change of plans...

so the original plan was to be writing this update from the Mission of Hope office in Grand Goave, and to be sharing with you all the stories of our trip thus far.

however.... God has had a different plan in store for this week.

If you've read the last post or been watching the world news lately, you know that there has been major rioting in Port-Au-Prince since the announcement of the preliminary Presidential election results last Tuesday night.
As a result of the riots and general chaos in Port-Au-Prince (and therefore the inability of airport employees to get to the airport), American canceled all flights into and out of PAP on Wednesday, and that afternoon I also got a message from Renee saying that as much as they would love to see us, we needed to cancel our trip. I felt that those two things combined were a pretty clear indication that we weren't supposed to be in Haiti this week.

We had a team meeting Wednesday night, and while everyone was very disappointed to not be going, we also all knew that it was the wise decision to make.... not that we had a ton of choice in the matter anyway! A general consensus was reached that we would reschedule the trip for this spring, most likely mid-March over UAkron's spring break week.

For those of you that have so generously given financial support to myself or anyone on the team, rest assured that your donation will be held onto and used for the rescheduled trip in the spring. Also, good news about American canceling the flights (instead of just us deciding not to go): we were able to get a full refund for all of our tickets, which is a huge blessing! This means that we'll be able to repurchase tickets for the rescheduled trip without wasting any money on ticket change fees or anything. We haven't yet solidified details or a specific timeline for the rescheduled trip, but we'll keep you up to date as things come back into focus.

Thank you for your continued prayer over the people of Haiti in the midst of the chaos and uncertainty in their country right now. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is sovereign over all of this, and that He will continue to bring hope and light in the midst of darkness and confusion.

To Him be the glory.

political turmoil in Haiti

While Haiti's official election day was in late November, the results of the first round of elections was not announced until today. There are many protests going on right now, as people are angry and frustrated with the outcome, as well as how the election was held. Many are claiming fraud and turning to violence to show their frustrations.
Renee posted this earlier tonight [a few minutes ago]:

Please pray for Haiti and the millions of people in this country.
Port-au-Prince is on fire, shooting, rocks being thrown everywhere,
vehicles and businesses being smashed. The people don't know how else
to express their frustration. They announced the election results at
night to avoid people taking to the street this afternoon, but the
people have decided not to sleep tonight.

We are still in the process of making a final decision of how to move forward from here, but it's looking like the timing of this trip may not work out how we originally planned. Postponing a trip a few months is worth not getting caught up in the middle of any truly dangerous situations. We will continue to keep you updated as we decide how to proceed from here.

We are trusting that God is sovereign over all of this, and we are ready to follow wherever and however He leads.
Please pray for the people of Haiti, and for clarity and wisdom as our team seeks to love and serve them as best we can.

to Him be the glory.

less than a week away!

Bonjou! Hard to believe we're less than a week away from the next trip to Haiti! Our team has almost doubled in these last few weeks to a group of 13, including myself. Many from the June team are coming back, plus quite a few new people, as well. The team is:
Caleb Kuzman, Becca Lamb, Ben DiMarco, Tori Maloney, Ashley Day, Casey Shaffer, Stephanie Kline, Gail Andrews, Rachel Hurst, Kelley Parker, Lauren Pshsnychniak, Jeff Martin, and myself.

Caleb, Stephanie, Lauren, Rachel, and Kelley were part of our June team, and Jeff was part of the AIM team that was also at Mission of Hope in June.

We're making final preparations for the trip, as we leave this coming Friday! After a layover in MIA, we'll arrive into Port Au Prince mid-day on Saturday the 11th, and will be flying back to the US Sunday the 19th.

So excited to go back and reunite with our Haitian friends from this summer! It will be wonderful to see how much progress has been made with the rebuilding work, and the new orphanage site up in Icondo. Looking forward to getting our hands dirty as we contribute to the work being done!

Specific ways you can be praying for our trip:
-continue praying for the many affected by the cholera outbreak. many people in Grand Goave have access to safe, clean water through Mission of Hope, but there are still many others in Haiti who do not. pray also for all of the medical workers and hospital staff throughout the country as they do their best to help as many people as they can.

-continue also praying for the political situation in Haiti, as things are still in turmoil even after the recent elections.

-pray for the children at the orphanage and school, and the many others in Grand Goave that we will be interacting with - that they would see Christ's love through us as clearly as we see it through them.

-pray that above all, this trip would be about the people of Haiti, and not about us. pray that we would stay focused on Christ and his work of restoration and redemption in the lives of people there. pray that we would be humble servants, continually seeking out ways to love people well.

to Him be the glory!