Archive for April, 2009

Recognition

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

25 years of employment is something to be celebrated.  Companies often give employees a pat on the back, or recognize them for their service with a certificate, a pin, maybe even a gold watch.

For Patricia Smith, the 25 years of employment have gone by quickly and have indeed been a success. But perhaps not in the traditional sense of the term.

Patricia rates her success on the number of children she’s helped, not on the number in her bank account. Her success is found in the smiles on the faces of those she helps, not the pats on the back by important people. Patricia and her daughter Melinda run the Haiti Children’s Home, an orphanage for about 45 kids right now. And for her 25 year celebration, what will Pat do? Probably change some diapers, do some cleaning, feed some hungry mouths and work to keep this faith-based ministry running, she says with a laugh.

Wearing an ankle length denim dress, her white hair pulled back in a bun, Patricia sits in a rocking chair to chat with us. You could take her out of her room in Haiti and drop her in a southern U.S. small town front porch and she’d fit right in. But while she is an American, Patricia spends her days and years in Haiti, helping some of the poorest of the poor.

Children in Haiti don’t have a lot of options. Patricia and Melinda provide a safe home with loving caretakers, a strong Christian focus, three square meals a day and even birthday cake for each birthday boy and girl.

They never know where the next amount of funding will come from. But, as Melinda says, the Lord has always provided when they have been in need.

In the past, I haven’t been willing to sponsor even one child because I have been afraid of running out of money when times have been tight for Justin and me. Yet these two women take care of 45, plus help countless others in the community with medical issues, on little more than faith and a prayer. It makes me wonder what God could have accomplished through me over our last eight years of marriage if I had stepped out in faith a little more instead of counting my pennies and hoarding them.

While Patricia might not get a gold watch or even an ‘Atta-boy’ for her 25 years of service, I am sure that God has a special seat for her in heaven. And that’s better than any earthly recognition.

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Catching up

Monday, April 27th, 2009

We haven’t been having much luck with internet, I’m sure you’re all wondering what we’ve been up to! I’ve got about 10 minutes before lunch so I’ll make it quick. On Saturday we went to the market in Mirebelais, a short walk from our hotel. It was an incredible experience, full of people and wares for sale and lots and lots of stalls. We bought bread and brought it to the Poorhouse to share with people. I got to share my testimony there with the people which was definitely a trip highlight for me so far.

This morning we saw the school that Chilliwack’s Southside Church is helping to operate. There are 75 kids there who could not afford to go to school without Southsides’s support, so that was pretty neat to see.

At Haiti Children’s Home, Justin and I had a chance to visit with the women who started and operate the facility. I’ll share more about the women there in another post when I have some more time.

Saturday evening and Sunday morning we had the priveledge of attending Southside’s sister church in Mirebelais. There was such an energy in the air, and the people there were glad to have us in attendance. Our translator was able to translate the service for us, which our team leader Steve says is a real treat as he has never had that before. It was great to be part of the service here and enjoy a different culture’s way of doing church. There were many similarities, such as having a singing and preaching component. But there were definitely differences, such as the women and men sitting on different sides, and the loudness of the preacher!

I could write so much more, but now I’m late for lunch. Suffice to say, it has been an incredible experience so far. Steve has had better luck with posting (there’s internet at Haiti Children’s Home), so feel free to check out their blog here if you want to see a little more.

Tomorrow we head to Port Au Prince to meet up with the next project partner, Lisa and Marc from Haiti Arise Ministries. As soon as we get another chance, we’ll post again.

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The language of play

Friday, April 24th, 2009

I’ve always wanted to travel. The idea of entering exotic locales, interacting with different people and engaging in new experiences gets my imagination running. I’m sure many can identify with that desire. To get the opportunity to travel fills me with a wild excitement.

Now that we are here, words fail me as I try to describe what I am experiencing. I was very excited today, as we ventured off the hotel compound the team is staying at and down to the orphanage. We got to amble through the streets, with the sights and sounds engulfing our senses. It was satisfying to look around, to see the palm trees and mango trees, to see the farm animals and the stray dogs, to see the hot sun and feel the cool breeze as we walked back this evening.

But it is a whole other thing to talk about the people. There was a language barrier that felt like I was in a fish bowl knocking on the glass. There was just no way to communicate as I had pictured myself doing. I love to get to know people, and when my only word is “Bonjou” (Hello in Creole), it’s kind of limited. But the kids at the orphanage spoke some English, and we all spoke the language of play, and of hugs, and of just sitting together hanging out. So, today was a good day.

For curious readers, our travel to Haiti went smoothly. After 18 hours of travel time, two flights, one long drive through the Haiti countryside and not one piece of lost lugggage, we arrived safely at our hotel in Mirebalais late Thursday afternoon.

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Bothered

Monday, April 20th, 2009

There is a discrepancy in the world, a dischord between the have’s and the have-not’s. While we sit comfortably in our homes, with our biggest worry whether our hockey team will win the next game, there are billions around the world suffering.

Did you know that one in four children living in developing countries are considered underweight and at a risk of having a blighted future because of long-term effects of undernourishment? Meanwhile, there are an estimated one billion people who are overweight, according to the World Health Organization. One in four kids starving, while one billion people eat more junk food than their bodies can handle.

According to the United Nations, more than 500,000 prospective mothers in developing countries die annually in childbirth or of complications from pregnancy. But in the United States alone, The U.S. Centre for Disease Control conservatively estimates there were more than 800,000 abortions in one year. A child born in a developing country is over 13 times more likely to die within the first five years of life than a child born in an industrialized country, yet hundreds of thousands of children in North America are killed before they even have a chance to live.

These types of statistics bother me. It bothers me that I can complain about the temperature of my coffee being not quite right while around the world, people drink unclean water just to survive.

It bothers me that I can choose to have or not have children, in clean safe sterilized hospitals, while around the world more than half a million women die because they do not have the same options for safe preganancies and birth.

It bothers me that while me and my fellow countrymen grow fat, children die of starvation.

It bothers me.

So, I am doing something about it. How? God has gifted my husband and I with photography and writing skills. We are preparing to travel and document the changed lives and changed communities that happen when people who are bothered take time out of their lives, and bother to stand up and make a difference.

In less than 48 hours, we fly to Haiti. I’m bothered by that too.

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We’re back!

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

We made it back safe and sound to Chilliwack late last night. We have been on the road for 34 days, slept in seven different beds, interviewed more than two dozen people, clocked about 6,800 kilometres and visited lots of friends and family along the way.

We are back to our home base of Ryan and Jenn Toyota’s place in Chilliwack, and feel so relieved and grateful to get to spend our days here as we prepare to leave the country. It is hard to believe, but we only have 11 more sleeps until we leave for Haiti!

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Walking humbly

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

Why do I needlessly carry burdens when I should be rejoicing in the Lord always? I feel physically ill when I start to think about all that lies ahead of us. We don’t have the finances needed for the whole journey yet. I don’t have the language skills. I’m sure I’m forgetting to pack something I need. We don’t feel physically or spiritually prepared. Yet Christ does not ask me to carry all this. He asks that Justin and I trust Him wholly, and that we not lean on our own understanding but in ALL our ways acknowledge Him and He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5).

It seems the Lord already knew, before I humbly came to Him early this morning, just what I needed to hear. It took forever for me to get to sleep last night, then I was awake again early this morning. That is not characteristic for me, and I usually find when I awake either in the middle of the night or early in the morning it’s because I need to spend time with my Lord. So I got up this morning, feeling heavy burdened with the weight of this project. I tried to pray, and nothing came. So I went to the family room, sat by the fire and began to read.

I have been making my way through 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, and now Philippians,  as our pastor had been doing a series on Ephesians before we left and I wanted to personally study the books surrounding that one.

I opened up where I left off last, at Philippians 3 and 4. The verse that stood out to me not only gave me a renewed sense of hope but also reprimanded me because of how easily I forget that Justin and I have never been, are not, and will never be the ones in control of the Pockets of Change project. It is His will we are doing, not our own, and He has given us the strength to move forward whether my weak self feels ready or not.

“… I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Phillipians 4:12-13

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Shekinah in Calgary

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

We just realized this post never got posted! I wrote it but then left it in the drafts folder. I’m not as savvy with the web stuff as Justin is! This was originally written March 29. Since then we spent a full day in Golden catching up with people and then driving to Cranbrook where we’re having some relaxation time while we try to connect with people for interviews here.

Original post:

I am humbled by God’s majesty. His grace has touched me just as I am, empty handed but alive in His hands.
What an awesome evening of worship Justin and I got to go to last night. Shekinah was in Calgary for a conference and they held a worship event Saturday evening. God’s presence was in that room, as we prayed and sought His face and sang our hearts to Him. I have never understood how it works, but singing definitely brings me closer to Christ, it opens my heart to listen to Him as my hands and heart praise Him.

Justin and I are leaving Calgary today. We have had some very good interviews with people from Springbank Community Church, and gotten to know their heart as a church better.  We went to that church this morning and are headed to Golden shortly to catch up with friends there.

For anyone curious about our road adventures so far, we have been blessed with good roads, great people to stay with and good connections with those we have been interviewing. I did have one night of sickness after some delicious Thai food, but other than that we have been healthy and for the most part happy. We’re counting our time until we leave by the places we still have to go: now it’s down to Golden, then Cranbrook, then Chilliwack. It seems there are a million things to do still before we leave the country. But ready or not, the day is coming.

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