Making It "Facebook Official"

Begin the music. Hear the violins cry and the electric guitar and piano fill the room. Just imagine Chris and I are singing and we sound like…let’s see...David Crowder and Christy Nockels (cause that's how we sound in our heads):

“You called us out upon the waters, (we called it "risking the ocean”) The great unknown where feet may fail... and there we found You in the mystery, in oceans deep, our faith did stand. And we did call upon Your name. And kept our eyes above the waves. When oceans rose, our souls did rest in Your embrace. For we are Yours, and You are ours!"

Are you hearing it? Isn't it beautiful?  

We've got so much to share about how God has been working in and through our lives this past year, but it's just sooo much. Let’s begin with…

When we returned to Haiti in January it was cold…so cold. We know you won’t believe it but we both slept with long pants (tucked into our socks), long sleeves (even a hoodie sometimes - with the hood up) under 3 blankets and still felt a chill in the air. We had relocated much higher into the mountains and the cold seemed to draw us even closer in our relationship with God as we found warmth in  growing in Him. Leadership was the topic of much of our reading and conversation during this time and God began to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to leadership lessons in our lives and in the ministry of A Door to Hope. It is very difficult to describe but we knew God was up to something and we began to pray and pray long and hard. We asked those closest to us to pray with us. And we put our hearts to the ground and begged for clarity. We had stepped out into “the great unknown” as we stepped off the plane to live in Haiti for this year and we felt once again that another “great unknown” was before us.

"Your grace abounds in deepest waters. Your sovereign hand will be our guide. Where feet may fail and fear surrounds us, you've never failed and You won't start now. So we did call upon Your name. And kept our eyes above the waves. When oceans rose our souls found rest in Your embrace, for we are Yours, and You are ours!" 

We had a wonderful month of March leading two teams (mostly from Tennessee) in Grand Goave and then had a week or two to catch up on paperwork. It was during this time that Chris became ill and really never could catch back up to full health.

So, in April we were heading back to the US for a break for a few weeks. Much of the time was spent dealing with doctors and running tests to determine why Chris’ digestive system had gone bazooka on itself. He was dealing with a lot of pain and discomfort. But, we had one very special time to getaway that a friend gave us – at her beach house! We took Brynna and it was awesome! It was during that week that we were drawn to a Church that had been praying and seeking the Lord’s timing in bringing a particular Pastor to join their team. We shook hands with the Senior Pastor, some of the lead Pastors, board members and sat down and shared life with them. This set off a series of encounters where they wanted to know more and we wondered what God was up to. We came back to Haiti in May and said, “Hey! Was that the Lord making the “Unknown” known?”

Through much struggle and prayer, we came to realize that God had placed us in Haiti to provide leadership for the A Door to Hope ministry in Haiti but our role as leaders had reached a limit. It was difficult to think that we might be leaving Haiti because it just seems so unspiritual to say that we are leaving the mission field. But we knew that this was exactly how God was leading in our lives. Once again we stepped out in faith and said to the Lord….we will follow wherever you lead us.

It was very near the end of May that Chris turned in his resignation letter to A Door to Hope and signed an offer from Friendswood Community Church to become the Pastor of Living Hope Houston. We offered to stay with A Door to Hope throughout the summer to finish leading the many mission teams coming and going this summer. We already have a wonderful relationship with Friendswood Community Church as Chris has had the privilege of leading their teams to Haiti for the past three summers. Pastor Kevin is the one from FCC who listened to the Holy Spirit when it didn’t make sense and pursued us for a Pastoral position at the Church. It is with great anticipation that we will leave Haiti on August 3^rd and not return in the same capacity. We will journey to Louisville to share in the celebration of the union of our son, Josiah to Katie Hennessy on August 8^th and then set out for Friendswood, Texas the very next week with Brynna as our own little family of three.

We thank you from the very depths of our hearts for your many encouraging words and deep prayers for us this past year. There is just no way we could have pressed on in following God’s calling in Haiti without it…we are sure of it.

“Spirit lead us where our trust is without borders. Let us walk upon the waters wherever You would call us. Take us deeper than our feet could ever wander. And our faith will be made stronger in the presence of our Savior!”

Teams: Three Weeks Back to Back

Well, it's been super quiet from me lately... for several months actually because it's very near impossible to put into black and white words all that needs to be said, but I've come to the conclusion that I cannot express all that's been going on in our hearts and minds this year (2015). Those of you who are closest to us will no doubt hear too many stories of hope and healing and suffering and anguish, but I simply cannot put them all out here anymore. God has taught and wrought our hearts this last year and I believe it'll still be months or years before our hearts can properly process everything.

We've just returned and possibly recovered from three weeks of back to back teams with A Door to Hope. I had an extra team thrown in the middle from Heart of God Haiti while Chris stayed in Grand Goave. The first week's team (June 13) was full of new faces and delay after delay in flights... and then missing bags - including "the one" with all the turkey, ham and cheese in it to feed the team lunch during the week. 

There was a youth pastor (Lance) who was able to bring his entire family - wife (Jen), two daughters (Megan and Mikayla) and a son (Dylan) that reminded me of us back in 2012 when we were able to bring the Ward party of five. What an experience to share! They brought a few other folks from their great state of Montana: Alex, Lily, Chase and Raedene.

And then there was Heath (dad) and Gracie (daughter) from Alabama. The image of Gracie in my mind brings a totally uncontrollable grin to my face. Her deep southern accent was JOYful! It made me long for pure innocence again. They are in the process of adopting from Haiti. They've got their dossier turned in/accepted and are waiting to be matched. Pray for them as they journey through this process. 

Then there's Tammy and Erica and Lexie. Lexie's been on several trips with us and is a Brentwood Academy Alumni who went away to college and brought her college friend along this time, who in turn brought her momma along for the ride. What a joy they were!

The second team - June 20 - went to Grand Goave and contained some of our most loved faith family from Temple Baptist in White House, Tennessee including the wonderful Andy, Emi and Drew who have opened up their hearts and lives to house our Brynna while we've been here January - August! Then there was Marliss and daughter Ashton, her friend Lexi and her mom, Lana. Then there was "madame mango" returning from the March team - aka Sherri with her son, Logan who's raised money to build MANY houses in Grand Goave. And Amelia returned for more adventures, too! Mark Carroll sent his son, Eben and grandson Ezra. Then we had newby Don from our Churh at Pleasant Grove.... and Chase from KY brought his little brother Garrett! Pastor Joe brought Tyler, Dylan, Sean, Eric, Matthew and mother daughter team: Elizabeth & Melissa were amazing!

This is where I left the A Door to Hope team and joined up with Erin, Dave and the Heart of God Haiti team up on the cool mountain! Erin and I played "Moose in the House" card game in the evenings and stayed busy all the days long... one night we even enjoyed a great treat - we ate popcorn and M&Ms!! (Thank you to my Montana friends!)

The third team - June 27 - was from Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Kentucky. They embraced life in Haiti and asked more thoughtful questions than I've ever been asked. We laughed and cried together many times throughout the week as we witnessed seeds being planted in people's salvation stories, the watering of the seeds and then were able to witness several men come to know the Lord and begin their journeys to know Him more. On this team were several returners who brought several to meet our glorious Haiti. Sherry brought big hugs from Doug (was on the Sept trip) and Kelsey, her son's girlfriend. She told me her whole life story the second night and I just wanted to take her home with me. She is such an inspiration and SO encouraging. Jodi repped the women as she was the only woman the first day at the house build. She never rested even for a second, but brought her son, Brady. Corrie brought her son, Eric and fell head over heels in love with the baby in the creche. Matt brought his dad Kevin and son, Canaan. That was sweet! Three generations of men serving together. Jackie & Dwayne came back with their daughter, Nicole and daughter in law Tiffany. Dwayne led us in worship each night playing the guitar backwards and upside down. Dwight (dad) & Nick (son) came back to the place that held sweet memories as they had adopted two children back in 2012 or so from the creche. Stephania stunned us all as she shared what it felt like to return to the place she knew as home before being adopted. Her friend, Emily (aka Red because of her koolaid dyed hair), returned once again to shine in VBS rec time as "Ms. Wolf" constantly telling the kids it was "manje time"! Ric, the engineer, inventor and overall hardest working teddy bear alive held the kids in the creche captive as he asked them questions and played with them. Chase stayed over from Grand Goave making it a two week trip. Mark stole many shots on his iPad and his excellent quality camera and then set up a flickr page so we can all share our photos. Kyle was the cool, quiet one in disguise because his name on his application was not Kyle! It was Jonathan. And last, but definitely not least was Megan who brought her cousin Emily. Megan was on our September trip to Grand Goave and came back to check out the mountains. It was GREAT to hang out with her all week.

Now, we are both recovering from sinus infections and the stomach bug. Both are or have been on anti-biotics this past week and are the epitome of exhaustion. It was only because of you who have prayed for us that we have been able to serve. The new friends God has introduced us to these last three weeks have been amazing with fantastic stories. We are so honored that He chose to weave our journeys together. We have two weeks to catch up on paper work and to-do lists and then we have two more weeks back to back with teams. Then we'll be heading home for a big wedding!! Thank you for your continued prayers for safety and health. They are greatly needed and appreciated. Chris and I are working on putting into words what has been swirling in our hearts and minds over the last few months. Thank you once again for reading. Until then, check out photos of the teams in my Facebook album "Haiti Stay: August 22, 2014..."