Happy Mother's Day!
As I celebrate the day with my own children, I can't help but think of the children's faces in Haiti that have captured so many hearts here at LCF.
The situation in Haiti concerning our orphanage continues to leave us with more questions than answers. The LCF Haiti team asks for your prayers for God to continue to show us His will for these precious children.
The children are ever-present in many people's minds at LCF. Their spiritual growth, physical wellness, and emotional well-being are of great concern. They are so precious.
As I think about the children on this blessed day, I am reminded of a Bible study that I read a few years ago from Beth Moore. It is in her Book of Esther study. The words made such an impact on my own life and now I am praying for this over each of the children in Haiti that we love so much. Please join me as we focus on God's will for each child no matter what the circumstances.
Prayer: Dear Lord, as we read the statements below, may your blessed love for each child surround them and protect them always.
(There is a fill in the blank to add the specific prayer request/concern)
If _____________, then God will take care of the children.
If ______________, then God has a plan.
If _____________, then God desires to accomplish something monumental in them.
If _____________, then God is going to demonstrate His sufficiency to each child.
Amen
Blessings,
Amy
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Matthew 17:20
Big things can happen even when we offer the shortest, tiniest prayer. I fully believe God adores our big long prayers as well as our short, to the point prayers. The Holy Spirit takes all of our prayers and lays them at Jesus' s feet. Thank you, Lord!
The orphanage that LCF supports in Haiti especially needs prayers right now. Satan is trying to get a grip around certain aspects and certain people in Haiti that directly impact the children. The prayer team is asking anyone that reads this post to pray Big, pray Often, and to pray Over the decisions that need to be made for God's will concerning the children's well-being.
Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Blessings,
Amy
The orphanage that LCF supports in Haiti especially needs prayers right now. Satan is trying to get a grip around certain aspects and certain people in Haiti that directly impact the children. The prayer team is asking anyone that reads this post to pray Big, pray Often, and to pray Over the decisions that need to be made for God's will concerning the children's well-being.
Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Blessings,
Amy
Friday, April 22, 2011
Good Friday wishes
I miss the children! Strange, I know, since I have never met them. It has been a couple of weeks since the Haiti team visited the children at St. Louis. I love hearing their stories about how the children are doing. I especially love imagining their smiles and giggles.
I was reflecting on the fact that today is Good Friday. The day Jesus told the world, "I pick you" over his own life. It is an overwhelmingly beautiful thought. I imagine that being an orphan can lead to thoughts of abandonment and that no one cares. The greatest thing that we can do for the orphans is to let them know about Jesus and his unfailing love for each one of their sweet faces. To let them know that God is whispering in their sweet ears, "I pick you, come follow me, I will never forsake you".
Take time to pray for God to continue to guide the children to Him. They are precious in His sight!
Blessings,
Amy
I was reflecting on the fact that today is Good Friday. The day Jesus told the world, "I pick you" over his own life. It is an overwhelmingly beautiful thought. I imagine that being an orphan can lead to thoughts of abandonment and that no one cares. The greatest thing that we can do for the orphans is to let them know about Jesus and his unfailing love for each one of their sweet faces. To let them know that God is whispering in their sweet ears, "I pick you, come follow me, I will never forsake you".
Take time to pray for God to continue to guide the children to Him. They are precious in His sight!
Blessings,
Amy
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Psalm 19:1
All week long, the prayer team felt two themes for this Haiti trip: joy and God's mighty power. No matter where the team was yesterday, you can sense from the blog that they felt God's joy pouring out on the children and God's mighty power as he orchestrated the time with the villagers during the showing of the Jesus film. May the seeds that were planted yesterday spread across Haiti! Pray big!
Today's verse: Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Continue to pray for the team today as they leave the orphanage. Pray that tears of sadness turn to tears of joy of good memories. Pray for the safety of the team and for smooth travel as they travel back to PAP today and then leave for home tomorrow. And one last thing, please take a moment to thank God for how he orchestrated this week through the happy times and even through the struggles.
Blessings,
Amy
Today's verse: Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Continue to pray for the team today as they leave the orphanage. Pray that tears of sadness turn to tears of joy of good memories. Pray for the safety of the team and for smooth travel as they travel back to PAP today and then leave for home tomorrow. And one last thing, please take a moment to thank God for how he orchestrated this week through the happy times and even through the struggles.
Blessings,
Amy
Day 6
From Saturday
Today felt like a day full of accomplishment. We started off in your standard size school bus instead of our typical passenger van packed with about seven bags of clothes and additional supplies we still had to give out to the mommas and children. Samuel, our interpreter even got a little western wear. He is such a blessing to have with us. As we pulled into St. Louis, Scott had already effectively delegated duties as we were on a tight schedule today in hopes to get everything we had planned to complete.
Several of the ladies were busy laying out all the clothes to distribute. Jewel worked closely with Madame Pastor as she helped to evenly distribute the clothes. They were very grateful and a resounding thank you was given.
The library was in full use this morning with new toys breaking the scene. Puzzles and zooming cars were keeping kids busy, while Linda was having tea parties with all the boys and girls. Other girls enjoyed the baby dolls. Sarah and Andrea completed the last of the children getting their checkups.
We also had the men pulling up the bunk mats that the children sleep on to take outside and spray down with a bleach solution and dry in the heat of the sun to eradicate any remnants of scabies and other diseases that remained. We finished in very little time so we split up in teams of three to walk the street inviting the patrons of the town to our Jesus movie that afternoon. It was an eye opening experience to be a part of the culture and feel the way of living so close. We made our way back to St. Louis and gathered the children into the bus and began our trek about 30 minutes east to the beach.
We were excited to see the children’s faces when they set their feet on the sand and see a glimpse of the beauty God has created for us. It was funny to see that most of them were rather intimidated by the water. It took our hands holding theirs or picking them up and wading in the shallow water to build up their confidence. There were about 15 brave souls that were comfortable enough to walk down the shore and get their feet wet. Many were playing under the shade of the palm trees with the various sport toys that we brought along. We made them peanut butter and honey sandwiches and gave them fruit juice to help finish off the last of their antibiotic pills. Amazed by how well they listen and wait patiently in line, we attended to all the children in less then 30 minutes. Our time was cut shorter then expected because the weather looked like it was going to rain on our parade… AND…we still had all the bunk mats sitting outside in the heat that needed to be put back in the dorm rooms.
We pulled back into St Louis surprised to see that the mats had been moved indoors. Several of the men, with the assistance of the momma’s, put them back in their places while the ladies got out their buckets and soap to start washing the children’s hands and feet. It was humbling to sit next to Brandi while she prayed over and washed the hands of several young boys. Kelsey, Aubrey, Lisa, and Andrea manned the other soap stations washing hands, scrubbing nails and then applying lotion. I was cracking up because a few of the children would take and wipe the lotion from their hands on their faces and legs to make them smoother.
The church started filling up with those that we had invited earlier in the day. We passed out peanut butter and honey sandwiches to all the guests and shortly thereafter, started the movie. A rough count of about 180 filled the church walls and there was an anticipated silence as it began. Our prayer is that a seed was planted where fertile ground was ready.
Sunday is going to be a tough. Anticipation has already set in and the children know we will be leaving. We will miss their smiles, we will miss their giggles, and we will miss the hands that come up behind us to hold ours and the hug from behind showing just how much they can love. Love breaks the boundaries of verbal communication. We have seen it everyday. Thank you for your prayers back at LCF. Please keep Aubrey in your prayers as she is under the weather tonight.
In God’s Grace,
Travis and Brandi
Today felt like a day full of accomplishment. We started off in your standard size school bus instead of our typical passenger van packed with about seven bags of clothes and additional supplies we still had to give out to the mommas and children. Samuel, our interpreter even got a little western wear. He is such a blessing to have with us. As we pulled into St. Louis, Scott had already effectively delegated duties as we were on a tight schedule today in hopes to get everything we had planned to complete.
Several of the ladies were busy laying out all the clothes to distribute. Jewel worked closely with Madame Pastor as she helped to evenly distribute the clothes. They were very grateful and a resounding thank you was given.
The library was in full use this morning with new toys breaking the scene. Puzzles and zooming cars were keeping kids busy, while Linda was having tea parties with all the boys and girls. Other girls enjoyed the baby dolls. Sarah and Andrea completed the last of the children getting their checkups.
We also had the men pulling up the bunk mats that the children sleep on to take outside and spray down with a bleach solution and dry in the heat of the sun to eradicate any remnants of scabies and other diseases that remained. We finished in very little time so we split up in teams of three to walk the street inviting the patrons of the town to our Jesus movie that afternoon. It was an eye opening experience to be a part of the culture and feel the way of living so close. We made our way back to St. Louis and gathered the children into the bus and began our trek about 30 minutes east to the beach.
We were excited to see the children’s faces when they set their feet on the sand and see a glimpse of the beauty God has created for us. It was funny to see that most of them were rather intimidated by the water. It took our hands holding theirs or picking them up and wading in the shallow water to build up their confidence. There were about 15 brave souls that were comfortable enough to walk down the shore and get their feet wet. Many were playing under the shade of the palm trees with the various sport toys that we brought along. We made them peanut butter and honey sandwiches and gave them fruit juice to help finish off the last of their antibiotic pills. Amazed by how well they listen and wait patiently in line, we attended to all the children in less then 30 minutes. Our time was cut shorter then expected because the weather looked like it was going to rain on our parade… AND…we still had all the bunk mats sitting outside in the heat that needed to be put back in the dorm rooms.
We pulled back into St Louis surprised to see that the mats had been moved indoors. Several of the men, with the assistance of the momma’s, put them back in their places while the ladies got out their buckets and soap to start washing the children’s hands and feet. It was humbling to sit next to Brandi while she prayed over and washed the hands of several young boys. Kelsey, Aubrey, Lisa, and Andrea manned the other soap stations washing hands, scrubbing nails and then applying lotion. I was cracking up because a few of the children would take and wipe the lotion from their hands on their faces and legs to make them smoother.
The church started filling up with those that we had invited earlier in the day. We passed out peanut butter and honey sandwiches to all the guests and shortly thereafter, started the movie. A rough count of about 180 filled the church walls and there was an anticipated silence as it began. Our prayer is that a seed was planted where fertile ground was ready.
Sunday is going to be a tough. Anticipation has already set in and the children know we will be leaving. We will miss their smiles, we will miss their giggles, and we will miss the hands that come up behind us to hold ours and the hug from behind showing just how much they can love. Love breaks the boundaries of verbal communication. We have seen it everyday. Thank you for your prayers back at LCF. Please keep Aubrey in your prayers as she is under the weather tonight.
In God’s Grace,
Travis and Brandi
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Deuteronomy 33:12
A day like today makes Satan mad. He doesn't want the team to have a blessed day with the children and the mommas at the beach. Satan doesn't want the team to share the gospel to the people. Please take time to pray over the last full day that the team has with the orphans and the people there. Satan is furious. You know what? God will always be victorious! Pray, pray,pray today!
Today's verse: Deuteronomy 33:12
About Benjamin he said: "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders."
Take a moment to picture that verse. Then picture the LCF team, the children, and the people in the village being able to rest between God's shoulders...beautiful verse to consider as the team fulfills God's purpose.
Blessings,
Amy
Today's verse: Deuteronomy 33:12
About Benjamin he said: "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders."
Take a moment to picture that verse. Then picture the LCF team, the children, and the people in the village being able to rest between God's shoulders...beautiful verse to consider as the team fulfills God's purpose.
Blessings,
Amy
Friday, April 8, 2011
Day 5
Hey from Haiti!
Praise God!..today was such a fun and encouraging day! It rained again today. I am loving the correlation between prayer and the rain..thank you prayer team! The kids did not have school today so we had a full day to play with them!! The team got kids in the library to play today and they had a blast! The kids loved all of the toys and reading the books. I was really surprised at how well clean-up went (definitely better than the average American play room). We are hoping that the library will get used more often. The kids are very well behaved. We also played games and sang songs in the school room like down by the banks, the hokey pokey, and Father Abraham (which the kids thought was hilarious). The rain stopped and we had more time with the kids outside. The men worked in the rain and finished the roof today! They had quite an audience of kids watching. Scott hit his finger with a hammer (its pretty blueish/blackish). The men worked very hard and got very sweaty so they are getting the first showers tonight. The men also put a cross, which they made, on the front of the church. Not long after they were asked to take it down because it is mainly a Catholic symbol here and the pastor's wife did not want it there. We got a picture outside the church with the cross on it before it was taken down. We also had a couple pretty sweet dance parties outside today..even the mommas were getting into it. We are all very encouraged at the way the mommas have been involved in the activities and are much much more receptive to us. Several women have gotten hugs or at least a bunch of smiles and waves from them! We discovered outfits for the mommas in one of the bags tonight and are majorly pumped to give them to them! Please continue to pray for the mommas and our bond with them. I volunteered to do laundry this week and they are lovin’ it. The mommas work very hard with the resources they have. The VBS today was about the resurrection. The kids had another coloring sheet, which they always love. They also got egg shakers and toilet paper tubes to color, shower with stickers, and yell threw (of course the stickers also ended up on their faces and clothes). The kids had a blast singing and using their instruments. We went out to dinner at a restaurant in downtown Les Cayes with Samuel and Sarah tonight which was fun and delicious. We discovered that Nelson, our driver, speaks Spanish so he and I talked as the team fed me questions to ask him. He was very grateful to be able to converse with us and I’m sure he was very entertained as we were all cracking up. Sara and helpers completed the assessments of the younger girls today. We haven’t had our nightly meeting, worship, and prayer yet but we had great fellowship again today. I have been very blessed by the other team members this week. It’s crazy to think that today is Friday..that means one more full day with the kiddos. It definitely gets harder and harder to say goodbye and the end of each day. My little buddy Mardoche, who is very shy and quiet and rarely talks, laughs, or smiles has been opening up to me more and more each day. I put him down today to say bye to the other kiddos and he immediately jumped right back up into my arms. Hanging with these kids and this team has definitely given me a very cool picture of God’s love and challenging me to go all out to share it. We all continue to be blessed with the service at the Pastor Louis’ house. Please pray for them as well. The plan is to take the kiddos and perhaps the mommas to the beach for a few hours tomorrow. They have been looking forward to the beach all week. Please pray for sweet time there. We also plan to show the Jesus film tomorrow and have tracts to pass out to the people that come. Please pray that the Lord would work through the movie and that time and bring lots of people. Well thanks again for all of the prayers!
With love and blessings,
Kelsey (with some input from Greg)
Praise God!..today was such a fun and encouraging day! It rained again today. I am loving the correlation between prayer and the rain..thank you prayer team! The kids did not have school today so we had a full day to play with them!! The team got kids in the library to play today and they had a blast! The kids loved all of the toys and reading the books. I was really surprised at how well clean-up went (definitely better than the average American play room). We are hoping that the library will get used more often. The kids are very well behaved. We also played games and sang songs in the school room like down by the banks, the hokey pokey, and Father Abraham (which the kids thought was hilarious). The rain stopped and we had more time with the kids outside. The men worked in the rain and finished the roof today! They had quite an audience of kids watching. Scott hit his finger with a hammer (its pretty blueish/blackish). The men worked very hard and got very sweaty so they are getting the first showers tonight. The men also put a cross, which they made, on the front of the church. Not long after they were asked to take it down because it is mainly a Catholic symbol here and the pastor's wife did not want it there. We got a picture outside the church with the cross on it before it was taken down. We also had a couple pretty sweet dance parties outside today..even the mommas were getting into it. We are all very encouraged at the way the mommas have been involved in the activities and are much much more receptive to us. Several women have gotten hugs or at least a bunch of smiles and waves from them! We discovered outfits for the mommas in one of the bags tonight and are majorly pumped to give them to them! Please continue to pray for the mommas and our bond with them. I volunteered to do laundry this week and they are lovin’ it. The mommas work very hard with the resources they have. The VBS today was about the resurrection. The kids had another coloring sheet, which they always love. They also got egg shakers and toilet paper tubes to color, shower with stickers, and yell threw (of course the stickers also ended up on their faces and clothes). The kids had a blast singing and using their instruments. We went out to dinner at a restaurant in downtown Les Cayes with Samuel and Sarah tonight which was fun and delicious. We discovered that Nelson, our driver, speaks Spanish so he and I talked as the team fed me questions to ask him. He was very grateful to be able to converse with us and I’m sure he was very entertained as we were all cracking up. Sara and helpers completed the assessments of the younger girls today. We haven’t had our nightly meeting, worship, and prayer yet but we had great fellowship again today. I have been very blessed by the other team members this week. It’s crazy to think that today is Friday..that means one more full day with the kiddos. It definitely gets harder and harder to say goodbye and the end of each day. My little buddy Mardoche, who is very shy and quiet and rarely talks, laughs, or smiles has been opening up to me more and more each day. I put him down today to say bye to the other kiddos and he immediately jumped right back up into my arms. Hanging with these kids and this team has definitely given me a very cool picture of God’s love and challenging me to go all out to share it. We all continue to be blessed with the service at the Pastor Louis’ house. Please pray for them as well. The plan is to take the kiddos and perhaps the mommas to the beach for a few hours tomorrow. They have been looking forward to the beach all week. Please pray for sweet time there. We also plan to show the Jesus film tomorrow and have tracts to pass out to the people that come. Please pray that the Lord would work through the movie and that time and bring lots of people. Well thanks again for all of the prayers!
With love and blessings,
Kelsey (with some input from Greg)
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