Back to Haiti

Alot of people have been asking how we feel about going back to Haiti on June 9.  We have mixed emotions. There is much to look forward to.  We have good friendships that have been tested by the ups and downs of life.  God has blessed our ministry with a network of Haitian and North American colleagues whom we respect and trust.  Our children are looking forward to seeing their pets, moving back into their rooms, and unpacking their toys.  Though it lacks some basics, we rent a spacious house in Haiti with a beautiful garden of tropical plants.  We are looking forward to delicious mangos and the sunny weather.

But there is pain in departure. The friends and family we leave behind in Michigan have been with us since childhood, witnessing graduations, weddings and baptisms.  It has been refreshing to enjoy a little anonymity.  On most days in Haiti we are approached by four or five people asking for money because as foreigners we are perceived to be wealthy.  Zach has already starting having dreams about broken-down cars, generators, water pumps, and refrigerators in Haiti.  Though they are little things, please pray that we will find our most essential belongings functional.  Pray for our children who have a big adjustment to make leaving friends, schools, and grandparents behind.  In these times, a Gospel promise comforts us, “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive times as much in this present age . . . and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).  Most of all, pray that we will be confident and faithful in our calling to serve God’s people in Haiti.