Merci Jezi!

That's 'Thank You Jesus!" as I was taught in Haiti.  ;)  We have some exciting news to share at JHAM!  We have educated a family on adoption and after much prayer and discussion (after much, i.e. MONTHS! lol) the family have decided to move forward with an adoption!  We are uber excited and can't wait to share with you this family's journey!  Stay tuned to see who is stepping out in faith to follow where HE leads them.

Merci Jezi for another family who said YES!

Merci Jezi for setting the lonely in families!

Merci Jezi, for one less orphan tonight!

Just...... Merci Jezi!

Join with us as we pray for and support this family in their journey.

12 Days & Counting

this post was taken from a blog friend and you never know who might see this through another friend of a friend.  please pass it along, share it with everyone you know.  you can tell from the date that it was posted....this sweet boy has 12 days and counting now.  time is running out, but nothing is impossible with god!

december 20, 2010

twenty days is all this handsome young man has left to find his forever family.

just. twenty. days.

and then--he will never have the opportunity to be adopted again.

oh my heart.  i cannot stand the thought.

look how sweet he is....



i cannot even imagine being in his situation.  seeing countless "little kids" leave the orphanage with their mom and dad and wondering, wondering, wondering, if his turn will ever come.

sadly for this young man, time is about to run out.  he has waited for such a long time on waiting child lists--but no one has ever said "yes" to him.  can you imagine being passed over so many times?

absolutely heartbreaking for any young person.

according to the agency that has his file, apart from a history of hep b (just like our girls--very easy special need) he is healthy, smart, and a great thirteen year old kid.

goodness, i just know that his family is out there somewhere.  i know someone will go.  why?  because i believe with all my heart that there is a family for every child who waits.  they just have not found him yet.

unfortunately, there's a catch...

he absolutely must be adopted before his fourteenth birthday in february.  that means that his family must already have a dossier in ch*na.  they must be in the process of adopting another child from this country and are willing to add this boy to their adoption.  or, their dossier is in country and they are waiting on a referral.

one of my favorite lines from the movie, "faith like potatoes" is when angus buchan says, "the condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is not difficulty, but impossibility."

god loves to show his glory through seemingly impossible situations.

it's time to stand a trust the father for a great miracle for this sweet guy.  as time ticks by and things become more and more impossible, i ask myself again, "is anything impossible for the lord god almighty?"

i know the answer all too well.  so do many of you.

nothing is impossible!  nothing at all.  not even this.

please, friends, can you help us to spread the word about this young man?  post him everywhere you possibly can in the hope that his mom and dad will find him soon--before it is too late.  once he turns fourteen he will be considered unavailable for adoption.  he will never know what it feels like to be loved and treasured by parents.  he will remain in the orphanage until he is sixteen...and then...well, who knows?  it is the sad reality of any orphan who ages out of the system.  hopelessness.

twenty days...that's all we have to get the word out there on the internet.  will you please help?  will you pray with us for the great miracle that he so desperately needs this christmas?  will you help to spread the word wherever you can?

i so appreciate your help.  you guys totally rock.

let's give him the best christmas present ever...a family!

if anyone wants more details, reply or leave a comment to this post, or e-mail me at renealynch at yahoo.com and i can put you in touch with the ones you need to talk to  regarding this sweet boy!

Visiting Orphans

WOW!!!  Yep, you read that right!  You can win a FREE mission trip to a country of your choice!  Visiting Orphans is giving away a free trip to one lucky winner, and it could be you!  I have to throw in..... I hope it's me! But hey, anyone that can receive an opportunity to practice "Pure Religion" (James 1:27) would be incredible and we live for nothing more than to serve our Lord.

We've had the chance to serve in missions work in Haiti in 2009 and oh what a blessing it was.  Just when you think you are going to help and serve someone else (which you DO!!) the Lord surprises you and blesses you beyond measure.  Some of you have read my posts before on our trip and you can certainly look through the archives and read them.  But what I can tell you is this:  "Once our eyes have been opened, we can't pretend not to know...." (Proverbs 24:12)  Your life will be forever changed and your heart for the orphan will burst with a desire to better serve our Lord.  You will learn exactly what it means by feeling able to “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Mark 8:34)  

Please visit their site and enter to receive a chance to win. Click HERE to find out how.  You can also check out MY CRAZY ADOPTION and enter the giveaway that's going on there to receive more chances to win!  Good luck!!!  I'm anxious to see who will be serving with visiting Orphans in 2011!!!

So....where will you decide to go?  El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haiti, Ecuador, Honduras, China, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, India, Ukraine 

See what Amanda (the girl in charge at VO!) has to say about WHY they are giving away this trip!

Visiting Orphans Heart from Amanda Lawrence on Vimeo.

Orphan Sunday

Our church began Revival today....on Orphan Sunday!  :)  We were blessed with a message from Bro Daron about "Serving"!  How ironic!  Ron let us share a brief message at the end of the service to (hopefully) inspire everyone to continue to recognize that November is National Adoption Month.

Bro. Daron - We're looking forward to a return visit and even more excited to be able to visit their church soon!  

Joy and I were blessed to share and present a message during Children's Moments this morning.  So, that is what I want to share with you today.  Surely, if our children can wrap their minds around what we shared it will sink in with some adults.  ;)  I know it did with several of the adults in our congregation.

We know that God made His world perfect.  He designed it to be just what He wanted, and just what we needed.  Because we know God doesn't make mistakes, right?!  There are enough basic resources such as food and water in our world to feed the entire population of the world.  God has children all over the world and we know He loves us all just the same.  But for some reason all those resources aren't being shared with everyone in the world.  We know we should share, our parents teach us about sharing.  

We talked about how much money a BILLION dollars is.  And of course the kids said, "that's a LOT OF MONEY!"  We explained that it would take 13 billion dollars a year to provide basic nutrition to all the starving people in the world today.  That seems like a lot doesn't it?

But do you know what Amercian Christians spend just on bottled water each year? 

3 BILLION dollars.

American Christians spend 4 BILLION dollars a year on Makeup!  (ugh....we all do it ladies!  Fess up.)

We spend 7 billion on sporting events.  

We spend 11 billion on coffee.

13 billion on our pets.

20 billion on soft drinks.

21 billion on cable TV.

Each time for each statistic we counted out play money for the children (1 dollar was 1 billion) and provided them with an object to represent each thing.  (a bottle of water, a bag of makeup, football, movies for the cable tv, a dog food bag from our puppy at home).

We spend EVEN MORE than all that money put together on eating out each year.....105 BILLION.  (a pizza box and a happy meal container worked wonders).

How much did we need to provide food to the starving people of the world??  ONLY 13 billion.  

If we have so much, why do we give so little?  If we're spending 8 times as much money on just eating out as it would take to feed everyone in the world what is wrong??

The bible tells us in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  We need to learn to look after others and serve the Lord, by serving His people.  ALL of his people, all over the world.  The things that we have that we don't necessarily need represent the world to the children.  

Then we prayed that God would help us to find ways to shine His light in the world by serving others.  By looking after orphans and widows by giving up something that we don't always need and using that money for others.  

Joy and I, Orphan Sunday 2010

I know I enjoyed sharing the message with the children and I know Joy loved our time too.  She made an AWESOME new video that we shared with the congregation at the end of the service and we shared a little bit about JHAM (Joint Heirs Adoption Ministry).  Our orphan advocacy ministry that we began over a year ago is still going strong.  We will continue to advocate for the orphan.  We pray that you will find ways to do the same and serve others for Christ.  

Our biggest cheerleader!  Jia!

 I'll share Joy's video with you very soon!  We will be speaking out (more than normal! lol) the rest of the month to recognize National Adoption Month!  

Choosing to See

If you love to read, and you love adoption....or better yet, if you love to read about how Christ can change our hearts and our lives and how He works through others, then this book is a must read!!!

Most folks in adoption circles (and many more beyond!) know of and love the Chapman Family.  Read their story about their lives together, their adoptions of their three girls and their loss and the triumph that came from that loss in Mary Beth's book "Choosing to See".

You can also find more information about their orphan ministry and how you can help support orphans in China and around the world at their website SHOW HOPE.  If you are in your adoption journey they also provide grants and funding for families so be sure and check out their site.  It may be that the Chapman family is going to help your family adopt!

Say YES!

Have you said yes yet?  What, what...... are you waiting for?

How does it feel to have no family?  How does it feel to become part of one?  See 6 lives change in two-and-a-half minutes....

Soles 4 Souls

As we continue to advocate for the orphan and the least of these, check out our weekend!  


My girlfriends that co-founded Joint Heirs Adoption Ministry(JHAM) and I sat at our local shoe store on the main street in our little podunk town Saturday (in the pouring rain!) and collected over 650 pairs of shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  AWESOME is the only word I can think of to describe our day.

We partnered with Soles4Souls who provided collection boxes and flyers to distribute for our 'cause'.  They are awesome to work with!  The Girl Scouts in your community can become involved to earn merit badges.  (we only had one girl scout show up but it was encouraging and fun to remind her she will be the ONLY girl scout in our area with one of the S4S's badges!  :)  The local shoe store, Brown's Shoe Fit, is a participating business with S4S, and gave each person that donated shoes on Saturday a coupon for $20 off a new pair of shoes!  Pretty awesome! 

We got our schools involved and the kids at my son's school started collected two weeks prior to the drive.  They donated two full boxes of shoes!

Then we also had the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) collect shoes at the middle school and high school in our local town (my kids go to a country school so the pics you see above is the entire 8th grade class my son is in! lol)

It was so much fun to work with the girls all day and we banded shoes together from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.  Yes, every single pair of those 650+ shoes had to be rubber banded together.  But it was interesting to see just what kind of shoes we got!

Yes, shoes of all kinds!!!  These had never been worn!!!!  (I'm thinkin' that's a good thing!) lol  We figured they might have been bowling shoes.  It was hard to think of how many hundreds of dollars people spend on shoes......  that they never wear.  We had so many people bring shoes that still had tags on them, new soles or were still in boxes.  We as American's are so very spoiled (some are blessed....that's a better word huh?) and don't even know it.  As we banded all those shoes together we thought of where they might end up.  China, Africa, Haiti, Chile, even our own inner city hospitals in Kansas City.  I wonder where they will walk next.  Knowing my shoes have seen the sandy beaches of Hawaii and now they may walk on the rocky ground of Haiti.  One day seeing the sun and having fun, the next day comforting and protecting the feet of a mother who walks miles to bring her child fresh water.

Now that's humbling.

Joy and some of the shoes that people had in boxes.  yep, some people actually save the boxes their shoes come in!  lol  (not me)

Now THOSE are some LOUD shoes! ;)

So....  we made a decision yesterday.  We are responsible for shipping ALL those shoes to a S4S's warehouse where they will be distributed.  Can you imagine the shipping cost of over 650 pairs of shoes?!  Staggering!  We are going on a road trip!  The girls and I decided we are driving the shoes to the main warehouse in Tennessee!  Now, that's going to make for some awesome bloggin' and pictures!  Stay tuned, in the next couple of weeks we're heading out with all those shoes!  Who knows.... we may stop in to say hi to some of you bloggy friends!

That's little Miss Jia (Joy's daughter from China that she brought home forever last summer), the kids were all a big help actually and it was fun to have them around to 'encourage people to stop and share their shoes with us!

Two of Melinda's cuties!  Acel & Meah.  Meah came home forever from China last year too!  I can't tell you how great it feels to work with these girls and do what we do.  Advocating for the orphan and the least of these.  And seeing our kids get involved with us is even more of a blessing!

Me, Melinda & Joy

Joy's mom is always our little angel in disguise too and she was kind enough to buy us all lunch.  Pizza in the trailer (you didn't expect us to sit in the rain all day did you?  ;)  Joy's hubby has a racing trailer that we were able to conduct our shoe drive out of.... nice and dry).  Thanks for the Pizza Mellanie!  But thanks even more for the shoes! :)

Hopefully, we have prevented a lot less of this...

and a lot more of this....

Maybe someday the girls and I can go on one of their distribution trips ourselves and help put all those new shoes on people's feet....

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” 

Hebrews 10:24

Won't You Help Us?

The following was shared by the Joint Council on International Children's Services.  We believe this needs to be shared, read and others need to stand up and do what they can to ensure international adoptions continue! The children, God's children, need us!  Please pass this forward or complete the steps to share about your adoption experience!  Thanks and God Bless!

We Are The Truth

 

A Campaign and Call to Action

 

 

The outrageous treatment of Artyem by his adoptive family has rightfully resulted in outrage by the Governments of Russia and the United States and all who care about children.  The tragedy has cast a light on intercountry adoption that says it is not safe, the system failed and adopted children cause insurmountable problems.  The heartbreak of Artyem Saviliev’s abandonment has once again elevated a singular incident to a level which may result in the suspension of intercountry adoption.  Suspending adoption, even temporarily, will only cause thousands of children to suffer the debilitating effects of life in an orphanage.

 

You, the community of adoptees, adoptive parents, adoptive grandparents, child welfare professionals and child advocates know that the outrageous and indefensible actions of one parent are not indicative of how children are treated by adoptive families.  You know that families who encounter difficulties do not simply abandon their child.  You know that help is available, that solutions are found and that families can thrive.  And you know that suspending adoption does not protect children but only subjects them to the depravity of an institution…and an entire life without a family. 

 

You, the adoption community know the truth.  You live the truth.  You are the truth.

 

Join our campaign to bring the truth to light and help children in need find a permanent and safe family.

 

 

What You Can Do

 

1)      Sign the letter to President Medvedev and President Obama: The letter asks both Presidents to ensure that intercountry adoption continues uninterrupted and to aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone involved in the abuse of children.  You can sign anytime, but doing so before Tuesday night would help us get the letters to both Presidents before President Medvedev leaves the U.S.   To sign the letter, click here.

 

2)      We Are The Truth – an adoption blogger day: To ensure the world knows about every successful adoption, on Thursday, April 15, 2010 blog about your adoption or the adoption of someone you know.  It doesn’t matter if your adoption is with Russia, domestic or otherwise international.  Let the world knowyour truth! 

 

 

3)      Tell Your Truth with Video - make sure the world sees, hears and feels the thousands of successful adoptions from Russia by:

1. Send Joint Council your successful Russian adoption video via email to alexa.m@jcics.org. 
   • Video should be a maximum of 3 minutes.
   • A release must be sent to Joint Council or we cannot accept your video. For a copy of the release, click here. 
2. Joint Council will translate the video into Russian and post it on our YouTube Channel. 

 

4)      Tell Your Truth with Words and Photos

1. Send Joint Council your successful Russian adoption story via email to alexa.m@jcics.org.  Send us your stories through:
   • Photos (please do not send more than 10) 
   • Essays (maximum 500 words)
   • A release must be sent to Joint Council or we cannot accept your story and/or pictures.  For a copy of the release, click here. 
2. Joint Council will then compile the stories and pictures, translate them into Russian and post them on our website and/or blog.

 

5)      Share Your Truth

1. Joint Council will post, forward and share your stories via Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.   Joint Council will be updating our YouTube Channel and Facebook page as the stories get compiled and translated, please subscribe to us on YouTube, Twitter and Fan us on Facebook.
2. You do the same by posting on your Facebook, Twitter, blog and website!

 

Want to help more?

• Are you willing to speak to the media about your Russian adoption?  If so, please email betheanswer@jcics.org with the following:
  • Your name(s)
  • City, State of residence
  • Contact Phone Numbers
  • Contact Email
  • Short 4 sentence bio about your adoption
• Do you speak Russian?
  • We are in need of individual volunteers who can help our staff translate the videos and text quickly.   If you are interested in helping, email Joint Council at intern@jcics.org.
• Do you live in the Alexandria, VA area?
  • Joint Council is in need of short term volunteers over the next two weeks, email rebeccah@jcics.org if you would like to volunteer.

Please.... GO!

Widows & Orphans - WIPHAN

One of my bloggy friends, Andrea, is wanting to spread the word about their organization called WIPHAN. They are in need of sponsorships and we want to share with everyone we know (or that reads about us!) what you can do to help!

I know first hand what sponsorship can do for a child. We love our sponsored child in Haiti and it's such a blessing to see her and know what we are doing to help change her life and her family's life. But even greater is the blessing she is for our family. We have changed hearts and changed lives because of Smerelda and children like her. We needed Smerelda as much as she needed us. This week I'm going to be sharing nothing but sponsorship blogs and posts! So fasten your seatbelts! It's going to be a bumpy ride! But one you'll enjoy I'm sure!

From Andrea's blog:

Wiphan was started just 3 years ago…and we’ve just had our 501 non-profit status for TWO years. It went from one friend of ours—to our family—to 3 more families…and we had a board! For awhile—it was just us + 450 orphans + 150 widows. We trusted the Lord to provide the thousands of dollars of month we would need to run–and He has always provided. Last year we started our sponsorship program to invite OTHER FAMILIES to join us! I would LOVE to see all TWENTY of our children who still don’t have sponsors sponsored by Friday!

OK—so how can you help?! We need voices! We need others who have hearts for orphans to speak with us! And if you have a blog—well, you have a voice and you probably have lots of readers!!! The MORE people we refer to the Wiphan site…the MORE people will find out about Wiphan and our sponsorship program!

Zambia isn’t really open to adoptions…so for these kids–the only hope is for them to be cared for in country. We have TWO schools and 450 kids—with MANY MORE who would LOVE to be in our program. BUT before we can grow–we need to find sponsors for the children on our list. Many of our children waiting for sponsors are “older children”. Maybe you don’t qualify for adopting an older child–but you could sponsor one!Maybe your budget really is too tight–but you could blog about them and be their voice!

† For His Glory

An Urgent Call to Act on behalf of Haiti's orphans and "For His Glory Adoption Outreach". Click the link or the photo to read more information on what you can do to help more of Haiti's orphans to their forever families.

As some of you may know if you are keeping up with the situation in Haiti some of the children from the orphanages are being brought out of the country and united with their adoptive families in the U.S. This of course is being done with humanitarian waiver/parole for children who are already in the adoption process. All I know to say is, "Merci Jezi!" (Thank you Jesus! in Creole)

Those wanting to adopt from Haiti or who have had their heart changed by the disaster and now wish to adopt will of course not be this fortunate in the process. But there is always hope that laws and red tape can be changed for the future of Haiti's orphans.

Continue to pray for the country and it's people. This will be a situation that will not be remedied within a few weeks or even months. They need our continued support for a better future.

* UPDATE: Also just wanted to let everyone know that we have heard from our friends that Celissa (the girl posted below) has been found and is safe and alive! Another Merci Jezi!!!! We don't know all of her story yet, but are just thankful that she has been found.

† Support For Haiti's Orphans

Joint Heirs Adoption Ministry will be providing relief aid to Canaan Orphanage in Haiti. With the connections that we have through Haiti we've learned that Canaan is taking in more children everyday and has been providing relief to as many as they can in Port. Making trips into Port to provide food and water to those in need. They have begun rationing their own supplies at the orphanage which are obviously going to be depleted soon. There is not enough fuel to continue making trips to Port but as people are depending on others for transportation or just walking, more and more are coming to Canaan to seek shelter and care. Canaan also provides a medical clinic for malnourished children and I'm sure with the disaster situation they can expect to start seeing additional children very soon.

I have met some of the workers and staff at Canaan and know that with donations provided Sister Gladys and Pastor Henri can be trusted to use donations in a necessary and honest manner. If you are interested in supporting the Orphanage at Canaan with us you may use the Chip-In box below or feel free to click through to the Canaan Orphanage support page and make your donation directly through their site.

These are just a few of the children we met at Canaan.

We continue to pray God's blessings upon the people and children of Haiti. If you have questions, please feel free to contact one of us directly or leave a comment below. Thank you for your continued support of our mission to care for "the least of these".

On one of the outer walls at Canaan you see this painting. Tet Kole Nan Kris means Togetherness in Christ.

† Searching...

Below you can read the information regarding Haiti and the families and friends we have been praying for and the link to make {legitimate} donations for aid and relief to victims. The links provided are missionaries currently working in country and can help victims. Please feel free to visit their links of their missions and the organizations they are affiliated with. If you don't feel led to give through these missions, please find some way to help support the families in Haiti. Right now they need money for food, water and medical supplies. Things cannot be shipped into the country such as clothes, shoes, etc. and there is more immediate need for necessary, life-saving items like food, water and antibiotics and other medical provisions.

I urge you to continue to pray and keep the victims in your thoughts as our lives continue to go on as regularly scheduled, they are displaced, burying loved ones (if they are fortunate enough to provide a burial--most victims will go into a mass grave), they search for food. I encourage you to fast for a day, one day and try to understand the urgency for their needs.

Please pray for our friend Celissa. She has yet to be found. Roberto and Alex are making another trip into Port today to search for her and others they are still waiting to hear of their safety. I'm not sure what school Celissa was teaching at but we have posted her photo and information to the CNN search site as well as Earthquake Haiti facebook group in hopes of finding information about her.

Celissa is able to access the internet from school to visit with us on a regular basis.
We have not heard from her since the earthquake.

We pray for your safety and well-being Celissa and know that God is with you.
We ♥ You!

Please continue to visit the links in the next post for the missionaries and their updates as they become available. Pray for their safety and that provisions will come soon. Everyone is running out of supplies at this point.

If you'd like to read more about our trip to Haiti you can click HERE.

† Prayers & Aid for Haiti

* UPDATES INCLUDED *

Have you ever gone somewhere and felt like you had been there before, or like it was a home away from home and you didn't want to leave? That's how we felt about Haiti this summer. After yesterday's earthquake we're left heartbroken today for the people of Haiti. Not just the ones we know, but the ones we don't know that are still God's people.

To most yesterday was just like any other typical day. Even myself. I got up, took my shower, did household chores, sat down to work at my computer and spent my day in a normal routine. I checked my e-mail around 4:30 and started discovering messages about earthquakes and Haiti. Huh? There's no earthquake in Haiti..... then I discovered the news. I don't turn my television on during the day and once I clicked into yahoo I saw the home page and the news releases. Instantly my heart sank.

My mind raced with all the faces of the people I met, those I didn't meet but passed on the street or drove by along the road. One can't begin to imagine the fear and devastation they must be facing. It's one thing to live in a world like we do where disaster may strike but there are plans in place and methods to follow to ensure we don't stay 'down' for long. We're America after all. Power gets restored, telephones work, there is more than one airport..... Imagine being in a country that has no regular current of electricity. You live on generators on a normal day and now your world has collapsed and there's not even a source to bring fuel to your country to run your generator (which believe me is the least of their worries!). No phone, no electricity, no roads left to get through.

We made new friends and found family in Haiti. Not just the other missionaries but the native people of Haiti. Roberto and Alex who spent every day with us from sunrise to bedtime. Marjorie who cared for us and fed us. Celissa, Claudia, Linda, Smerelda, Miko, Stanley, Mackline...... the list goes on and on. Where are these faces? Where are these loved ones?

Marjorie was our 'mom and grandma' in Haiti. We love her beyond belief. ♥

Leslie and Chris are missionaries living in Haiti with their adopted Haitian daughter Olivia. Chris went to port to have the truck worked on. The last time Leslie spoke to him was 45 minutes before the quake. Imagine wondering where your husband is in the middle of a natural disaster with no phone and no way to communicate. Luckily, after countless hours..... he made it home last night.

* Chris made it home, but the 'countless' hours before his arrival he had spent in Port after the quake trying to help others. He was near a 3 story school full of girls that collapsed and was trying to pull them from the pile of rubble and debris. You can read his heartbreaking story on their blog that is linked below. My heart breaks for Chris as he had to leave some girls behind to find help and wasn't able to return til morning, only to find the girls had died in the night. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Leslie and her daughter Olivia
Kevin and Olivia

Keith's new wife is in Haiti while he is stateside right now. Imagine not just being away from your spouse and knowing of their safety, but being in another country.... across an ocean. There is no 'coming home' to the arms of the loved one. Luckily, before bedtime last night Keith was notified that his wife was alive and safe. Yet he still had to go to bed with his arms empty.
Those of us here (and in Haiti I'm sure) began to pray. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Have you ever literally stopped what you are doing and fell to your knees and prayed?

Roberto, Me and our sponsored child Smerelda

Roberto and Alex let us know last night that they were safe but they have family in Port that they cannot contact and don't know of their safety or whereabouts. They have become our family. When someone you love is hurting, you hurt. I may not know their extended family but I pray for them. My heart aches for them.

* Roberto and his father traveled to Port yesterday and were able to find his brothers and they are okay. Last we heard he was still searching for his mother. They have brought members of their family home with them to Montrouis.

Roberto, Taylor and our sponsored child Smerelda

Alex! These men have a heart of gold. I believe Alex had found his siblings and they are okay.

Remember the wedding we just went to in December? Bobi and Marcus flew home to Haiti YESTERDAY! Only by the grace of God did they arrive, make their routine trip through the airport, out of Port and traveled to Canaan safely. They were far enough away from the point of the quake that they were safe and unharmed. Can you imagine just arriving home from a long vacation only to be thrown into disaster within hours. Can you imagine being their parents and not knowing how they are just hours after you've said good-bye at the airport? They had no way of contacting their parents. Luckily through the wonder of internet and before they lost power they were able to get a message to friends to notify their families. We praise God for their safe return home. Now they are caring for the dozens of children at the orphanage where they live.

* Bobi and Marcus have updated their BLOG from Canaan Orphanage on their account of the earthquake as they were driving home when it happened. There are also links if you are interested in supporting Canaan Orphanage and their relief efforts.

My 'sister' Diane still has regular contact with her children's biological mother in Haiti. Can you stop for a moment and imagine having your son turn to you and want to know if his Momma Cheri is okay? How do you tell your children you don't know for sure? How do you comfort them? (sorry Diane..... don't cry. Know that I love you and I'm still praying for Cheri and the kids. We know they'll be fine. xoxo)

Diane with Momma Cheri and Brian and Kristi's siblings.

* Diane received word that Cheri and the kids are fine. Roberto went out and found them to let Diane know of their safety. Many prayers have been answered. =) There are many more in need of prayer.

I can't tell you how much I want to be there today. I've yearned to go back for the past 6 months. But never so much as the last 24 hours. You can't live with someone for the period of time we did, sleep under the same roof, share all your meals together, pray together, worship together, work together, play together without loving together. A part of my family is hurting today. So please, when you know of someone in Haiti who is safe, don't stop your prayers there. Be grateful for their well being and praise God for that blessing. But remember there are still thousands of others who need your prayers still.

Me and Mackline (she's 7 and has brittle bone disease)
Roberto, Kelsey, and her sponsored child Claudia
Diane and one of her sponsored children Miko (Michael)

Kevin and another girl they sponsor Alexandra
Taylor made MANY friends with her long blonde hair. ;o)

These aren't just faces in the crowd.... not only do they belong to someone here on earth, they belong to our Lord. If you are wondering what you can do to help the people of Haiti.....the very first thing you can do is pray, and secondly you can click on the link in the sidebar (or below) for the mission and donate through paypal or click on the chip-in box and funds will be sent to Leslie and Chris' mission Clean Water for Haiti (which they are so desperately going to need now more than ever, and gas alone to run vehicles to transport people and water and food will be in short supply) and a portion will go to the Heartline Ministries and Life Connection Missions to help any in need. We may not know who they are right now, but God does. These are reputable missions and people we know that are working for the people of Haiti. You can read updates on their blogs and here. Thank you for your prayers.

* Please also keep Britt & Kris and their family in your prayers also. You can read her blog and updates HERE.

If you'd like to read more about our trip to Haiti you can click HERE.

All Donations will be provided a receipt for your contribution. Thank you!