Who: 9 followers of Jesus,
Location: A mission base in Port Au Prince located right across the street from a large tent city and the Palace (haiti's goverment building.)

Living conditions: we are living in two tents with in one large tent which is the mission's base. We have running water! And one bathroom, who could ask for more.
 What we will be doing: The Lord has been showing us one thing here for this mission, and that is to come along side their work with the children. We will be running a Mini DTS for about 13 boys  between the ages of 10 to 16, whom the orginazaiton here has already been pouring into, with the hopes that they will be inspired to change there Nation, and become strong christian leaders. This DTS will also have a short "outreach" where we will be taking the boys out in their community to preach, and spread the love of God. We have also felt very strongly to be praying and doing worship at the palace every morning with the boys. This is something that Iamvery excited for, we get to pray for Haiti's justice situation, at the foot of their government building every day.
We will also be doing  another childrens program in the afternoon, where the children from the surrounding community will come for teachings, game, and food. 
This will be quite the crazy  week. please pray for continued health, protection, and for the glory God to shine. 
Its be crazy, but so good

A Story of Redemption

  “There’s the church!” A sigh of relief flooded the group. After two hours of hiking (and I mean as in hiking up the side of a mountain with was pretty much a constantly steep incline) in the scorching Haitian sun, the 18 of us had finally reached our destination. A one roomed concrete church. Not only would this church be our home for the next couple of nights, but also the location of our medical clinic. “So far so good.” I thought to myself. This was my first time leading a team on a one-week outreach, and my fellow leaders and I had so far managed to keep our team alive and hydrated.  As I stepped into the church I new this was about to be another crazy adventure. What did God have in store?

   “Be strong and Courageous, have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you where ever you go!”  These were to words that the Lord had so intelligently showed me as I walked towards the witch doctor’s house. My mind was racing with the memories of the first time I had met him, with my own outreach team in January. I didn’t want to go back, but earlier that day, as I sat on the concrete floor of the church, praying where I should go for ministry time the Lord clearly said, “ Go back to the witch doctor”.  Now, there I was walking down the trail with bible in hand. The first time I had visited this man our team prayed for him, he said wanted to step away from Voodoo but had many excuses as to why he could not. Had things changed? Was he ready? I had no idea, but as I rounded the corner of the little hut house there he was standing there.  “Oh Zami Mwen!” (Which is “my friend” in Creole) He exclaimed as he reached out and embraced me. He obviously had not forgotten me.

  

      “Lord, give him a dream.” I over heard our team’s doctor Connie Kline pray, as we sat outside the witch doctor’s temple, while some of the staff and students ministered to him inside the temple. My mind was jogged “Oh the dream!” I said to myself, as I remembered the previous visit and how someone on my team prayed he would have a dream. The Lord knew what He was doing. The group returned from their tour of his little temple and joined Connie and I. Before I new it, we were all standing in a little circle, I waited and listened intently as the students took turns sharing what God had been placing on their hearts to share. Suddenly I felt the Lord release my mouth and give an me the opportunity to ask the question I had been rolling around in my mind. “Do you remember my team pray for you to have a dream?” I waited, my heart pounded, “what happens if I wasn’t hearing God right?” I held my breath, and watched, as he nodded his head. My heart leaped, “Yes.” He replied, with anticipation I asked, “ What was it about?” He thought for a moment then spoke. “ It was about change, things changed for the good.”

     “He wants to pray?????” I questioned our translator as we all stood around our friend the witch doctor; this was something he would not do the first time. “ Yes he does.” I watched in a daze as the witch doctor bowed his head to pray to God with a heart wanting to walk out in change. He later explained that he wanted to change but found it to hard. Songs of encouragements flowed from the lips of our Haitian students as they began to sing songs of redemption over him. I stood their, “God what do I do? What do I say?” I waited, as our team continued to minister to the man longing for redemption, another man stepped into the picture, and little did we know that the witch doctor’s apprentice had been watching and listening.

    “I am done with Voodoo, I no longer want to work with you, I want to turn to God.” My ears could not believe what was coming out of the apprentice’s mouth, as he stood amongst us, and gave the witch doctor his resignation. “Okay God, this I did not expect.” We hadn’t even spoken to this man and he was ready to lay it all down and follow Jesus. “ Well, are you two ready to renounce Voodoo, and pray for repentance?” my fellow leader Andrew piped in. They both nodded, and with their own voices prayed a prayer for redemption. 

      “Was this all really happening, or is this just a scam, is this witch doctor really wanting to change?” These were my thoughts as I sat in church the next morning. The were students leading the service, and as it was coming to an end I looked down the bench to see our friend (the ex witch doctor) standing there with a smile on his face. The pastor called on him.  “Oh Lord are they going to except him?” I thought to myself, this was something I had feared. But as the pastor called on him, he had a smile on his face and welcomed our friend to say a few words. I held my breath. Our friend stood up and with joy and pride asked the congregation to pray for him, to pray that he would be able to make the change, and become like them. He had made a public declaration of a desire to change! With joy in our hearts, as the service closed, my team and I gathered around our friend and prayed.

 

       “What an adventure.” I thought to myself as I hiked down the mountain and looked across the open sea of the Caribbean. The events of the past couple days flooded my mind, the redemption of the witch doctor, the clinics, and the many interesting experiences that we had with that. Never had I thought I could add “ has injected someone with a needle.” on my resume, well now I can. “Wow, God you are good.”  It had only been a 3day adventure, and so much had happened. My question is, if this much can happen in a 3day adventure, what will happen on the 2month outreach? I guess I will just have to wait and see what the Lord has in store.

1 house 80 people, and an orphanage

    The Discipleship Training School has officially stated! And we are well into our 2^nd week of classes. Our 5-bedroom house is packed with almost 80 people, its tight, but God is good and has been teaching me about what unconditional love really looks like. And believe me living in this house is a great place to cultivate unconditional love, especially when its almost impossible to take a shower.  I have often  have had to resort to walking up the road to a near by pump to shower. But the students have been starting to captivate my heart, and I am so excited to see what the Lord has planned for each one of them. 

     I really feel that this season of my life is going to be really preparing me for what is to come in the next couple of months with the orphanage. As for the orphanage, many of you have been asking me, “What’s going on????” Last week myself, and three friends went up to visit the orphanage and check on the children.  When we arrived we were able to visit the children and speak with the owner of the property.  My heart was encouraged to find the orphanage and the children doing well, and that at this time the person that was abusing the children was not in Haiti. I also discovered that it going to take some time to figure out the legal issues with the orphanage, I felt relieved, and no longer feel so torn between the DTS and the orphanage. Throughout this experience God has really been teaching me about His timing in every situation, and waiting for His perfect timing. I still firmly believe that it is God’s will is for me to take over the orphanage because the way the Lord has been opening the doors and providing.

    Please continue to pray, the orphanage needs a good amount of work due to the recent flood, but the property is beautiful, large, lush, and away from the business of the town.  There are multiple abundant fruit trees surrounding the property and it is spacious and peaceful.  As I walked around the property I could feel God showing me the realization of the dream and vision He has given me. As well, there are several legal hoops that I will need to jump through in order to successfully fulfill this dream effectively. God is so good, and has been so faithful. I am so sorry about the delay in updates, like showering, internet is also something that we don’t get very often. May God bless you all, and yes there soon will be some stories posted on my blog. Get ready for them. 

Child like Faith

 The road I have been travelling has been one of many knew experiences. I have been learning what it means to walk in the authority that Christ has given us and to sit on that seat for the glory of his kingdom. Its crazy! I have have seen the hand of God move in many peoples lives during our stay in Vancouver Washington, we have seen people set free! And I myself have felt the blessing of God as he has been shaping me and molding me to be the person who he has asked me to be. One of the biggest lessons he taught me was through a 2 year old boy, this little boy at a young age knows the love of God and knows the power of prayer. As he sat there preparing to eat his food, which he declared as his favorite, he made a simple prayer "Thank you for food, Jesus I love you." And man did this kid mean it. He later, looked at me as we were playing and  with a light in his eyes said " Jesus is my father" simple words, with such great meaning, and it simply is because it comes from the heart. God asks us to come to him like children, why is that? Children don't make things complicated, you tell them that God hears them they know it and believe it. They walk in purity, and have great faith. This is how we are supposed to walk, knowing that if we pray the Father's will  in faith whatever we ask for will be done, its simple, yet we ask ourselves why don't we see God move? Is it God, or is it that we don't believe that He will move? We must know the authority we have and live it out in child like faith.

Ready.... Set..... Jump!

          As a child I always had this love for adventure, whether it be cliff jumping, roller coasters, or simply hiking a mountain, But hey forget about the trails, if your going to hike might as well bush whack. I remember one of the most adventurous things I ever did growing up was bungee jumping …. And boy was that a leap of faith. In those few seconds of free fall a million things went flying through my mind. “What am I doing!” “I am going to die.”, “if God had intended people to jump off of bridges He would have given us wings to fly.” I even had enough time to replay the Oprah special I had watched about a guy who got the bungee cord wrap around his neck. Not a comforting thought, as you realize that there is absolutely nothing you can do since your already free falling…. Yep pretty sure I squeezed in a few prayers as well in those first 12 seconds of the jump. But it was a leap of faith, now your probably curious as to why I am rambling on about bungee jumping. As I am sitting here comfortably at my computer desk for one of the last times before this great adventure begins I can’t help but feel the same way. I am about to set off for the States (with the hopes to end up in Haiti) on a adventure with Jesus and some friends I met at YWAM. We really have no idea where we are going, we are simply just going to go where ever we feel the Lord has called us to go, to meet who ever, pray for whoever, and to speak to whoever. I feel like I am standing on the platform peering over the edge, seconds from jumping. I am excited, freaked out of my mind, yet as each second ticks away I have this sense of peace, and I know that once I jump, just like when I went bungee jumping, the first few seconds are going to be like a whirl wind, but once you come up from the first bounce I know that there will be peace. So far in my short stay in Vancouver, with the same friends I saw God move in ways that I can’t even begin to explain, I saw the Holy Spirit touch people lives, God even provided a granola bar from a completely empty box, just for one man, who was cold and hungry. The part that really blew me away, was that the man smiled and said “This is my favourite.” God simply did that out of love. I always have this fear that the human part of me will creep in and try and live in the spot light that God has placed to show His glory, I humbly admit that I am nothing without my Saviour, and when God does things like heal someone or make a granola bar multiply just so He can show someone whom sociality has condemned that he is loved, I can’t help but feel humbly honoured that Jesus has asked me to simply be along for the journey across the States, simply to spend time with Him, and to see the people He loves and long to be in relationship with. I can already picture it in my mind, Him bringing me up to a person and saying “ You have no clue why I love this person, but you will.” and giving me a nudge to sit down and talk to them simply to see what He has on His heart for them. Now…. Even though there may be a bit of a free fall where I feel that I am about to loose everything that makes sense, and live in a way that the world says is crazy, I can‘t help but feel it is right for me in this moment of life. Even though we may not have very many plans, or even a clue as to how this is all going to happen, I am comforted with the thought that I don’t think Jesus made many plans, He just went where the Father told Him to walk, and many times that was among those who were outcast and thought poorly of, and for such a time as this, God has called me to live like this. As stand upon the edge and start to lean forward until the grasp of gravity take me away, I can’t help but think, this is going to be quite the adventure, I am ready to fly.

true Love?

    Reading the title of this post, may have made you wonder what on earth an 18year old girl would post about love. Well I will put your mind at ease, this is not about a silly crush, and no, this is not about the latest hot guys on TV. Tonight I was sitting at the computer when I had these thoughts come racing into my mind.What is my goal in life? what am I trying to do? what's important to me? Why Go back to and orphanage in Haiti? What am I really called to do? then this thought , almost like a soft whisper, slowly filled all my thoughts and questions. I am called  simply to love God, and to love others. all of a sudden life seemed to seem so simple. But do I do that, that is my question. Our world has love upside down! the world says "Love is for you!"the World says " Love is something that makes you feel good, makes you feel special, love is something that you get from a person, love is about sex. Love is about being happy." But is this really true love? Love is patient, love is kind, it is slow to anger, there is more from 1 Corinthians 13,  but the one I want to focus on is love is not self seeking. Love is not self seeking. I am called to love the Lord with all my hear soul and mind, I am called to love other. not for me, but simply because I have been loved and redeemed by God, and as a Christian that is what I am called to do.there is no agenda in the love of God, and there should be no agenda in our love. Its so easy to say, yet sometimes so hard to live out. But that's the way I want to live.  Love has been so twisted by the human race,  Can we redeem love?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Moments of Haiti Outreach

    This post is just some of the interesting things that happened to our team while on our trip in Haiti, as we all prepared for outreach we had no idea that the words of our leader "just role with it."would become our teams slogan.... and if you will continue to read you will see why.

     Nothing But Our Carry Ons.
Back in Kona while I was praying for outreach, one of my prayers was to really learn how to be one of Jesus's disciples, and one of the stories from the bible that I would often read was the story where Jesus sent out his disciples with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Well one thing I learnt was to be careful what you pray for because that literally happened. Upon landing in Haiti our team was informed that some where along the way our bags had all been lost. Yes lost.....and off we went in a taptap with nothing but our carry ons, and with absolutely no clue as to when our team would ever see our bags. by day 3 everyone emptied out all the food they had brought in their carry ons and plunked in down on the table, and the communal pot was started. All though we didn't have anything but the few things we had in our carry ons, God definitely used those moments so draw our group together, and to teach us what it means to live in community. We tried to hold out as long as we could to buy stuff like soap and toothbrushes, which we couldn't get in our town anyways, but by day 4 we all headed down to Saint Marc to get shampoo and toothbrushes, by this point no one (except for a few and Eunjee and Jason who shared a toothbrush) had brushed their teeth since leaving Kona 6 days before. However by day 7 we finally saw our precious bags! All though this was a bit of a rough situation, I believe that it was also one of my most favorite times during outreach. This being because of the way our team was able to bond, there was no distractions and no one saying "that's mine" or "who used my shampoo"we all had to learn to share, and really trust God that he had everything under control. I also got exactly what I prayed for, the chance to really know what it means to leave everything behind and fallow Christ even if it means I wouldn't have a clean pair of clothes the next day. 

one car, one driver, and one navigator

 Over the years many theologians have referred to this thing we call life as a road. A road that contains many different hills, bridges, tunnels, and well...you get the picture. I agree, personally my life is like a road,  I am a driver in a car, with one navigator, whom recently I had taken an extensive long road trip with to YWAM. Thank goodness that the Lord was with me on this trip because other wise I don't think I would have been able to navigate my way through this journey. Man did God and I ever have some great adventures on this trip. He never ceased to amaze me. I found myself sometimes just singing along with Him while we were driving, or other times having a good chat with him. All though trust was something that I had to build. For a long time  I tried to do both the driving and navigating, and when I would let him navigate I was so worried about getting the directions right, that I forgot that He is a God of grace. That was one of the biggest things I think he taught me on this trip, grace. For so long I never felt good enough, like I had to strive to be loved. And oh man did He want to teach me that I was totally wrong. Sometimes I just wanted to get out of the car and say I'm not going any further, this is far enough, lets just hang out here where we will both feel comfortable."but he would simple tell me "Jess, get stay in the car, I am with you, and I want you to get to know the real me more, and you to forget all the walls you have put up and simply live with me." To my surprise this road trip took me to Haiti, the one place I didn't want to go, the one place where I didn't feel I had a "heart" for. But that was changed, and I was changed. And now after a long journey my Friend and I have taken a little break back at home. over the past week of being home I have been processing everything that has been going on in my mind and what is to come next, I question if I am doing the right thing, I question if I am ready for the adventure ahead. One thing stands out to me from my lecture phase at this moment, and that was one of our speakers told us that sometimes we are liked parked car, just waiting to go somewhere and do the will of our Father, but unless we get in turn the car on and start moving nothing may happen. I am done with being a parked car, done! Lord fill up my tank and lets drive!!! whether that's back to Haiti or just here at home. If you have skipped that whole spiel please just read this: one thing I have learnt over the course of my adventure is that sometimes we pray for God's kingdom to come on earth but we don't see that sometimes He has already given the answer.... US!!!! It is one of the most hideous schemes that the enemy tries to use to win, and believe me I know. I myself have fallen into this trap. For example many times I  have seen a homeless person and have prayed "Lord comfort the today, may they just know that you love them."and walk past. hoping that the Lord will answer that prayer by giving them a sense of peace... umm hello no. Sometime WE are supposed to be the answers to those prayers. Jesus didn't just tell the disciples to "pray"for those who will go into the world (all though don't take it that I am saying to stop praying for you missionaries, believe me they need lost of prayers!) He said GO into the world preach the gospel. We are called to be his hands and feet, prayer is one of the most important this to do, but I think many people including myself have forgotten that we are supposed to move too, whether its across the seas, or in your own hometown. We are called to pray and to be living examples of who Jesus is. I hope that at some point I will fully understand that I will have no fear to move when God tells me to. There will be many little stories that I will be posting about my trip, probably some funny stories as well as some crazy ones, maybe even some sad ones. thank you for taking the time to read this intro, and my heart.
love Jess