looking forward to working with Pastor Richard again in the ministry opportunities as well as encouraging our church family in the communities we visit.
Here's the curve in the road: When the team returns to Canada after 10 days of medical clinics, construction, encouragement and bonding with our Haitian friends, I will not be going with them. I will be staying in Haiti until July 2011.
I'm very excited to be going to work with Mission of Hope (www.mohhaiti.org), an organization that is and has been making a real difference in the lives of Haitians for years. I will be doing an 'internship', a volunteer position that introduces me to all the aspects of Mission of Hope's ministry in Haiti. As I have specific skills to offer, the plan is that I will be spending much of my time doing work with the children who live at the orphanage using my Art Therapy and Trauma Intervention/Recovery training - this excites me to no end! This is my heart.
Mission of Hope is located outside of Port-Au-Prince and is a sort of compound with an orphanage, a school, a hospital and more. The previous UB Haiti teams have visited Mission of Hope before leaving the country to drop off unused medical supplies, so I have had brief tours of the facility and a glimpse their vision in action.
I have also had the privilege to start to get to know the director of the Mission of Hope orphanage, Rachel Montgomery, who is a dear friend of my 2008 Haiti roommate, Nicole Somers.
This opportunity is a gift to me. It is an answer to prayers, spoken and specific, but also undetermined and open-ended prayers of my heart - sometimes unidentifiable aches at best - from these past years. I believe that this vision has been growing in me since I started doing short-term mission trips over four years ago.
And so now I am preparing to go for these 6 months... I am working on learning Creole so that I will be able to meet with the children one on one... I am finishing up or transferring my clients, some of whom I've spent quite a while with and who I will greatly miss, and am so blessed by the encouragement and support of my employer in all of this... as well as prepping for the 10 days of team time at the start of the trip!
I also need to raise a total of $8000. I am relying on God to provide for me just as he's provided this ministry opportunity. Please prayerfully consider partnering with me financially and let me know if you would like to join with me in this work.
I would like to ask for prayer partners at this time and during the coming months. I will be sending out updates along the way, keeping you in the loop and connected to what God is doing in my life and at Mission of Hope.
(This blog should be a good place to look for the updates.)
Please confirm that you would like to receive email updates and let me know if you would like to partner with me in prayer and/or financially.
I look forward to hearing from you and would love to hear what God is doing in your life - how he's leading you and answering your desire to please him, even if it has no face or name as of yet!
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. ~ Philippians 1:6
Blessings and Love,
Kara-Lynn
