A New Chapter of Life

If life is a journey, God seems to take us down little paths and then turn us onto a different road at some point. Sometimes we don’t understand at the time, but He sees the big picture.

I have entered into a new chapter of my life. I am now a sophomore in college and an International Studies major. God has continued to give me new experiences on the mission field. I have spent a week in Mexico, a week in Haiti, and 4.5 weeks in Guatemala City. In early 2015, I hope to travel to Ecuador for 10 days. In late 2015, I hope to return to Haiti.

I have been thinking a lot about the Hope Hill project. God used that initiative to teach me SO many things! And since returning from Haiti, I have raised over $25,000 for La Montagne. But lately I’ve been sensing that God is calling me personally in another direction. I believe He has wired me to work in different cultures, in different seasons of my life.

I also believe that right now He is calling me to focus on my studies and the mission opportunities He’s given me. With that, I have decided to close this fundraiser and website for now. All the funds that have been raised for Hope Hill will be entrusted to A Child’s Hope—the organization I have partnered with in Houston, which is preparing to build the orphanage and academy that is so needed in La Montagne. I may still post updates from Haiti on this blog, but it will be about what A Child’s Hope is doing down there.

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for and financially contributed to this project! God is working in Haiti, and I can’t wait to see what He does in the next few years. You can learn more about A Child’s Hope here: http://www.achildshope.org/

God bless y’all! Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. J

A Child's Hope

The second annual “A Child’s Hope” charity gala went well! Instead of writing up another post, you can go here to read all about it! J

Summer Plans

My impatient heart is starting to beat a bit faster. It’s already March and I have no idea if and where I will be going on a mission trip this summer. My heart yearns to go back to Haiti and see my beloved Valencia. But I have also been given the opportunity to return to Guatemala, possibly for an extended time.

And then God opened up yet another door for me to take an extended trip to Haiti. But right now, I simply don’t know. I feel convicted to wait patiently on Him. I know He will make it perfectly clear in His timing. He may have a completely different plan for my summer that doesn’t involve Haiti or Guatemala! I look forward to finding out. J

Christmas Update

It has been far too long since I posted an update here. Please accept my sincerest apologies! There are not good excuses.

 

This past year has been full of surprises for me. I thought that I would have surely returned to Haiti by now. I thought I would have helped lead a short term missions team there through A Child’s Hope. I thought I would have finished raising the money for Hope Hill. I thought ACH would have broken ground for their academy already.

 

But I am so thankful to serve a God who is omniscient (all knowing.) His plan is always better than mine. My understanding is finite!

 

So what is happening in 2014? I continue to raise funds for A Child’s Hope. So far, $25,000 out of $70,000 has been raised. We’re only $10,000 away from the halfway mark! Even though the fundraising has gone slower than I expected, God has continued to provide.

 

I also hope to return to Haiti this summer, if God keeps the doors open. He so clearly closed the doors this past year. But I trust that He has burdened my heart for a reason, and I am willing to follow after Him wherever that leads. I am praying that He leads me back to Haiti sometime this year. J

 

A Child’s Hope continues to press on in their fundraising efforts. The money raised for Hope Hill is ultimately going towards their effort in Haiti, because we are working together for the same goal. ACH is planning their 2^nd Annual Fundraising Gala in Houston, TX for April 4^th. If you are interested in attending, you can visit their website and purchase tickets here.

 

Thank you all for your continued prayers for this initiative! I cannot wait to see how God works in 2014.

Fundraising Update

Finally! A moment to post an update on Hope Hill and what’s going on with things! Life has been extremely busy lately, so I’ll keep this update short and sweet:

1.) Funds. I am still working to raise funds for Hope Hill, and the numbers have continued to go up! Later this week, I will update the thermometer on the right.

2.) Where Funds Go. As a result of our move to Texas and my partnership with A Child’s Hope, we now have a new place to direct funds! Rather than going through our church in Michigan, donations can now be made out to “A Child’s Hope” with “Hope Hill” in the memo line. Those checks can be mailed to:

A Child’s Hope

16545 Village Drive, Bldg A

Jersey Village, TX 77040

3.) Valencia. My precious little girl continues to do well in Haiti! With her sponsorship, she is now being tutored and is catching up in school. I am anxious to see her again, and am praying about a return trip to La Montagne in 2014.

That’s all for now! I appreciate all of you who are praying for this project! Soli Deo Gloria!

Soon

Sorry if it seems like this blog died over the past few weeks! Life has been extremely busy, and I still haven’t been able to come up for air. I promise to post an update next week when things lull a little bit.

Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking about how much I miss this time, this place, and these people. I pray that in God’s timing, we will reunite, and return to Haiti together!

Fundraising Update!

As I enter into a new phase of life (post-high school), I have had to reevaluate a lot of things. One of those has been this blog. I am hoping to start a new blog to specifically chronicle the things I am doing to prepare for life, outside of the traditional college realm. I am still raising funds for Hope Hill, and intend to meet my goal of $70,000, through God’s strength.

Beginning next week, I will be posting on the Hope Hill blog once a week. The posts will vary, sometimes being an update, other times a Haitian proverb, or pictures another time. My goal is to keep my faithful readers up-to-date on the progress in Haiti, while still giving myself a bit more time to focus on other things.

Today, I am excited to announce a big jump in funds. For my high school graduation party, I asked guests to give towards Hope Hill in lieu of .gifts. As a result, over $2,500 was raised for the project!! That means our new total is $17,909! God is so good!

Guatemala Update

I can hardly believe the summer flew by so quickly! Anticipation has a way of moving time along. School is starting and the mission trip to Guatemala is already a month behind me . . .

While the time speeds on, the memories remain crisp and clear in my mind. Long eyelashes framing the brown eyes looking up at me. The shouts of school-children cheering on their classmates in a soccer match. Little arms wrapped around my neck in an embrace. Spanish and English words mixed together in worship of the King.

The primary purpose of our trip was to build the relationship between our church and student ministry and Pastor A and Fellowship Guatemala. We also built a relationship with Pastor D, the founder and president of Fellowship Guatemala.

When we arrived Sunday, we had the opportunity to participate in a worship service at a new church plant Pastor D has started. Monday through Thursday, we served alongside Pastor A at a public elementary school. We conducted a sports camp for the kids, and did devotions with them. Each afternoon was spent at the Opportunity Center started by Pastor A, where 35-40 students go to learn English though Rosetta Stone. One evening was spent at a small orphanage, where we interacted with a dozen children. Our week concluded with a day in Antigua, where we enjoyed sweet fellowship with our new Guatemalan friends.

The trip was not what I expected. God so clearly sent us there rather than Haiti, and I was expecting another “light bulb moment” like I had in Haiti. I came away from the trip with more questions than answers. But I serve a God who knows all the answers. The following quote from Corrie Ten Boom has been on my mind through all of this: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

I trust that in His timing, He will reveal the reasons behind this trip. In the meanwhile, I am prayerfully considering a return trip next summer, and possibly an internship. Pastor D’s family will be coming to visit the States in October, and I look forward to introducing them to the rest of my family. J

The work in Haiti continues, and I remain committed to seeing the orphanage built. I will take just one day at a time, and continue to follow wherever God leads, through every door He opens.

THANK YOU for your faithful support and prayers! You are enabling me to fulfill the calling God has placed on my life: the call to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the nations!

To read my day-by-day journal accounts of the Guatemala trip, click on the links below:

Guatemala, Part 1

Guatemala, Part 2

Guatemala, Part 3

Guatemala, Part 4

Guatemala, Part 5

Guatemala, Part 6

Guatemala, Part 7

Guatemala, Part 8

Guatemala, Part 9

Faces of Haiti: Created

The longer I live, the more I travel, the more people I meet, the more I feel that I was created for foreign missions work. I am created to share the hope of Christ with others, and worship Him by pouring my life out in service to Him.

Faces of Haiti: One Year

I can hardly believe that it has been a whole year since our family departed for Haiti! I never would have imagined all the changes that have taken place over the past year. We serve an amazing God! I had hoped to have been back to Haiti by now, but I trust in God’s timing. One day (hopefully soon!) I will return!

Faces of Haiti: Valencia

Valencia, her mother, and brother.

I was rather surprised to receive this picture from a friend who just got back from Haiti. Valencia’s mother is still alive! But she is mentally ill and pregnant. I’m not sure where her Mom has been, what she does, etc. but it’s one more piece to the puzzle of this little girl that has captivated my heart. I pray that somehow, God would reconcile this seemingly broken family to Himself.

Faces of Haiti: Reunited

While the above picture was taken last summer, I just saw a picture of these two today. After a whole year, M and T were finally reunited during another missions trip. These two had such a special friendship, similar to my relationship with Valencia. It makes me long for the day when I will finally be reunited with Valencia!

Faces of Haiti: Prayer

Please take a moment to pray for a team from Michigan that will be ministering on La Montagne this week! Several members of the team went with me last summer, and others are good friends of mine. Please pray that God would use them to minister to the Haitian people, and that lives would be changed as a result of this trip!

So . . . Where Are We Going?

This was an email update I sent out recently to Hope Hill Orphanage Building Project Supporters. I wanted to post it here so you all could know what was going on with our plan to go on a missions trip this summer.

My word. I hardly know where to begin! This past month has been a confused blur with dozens of changes in plans being made. I’ve almost given up trying to explain it to people, but confusing as it is, it is the story God is writing in my life right now.

Last month the plan was for Ben and I to spend a month in Haiti this summer and help host 2 missions teams from A Child’s Hope, a missions team from Michigan, and 2 missions teams from Florida.

But then plans started to fall through left and right. On such short notice, we could not get together a team large enough to go on the trips with A Child’s Hope. After exploring several other options, we decided to travel with the missionary’s wife, and serve more as “interns” to the missionaries. But by the time we settled on the plan and she purchased her ticket and gave us her itinerary, the ticket prices had skyrocketed (almost overnight) to $900+.

We talked and prayed as a family about this decision. I just didn’t feel that it would be practicing good stewardship to pay over $600 extra simply to travel to Haiti. That money could go towards another whole plane ticket under normal circumstances, or do a lot of other good things.

The decision to call off our trip to Haiti was difficult, as it had been a year in the making (longer if you count the number of years I had planned to spend a month on the missions field following my high school graduation.) But I had peace knowing that only God could have closed the 5 or 6 doors we thought were open. Clearly He had other plans for our summer.

As these doors were slamming shut one after another, I talked with our youth/Family pastor at church. He mentioned one night in youth group that there were some ways we could serve our church this summer. I emailed and asked about some specific ways we could serve.

I was quite surprised when he called back and said someone had dropped out of the high school missions trip to Guatemala. The deadline to join this trip was months ago, but our pastor thought he might be able to get a ticket for Ben as well, that is if we were interested. I said YES, and began praying specifically that if God did NOT want us to go on this trip that he would be unable to secure a 2^nd ticket.

A couple of days later, we received a text saying that our pastor had 2 tickets. We took that as a clear answer to our prayer, and joined the team.

So now Ben and I will be joining a team of 16 from our church from on a missions trip to Guatemala! We will be doing ministry to children, which is my passion. Because we won’t be gone for a whole month, we will also have the opportunity to help out with Vacation Bible School at our church here in Texas (in late June.)

There is a possibility that we may still go on a week-long trip this fall with A Child’s Hope, but those plans are still in the baby stage.

While this change in plans is radical and definitely a surprise (just as much to you as it is to me!), God is so clearly at work. Only HE could have closed all the doors to Haiti and opened up the door to Guatemala. Why He wants us there instead of in Haiti (where my heart truly lies), I don’t know. But I do know this; I desire with all my heart to serve Him joyfully wherever He places me!

I still hope to return to Haiti for a month at some point, perhaps next summer. But for now, I will continue to serve and pray for this special country from home. The amount of money donated towards Hope Hill has continued to climb slowly but surely up to $13,600+. I serve an incredible God who is completely in control and a great provider!

How to Pray for the Hope Hill Orphanage Project:

Please pray in the following ways:

·         Pray that I would listen hard for God’s leading in my life and joyfully follow where He leads, especially as I transition out of high school next month.

·         Please pray that despite the fact that I will not be returning to Haiti this summer, my motivation to serve would not decrease in any way. Pray that my focus will remain on Christ and on the burden He has given me for the Haitian children.

·         Pray for Ben and me as we prepare to go to Guatemala. God has already blessed that change in plans; within 3 days of officially joining the team, we had a third of our support raised! Without sending a single support letter!!

This quote is so appropriate in light of all that’s been going on the past month:

“When one door closes another opens. But often we look so long [and] so regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us.” –Helen Keller

Update on the Gala

Talking about the Summer Missions trips through A Child’s Hope with some of the guests at the Gala.

Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers for the gala this past weekend! It was so clear that we were covered in prayer. First, we did NOT get lost driving through Dallas and Houston. We made it to Houston on time, and to the ballroom where the event was being held on time. We were able to get everything set up and have a happy reunion with the missionaries a few hours before the gala started. :-) It was SO good to see them both again after so many months!

 

I was a bit nervous about how things would go, but the gala was a smashing success. We had over 300 guests, and the amount of money raised for A Child's Hope far exceeded our hopes and expectations. God is so good!

 

I also had the opportunity to talk with a fair number of people at my booth about our summer missions trips. Please pray that God would continue to raise up people who will come and serve with us on the ground in Haiti.

 

I'm afraid I don't have time to give a more detailed update, but I thought you'd like you know how things went (you can read more about the gala by clicking here.) Thank you so much for your prayers for this event!

 

Faces of Haiti: Update on Fedline

Last week, precious Fedline was wrapped up in the arms of Jesus in her eternal home. While I am so grateful that she no longer suffers from hydrocephalus, it still breaks my heart that this precious 10-month-old girl is gone. She touched so many lives in those 10 short months, and God will use her death to continue to touch more.

Fedline’s death brings joy and pain at the same time. Joy that she gets to see Jesus face-to-face, but anger at the injustice of it all. While I know God is sovereign and in control of all things, it still angers me how children like her are ignored by the rest of the world.

Awhile back I read a book called “The Hole in Our Gospel” by Richard Stearns. In it, he put child deaths in amazing perspective. Imagine a commercial airliner where all the passengers are children. Now imagine that the plane crashes, burns, and kills every child onboard. It would be considered a horrific tragedy and attract national media attention, donations to the families of the children, and research to find out the cause behind the crash.

Now imagine that every day, 25, 50, or 75 planes filled with children crash and burn every day. THAT is how many children die around the world each day, and most of them die of preventable or treatable diseases.

While I believe it is incredibly important to address the issue of child mortality, I believe it is equally important to address the spiritual death occurring across the globe. Hundreds of children enter into heaven each day. But what about their families here on earth? What about teenage children who die every day? Are we meeting their physical AND spiritual needs? Friends, the need is URGENT. We cannot waste our time, because time has a limit. What are you doing TODAY to meet the physical and spiritual needs of children around the world?

Gala Coming Up

This past month has flown by, filled with preparations for the upcoming fundraising gala for “A Child’s Hope.” As the trip coordinator, I have been quite busy completing a number of projects in preparation. I have communicated extensively with travel agents, the missionary, the President of ACH, and others to calculate the cost to send teams down to Haiti. I have also designed a brochure to promote the trips, and created all the forms people need to fill out to apply for our trips.

Even though there was a bit of stress and adrenaline in trying to complete all of that in just 3 weeks, I had so much fun doing all of it! I enjoy being so involved with Haiti while still being able to stay at home and keep up with my homeschool studies. I am also really looking forward to being back in Haiti this summer!

So please be in prayer this weekend for the gala. Pray that many people would come, many would apply for our two trips this summer; that I would be able to answer all the questions that will come my way, and that the fundraising aspect would be a success. And that we don’t get lost in Houston. J I look forward to posting an update sometime next week!

Faces of Haiti: Update on Fabie

 

A couple of months ago, I wrote an update on Fabie, the little girl we met in Haiti with the severe burns on her neck and chest. A friend emailed this picture to us yesterday. Fabie had her first surgery to reconstruct her neck in late February. The surgery was pretty traumatic for such a young girl, but she pulled through and is recovering well as far as I know. Unfortunately she developed an infection in her leg (one of the graft sites), and was hospitalized to treat it.

 

She is a rambunctious little girl and had a little trouble honoring the doctor’s orders to take it easy following her surgery. J She has to wear a neck brace while her neck heals, and she will have more surgeries in the future.

 

But Fabie is one step closer to having mobility in her neck and living a normal life! Our God is so good!

 

Touching Gift

Last Thursday night, we were all sitting innocently around the dinner table enjoying a family dinner before Dad and the twins left for a Father Daughter Retreat the next morning (more on that tomorrow.) Suddenly, all my siblings get up and go upstairs together. I thought they had some kind of surprise for Mom and Dad. I kind of wondered why I had been left out of the surprise…

When they came back down, they had a tin box in their hands. They placed it in front of me. Completely caught-off guard, I opened the lid. Inside was loose change, lots of $1 bills, a few $5's and a $20. On top was a note that read "Bianca's Orphanage Project." For months, my siblings have been squirreling away money to give me. Their "golden goal" was $100.

Inside that little tin box was $102.67! I was so humbled by their initiative and thoughtfulness, especially when they all pointed to Josiah as the one who came up with the idea. I'm more impressed by the fact that they kept this a secret for so long. J I was so touched! I am so incredibly blessed by my siblings! J

Update on Meeting with A Child's Hope

I am finally getting around to posting the much-anticipated update on my meeting with the board members of “A Child’s Hope” down in Houston! I had intended to post about it several weeks ago, but my intentions were put on hold following the death of my paternal Grandmother. Thank you all for being patient with me!

I was able to meet more than half of the board members of ACH, and I have never felt more welcomed into a group before. When people are united for the cause of God’s Kingdom, it brings about a camaraderie that can’t be matched anywhere else.

We discussed in detail our respective efforts/organizations and our visions for La Montagne and what a partnership would look like. The vision of ACH includes and also goes above and beyond the vision I had. I could write until my fingers cramp up, but rather than describe their organization in-depth here, I would encourage you to go over to their website and have a look for yourself: www.achildshope.org.

As of yesterday afternoon, I became an official partner with “A Child’s Hope.” Our visions work together so well, and together we can do far more much sooner.

There are a couple things you should know about this partnership:

1.) All funds towards the project in Haiti can and should continue to be sent to our church in Michigan. We are keeping that account open so that funds can continue to go through there, so that I can keep a record of the donations that I have raised. I am keeping my original goal of $70,000, so this helps me keep a better record of my progress. Eventually that money will be transferred over to ACH.

2.) This website will remain up and running. I will probably redo some of the pages to reflect the partnership, so you may be seeing some updates to the pages. I will continue to post regular updates on what’s going on in Haiti. We don’t consider Hope Hill to have dissolved, but rather partnered with ACH.

My personal involvement in the project has also shifted a bit due to the partnership. In a lot of ways, it has been a good shift! While I am still one of the visionaries of the project, the responsibility of executing that vision doesn’t fall only on my shoulders anymore. I am now part of a team of people that is working together to accomplish this goal. While a lot has been accomplished so far, I believe that far more can be accomplished with more people on board!

There are lots of opportunities for me to come alongside ACH now and in the future to serve the people of Haiti. I am currently helping with a fundraising gala in April down in Houston. I may also become the missions liaison/trip coordinator for ACH. I may actually be helping host teams sent by ACH in Haiti this summer while Ben and I are there for a month. One of my immediate assignments is to determine the cost of the trips, so please be in prayer as I take on that task!

I am so very excited about this partnership and where God is leading! His fingerprints have truly been all over this connection, and I believe He is going to bless our efforts!