tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9543069624141682942024-02-07T22:14:51.436-08:00La Limyè Ministries
For it was written, so it shall be doneLa Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-22412953922157865612023-12-31T10:09:00.000-08:002023-12-31T10:09:53.948-08:00The end of 2023 <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhciqraF61RRAWggZXxTbGCtPGReuCmFU2tx-dSXM7-86C7qvcPPEc0CHfPfl37pCQlOlqTzX0EUvWMO1u45wXcfFEVxsdaYoT9PwYg7V5YL5zSHGsjTxrd7JoFFOhWjAD5_g5A-ZIZ-EXJbUpQpIb7oiwgh2O8DjYH6jltjzM2EEKcsAUyU8pviYEmyuCg/s1284/IMG_9288.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1284" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhciqraF61RRAWggZXxTbGCtPGReuCmFU2tx-dSXM7-86C7qvcPPEc0CHfPfl37pCQlOlqTzX0EUvWMO1u45wXcfFEVxsdaYoT9PwYg7V5YL5zSHGsjTxrd7JoFFOhWjAD5_g5A-ZIZ-EXJbUpQpIb7oiwgh2O8DjYH6jltjzM2EEKcsAUyU8pviYEmyuCg/s320/IMG_9288.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> 2023 <p></p><p><br /></p><p>There’s just so many things I miss about down South at our home base. And yet so many things I’m eternally thankful have changed. Haiti life loves to throw curveballs and this year of evacuating and starting completely over was the biggest one to date for us. </p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes I can’t compartmentalize all the feelings. Happy and sad. Scared and at peace. Worried and content. Stressed and grateful.</p><p><br /></p><p>And although it’s been an eventful year, it’s also been a fruitful year. </p><p>I’m eager to see how the Lord guides us to minister in a new city during 2024. What’s to come is only known by Him and there’s a whole lot of joy resting in that. </p><p><br /></p><p>There aren’t adequate words to describe my utmost gratitude and sincere thankfulness for people like you who sacrificially give to others, especially ones in a whole different country.</p><p>God will bless you in return. I know He will because you are helping feed, educate, and employ many children and adults who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance. La Limyè Ministries can continue to shine the light of Jesus and will stay alive and thrive because of you. Truly because of you. Thank you from every ounce in my heart. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here’s to 2024. Please be calmer to us. </p><p><br /></p><p>Happy New year, everyone! </p><p><br /></p><p>“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”</p><p>1 Thessalonians 5:16-18</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-25500492935659704292023-09-11T06:19:00.000-07:002023-09-11T06:19:02.110-07:00One Year Ago Today <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMdKXU_Q2DiHy0VoTfqQOZ6l0V22p-mIxgUrPFVeCttAahOGCeEF0rQUfFt1U6m2rKbLr4GGFlyOMYwESa7RLQZrJcSgwrcaTyjD2R1zHpVlS0pzycdkJ5iL-ggIdnw5fxu4jDdcpudPdWq3Rt61K-WbgiuE3z_Xtr-U7GPaSYgomaYJi6oeltwPEHFL8/s1719/DB32CE05-D50F-4167-8559-44ADEEC4BD3A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1719" data-original-width="1284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMdKXU_Q2DiHy0VoTfqQOZ6l0V22p-mIxgUrPFVeCttAahOGCeEF0rQUfFt1U6m2rKbLr4GGFlyOMYwESa7RLQZrJcSgwrcaTyjD2R1zHpVlS0pzycdkJ5iL-ggIdnw5fxu4jDdcpudPdWq3Rt61K-WbgiuE3z_Xtr-U7GPaSYgomaYJi6oeltwPEHFL8/s320/DB32CE05-D50F-4167-8559-44ADEEC4BD3A.jpeg" width="239" /></a></div><br /> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">One year ago today.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"> </span><p></p><p><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I left on a whim. School was delayed a whole month so I decided last minute to fly to the States to visit family for 10 days and get some last minute supplies. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Half way to the airport the newly established gang was out in full force. Bullets flying, cars abandoned, tires spinning in the mud. And although I had been taking an armored car ever since I was held up at gunpoint earlier in the year, I was still told to lie down and stay down. The gang members were running down the side of the mountain and coming up behind us. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You’ve probably heard the rest. We made it to the airport, I flew to America, and then had absolutely no idea that the next time I saw my girls would be 6 months later in a brand new city. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">—— </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s been a full year since I’ve seen La Limyè Ministries home base. The 5 beautiful buildings full of so many memories, a house full of personal belongings, my sweet guard dogs and so many dedicated employees, neighbors, and ministry outreaches that stole my heart early on. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The literal blood, sweat, and tears poured into that place for 9 years. And then I left, the gangs moved closer, and everything changed. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">——</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Home. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s sentimental. It’s not the stuff inside. It’s the memories. The ministry. The start. The beginning. It’s been a battle feeling like I lost it all and yet it’s still standing, and strong too. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Employees are still there all day and night. The houses are still just as beautiful in their pink, blue, and purple Caribbean paint. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The garden is blossoming and the fruit is given away. Ministry continues and for that I am so grateful. The gang has not entered our town. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Thank you, YHWH. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So I’m learning that I can have my heart in two places. I can do ministry in two places. I can love where I am but still miss where I came from. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I thank God everyday for moving us here. It was truly a blessing in disguise. A blessing I never saw coming especially when I was Stateside praying for the Red Sea road to part while my tears continued to overflow the sea itself. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And although we’re happy here, there’s still a broken piece off of our hearts. A lingering grief for what was, what might become. Life in Haiti is so unknown. So little stability and lack of control. We never know what tomorrow will bring. And in a single day, everything can change. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But alongside the unknowns and the adjustments I feel so blessed. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I get excited when I learn a new back road that I didn’t know of 6 months ago. I’m thankful when someone at the eye clinic recognizes me from church and it feels like I’m finally making acquaintances here. There’s a part of starting over that feels good, fresh. To begin again. Surrender. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">“The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Psalm 30:5 MSG </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My heart is down South and up North and honestly just wherever the girls are. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My heart hurts and my heart is happy and life here is learning to live with both. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Everything is temporary. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">God is eternal. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-83494559187692232082023-09-11T06:17:00.001-07:002023-09-11T06:23:21.500-07:0010 years in Haiti <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hZlzcmLb8GlOvmP0GbSEeQT2Z9_6ssfVB88T4MJFFz1APiYelwjcRCZ61rqBl_cBKUZBLADA04xJ5adBjaG3ITjj2Uhm6ZlVxVLlEHtTlWKhYG1934gBYt1NnhDux4l1yyxUbbVtrP91nANfGHAfxhwyrJxUJEqwabSUvWPL9NLatZRLIk1znzanFIRQ/s4032/A6A43343-BD42-436B-95DE-EDACEE99E14C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hZlzcmLb8GlOvmP0GbSEeQT2Z9_6ssfVB88T4MJFFz1APiYelwjcRCZ61rqBl_cBKUZBLADA04xJ5adBjaG3ITjj2Uhm6ZlVxVLlEHtTlWKhYG1934gBYt1NnhDux4l1yyxUbbVtrP91nANfGHAfxhwyrJxUJEqwabSUvWPL9NLatZRLIk1znzanFIRQ/s320/A6A43343-BD42-436B-95DE-EDACEE99E14C.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95wN818GwxzytYSxZwNyW_f7tEzzNtFCwuqfzaNWo6HwbUW0xRlNeZU5-0xfTHD83ZUyrPii0nWw3pxQrnGvuO6Wm0trvRDcqwN13dKSELfZxdsHKFUN1q-iVdW-4WzY72Jlqc7gHmdSrzp9PZVqSAYVWMFm9wbe1YVIkYcwJUd0jLhkqSAOhcRzxGS4S/s4032/AEF43D81-92D6-47E1-8BF6-ED0912DB7ECE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95wN818GwxzytYSxZwNyW_f7tEzzNtFCwuqfzaNWo6HwbUW0xRlNeZU5-0xfTHD83ZUyrPii0nWw3pxQrnGvuO6Wm0trvRDcqwN13dKSELfZxdsHKFUN1q-iVdW-4WzY72Jlqc7gHmdSrzp9PZVqSAYVWMFm9wbe1YVIkYcwJUd0jLhkqSAOhcRzxGS4S/s320/AEF43D81-92D6-47E1-8BF6-ED0912DB7ECE.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEEYsinrpFd59dZ5YKIdIz4Ucf7Mnb5RjEwwfUbAZUA8C3w8rZU-LuehM3tzqRVqkUnIgYkcezHok_gnthdYWkDk0eO6Y9wlzq6k0Db60j6v8B1LgS-wTeUU-NrXU9NNoQJ_e4oTORCIZDnWQR15GzVuZGmNLdR0GYKZ9ZW4TQUfJX8OdKKKcIiocOfam/s4032/12BD58B3-B133-415C-97B1-AF89184A336D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQYarFTVK9As54H6c2cVfUZ2xYn7buexSMiVEiGjfyKeJsKYb6qgDl1sI8p3YQQ-JHE-Iqse6jhd5XVTEvLXbCPbCnti3py9v8pPi5Zr7mcY94ErllrI66ytHnzvltTmJu3N-phU6BeXrW6C1j3FhbGf-2NzVnADeKmnMCOrzxqwkxYYV05l-ER3WwtuU/s3088/25A2C25E-F3AF-4894-8EF9-5AE433912224.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQYarFTVK9As54H6c2cVfUZ2xYn7buexSMiVEiGjfyKeJsKYb6qgDl1sI8p3YQQ-JHE-Iqse6jhd5XVTEvLXbCPbCnti3py9v8pPi5Zr7mcY94ErllrI66ytHnzvltTmJu3N-phU6BeXrW6C1j3FhbGf-2NzVnADeKmnMCOrzxqwkxYYV05l-ER3WwtuU/s320/25A2C25E-F3AF-4894-8EF9-5AE433912224.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTL6UYN6bSnBajfD4lUvESNtZc0GcpnmfSavjtetlP_eN4MQ--DjTeTWmeUjb4hMhbmyTOqUuyRywBxSW6EYmymajcXebQ3FY-b-3-csSCA67g4G9Ud-SXZ2MsZHDH2Qm7f5nfV-zre0d9qCJjYpuf6-QosAVowHt6BltQyUAXQ7j8t0gokgjER4dn523f/s4031/1E799B1A-4B3C-40E0-9271-AB170C7F1669.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4031" data-original-width="2621" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTL6UYN6bSnBajfD4lUvESNtZc0GcpnmfSavjtetlP_eN4MQ--DjTeTWmeUjb4hMhbmyTOqUuyRywBxSW6EYmymajcXebQ3FY-b-3-csSCA67g4G9Ud-SXZ2MsZHDH2Qm7f5nfV-zre0d9qCJjYpuf6-QosAVowHt6BltQyUAXQ7j8t0gokgjER4dn523f/s320/1E799B1A-4B3C-40E0-9271-AB170C7F1669.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div><br /> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"> August marks 10 years living in Haiti and</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">February marked 12 years of being a follower of Jesus. So I’m reposting something I partially wrote a few years ago because the testimony of His faithfulness is too good not to share…</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The good, the bad, and the ugly </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The blood, sweat, and tears </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The highs and the lows </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The mountain tops and the valley lows</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The births and the deaths </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">the thrills and the burnouts</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve named babies and I’ve bought caskets. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve watched the child overcome starvation and watched starvation kill the child. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve seen miracles and I’ve seen witchcraft </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve seen the work of God and I’ve seen the work of the devil. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve dreamed dreams and I’ve lost visions </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve had nothing and I’ve been full. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">This island taught me to grow up faster than I thought I would through my 20s. And now my early 30s. This island life taught me how to pay taxes, drive without a GPS, and negotiate through any and every purchase. It taught me how to be bold, watch your back, and let go of everything without eternal value. These people have taught me how to love no matter what, forgive even when it hurts, understand that not everything is right vs wrong but sometimes it’s just different. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">They’ve taught me how to fight instead of flight. They’ve taught me that stuff doesn’t buy happiness and that the world isn’t fair and that God is the God who sees all, knows all, cares about all, loves all, and will forever be our all. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The last 10 years from age 22 to 32 have been beautifully crafted together by Yahweh. Breathtaking and heart crushing. And though I’m forever scarred with the trauma of what this life I chose has brought me, I wouldn’t change a thing. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Because through it all, I was walking with Jesus. No death, no season, no trauma could steal my peace in knowing Who is in control. No amount of battle wounds could knock me down hard enough to not want to get back up and keep fighting the good fight. Keep running the good race for the sake of making His name known. I fall, I fail, He picks me back up. Every time. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Jesus, the King of Kings, the very being whom we are made in the image of, the man who gave up His life in order to save ours…He is worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. He is worth all the mountaintops of rejoicing and the valley lows of mourning. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Following Him, no strings attached will forever change you. It strengthens you and challenges you. It is the most beautiful, daring, and humbling place to spend your days. In His arms. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Nothing is easy about following a crucified Savior. It will cost you. But if I’ve said it once I’ve said it 1000 times. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It. Is. Worth. It. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Being in His will, whether “safe” or not, is where you’ll find peace. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>His arms hold me and his lungs breath life in to me and I’ll worship him all the days of my life. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Matthew 10:39</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You’ll find it, and it’ll be the treasure you’ll never let go of. I can promise you that. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-40634967924072311182023-09-11T06:12:00.001-07:002023-09-11T06:12:13.540-07:00May 2023 update! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykjY1UeX_IkQ11a2PG7-wJrKoK5swv_KC90L9Wxuc5vHhmyaYBFDRvyqn5IiODedr7Vh3wOIBAhMv8VZU0u1ElVyjxvxI1O48QaX7UskIogR-d_N2Dl3u4IWrqzOIGt_1dN8EN6aCy26vRXIMFgRR0tUz0bYsZv7vK2ViMWj70mZxSgkRp60lS_tQl8cU/s4032/0A36590A-03C4-4D51-9B36-5139B57AB94A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykjY1UeX_IkQ11a2PG7-wJrKoK5swv_KC90L9Wxuc5vHhmyaYBFDRvyqn5IiODedr7Vh3wOIBAhMv8VZU0u1ElVyjxvxI1O48QaX7UskIogR-d_N2Dl3u4IWrqzOIGt_1dN8EN6aCy26vRXIMFgRR0tUz0bYsZv7vK2ViMWj70mZxSgkRp60lS_tQl8cU/s320/0A36590A-03C4-4D51-9B36-5139B57AB94A.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5mznCrJwmqR_KN8TNuH1uYYgz_n6FAzcWIjTv7pyuYgB3TPk2Cny7bXk8imviyTETTZzde2mrkACKzfEJxGCgABr2wxyzL_cmtd05x2YkbwOodu36Oejy__xWaTFbafHgMiXHZ4UGcPQCAF7crndJW6HDvqIilqV3L8Av_a_BjV70wXPYw6y0covOlBr/s4032/F6FF3075-496B-4EC5-8735-182776D31879.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5mznCrJwmqR_KN8TNuH1uYYgz_n6FAzcWIjTv7pyuYgB3TPk2Cny7bXk8imviyTETTZzde2mrkACKzfEJxGCgABr2wxyzL_cmtd05x2YkbwOodu36Oejy__xWaTFbafHgMiXHZ4UGcPQCAF7crndJW6HDvqIilqV3L8Av_a_BjV70wXPYw6y0covOlBr/s320/F6FF3075-496B-4EC5-8735-182776D31879.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UZ5wWxMPeC9K7wd0mT0AX2VSoOPJcY4NIZSGSEJbs6zvxEru8yLbgQWZ91bmWcRx1FabRn8TfpxQJWndN6hXVXOMpdkb0eCYZfLKWFX9LwTFU3Z3KffjTi5PxUW2VcwjPxvcGuSm9tR72bSyFWHMP4cTdmzhe8BjbOJ86ePX_EIqEmzL8gSqZF3UmIYN/s1080/F937154E-E5E3-4B01-A7AF-2341C09130BD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="1080" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UZ5wWxMPeC9K7wd0mT0AX2VSoOPJcY4NIZSGSEJbs6zvxEru8yLbgQWZ91bmWcRx1FabRn8TfpxQJWndN6hXVXOMpdkb0eCYZfLKWFX9LwTFU3Z3KffjTi5PxUW2VcwjPxvcGuSm9tR72bSyFWHMP4cTdmzhe8BjbOJ86ePX_EIqEmzL8gSqZF3UmIYN/s320/F937154E-E5E3-4B01-A7AF-2341C09130BD.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Our May 2023 update!<p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Just an appreciation post about The Supplier of all good things. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s been so evident over the last few months of Gods faithfulness and goodness and outpouring of love towards us. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Nothing is simple about this season and yet God has proved over and over again that He’s graciously in control and His love will sustain us and His people will help provide for us and His grace is sufficient in our weakness. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So many ways we’ve been blessed in this season of changes and I can’t help but praise Him during it all. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The rental house, our belongings inside, the better sense of safety, finding a church, getting a school tutor, being able to afford food, respectful and dedicated employees back home, electricity and running water and green grass and a car with gas in it and connections to new friends here. And of course all of you that I know are praying for us and encourage us so often. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So many blessings.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">He’s been so good to us in this season of change. The good far outweighs the bad. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And although the girls miss “home” and don’t fully understand why we’re in a new city, I pray their little hearts are filled with joy and patience and happiness because God is good and He cares. He truly, truly cares. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Isaiah 54:10</span></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-33121137044695231072023-09-11T06:05:00.002-07:002023-09-11T06:05:52.407-07:00March 2023 <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A much needed update for 2023 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In March we were….</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s2">🌟🌟🌟</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">REUNITED!!!</span><span class="s2">🌟🌟🌟</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">After 6 months of so many tears and questions and confusion not knowing what will happen or when or how… God parted the seas, He performed the miracle, He made the way and I am FINALLY back with my girls!!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But…. It’s not at La Limyè. Unfortunately Haiti has gotten worse, not better. The gangs are still in control terrorizing the city, towns, and villages. Famine is real, kidnappings are rampant, and everyone lives in fear to walk down the street. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">With one of the gangs having taken over a community just 20 minutes from us I decided it was time to evacuate the girls. Our town started to have a few issues but nothing major. But out of responsibility for these girls’ lives and for precautions, I evacuated them to a new city. A safer city. The girls and a few employees took a boat then a plane to a new, TEMPORARY home in a new city far away from the gangs. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">La Limyè is still up and running by the brave employees who stayed behind. The community center for sewing class, kids club, and feeding programs will be able to open and ran by my dedicated employees until we can return. The learning center for children with special needs can reopen as soon as our bus gets out of customs. (Praying it’s this week!) The employees will hold down the fort and keep everything running until it’s safe enough to go home again. We are thankful we had the opportunity to pack up and leave out of precaution before it was too late. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">With all my heart I know this was the right decision. It’s the safest decision for the lives of these girls. And a bonus it meant I could return! </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The girls were in a hotel while I got the rental house prepared. We weren’t able to take everything from La Limyè one because of space and two because we’ll be returning one day when things calm down in Port Au Prince. So trying to buy supplies and get things settled and adjusted here while also running the La Limyè programs from afar through constant communication and coordination with the employees is a bit tough. But God has shown me that he’s in control every step of the way. He directs the path and gives peace and guided this journey into fruition. The waves of grief were real and raw and I thought I’d never come above the water. But God! God was in control laying out the steps through it all and finally, always eventually, the storm ends and the grass grows, and the flowers bloom, and love and hope and joy flow back into the ever beating heart. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">God is good. And He can be trusted through every trial and heartache and worry. He is in control and with that we may rest in His promises.</span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64iJyJ3gMQ4zoWNJYOVBos0JYH2-M6dok-XCbey6zSMiaPpU0H7qiGQlwPwoJ9nTVlFQVwZujnZidvtrc0Q6WtKzrarhfKI6F3glvBl8WqCHVHJulpThZUAJ5JY0BQOBOb_dHQDVnn3vdOYdR1JOpPLnkFItq-PppEeycqdESpHu-PqHcMfWL4K2XHOPN/s4032/00B55D32-D7FF-48F1-996D-4BBEBF9DCAFF.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64iJyJ3gMQ4zoWNJYOVBos0JYH2-M6dok-XCbey6zSMiaPpU0H7qiGQlwPwoJ9nTVlFQVwZujnZidvtrc0Q6WtKzrarhfKI6F3glvBl8WqCHVHJulpThZUAJ5JY0BQOBOb_dHQDVnn3vdOYdR1JOpPLnkFItq-PppEeycqdESpHu-PqHcMfWL4K2XHOPN/s320/00B55D32-D7FF-48F1-996D-4BBEBF9DCAFF.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45pygFbgJ_HDk5_tlgATuHzeKXNgFZqWdk2rwrFkXwKiVZ10Ej-R7oJv6MWUf_X59gmKctGFoNFwEkfNNH51o-LaAXCV4-hp0RANYcHShs_BdQnBzF-h-Xv4rK4b49fU8rLWQ_hwcMHdp6OTSgMNkV3nfKtd1RwKnatJqhcQPr4iK1D3a_kB8bsth-Q/s1080/3AB6574A-1FCB-40B7-B536-7FEFF416F88D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45pygFbgJ_HDk5_tlgATuHzeKXNgFZqWdk2rwrFkXwKiVZ10Ej-R7oJv6MWUf_X59gmKctGFoNFwEkfNNH51o-LaAXCV4-hp0RANYcHShs_BdQnBzF-h-Xv4rK4b49fU8rLWQ_hwcMHdp6OTSgMNkV3nfKtd1RwKnatJqhcQPr4iK1D3a_kB8bsth-Q/s320/3AB6574A-1FCB-40B7-B536-7FEFF416F88D.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I know I’ve been quiet on here lately and it’s mainly because the grieving process of separation comes in waves of manageable to unbearable. <p></p><p>Sometimes I’m just at a lost for words and can’t seem to be fully present here when I’m mentally there. </p><p><br /></p><p>It’s been 118 days since I’ve tucked my girls into bed. 118 days since I’ve squeezed them tightly in a bear hug and kissed their sweet cheeks. 118 days since I’ve told them to be nice or zip your lips or clean your room. 118 days since we’ve sang songs together in half English and half Creole, or played hide and seek, or gone to the famous gas station convenient store because that’s about all there is to do in our town for fun. </p><p><br /></p><p>I miss my job, my house, the Haitian culture, and most importantly the little ones I’ve raised for so many years. It’s been by far the hardest season to accept but God has been faithful. Little glimpses of light He shines down faithfully. He holds my broken heart tenderly and carries me through each day. </p><p><br /></p><p>The ministry is still up and running with the exception of the SPED center since we can’t pick up the students that are handicapped without gas being accessible for the van. The employees are doing amazing holding down the fort while I’m away and until I return. They have had to step up and oversee so many different aspects of the ministry that is usually my job to do but they’ve excelled at tending to everything with such grace. </p><p>I’ve been able to find ways to continue paying their salaries monthly and even send their well deserved end of the year bonus’ as well. </p><p><br /></p><p>2022 ended with being completely crushed by what our friends, family, and neighbors are going through on the island but it won’t knock us down. We will continue to fight the good fight in 2023. We will continue to feed our neighbors, educate students, love on our village, and shine the light of Jesus even though we’re living through dark times. </p><p><br /></p><p>Amidst so much confusion and pain and hearts shattered in a million pieces, God is still the one we cling to. Still the one we trust. Still the one who knows how this will all play out and has a plan that only He can understand. We submit to that. </p><p>Please continue to pray for Haiti. These people are living in incomprehensible conditions and being put through distress, trauma, and pain like never before. Pray for my girls to be untouched from this evil. Pray for God to show up and show off in ways that we all have been begging for. </p><p>We desperately need intervention. </p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you for loving us well and thank you for still being by our side for 2023. </p><p>Gods got this. </p><p>He is still good. </p><p><br /></p><p>“We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking our Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.”</p><p>-Colossians 1:11-12MSG</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-52049438204478103482022-12-01T07:37:00.000-08:002022-12-01T07:37:11.281-08:00The Nightmare<p><br /></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xdj266r x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">News articles called it a massacre. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We called it the new nightmare of reality. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">In the middle of Tuesday night the gang killed around 16 people and set fire to over 10 homes and word is out that over a dozen more people are still missing. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Over a dozen families broken forever. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Over <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>a dozen families traumatized forever. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">A whole community displaced as refugees because home is now a war zone. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I woke up to the news yesterday and texted my friend who lives just up the road from me in Haiti. Both heartbroken and in utter shock for this to happen just 20 minutes south of us. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Why are they doing this? I don’t know. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Why won’t anyone help Haiti? I don’t know. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">How or when will I ever see my children again? </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t know. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">But I still trust You, my Lord. With every ounce of my being. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">My town has been calm and I’m so proud of that. But the gangs new territory just South of us is blocking all traffic from the capital still. As in necessary supplies can’t be brought in and only a select few brave people who attempt to drive down route 1 are left untouched. It’s traumatizing to live in and yet so many can’t escape. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">In order to survive you have to just make it through another day. Mentally, physically, emotionally. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And across the waters It’s December 1st which means we’re busy buying presents and wreaths and cookies. It’s December 1st which means the emotions come out of being stressed that the line is too long or mad that the order hasn’t been shipped or frustrated that there’s traffic on the road all the while singing jolly Christmas songs while wearing our cute red sweaters. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">But I hope and pray we remember our neighbors during the hustle and bustle of December. Not just across the ocean but down the road too. In our own backyards. Eat the cookies but make some for the neighbors too. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I hope we remember the real reason for the excitement of this month and may we melt into the love story that gave us every reason to celebrate. The only hope we have left is the baby in the stable. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Santa never comes to Haiti. Quite frankly he doesn’t always come right down the road from our American homes either. Those children never get the Christmas morning other children eagerly wait all year for. But Jesus never left. We don’t need actual presents to replace His presence. He is present with us through every bit of the struggle guiding and guarding our hearts to His will. He is all we truly need. Everything else is fleeting. God, help me to remember this. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">So we’re not asking for stuff this year. We’re just asking for survival of another day. We’re asking for the ability for children to get an education. To walk down the street safely. To eat a few extra grains of rice. We’re asking for an exodus out of Egypt to cross the parted Red Sea road. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Show us your power, Lord. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end -</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">That’s how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">“So don't be afraid: I'm with you. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Isaiah 43:1-5 msg</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp5dHzsMDeRKM1_CbHP3lhh2G9JYhjriUCwYJb1Fv4mUduL-BqhehZkHAdqQEd9q1tOrYn4G_B94R4JJkgB_onkVd75u1U6fJCxA0sZYdwBelkJnZZrnx5lDf0Ti1Ir3o-4o0n-6QTT3nITdcG_FMlbOBtUwxyPYOkncngRHXCNuoJLUe_-omuuDDqCg/s4031/IMG_5787%202.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2809" data-original-width="4031" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp5dHzsMDeRKM1_CbHP3lhh2G9JYhjriUCwYJb1Fv4mUduL-BqhehZkHAdqQEd9q1tOrYn4G_B94R4JJkgB_onkVd75u1U6fJCxA0sZYdwBelkJnZZrnx5lDf0Ti1Ir3o-4o0n-6QTT3nITdcG_FMlbOBtUwxyPYOkncngRHXCNuoJLUe_-omuuDDqCg/s320/IMG_5787%202.HEIC" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-20700230291328382282022-10-21T12:32:00.002-07:002022-10-21T12:32:55.880-07:00The harvest is plentiful <p> 5 weeks. </p><p><br /></p><p>Five weeks ago I left Haiti having not the slightest indication as to what was about to unfold. </p><p>In 9 years I’ve never been stateside for more than 3 weeks at a time. Now I’m stuck with all the emotions and side affects that defeated mental health gives. </p><p>I felt completely blindsided. Had I have known, I never would have left my girls. I never would have packed that little bag and pulled out my passport. I never would have boarded that plane and never would have said goodbye and told the girls I’d be back in a week. And I guess that’s why God sent me out before things got bad because He knew good and well it would have been an ugly fight trying to evacuate me after the fact. </p><p>Five weeks of wondering if my girls are safe as I jump out of bed to check my phone in the wee early morning hours to make sure the gangs didn’t pay a visit in the night like they have before. </p><p>Five weeks of trying to coordinate with the employees to scrounge to find and ration the supplies to feed so many mouths everyday. </p><p>Five weeks of trying to find a way to pay the staff and filter water and make a simple phone call with limited and at moments nonexistent cell signal. </p><p>Five weeks of hell on earth as Haiti is chewed up and spit back out by the gangs who rule the roads and wreck havoc on the innocent. </p><p><br /></p><p>And the sad thing is, majority of people here don’t even know what’s all happening just 90 minutes from Miami. It’s a hidden war barely if ever broadcasted on our tv. Many don’t know that children are being raped and refugees are being displaced and literal starvation is deaths doorstep and the sick are dying off without doctors and children can’t go to school and mamas are too malnourished to produce milk so babies are being fed watered down saltine crackers and I sit in beautiful America, land of the free trying to still my heart and I know that God is still good and this is where He placed me but I’ve lost the strength to hold back the tears that creep up and fall at the most inconvenient times. </p><p>Day after day after day. </p><p>The floodgates collapse with the waves of life. </p><p><br /></p><p>I’m mentally there but physically here and what I’ve seen while here and what I’m guilty of as well is that we are so blinded to the suffering in the world. We’re in our little bubble safe and secure having no idea what’s happening right down the road. Quite frankly, out of sight out of mind. </p><p><br /></p><p>The harvest is plentiful…. but we just don’t care. The workers are few. It’s written in Matthew 9. Like sheep without a shepherd we go about our business trying to filter the best selfie and wear the most showy outfit to attract all the wrong attention and we try to fake it until we make it to reach the mountaintop of fame and beauty and riches and value and attention and all the while our neighbors are dying a slow death and the Word tells us why “but the workers are few…”</p><p><br /></p><p>Christ followers, don’t allow the clutter in this world blind you from the very reason why we walk on this earth. </p><p><br /></p><p>“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”</p><p>Matthew 7:14</p><p><br /></p><p>Being in America for this long was never the plan. And I still don’t understand one bit of it. But God is still active through it all with a purpose and a plan that only he can see. That’s evident. He’s still looking for the sheep. Continuing on the mission of saving souls. Finding His faithful followers willing to work in the harvest and take the narrow path. The narrow path that heaps loads of pain and heartache into a broken heart but ultimately leads to a life eternal with The King himself. Nothing triumphs that. </p><p>May you see the work of the Lord this week and may you reach a lending hand to the hurting. They need you. Someone to care. Someone to listen. Someone to help. Someone to advocate on their behalf. </p><p>We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19</p><p>The harvest is plentiful.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrLIdQHdtgD383nHPhaYfpiLLV-Q8n6X2caFF1Z9Efqp_JkygTNk_9VOVQsIaiIn-cEqzcZQl1onqQX4NNrAx2uBOAwOzmctIhtqY-NhsRpI2GNZ0220Oi7lEeUy4rdO5dIkwi2xJ5ej3gryjdeToZkdK1knlMRT0GYPUiAyjUMNsUggSpPH2-SVZ0Q/s1284/E4806BB4-09AD-41FA-A669-275A4981C627.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1284" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrLIdQHdtgD383nHPhaYfpiLLV-Q8n6X2caFF1Z9Efqp_JkygTNk_9VOVQsIaiIn-cEqzcZQl1onqQX4NNrAx2uBOAwOzmctIhtqY-NhsRpI2GNZ0220Oi7lEeUy4rdO5dIkwi2xJ5ej3gryjdeToZkdK1knlMRT0GYPUiAyjUMNsUggSpPH2-SVZ0Q/s320/E4806BB4-09AD-41FA-A669-275A4981C627.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Photo:Miami herald <p></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-52256278343726267152022-10-21T12:30:00.000-07:002022-10-21T12:30:18.248-07:00Life turned upside down update #3<p> Haiti update #3 </p><p>October 5th </p><p>They lost almost all cell signal on Monday in our area. I called 12 employees in different parts of the city trying to find anyone with a little signal to check on the girls. One of my employees got on my roof and we were able to talk for 2 minutes before it cut off.</p><p>I fell apart from not being able to talk to them and check in. This has just been a roller coaster of emotions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Early yesterday morning I received a message from the nanny who’s incharge while I’m gone and she said “ou pa bezwen pè Ellie. Estrès ap fè w malad. Si ou malad li pa bon pou nou. Pa bay tèt ou pwoblèm. Nou byen tifi yo anfom.” </p><p>“You don’t need to be scared Ellie. Stress will make you sick. If you’re sick then it’s not good for us. Don’t put problems in your head. We are ok. The girls are good.” </p><p><br /></p><p>Her strength and faith in the middle of the fire is stronger than mine as I’m sitting safely on the sidelines watching it play out from afar. She has always put me in my place when fear and the enemy try to stir up stress within my soul. She has confidence and trust that even if, God is still good. Even though, God is still in control. Even when, God still has a plan. </p><p><br /></p><p>The girls are still somewhat ok on the most basic supplies as long as they keep rationing. </p><p>All the employees are still showing up to work everyday even though I don’t have a way to pay them completely for September yet. The local church had some money saved up for the next phase of construction and they let us borrow that to give to each of the employees last week so they could help their families. A beautiful blessing. </p><p><br /></p><p>Haiti is still paralyzed. Cholera has arrived, the filtered water companies shut down because they don’t have fuel to run their operations. </p><p>I received notice yesterday that our school is obviously postponed until the unknown future. </p><p>The poor are going multiple days without a bite to eat. The gangs still rule the roads and hold the power. </p><p>All the ships that bring our imported food can’t unload and be transferred throughout the country because of blocked roads and no gas so shipping companies could be coming to a standstill. Which means all imported food won’t come or perhaps tries to come but can’t be dispersed. And SO much of food in Haiti is imported. Even our bags of rice that everyone eats says USA on it. People can’t find formula for their babies, farmers can’t get to market to sell their milk, buyers can’t go to work to get cash to even buy milk, It’s honestly the beginning of a famine if things don’t drastically change very soon. </p><p><br /></p><p>My heart is shattered for what these people are being put through. </p><p><br /></p><p>Continue praying for safety, food distribution, fuel, the government, the dying, the gangs. </p><p>Pray for a miracle.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMODffuS_v7JzTjQ2qzPR5B7bnl5d1vKpKYXXY4Ypi23hhKppKD1Bf1k9k5yYvXz0UDpsXD2hvkW4iJka__0ArEFOm1pzBvyCyTd--hWQltb6V-7dkXe7Y9MMYnUBPGj4aPKGEzfA9rpS6LMXt0yD4-uJZFRURQ7Y_NC9fnQaA_tHklgxU0kXtA49JEg/s4032/F053F2A0-2383-4477-8A63-A43EAC115BFD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMODffuS_v7JzTjQ2qzPR5B7bnl5d1vKpKYXXY4Ypi23hhKppKD1Bf1k9k5yYvXz0UDpsXD2hvkW4iJka__0ArEFOm1pzBvyCyTd--hWQltb6V-7dkXe7Y9MMYnUBPGj4aPKGEzfA9rpS6LMXt0yD4-uJZFRURQ7Y_NC9fnQaA_tHklgxU0kXtA49JEg/s320/F053F2A0-2383-4477-8A63-A43EAC115BFD.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-74991259812841726592022-10-21T12:27:00.000-07:002022-10-21T12:27:35.775-07:00Life turned upside down update #2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XiXIDNoZMcANIlnU6uLrrna4G6TuOYL3AQPoCMsh5YDxoQlUJUSsCQrpv5VTNWtqnT2eSleEFa8H2QNLp9FAuhPK34vikPL8IjDHz-sa7S46JrKyJ60PfWqC1rm4yvqys_yv_tmC7IFWF6Jsonyry5BzhWEh1CO-iIJk9OlTKPDXG7ZpysOP7VgWOg/s4032/D432BA56-37F3-4BFD-97D3-1FAD692C3F85.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XiXIDNoZMcANIlnU6uLrrna4G6TuOYL3AQPoCMsh5YDxoQlUJUSsCQrpv5VTNWtqnT2eSleEFa8H2QNLp9FAuhPK34vikPL8IjDHz-sa7S46JrKyJ60PfWqC1rm4yvqys_yv_tmC7IFWF6Jsonyry5BzhWEh1CO-iIJk9OlTKPDXG7ZpysOP7VgWOg/s320/D432BA56-37F3-4BFD-97D3-1FAD692C3F85.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> September 28th. Update on Haiti. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>I got a call around 11pm last night, there’s no water. </p><p><br /></p><p>Running water is a luxury many don’t have. Which means for my community they must walk to my house to get semi clean not filtered well water in buckets or walk to the closet river to get dirty water that’s used for washing clothes, washing dishes, washing motorcycles, bathing babies, cows to drink, and trash to gather. </p><p><br /></p><p>The wealthy use to pay 42cents for 5 gallons of filtered water. But now because of lockdown and all that that entails they bumped it up to $1.25 which is a lot when the nations legal minimum wage is $4.16 A DAY for an “actual” job and statistically 80% live on less than $2 a day.</p><p><br /></p><p>There’s no gas. </p><p><br /></p><p>No fuel means these water companies don’t have electricity to run their generators because the government doesn’t give electricity in our town, we each own our own system. Without electricity they can’t filter water so they’ve shut down or they’re only letting each person buy 2 jugs in order to save for everyone else.</p><p><br /></p><p>We need fuel for cellphones to work. The towers need gas to create service and without service there’s no calling or texting. I’m going hours and hours without hearing from my children until signal comes back and then I might have a 5 minute conversation until it freezes up again. Which then causes the floodgates to open because I was so blindsided by this whole thing and all my heart wants to do is wrap them up and hold them tight.</p><p><br /></p><p>There’s no transportation. </p><p><br /></p><p>Without gas vehicles can’t move. And with majority of people not owning a car in my village that means you pay a motorcycle “taxi” to take you to the local outdoor market to buy food. </p><p>Except…there’s no transportation even if you have gas because of road blocks everywhere. Which means the vendors in my town can’t get to the capital city to buy food to then resell so there is less and less food available to buy everyday in my town even if you’re willing to walk miles to get it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Along with those roadblocks and no gas for cars, our local doctors who mainly live in the city, can’t get to our town. Oh, and without fuel hospitals can’t run machines, lights, or anything else because the government doesn’t give electricity, everyone has their own personal generators but no diesel to run them. So hospitals are shutting down, the sick can rely on a couple nurses with barely any medical supplies left, because no one can restock… or you just die from a simple fever or a miscarriage or a broken bone with internal bleeding or whatever else we need doctors for. </p><p><br /></p><p>Those are just a few of the complex issues people are dealing with. I know I sound all negative but I wanted to try and explain the magnitude of a small glimpse into what these people are going through. </p><p>I had thought about taking a charter plane to the island next to Haiti then a boat to my village but now the gangs are attacking people on water by boats.</p><p><br /></p><p>And it’s easy to just say “Haiti’s problems” and group everyone in the same pile of “they’re” hurting their own people and “they’re” destroying their own places etc. </p><p><br /></p><p>But let me remind those people, my ten girls do not deserve this. They did nothing to deserve to live like this. To be threatened like this. To hurt like this. To have no hope like this. </p><p>They deserve to go to school like every child in this American town I’m in. They deserve to have fun and eat cookies and play with friends and ride in a car but instead they’re telling me on the phone that they hear gunshots as they run inside. My employees are doing everything they can to keep La Limyè afloat while everything else is sinking. They are good hearted, God fearing men and women who deserve for us to fight for justice and demand change even if I don’t know how I’ll pay them this month because banks are closed. </p><p><br /></p><p>I know Gods plan is ultimately a good one even if I can’t see the whole picture. I know He loves my girls and will tend to their needs. But the unknowns, the what ifs, the heartbreaks, the utter catastrophe that my family of 9 years is suffering through- I don’t think any human has the amount of faith to just say “it’ll be ok” and not allow the tears to fall. I’m grieving for the country I call home and yet I’m not the one who needs prayers, they do. They are literally suffering. </p><p><br /></p><p>For the sake of humanity it can not get any worse. We are begging for help, troops, a miracle, anything to stop the gangs and fix the government and restore some type of order before more innocent people die. </p><p>I’m furious that outside help isn’t coming. But I guess when things don’t affect you personally you tend not to care as much. Or if nothing can be offered in return…. </p><p>Haitians are strong and resilient. I have confidence they’ll get through this. </p><p><br /></p><p>I was told the other day that it’s better that I’m in America instead of Haiti because of my nationality. The girls might actually be safer if I’m not there. That was gut wrenching to hear. </p><p>But I’m still amazed at Gods plan to send me out blinded by what was about to unfold. Not prepared, leaving behind necessities because I thought I’d be right back. But perhaps He knew I’d be forced out by now and it was best to pull me out thinking it was just for a week rather than trying to get me to leave after chaos erupted knowing good and well I’d never leave my girls during unrest. </p><p>You know my therapy is writing so thank you for reading this far. </p><p>If I can give any advice it would be to never ever take for granted the gift of stepping into your vehicle and driving alone wherever you want to. </p><p>Never take for granted the blessing of having multiple grocery stores within a few miles of home where you can buy any and every type of food and have the money in the bank so that you don’t have to think twice on if you can splurge on the $3.99 donuts. </p><p>Thank God you have a hospital down the road you can rely on. </p><p>Remember the beauty of living in a structured country with laws. </p><p>Thank God for the heat and air so you’re never uncomfortable. Thank God for the roof so you don’t get wet and the electricity so you can see. These are all gifts, blessings that we should thank God for everyday. He has been so good to us. Let us not forget that and live life complaining over the petty issues. Life is a gift. A beautiful gift. </p><p><br /></p><p>All this to say please continue to pray. </p><p>Please pray for safety </p><p>For supplies </p><p>For good health. </p><p>The country is paralyzed. But God knows this. He sees this. And we still put our trust and hope in Him. Because he is the only way. </p><p>Where there seems no way, part the Red Sea, Lord.</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-83956237894985622782022-10-21T12:25:00.001-07:002022-10-21T12:25:13.617-07:00Life turned upside down. <p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6kldd6atQ1rcmByINzTxa_5Gdqy5HW-Ph6ynPCsFfqG9IDnJ8iHjdbeziQhDFOM9fp8V0mxWuW7WkUWCtNIUiYlaJtTdQDNZ4XGp5T7HFTWshVZ4Wq-QeCR7gwqpf4CooDQOQpvjFXR1WDTmJctGg5vhIuc6gZry6gH9tOcHisINPNKiRdVwSeenlQ/s1791/FB38C32C-617E-46BC-A52A-AEF25E77B8DC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1791" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6kldd6atQ1rcmByINzTxa_5Gdqy5HW-Ph6ynPCsFfqG9IDnJ8iHjdbeziQhDFOM9fp8V0mxWuW7WkUWCtNIUiYlaJtTdQDNZ4XGp5T7HFTWshVZ4Wq-QeCR7gwqpf4CooDQOQpvjFXR1WDTmJctGg5vhIuc6gZry6gH9tOcHisINPNKiRdVwSeenlQ/s320/FB38C32C-617E-46BC-A52A-AEF25E77B8DC.jpeg" width="257" /></a></div><br />I’ve written a few updates over the last month on social media but haven’t posted them on here. So this first one was written on September 23rd. The next two blog will be updates to this one. <p></p><p>Pray for Haiti </p><p><br /></p><p> As always, my friends, family, and anyone who supports or follows La Limyè deserves to know what’s all going on so I’ll try my best to explain it. </p><p><br /></p><p>On Sunday September 11th I left Haiti for a 7 day trip to Memphis to visit my family. Things in Haiti have been tough for many seasons now but there was no indication in my mind that things would drastically get worse. Had I have had even the smallest thought that the situation would head south, I never would have left the girls. </p><p>Looking back, how everything played out was so God ordained for reasons I haven’t figured out just yet but super last minute (since the opening of school was delayed) I spontaneously booked a ticket, threw 4 outfits in a suitcase and left only to barely make it on my flight due to gang violence on the way. I left my computer among other necessities in Haiti because I thought it would be a 7 day quick trip to visit, restock, and head back before school starts. My gut, also known as the Holy Spirit, said to go…so I did… never imagining what would come next. </p><p><br /></p><p>The day after I arrived in the States Haiti went into lockdown mode. Lockdown for us means grocery stores are closed, roads are blocked with burning tires, piles of sand, cables, cords, trees, trash, cinderblocks, anything they can find to block the roads so vehicles and taxis can’t pass. Banks shut down, food depot stores are emptied from desperate purchases or looting out of desperation, streets are deserted, hospitals lack supplies because they can’t restock, drinking water gets scarce, kidnappings happen, murders happen, government offices are ransacked, NGO’s are known to be attacked, a prison was overpowered and all the inmates got out, the starving die quicker and the hope for a better tomorrow gets lost in the fires. </p><p><br /></p><p>We’ve had little to no fuel in a year. Maybe once or twice a month our city gets a delivery and you and the whole city will park for hours with thousands of others trying to get a few gallons. It’s never enough. So when the Prime Minister mentions gas prices are basically doubling, emotions come out. The government is corrupt, there’s no legit justice system, there’s barely any aid, no job opportunities, school is too expensive, adequate medical care is rare and the people are tired and hungry. Some want to destroy what little the country still has out of anger and confusion and to hold power over others. Others just want to demand change, have a chance at life, make their voices heard, and live a life outside of abject poverty. Others just hideaway and pray to God that they can find the supplies they need while hell on earth encircles them.</p><p>Some of the gangs have taken control of certain cities and no one can safely move freely. The police are outnumbered and not well armed. There’s no talk of any international help coming. The people are wanting our Prime Minister to step down. </p><p><br /></p><p>It’s been 14 months since the president was assassinated and things slowly became worse and worse. Inflation rocketed, the value of the Gourde decreased, gangs took over villages, the gas you buy is $20+ a gallon and bought on the black market, kidnapping is rampant and I guess all that was being bottled up just finally blew up this past week. </p><p>Being in survival mode and living a complex hyper vigilance life is one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. </p><p>I understand God is working in ways I don’t yet understand. And I understand that for every other lockdown I’ve been in Haiti with the girls but for whatever reason this time he put me in the States. I know good and well it’s a blessing to be here and He is protecting me and has a reason that one day I might understand, but honestly even knowing these things and trusting God, the “what ifs” are torture. What if I can’t get back for a long time. What if one of the girls gets sick or breaks a leg and they can’t get her to a hospital. What if they run out of drinking water and the well water makes them all sick. What if being at a large ministry puts a target on their backs and the gangs attack and loot the property. What if they’re scared and sad and the one person who always nurtures them is a whole country away. “What ifs” are one of the best tactics that Satan can use. And I’m aware of his stabs and aware of the opportunity to strengthen my faith by resisting his tactics, and I am constantly trying to turn my eyes to the God of the universe who has me and my girls and employees in the palm of His hands. I’m resting in His promises and surrendering my fears to Him and learning to let go and be still but let’s be honest, I’m still human so holding back tears or sometimes flooding the ground everyday since I’ve been here might just have to be accepted. Anyone in my position would want to break down walls to get back to the children they’re raising just to hold them and tell them it’s going to be ok. But there is no safe way to get back right now. So I’m stuck. </p><p><br /></p><p>There’s been days where for multiple hours I haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone in my city. They need fuel to run the cell towers and without a functioning country, that’s not possible. </p><p>Since we are low on certain supplies my employees called me a few days ago and said we have to stop the feeding program because we have responsibility over these 10 girls and we’re running low on propane to cook with. They would never stop feeding their own people, their own neighbors if there was anyway to stretch what propane we have left to not risk running out thus our own children not having a way to eat. They made this decision on their own to hand out all the extra rice we had and then lock up because being able find any food at all to buy now is getting harder and harder even if you have the funds. My</p><p>girls are being cared for, loved, and fed by our amazing and dedicated employees. And I’ll be eternally thankful for them. </p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, If you’re still reading all of this, thank you. For security reasons I never tell anyone when I’m leaving or coming to or from but so many have asked and now are wondering. I am Stateside, trying to accept that this is Gods plan and He always knows best and no, I don’t know for how long. As soon as the roads open again, I’ll find a way back home. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have a few prayer requests that I hope you’ll storm heavens gates with: </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray for peace in Haiti, change, and stability so that the dire needs of the people can be met. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray that my girls, employees, and the property at La Limyè stay untouched by the acts of violence. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray for international help to intervene and help regain control of the country. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray for the ones out of drinking water and food and medicine. May God miraculously double the loaves and fish for His people. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray that cell service never goes out completely so that I can continue to communicate with my employees. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray the gangs get dismantled, a good government rises up, and the people of Haiti can worship God in a stable environment. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray for your heart not to only see the crime and destruction and problems of Haiti but to see the beauty on that island and the amazing God fearing people who just want to eat and send their children to school and survive. There is a lot of bad going on, like everywhere, but there’s so much more good to acknowledge too. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray for my heart to have peace, know in Gods perfect timing I’ll be reunited with my girls, and to see Gods fingerprints in these weeks in America. </p><p><br /></p><p>Pray for Haiti. The innocent, the hurting, the sick, the hungry, the suffering. God every ounce of our being is putting our trust and hope in You. Split the waters and free the people.</p><p><br /></p><p>May Gods name and His glory be shown and magnified during all of this. Your will be done.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-27599850178562924432022-07-13T07:54:00.001-07:002022-07-13T07:54:55.821-07:00Rainstorms on cloud 9 <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfGK-9U7SjwrXUPWunSA5P6_rqCwE_wwgyvE-GJygBRN9bOOUNoo8us2AKjBF29p_cgoWKSLUyqJRdV1nAxLGwZJmAC2d6qMSE1XRfn_sE18zuQd73POLx2fD1vsboXzEVtWTN4ThA4q8L78sVmDrjd7IjjWGj_IsPeCBCaUWJd2OzvjFbp7vv8ZV6w/s4032/1A10275B-BC48-47E3-BB29-CD7BA16987C4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfGK-9U7SjwrXUPWunSA5P6_rqCwE_wwgyvE-GJygBRN9bOOUNoo8us2AKjBF29p_cgoWKSLUyqJRdV1nAxLGwZJmAC2d6qMSE1XRfn_sE18zuQd73POLx2fD1vsboXzEVtWTN4ThA4q8L78sVmDrjd7IjjWGj_IsPeCBCaUWJd2OzvjFbp7vv8ZV6w/s320/1A10275B-BC48-47E3-BB29-CD7BA16987C4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">I wake up to a video of large groups of men, women, and children fleeing their homes in the middle of the night because the gangs arrived and war is happening and they were forced to evacuate with nowhere to go. There is no motel down the road. There is no spare bedroom at your closest friends house. There is nowhere to go but they have to go, somewhere, in the middle of the night, with no street lights.</span><p></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> They run. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My phone beeped and I opened the message. A dead man lying in the road covered in blood and taxis and motorcycles are just passing by. It’s just another day, a new normal sight to see. Perhaps gunned down by the gang. Perhaps apart of the gang and gunned down by police. No one knows. Did he lose his way as a teen and had no one to turn to? Did he get so desperate for food for his daughter that stealing was the only option he thought he had? Was that day just the day he would be taken from earth and his little boy is waiting for him to get home not knowing he’s drowning in his own blood from a bullet to the head? </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">They weep. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I hear the beep and I pick up my phone again. 4 gang members taken out during a failed kidnapping attempt. 4 less. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Making progress. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It dings again. A man, wife, and child are kidnapped by child soldiers. Yes, 14 year olds with automatic weapons. Did they choose that life because it’s the only way to make an income? Were they forced into that life and now have no way to escape? </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Lost progress. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In a country with such limited resources, lack of education availability, starvation, lack of medical care, no housing support, no troubled teen support groups, no therapy, no food stamps, no job opportunities, no visible way out of the circle of poverty I can understand why things like this happen. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I think about flying to America and the anxiety flows in. Churches will want to meet with me. They’ll want an update. Sunday school classes will want to hear how the new projects are going and how fun the summer activities for the girls are.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But how can I explain what living in seasons of hell feels like without scaring them away? </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ve seen the work of the devil and I’ve seen his army face to face while being surrounded by their automatic weapons. And I beg you to fall on your knees worshiping Jesus because you don’t want to experience hell one day because of your choices in life today. It’s real, it’s raw, and it’s more terrifying then your worst nightmare. I’ll forever be haunted by him. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So what do I say? I wake up to seeing pictures of dead bodies and half their face being blown apart from the pressure of the bullet but I still look and try to depict their age and what road they’re on.</span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Do I tell them that kidnapping is rampant and trauma is suffocating and the poor are poorer than ever and no one can afford schooling and child soldiers are the new thing, and I’ve watched groups of men walk down the road shooting their AK-47s in the air and death, disease, and the power of gangs seems to be overtaking the little island and God is good but I can’t help but feel like the devil is winning the battle but one day I know God will win the war? </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Some days I’ll smile at friends and family and say everything is fine and then I’ll turn away to cry and have heart palpitations because the story is too cruel and there’s no way to verbalize it. Because it’s beautiful and it’s messy and it’s amazing and it’s traumatizing and it all depends on the day. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Can you imagine that on Poplar Avenue, local friends? </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Can you imagine evacuating your child at 3am because if not you’re bound to get your home ransacked and then potentially raped or at least shot? </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Can you imagine listening to me trying to convince you that Haiti still needs your help and the innocent don’t deserve this and my employees are good hearted souls that just want to feed their kids and send them to school but as I’m talking I wonder if you’re thinking “they’re too far gone, they’re getting what they deserved, lets help somewhere safer and easier and more accessible” </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Seeds are planted, y’all. The Spirit of the Lord is alive and working but we’ve got to just hang on a little bit longer for the harvest. I promise it’s coming. There’s still hope. The Haitians are resilient. They’ll never lose hope. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So I’ll go to America and I’ll smile and talk about how the girls are at home painting pictures and beading bracelets and nonchalantly say they’re being watched by armed guards paid to protect them but we have enough rice and beans for the next month so everything should be fine even if we don’t leave the house. I’ll tell you how blessed we feel to have your support to have a learning center for children with disabilities and the beautiful works of the Lord that happen by pouring ourselves into this forgotten and -thought to be cursed by voodoo- community</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">of students. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I’ll tell you how our beach day was just perfect and the water is so clear and backpacks need to be bought for school and God is working wonders and making miracles happen and I’ll tell you all this because it’s true. It’s truer than true. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But when asked “how is it really??” </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It. is. hard. My heart breaks for what the Haitians are going through. What my girls are being raised in. Where I’ve been living. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> I don’t want to think about it mentally when I’m</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Stateside. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is living in what feels like hell on earth at times for the reason I don’t or can’t or won’t talk about it in detail. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And then sitting in home sweet America it seems so foreign to be true. How is that only 90 minutes from Miami? </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So when I’m asked to go to a speaking event it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s not that I’m not desperate to get their support to continue supporting the Haitian community at and around La Limyè, it’s that I’ve been so mentally exhausted that after finally arriving back onto cloud 9 in America after the earthquake of life I just experienced and back to the land of hot showers, a/c, all the food choices one belly could want, and no visible sight of abject poverty at the peaceful trip to Walmart- I don’t want to remember what just happened and what will happen again after the week of cloud 9 evaporates. So I smile and give the happy version of life so I don’t have to remember and relive reality. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I have to advocate for them. They deserve it. But it’s hard. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">During the happy times and the hard times,</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">during the good experiences and the ones I can’t verbalize just yet and maybe never, I must remember it is God who holds us in the palm of His hand. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It is God who knows every hair on our head. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It is God and only God that knows what will happen tomorrow, and the next day, and next week, and next year. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">He is worthy to be trusted. He is worthy to be honored and he is worthy to be praised. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Thank God we were raised in a way that we have the ability to change the world and change lives by a little donation, by a little prayer. The power is in our hands to change the trajectory of lives here and there. We are so blessed. May our blessings never be stored up for moths and dust to destroy. May we freely give and freely love the hurting souls in our world. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">God help us. God help the Haitian community. You’re our only solution. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Your will be done. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8CnxbjIYtsp-c87y3vGpC9DKjlT7vEmSgohAuQut2AvfSkA7M7biD_WSTT0tobPytkZfqozlGqX72JOz8-TY3S_g5cGC6pCAIXpY4xM5axW5aGXTjtq0nk5oomMoXssIjVeuFN1YOcy7AsU1gFPMrlYv-WJHH9cIYKpZX8xUBOgCU9xzBes2cbMauA/s2048/5986F281-41B8-425B-813F-E49423A103E0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8CnxbjIYtsp-c87y3vGpC9DKjlT7vEmSgohAuQut2AvfSkA7M7biD_WSTT0tobPytkZfqozlGqX72JOz8-TY3S_g5cGC6pCAIXpY4xM5axW5aGXTjtq0nk5oomMoXssIjVeuFN1YOcy7AsU1gFPMrlYv-WJHH9cIYKpZX8xUBOgCU9xzBes2cbMauA/s320/5986F281-41B8-425B-813F-E49423A103E0.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span><p></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-13248402677533301172022-07-01T10:22:00.001-07:002022-07-03T05:40:29.177-07:00Peace in His plan <p> I want to eat cheeseburgers and drink milkshakes. I want to blow dry my hair and get a manicure. I want to drive in a car alone and go actual grocery shopping. I want to go to a church that speaks my language and be around the family that I’ve known since birth. </p><p>I do, I crave those things. </p><p><br /></p><p>But I also love the freedom of no expectations here. No stress if my hair is a mop and my clothes don’t match. Eating cereal with water because I can’t buy milk is ok because at least I have cereal and there is nothing else to tempt me like expensive fast food. I love waking up to roosters crowing and children playing even if it is 100 degrees inside. I love being stuck and stranded if that means there is always time to study the Word and know Him more and never the hustle and bustle that neglects that time. I love that when everyone is secluded to their homes more than not these days that means I cling to Jesus, my best friend, that much more. Because although it hurts, it makes me stronger. It makes me closer to Him. </p><p>So yes, it’s worth it. </p><p>Because I get to see miracles and joy overflowed and poured in the least likely of places. </p><p><br /></p><p>Following Jesus means he gives joy even amidst the hard because we know we aren’t alone. </p><p><br /></p><p>Recently I took a road that was full of crime the day before. Robberies, hijacking, shooting, setting fire to vehicles etc. I had to take it and for whatever reason God let that road be clear the morning we needed to pass. A little while later it got blocked again and the gang came out in full force shooting at innocent people in vehicles. </p><p>It’s a risk to do life here. And He doesn’t promise a life without pain, hardships, or struggles. It’s risky more so than I ever could have imagined in 2013 when little 22 year old me was moving here. </p><p>But Jesus gives peace. Jesus gives hope. </p><p><br /></p><p>“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”</p><p>Matthew 10:28</p><p><br /></p><p>“But don’t begin until you count the cost.” </p><p>Luke 14:28 </p><p><br /></p><p>“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” </p><p>Luke 9:23 </p><p><br /></p><p>If you are where He wants you to be, you’ll have peace amidst all the “why do you want to live there and do that” comments. </p><p>If you’re growing that relationship with the God of all nations then you’ll have peace, even when life isn’t all you’d hoped it to be. </p><p>If you’re trusting Jesus to never leave you or forsake you then he’ll stomp out anxiety and pour in peace every time you ask. </p><p><br /></p><p>He is good. His plan is good. Rest in His promises.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYax5y7dVKHOyMqzP-LaS_BGB_JbOyyGLBtEc9hcjpQGLrmPJNN8LTfdP8vO-xA59Qq_mzkght1nFiQGWKwF6xg-ywfxskck3NtAg3wLx70QM9HUhuoaTWorQ2lw0u3uKDMxZrENC00IQ9Hfh8qQ8rGMkOXQS3ifk4b783DTkUtzu1zlVPLTKJfFl5RQ/s3664/E4A6F85E-E392-4539-8115-AFE34F99F16C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3664" data-original-width="2062" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYax5y7dVKHOyMqzP-LaS_BGB_JbOyyGLBtEc9hcjpQGLrmPJNN8LTfdP8vO-xA59Qq_mzkght1nFiQGWKwF6xg-ywfxskck3NtAg3wLx70QM9HUhuoaTWorQ2lw0u3uKDMxZrENC00IQ9Hfh8qQ8rGMkOXQS3ifk4b783DTkUtzu1zlVPLTKJfFl5RQ/s320/E4A6F85E-E392-4539-8115-AFE34F99F16C.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-68680731561933329502022-05-13T04:11:00.000-07:002022-05-13T04:11:58.476-07:00Childlike Faith<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP5xBGlGfnanozT2mkrUDrxUze2UJAmcngYAOUdx0z26hwz_52Urou5AXY_SPx6PjGQRPkXPS69HUuVfyoVw6YY541wtxjN11w5Zfwv0h6r_V2whlQI96kFaBZ7B0yfML6FjrNSCLcY44lU2BUxEWpUGvCzFldEOpTzjrNzj99KfPaCjq7aeI_G47KCg/s4032/23A144BB-3488-4BD2-9F71-738D020FC6CD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP5xBGlGfnanozT2mkrUDrxUze2UJAmcngYAOUdx0z26hwz_52Urou5AXY_SPx6PjGQRPkXPS69HUuVfyoVw6YY541wtxjN11w5Zfwv0h6r_V2whlQI96kFaBZ7B0yfML6FjrNSCLcY44lU2BUxEWpUGvCzFldEOpTzjrNzj99KfPaCjq7aeI_G47KCg/s320/23A144BB-3488-4BD2-9F71-738D020FC6CD.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> I want to be like Ketchina. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>While chaos fills the house and her sisters are pitching fits and annoying each other and crying for no real reason and some are taking a bath and some are brushing teeth and Mommy Ellie is raising her voice for just a little bit of order and peace in the house and the nanny is running around looking for toothbrushes and towels and it’s loud and chaotic and hectic and messy and I’m frustrated and tired and bossy…</p><p><br /></p><p>And then there’s Ketchina. </p><p>Sitting peacefully on the bench singing her hymnal songs. </p><p>Not paying attention to the wreck around her. </p><p>Not paying attention to the mess around her. </p><p>Not paying attention to the chaos around her. </p><p>Just peacefully singing songs to Jesus while awaiting her turn to take a bath. </p><p><br /></p><p>I wanna be like Ketchina. </p><p>Turn off the worldly news and the social media and the bad mom judgments and the security warnings and the chaos and stress in life. I want to block it all out, ignore it all, and just sing. Sing to Jesus. </p><p><br /></p><p>Having special needs and disabilities comes with their own set of challenges, but goodness this child is so full of joy and innocence and freedom. </p><p>Freedom to sing when the world is a mess and not even being affected by it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Keep singing, sweet girl.</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-3369198305198658762022-05-04T06:22:00.001-07:002022-05-04T06:22:15.387-07:00Mental Health <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieK3UxBBY_-QuZMp5sTiM7NWqJNwZO40Qkhr5nCc4o1NJx07yum0bFUJ4j3I0pP5_0rlVmhkLF7ot32bKhSSrKQ4erkNU4m29P6YuKe81DLc645i924nRJ9X8f-nBrzPp5owqM7UsRFpONyJh23Ojl6TpyuvbkdQp5hjACN5rhTECzzVpw6bTypjb67g/s4032/3568CD96-E198-4861-A5DD-BD6627CC191F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieK3UxBBY_-QuZMp5sTiM7NWqJNwZO40Qkhr5nCc4o1NJx07yum0bFUJ4j3I0pP5_0rlVmhkLF7ot32bKhSSrKQ4erkNU4m29P6YuKe81DLc645i924nRJ9X8f-nBrzPp5owqM7UsRFpONyJh23Ojl6TpyuvbkdQp5hjACN5rhTECzzVpw6bTypjb67g/s320/3568CD96-E198-4861-A5DD-BD6627CC191F.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I googled “what triggers a tension headache” <p></p><p><br /></p><p>The response I read from Medline Plus was: “Tension headaches occur when neck and scalp muscles become tense or retract. The muscle contractions can be a response to stress, depression, head injury, or anxiety.”</p><p>3/4 I have. Guess it’s not sinuses. </p><p><br /></p><p>I haven’t felt good the last few days. I thought maybe a virus. But then I also thought maybe just stress that indeed does weaken the immune system.</p><p><br /></p><p>I honestly think I’m out of touch with my emotions in a way. Trauma is one of the blames for that. I hear a gunshot or I read about the war going on in Port Au Prince and I have to quickly just put it to the back of my brain so I can get through the day. Mentally. But physically I think it does more damage than I want to admit. And with feeling like you always have to be strong, be alert, be organized, be ready, be prepared because the kids and the ministry and the emails and everything else is pulling you in every direction- eventually, the pain catches up. Hence why I’m pretty sure I’ve been feeling sick. </p><p><br /></p><p>So when my 3 year old niece sends me voice clips saying… “I hope you don’t get hurt, Aunt Ellie. I love you, Aunt Ellie. Come see me soon, Aunt Ellie”</p><p>… the flood gates open and that tension headache goes from a 5 to a 10 and the world seems to be falling apart but you feel like you have to keep it all together because my stress is nothing compared to my neighbors stress so I shouldn’t even be stressing… but I am allowed to “feel” right? Or maybe that’s why my brain always pushes my emotions to the back. Because, reality is, it could always be worse. And when you’re surrounded by poverty you want to just remember how good you have it. </p><p><br /></p><p>“Don’t let the stress get to you, Ellen… have faith.” But it does get to me. And that’s ok. Because I’m allowed to feel. I’m human. And I’m allowed to still be growing. That’s the beautiful thing about Jesus. All of our emotions matter to Him. He doesn’t compare us to others. We matter individually to Him. It’s ok to not be ok. That’s not a lack of faith if we’re willing to learn to trust Him through it all and take our weariness to Him. </p><p><br /></p><p>I texted a friend and said “this place is loosing it” </p><p>Gang on gang war in the city. No one can safely travel which means street vendors selling food can’t sell, hospitals can’t receive patients, doctors can’t travel to hospitals, gas can’t be delivered. When was the last time we even had gas at the pump? Thousands are running from their homes, fleeing for safety with the only belongings they now have being what’s on their back and as they watch humans be murdered and houses be burnt and devastation and tragedy and fear and trauma and poverty surround them so deep I’m not even sure how they are still above water. </p><p><br /></p><p>The emotions are extreme here. The stress is high for the missionaries and expats and in different ways for the Haitians who’ve dealt with the insecurity and the instability their whole lives. </p><p><br /></p><p>I don’t have a happy ending to this story. It’s just my heart poured out on paper. My diary that maybe I should just keep to myself. Showing my heart and my struggles and my fears so no one dare thinks I always have it all together. </p><p><br /></p><p>So how should we fix all this? How can we overcome our emotions so our emotions don’t overcome us? </p><p>Jesus. </p><p>He is our solution. He is our happy ending. He is where our peace comes from. When things start to get sketchy in these brains of ours, put your thoughts on Him. He is sovereign. He is good. And He always has a plan. Rest in that. </p><p><br /></p><p>So today I pray for strength and peace. For this country and for yours, and for everyone that feels stressed, depressed, anxious, burnt out, chewed up, overwhelmed, mentally tired. You’re allowed to feel. See a therapist. Take a break. Recognize those feelings and then keep your mental health in check so that you can continue on continuing on. </p><p>You’re stronger than you think and in Jesus, with his strength, we can and we will overcome all the fears and anxieties and stress that this world throws at us. </p><p>Your feelings are valid. Now hand them over to Jesus to heal. </p><p>Gods got this which means we’ve got this too. </p><p><br /></p><p>Louie Giglio once said: </p><p> “Worship and worry cannot occupy the same space; they can't both fill our mouths at the same time. One always displaces the other. We can either speak doom and destruction, kicking our worry and stress into high gear. Or we recount the size and character of the Almighty, releasing our outcomes to Him and centering our thinking in His sovereign plans.”</p><p><br /></p><p>#mentalhealthawarenessmonth</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-42898567244061489802022-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:002022-05-02T09:46:05.372-07:00THANK YOU! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jL4d8uui6-KEtN3CVCikhMdLcjj5SccOhI6xe835h-yVG_cEq-8wyrewAL4xjBoyqK2NzuOW6jN_MwgbWByEJJuDdLLPb6TVUrJ4ZxZiGxzuhE-Bq8ss6LVCecU56wasltGMAhk4ny6odQ52oIuOCVC1-I5E_YRwTioOMNkhfEz2r-HFt6Y2wIJOQA/s4032/4F5C85D0-F765-4F12-88C2-97BD866D8DD7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jL4d8uui6-KEtN3CVCikhMdLcjj5SccOhI6xe835h-yVG_cEq-8wyrewAL4xjBoyqK2NzuOW6jN_MwgbWByEJJuDdLLPb6TVUrJ4ZxZiGxzuhE-Bq8ss6LVCecU56wasltGMAhk4ny6odQ52oIuOCVC1-I5E_YRwTioOMNkhfEz2r-HFt6Y2wIJOQA/s320/4F5C85D0-F765-4F12-88C2-97BD866D8DD7.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> On April 29th 2016 Dachena joined our family. <p></p><p>She was 13 months old wearing newborn diapers. Purely a sack of bones. She didn’t even have the strength to sit up from the lying down position and didn’t know how to drink from a bottle. </p><p>Starvation almost took her life. </p><p><br /></p><p>On May 1st 2016 Ciarha joined our family. She was 5 months old weighing 8lbs. She was so severely malnourished with Kwashiorkor that she had to be hospitalized for several weeks and even got a blood transfusion. </p><p>Malnutrition almost took her life. </p><p><br /></p><p>(Unfortunately staying with the biological family isn’t always possible or safe for all children. Although that’s always the aim to support.)</p><p><br /></p><p>I say all this to say: </p><p>I am beyond grateful for everyone that donated towards our care package project. </p><p>But I can’t go on without recognizing everyone that also keeps La Limyè running year round. I wouldn’t have been able to feed the village if I didn’t have the funds first to feed my own children and keep a roof over their head. So whether you’ve been giving for months and months or years and years, or whether you just gave for the first time last week - </p><p>THANK YOU. </p><p>You are changing lives in Jesus’ name and I am honored to know you and have you by my side. </p><p>You are an answered prayer and I know God will repay you well for your dedication, commitment, and support to La Limyè. </p><p><br /></p><p>Also- look at these girls now!!! 6 and 7 years old and as healthy as can be! </p><p><br /></p><p>I’m praising God for each of you that supports us now and then and every day in between and didn’t allow starvation and malnutrition to take these girls away. </p><p><br /></p><p>They have something great to offer to the world and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for them!</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-87433179628923894692022-04-28T06:04:00.000-07:002022-04-28T06:04:05.214-07:00Care Packages <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaFq4p872iEYNqnFOVD7tY1-1BDNDTlfSpihu6xRTN3CDGhZRcxKWkyXVf1W2jiyJYTAJ9468n9e7nKe_OqgkKNDpHgoBsxg6voDuu8NDFsIF8hgaUUq_OT0IdYgpFLNhx-iie0BsDB31Se0GcJpK-bcd6FYWCcwGkHIUfjO0Vq0FUdlfnB0D_vYH-A/s4032/11550511-B54F-4B8D-A9FC-B04AF4C82A50.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaFq4p872iEYNqnFOVD7tY1-1BDNDTlfSpihu6xRTN3CDGhZRcxKWkyXVf1W2jiyJYTAJ9468n9e7nKe_OqgkKNDpHgoBsxg6voDuu8NDFsIF8hgaUUq_OT0IdYgpFLNhx-iie0BsDB31Se0GcJpK-bcd6FYWCcwGkHIUfjO0Vq0FUdlfnB0D_vYH-A/s320/11550511-B54F-4B8D-A9FC-B04AF4C82A50.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> The mother of one of my students in our Special Education/Handicap learning center asked me for a job the other day. <p></p><p>I know she desperately needs it. La Limyè already pays half of her yearly rent for her house because if not she and her daughter would truly be homeless. </p><p>I’m encouraged that she’s asking for work, not just handouts…but I literally have no work to give her. Every position is full and I can’t think of any job to just “make up” for her to do. </p><p><br /></p><p>The rise in prices, the fall of the economy, the insecurity…it’s crippling for these people. </p><p><br /></p><p>All that to say, my employees need to be paid, the girls have to be fed, school fees need to be met, but right now the most dire need is to help our neighbors. </p><p>It would be a blessing and truly an answer to prayer. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have 26 employees </p><p>23 families in our Special Education learning center. </p><p>Around 35 in our local church. </p><p><br /></p><p>Any extra we raise can go to the people in our village which would be around 75 people! </p><p><br /></p><p>For $15.70 each we can provide rice, beans, oil, seasoning, potatoes, onions, garlic, spaghetti, fish, a bible, a carrying bag and have it delivered to their houses! </p><p>If you feel led, we’d love your support to help feed our friends during these hard times. </p><p><br /></p><p>Venmo: @lalimye </p><p>PayPal: lalimye@gmail.com </p><p>Online: www.lalimye.org </p><p><br /></p><p>Write “care package” in the memo so I’ll know what it’s for. </p><p><br /></p><p>If you can’t afford $15.70 but still want to help that’s completely fine! </p><p>For one person to get a gallon size bag of rice it’s $2.72</p><p>For one person to get beans it’s $2.26</p><p><br /></p><p>Together we can be a blessing! </p><p>Thank you!!</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-26715708763426034652022-04-26T07:19:00.008-07:002022-04-26T07:28:10.406-07:00Reality in this season. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbgNgkmnBCSpbgJh6ROPbi0WAa-6hUrUPU3opOQPVyUKI1hUxNoaxjE9uaGP6ABZK12i_LgY57sepT2IUcCohPmi7-rLZK8LkuEdwZrtBhCrDjM5SJvKgxNQq-f53xJLbQF5-_aBAunlAzmRq3Jo-3b5npGhPpBzmIFMisJJCu9PKRJwSyhkHU_W2gw/s4032/5846486D-40AC-4F22-B0D6-1725EE1B8D42.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbgNgkmnBCSpbgJh6ROPbi0WAa-6hUrUPU3opOQPVyUKI1hUxNoaxjE9uaGP6ABZK12i_LgY57sepT2IUcCohPmi7-rLZK8LkuEdwZrtBhCrDjM5SJvKgxNQq-f53xJLbQF5-_aBAunlAzmRq3Jo-3b5npGhPpBzmIFMisJJCu9PKRJwSyhkHU_W2gw/s320/5846486D-40AC-4F22-B0D6-1725EE1B8D42.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><p>I can no longer travel freely. </p><p>I no longer feel like I have a choice on what I want to do. </p><p>I can’t be seen on certain roads at certain times. </p><p>No one stateside can come visit me. </p><p><br /></p><p>The gangs have spread out and their power seems to have grown too great for anyone to stand up against. </p><p>The people are hungry. </p><p>The hungry are starving. </p><p>The churches are mourning. </p><p><br /></p><p>Willing to risk my life to serve here is now a higher cost if that means it’ll affect my children and their future. </p><p>I hired an armored car service to take me home last time I flew in. </p><p><br /></p><p>Life as we knew it seems too distant to remember and the new season seems too much like a taste of hell on earth for the Haitians just trying to live. </p><p><br /></p><p>And yet I’m surrounded by the most selfless, God fearing, humble Haitians who even with a paycheck I know it’s still hard to make ends meet. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Haitian currency was about 40 gourdes to every American dollar when I moved here and now it’s 120 to every 1. Costs have risen. Help has fled. </p><p>And if it wasn’t for the faith we have in the fact that God still holds all things together, we’d think darkness has overtaken at times. </p><p><br /></p><p>There are so many good people on this island. They want to work, feed their families, and worship their God… but so much of the good they do is stripped away by the gangs and their terror. </p><p><br /></p><p>Going to the grocery store is now scary because of the roads you must take to get there. </p><p><br /></p><p>We need a miracle. Haiti as a whole. The future for the La Limyè girls is scary because I no longer can see how one can live like this and still come out ok on the other side. And yet they are so much more stable than our neighbors. </p><p>It’s dark times. </p><p><br /></p><p>We do feel safe inside our 4 walls for the most part. Our town has had its flare ups but it’s calm and functioning compared to other places. But the dangers and the poverty in arms reach keep us all on edge. </p><p><br /></p><p>And yet we press on. God is still working, I’m stillsurrounded by beauty, and serving Jesus to make His name known is still worth it. </p><p>These people shouldn’t be forgotten and abandoned just because all we see on the news stations is the bad. There’s still hope. I see it with my own eyes. We all need Jesus. </p><p><br /></p><p>Please pray for Haiti. The women and men I’ve known for the past 10 + years don’t deserve to suffer like this. They weren’t born with the freedom and ease that I was raised with. And yet they have faith stronger than steel and they know how to calm my fears from their faith in God whenever I hand the devil the reins to my emotions. </p><p><br /></p><p>God be with us.</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-6438811693039502882022-01-03T08:14:00.001-08:002022-01-03T10:22:43.777-08:00Held at gunpoint by the gang <p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">7 automatic weapons were pointed at us as the gang surrounded our vehicle. I thought, this is it. It’s over. I was going to be taken. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Here’s what happened on the 30th of December: </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">For the past several months with all the issues in Haiti, I’ve been sitting in the back seat instead of the front whenever I leave the house to go into the city or come from the airport to leave the city. Less people can see me in the back so it just feels safer. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">After lots of deep breaths I felt confident I could quickly go to the grocery store to get the basic necessities and then make the trip back to La Limyè. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Before I even got in the truck and after I was in, I prayed for safety, thanked Him in advance for protection and prayed no traumatic issues would happen on the road because one can only handle so much in a lifetime and I thought I should be about done. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Once we left the grocery store we passed the round about and headed down that road. When we got to the outskirts of Port au Prince there was a ton of traffic and the 2 lane road immediately became 5 lanes with no oncoming traffic able to pass. My driver did what he did best and weaved in and out of traffic because traffic jams in that area of town sometimes result in robberies at one point of the day or another. He paid off a group of guys that were banging on the windows asking for money and then kept trying to maneuver around the traffic. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">There were police completely suited up with masks on and holding automatic weapons. They were helping direct traffic but of course always ready for whatever else this island will throw their way. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdC7cjB9zd1FymHXpafR9VWS007x5hjiF6ItdVVS1UIYHe7YXPTtZ5cIBmIFT45mh3tVED2mnwUIGCQGjwOK1y5Mh0B5iqhLB69t2Xso-O6ai2ycPBd1G2daGlnmprToqyrh5tB_WZjhm_eOyMygIXjb0m7JoG8vmPyKxxvaX8v-cPK5jCCiUGZz8fOw=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdC7cjB9zd1FymHXpafR9VWS007x5hjiF6ItdVVS1UIYHe7YXPTtZ5cIBmIFT45mh3tVED2mnwUIGCQGjwOK1y5Mh0B5iqhLB69t2Xso-O6ai2ycPBd1G2daGlnmprToqyrh5tB_WZjhm_eOyMygIXjb0m7JoG8vmPyKxxvaX8v-cPK5jCCiUGZz8fOw=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">There was a road right by where the police were directing traffic and up until about 3 years ago we use to always take that road. But over the last few years gang activity has worsened in that area. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Due to the major gridlock of traffic the police forced us to go down that road to get to the next highway instead of trying to let us sit in traffic for the next street up- the street we always take now to get in and out of the city. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;">At the end of that paved road was a group</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">of young men just sitting on the side of the road. My driver said “they’re apart of the gang, police probably know they’re here too but can’t or won’t do anything about it. Some of the police are involved in the gang too.” </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">As soon as we turned off that street and onto the next road we drove up to a young man standing in the middle of the road holding an automatic gun pointed straight at our vehicle. Within 5 seconds my driver stopped the car and 6 more men approached the vehicle on either side of the truck all with automatic guns drawn and pointed at us. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">They told my driver to roll down the window and he did. They demanded him to give them his gun which he told over and over again that he didn’t have one. They said they’d kill him if he doesn’t hand it over. He swore he didn’t have one. They told him to get out of the truck. He put two feet on the ground but then they said to get back in the truck. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Had he opened the truck door fully, they would have seen me. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Had the gang member walked about 4 feet closer to the truck he would have seen me through the door. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Meanwhile, I was in the back seat directly behind the driver seat. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Had I been in the front seat they would have seen me. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Had I been in the back seat but on the right hand side instead of the left they would have seen me when the front windows were rolled down. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Had we gone to the mail room to pick up packages and then piled them high in the truck bed, the chances of them robbing us would of been higher probably. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Had we not have tinted our windows as dark as they can go last month and got our authorization 2 days prior to this, they would have seen me. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I put my phone in my pants, hid my passport and my visa, and crunched as low as I could go on the left side of the backseat. The right side of the backseat had all three of my Suitcases stacked up on the seat. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The men wore normal clothes but had masks covering their faces. Once they were convinced my driver didn’t have a gun they let him get back in the car and let us leave. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">God shut their eyes and forced them to let us go. Gangs usually always ask for guns when they stop people. And if that isn’t an option robbing of money and phones or kidnapping is always next. Only GOD was the reason why they let us go without touching us. I fully believe this. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Truly a miracle and an answered prayer as I was crunched down shaking and praying and wondering if my worst nightmare was about to come true. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I don’t know why Gods will is for some to be kidnapped or robbed and others to be invisible and not be taken or touched. I don’t believe it’s a “He saved me and didn’t save the other victims that have had worse outcomes this year” type of answer. I believe His will will be done whether it makes sense in our eyes or not. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Because we live in a broken world, bad things happen. But God is God and He will work it all out for good. For reasons we’ll never know this side of heaven. There’s a reason for everything and we must just trust that He knows what he’s doing and His plan is greater than ours because He sees the whole picture. Bad things happen, but God is still good. He is still with us</span> and He’ll be glorified by His people no matter the outcome. </p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span>His will be done. </p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I was and still am shook up as well as my driver who wondered if his life was about to end but I am so thankful that that really close call was only just a really close call. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">So many other stories I hear involves kidnapping and robbing these days but God for some reason had a different plan for us. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I don’t know if they had seen an American in the backseat if the story would have changed any. Sometimes being a foreigner changes perspectives for some people. Sometimes it doesn’t. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">3 minutes before this gang encounter was police presence. 3 minutes after was another police presence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When the checkpoint approached and the officer asked if all was well my driver just said “yes” because what’s the point in telling the police what had just happened. No one trusts anyone. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I had been texting my sister constantly from the time I left, at the grocery store, and through the trip home because we were already on heightened nerves being in Port Au Prince while things are so sporadic these days. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I had sent her a picture of a police officer saying “stuck in traffic in the worst part of the journey home, thankfully there’s “police” (may or may not can trust them) but the chance of getting robbed is a lot slimmer with them around. I even said “hope they’re up ahead too”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">But they weren’t. Not for that mile stretch. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve had many nightmares about things like this. I’ve thought a lot about the stories I hear of others going through it and the thoughts of past incidents happening in similar ways to me over the years here are always vivid. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">All that to say, I hate that because I needed a ride I put my drivers life in danger like that. But I’m thankful for the angels that protected us. I am so thankful for God blinding the gangs’ eyes so they couldn’t see me. I’m so thankful they didn’t hurt my driver or rob him or take a shot with 1 of the 7 automatic guns staring down at us. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">We aren’t safe from the world just because we trust in Him. But we can know we are eternally safe. And we can know that He will work everything out according to His will, which is good. Whether we always see it as that or not. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up.” </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Isaiah 43:2</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><br /><span class="s1"></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigAGeXRLxKRPgtpgN-Jq4yUMu-qFWPJR1f5PBxD74EDS8oc8J48B9joW6qRAykMOm7_pDrIbh-9HxquVe3br-qZesxvArYd8XgyTdmS4MU78fuNi8__nQZhXRFMUZCPjLilWTzi6gjoDybgP3wTJLv9mXq7gvylT4W04vprF9pqyHXQDf1WBWNhHkZAg=s3088" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigAGeXRLxKRPgtpgN-Jq4yUMu-qFWPJR1f5PBxD74EDS8oc8J48B9joW6qRAykMOm7_pDrIbh-9HxquVe3br-qZesxvArYd8XgyTdmS4MU78fuNi8__nQZhXRFMUZCPjLilWTzi6gjoDybgP3wTJLv9mXq7gvylT4W04vprF9pqyHXQDf1WBWNhHkZAg=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span>My prayer is for every other victim who’s outcome wasn’t as positive as mine. May we continue to seek the Lord and trust Him. He is always with us, even through the deep waters. </p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-13898119887287951622021-11-08T04:53:00.001-08:002021-11-08T06:16:16.351-08:00My bleeding heart <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmY1fwZKo8dODzRtZ8CcBBgZMioSSg3bMJ_Q89k0A1-RqxuP71Vq8cg0FGMAchTPb7JcjLkCLjJsQHG6vqFGzqfhOhQoHYjeznpGP7QdJU3uuBafBViPBWWtNlQ7IK0iykDDN7BBF3nVGH/s2048/285A9CE4-2505-4648-BE88-ADCB1632E9BE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmY1fwZKo8dODzRtZ8CcBBgZMioSSg3bMJ_Q89k0A1-RqxuP71Vq8cg0FGMAchTPb7JcjLkCLjJsQHG6vqFGzqfhOhQoHYjeznpGP7QdJU3uuBafBViPBWWtNlQ7IK0iykDDN7BBF3nVGH/s320/285A9CE4-2505-4648-BE88-ADCB1632E9BE.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br />I don’t even know what to say.<p></p><p>I write when my heart is heavy. Yet it’s like I’m so numb by what’s going on I can’t even explain it. It’s like living a dream… but not those sweet fairy tale dreams that I wish for. It’s the nightmares. The ones that never stop. It’s reality. It’s life. </p><p>But it’s not a true nightmare for me. I’m just watching it mainly. I’m comfortable. Sure, not near as comfy as if I were stateside, but I’m well. I have what I need. But not my neighbors. They’re suffering. Their nightmare continues on even after they wake up. They’re not watching it, they’re living it. </p><p>The motorcycle taxi driver quoted one of my employees how much it would cost for her to get a ride to and from La Limyè. It was half of her daily wage. Which is a fair wage. But with gas off the street being $20 a gallon, what do you expect… instead she walked the several miles home in the pitch black because there are no streetlights. It’s not fair. </p><p>They tell me of a lady who was pregnant but because of no diesel at the hospital that runs off of generators she died. Her husband watched his daughter or son kick in their mamas stomach for a little bit longer until he or she died too. It’s not fair. </p><p>I told them we were almost out of cooking oil- something that is used everyday here since there is no McDonald’s to run by. I usually buy in the 5 gallon jugs which they said will now cost us about $50USD. It’s not fair. </p><p>I get on FB and I see everyone so happy going to football games or family get togethers or shopping with friends and a part of me wants that. Part of me doesn’t want to watch the hungry get hungrier because of injustice. I don’t want to feel guilty that I have 4 boxes of cereal in my pantry or even a pantry at all. Sometimes I want to dream that I’m blinded by it so I can use a hairdryer in my perfectly pre set temperature house, put on mascara that won’t melt away, head to Chick-fil-A la where they cook the food for me and then go over to Target to buy worthless things without feeling like I’m abandoning my friends. That’s what I kind of want at times. And I’ll be so thankful when that blessing comes. And one day soon that’s what I’ll do I’m sure… but what kind of dream is that? Even when I get to return to the States for a visit I’ll never be able to forget what I’ve watched unfold. I’ll never be able to accept how easy life can be for some and how utterly dark and hopeless it is for others. I’ll probably never stop feeling guilty for having a passport. Because I get to run away if I want to. I get food stamps if I want them. I get Medical care if I need it. And yet without that passport La Limyè wouldn’t be in existence- so yes I’m still so thankful. </p><p>But my heart hurts for these people. For innocent lives that continue and continue to one, be forgotten by the outside world and two, be pushed to near breaking point over and over again. </p><p>We do what we can here at La Limyè to lessen the load off our neighbors shoulders but it never seems like much. </p><p>I use to want my girls to grow up here and then go out into their own country and make a difference, love others, be a light. And I still do in a way, but also I just want to shove them in my suitcase and get them as far away from the ongoing nightmare as possible. I want them to learn gymnastics or piano or softball. I want them to know what it’s like to play on a jungle gym or giggle through a car wash or get a free toy every time you buy a Happy Meal. I want them to be safe and secure and I can’t offer them that here. Nobody can. And yet they’re still so much more secure than our neighbors. </p><p> But here we are in a country that I’ve called home with people I call family and though I do life with them and sit with them and hear about their struggles and taste and see a small fraction of what real life for some of them really is like, I’ll still never truly know what it’s like to choose the next meal or choose to buy Tylenol for a sick child. </p><p>And so my heart hurts for the hurting. They deserve better. Oh I wish you could meet them. Their strength is beyond comprehension. Their faith is literally to die for. Their determination and their courage and their love is what keeps them beautiful. Amidst so much poverty and destruction and unfairness, I look up to these people. Life is unfair and yet they keep on living. </p><p>And so there you have it… my bleeding heart all poured out, trying to explain my feelings. Counting my blessings and wishing I could give it all away. </p><p>Pray for my neighbors today. I wish you all could meet them. </p><p>You’d meet strength in a whole new way. </p><p>You’d feel love in a whole new way. </p><p>You’d fight for justice in a whole new way. </p><p><br /></p><p>—— </p><p>The recent turmoil on this island is mainly due to not having any diesel or gas delivered. We have fuel on the island, plenty of it. But one of the gangs has blocked the roads where the fuel ports are located and any truck that tries to leave to deliver gets kidnapped and robbed. The gang announced that if the prime minister steps down, they will allow fuel to be delivered. If he doesn’t step down, this will continue on. </p><p>For now hospitals, banks, factories, taxi services (which is the main transportation for Haiti), cell phone towers, and schools are either shut down completely or working at minimum capacity.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-76740698267824309202021-10-28T17:15:00.000-07:002021-10-28T17:15:31.199-07:00Sinking ships <p> Life can be so overwhelming at times and everything can feel like a sinking ship at one moment and perfect harmony on a mountain top the very next.</p><p><br /></p><p>As my heart was pounding with anxiety the other day all it took to calm me down was hearing the nannies and the girls start singing sweet hymns at the top of their lungs praising God amidst so much heartache and disasters and grief in the world. I couldn’t help but have tears in my eyes. </p><p><br /></p><p>Amanda sat on the floor making a circle around her with building blocks and said “look Mommy Ellie I made an airplane so I can go visit God” </p><p><br /></p><p>“What are you going to tell Him when you get there, DaDa?” </p><p><br /></p><p>“mèsi”. </p><p><br /></p><p>She’s going to tell the King, “thank you.”</p><p><br /></p><p>“Because even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid” psalm 23:4 </p><p><br /></p><p>And even though “the wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings, the Lord still rules from heaven” psalm 11:2&4 </p><p><br /></p><p>And even in this parched and weary land, your unfailing love is better than life itself. Psalm 63:1&3 </p><p><br /></p><p>And even though I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. You are all I really want in life. Psalm 142:3&5</p><p><br /></p><p>For you are good, Lord. Nothing is to petty of an issue to bring to you. Nothing is too small to ask of You. You shut the mouths of lions and you split the ocean to make dry ground. You made mankind in your image and you called it good, very good. </p><p><br /></p><p>So I will trust you on the sinking ships and during the perfect harmonies. I will love you when the future is so fearful or when the present is so fruitful. </p><p><br /></p><p>You keep breathing in my lungs and I’ll keep breathing out your glory. </p><p>You keep giving me life and I’ll keep giving it back to You. </p><p><br /></p><p>Mèsi is what I’ll tell you. Mèsi.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfGQCW-whBtlw-0_LR4XwMplZ7nnM7Nex6MVI9ciO5cYH6S80EuoKDUdzRTpni99xV8tL9Pr49z5-YCswuKnWPww5hF21j3d272HbCi8M1w0CKNcqa2BcmK42nyXnR_J372yXhbFrBY6a/s1684/C28BFE09-5C64-4098-9421-B5F889A97293.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1684" data-original-width="1143" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfGQCW-whBtlw-0_LR4XwMplZ7nnM7Nex6MVI9ciO5cYH6S80EuoKDUdzRTpni99xV8tL9Pr49z5-YCswuKnWPww5hF21j3d272HbCi8M1w0CKNcqa2BcmK42nyXnR_J372yXhbFrBY6a/s320/C28BFE09-5C64-4098-9421-B5F889A97293.jpeg" width="217" /></a></div><br /><p></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-46969628269525496722021-10-21T04:26:00.001-07:002021-10-21T09:18:09.136-07:00Kidnappings <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihS4Ji-BajbPi9WgDjGdVcPJLjNBaH3ntpTm-FQP6tW4z6ggSoUjzmbmguZACRDU3WikIQ082TFLl30cn2xHU9gpq7BFo71owrwQ-pyUF9z1hIuRMA_9lE9IGMY82gFn7IL1E9fsPaUlDD/s2048/4BDAB45D-0141-43D3-876A-36CAE96B08AD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihS4Ji-BajbPi9WgDjGdVcPJLjNBaH3ntpTm-FQP6tW4z6ggSoUjzmbmguZACRDU3WikIQ082TFLl30cn2xHU9gpq7BFo71owrwQ-pyUF9z1hIuRMA_9lE9IGMY82gFn7IL1E9fsPaUlDD/s320/4BDAB45D-0141-43D3-876A-36CAE96B08AD.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Written on 9-26-21 <p></p><p><br /></p><p> I listened as I was told story after story of what’s been happening in just the last 72 hours….</p><p><br /></p><p> Haiti is a “level 4 DO NOT TRAVEL” country and has been for a long time. In the past it’s been due to road blocks and riots, robberies and protests. But now it’s kidnappings. Though the others still are happening often, kidnapping is increasing rapidly in so many areas. Haitian, American, French, it doesn’t matter where you’re from or the color of your skin the gangs are kidnapping people for ransom left and right. Young and old. Locals and foreigners. </p><p>It’s exhausting mentally and emotionally to watch it play out. </p><p>I’ve been told not to go to the grocery store in the city any time soon. I haven’t been in over a month. I’ve been warned not to go renew my residence permit yet. Not to go pick up my mail. Not to go into the city at all for the time being. </p><p>It’s exhausting because we all hear about the kidnappings, see the faces of the victims and then just wait to see if they make it. If ransom is paid. It’s tiring because your friends that are Haitian know so much more about the situation than you do and they say to forget the cheese and the milk and the selection of flavored chips that can’t be bought where we live. Eat a Haitian diet with whatever food can be found in your own little town. Rice and rice and more rice. </p><p>Out here it’s relatively calm. We’ve had very little to no gas or diesel for months, making parts of doing ministry really hard, but for the most part the big issues are all in the city. </p><p>It’s mentally crippling because the girls are stuck here. They can’t escape with me if I were to want to leave or made to leave. My employees who are the sweetest, most caring people don’t deserve the consequences that affect the country as a whole because of the actions of some. I heard my nanny tell one of my girls the other day that wanted a snack I buy for them but can only be found in the city “we have to eat what’s made and put on the table each day. It’s about filling our stomach these days not about satisfying our stomach. Food is expensive.” </p><p>BUT we’re not giving up on hope in Haiti. There’s too much good still here. Still visible. So many beautiful people who deserve the best of what the world can offer. So many Haitians pressing on, serving their community, loving the Lord their God amidst so much danger. Innocent people who just want to live a life and not be afraid of sending their child to school. </p><p>I’ve dealt with my own fair share of trauma out here but I truly can’t imagine what the mamas are going through in the “hot zones” where kidnapping is a daily occurrence. </p><p>We need prayers. So many prayers. On your knees begging to the Lord for safety, for security, for peace and mostly for change. Change needs to come. It can’t continue on like this. It’s not fair. Divine intervention is needed. So pray like you’ve never prayed before. Please. For the victims, for the families, for the men, women, and children having to watch it all take place. For the gangs. For the innocent lives. For the ministries. For the government. Just please pray. </p><p>If you know a missionary in Haiti reach out to them, pray for them, encourage them, send a care package or just a little money so they can go to the beach to relax. I think we’re all exhausted over here and yet still willing to press on. It’s a fierce battle some days. The future is so unknown and the present is so messy. But the sun rises and the sun sets and Jesus is still King and always will be…and that’s enough to get us through the hard days. </p><p>Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. These people and their country are worth it. </p><p>The devil might be winning the battle but we already know who wins the war.</p><p><br /></p><p>——- Since writing this blog but before posting it here, an article came out by the Washington Post on October 9th 2021. Here is some of what it says:</p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">(The last quote is from a lady who sells eggs on the side of the road. Her son was kidnapped and her words are truer than true.)</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">————————————</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Four days after the August earthquake that devastated the south of Haiti, Walkens Alexandre, a physician, was traveling to treat victims at a hospital when a motorcycle blocked his white Ford Ranger. Two men hopped off, pulled guns, commandeered his truck and hauled him to the outskirts of the capital.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">He was held for three days while the kidnappers negotiated by phone with his family. He’d be set free for 30 times his monthly salary. Loved ones pleaded with relatives and friends to contribute to the ransom.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Now I’m traumatized, fearful of people, and reminded of this every time someone slams a door, or I hear a motorcycle,” said Alexandre, 43. “We don’t feel safe in Haiti. There is always panic, always fear.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“The most troubled nation in the hemisphere is now being held hostage by a surge in kidnappings.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Haiti now holds the tragic title of highest per capita kidnapping rate on Earth. Recorded kidnappings so far this year have spiked sixfold over the same period last year, as criminals nab doctors on their way to work, preachers delivering sermons, entire busloads of people in transit — even police on patrol. So great is the surge that this year, Port-au-Prince is posting more kidnappings in absolute terms than vastly larger Bogotá, Mexico City and São Paulo combined, according to the consulting firm Control Risks.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“During the first six months of the year, there were at least 395 kidnappings, more than four times the 88 during the same period last year, according to the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-Prince. After the assassination in July of President Jovenel Moïse — abductions dropped briefly, before surging to 73 in August and to 117 in September, according to the center.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Haiti is confronting a convergence of crises: political instability, a collapse of the rule of law, the spread of violent gangs, shortages of food and fuel, and massive need in the earthquake-hit south.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“The recent wave includes the kidnappings of two senior bank executives, raids of evangelical churches, the nabbing of nearly 20 doctors and the seizures of fuel trucks and their drivers.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Locals and foreigners alike are living in fear. The heads of several foreign companies told The Washington Post that the kidnapping wave led them to reassign staffers to remote work in other Caribbean countries, Europe or the United States. Other firms are leaving Haiti altogether.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Every time you leave your door in Port-au-Prince, it’s like a game of Russian roulette,” said one European executive”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Most people who can afford it and have visas have sent their family away, or moved outside the country,”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“In September, a preacher was killed and his wife kidnapped in front of a church in Port-au-Prince. On Sunday, kidnappers wearing Haitian National Police uniforms snatched a pastor and two worshipers from a church in the troubled Delmas 29 neighborhood.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“David Turnier, president of the National Association of Petroleum Product Distributors, said seven fuel trucks were hijacked and their drivers held for ransom during just the first week of October. He said gas stations across the country have witnessed a 60 percent drop in fuel stocks.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“We are lost,” she said. “Our only hope for change is God.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">————————— </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Pray for Haiti and it’s people. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore- the LORD above is mightier than these!” </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Psalm 93:4 </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Full article can be read at https://archive.is/wasn9</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqloMGcFz1zquZqaaGJ-iHitQfVJopsWwi2t3YuUQ5NkKw-BaXo0QKzq77xlXtv3wz8HTmf-z9uSOsxIaG8kACJulUUYmFjmuxXznrab6Qg5fwkHSoZCBaPVv7uULokqdQY2z6pNF12u_/s540/4E64CAB0-7D3A-4654-B845-A2DE703120BB.jpeg" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="540" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqloMGcFz1zquZqaaGJ-iHitQfVJopsWwi2t3YuUQ5NkKw-BaXo0QKzq77xlXtv3wz8HTmf-z9uSOsxIaG8kACJulUUYmFjmuxXznrab6Qg5fwkHSoZCBaPVv7uULokqdQY2z6pNF12u_/s320/4E64CAB0-7D3A-4654-B845-A2DE703120BB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;">*photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Sept. 27.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p>—-And since that article, we found out that 16 Americans and 1 Canadians were kidnapped and are still hostages being held for ransom since Saturday October 16th. </p><p><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Psalm 63:8</span></p><p><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-23783827093752948522021-08-20T04:19:00.000-07:002021-08-20T04:19:18.504-07:00The Journey <p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil23I8SXExSX9z5V9hzI9vwS4KC6aNyaSMOI63xOPLa6qCDp5MnkhBnWHo7ZyGoTq8HWxcmCuKNgRjtToXzKToxG3rXQqYwWcdE9wwlSDUIWi1EDlR6ZYLh-Yjq-ydvWIEOaK17sIEdlYa/s1448/31F77321-2A61-4C53-B0AA-920618A2F6B9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil23I8SXExSX9z5V9hzI9vwS4KC6aNyaSMOI63xOPLa6qCDp5MnkhBnWHo7ZyGoTq8HWxcmCuKNgRjtToXzKToxG3rXQqYwWcdE9wwlSDUIWi1EDlR6ZYLh-Yjq-ydvWIEOaK17sIEdlYa/s320/31F77321-2A61-4C53-B0AA-920618A2F6B9.jpeg" width="249" /></a></div><br />This month marks 8 years living in Haiti<p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">February marked 10 years of being a follower of Jesus. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The good, the bad, and the ugly </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The blood, sweat, and tears </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The highs and the lows </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The mountain tops and the valleys </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The births and the deaths </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">the thrills and the burnouts</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve named babies and I’ve bought caskets. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve watched the child overcome starvation and watched starvation kill the child. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve seen miracles and I’ve seen witchcraft </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve seen the work of God and I’ve seen the work of the devil. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve dreamed dreams and lost visions </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">I’ve had nothing and I’ve been full. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">This island has taught me to grow up faster than I thought I would through my 20s. This island life taught me how to pay taxes, drive without a GPS, and negotiate through any and every purchase. These people have taught me how to love no matter what, forgive even when it hurts, understand that not everything is right vs wrong but sometimes just different. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">They’ve taught me how to fight instead of flight. They’ve taught me that stuff doesn’t buy happiness and that the world isn’t fair and that God is the God who sees all, knows all, cares about all, loves all, and will forever be our all. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The last 8 years from age 22 to 30 have been <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>crippling yet rewarding. And though I’m forever scarred with the trauma of what this life has brought me, I wouldn’t change a thing. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Because through it all, I was walking with Jesus. No thing, no circumstance, no trauma could steal my peace in knowing Who is in control. No amount of battle wounds could knock me down hard enough to not want to get back up and keep fighting the good fight. Keep running the good race for the sake of making His name known. I fall, I fail, He picks me back up. Every time. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">He is worth it. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Jesus, the King of Kings, the very being whom we are made in the image of, the man who gave up His life in order to save ours…He is worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. He is worth all the mountaintops of rejoicing and the valley lows of mourning. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Following Him no strings attached will forever change you. It strengthens you and challenges you. It is the most beautiful, daring, and humbling place to spend your days. In His arms. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Nothing is easy about following a crucified Savior. It will cost you. A lot. But if I’ve said it once I’ve said it 1000 times. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">It. Is. Worth. It. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Matthew 10:39</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPPAd0W7KqKLH2hwUUPwZOdZKkh2hFRD_LRXZbM1t_EPZuZarSnLdVOHFciGAJN67n2Nj6tRJ7fKRQsuHenCAivvo7Wuaa4k0YLYeSvyuxWkt3DFh_iup9Givlz5boWObPwj6WZ5oMIeO/s1284/A0E48C56-68E5-4D4B-AF91-AB7EA4986638.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="1284" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPPAd0W7KqKLH2hwUUPwZOdZKkh2hFRD_LRXZbM1t_EPZuZarSnLdVOHFciGAJN67n2Nj6tRJ7fKRQsuHenCAivvo7Wuaa4k0YLYeSvyuxWkt3DFh_iup9Givlz5boWObPwj6WZ5oMIeO/s320/A0E48C56-68E5-4D4B-AF91-AB7EA4986638.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-51222828396542069182021-07-10T07:24:00.001-07:002021-07-20T07:22:13.932-07:00God Listens<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAqzo285_TqGXphs1NtxcGHhP8r1N3vC3lmCFuOrbvq1sylspCLFSNNLGfJRXE48vpAyelX5jV6g_XDFtHX9ycNUkhjaPYep5nxQ45IcPoQ-gZX84tIy_hO0eSPNP_Ugu0XS9I1dB8T5by/s2048/4E74F66B-FEC4-4FBC-A709-1B6550192331.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAqzo285_TqGXphs1NtxcGHhP8r1N3vC3lmCFuOrbvq1sylspCLFSNNLGfJRXE48vpAyelX5jV6g_XDFtHX9ycNUkhjaPYep5nxQ45IcPoQ-gZX84tIy_hO0eSPNP_Ugu0XS9I1dB8T5by/s320/4E74F66B-FEC4-4FBC-A709-1B6550192331.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> Yesterday evening our little puppy got out and ran to the neighbors yard. Our neighbor is a voodoo priest and no one is allowed to go into his garden behind his house except him because that’s where spirits come and sacrifices are made. Even the people that were in his home weren’t aloud to go into the garden and he wasn’t home for us to ask permission. So we waited and waited for the puppy to find it’s way back home but it was already getting dark and the dog was somewhere in the giant field of plantains that were off limits to everyone except the witch doctor. It wasn’t fear that kept my security guards from going into his garden to look for the dog, it was respect for our neighbor and his property. <p></p><p>I told the girls to pray and if God wanted the dog to come back and live with us, we’d find her. The girls prayed and ask God to lead the dog back to our home and then we all went to sleep. The next morning, the little puppy was found, brought back to us, and the girls with their child like faith were screaming with excitement! </p><p>God heard their prayers. God answered their prayers. And now they are saying thank you. </p><p>Prayer is powerful and childlike faith is beautiful. My girls witnessed that this morning and I hope they never forget it. I hope this is just the start of them seeing the power of prayer from our God even in the little things. </p><p>“I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”</p><p>Psalm 116:1-2</p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-954306962414168294.post-88229596490724288312021-07-10T07:20:00.002-07:002021-07-11T16:26:05.319-07:00We are growing! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MwtYNogU2ZRjM5ihT9aQAnkNKuz__aiQKpl0CVLOkANQffNWjNUZBqXBpSlCl6BXqECj6WjNqZ0c-MDPaOj-Eoy0sp7VxyhKUcfuO1vFU87oQ5OVqfHrKL3uKk7moxK5ZUx3y0jn9aRe/s1284/47FC6C19-A8B0-4A0A-B139-2F6B6D5C2D0C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MwtYNogU2ZRjM5ihT9aQAnkNKuz__aiQKpl0CVLOkANQffNWjNUZBqXBpSlCl6BXqECj6WjNqZ0c-MDPaOj-Eoy0sp7VxyhKUcfuO1vFU87oQ5OVqfHrKL3uKk7moxK5ZUx3y0jn9aRe/s320/47FC6C19-A8B0-4A0A-B139-2F6B6D5C2D0C.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKyVlW14LplS7fCkE7DsgJjaZYzPQjLOmYneYfOZt_hSxcEeRF0eKnfHtV3wKgosNRHYAGq68JS98CXAoFMMLkuWazQessxwbt9iq_oAg7zxIlVfXuZIr2kzqIrD1sIFiwa1seOdLhena/s2048/ECB70282-5611-4363-A00F-D15C69AE41A5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKyVlW14LplS7fCkE7DsgJjaZYzPQjLOmYneYfOZt_hSxcEeRF0eKnfHtV3wKgosNRHYAGq68JS98CXAoFMMLkuWazQessxwbt9iq_oAg7zxIlVfXuZIr2kzqIrD1sIFiwa1seOdLhena/s320/ECB70282-5611-4363-A00F-D15C69AE41A5.jpeg" /></a></div><br /> ⭐️ My girls are getting a new home ⭐️ <p></p><p>My board of directors and I have contemplated this idea for two years and it’s finally coming together. </p><p>By building this new home, the girls will have a lot more space which is very much needed as they get older. </p><p>It’s further from the main road so they will be more secure from the knocks on the gate, delivery trucks, visitors, etc. </p><p>It’ll be built up to code by an amazing architect and contractor that also built our learning center and community center.</p><p>AND it’ll allow the existing girls home to be used for team housing/interns AND more outreach classes. </p><p>Right now the community center is used almost every morning and evening every day for different activities but I feel like God has been throwing some ideas my way of expanding some of the ministry outreaches and having that extra space is just what we need.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPh3f8zAR8huNCDGl61toSJeKjvCDSdPkz_QsfJ9tI8hgt0Al-mJyRPh8K2WTjbMmG3vtauoZ3sjjkcT_T0vPSige7HDQ4Q-GLOGfniNw-ppY15vFQm_QgjDWw4QTSsomYqRruuMssFoz/s2048/7FC37321-CEDA-4F33-8F0D-E16A083D161A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPh3f8zAR8huNCDGl61toSJeKjvCDSdPkz_QsfJ9tI8hgt0Al-mJyRPh8K2WTjbMmG3vtauoZ3sjjkcT_T0vPSige7HDQ4Q-GLOGfniNw-ppY15vFQm_QgjDWw4QTSsomYqRruuMssFoz/s320/7FC37321-CEDA-4F33-8F0D-E16A083D161A.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>When I was 22 years old I stood in one corner of the yard and told the builder to go stand over there and that’s how we decided on how big the rooms would be. Thus being 22 and having no idea what I was doing, it is not logistically set up well for 10 sweet residents, but it’s perfect for teams and daily outreach classes and whatever else God lays on our hearts to use it for. </p><p>So here we are!!! Jumping into the deep end holding hands with God and leaning on the power of faith and prayer. </p><p>God knows. He cares. He’s in this. He will provide. And the girls and the community that attends classes will have the space they need to grow and thrive and learn and maybe just maybe teams will get to come back soon because we miss you all so much! </p><p>God willing, if everything works out, this project will be done in 5 months. I’ll keep you updated along the way. In the meantime, pray for provision, for guidance, and for all who will be blessed by this new addition at La Limyè!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-V3tnlgVfJKnUWFpFmkag5pneBbPRiW1CCe5lhqasNUfbIoUaoboIpBx9nYZ11yFJCeE8Tf08Nl4HGCqAn4SsNFDUeUZRRY7P3EsZT0LjDYYcLEwv031Zen1UTAObt3RFjWDr56q5SynM/s2048/EF6A72CE-2E81-471C-A68B-484DC16257A0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-V3tnlgVfJKnUWFpFmkag5pneBbPRiW1CCe5lhqasNUfbIoUaoboIpBx9nYZ11yFJCeE8Tf08Nl4HGCqAn4SsNFDUeUZRRY7P3EsZT0LjDYYcLEwv031Zen1UTAObt3RFjWDr56q5SynM/s320/EF6A72CE-2E81-471C-A68B-484DC16257A0.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>La Limye Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889218925795032327noreply@blogger.com0