As Hurricane Matthew approached Haiti, the area of Grace Emmanuel School was expected to get up to 85 mph winds and a lot of rain. To say we were worried about the students, staff, and theirs families is an understatement. We knew God had them in His sovereign hands, but the unknown future was nerving.

For some reason beyond our understanding, the expected path of the storm shifted west, giving our area much less wind and rain. After visiting many student and staff homes the day after it passed, it was evident that we were spared. There was no significant damage! 

However, about a week later, we learned that the mother of one of our students, who also happens to be the wife of one of our staff members, was in Jeremie when the hurricane swept through and they still hadn’t heard from her. (Jeremie was one of the heaviest hit areas in Southern Haiti.)

My heart sank thinking of the possibility of them not ever hearing from her again. 

A couple days later, after what must have been an antagonizing wait, they learned that she was alive! They shared that she was home recovering.

Eager to see if she was ok and to hear her story, I paid her a visit the following week in their home.

During the hurricane, the house she was staying in was destroyed and fell on top of her. She said it was not made of cement, and that if it had been, she could have died. Thankfully, she didn’t suffer from any major injuries. And on top of all that, they went three days without any food.

Her daughter shared that she was scared that her mom had died. When I asked what she did when she saw her mom for the first time, she lit up and said, “I jumped on her!”

We all agreed that “Bondye bon” (God is good). 

We praise God that relief teams responded quickly and roads eventually became available for travel so that people like Betchina’s mom were able to return home safely. 

Unfortunately, this is not the story for everyone as many lives were lost and essentially everything was destroyed in the southern areas. As relief, recovery, and rebuilding continues, please keep the Haitian people in your prayers.

"We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the same newness of life." (Romans 6:4)

Anne Marie and Kimberly, two young ladies who live in our children's home, decided to publicly declare their surrender to Jesus! And let me tell you, it was the most picturesque morning for a baptism. 

As I walked around the village yesterday checking in on my friends, students, and fellow staff, I saw a whole lot of smiles and no apparent damage! I haven't seen every student yet, but those who I have seen are just fine as if nothing happened at all. I'm so thankful our area was spared from the hurricane's path of destruction. Praise God!

[Although there was no significant damage in our area, I can't help but think of the lives and homes lost on southern tip of Haiti. Please continue to keep those precious Haitian people in your prayers.]

Living as a foreigner in a third world country is challenging. After spending two years in Haiti, I chose to stay for another. However, I knew I needed a break. I decided to leave my Haiti home for an extended period of time over the summer months to stay with my family. My expectation was to get much needed physical, emotional, and spiritual rest.

I arrived in the good ol' USA with a weary soul, excited that I had two months ahead of pure bliss - no responsibilities and nothing to stress over. But, as what often happens, my glorified human expectations did not match reality.

Not long after my arrival, I learned that my dad had an abnormal lump on his neck and would be going in for further testing. About a week or so later, he went in for a CT scan showing that the lump was indeed a tumor. About a week later he went in for a biopsy to test whether or not it was cancer.

After nearly two weeks of waiting, we received the news that no one wants.

I will never forget that moment. I was home alone with my dad and we were chatting up a storm about trusting God in the midst of all this. He went outside for a moment, got a phone call, came in the house, looked at me with tear-filled eyes and said, "It's cancer." We cried.

Not long after, my mom rushed in (she had been on her way to work), looks at my dad, and bursts into tears. She wept unlike anything I've ever seen as she fell into his arms. I had to walk out of the room; I just could't bear it.

We all trust the Lord, but that kind of news requires tears.

He had to go in for another scan that week to see what kind of cancer it was and whether or not it had spread. We later found out that the cancer was Squamous Cell Carcinoma. The cancer had invaded a tonsil and a lymph node.

Over a week later, he went in for surgery to remove the cancerous tonsil, the tumor, and the surrounding lymph nodes. Surgery went about as well as it could have, but we still had to wait on the pathology results.

Thankfully, the surgery was successful in removing the cancer. There may still be a long road ahead as the future is unknown, but we remain hopeful, trusting that God is sovereign.

Also while home, I had an unexpected ankle surgery. It had been causing me pain for over a year and it had gotten to a point where I could hardly even drive. Exercising became difficult, walking the villages caused pain. I found out that I had three options - a cortisone shot that would provide temporary relief, live with the pain for now, or surgery. Knowing what the pain had been like for the past year, I decided to have the surgery, an arthrotomy of my right ankle.

After 4 weeks of recovery, I got the news from my doctor that I could finally head back home to Haiti. I booked my ticket for that same week.

It may not have been the most blissful sabbatical ever, but I'm choosing to be thankful for all that it was. My dad's caner brought our tight-knit family even tighter and caused me to put all my trust in He who is faithful; my surgery forced me into physical rest (which also gave me a good excuse to watch all my favorite Olympic events); being home for such an extended period of time allowed me to spend quality time with my closest friends; having little responsibilities (and speaking English) gave my mind a breather.

Now, I'm back in Haiti and couldn't be more excited. I know there are many hardships to come (and honestly, there have already been quite a few), but I'm eager to continue the work God has called me to do at Grace Emmanuel School.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

ONE LESS

“The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians. The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left.” - Katie Davis 

Recently, I had the honor of capturing one of the most beautiful moments as some friends welcomed home their adopted son from the Congo. According to statistics, the Congo has over 4 million orphans. Now, because one family was willing to step in, there’s one less.