Yesterday evening, we met with some of the Board of Directors in meetings and had dinner at P.F. Changs. We had a delicious meal and wonderful fellowship!
This morning, we will be having our Love A Child Board Meeting in Fort Myers, Florida. Things are going well, and we are going forward with expanding amid all the turmoil in Haiti.
“Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14
We have a Board that loves the Haitian people and has great wisdom.
We have all felt like this at times. Especially here in Haiti, facing all the problems and the gangs on top of that. It’s easy to give up, but we can’t. We must go forward in our lives. “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9)
This is one girl who will go far in her life!!! This is Rebecca. Nelio, our Haitian Director, is credited with rescuing Rebecca from a horrible life journey. I remember the day that Nelio called me and told me that a man was getting ready to sell a little girl to another man! We believe her mother had died and whether he was her father or not, this would have been a horrible situation! Rebecca was a beautiful little girl with long, black silkie hair! She looked “Dominican,” but was raised Haitian. Rebecca helps cook, iron, and do many other chores! During summer she works in our pharmacy and everyone loves her! She loves puzzles and dominos! She is always studying or cleaning! She will be in the 9th grade this fall! You may be looking at a future doctor here!!! Rebecca is kind, caring, and understanding!
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27
In this world full of hate and chaos, with so many fighting each other, some cities falling apart, crime, danger, and uncertainty about the future… We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future!
In the middle of all of this, God’s people have the peace of Jesus. Let not your heart be troubled today. Jesus can give you peace which passeth all understanding!
It seems like yesterday when Rachael’s mother came to see me. She had a tiny baby wrapped in a blanket who was very sick and very small. I tried to help her all I could, but she kept coming back with this tiny baby. She had a tough life and didn’t know how she could raise another baby. I tried to encourage her to keep her baby but it is not easy when a poor Haitian woman has children and no decent husband to help. (Most fathers leave their wives and go to the Dominican Republic to look for work, but never come back!)
There came a day when she arrived with the baby and could not care for her anymore. Baby Rachael came to live with us and “our big family!” She is now “13 going on 23!” She is always working, cleaning, and helping! She will be going into 8th grade but we still look at her as if she is eight!! She will be a tiny, but powerful young lady and she will go far in her life! Yes, I can see her as a nurse, who loves her patients, loves Jesus, and loves everyone! Dynamite comes in small packages!
The young lady who was walking to the clinic this morning made the journey because she was very sick. She had been vomiting for 2 weeks and had become extremely dehydrated. She almost made it to the clinic when she passed out. It is a miracle we found her.
Dr. Barthelemy and the staff at the clinic checked her vitals and began to nurse her back to consciousness. It was later discovered that she was pregnant.
She will be fine and the little baby inside of her will be fine. She passed out in the right place. We will see her again soon in about 7 or 8 months at our Birthing Center.
This young lady was walking to our clinic this morning. I was with some men pointing out some jobs that needed to be done around the compound when we spotted her passed out on the sidewalk. I ran to get the doctor and help. There was no time to get the ambulance, so we put her in the back of the Land Cruiser and rushed her to the clinic.
I thank God for our clinic. I thank God for our doctors and nurses who faithfully serve. Many have been stuck here for over a year without the ability to return home to see their families. But they have made the best of it. They are continuing to work, continuing to keep the clinic open, continuing to minister to people like this woman.
Have you ever heard anyone say that… “Well, I got in the last word!”
“Having the last word” in a dispute or quarrel doesn’t mean “you won.” Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
It is human nature to want to say, “Well, I got the last word in.” That doesn’t mean you have solved the problem. It doesn’t even mean “you were right.”
It just means you “poured gasoline on the wound.”
Even if you are talking to someone who hates you, if you leave them with a “soft word,” it not only turns away wrath but leaves them defenseless! That’s when Jesus “takes it from there!”
Yolanda is one of two girls at the orphanage that I really depend on. She will let me know when they are low on eggs, or if the kids need new school shoes, or the boys need underwear, etc. Today, I got an “emergency request” from Yolanda. It was… “Mom! This is an emergency! The kids are out of toilet paper!” There are no stores near us, and we can’t get money anywhere. There are no banks near us!! I guess you would call this an emergency if you had an orphanage full of kids!! Okay, I’ve got to find a quick solution to this emergency!!
We all love Natalie! We have had her practically “all her life.” At the age of 14, she is growing into a sweet, beautiful young lady.
You will usually find Natalie in the kitchen! When she isn’t cooking, she’s cleaning and helping.
Natalie is usually quiet and shy unless she is in the same room as her ” rowdy sisters!” (They can be louder than the boys!)
She is still thinking about her life, but she loves little children and babies. You would think her favorite pastime would be “fingernail polish,” but she really loves her brothers’ “remote control cars” from last Christmas!
She will be in 9th grade this fall, and no matter what she chooses to do in the future, she will be a success! She thinks “success,” and she will find it!