I’m pretty sure it is actually Night 25.  Maybe.  I need to have Matthew check my math, but I think it all adds up.  The last week has been incredibly stressful at times, including a very bittersweet day on Thursday.  I say bitter because I left a lot of friends behind as I left my job at TSI in Waterloo.  I say sweet because I now have more time to spend working with the students at The Alley, and working on things for Shelter 127.  I left the office fighting tears, because everyone there had been so good to me, it was like leaving family even though I have only worked there for 9 months. Continue reading →

I’ve been losing track of the days…which isn’t surprising, but is still annoying.

While spending time in the shelter this week I have noticed that I have a lot more time to spend with people. It has been good for me I think.

Tonight has been a night filled with questions. How do we move forward from here? What’s our next step? Why is it so cold in August? How do you address the problems around you?

When I went to Nicaragua last summer I met a man I am now proud to call friend. He had a simple mantra that made quite an impact. It was this…”see a need, meet a need”. He lived it out radically…to the point where he would have switched shoes with a Nicaraguan if they had been the right size. Continue reading →

Today we moved back from the fairgrounds. A HUGE thank you to the Defiance County Fair for letting us crash the party.

We had to reinforce the bunks today since we cut them in half yesterday. It turns out that the only thing holding the bunks together were the walls of the shelter. (And the only thing holding the shelter together were the bunks!!!)

Today I had a bit of a wake up call about what we are doing…

Home Means Hope is kind of the catch phrase we have adopted around here, but I often forget exactly what that means. One of the things it can mean is family…I got to visit part of my family today.

You see, I haven’t been home since we started this project, and may not be home for a long time still. I know that I could just go home once in a while and that no one would stop me, but I want to feel at least a little bit of what the Haitians feel. So for me that means no home.

In addition, I have not made it to church in 3 weeks. I could make excuses, but the truth is that I thought I had more important things to do with my time. I haven’t missed that much church in a long time.

Today I went back…I got to see a part of my family again.

It was glorious.

The service was great…and I felt safe, loved, cared for.

When the service let out, I turned to walk out, and had to wait for two younger girls as they sprinted past me into the waiting arms of Karalee…two girls who were adopted. Who came from Haiti.

They moved away to California last fall, and we hadn’t seen them since. Now they have come back to visit unexpectedly. It was like a moment out of a movie to see them sprinting down the aisle.

I struggled to fight back tears as I walked out to my car. I had been struck with the beauty of Gods plan for his Kingdom here on earth. We are all part of the family, and soon we will all be Home. While we are here, I am going to do my best to take care of my brothers and sisters…here, and in Haiti.

Home Means Hope…Shelter 127

Thursday night was another girls night featuring Becky,Emily, and Victoria.

It was a great night, and I’m excited to say that we have had our first round of African Tea! It is called Albadia and Matt brought it back from Africa when he returned from his 2 year mission trip. It became something o a tradition last year, and I was excited to see it return. The process of making the tea seems to bring out special conversations and thoughts…so I look forward to it very much. I would even say that it was worth only getting 4 hours of sleep before goin to work as a result!