Coming Up

Wow, today as I got an email from HFH with directions to the place where we are having our team meeting in 3 weeks to go over final preparations for the upcoming trip I got a bit nervous as time is FLYING by quickly. And as I looked at my calendar, my schedule and time is about to be taken up between now and when I leave. I think I'm gone every weekend now for various things starting this weekend. I have so much on my list I need to do.. I need to order an extra battery for my camera, discs.. all of that fun stuff. It'll happen. :o)

Many Blessings

I really love this picture. It's not a happy feel-good picture, but it is a powerful picture and it does, indeed, speak a thousand words. I found this picture on the blog of a missionary to Haiti. I don't know the specific circumstances of this photo and I think that adds to it's impact. I look at it and I imagine. Why is this mother crying? Is it because she cannot feed her children? Is she dying of AIDS? Are her children sick because they cannot get enough nutrients? Is she forced with a decision as horrendous as whether to give her children up for adoption in hopes that they will have a better life because the life that she can offer them has very little hope for the future? I cannot begin to fathom the depth of pain and helplessness a mother must feel when she cannot provide for her children the basic things that they need to live.

If you haven't heard yet, rioters have taken to the streets of Port au Prince to protest the drastic rise in the cost of food and living in Haiti. Prices for basic necessities such as rice, beans, and gasoline have doubled in the last few months. I read this on a friend's blog that is living in Haiti.

"The prices have risen drastically in the last few weeks. Rice, beans, cornmeal all have doubled in price. It is affecting items brought into the stores as well. A few weeks ago one could buy a carton of yogurt for around $0.50US, that now costs $2.00!! Gas went from $4.80US a gallon to $5.90."

There is a rise in the cost of living in here in the US but its different. How you would feel about such a huge spike in the cost of living if you lived in a country where the average person lives on less than $2 a day and 80% of them are unemployed?!?!

Haiti is by far the most destitute of third world countries. How can a country that is already so poverty-stricken endure such a hike in the price of living? They are starving, they are mad, and they are desperate!

President Preval spoke to the people today. That is what the rioters had been waiting for, but they were sorely disappointed to hear him talk about long term solutions to help the situation in Haiti in the future. What they really want to know is how they can fill their bellies right now, how they can feed their children tonight, how they can stay alive long enough to be around for the day when the "long term projects" begin to bear fruit and ease the suffering. So they are still rioting.


I can't say that I blame them. If I was that mother in the picture above, if I had to watch as my children waste away because they cannot get enough nutrients, if there was nothing I could do to make the situation any better for my family... well, I might just be rioting too!

Where is the hope? What is the solution?

The only hope, the only solution is for us to cry out in prayer to our Father on behalf of the Haitian people. Pray for them. Pray that God will rain manna from heaven, if He so sees fit, to ease the suffering of these people. And let us look into our own hearts, our own lives, our own resources, our churches' resources and see how we can sacrifice some of our luxuries so that others, even those in our own communities can simply live!

My trip to Haiti that is scheduled for June 19th. Alot can happen in 8 weeks. Please pray for Haiti, the people and it's leaders and for our team.

Itinerary

I received my flight itinerary today. The flight actually doesn't look too hairy compared to the southeast asia flight I took last spring. I'm getting excited and this weekend am going to sit down and start making my 'still need to get' list. We have a pretty long list of stuff we need to take with us that MTI and HFH gave us. But here's the kicker... Everything needs to fit in a carry on bag... My husband said there is no way in God's green earth that I'm going to be able to pull this off... So that is my mission. I'm only $100 away from my financial obligation goal, and then after that is just a little extra money I'll take with me. I couldn't have planned this out any better.

I've learned alot through the whole process of preparing for this mission, both mentally and spiritually. And it's a reminder that it's not about me. AT ALL. It's about service. It's about laying down my pride, my will, my stubborness, my issues and just serving, being and doing whatever the Lord wills for me. I love that and this is why I cannot wait to get back out onto the mission field. To serve and spend time with my Father. This is exactly how it was in Cambodia. 2 weeks with my Father, and although some viewed it as 'roughing it'. I felt like I had just returned from a palace and was wearing royal robes when I came home. I was His Princess. So what happened? Why is home, why is my community any different than the mission field. Why is it a struggle? As I was editing this, I'm thinking this is when another reminder needs to come in.. It's not about me.

I remember standing out on the back of the orphanage and watching the sunset, and thinking about my family, my community and my church. Wondering if they were watching the sun rise as I watched it set, giving thanks for each and every one of them, for their encouragement and support. I remember hearing only just the wind whispering and moving feeling the Holy Spirit surrounding the orphanage. I will never forget that evening. Peace. Joy.

So this totally got off the original topic. Geez.

~M

Lifesong

A Sign

I saw this when I was up in Portland last weekend on my way to a hospital to see a friend. And actually it took me serveral times to read as I was driving.

"Godisnowhere"

Then I read it again. "Why would someone actually take the time and energy to put that up on a sign?," I thought to myself as I kept driving. I kept thinking about it as I continued my drive up the hill to the hospital.

Then when I pulled into Doerbecher's, it sank in. It looks like it says "God is no where". But to a trained eye, perhaps one that is not driving, it says "God is now here".

Peace and Love.

Getting Closer

Well in about 8 weeks we leave for our trip to Haiti. All kinds of thoughts and emotions going through me. Excitement of course for what is to come. For what He has in store for our team, and for me while I'm there. Anxiousness as I'm repeatedly told about current government safety warnings for travelers to Haiti. Anxious yes, fearful? No way. Stuff can happen anywhere, and in His hands, we can be safe anywhere. I've been to Haiti before, travel warnings and all. I'll be on my knees, praying for our trip, I have already started. :o) Sadness at leaving my family for the 10 days. Without their support this mission would not be possible for me. God is my rock I will continue to stand on, and my family is the hands I will be holding and standing next to on that rock. Thankfulness as I reflect back on my own life and experiences, for they are what have shaped me, and not just the good, because that is how we learn, we grow, and we see when and where God's love and hand holding us.



Jesus said, "I have come that they might have LIFE, and have it to the full. JOHN 10:10

HFH Report April 2008

Food crisis
April 9, 2008 | Foundation Report
An opportunity to give hope

You may have read in the news this past week about the riots and protests in Haiti, where demonstrators are upset about the rising cost of food.

"Haiti is particularly affected by food prices, which have risen 40 percent on average globally since mid-2007. With 80 percent of its population struggling to survive on less than $2 a day, the rising prices pose a real threat to its fragile democracy," according to the Sun-Sentinel.com.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Haiti during this time of unrest. We pray for their safety during the violence and we continue to pray for the underlying problem of hunger.

Haiti is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. Volunteers with Haiti Foundation of Hope have seen over the years that malnutrition is a real concern. They have also seen that hunger has a solution: food.

Haiti Foundation of Hope has an ongoing feeding program for children who attend school in Terre Blanche. Every student receives a hot meal each day. For some students, it's their only meal of the day. Like everything and everyone in Haiti, the feeding program is being affected by the rising cost of food.