Going Back Home

Three days.  Three days until I leave for Haiti, the country I have grown to love, cherish, and consider my own home.  I couldn’t be more excited! This will be my fourth trip to Haiti, and, like every trip, it will be different from any of my previous trips.  This year I will be co-leading a team along with my father!  The team includes five high school students from Blue Grass Baptist School, one of the student’s dad, my best friend, and of course me and my father.  God has definitely had His hand in this one.  It has been more than a struggle at times.  Plus helping plan a mission trip from the other side of the world was a task.  However, the team was very patient, and God was very good.  Everything is set for us to go!  I am so excited for these high school students to have the same opportunity I had in high school.  This trip changed my life, and I can only pray that it will change theirs. 

Four years ago I would never have imagined myself in this position.  When I was preparing for this first trip to Haiti, I was not excited at all.  I did not want to go, and I had no idea why I had signed up for the trip (good thing God knew what He was doing!) The beginning of my two-week trip was miserable.  I hated it.  The beginning of the second week I decided it was bearable, and I was glad I had gone.  However, I was positive I would never do anything like that again.  During the middle of the second week we went to Ansefalour, the voodoo capital, and my life turned upside down.  I do not have accurate words to describe what I saw in the voodoo temple, other than false hope.  This false hope completely broke me.  After leaving the temple, I knew without a shadow of doubt that God had more for me in Haiti, and I was ready for it.  (After returning from Ansefalour, I met James.. God just adding to my desire to return).  Six months after we returned home, the earthquake hit.  I felt a piece of me break with every video, news report, or story I saw.  I had already been planning on returning the next summer, but this only added to my desire.  Six months after the earthquake, I was able to share my Haiti experience with my church.  I loved every minute of this two-week trip, however, I felt as if it were not long enough.  Last summer I returned for a three-month internship with the mission.  The past posts on this blog are about my experiences during this internship.  I learned so much and became so much more aware of my call to Haiti.

I cannot wait to pursue that call during this trip.  Though it will be difficult because it will not be as long as my last trip, I have many reasons to be extremely excited for this trip.  The first reason is the team!  God has orchestrated an amazing team.  I am so excited to work with them, but I am more excited because this will be the first out of country mission trip for most of them.  I have no doubt that they will go through a major culture shock; I know I did my first trip.  However, I also know God is going to change them in so many ways, and I cannot wait to see how! 

The second, and maybe selfishly the main reason I am excited is because of Mark! My own little brother is one of the team members.  I have dreamed of the day I would get to share Haiti with him, and it is finally here!  Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.  After four years of telling him everything I could about this country, I finally get to watch my brother love on the people I love so dearly.  I am so proud of the man he is becoming, and I know this trip is only going to add to it.  Mark has a huge heart, and I know he is going to use it there in so many ways.

There are many other reasons I am excited.  I cannot wait to see my Haitian brother, Kenzie.  It will be amazing for him to meet Mark.  I cannot wait to reconnect with all the friends I have made.  I cannot wait to love on the people.  I cannot wait to see all of the changes at the mission.  This is going to be an amazing trip.  I know God has big things in store it.  I cannot wait to see how he changes both the group and me. 

During the trip, I do not think I will be updating this blog.  However, if you are interested in what we are doing, the group will be updating a blog at www.bgbsmissions.blogspot.com. I encourage you to check it out!  I cannot say how often we will have internet, but we will try to update it whenever we can.  

Heartbreak From Home

It has been a long time since I have blogged as it has been nearly a year since I was last in Haiti.  Even when I am in Kentucky (or Australia), I hear stories from Haiti that absolutely break my heart.  However, today is different.  Today.. not only was my heartbroken, but my family was deeply impacted. 

Four years ago, my dad and I journeyed on our first Haiti mission trip.  The very first day we were there, my dad made a “friend.”  Throughout the two weeks we were there, this friend followed my dad everywhere.  He never let go of my dad’s hand, and they formed a very special bond.  This friend was Kenzie. 

The next year my dad and I returned to Haiti.  Even though he had no idea we were coming, Kenzie was right there waiting for us.  As soon as my dad stepped off the bus, Kenzie grabbed his hand.  I watched their bond grow even stronger.  Last summer, I had the opportunity to spend three months in Haiti.  I saw Kenzie nearly everyday, and I grew to love him as my own brother.  When my mom came to Haiti in July, she too fell in love with Kenzie.  He impacted her life just as he impacted both mine and my father’s.  We all had made a special bond with this special boy. 

While my mom was there, Kenzie took us to his house because he wanted us to meet his mother.  Kenzie’s father had passed away four years prior, about the time my dad and I made our first trip.  Kenzie’s mother was a beautiful woman, but immediately after arriving to their house, we knew something was not right.  Kenzie’s mom talked funny.  She then showed us the tumor that was growing in her throat.  She had been to an American surgeon, but they said nothing could be done.  The tumor was continuing to grow, and we knew eventually it would cut off her air supply, or she would starve when she could no longer eat. 

Throughout the last year, my family has talked to Kenzie nearly every day.  He quickly became the piece we always felt we were missing.  We went through a lot from Kenzie being in the hospital to his mother being in the hospital.  God has taken care of us all.  We have all grown closer and become a family. 

I knew the day would come eventually, but I cannot describe my shock when Kenzie messaged me this morning saying his mom died today.  My heart is broken.  This boy who means so much to me and my family has gone through enough already.  Not only did he have to watch his father die, but now he has also watched his mother die.  It’s not fair.  Kenzie’s life has been completely turned upside down.  Today he was told he can no longer live in the house he and his mother were living in.  Kenzie is now not only an orphan, but a homeless orphan. 

Just writing that makes me cry because I don’t understand.  I don’t understand God’s plan in this, or why He has put Kenzie through so much.  I do know, however, that His timing is perfect (as always).  In 17 days, my father, Mark, and I will be traveling with a small group to Haiti.  While we are doing everything we can for Kenzie right now, being there will open so many more doors. 

I ask for your prayers for Kenzie.  Pray for peace, comfort, and safety for him.  I also ask that you pray for my family.  There is a lot that needs to be done as we are seeking God’s will for Kenzie’s life with us.  In a perfect world, he would come live with us.  However, we do not live in a perfect world, and things are not that easy.  Pray for guidance and patience as we have a long road ahead of us until our family is complete.