Getting closer

Okay, so this blog has been a really great idea. What a great way to keep people up to date on how we are doing. Well, maybe not quite. It seems I may have not posted for a little while, like since May!!

Let's see...Since May, we have had another baby. That's right, baby number five is here. She was born June 30th, which now makes her almost two months old. Her name is Callie, and she is a perfect little baby, beautiful and sweet.

Also since May, we are coming close to filling the container. And then it's off to Haiti for it (and us). We are shooting for September...some point in September. In about another week, it's going to be September. Why am I sitting here at the computer?? I've got so much to do.

Also since May, and this actually just happened last Sunday, our church held a fund raiser for us, dubbed "Lotz of Love." Let me just say, that was such an amazing experience, and very truly humbling. The gym was packed with people who all came to support our family. A special thanks to the mission committee at our church for putting that whole day together. It was very special!

It was good having Scott Salvant and Jim and Judy Ward from the New Hope Haiti Mission Board of Directors with us last weekend. We enjoyed the time with them. The next time we see them will be in Haiti!!

Until next time (hopefully sooner than three months).

The Move Is On

We got our container today!! This is the container that will hopefully go all the way to Haiti. We just signed a rental agreement, but are hoping to buy it, for somewhere around $3000.

This is how all of our belongings are going to get to Haiti, along with a whole bunch of food from the Kids Against Hunger program in Springfield, MO. If you have never heard of them before, check them out at www.kids-against-hunger.org

So one quick story that was really cool about getting the container...the guy that delivered it was named David. He is a Christian, and goes to church in Webb City. He was a very nice guy, very interested in what we were doing. The whole time he was working on getting it unloaded, I was wondering if I should tip him. He was just the delivery man for the company, and I thought maybe I should give him a little extra. Well, when he got done, I was about to reach for my wallet, and instead he reached for his!! He pulled out a twenty, said "I know it's not much, but take this and use it for your mission. There needs to be more people like you in the world." I was truly humbled. Thank you David, for reminding me that every good and perfect gift comes from God.

Homesick...

We just spent a week in Haiti, and now we are homesick...not for the U.S., because as I type this, I am in St. Louis, MO. We are homesick for Haiti.

We had a great trip, visiting the kids in the orphanage, looking for a house to rent...and going to Balan. This was just another chapter in our "Journey to Balan." After worshiping with them on Sunday and distributing rice and beans on Tuesday, we are ready to be there full time. It was Jennifer's first time to Balan; I had been there twice on a trip in December '07, also for church and the feeding program.

A resident of Balan




We believe God has a plan for Balan, it is going to be such a blessing to be in the middle of it all, watching the people respond to His calling and purpose for the village.

Pray for their water situation. In a country where people run the hose for hours at a time without even thinking about it, water may seem like a strange thing to pray for. In Balan, even dirty water is scarce, and clean water is unheard of. In the following months we will be working to reverse that. Pray we find an abundant clean water source; I wish we could just strike a rock with a staff.

More to come about our trip later...

Rolling the dice...

Not that this is a game of any sort, nor are we gamblers, but I'm rolling the proverbial dice to get this blog off the ground! I'm not going to mention how I'm new to the whole blogging scene, and how it might take a while to figure it all out. That not said, you can expect some pictures and other interesting tidbits in a few days.

Oh yeah, we are hoping to be in Haiti by September 1, 2008. That may be quite an easy goal for some people. We are not those people. It will be nothing short of a miracle to make this happen. Our house is still partially gutted, we have all our belongings spread out in three different locations, of which 90% of it is not going to Haiti. Things to sell, things to ship, things to buy, shots to get, passports to buy, a baby to bring into the world...baby number five that is. She is the tiebreaker. With Christa(7), Hannah(6), Wilson(3), and Jett(2), we needed one more to break the tie. We don't yet know her name, but for $100 you can suggest one, cash is fine.

Anyway, as my first blog, I have no idea how to end it, so...