New Blog

So, I have decided to use a new blog site. Here is the web address to my new blog

12/07/2010

Ok, so it’s been a little over a year, I mean week since I last updated. It feels like the things I talked about in my last update happened about a year ago.
We are down to Lucy, Peterson, Jude, Anacias, Metellus, Dani and me on staff currently. Oh, and Dani is going back to Texas for a while tomorrow. We will be gaining more staff shortly, but then going on break for Christmas (Dec. 22- Jan. 5). So the time that I’ve spent in Haiti these last 5 weeks has pretty much felt like transition the whole time. “You’re moving to a different house. No you’re not. Yes you are. No you’re not.” Maybe someday… It’s been kind of tough, not gonna lie. It seems like this time has been a little harder to transition than when I came in June.
I make it sound all bad, but there have been some really good things too. I have met a lot of great people and have many new friends. YWAM Port au Prince and YWAM St. Marc are friends and family now. I kind of had a bad attitude about the St. Marc base for different reasons this summer. But then we went to conference with them and I found out that there are many wonderful people there and I have lost out on some good relationships because of my bad attitude. But now I have some great friends! I’ve really bonded with Sarah Gilman in particular. We feel a bond of sisterhood, and it’s been so great to get to know her! Also, I have found a channel of creative worship and an outlet in poetry. I was inspired by my friend, Emery, who was brave enough to share some of his poetry with me. God has been working on many different things in me through poetry. I might have to make another blog just for my poems. I also now have lasting relationships with people from the Kona Awaken DTS.
Here’s a funny (now) little story to end this update.
My mom sent me a package for my birthday around August 19, 2 weeks before my birthday. She also sent a package of baby food for Tabby. Well, I went home and came back and still didn’t have them. So Freeman, staff in St. Marc, told me recently I had 2 packages at a company called Lynx, and it was going to be about $75 to get them. So I asked around and Metellus knew where this place was at up in Petionville. So he said he would take me on his motorcycle if the boxes weren’t too large. I was pretty sure they weren’t, so that’s what we did. Metellus already looked kind of tired when we were about to leave. I was pretty excited to ride on the motorcycle because that’s fun, right?! Well, we left and it took about an hour to get to Lynx up in Petionville. The ride was pretty uneventful and I was so happy I didn’t have to drive again. Motorcycles are much faster! I was really dirty just from riding on the back with all the dirt and smog in the air. So we go in and I showed the guy at the counter my ID and he says he doesn’t have any packages for me. I said I didn’t believe him because Freeman said they were there. He said they were at the airport and would be there the next day. I was mad, Metellus wasn’t very happy about driving all the way up there, so we left. I asked if we could stop at Epi D’or to use the ATM. While we were there, Metellus got a call that they did actually have the packages. So, we went back to Lynx and I paid a ridiculous amount for these two boxes. On the way back, we were both exhausted. I just wanted to get back to the house. Then, we ran out of gas. It started one more time, but we ran out a few minutes later. Another motorcycle came up beside us and said there weren’t any gas stations very close. So we coasted for quite a ways, stopped and got some gas from the other guy’s tank, but then it wouldn’t start. So these other two guys on motorcycles stop and gave us more gas and got it started. We stopped at a gas station a little bit later to fill up. We finally got back to Lucy and Peterson’s, dirty, hungry and exhausted. I knocked on the door and Lucy opened it, took one look at me and just starts laughing. I just put the boxes down and fell on the floor. Lucy told me I had a dirt unibrow and her and Dani kept laughing. I got a washcloth and went to see in the bathroom. It’s pretty comical now, but I was not super amused at the time. I still felt really dirty and was hungry. We had small group that night, so we were just waiting for Jude, Anacias and our dinner at Lucy and Peterson’s. Jude called me and asked if I could go get him and Anacias, and I really did not want to. I told Lucy, Peterson and Dani that I had to go get them, and Peterson volunteered to do it for me. I was so relieved I almost cried. Then when they got there, Jude hadn’t brought food for Dani and I as well. We were kind of upset, but there was enough for all of us to eat, so it was fine. Oh bonus! My mom had sent me 3 bars of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate and mice or rats had gotten in and eaten all 3! But I got Cheez-its, my favorite cereal, and birthday cards from my family.
Now it’s been 2 more days since I started this and there is a whole other update I need to write. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow and get it up soon.

11/28/10

I actually wrote this on the 26th, but then we fasted the internet for a day and a half.
This has been a good week! Last Saturday, I had a revelation about not taking burdens on me that are not mine to take on. So in all that has gone on this week with the bus burning and other things that have happened, I have made it a point to not take them on myself. So even though things get stressful on base and things are slightly crazy right now with the elections coming up, I have still been in a great mood.
I got to talk to my family on the 24th for my nephew, Adam’s 1st birthday!! I turned the video on Skype on for a few minutes so I could see them. The video kept freezing, so that kind of sucked, but I still got to see them. It made me kind of homesick, because my aunt Kathy and cousin, Tisha were there and Kathy’s other daughter Kendra, and her family were coming that evening. But they know that I love them and I know that they love me, and we all know that God has me here for a reason. So yes, God is faithful!!!!
When something is my burden, I tend to take it on pretty heavy. For example, some of us realized that Thanksgiving was coming fast and we hadn’t even discussed any plans for it. If we had not had teams here, we probably would have gone to St. Marc and joined them for their partly catered meal. So I decided to go ahead and plan on having a Thanksgiving feast. I asked one of the teams what they would like and got some ideas. I went shopping several times, stressed out a lot, but I had help! We had 5 chickens, 10lbs of potatoes, a large bowl of gravy, some Haitian sweet potatoes, fruit salad, cranberries, beer bread, Haitian bread, corn, green bean casserole, and for dessert there was rice crispy treats, carrot cake, layered vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, and brownies. It was quite the production. I think I stressed out so much because my mom is really good at hosting events, knowing the correct quantities of food, knowing when to start things so everything will be done at the same time. Why didn’t I take lessons? I don’t know!! =] My friend, Emery, reminded me that my mom didn’t learn this overnight but had probably learned it over the years, so that was encouraging. But everything turned out really well; there was enough food for everyone with some leftovers. After dinner, I felt pretty accomplished, and then decided to not be responsible for anything else for the rest of the evening.
Lucy was calculating to see how many teams we had come through since February and the numbers are 33 teams with 371 people and 82 staff and volunteers. God is faithful to provide the people that were needed.

This is why we should be missionaries!!!!

So we came back from conference. This last week was really long and pretty difficult. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. Dani, Jude and I had talked to some new (to Dani and I) friends on staff in St. Marc and had decided to go to the DTS graduation which was yesterday. Although we did not leave on time and had a flat tire on the way there, we eventually arrived. It was a really relaxing time in St. Marc. Dani and I took a walk and processed some things and it was really nice. No one was asking me questions about stuff on our base, there were no situations for me to try to figure out, I was able to relax. We had some very hospitable ladies hosting us. I stayed with Sarah, Stacia and Rose and Dani stayed with Hana, Anne, and Chrissi. They fed us and let us relax and treated us great! I am very happy that we are now friends and family with the St. Marc staff!
We attended the DTS graduation. It was really great! I had only met most of them at the conference, but there were four Haitian guys that were not able to get their visas, so I did not meet them. The Haitians had gone through 11 months of discipling and had all changed a lot. There were two American guys, Craig and Mike, that came in June for their DTS. DTS outreach in Haiti is different than most other places because you don’t usually leave the country. Anyway, all of them that I met and got to know better are amazing. I am very sad that I was not in Port au Prince for the time they came for part of their outreach. But they are a great bunch of people. Several of them are wanting to come back to be on staff with YWAM Haiti, some in St. Marc and some in P au P.
Craig and Mike had flights out of Port this morning, so we got to catch a ride with them instead of riding taptaps and public buses. About 20 minutes into our trip, Freeman (head of transportation in St. Marc) called me and said that a girl from one of the teams at our house had called him and said that there had been an electrical fire in the wires in front of our house. So I told Dani and she said that had happened before and I told Jude and he said, “Okay.” Ronald, who drove us, dropped us off at the bottom of the hill close to our house. When we turned onto our street, there were people from out teams gathered out by the bus. As we got closer, we noticed that the bus had black all over it and the tires were all melted. This was a big surprise! I knew there had been a fire, but didn’t know the bus got fried. It is a crazy story. This is getting long, so I don’t know if I’ll explain it right now, but let me tell you what we’re doing in the spiritual realm right now.
This Sunday, November 28th, Haiti’s national elections are supposed to take place. They will be voting on a new president, senate and other things. We have a team here called Fire and Fragrance, they have a focus on worship and prayer. They have arranged that the 200 hours before the elections people will be praying for a different year that Haiti was in a pact with satan. There are churches and people all over Haiti, America, South Korea, Canada and I’m sure other places joining us in this. So we believe this was an attack from the enemy that caused like $65,000 worth of damage and to put a spirit of fear on our teams and staff. This morning, even as I type this, we are coming against this attack with a spirit of worship. We already had worship this morning, but we are continuing in that spirit.
Last night at the DTS graduation, one of the testimonies was about when they had to walk through knee high mud and water with their sound equipment on their shoulders. They were all discouraged and didn’t want to do it, but Owen decided to have a good attitude and said, “Hey guys! This is why we should be missionaries!!” So every time something didn’t go right, or it didn’t make sense or was frustrating, that’s what they would say and it would make it better. I decided I was going to bring that back to our base. This morning, as I went to take pictures of the bus, I had that thought, ‘This is why we should be missionaries!!’
In other, Tabby took her first steps by herself this weekend and she did some more this morning for me and Dani. She is pretty proud of herself!

11/09/10

We have been at conference for a few days now. It has been really good! The resort is pretty nice. Maybe not quite American standards, but nicer than where we live in Haiti. I am sharing a room with Dani, who I work with in Port au Prince, and Flourine, who has translated for us some and is planning to eventually come on staff. I was laying in bed the first night and I commented to Dani that I felt like our blanket was a curtain. It’s funny because the curtains are actually the same material!! But there’s hot water and electricity 24/7!
I have been reading The Book That Transforms Nations by Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM and one of our speakers these past few days). In the book, he talks about how God has created people to be creative in all countries and cultures, even if a lot of people are stifled by their culture or government. I recalled a recent conversation when I told Dani that I am not creative. I had the revelation that I’ve been stifling my own creativity for a so long that I’m not sure of my creative areas. God has made me to be creative! I am creative!! So through that book and some of the teachings this week, I have been challenged to walk out in my creativity and areas of gifting. Also to more diligently seek out those things God has gifted me with.
I am getting more of a passion to get God’s Word in every home in the world. I know that a lot of Americans say they are Christians, but I really have wondered about a lot of the people I’ve seen because I don’t see the fruit that should be there. I’m not trying to offend anyone. I know what it’s like to say I’m a Christian and to not be bearing fruit. It’s just something I’ve observed. If we, Americans, instilled the principles in the Bible into our lives, our businesses, our children’s lives, I have no doubt the economy of America would turn around from this decline it is in. We have lost sight of our first love, of the principles our country was founded on. This is a huge mistake. I challenge you to search the Bible and apply the principles in it to your everyday life. Just read one chapter in Proverbs a day and apply what you learn everyday and I believe there will be a shift in your life. It’s crazy to me how many people in the States have Bibles, yet never read them. It’s our guide!! It has the answers to all of life’s questions in it! It’s full of wisdom and you will get discernment just by reading and applying it!!
Wow, ok, that must have been from the Lord, because that’s not really what I was planning on blogging about. This is something I am being challenged with and maybe someone else needed to hear it too!

10/30/2010

So I am heading back to Haiti on Monday. I have to stay overnight in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, so I will arrive in Port au Prince around 7:45 am on Tuesday. I am going back to work with YWAM. So I will be working with most of the same people I worked with this summer. I currently have an open-ended commitment with them. I am really sad to be leaving my family and friends! It has been really great to get to see all the people I’ve seen, and wish I could have seen more. Hopefully next time I’m home!
I am pretty excited to get back to Haiti. Not many people can say they are excited to go live in a fourth-world country, so I guess that is a gift from God! =]
Since I have been home, I have shared with a lot of people what God is calling me to do. I have been blessed enough to have people commit to sending about 2/3 of my monthly goal. Thank you so much if you are one of those wonderful people!!! If you are not one of those people, I still love you! I would ask you to please pray for me as I go back though.
I am going to try to be better at updating my blog. =] I am also planning on sending out a monthly update by email. If you have not been receiving emails from and would like to, please email me at ducktape04@gmail.com and let me know. You can also join my Facebook group called I want to be a World Changer for other random updates.
I got some magnets made (courtesy of Kalos, Inc) with my picture and info on them, if you have not received one, but would like one, please email me and I’ll get one to you.
A lot of people have asked me about the cholera epidemic going on in Haiti, so I will give you some information about that. I have emailed people at my base and they are being very careful about keeping everyone and everything sanitized. There have only been like 5 cases in Port au Prince, and it was determined that they had been infected in the area where there was already an outbreak. I checked on the CDC’s website and they don’t recommend the vaccination that you can only order from Vietnam. So I will not be getting that!
We are going to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic on November 6 for the YWAM Caribbean conference. I am really excited because I haven’t been to the Dominican Republic yet and I’ve heard this conference is A-MAZ-ING!! I’m excited to learn and grow there and meet other YWAM people.
I welcome emails! People have asked about sending letters, but I’m not sure if we’re set up for that yet in Port au Prince. But I’ll find out after I get there.
If I don’t see you before I leave, I love you!!

10/14/10

Things have been going pretty well for me. I’ve been working for Carol quite a bit, so I’ve been staying busy with that. I have also started crocheting scarves which I am going to take to a craft show in Derby this weekend and try to sell. I am selling them for $10. I’ve also decided to make pumpkin rolls to sell again this year, which are also $10. They are a good fundraiser and people love them, so I’ve spent a couple of days doing that. Let me know if you want to order any! (ducktape04@gmail.com) You can get about 15 slices out of one log and you can freeze them for about a year!
My mom had told me she was planning a family birthday party for me on October 2, a month after my actual birthday. Sarah had talked a couple of times going to look at some shoes before the party, but she didn’t get off work at Chili’s until 3. She still wanted to go, but I knew Mom needed help with stuff, so I was kind of frustrated with her for wanting to go right then, but I went anyway. Right before we turned onto our street, another car was pulling onto our street. I thought to myself, ‘That looks a lot like David and Delta’s car, but that would be kinda weird if they were down this way.’ Then we got closer to our driveway and I saw all the cars parked on our other acre. I said to Sarah, “What is going on here??” I was super surprised. A lot of my mom’s siblings were there, several people from church, Hannah, Jessica Sapien, and several cousins. I had a really good time! It was really nice to get caught up with people. We played volleyball, which was really fun! I think my team lost, but I had a lot of fun! As birthday a couple of people committed to support me monthly when I go back to Haiti, so that was also pretty exciting. Emily O’Byrne came over later on and stayed the night. We went to the church we used to go to together called The Journey. It was really good to get to see those people too. That afternoon, we went to the Haiti Lifeline fundraiser out by Buhler, KS. I had a really good time there getting to see people I have a unique bond with, having gone to Haiti with some of them, and even not going with some, but just that we have both gone, we still have a bond. It was good to get to see most of the boys adopted from Lifeline and James, who is being sponsored here to go to school.
On the 7th, I went out to Morningstar Ranch in Florence, KS to do a presentation about what I do in Haiti. They are praying about whether or not they are going to support me monthly.
Friday morning, Sarah and I took Mom, Dad and Aunt Mary to the airport. They met Aunt Kathy in Florida and went on a week long cruise in the Caribbean. I’m excited for them because they’ve never done anything like this before. I heard from Mom this morning and they had a really good time.
This week, while Mom and Dad are gone, I’m back up to the Topeka area to visit with friends up here. I’m pretty excited!
I go back to Haiti in less than 3 weeks!! This week, I’ve been blessed with more people that have said they want to support me monthly, thank you Lord!! If 50 more people would commit to sending at least $10 a month I would be set on my support!! Let me know if you’re interested!

09/26/10 Home again.

I watched part of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the other day. You know the part where they come out of the wardrobe and feel like they’ve been gone for hours, days, and even years, but nothing has changed? I feel that way. Some things have changed. My nephew, Adam can crawl and even took his first steps last night. I attended Esther’s wedding on Saturday. My friends and family have kept on living their lives everyday. It’s hard to fit in again when you don’t really anymore. My views have changed on things, as they must, living in a now 4th world country. I look poverty in the face everyday. Things just aren’t the same anymore. I don’t know how to explain things that are in my head.
About 2 ½ years ago some missionaries about to go to Papua New Guinea stayed with us. Paul and Carina Greer are back in the States on furlough. I knew they were coming to the States before I left and told my mom she should have them come to our church again. Carina is someone I really look up to. She is really classy. She also loves the Lord. She treats every person she meets with the love of Christ. She is someone I really look up to.
I am trying to set up some churches to speak at. I shared at my Aunt Mary’s church in Dodge City this morning. It went really well. Some people donated toward my support, and others took my prayer cards.
I have been really busy since I got back. I helped with Esther’s wedding which was last Friday came home on Saturday, went to a baby shower, had family pictures, went to church, spoke at church, worked with my dad, worked for a lady named Carol from my church, had lunch with Paul and Carina, went to hear them speak, worked for Carol again, spent time with Adam and Christin on Friday and went to Dodge City on Saturday. This next week I’m sure will be just as busy.
If you are interested in having me share at your church or small group, please let me know. I know God knows my need, but I also need your help. Please pray about supporting me monthly, sporadically, or even one time. If not, please continue to pray for me!!

09/15/2010

It is 7 am, but I have been awake since 6 am, just like almost every morning for the past 2 ½ months. Being back in America is weird. I feel like I’m back in reality. But I also know that being in Haiti is reality. Maybe it’s because I’ve wanted to be in Haiti longer than 10 days for the past 2 ½ years. Leaving was really hard.
Every time I’ve used the bathroom, I’ve looked for the trash can to put the toilet paper in, many times thinking to myself, ‘that’s not a very convenient place to put it. Oh right, I can flush it here.’ Men don’t stare at me and make kissing noises or cat calls. No one calls me ‘Baby’ and no one is trying to get me to buy from them instead of the next guy. I can understand most of the conversations going on around me. Children don’t yell “Hey you! Hey you! Hey you!” in a sing-songy voice or “blan!” (sounds like blah, means white or foreigner in Creole). Although I thought I heard a child yell ‘blan’ and I looked and it was a little Asian boy…not yelling at me. There are no potholes to avoid on the nice roads and highways. We wear seatbelts here and ride inside cars, not in the back of trucks. I slept on a couch, I wasn’t afraid that was sketchy and I couldn’t feel any springs. There were no people yelling, not any roosters crowing or chickens clucking to wake me up. I can’t hear the neighbors banging around pots and pans. I can’t hear anyone sweeping the concrete yard. There are no horns being honked. When I go outside later, I won’t have to take keys to unlock a gate keeping us safe. Although maybe we should gate ourselves in because my friend’s (my old roommates) house got broken into and 2 laptops were stolen recently. I can wash clothes later and not have to hand wash or fill the washing machine with water using buckets. I can use a DRYER!!! Praise the Lord!
God has blessed me so much already! Before I left, Pastor Carlos wanted to pray for me, so he, Pastor Georges, Hannah, Dani, Jude, Vogly and I gathered in the living room. We sang a few songs, then Pastor Carlos prayed for me in Spanish with Hannah and Dani translating [most of it]. Everyone else prayed for me as well. One of the things that was prayed several times is that supporters would come alongside me and support me to go back to Haiti. On my flight from PAP to Miami, in my row, there was a Haitian girl that now lives in New York and a Bishop to a Catholic church, I believe. I had my headphones in and was journaling most of the flight. Toward the end, he asked me what I was writing about and why I had been in Haiti. I told him a little bit about YWAM. He wanted to know how long I had been in Haiti and when I said 2 ½ months, him and the other girl were both like, “Wow!! That’s a long time!” They had been there for 5 days and 8 days. I told them I am going home for 6 weeks to see family and friends and do some support raising so that I can go back long term in November. He then asked me for my information because he wants to send me $100!!!!! I said, “Are you serious? Are you kidding right now!?” He was not kidding. God is SO good to me!! I believe that God was showing me His faithfulness and I believe He is going to blow me away by all the things that happen while I am home.
Hot water and non-canned milk with my cereal… it’s good to be back! =]

09/09/10

So 24 is treating me good so far…
I had a good birthday. We had worship and fasting as a base in the morning. I talked to my mom for a little bit on Skype (she almost made me cry). I took some people to the airport and Steeve to the bank. I got to go to Cite Soleil Tent City (TC) and help hand out Bibles in Creole in the afternoon. And came back to a surprise party with all the staff. I danced, was sung to, and got cake smashed in my face. I also got a ton of birthday posts on Facebook from a lot of wonderful people! All in all, a pretty great day!
On Friday night, we went out for ice cream for “Momma’s” last night.
Saturday, us girls went to New Life around 2 pm to hang out with the kids and for Hannah to get her “hur did.” We were there FOREVER!!! =] It was really good to get to hang out with the kids!! I miss them SO much! I thought we were going to get to go back there more often than we have, so that has been a hard adjustment since moving.
We were supposed to go to church at New Life on Sunday, but we were short on vehicles, so that didn’t happen. We weren’t very happy about it, but not much we could do about it.
Monday, Hannah, Dani and I went with Peterson and Valter to look at a property to see if we would want to rent it. It had quite a few cracks in it from the earthquake… ‘nough said. In the afternoon, Hannah, Dani and I went with Ben, Gideon, Adam and Abel to Cite Soleil TC. Hannah and I ended up helping with the school/church they are building there. I didn’t realize we were going to be helping and wore flip flops… bad decision. But it was fun! Almost every time Hannah or I tried to do something, one of the many Haitian men standing around would come take over. I was measuring the boards that were being cut, and managed to keep that job. Thanks, Dad, for teaching me how to measure and use a square triangle =] Dani went with Peterson to look at some properties as we are still looking for a place to rent for the base and for the pregnancy center we want to start.
Tuesday, at the church, some of us sorted through a lot of the things we have accumulated over the last 8 months, especially over this summer. We took a truckload to Cite Soleil TC. Pastor Carlos, from Panama, came in that day. He wants to partner with us on some of or ministries. When he got here, it was like Christmas!!! He brought a chair with wheels on it and a highchair for Tabby. And a whole suitcase of snacks and candy for us and whoever we choose to share with. Peterson, Lucy, Tabby, Pastor Carlos and Jude left for Le Montcel that afternoon. Peterson wanted Pastor Carlos to see the place and see what he thought and how he felt about it.
Wednesday, we stayed at the house in the morning. I had a bit of a breakdown. I don’t really know what I was feeling. I was frustrated with some things and ready to just be home, sad about leaving, not wanting to go home, wanting to just be able to understand Creole and Haitian culture. I cried, then I was fine. In the afternoon, we went prepared to work at the building project with Ben, Adam and Gideon. We had a lack of vehicles, so we couldn’t work on sorting stuff in the container we have parked at the church. We painted sealer on the walls of the school. Some of the kids helped me. They kept saying “Hey you!” when they wanted to dip their brushes in the sealer. So I said, “sivouple,” which means ‘please’ and then they started saying that. They I told them my name, so they would say, “Leah! Sivouple?” It was pretty cute!
Today, Thursday, we had worship then went to work on clearing out the container. We filled up the Hyundai truck once and Dani, Anacias and I went to take it to Cite Soleil TC. After over an hour of sitting in traffic, we finally made it to Lucy and Peterson’s so Hannah could give Dani and I our lunch money. The gate shut behind her, locking her out, so we had to try to figure out what to do. Luckily, the landlord that lives upstairs came out to get something, so Hannah got back inside. After a lunch break, we went back to work in the container, which was “like fire.” I honestly don’t think I’ve ever sweated that much in that amount of time in my life!!! I drank 2 bottles of water, a lemonade at lunch and peed like once. We took the second load to a tent city near New Life, stopped by New Life so I could get my purse that had my license in it and then had to go downtown with Metellus to pick up some boxes from Fed Ex. We drove really close to the port. I had never been down there before, it was pretty cool. It took around an hour for the boxes to be released, during which Dani and I just sat in the truck. Lucy and Peterson got back from Le Montcel today as well.
I can’t believe in about 5 days I will be sitting at Chicago/O’Hare waiting for my final flight to Kansas City. I am really excited to be back in Kansas!!!
Thank you all for your support and prayers over the last several months! Can’t wait to see you!

8/30/10

We haven’t done a whole lot of ministry stuff this last week, mainly because we haven’t had a chance to pray about what ministries to put on hold. But this week, we are fasting and praying together every morning about that, praying for the property up in the mountains we are pursuing, praying for the property we need to rent in the city where the city staff will stay and where we will receive teams. We will also be praying for the rest of the staff that we haven’t got to yet. We also have two containers we are trying to get out of customs. They said they want to charge $4,000 for each of them. This is a ridiculous amount!!! Please pray with us on these things!
I haven’t said anything about it to this point, and I’ve known for a while, but God has called me to come back to work with YWAM Port au Prince. I’m still going back to Kansas on September 14, but I’m coming back November 1-2. I will be doing some support raising, spending time with friends and family, and speaking at churches in the six weeks that I’m home. If you are interested in being a monthly supporter, a one-time giver, or having me speak with you or at your church, please let me know! I am really excited about getting to come home and see people, go to Esther’s wedding, speak at my Aunt Mary’s church. I’m excited to see what God is going to do at this time in my life!
We want to run a Discipleship Training School(DTS) in June 2011. We would like to be able to move to the ranch we want to buy in the mountains before that so that we can prepare for it. The ranch is going to cost about $5.2 million, which for some reason feels like a small amount to most of us on staff. And for God, it isn’t a big deal! June 2011 will be here before we know it!!! We are currently looking for a way to provide scholarships for Haitians to attend the DTS.
Please continue to pray for unity among staff and more long-term staff to come here.

8/23/2010

Well, I meant to write another update last week, but, obviously, that did not happen.
After about 7 months of this base starting, it took a break. A much needed break. I had only been here for less than 2 months and I needed a break I don’t know how Lucy and Peterson and the Haitian staff lasted this long!! We went up to a ranch in the mountains called Le Montcel. It was gorgeous!!!
We had some amazing team times. We came together as a team finally. Even before we left, we grew closer in a couple of worship and prayer sessions. Instead of everyone doing their own thing and being scattered, we were unified. We grew in love and respect for each other, where it wasn’t always before. We heard about the vision God gave Peterson for this base. We prayed… a lot! We prayed about what ministries need to be put on hold because we are trying to do too much. (We are still praying about that.)
The view was amazing!!! It was really relaxing. We got to take scalding hot showers and leave the water on the whole time. We got to wear sweatshirts and jackets because it was that “chilly” (70 F). We were clean the whole time. My fingernails didn’t have dirt under them at the end of every day. We were waited on at meals. We got fresh juice every morning. We didn’t have to wash our own plates. No one got yelled at for leaving a cup or plate out. We got to breathe fresh air. There wasn’t an airplane going over every ten minutes. Our ears got to rest from all the noise.
The owner came the night before we left. He talked to Peterson and said that he asked his staff how we were doing. His staff told him we were really easy. They said, “They eat and pray, eat and pray, eat and pray, pray and eat.” Oh, and don’t forget the afternoon nap everyday.
We are going to continue this environment of unity that was started last week. We are going to pray more about which ministries we are going to continue right now. We are going to stay unified. God has blessed us SO much!!! We prayed over each other as staff and got words from the Lord for each other, verses, and confirmations of things God has already spoken in our lives.
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where shall my help come from. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is the shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and forever. – Psalm 121

8/14/2010

What a week!!! No, not even a week, 3 days. After a whirlwind of events, we ended up moving off the New Life property where our base was located. There are no hard feelings toward the New Life people. It is just best for our relationship that we are not squished onto the same property. Now, Hannah, Dani and I are staying with Lucy and Peterson, the guys are staying at the church where Mission Adventures used to be and some of them are still at New Life. We have til the end of August to move all of our stuff off, but we are hoping to get the rest of it done tomorrow. It is funny sometimes how what could seem like a blessing ends up being a burden. We loved having all the teams come through this summer, but a lot of them left a lot of stuff and now we have to figure out what to do with it. It is a blessing, but we are not set up to distribute the stuff right now. We have tons of clothes right now, and also a lot of materials for kids’ programs. Hopefully we will soon figure out when and where to take it all.
It has been a really rough several days. I’ve cried several times, didn’t know what was going on most of the time, nor did anyone else, been yelled at by frustrated people, gotten several really good hugs by people that care. I’ve been stretched to my limits and grown a lot. Although it has been frustrating a lot of times not knowing what was going on, I could still rely on my God that knows everything. He knew everything that was going to happen this week. He knew when He called me here long-term what I was going to go through. Some days, I wonder what God was thinking, but I know that He has me here for a reason and I am glad for it.
I don’t know that I can explain how hard it is to have to leave my friends at New Life. It is really hard to not be around them. Sometimes I would just go get a hug from one of the kids and it would brighten my day. I love hearing my name called across the compound! We will be going back there to work with the ministry they have there, but not living there will be hard. I am glad to say that today a broken relationship was mended, so there are no hard feelings in leaving.
Thank you, Lord, for being the same yesterday, today and forever! Thank you for knowing everything. Thank you for knowing how I would be stretched and what my limits are. Thank you for putting me in the midst of some great staff. Thank you for putting me under the leadership of Peterson and Lucy. Thank you for being a steadfast God and for never failing.

8/11/10

Today was a hard day. I’m just going to be honest right now. It may not be pretty or a fun blog to read, but I’m doing it.
I hate mud!!! Especially when it smells like butt. I’m so tired of rain. I am tired of having to put a tarp on my tent every time it looks like it’s about to rain. I’m tired of people coming here and getting upset when things don’t go perfectly or when nothing is on time. I’m tired of people dumping their responsibilities on me. And not knowing how to communicate, so I just take it. I’m tired of miscommunication every single day! I would love to be able to take a whole shower and not have someone else in the bathroom with me. I’m tired of people blaming me for things not my fault. I wish people would step up and take responsibility for their mistakes. I wish we could all be adults and clean up our stuff. I wish that people would realize we are a baby base and make mistakes and not get their panties in a twist. I hate mosquitoes and don’t anyone dare tell me they are one of God’s creations or I might reach through the computer world and punch you in the throat. I hate ringworm and pimples and this outbreak on my lips. I don’t like goodbyes.
I love the kids at this orphanage. I love the kids at Lifeline that I briefly got to see today. I love most of the people I work with on this base. I loved having three of my really good friends here from Orlando the last three weeks. It sucked saying goodbye to them today. Then I had one of the worst days since I’ve been here. I don’t like it when people compare us to the base in St. Marc. We are not trying to be them or be just like them. I feel like I haven’t been able to process the last 6 weeks very well. And don’t know how to do it in a good way. I love impacting people's lives. I am glad God has called me here to be a servant at this base. I understand that I said, "Here I am, Lord, send me." and that that might not always be the easiest thing. In fact, most days, it probably will be hard. I believe that God is going to make me water, so that I can just flow with what comes at me, and not let things affect me when they are thrown at me. Please pray for me….

8/7/2010

Our building is finally the color it’s going to be until it fades enough to need to be painted. Yay!! It is now green with a gold-ish trim. We have started on some of the inside rooms as well. One of the rooms is like a baby room pink and the girls bathroom is red. We have cleaned out the storage room in the house and moved the sound system back there so that there is more room in the living room.
Valter, our chef, bought a bigger stove with 6 burners on it and a little oven down below. He is working on getting his ministry called Children’s Bread started. He wants to be able to do a feeding program every day for about 5,000 children. He is in the beginning stages of this daughter ministry of YWAM PAP. He is to receive $20,000 to get it started. Please be praying that people would be called to come and help him with this. He will also need a kitchen on wheels. Pray that there won’t be too much confusion or frustration with getting it started.
We did the feeding program at Lifeline and it went really well. We fed a lot of children and mothers with small children. It was great to get to spend all day there with the kids. I also loved showing my YWAM friends around. The kids really really miss the kids that were adopted from Lifeline, and all the people they know from the teams. I saved some pictures from Facebook on my computer to show them and they loved it!
Wyclef Jean announced that he is running for President of Haiti on Thursday. We watched an interview with him on CNN the other night. The Haitian guys that work with us aren’t too impressed with him. He was born in Croix des Bouquets and moved to the U.S. when he was 9 and has spent the last 31 years there. His Creole isn’t too good, nor is his French, neither of which sit well with most of the Haitian people. Peterson said his accent when he speaks Creole is worse than Lucy’s, who has only been speaking it for 6 years. We will see what happens in November when the elections are supposed to happen. I have been told there is usually a lot of rioting and violence around election time, so please pray against that. In intercession on Friday, we prayed that God would raise up a righteous leader who is actually going to help things change and cares about the people.
Today is Peterson’s birthday, so we had a little party last night. Valter took the grill to Lucy and Peterson’s and grilled steak. I attempted to make a peach pie… the crust was good. Now I know how to make it better next time. I was really sad that it wasn’t very good though because I tried really hard. I had to make 2 8x12 pans of it, I didn’t have a flat surface to roll the dough on, and I had never made peach pie before. It ended up being more like peach soup and some crust. My friend, Joshua Miller, helped me some with the crust.
It has been raining a lot more the last several weeks than it did about the first 3 weeks I was here. It is a big muddy mess when it rains. It makes keeping the house clean quite the task, let me tell you! My tent leaks a little bit when it rains a lot, but not a whole lot, for that I am thankful.
I have been driving pretty regularly for about 2 ½ weeks now. Sometimes it is a little stressful, but I am usually not scared. Actually, one of the first days I drove, we went to a hospital and there were lots of hills and lots of traffic. I am from Kansas, so obviously not used to hills, so I told Steeve (one of our Haitian staff) that I was kind of scared and he said, “Don’t be scared, you’ll make mistakes if you’re scared.” So since then, I have determined to not be scared when I drive.
Please pray for me that I will be able to communicate clearly with teams and my fellow staff. Also that I would have wisdom and discernment. My neck still hurts quite a bit usually, so if you would continue to pray for relief there, I’d appreciate it.

8/1/2010

Well it’s been a little while since I updated. I never remembered when I was at the base or when I had a chance that I could sit down and do it, but I always remembered when I was busy or not here.
We have had a couple teams come and go. There have been a couple of big storms as well. Friday night, our maintenance tent blew and rolled about 40 feet across the garden in the orphanage. A couple of unoccupied tents were demolished. Lucy had planned for a girls staff night at her house, so we went ahead and went over there and ended up staying the night. I was scared that the tent Hannah and I share was going to be down or full of water. Thankfully it only had a little tiny puddle in it and a tiny tear in our rain fly. There was another storm last night, but not nearly as bad.
There has been a church group of 8 that has been here for about a week. I went out with them for ministry every day. We went to the tent city in Cite Soleil so they could do a VBS for the kids while some adults were getting teaching from another group. That afternoon we went to the tent city in Delmas 33 to do another VBS. However, all the kids were at school so we just did like a prayer walk where we went to some different tents and asked for things we could pray for. It was mostly all the same thing: it is too hot under the tarps so people get sick, they want to be able to move somewhere less crowded, they don’t have any way to get food or water. It was hard to listen to, but good that the team got a little piece of what breaks God’s heart. Tuesday, we went to a hospital and prayed for patients and then gave them a bag of food. The ones we went to are all in tents. It gets very hot and they also mostly don’t have a way to get food or water. I went with a group to a tent with all kids and babies in it. There was this one little girl who became blind about 2 weeks before. Her mother died and they opened the coffin so she could see her one last time and when they shut it, the little girl went blind. She has a super good attitude. She chattered the whole time and was super cute!!!

Wednesday, we went to Croix des Bouquets to “my” orphanage to do a children’s program. It was so great to get to go see all the kids. Oh I also went there last Saturday so that Lucy and Peterson could see it and meet Nicole (the orphanage director). They were pretty excited to see me. Some if the little ones didn’t remember my name, but that’s ok, they still love to be held and I still love to hold them!! It was really great to get to go back on Wednesday and spend quite a bit more time there. The kids loved having us there and the team really liked it too. I brought a little photo album with me and they loved looking at the pictures of people they know in the States. Especially the kids that were adopted out of Lilfeline recently. We went back on Thursday to work in the garden that is pretty overgrown. We pulled weeds and grass and took it to the burn pile, thankfully, the kids helped. There is another team staying there this week so they are going to be working in the garden some more. One of the ministries we are starting is a children’s food program called Children’s Bread. We have done 2 so far. The first time we fed about 700 kids in Cite Soleil and the second time we fed about 700 people in the tent city at Cite Soleil. This Tuesday we are going to Lifeline to do a feeding program there for the kids and the village kids. We are also doing one on Friday at the tent city at Delmas 33.
The Mission Adventures teams are all moved to the orphanage. Sometimes it gets a little crowded, but it all works out. They are here for just two more weeks. After that, the staff and teams will be pretty small. I have sort of been put in charge of some administrative stuff at the base. I didn’t really ask for it, nor was I asked, but it’s ok, I don’t mind. Please be praying for the communication at our base, also for unity and clarity between departments and with teams.

7/17/2010

So this week has been a little rough, but really good. We have been working on painting the building we’re renting, but the people that own it keep changing their minds about the colors and different things. They’re driving me crazy and making us double work. So we're waiting on the right paint to get here to finish.
Monday, my back/neck were hurting more than normal, so at our staff small group, I mentioned to Lucy that we should have prayer for anyone in physical pain. I think there were only 5 or 6 out of about 20 that were not in pain. Wednesday, I woke up in horrible pain. I lifted up my head to look at my clock and almost cried from the pain. I don’t know what caused it to flair up so bad, but I didn’t like it. I told a few people about it, but I didn’t want to be a baby about it, so I didn’t tell everyone about it. I said something at dinner about it and Volter (our amazing Brazilian chef) said I could have one of the pain reliever shots he has for his knee. I was going to have Kristen (an EMT, that has since gone back to Canada) inject me with it, but it was in Portuguese and she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. We have a PhotoGenX team here right now, and when some of them heard about this shot, they wouldn’t hear of it. They prayed for me and one of the guys got Matthew 11:28 for me. Which says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” I had started crying when I was being prayed for. When (boy) Dani read that, I started laughing. Everyone was wondering why I started laughing, and I said, “Remember this morning when (girl) Dani was looking up what our names mean and mine means ‘weary’?” I don’t know why it struck me as funny, but it did. I have been praying about why I still have this horrible pain, and it has been alleviated some. One of the PhotoGenX girls learned some chiropractic stuff so she’s been doing that on me and it’s helped. Also, when I told Lucy my pain level was a 12 on a scale of 1-10, she told me to take it easy for a few days. So I have been. There is a Swedish girl here til Thursday that knows how to give massages. We have not utilized this yet, but we will be. And Lucy said I’m on the top of the list. Sweet!!
I got to go with a team to a hospital to pray and give out bags of food this week. It was really cool. I hadn’t been to the hospital before. A lot of the patients are outside in tents because part of the hospital was damaged by the earthquake and they have a lot of patients. My group had Vogly as our translator, and like 3 or 4 more of us. We went to a tent that had a bunch of sick babies. It broke my heart. A lot of them had fevers, some heart problems, stomach problems and a few premies. The premies were so tiny!!! It made me cry. But then, another one of our staff, Amy, said that it gives her hope to see all those babies there getting medical care that they wouldn’t have had access to if the earthquake hadn’t happened, so that gave me hope for them as well.
Kristen had been working with the PhotoGenX team, but since she left, (girl) Dani and I are going to be tag-teaming them a little bit. That will help with me being able to get off base. I think I am going to one of the tent cities with them on Monday.
We did a feeding program on Friday for about 600 kids. That was pretty cool. Quite a few of us had to go earlier than needed because our lack of vehicles and drivers. I just walked around and played with kids most of the time. Vogly wanted to show me a little tent city that is at the end of the street that we were at. So I had him translate when needed. It was a pretty small one, but he said it is a lot better than it used to be because they used to have just sheet tents, but now they have actual tents.
Please pray that our vehicles would stop breaking and that we’d be blessed with another one and with more drivers. Also if you could continue to pray for my back I’d appreciate it!!!

7/10/2010

Where to begin… It has been an interesting week. I have taken over housekeeping and it’s been an interesting role here. There are problems getting people to do their work. Leadership has been spoken over me quite a bit in my life. But this is really my first leadership role. I have been told I have been doing an amazing job, so that is encouraging. One of the girls does everything on her own timeline, and doesn’t like to work, so it has been a struggle to balance enforcing the work and not being rude.
I have been asked a couple of times how I am doing with being here. I don’t really have an answer to that. I feel like I’m doing alright. But I feel kind of emotionally numb. Except to frustration, I am not numb to that one! I am feeling that one pretty well. But I have gone to quite a few of the tent cities here in Port au Prince and I have not been extremely affected by it. I do feel that that’s not how it should be. While it does make me sad to a point, I have not been brought to tears because of it. I realize there is an amount I have to be numb to because I wouldn’t be able to survive if I let every single thing affect me. But I just find it weird that I’ve been so little affected. I think back to when I was in India in January and heard about the earthquake. I cried every day that I went to the internet café and read articles about Haiti. Pray that God will reveal part of His heart to me. That my heart will break for the things that break His.
There are about 25 people on staff here at YWAM PAP. There is also a Mission Adventures (youth group mission trips) program that I going on this summer. They are staying at a church we are renting. There are quite a few staff over there as well as a couple teams of youth. We have a team from YWAM Kona here. There are 11 and they are in a PhotoGenX DTS. So they all have cameras and are uploading pictures a lot. This slows down the internet quite a bit which can get a bit frustrating for people that need to do work on the internet during the day.
I am learning a little bit more Creole. I have been talking to some of the older kids at New Life that speak good English to try to help me. Also, one of our Haitian staff, Jude, said he would like to help me with it. I told him I want to learn anpil (a lot) Creole by the time I leave in September.
I am sleeping alright in my tent on my cot. It doesn’t rain as much as I thought it was going to. May and September are the really rainy months here. It’s rained like twice since I’ve been here. The other morning I woke up confused as to where I was at. I thought I was in a real bed…then I moved and realized it was a cot and got really sad. My back/neck have still been hurting quite a bit, so if you could please remember to pray that the pain wouldn’t be so bad, I’d appreciate it.
We have worship at different tent cities every Tuesday and Thursday. This week we went to Cite Soleil and Delmas 30. Delmas 30 was really great. Jude usually leads the songs in Creole, but there is a Mission Adventures team here that has an amazing worship leader, so he did some songs in English. I held a little boy almost the whole time and he fell asleep on me. This probably did not help my back problems, but it helped my heart.
Over all things are going well. Some days (like yesterday and today) I feel like I just need a hug. Some one to hold me and say everything is ok. Pray that I will feel God doing that because I know He is.

07/01/2010

Well the first couple of days I was here, I just kind of did whatever people were doing. Yesterday, we had a staff meeting yesterday morning. I got to meet Peterson and Lucy finally. Peterson talked a little bit about their trip to Columbia and Panama. He talked a little bit about the building they want to build on their new property. After the staff meeting, they met with a counseling team that is here for a while and the 3 new staff, including me and Hannah. They talked to each of us three about what we want to do while we are here. I am going to be taking over the housekeeping and hospitality department when the current girl leaves a week from Saturday. I will be making sure there are enough places to sleep for visitors and teams that come in. Make sure they have everything they need. I will be making a schedule for cleaning our common/bath house. Please be praying that I will be able to communicate well to the staff and teams. I will also be in charge of buying supplies for cleaning and toilet paper and things like that. I also found out today that the orphanage we are renting our building from wants us to paint it. Apparently they have been talking about painting for the last several weeks, but today a guy from the orphanage talked to me today about painting. So I have to find volunteers to help me out. I was going to get started on it this morning, but my contact left the compound, so we’ll see when it actually gets started on. We all joke about something being at a certain time, like 4 o’clock “Haitian time” which means that it probably won’t actually happen at 4. Also, Lucy told me I need to get a Haitian phone, so Hannah, Kristin (the other new staff girl), and I are going to get phones at some point today. I have not really been taking pictures, but I will try to start more.
This afternoon, we are going to a tent city called Delmas 33 to do worship with the people. I’ve heard that these times are really awesome, so I’m pretty excited!
Also, it hasn’t hardly rained since I’ve been here, which I’ve heard is really odd. I’m thankful, but I’m sure it will start again at some point.
Oh, and I almost forgot!! I'm so excited!! I talked to Lucy about going to visit Lifeline and she said that would be possible. It will have to be on a Saturday, our days off, and I will have to pay some for the gas to get there, but I will get to see my kids soon!!! Praise the Lord!!!
Thank you for your prayers!!

6/29/2010

Well, I made. I am back in Haiti!!! All of my flights were uneventful, so that was good. On my flight from Dallas to Miami, I sat by a believer and was encouraged by him. I met up with my friends, the Thompsons, in Miami and got to sit with Jan on the plane. We actually got in a little bit early, but the baggage claim area was more chaotic than I remember, so it took quite a while to get out of there. There was another team on my flight, and someone from the YWAM base was there to get them with the bus, but I was going to be picked up by 3 other staff. We were waiting on the other team so we could take some of their luggage to the bus, because they weren’t allowed to bring it up close. But it ended up that all their check-in luggage was lost between here and Toronto where they came from. We got back to the base and Dani showed me around. There is a Mission Adventures (MA) team here from Orlando, so it was fun to see Mike and Sarah Lennartson and Megan Funaro, for a few minutes. I‘m sure I will see them more, but they are staying at a church somewhere close by. My friend, Hannah, went to the beach with the kids from the orphanage, so she was not here when I got here. Actually, they ended up getting stranded for a little while because something about the bus was messed up or they couldn’t get the keys or something. I’m not really sure. Anyway, she got here eventually, so it was good to see her. I had been trying to find stuff in my bag right before she got here and found out something had spilled, so everything was wet and sticky. I’m still not sure what it was. But I had only slept for about an hour before I had left Topeka for the airport, so I was super tired and a little overwhelmed, so I really wanted to cry. But I didn’t. I went to bed around 7:45 because I was so tired. I slept in a tent and actually got kinda chilly, which I didn’t expect. And I slept til about 6:45. The base directors, Peterson and Lucy are coming back from a trip today. So I will get to meet them. No one really knows what I am supposed to be doing, so Dani said it’s just going to be a chill day for me. I got super sleepy a little bit ago, and wanted to go lay down, but it’s like a sauna in my tent.
I’ll try to update again soon!
P.S. It was 98.2 degrees in my tent at 7:45 this morning… I might die… =]

and she's off!!

Well, I know I said I'd be better about updating this and I haven't been, BUT, I really will try to while I am in Haiti. I have had a super busy week getting the last minute things done and ready for this trip. I have been blessed by great friends and a fabulous support system. God has really blessed me by providing over $800 this week!! I will be leaving around 7:45 tomorrow morning to go up to Holton, KS. I am going to church with my good friends, the O'Byrnes, at First Baptist in Holton. I will go into Topeka to possibly see some friends there and stay with the McElroy's where I am leaving my car while I am gone. I think we're gonna do some fireworks, which I am super excited about because I love them and I will be missing Independence Day.
I need to be at the airport by 4 am Monday morning for my 6 am flight. I will be arriving in Port au Prince around 4 pm on Monday, June 28th, and so my adventure begins!!!! Please remember to pray for me!!

Surprise! I'm going back to Haiti!!

As most of you know, I went to work at an orphanage called Haiti Lifeline Ministries in January 2008 and January 2009. I loved it there! Working with the kids at the orphanage was one of the first things I remember really loving. I didn’t know if I loved it so much because it was the only place I had been or because God had put it there. After going to India, I realize that I have a love for the people of Haiti in my heart that could come from no where but God. I knew I would end up going back to Haiti, even if it would only be with the January Lifeline teams that go every year.
When I was in India, I heard about the earthquake and my heart broke. I cried that day and about every time I went to the internet café for about a week. My heart was hurting for the people of Haiti that have been through so much and put their trust into the lies of satan. The rest of the time I was in India, I prayed a lot for Haiti and the people I know there. I also was praying a lot about what to do after my Discipleship Training School. I wasn’t getting anything from God about what to do and was trying to stay patient. I talked to my outreach leader, Beckie, about it one day. She encouraged me to keep trusting God and asked me about what I wanted to do. I told her I wanted to go back to Haiti and work somehow with the people there, either at Lifeline or somewhere else.
After I got back, I still didn’t think I had direction. I saw a youtube video about the 3 days of prayer and fasting they had in Haiti instead of their usual carnival which includes voodoo ceremonies and worshipping the devil. They also marched around the President’s Palace declaring God’s ownership of Haiti. This is a miracle in itself.
Joshua, a friend of mine from Orlando, had gone to Haiti after the earthquake for about two months. I sent him a message asking him about his trip and told him that I had thought about just emailing the YWAM base in St. Marc, Haiti to see if they could use me. He asked what I was waiting for and I didn’t really have an answer. So I started looking into going to the St. Marc base. Another one of my friends, Hannah Shinkle, told me that she was going back to Haiti to work at the new YWAM base in Port au Prince. I looked up information on that base and watched a couple of videos on youtube. I sent an email to them, got an application back, scanned and emailed it back and got accepted all within a couple of days. So June 28th, I am going to YWAM Port au Prince (PAP) until mid-September!!! I will be helping the PAP staff in their hospitality and possibly accounting departments. I will also be working with short-term volunteer teams and other ministry opportunities. I am hoping to be able to visit Lifeline as it is located just outside of PAP.
The cost for the 2 ½ months I will be there is about $2100. Currently, I am working as a server at a restaurant called Rib Crib in Derby until I leave and am saving as much money as I can. I will be living in a tent during the hurricane season while I am there, so that will be interesting! I am really excited about this opportunity God has placed before me! If you feel led to support me financially, that would be great! And if not, I understand. Either way, I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I prepare to go and during the time that I am in Haiti. Feel free to ask any questions you might have!

If you'd like to support me financially, you can make checks out to me, Leah Duncan, or my mom, Robin Duncan. I will be leaving for Haiti very soon!! June 28th!!
My address is 1436 E 90th St. S. Haysville, KS 67060.

Topeka, wedding, Colorado, and new job!

Well, I meant to update sooner to when I got home, but I just didn't... no excuses.
I came back to Wichita(Derby) on March 13th, then the 14th went to Topeka to visit the O'Byrnes and my old roommates, Emily and Andrea, minus Laurie who moved to OK, plus Esther who moved in after I moved out, and other Topekan friends. I also got to see the four new O'Byrne children from Haiti, Blandy, Blanco, Jackson, and Woodlyn. It was really awesome to get to see them finally at home where they belong!!! When we first got to their house, I started crying when Jackson and Woodlyn came to hug me. It was a fun couple of days!
I took some time to just relax and process from my DTS and India. I was sort of looking for a job, but not too hard. I still was not sure what God was wanting me to do, so I was just seeking Him and spending time in the Word. I have still been feeling a pull to Haiti, but didn't know if this was the time or what.
My brother, Joe, was getting married April 10th, so I helped out with wedding planning wherever needed: making mints, making lasagnas, shopping, cleaning and decorating the church, and whatever else Mom needed help with.
I went ahead and put in an application at Rib Crib in Derby, but didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks.
A friend from Orlando, Joshua, went to Haiti after the earthquake for a couple of months. I asked him about his trip and said that I had thought about emailing the YWAM St. Marc, Haiti base to see if I could go down there to help. He said I should go and asked what I was waiting on. I didn't really have a reply for him. He told me that he's going on May 3 for 4 months. I did contact the St. Marc base, and got a volunteer form for me to fill out for them. The week before the wedding (6th-7th), I made a quick trip up to Topeka to get my bed from the girl's house. (Sorry again, Esther!). It was a fun couple of days! I got to see some great friends and reconnect with some other people. I had coffee with Jessica Hardee, and lunch with Holly and Hannah Shinkle. Hannah did a DTS in the Dominican Republic and her outreach was to Haiti. She's also got the Haiti bug! Hannah told me that she is going back to Haiti in June for at least 3 months. She is going to help at the new YWAM Port au Prince base. I just thought, 'wow, that's really cool!'
We had a busy weekend with the wedding coming fast, so I didn't really give it too much thought. It was great having family from Dad's side come in and stay with us! Kathy, Kory and Tisha came from Colorado, Kendra, Davien, Janessa and Sanayia came from Edmond, Mary came from Dodge City, and Dustin came from Manhattan. The wedding was a smashing success! We are SOOO excited to have Kim now in our family! She's so great! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was super fun!
On Sunday, I went home with Kathy to Colorado. Monday, my YWAM roommate and good friend, Jackie Moore came and got me. It was so great to get to see her for a few days!! We went to her mom's jewelry party, saw Avatar (and really liked it), went to boulder to go hiking (note to self: next time, bring more food!) It was really fun, but reminded me how out of shape I am!! After that, we walked around Boulder for a while. It's really cute and super fun! She took me back to Kathy's house on Wednesday, so I got to chill with Kathy and Kory. Calvin brought Tisha over to get some stuff, so it was good to get to see him and to see Tisha again before I left. On Thursday, I just hung out at the house while they were at work. I took a walk and admired the mountains some more! Read up on some Rib Crib manuals and sent some emails. Kathy got home from work and we talked until my cousins from Mom's side arrived to get me. This trip to CO worked out pretty nicely for me. I got a ride out there and a ride back, I got to do some really fun things and spend time with family I don't get to see often. My cousin, Jennifer and her husband, Joel, live in Woodland Park, CO. Jennifer is having a baby boy, Ellis, in June, and had to come back for her baby shower which was yesterday. Jennifer's brother, Jerry, and his wife, Shelby, also live in Woodland Park. Shelby, who is also pregnant and is due in October, also went with us. It was nice to be able to catch up with all of them on our late-night trip.
It was also good to get to see a bunch of family at Jennifer's baby shower on Saturday.
I am starting my new job at Rib Crib tomorrow. I have to get through training this week, then I'll be started on the schedule. Hannah Sears has worked there for several years, so it will be nice to get to work with and see her more often. I am actually excited to start working again!
Now that I've written this book, I'll promise another update soon because I didn't even get to my next plans!!

Back in America!!

Our leaders, Beckie and Andreas, rewarded us for being such a great team by taking us to a resort at the beach in India for a few days. We went on Sunday (21st) afternoon and left before lunch on Tuesday. It was really nice and we loved the beach and the pool! On Monday most of us laid out for a long time and got burned. Bad decision on our parts! Tuesday afternoon, we cleaned where we had been staying and then in the afternoon we went to Little Lights to say goodbye. We did an improv skit about Joshua and the Wall of Jericho and performed our dance for them. We thought they were going to do their program that day too, but they had surprised us on Saturday. I wish we had known they were going to do it then and we would have done ours then because it really hurts to dance with fried legs!! Anyway, they always liked the Bible story skits we did and they said our dance was “super!” We felt like we were supposed to pray for a verse for each child and also their Original Design. Original Design is just asking God for specific things He put in us. In the lecture phase in Orlando, we all got our Original Designs prayed for by the staff. It was pretty cool and really encouraging. So we did that for the kids and got encouraging verses for each of them. Tessa had taken photos of each child, then she put their verse on their picture and we got them printed and framed. We also had a new Little Lights banner made with all the pictures of the kids on it. Tessa did a very good job putting it together. So Tuesday evening, we gave each child their framed photo and Original Design. They loved it and proudly showed each other their photos. We played with them for a while then Beckie and Andreas said it was time to leave. It was really hard to leave! Not only had we gotten close to the kids, but also to the 8 or so girls that staff there. They are great young women that love God so much and have sacrificed a lot to be obedient to him and work with these children for a season. Like I said, it was really hard to leave them, but we were finally torn away.
Wednesday we all repacked our stuff and joyfully threw things away that we didn’t need to make our backpacks lighter. Then I realized with all the stuff I had accumulated over the two months we were there didn’t make my bag that much lighter. But I finally got it all in there. Once we had all gotten everything packed and cleaned we were really ready to go. I was sad to leave India, but I was really excited to go home at the same time. We said goodbye to the staff, some of us tearfully, and left for the airport around 10pm. We made it ok through security and everything and our flight left with no problems around 2 am Thursday morning. There were several good movies on the flight, so that was nice, especially since I don’t sleep well on planes. We had a 10 hour flight to Frankfurt and had about a 6 hour layover. Then on to an 8 hour 45 minute flight to Washington D.C. where we had enough time to get through customs and find our gate, then our new gate, and relax a little bit before we departed. Oh, I forgot to mention that I lost my boarding pass somehow going through customs. I realized it after we had gone upstairs and were heading for our gate. I started freaking out a little bit and searched through all my stuff, but it was nowhere to be found. Beckie, Jackie and Avalon were with me and Andreas came back and said someone had “called it in.” I don’t know how or where he heard it, but he went back downstairs with me and when we asked they said to just have them reprint me one. So all that freaking out for no reason! It was a short and sweet flight just under 2 hours. And we arrived on time at 7:35 pm on the 25th. Beckie had told us that there were going to be staff at the church to greet us so we couldn’t run off to our phones til afterwards. We pulled up to Evangel where we had had classes and were going to be staying and there was no one there. We all joked about how ready we were to see people. They eventually started showing up and that was really nice.
Friday (26th) we had a Wal-mart run and got to see people, including the new students and our staff friends. We also repacked for Mobile team. The team I am on went to Livingston, TX, Wichita, KS and we’re leaving tomorrow for Springdale, AR. We did the youth service at Tori’s church, then the youth service at my church, and I don’t know what we’re doing in AR yet. It’s been great to be back in the good old US of A!! We’ve done a ton of traveling in the last week though. Continue to pray for me and my team for clarity on what to do next, especially for me!

At the end...

We have just a few more days here in India. I can't believe my time here is almost up. The noises, smells, horns honking, children screaming, dogs barking, sweating all day everyday, cold, outdoor showers and playing with the kids I love has become a way of life for me. The last few days here, we are being rewarded for being the best team ever by going to a resort on the beach. There is a pool and hot water! Crazy! It will be weird to not be living like we have for the last 2 months, but I am excited. It will also be weird to not see any of the staff we've been working with. But Tuesday night, we are going back to Little Lights for a presentation. Some of the kids recently did a dance program at their school and we weren't ale to go, so they're doing a special show for us. The 4 of us that have been performing a dance will be performing for them as well. I have really enjoyed getting to know the kids and the staff. There are 8 young ladies that live and work at Little Lights and 2 that live and work at the YWAM base. I love to love on the kids and it's been really awesome to see these people that have sacrificed their lives and time to help these children and the people at the leper colonies. One of the ministry things we do is medical preparation. It is cheaper to buy the supplies and prepare the gauze pads, bandages and cotton pads themselves. It gets pretty boring and hot, but I just have to remind myself that I've only had to do this maybe every other day for 1 month for about 3 hours, while some of these people do it almost all day every day for the last several years. It's pretty humbling.
Please pray for me and my team as we finish up these last few days here! Oh, just in case you haven't heard it from an email or Facebook here's some info about after I get back!
I am still in India, but my time here is coming to a quick close. We will be leaving here around 1am Thursday the 25th and arrive back in Orlando around 7:30 pm the same day. The part of our DTS that went to the Dominican Republic will be getting back the next day and we will be splitting up and going on an 11 day Mobile Team trip. A Mobile Team is where we will be going to the churches of some of the students and share about our experiences. The group I am with is going to Livingston, TX, Wichita, KS, and Springdale AR. We will be in Wichita from March 2- March 5. I wanted to let you all know in case you were interested in hearing about what I was doing for the last 2 months of my life. We will be doing the Wednesday evening service at Christian Chapel Foursquare Church. It starts at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 3rd. The address of the church is 5828 S Broadway, Wichita, KS 67216. I would love to tell you all about what God has been doing in my life!! Hope you can come! God bless!

2-1-2010

Wow!! I can't believe it's February already!! We are about halfway through our outreach, which is crazy to think about!! We have about 24 days left here. We are now in Chennai. I think most of the team likes it here better. There are several different ministries going on here simultaneously, so we are split up a lot. The ministries include medical team, medical prep, day care and working at Little Lights (an orphanage), and possibly some church planting stuff for the boys. I've done the med team, day care and med prep so far. I can't wait to go work with the kids more! We're working in a lot of leper colonies here. I would love for God to work some miracles through us! On Friday, Jackie and I went to the day care. There are 2 ladies(Daisy and Nisha) that go M-F every week. We leave for that at 7:45 am, arrive around 9:45, play with and care for the kids, including potty breaks, cleaning up accidents, breaking up fights, and feeding them. There were 14 children. We left there around 2:40 and got back to the base a little before 5. They have dedication to travel 2 hours daily to care for these 1 1/2 to 3 yr olds 5 days a week while most of the parents, which have leprosy, go out and beg. They said that the reason the do it is so that the kids don't grow up thinking that is the normal thing to do. God bless them for this ministry they do that is so important!!
Today Jamie and I went with the medical team. We went with Jaya and Probul and assisted them with caring for the sores on some of the lepers.

1-23-10

We have done many things since I last updated. We went to a conference where there were about 10,000 people. The language barrier has been interesting. The speaker said some things and then everyone laughed as we were standing up front. We still don't know what was said. That happens quite a bit. We did one of our dramas and Jackie gave a testimony, then Aaron gave a message. We ran out of time, so that is all we did. We regularly perform both dramas and our hip-hop dance. We went to a village where a pastor and his wife are church planting. The support they get each month is about $30. That is not a whole lot to work with. They are trying to build a church, but can only do work as they receive funds. They haven't gotten very far. We've been to a couple of schools and have done several church services. Last Sunday after church there was a wedding ceremony that we weren't told beforehand we were going to attend. The families are Indians from Australia, but came to India for a months holiday and to get married. It was pretty cool. We went to a special needs school last week. They have a really cool program that is set up very well.We are leaving this city to go back to the first place we stayed. We will be working with children a lot more and doing some medical stuff. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!!!
Update on Haiti stuff:
All the people I know that were or are in Haiti at the time of the earthquake are fine. There were still 7 children at Haiti Lifeline that were in the process of being adopted and they all got to come to America to their families with the team when they left. Praise God!!! Praise God!!! I can't wait to go see them!!!

I don't even know what day it is!!!

Things are going well here in India! Last week we worked with university students teaching them English or just talking to them to teach them. Please pray that the Christian students would have opportunities to speak to the Muslim, Hindu or atheists there!
Yesterday was our day off and we went to a hotel to go swimming, it was very relaxing and nice!! Today we cleaned up a couple of trash pits. It was dirty, hot, hard work, but it looks better!!
I just heard about the Earthquake in Haiti!! My heart is hurting for them! Please pray for the team of 21 Americans stranded there! Will update again soon!!

In India finally!!! Week 1

Hey sorry it's been so long since I've updated, I meant to do it over Christmas break, but never did, obviously!! I am finally in INDIA!!!! It's been quite the experience! We've been sleep deprived and are jet lagged, so we're all a little tired and we haven't even started any ministry stuff yet. For the next 3 weeks we will be doing some different things like teaching English at a university and helping out the base here. I'm not exactly sure what all that entails. We had a long train ride last night, but it wasn't too bad since we all had our own bed! Today we have just chilled. Some of us girls did some laundry by hand. We actually have a western toilet here, which is nice! Although the Squatty is quite an experience!! We are very blessed with the wonderful staff we are staying with. Ministry stuff starts tomorrow and then it will be go go go til w leave!!
Please pray for unity on the team, that we would adjust quickly to the spicy food as some of us, including me, are struggling with that a little bit, and that we would be able to show Jesus to the people we come into contact with. Help us to not be scared or nervous about the things we will experience! Love you all!! I'll update again when I get a chance!!