Monday, December 31, 2012

Putting the Puzzle Together!



As I begin this exciting journey of adopting, someone mentioned to me a very special and unique way to get people involved and to raise support! If you would like to contribute to making this adoption possible for a minimal price please see below for more details.

Help Put A Puzzle Together and Change a Life Forever!!

Buy a puzzle piece (or two or three or four..) and be apart of connecting a child who needs so much to someone who is ready to give them all the love and support that they need.

Each puzzle piece is $10.00. When you purchase a puzzle piece your name will be written on the matte of the picture frame. Once all the puzzle pieces are bought and the names are written on the matte it will be a constant reminder of all the wonderful, loving, caring and generous people who helped make this adoption possible! It will be a daily reminder of how blessed and thankful we are for your hearts and loving on us. 

To purchase a puzzle piece and be apart of helping put all the pieces together click on the link below when you reach the purchase page please write your name (message if desired) in the
'special instruction' box:

Thank you for your generosity and helping put all the pieces together!!

Below is the photo that I got made into a puzzle and will hopefully be put together with all of your names on it soon!! 

God bless you for your generous hearts! 


Thursday, December 27, 2012

The start of something great!


Family and Friends,
As many of you know God has put Haiti on my heart for many years. Over the years I have fallen in love with the people and the country of Haiti. I am excited to tell you that I am in the process of adopting a child from the country that I love!! I am beyond blessed with all that God is doing in my life and I can’t wait to see what He has in store! I know that with Him all things are possible and as He leads me down this path I know He will provide all that I need!

As I follow God’s path not only for my own life but now also for the life of my son or daughter I ask for your prayers. Please pray that God’s hand would be in this process, that He would prepare my son or daughter’s heart and my heart for what the future holds, that the paperwork and whole adoption process would go smoothly, that He would give me wisdom and guidance in loving and taking care of my child, and that my child would grow up to love and follow Him in all they do.

This is a very exciting time and I am beyond thrilled at what the future holds.

Thank you for following me along on this journey and all your love and support. I know people often think I’m crazy for living life this way (and sometimes I probably am) but when God is at the center of it all it’s amazing how things work out and I continue to trust in that! This is the start of something great!! 

If you would like to donate specifically to the adoption process I will have more information to come and a variety of ways in which you can support making this all possible!
Blessings to you this holiday season and may you have a wonderful New Year!

Love
Jessica 

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Christmas is in the air..



CHRISTmas is in the air....
The kids had a great day today decorate the Christmas tree, having holiday treats, making decorations and spending all day playing!! They are quite excited for 
tomorrow! On the 25th they will be putting on a 
Christmas program with a play and everything! :) 
















Merry CHRISTmas from our home to yours!! Sending holiday wishes and lots of love from Haiti! 
  

Saturday, December 22, 2012

3 accept Christ today!!

Today we rejoice as three people accepted Christ and were baptized. What a most 
wonderful Christmas present! God is so good! 

 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.   Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
 (Mark 16:15, 16 NIV)




Lord bless these individuals as they choose to live a life that is honoring and glorifying to you! 
Amen. 


Friday, December 21, 2012

Ofane and his goats

 
A little update on Ofane and his goats...
A couple weeks ago we were talking and he told me that Eve was having babies!! Apparently when we purchased Eve she was pregnant! Ofane was so excited about this!!

So another week or so went by and he had a question for me. He wanted to know if it would be ok if he sold Adam? Um...I asked him why he would want to do that? He Said he wanted to buy another female. Of course me and my silly thinking said to him, 'Don't you need a male so your females can have babies?' Yes he told me (duh of course!!) but he said that there were many males around and that he could basically take them to meet up and then have more babies! What a smart man he is!! :) 

So while out today we ran into Ofane tending to his goats and moving them to the shade. 

I will have to remember to ask him the name of his new goat next time I see him! ;) 











 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Starting to look like Christmas ;)

        It's beginning to look a lot like 

                       CHRISTmas 

                     here in Haiti!!! :)




Sunday, December 2, 2012

Back in Haiti

  Well I made it back to Haiti on Wednesday night! It was good to get back to the warm weather! ;) it has been so good to get back and to see all the kiddos and everyone here! The past couple days I have been slowly making the transition back into my life here in Haiti. It has been filled with all kinds of emotions and missing loved ones in MN but also filled with all kinds of joy seeing everyone in Haiti. I am definitely miss all my kiddos ands family and friends back in the states.




                                         
It's a weird feeling to leave loved ones but to come back to loved ones here. My heart is for sure in both places but I know in my heart that Haiti is where God is calling me during this season in my life and I love that. It's a great feeling to be so confident in know that I am living in Gods plan. 



   


There's something about living in Haiti that brings me so much joy. I love the people and the feeling that God is always so present. I will admit that when I was in MN I definitely drifted from my time with God and it made me sad that I could so easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of being back in MN. Which of course happens here too but I feel like here I have to be in constant communication with Him and He feels so much more present to me here. Of course I am surrounded by Him and also 58 kids who love Him and not to mention all the workers. Around here if you ask someone how they are they will usually say 'I am good, by the grace of God' or if you ask them when they will be back or when you will see them again they will respond with whenever they plan to be back but also add God willing. And it's so true. We can go about planning our lives but its really not up to us and its important we remember that.


It's good to be back and to see everyone here; it's sad to leave loved ones behind. It's great to be back in the warm weather; I don't miss the cold at all!! It's good to be reminded that we are not in control of our lives; we have to trust in Him and His plan for our lives. We need to surrender to His will....


                                  

                          God bless you! And may we all remember the reason for the season this year!




Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Stateside...

  Second stop Miami....next stop MN :) (actually I won't be able to post this until I get to Minnesota though. It's different entering Miami this time because I don't have a phone...I don't have access to call my friends and family and I don't have access to the Internet...it's actually kinda of nice and has given me time to reflect rather than to sit on Facebook ;) ) 

As I sit here in the Miami airport I find myself feeling like I'm in a completely different world. Upon entring the Miami airport and being greeted with glitz and glam and the opportunity to buy anything from water to fancy jewels I instantly found myself judging. Questioning people's way of life and what they were doing with their lives. Are they really 
making a difference; do they know or even care about what people are living like just 737 miles away--90 minutes away from them. I found myself getting angry at the lives these people--myself included--are living. I may be a missionary, 
but I'm still human and I still find myself falling back into ways of this world and wanting this and that...its a constant struggle. As I judge the peole around me and myself, I quickly brought myself back to the fact that its not my place to judge. People probably look at me and think the same thing. I don't know people's story, I don't know where people have come from, I don't know what their heart is or if they have a passion for the poor, the widowed, the broken, the children, the elderly...I don't know their story and I'm not here to judge. God didn't call me back from Haiti to judge, He called me back to continue to be His hands and His feet. He called me back to MN to share what I have seen, what I have witnessed, what I have touched, what I have smelled, what I have heard...to share with others about the people of a country so broken but who have touched my heart and broken my heart. 

Sitting here I find time to reflect. Taking the time to read my Jesus Calling devotion and just be. The hustle and bustle around me is just that: hustle and bustle. As I consider what this trip is about and how I am going to feel and all the 
emotions I am going to be going through, Sarah Young reminds me that I don't need to worry about the outcomes--I need to leave those up to God. All I am called to do is follow Him wherever He may lead me. I am called to live in the present. This thing we call life is an adventure, I am here to live it with Him as my guide and my constant provider and 
companion. 

I already know the ultimate destination of my life I have nothing to fear. But am I doing my part to bring others to that final destination with me? Will I live my life differently in the states and continue to be His hands and His feet or will sit back and let those opportunities pass me by. I'm not called to be His hands and His feet only in a country that is so poor and broken, but in a country that is rich and probably needs HIM even more than the people of Haiti do. 

My prayer upon retry is that I wouldnt get caught up in all the glitz and glam of this world, but I would surrender to Him and that I wouldn't be afraid to be His hands and His feet in this world of abundance.










Monday, November 19, 2012

Title 3

  It's a bittersweet day here in Haiti...
As I sit at the airport in Haiti my heart is conflicted. On one side I am so excited to go back to MN to see my family and friends and my buddy Murphy! But on the other side my heart breaks for leaving all my kiddos and everything that is my new familiar. I'm anxious about what it is going to be like to go back to what has been familiar to me for so long. 
In it all I know that God is good and I know that He has me right where I am supposed to be. 



I am excited to get back to see all my little munchkins and hug them and squeeze and cover them with kisses!! I also can't wait to do the same to this handsome fellow!! 


God knows exactly how to fill us up when we  need it most...
Boarding the plane... 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

A bag of food..

Another great day of serving our elderly!! Today the kids were the hands and feet. They went out and deliver food and prayed over each of our elderly. It's amazing the joy that one bag of food can bring and the presence our children; the elderly just light up with joy when the children come to see them!  
All packed up and ready to go!! 

Marie especially lights up!! She had all the little girls sit on her lap and wanted a photo with each one of them! Every time the little ones come to visit her she
just love to have them sit on her lap and snuggle into her!
She really is a wonderful Grandma! 





He made sure to tell us about his goats and that    they were out eating! :) 

Working on his muscles! These bags were not light!!


Laying hands and praying...such a
powerful thing! 

Serving with such joyful hearts!! :) 






It was such a joy to be able to see and hear our kids pray over each of our elderly. They were truly a blessing each elderly today! May they continue serve others with a joyful heart! 


Friday, November 2, 2012

The joy of two goats


Ofane, one of the men in our elderly program, always has a smile on his face despite suffering from leprosy. He comes up every couple of days to get some medical needs taken care of. He has a big open wound on his foot from leprosy that needs to be cleaned and bandaged. You would not know this by looking at him because he is always smiling and is able to walk and do just about anything even despite having this big open wound. Every time he comes up to Grace Village he greats us with a big old hug and he is sure to do a little dance and tell us how happy he is to see us. He also says a few other things in Creole which I have no idea what they mean but I just smile and dance and tell him I don't understand and then he just laughs and dances. Life is good! 



Ofane had been praying for asking for some goats to take care in the last month or so. He said he would really like to have some goats to take care of and to give him something to do and to be responsible for. Can you imagine everyday not having anything to do and feeling like you didn't have a purpose in this life? This is how Ofane told me he felt one day. 
After a few discussions about what it would mean to care for goats and making sure they have food and water, we decided that he would be an excellent man to bless with two goats. After all, this is something that he used to do before and he knew all about it! He even told me that it is very important that they do not get water in their ears. :) I'm not sure why or if this is true or just one of those things that happens just in Haiti but I said, 'Ok, well you better make sure they don't get water in their ears!' :)


Today this team was a blessing to Ofane and presented him with 2 goats, Adam and Eve. :) He was beyond happy and thankful for these goats. I told him he had a big job to do now and he was 100% ready to take it on.  



He had to come up to Grace Village today to get his bandages changed and when he was up there he was so excited to get back and get Adam and Eve some food and water! :) 






Please pray for Ofane and his new goats, Adam and Eve. Pray that he will be able to take good care of them and they will give him some purpose in life. Pray that the goats will be healthy and prosperous. Pray that no one will steal these goats from him but that they will be safe and sound with him for many years and have lots of little babies! 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Birthday love in Haiti

**Photo's uploaded...(Tried post on October 26th from my phone with pictures but wasn't able to. Photos to come..Internet has been down for days..)
Feeling so blessed here in Haiti with all the birthday loving I've been getting! Got my hair done, massage, serenaded by many, goofy photos, chocolate, lunch made for me by Kathy, she even a mini pedicure and lots of wonderful pictures from the kids! Blessed to be able to spend my birthday here in Haiti but am missing my loved ones back home and all the loving from them! Thank goodness for Facebook ;)












Birthday dinner in Port au Prince in the next couple of days depending on the weather...hurricane Sandy has brought lots of rain and flooding please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers!!