God spoke loudly and (most of the time) clearly in Haiti. Left with low expectations, as I knew in advance that I’d need to be flexible and many things wouldn’t happen as planned. I’d been the main leader of the trip, so much planning had taken place- wandered at times if we’d actually make it there. Linda Kohn, the director of the orphanage had been sick during most of our planning, I was working on wedding plans, and Kirk was in Israel. It was a stressful time for me. Once we boarded the vans to Denver, I was ready and all the stress of planning left me.
God performed many miracles - one of our gals had been struggling to get her passport- got it 3 hours before our plane left Denver, no delays or flight problems until the very end (delay in Miami on the return), no major health/sicknesses while in Haiti (usually many of the team are sick in bed for a couple of days), incredible unity of our team…
Story of our adoption process- met Darwin (Darcy) just moments after we arrived at the orphanage. It was sweet with hugs and kisses, but not a lot of emotion on either side. I’m sure she was scared and fearful- new people, new situations etc. She went back to the hotel with us that night. Something just didn’t seem right to me- I wasn’t completely convinced that this was right. The next day, talked with Linda and she said we were early enough in the process to make a change. Kirk, Joey and I talked and all felt that we weren’t connecting with her, and just were going through the motions. We prayed for a couple of days, and also began looking at other available children. We made a decision a couple days later that she wasn’t the one. We were able to talk with Darwin with a translator to explain what had happened. We assured her that we loved her but that God has another better family for her. She was sad, and it was very hard to watch, but as I observed her during the week, she was fine- laughing and playing with the other kids. I had felt on the plane that God would give us the opportunity to meet Darwin’s birth mom and pray for her, but didn’t know how that would happen. . A couple days later, Natasha came to the orphanage to meet us. We were able to talk with her and explain what had happened and got to pray with her. She asked specifically that we pray for another family to adopt her QUICKLY. It about broke my heart to see her walk away from the orphanage with her head hanging. (God is so good, 2 days after we returned home, I found out from our adoption agency that Darwin has another home- praise God!)
The story of Guerdi, who is our new adopted daughter, can be partially read on the letter from For His Glory. (see attachment). As we prayed, God continued to move in our heart and bond us to a 9 year old girl, who lost her mother at her birth, and her father was killed 4 months later. Her aunt raised her, but she was unable to continue to care for her, so was brought to the orphanage on March 26. Linda had been observing her and saw her continually helping out the nannies with laundry (carrying baskets on her head!), and helping wherever was needed. She encouraged us to strongly consider her. Kirk and Joey bonded quickly with her, which was a huge answer to my prayer. I had asked the Lord to bond our next daughter to Kirk and Joey first, more than me, and that is exactly what happened. She and Joey had tickle fights, her and Kirk just snuggled for the longest time before we left, as Guerdi was crying. What sealed it for me was visiting a very poor village the day before we left Haiti. Guerdi immediately found a young girl (maybe 5) and held her hand the whole time. She hugged on her and shared her candy with her. She also helped me to say a few words in Creole. I felt the Lord say to me that Guerdi would translate for us when we returned to Haiti, and would be a missionary to her own country someday. She is a very nurturing young girl, loves to sing and dance and worship, can be very silly but also can be shy, and has a smile that lights us a whole room. Wade had made a video for us to bring on my iPod – of him, Gracie and Chelsea saying hi to Darcy. Well, when Guerdi watched Gracie singing “Mighty to Save” her eyes lit up, and she began to sing along with her. Of course, she had headphones in and began to sing loudly at dinner where we all could hear her. It was so precious! She kissed the picture of Gracie and just held it tight! We also had an opportunity to interview her through a translator (she doesn’t know much English yet). Found out that she has 6 older brothers and sisters, went to a 7th Day Adventist Church, went to school and knows how to read and write Creole, never had any major accidents or illnesses, her family was good to her…. So, God made things very clear to us as the week progressed, and we are so thankful that we listened to him, and watched him move in a way that we did not expect!
Haiti is a country of extreme poverty. No pockets of poverty here and there, but it is everywhere- unlike anything I’ve ever seen. God broke my heart many times- First was driving through Siti-Sole, the poorest area of Port-au-Prince. Trash everywhere, water polluted with trash, people everywhere just standing around with nothing to do, children running around amidst the trash and busyness. As we drove up to the orphanage, the children were on the porch singing us a song with huge smiles on their faces- I get choked up just writing it down. They were so excited to see us. Within minutes, many were calling us mama and papa. As I went into the toddler room (3 yr olds), the kids were wild, all pulling at my hair, my hat, trying to sit on my lap, all wanting my attention, calling me mama- you are beat up after going in there. Believe me, this orphanage is the cream of the crop in Haiti, but compared to our standards here in the U.S., it is pretty run down there. 30 – 3 year olds are in a big room, with no toys or blankets- an outside covered porch gives them some air and is the area they sit on their bowls to go potty. Mattresses are stacked up in the corner for sleeping. 2-3 nannies are in there all the time. But this is where they live their life. It broke my heart when I realized that this is the type of place where Gracie would be today, if she hadn’t been adopted.
There are 2 baby rooms- stacks of cribs line the room, the 1 year olds line up to get their baths twice a day. It is like an assembly line- they strip their clothes, wash them down in a basin, towel them dry, baby powder them, diaper and dress them. I got to help the nannies one day, and these children are amazing- they know the routine and are so compliant. The infants lie on the tile floor and fall asleep or cry till someone can console them. Again, 2 nannies to maybe 15-20 kids. These nannies are incredible- I was sad to leave them- they are precious. Often you would hear them break out in song and prayer in the rooms. They’d worship and pray over all the kids. I was moved- these kids are getting an incredible gift, even if they don’t have a mommy and daddy to cuddle them all the time.
The older kids (ages 4-13)- have rooms outside the main building. They are free to move about during the day. They play simple games- hand games, jump rope, soccer, basketball, braid hair, sing, make necklaces if they have beads. Many times, especially if it rains, the young children are in their dark rooms just hanging out in there. They can’t have many toys, because all with fight over them, and toys get broken so easily with 130 kids to share with. The older girls were my favorite- many speak English well, they are so helpful, and just love having the missionaries come to visit. They love on the younger ones, and help the nannies for their chores. These kids are truly being discipled to love and serve Jesus. They all love to sing and worship- all many will begin to pound out a beat on the tables in front of them. Although they can’t all speak English, they know many worship songs in English- it is truly a treat to listen to them!
We served the orphanage in many ways- loving on the kids; helping nannies with laundry, cooking, and bathing kids, giving treats to kids; building a half wall to the toddler room, fixing doors and beds, putting in a ceiling fan, painting rooms, painting murals in a couple of rooms, praying for nannies and children, playing soccer and basketball with boys, hand games with the girls, medical assessments for kids, VBS for kids, and helping in the office with organizing and making binders for all the children’s files. We felt like we really did make a significant impact –we were able to help organize binders so that each missionary team could follow up on projects that still need to be completed. I felt that we gave Linda some much-needed support as well, praying for her and helping with ideas of ways to raise money for the ministry. It is lonely there, and she is battling a tough battle every day she is there.
We spent most of our time at the orphanage (~9-5 each day), and were blessed to jump into a swimming pool at the hotel when we returned. It was very hot and humid every day, children climbing all over us and hanging on us, sitting in a HOT office working, sweating playing soccer (Joey)….. we were ready for a swim! We had a great team- many of us didn’t know each other- and we experienced incredible unity working together. Had a foot washing one night, devotions together each morning and evening and a great time of testimony on the last night. Ate lots of rice and beans and great Creole sauces and chicken.
We took a trip to a beach one day and spent 5 hours in a tap-tap (Haiti type taxi- truck with an open type back on it with bench seats). Over bumpy roads, through the city and country, 4 flat tires, saw hurricane ravaged areas- beautiful mountains, but still streets lined with trash. The beach was nice, but not much time there. Good time to get away, although we were exhausted from the ride home!
Went to a village 2 mornings- right behind the hotel. 88 people live in an area probably 1/3 of an acre- with 60 being children. Pai is the father of the village and there are 15 huts that people live in. None of the families are related. It was an awesome experience to see Pai as having such a heart for these people. Our hearts were broken as we saw the extreme poverty, but such pride in the people to show us inside their homes. One home for 5 was probably no bigger than our small bedroom- 2 mattresses, a small area for cooking- no water or electricity or plumbing, extremely hot. None of us could stand it- so we all gathered up much of our clothes, shoes, towels, anything we had in our suitcases, and delivered 4 large totes of supplies to them the next day. WE prayed with them for healing, and prayed Haitian style- all pray out loud together. It was awesome. Pai led the pray and singing time ( a few are Christians, but not all). We were so blessed and humbled and broken.
Took a morning to visit 2 hospitals- the private hospital was nice and clean. Got to pray with many people, and hand out beanie babies to children and nurses and parents. The second was the general hospital, where people line the street in front, just waiting for money to get in to see a doctor. On the way in, we drove by a woman who was lying on the ground in the middle of the street. She got up stumbling just as we drove by her- she had blood running down her head. Oh God, what do we do- it was awful. Some of us went inside to a children’s’ ward that houses mostly mentally disabled children. It was probably 25 cribs- jammed next to each other, children of all ages in them- drooling, smelling of urine- it was so hard to see. We handed out beanie babies to these children and prayed for them. It was almost too much to process and see this kind of thing. Silence covered our van on the way back to the orphanage.
Lots of ups and downs emotionally on this trip- seeing joy on the children’s faces to the extreme poverty that most people live in- children so wanting a mama and papa to love them- seeing the bondage many are in spiritually, but seeing the orphanage children singing at the top of their lungs- “How Great is Our God”! Lord we are so blessed in America. How can I possibly complain of anything? What do I do now? I got to see a vision of ours come to life. God called us to Grand Junction 2 years ago. He has shown me that my purpose here was to start the adoption ministry. Part of this vision was to see mission trips to orphanages and to see 100 children be adopted into loving homes in our community. Thank you Lord that we are beginning to see this happen!
Please pray about how you may be able to help this ministry. For His Glory Outreach supports the orphanage in Haiti, and they are in dire need to keep operating. Without this ministry, there is no way possible that these children could have the care that they currently have. See the attached letter from Linda (it has a picture of Kirk and Guerdi in it, with more of her story , along with a letter that she dictated upon arriving in the orphanage).
