The Prayer of a 3 year old

Please Join In Prayer

Would you please join us in praying for our dear friend, Danny Pye? Danny is an American Missionary serving in Jacmel, Haiti. Danny was unjustly arrested and put in prison 126 days ago and he remains there today. Danny and his wife Leann, along with their daughter, run a children's home for 22 Haitian youth. He is a regarded as a father by so many children and is about to add to that number. Leann is due with their second child in a few short weeks. Danny is being held on erroneous charges and has not received a trial or sentence. In fact, less than 25% of all Haitian inmates have recieved a trial. Having to be apart from his family for so long is unjust, potentially having to miss the birth of his son is so devastating, and surviving in inhumane, cramped conditions is unbearable.

Please pray with us for the speady release of Danny from prison.

"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17

The Big Things

We moved into our neighborhood when Luke was not quite 4 years old. Troy and Luke have been best friends ever since. Their friendship is full of laughter, business schemes, and adventures. They've been known to pool their money for start-up funds for their yo-yo entertainment company or to buy a friend chicken snack from the local corner store.

Luke's empathy and Troy's generosity have made them quite the duo. He's become part of our family and leaving him will be one of the hardest things I can imagine.

Creole Lesson

The Little Things

I know that our move to Haiti will bring about many transitions and will mean leaving many, many things behind. And I know the distance from close relationships will be the hardest. But for now I hafve a few thoughts on the little things that we will leave behind. The minor things.

The one thing I am certain I will not miss is the cold. I will not miss winter. I will not miss frozen van doors, frozen snot, frozen fingers and toes. I definitely will not miss the morning shuttle to school on dark, cold winter days.

One of the small things I am certain I will miss is Tide. Yup, Tide Detergent. Having a highly heightened sense of smell and odd emotional reactions to smells, I've found that Tide brings me joy. Silly, I know. But true. Last night as I walked up to our house in the freezing cold, anger in my soul at teh nasty wind, my heart melted at the scent of Tide coming from my house. It meant home, warmth, and a husband who serves me so well in the little things - like doing laundry.

'Baby-Doc' Returns

Just recently it was announced that Jean-Claude -"baby-doc" Duvalier, the former leader/dictator of Haiti, had returned to the country. The Duvaliers, both Jean-Claude and his father Francois ran Haiti as "president for life" from 1964 to 1986. While going into the nature of this time in Haiti's history is beyond this post, for most Haitians they view it as a time where although there was perhaps more stability, there was also much fear - particularly of the secret police force, or tonton macoutes. So while I can't predict what effect his presence will have, it is obvious that it adds to the already stressful political and social situation there. So on this day, we pray for Haiti, their leaders and legal system as they try and navigate this situation and that despite the continued uncertainty in their country, Haitians will continue to turn to and cling to God.

1 year later

As most of you probably know, it was one year ago a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. I remember being in the Mall of America when I heard the initial news and thought like many news reports on Haiti that this was being sensationalized. I quickly learned the truth and began praying for the country, my family there and the many missionaries and Haitians that I’ve met in the past 8 years.
In the ensuing days, Sara and I talked about how we could make and impact and eventually she was blessed with the opportunity to get there and help both her sister and the relief efforts already underway. When she returned 10 days later, she talked about meeting up with some folks from the EFCA and heard they were thinking about starting a long term team in Haiti. Missions had always been on her heart, and had been growing on mine in the past 8 years since my first trip there. I had always told myself that there would always be a better, more comfortable time than the present to think about missions. We had these conversations a few times and when she mentioned it again last February, I was surprised to find me saying yes, let’s start praying and seeking counsel on ministering in Haiti.
So now as we continue to prepare for this big change, we ask God to continue to be with and comfort the people of Haiti who have lost family, friends, pastors and leaders. We pray for those that are still living in tents, those without clean water or basic medical care. We pray for the missionaries and aid workers there working to help with these conditions. Finally, we pray that the good news of salvation will continue to stir our hearts to love and serve those in Haiti as all those whom we meet and interact with day to day.