Haiti

It wasn't exactly the answer to the prayer I prayed, but it's the answer God gave us, which means it's the BEST thing for us! I've been praying for months that my daughter and I would be able to go on a mission trip together within the next year. After going to Africa in June, 2010...I caught "the fever"...of short-term mission trips, that is. My heart was captured by the "least of these". I wanted to go back or serve Him anywhere, for that matter. And...I wanted to take Anna with me. This amazing child of mine (yes, I am biased) is so compassionate for the less fortunate. Much more so that I ever was at her age. I didn't want that compassion to be for naught. I wanted to see it in action. And, so I prayed for this opportunity to serve with her somewhere...anywhere.

Well, after the week I've had...I'm so thrilled to report that Anna and I have something really special to look forward to this summer! We'll both be going to Haiti on mission trips. Just not together. As only God would ordain, Anna will be going for two weeks with the Student Ministry from our church at the end of July, and I'll be going for one week with a group of ladies from "all over" the first week of July. Both groups will be working with missionaries Cody & Maria Whittaker in the town of Jacmel and some surrounding areas as well. They have an amazing ministry that you can read more about on their website http://www.howcantheyhear.org/.

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you might also remember their name from my blog posts updating you on their little girl Susana that ended up going home to be with the Lord last February, as a result of cancer. Their family was with our family on the day Chris was found after taking his own life, so you can imagine the grief journey we've traveled together...similar...yet different.

The women's group that I will be traveling with will be doing orphan care and anything else the Whittakers ask us to do, but we'll also be conducting mini women's conferences (similar to what I did in Liberia in 2010). We're going to teach, disciple, serve, and love on the Haitian women that God brings to these conferences. I'm ecstatic!!! I can't wait!!!

We'll have lots more to share on both of these trips as things develop, but I ask for your prayers in these specific areas:

1) Protection - that no plan of the enemy's to stand in the way of us going would come to pass
2) Financial - that God would raise up the financial provision for us to go ($2200-Anna; $1500-Leah). He raised exactly what I needed for Africa and not a penny more ($3500), so I'm trusting that He'll do it again.

Thanks friends! It's never too early to start praying! It's the best tool (and weapon) we have at our disposal!

We're Haiti bound! Praise God!