Update...

(photo thanks to my new friend Emmett!)

The past few days have been filled with meeting and visiting with some friends who stayed over, visiting with Pastor Robby and visiting with the children at the nearby orphanage (photo is of us making friendship bracelets).... TONIGHT my friends from Pittsburgh come for the night (8 of them on the team) and tomorrow Redgi and I will travel to Mirebalais to take his mom for her bloodwork.  We also bought 2 more bunk beds for the base bringing the total bunk beds to 7 in the guest rooms (sleeping for 14) and 1 in the staff room with another single bed for me.  SOOOO we could in theory sleep 17 now!  God is good!  And if you haven't read it yet, we paid rent for the next YEAR (until Nov. 25, 2014) so we will be using this as our base at least until then unless something major happens.  

Sorry I didn't update much- no power since the line blew outside the house two nights ago burning our wires.  Don't know if/when it will be fixed and we will get power again.  This may be the last update until I return on Sunday afternoon.  

God bless-  Crystal

What a day!

Well, it is 6 pm. and Redgi is in his room taking a nap while I sit on the porch in the dark working on this blog.  That should let you know how this day was!  It was productive but it is draining going to Life is Wealth without a team- especially two days in a row.  The children ALL want your attention and hang all over you as you try to do whatever it is you came for.  Even if you just came to play, it is HOT and SWEATY but I love it for sure!  We went to get some things done and accomplished all that was on the list, but we also went to play with the children.

The "boss" looked at the location for the water building and is going to work up a quote for me.  He will need about 1/3 to begin the work and can start as soon as possible.  Both Redgi and I felt very comfortable with him and Pastor did too.  They will need to remove a large area of concrete to put in the foundation for the building, but we like the idea of locating it to the right of the gate as you enter the property better than the original idea of putting the building to the left as you enter.  There are so many reasons for moving it and thankfully it will work in the new location and Pastor Yves is happy with that decision.  I will call those responsible for paying for it once I return to the USA with a quote and they can begin to send down payments to begin.  This is exciting stuff!  Finally it seems these children will have clean water to drink.

We also got everything done on the list I put up earlier and even are hoping after Redgi wakes up we can go get money changed into gourdes and then pay the rent for ONE YEAR!  This means we plan to still be in this location all the way through the summer and fall of next year.  We are even praying about some space that has opened up on the property (another rental unit) which rents for about $160 per month.  We could use the area for storage for ALL our donations and extra items and also for an office space or for sleeping quarters for staff.  We will need to pray about that one first.  God knows!

Right now I am praying we get electricity since I am not sleepy and would love to sit and read a book or something.  God bless- church tomorrow if we can make it (we may try a new one nearby) and then Madame Esther's orphanage in the afternoon and possibly visiting with a friend of mine who also serves in Haiti.  She called and said she may stop by with her son on their way through Carrefour.  Redgi and I both need a sabbath because we have been running nonstop but praise God we are accomplishing much in His name!

Day 5

Hard to believe it's that many days I have been here (including the day I arrived).  Yesterday was super busy but we got a lot accomplished- Praise God!!

In the morning we worked around the house on various items (paperwork, answering e-mails, balancing receipts, etc).  Then, around noon we left to do errands.  First we visited Amondine and Madame Esther at the hospital.  We were able to pay more on her bill and buy more medicine for her.  It took FOREVER and there was a period of time when I sat and watched Redgi and Madame Esther just walk from one room to another - back and forth to pay things and get questions answered.  We have no further information about her progress/diagnosis because the results of the blood test were not available when we left there.  We will call this morning on our way out of here.

After leaving the hospital we went to the mattress place in Delmas and bought 17 mattresses- 13 for Life is Wealth and 4 more for the base.  They will not be in stock until Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) so we must come get them then.  Once we purchase two more Haitian bunk beds we will have beds at the base for 17 people and 2 extra twin mattresses on the floor (waiting for an American bunk bed to either be built or purchased).  It's really looking like a mission base the more and more we do around here.  Yay!

We then picked up Mr. Alvarez and Edwin and headed over to Life is Wealth.  I was greeted in the usual manner with screaming and dancing and I was very happy to be "home" with the children.  We were able to spend only a little personal time with them because they had their Leadership Class, tutoring, and other activities.  This week the men running the group gave prizes to all the children who were doing well in their class at school as well as those who looked clean and well dressed.  (they have been working on hygiene)  There was little trash on the property which was encouraging since we have the trash removal program in place.  Today we will spend more time there, meet with Pastor Yves (he was busy yesterday), meet with a man who will possibly build the water building and we will do some interviews on the children.  There were about 5-6 new ones I do not know (including some little boys which I am sure makes Robinson and Charles, Jr. happy).  Siliene was back which shocked me!  She had left about a year ago (summer 2012) to go home to Artibonite but she CHOSE to return from her family.  Redgi says, "Who wouldn't want to return to a place where your parents aren't around to yell at you all the time and discipline you.  A place where you have lots of friends readily available, food, a bed, and you have no jobs/responsibilities"-----Oh how that broke my heart!  I do NOT want to encourage children to leave their homes for the "draw" of an orphanage.  So lots to pray about there!

Today is (as I said) Life is Wealth day.  We will call the builder one hour before we leave the house and he will meet us in Carrefour (he lives on the way to Gressier) and we will drive him to the orphanage to figure out price for construction of the water building.  Then, we will do all our meetings at Life is Wealth and hang out with the children there. It doesn't sound like much but I have a HUGE list of things to go over with Pastor Yves, he wants to meet with me, and we want to give the worm medicine and talk to each child (ALL 60 or so of them)..... LONG day ahead!

Your prayers are heard and appreciated.  Traffic yesterday was horrible and we spent a great deal of time just sitting, sitting, sitting plus weaving around others (whose cars had run out of gas or were overheating) the whole time.  We have had long days but the nights are cool so sleep is good!  God bless-  Crystal

Update

OK... too tough to respond to all the messages on facebook and e-mail asking what we have been up to and how things are going, so I am going to try to put it all here.

Tuesday I arrived.  After lunch with Redgi and his father we went to visit his mother and to see Sparky (and the rest of the family).  It was wonderful to see Madame Josee'.  She looks great and her hair is just beginning to grow back! We will take her to Mirebalais on Wed. of next week (Monday is a holiday so they rescheduled the chemo for another day) and I hope to be able to talk to the doctors or nurses then to see how she is progressing.  Her breast is softer now and she can no longer feel the lumps under her arms or in her neck.  A repeat of the CT scan (abdominal) and chest X-ray need to be done before deciding on treatment.  We are praying she is now a candidate for surgery but time will tell!
     We left the Alvarez residence and came to the base where I cleaned my room, handed out gifts and other things to Redgi/James (that they bought from me for either themselves or friends) and then we relaxed around the house and just caught up on the past two months apart.  Both Redgi and James had much to share!  They have been very busy in my absence.

Wed. was a "base day"- the three of us had meetings all day (and some breaks from English/Creole too) but we got most of the planning done for the December trip, most of the plan for the rest of my stay, receipts balanced (money accounted for), etc...  Pastor Guy (the owner of the lot next door) stopped by so I got to have a meeting with him about using the lot.  Please pray with us about that one- not sure how it will develop.  He is a shrewd businessman who has been to the USA many times so he knows how to "work a deal".   In the afternoon James got a call from Jean Bernard's brother that they had located him (see story below) so in the evening we got to have Jean Bernard over for a while at the base.  We also bought gas for the stove and did some other errands.

Thursday (yesterday) we spent a large part of the day at the hospital with Amondine. (one of the children at Madame Esther's orphanage).  Before I left for Haiti a friend gave me some money and said, "This is for Madame Esther.  Meet with her and find out what her greatest need is".  Then, yesterday Redgi's phone rang.  Madame Esther didn't know I was in town but she told him that Amondine was very sick and in the hospital.  We went to see her, paid her hospital bill (from that money my friend sent- we have $100 left to cover her new expenses).  We met with the doctor and he said she is extremely anemic which makes her hemoglobin very low (that carries oxygen throughout her system).  So, she is receiving oxygen and blood transfusions.  When asked the cause of the anemia he said he feels it is a "chronic problem" rather than acute (meaning she doesn't have any bleeding or anything making her lose blood SO it is most likely due to malnutrition).  Madame Esther has been telling us for a while that the children do not have enough to eat but this really brought her situation to light.  We have been taking her food monthly and vitamins when we can, but she is in a very desperate situation.  We got to spend some time in prayer together and I got to hear more about her needs.  She really loves the children- no doubt there and we were blessed to be used  by God to show her that HE loves them too!  (by sending us with the money when he did- the hospital was refusing to do any more treatment until the bill was paid)
     We also saw Dr. Carl and paid a bill we had there (he had seen Peterson last week because Peterson was sick) and bought worm medicine for the children at Life is Wealth.  We hope to go there today because it is the day their leadership classes are held.  We will photograph and video tape the class and even participate.  We also hope today to buy the mattresses with funds that were donated for that specific purpose.

It may not sound like much is being done, but God is at work for sure and we are quickly checking items off the "to do" list.  Keep the prayers coming and we will try to update more as the trip progresses.  God bless! His servant-  Crystal

Amondine in her hospital bed.... Bless this little one.  She was so cute when I laid hands on her and prayed - she was like a little angel and sooooo grateful afterward. Both our eyes were filled with a few tears!  I think she is very scared so I pray this comforted her a bit.  

Reunited!

Last night we FINALLY found Jean Bernard!  For those of you who do not know, he is an orphan my very first team in the summer of 2010 found living on the streets and helped out with school, lodging, etc... for a few months.  However, like many street children, he didn't like living in a family setting with rules, didn't like having to go to school regularly, and other structure.  So he would often run away.  We would track him down, find someone to keep him, offer to help them with expenses and the cycle would repeat itself.  Then, in May of 2012 when we had a team in Carrefour he showed up complaining of pain in his groin.  Praise God it was a medical team and they were able to examine him.  After examination, they concluded he had both an inguinal hernia and an umbilical one.  God provided the finances and doctors needed to get him surgery quickly and I was blessed to be able to extend my stay in Haiti for two weeks to care for him prior, during his hospital stay and a bit during recovery.  I left Haiti that year in early June and said goodbye to Jean Bernard thinking he would be staying with his aunt.  BUT, when I returned later in July I found he had run away once again and we have spent the past year and a half searching and asking for him.  Praise God last night we finally followed up on a tip that lead us to him and I had about an hour visit with him!  He now knows where our base is and when I will return with a team (December) so he will be able to keep in touch.

It was pure joy to hear his (now manly/deep) voice, to have him sit with his hand on mine and to have him keep hugging me over and over and over.  :-)  :-)  We gave him a soccer ball, some food, and some other things including a hygiene kit but he said he needs clothes.  I had some here but didn't anticipate it being so long until I saw him and how much he would grow. (12 year old boys do that!)  He is not in school- he said because he doesn't have his birth certificate to enroll.  The family he is staying with provides him with 3 meals a day but he has to sleep in a tent in the yard with two other boys- both a little older than him.  He said he has to do a lot of the chores for them.  I explained that they are providing food for him though and a safe place to live but he needs to get back into school.  I highly doubt this will happen since he told Redgi and me that he enjoys the fact that once his chores are done he can just hang out with his buddies and play soccer all day.

Please join us in prayer for Jean Bernard.  Pray that he will be safe and that he will come to realize the value of education and that rules/structure are part of life.  Pray he will come to know Jesus as his savior and that he will realize how much God loves him and has protected him all these years and that his life is valuable.  Pray that we can continue to interact with him (and maybe those who care for him) in the future.  Praise God for the way we have been able to provide for him thus far - with the surgery, foster families, education, clothes, food, etc...

Thankful Journal- (con't)...

I totally forgot that I had started the thankful journal on here as well as on the Hearts United facebook page.  I kept up with it on the facebook page until I got to Haiti where internet is scarce.  Today I am blessed to have pretty good reception AND time to get things done too ... so this entry is to say that if you desire to follow the "thankful journal" you will have to do so on our facebook page.  "Like" us on facebook to get all the updates when we post them.  THIS one is used when we have teams present and that one is updated at other times.  Too much for one person to keep up with- sorry for my "slacking".....  -Crystal

Thankful journal- Day One

November is the month we in the USA celebrate Thanksgiving.  A time to stop and count our blessings, spend time with family/friends and celebrate ALL we have been blessed with.  We shouldn't need a certain day/time of year as a reason to be thankful but sometimes with the busy lives we lead we don't take the time to just notice the little things and thank the One Who gives us all we have.  So, I will do my best to update regularly this month with a "thankful journal".  Since this is the Hearts United facebook site I will probably concentrate a lot on Haiti but since my personal life is so intertwined with the ministry there will probably be some blending of the two.  For today, to kick off the journal, I will say that I am thankful for Jesus Christ- the reason for ALL we do!  I never cease to be amazed at the fact that God sent His Son to willingly die for MY sins (and yours). Though I was not yet born, though I still have things in my life that I will probably do to disappoint Him and not in accordance with His will for my life (which is the definition of sin), though I do not always take time for things like this journal thanking Him, etc... He still loves me, waits longingly for me to come back to Him, and forgives my transgressions EVERY time I ask without judgement or condemnation for waiting so long but instead with compassion and understanding!  How amazing.  Christianity is not a crutch, but instead an honor.  To be used daily by the Creator of the Universe as a vehicle to transmit His message of love and salvation to others is unbelievable.  And to have Him readily available to listen, comfort, guide, and (YES!) communicate with me at the same time as millions of others around the world is mind-blowing.  But, to know I AM that special that He hears me and longs for my voice as I long for His is beyond anything I can describe!  So, today (and every day) I am thankful for Jesus and the gift He gave us all when He came to earth, lived for a bit as a man, taught us so much by example and through words and then died to cover our sins so that today we may live for Him the Father and some day be united with them in Heaven for all eternity!  Amen!

(PS- they won't all be this long- lol)