Round-Trip

I'm flying home Monday the 16th. I was going to be coming home the 17th but I've changed the flight in order to be at my Grampa Ferguson's funeral.
I'd like to say that I will see dozens of people and do a million things, but I won't. I haven't even planned to do very much. It will be a fast week, I'm sure, and I really want to soak in my family.
I'll fly back to Haiti on the 24th of April.
Thanks for prayers for travel and family time and for comfort especially for my Gramma Ferguson. Thanks too for sharing in this journey and for being part of the story of reconciliation of relationships - us to God through Christ - because that's what we're doing here. Paul talks about it in one of the Corinthians. I should memorize that bit... I find this comforting and I find myself reminded of the hugeness of God (Hebrews 11:3 says that we serve a God who just COMMANDED things to BE out of what was not even visible) and of the closeness of Jesus (Psalm 25 says we can have friendship with God and Col 2 says we can be rooted in Christ actually drawing NOURISHMENT from him).
What a lovely picture. That Psalm 1 tree rooted by streams of living water...
I pray that if you read this you are driven to send your own roots down, get nourished, and then multiply that life-giving water in you to those around you in the name and in the power of the Risen Christ.

Greens

The first time (and the second and third) that I came to Mission of Hope everything was brown. It happened to be January the first three times I set foot on the mission and January, being winter, has distinct dry and dusty characteristics in this part of Haiti.
Brown, dry and dusty equals desolate in my mind. January 2011 I had a friend (Michel) visit from Port-Au-Prince and he seemed thoroughly unimpressed by the area's desert qualities. 'There are no trees for shade and cool. You're kind of on the edge of the desert ' he pointed out. It was exhausting to think about as I mulled over the idea of not having relief in a dry and desolate land. In my Ontario mind it was strange to be hot and see only browns and grays... no greens.
But we have a sweet and merciful God who created weather changes to take care of us - to take care of me - and my mind is so very limited and my thoughts so narrow that days like today are comical, really.
It is Good Friday. We are mid-rainy season. The flowers on the mission are blooming. The nights are cooled with rain. The trees are growing daily. Fruit ripening. Life is springing up and the greens and pinks and purples are so very green and pink and purple that you can SMELL the life in them.

Papayas gettin' ripe.

Outside our gate, steps from the playground, the gardener - Mr. Joseph - rakes up the fallen bougainnvillea flowers.

Our front yard area

This bloom hit me in the head on the way to breakfast this morning.

And life is here.
And so is shade and cool.
And relief.
And things are washed afresh each morning.
And we know that He is Risen!

Babies!

Last week the Village of Hope completed the paperwork, met with the relatives, and bought new beds for twins - they arrived a few days ago.
A boy, Soudnel, and a girl, Soudline, just 4 months old. There's a buzz in the air with their new brothers and sisters - the children who live here. And everyone is sharing about the interactions they are having with these new little ones.
It is so exciting to have them here! And it is a reminder of yet another family who just couldn't care for the children they brought into the world.
Which is so heavy on our hearts.
BUT Praise God for providing for His children!
The Father, for reasons we don't know, chose Soudnel and Soudline to be Haitian, to be born in a town nearby, to arrive now, to bless us with their smiles and giant cheeks, to compel us with their cries, to help us to focus on the present and to pray, more and more, for God's leading us towards the incredible possibilities in the future.

Rachel suggested this as the "Welcome to the Orphanage" photo.

Soudnel's very laid back...unless he's hungry. So funny.

With Soudline and Kethia.
And Soudline's spit-up on my shoulder.
Classic.

He Knows Our Name

This past Wednesday I was considering what to blog about and found myself on a rabbit-trail of sorts through blogs connected to MOH.

I'm going to straight up pilfer one written almost 2 years ago by a fellow who used to live here. To see the original go here: http://jershurk.weebly.com/1/post/2010/05/a-girl-with-no-name.html

It's from May, 2010. He writes this:

"A Girl With No Name

A guy came into the hospital the other day with his infant daughter, sat down and then asked a woman to watch his daughter while he used the restroom. He never returned. No one knows who he was. So now we have an abandoned baby girl we are keeping at the patient dome until we can figure out what exactly to do next because we have no records of anything in regards to this baby girl.

Pray for her. Shes not eating much."

I scroll down to see this picture:

And it hits me between the eyes. I know her name.

And as I am overcome with tears and the miraculous thought of what 2 years can bring I begin to laugh. Because they prayed she would eat.

Meet Angelie. Our biggest, feisty-est, arguably best eater in the toddler room. Yesterday afternoon she was practicing 'braiding' my hair, running around, playing (and bossing) the other toddlers, yelling, singing, laughing and loving life. This girl is a power-house. God has big things for her and He always knew her name.

Photo cred: Abby Lynch - who takes amazing photos
which you can see and even purchase here: www.fotosbyabby.com

A gift this morning:

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
Col.1:9-12