Marie Lourdes and Easter

Last year at about this same time, I got a surprise visit from my Seguin friends, Marie Lourdes and Emmanuel. It was the day before Easter, and they came to get medical attention for Marie Lourdes, who suffers from a lot of health problems. They stayed a couple of days and got some tests done and some medicine. This past year, we've worked with Kyle and Dr. Jim and come up with what we thought were some solutions to Marie Lourdes' health problems. But, as things often turn out here in Haiti, our plans didn't shape up as we'd expected them to. Marie Lourdes got pregnant with twins. So, once again, it's Easter time, and this year, instead of a visit, I got a phone call from Emmanuel. "Marie Lourdes pa bon, mis". (Marie Lourdes isn't good). After asking about the situation, I found out that Emmanuel took Marie Lourdes to the hospital in Jacmel because of some pregnancy related issues. Danny went to visit Marie Lourdes and passed me around on the phone to her and the doctor (it's really good to have him back in Haiti and free!) It appears that she will have a c-section soon. This isn't great news, since the twins aren't due for at least another month. Please pray for Marie Lourdes, Emmanuel, their unborn twins, and their six children on the mountain that are awaiting their return.

Too Old to Blog?

Has it really been three months since I've blogged? Many people accuse me of being a "bad blogger", and I admit it, I am. My sister has a theory behind this. She says that I'm too old to correctly blog. I missed the window of good bloggage by a couple of years. This might be very true. For instance, I had no idea that if a person doesn't blog once every couple of weeks, people get tired of looking at the site and will stop following the blog. Hmmm. So I guess once every three or four months is probably bad, then. Interesting. Once again, I'm resolving to blog more often. We'll see if I'm able to stick to that.

I'm trying to remember what happened in our lives these past three months. Titus got bigger and started thinking about rolling over, every once in a while. Nora didn't gain any weight, but she grew up into a little girl who uses words and likes winnie the pooh and hangs out with the kids in the neighborhood when they come to wash the car or pick mangoes from the trees. Ryan and I got sick and had to cancel a long-awaited trip to Seguin at the end of March. I am hoping to reschedule and make it up there before our trip to the States this summer. It seems there's always something keeping us from visiting friends in Seguin. Thankfully, my Seguin friends have come to visit me recently. Margarethe spent a few days at our house during Mardi Gras. She brought her three kids and her sister, as well as a bunch of produce and a live chicken. She asked me whether I would like to cook it or if I wanted her to. It was a joke, though, since she knows what live chicken tastes like when I butcher and cook it (a little like jerky, but not as moist). She and her sister made us a great haitian meal. We had a good time talking and catching up, although I had an emergency at the clinic come up which kept me running and cut down on our "girl time". Her kids enjoyed the gadgets and toys at our house. The swings, blocks, and dvd player were their favorites. Sonson will be nine years old this summer. Craziness! My sister is right... I'm OLD! He is growing up into a great kid, and Joseph is really fun to have around, as well. Margarethe's little girl, Marie Phara, is talking and potty trained. I tried to get Eleanor to learn some skills from her, but I don't think it worked. The same weekend that Margarethe visited, we also got a visit from Chrisnet and his wife. They and their four girls are doing well. Chrisnet's wife, Dieula, needed some reading glasses so Ryan hooked her up with some. I can't believe Chrisnet still thinks of me as a friend, after I nearly ended his life in a watery grave in the river all those years ago, but forgiveness is his specialty.

The formula fund is alive and working well in Seguin. A haitian man named Qasim is in charge of it, and administering it well. I would post some pictures of the kids on the program, except that Qasim's flashdrive has too many viruses and crashed my computer last time I tried to download some pictures from it! There are two girls here in Christianville that I see regularly who have benefited from the formula we give out at the clinic here. One is a little Down's Syndrome girl who was found under a bridge in Carrefour at four months old. She is now 2 and has just learned to walk, which made her caregivers so happy. The other is a little girl born the same week as my Nora, named Isabella. I don't ever see her in the clinic anymore, because she's too healthy. I see her in church, though, and I can tell from the noise and disruptions she makes that she is doing just fine!

The boys in the Jacmel Boy's Home are hanging in there. They have gone through a hard year with many changes and stressors, including Danny's imprisonment. They were overjoyed, like the rest of us, to see him freed. They are doing well in school and we are able to see them every month or so. I think even Jackie will be taller than me soon.

For those of you who stuck with this blog, despite its disuse, I thank you. And maybe I'll even post something new next week....

Thoughts on Grace on the Anniversary of the Quake

Yesterday I had the privilege of giving a devotional message to our patients, on the anniversary of the quake. I felt the best message would be one on grace. "Are we alive today because we are better people than those who died last year in the quake?", I asked my patients. They all agreed that was false. So why were we spared? I have no answer for that one, except God's grace. An undeserved gift. And it's that same grace that will usher Daphne and other christians who were killed in the quake into heaven's eternal peace. Salvation, just like life, is an undeserved gift. All that is required of us to find that gift is to accept it. Accept that Christ's work, His death and resurrection, is all that was necessary to atone us. That's hard for a person who likes to be in control, like me. Often, I would rather be given a list of do's and dont's, and told that if I stick to the list, and am a good enough person, I could be spared traumatic death in natural disasters and would never suffer horrible tragedies or hardships in my life and would die peacefully in my bed as a very old woman and would then be ushered into heaven, all based on the fact that I was so good. But that's not how it works, and if I think about it for any length of time, I'm glad it doesn't work that way. Because if it did, I would find that I was never quite good enough, or never certain of my good/bad status, and always fearful of what would happen to me and what my eternal destination would be. Instead, there is grace. God's grace that says, "Even if you don't deserve this, I'll give it to you. Just trust in the goodness of my Son." He is good, indeed. Thank you, Lord, for your undeserved grace that saved us in the quake, and saves our souls for eternity.

Titus and the Holidays

Ryan, Eleanor and I have been in the States for the past couple of months getting ready for the arrival of our newest family member, Titus Christopher Price. He was born November 6th, weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. He is healthy and growing and teaching us all how to think outside the box regarding sleep. We've had a great visit here in the States with friends and family and now we are eager to introduce Titus to his Haiti home. We head back to Haiti next week, and are praying for an uneventful trip. No earthquakes or riots, please!
Here are some photos from our Stateside holiday trip:

Still Making a Difference

Have you ever wondered if what you do makes a difference? I have many friends who have given to the ministry here in Haiti over the past nine years. Some have come and given of their time and heart and talents. Others have not been able to visit, but have given of their resources to help people they have never even met. I want to give a few stories today of differences that are being made in Haitians' lives as a result of these generous people, even years after their gifts were given.

The first story is of Ronise and Berlinda. In 2007, I was blessed to have several wonderful people intern with me on the mountain in Seguin. These people stayed with me through thick and thin. They laughed with me and cried alongside me during all the ups and downs of life on the mountain. One day, they met some orphans with me. Ronise and Berlinda are two little girls who used to live in a place called Kapotye. Their father was gone, their mother was dead, and they were left to fend for themselves in their home until a neighbor found them and took them in. The neighbor found us, many months later, and with tears in her eyes told us of how she was no longer able to take care of the orphans but loved them and wanted to see them put in a safe place with good food and education. I made some calls, and we found a place for the sisters in the HOPE center for girls (through CSI ministries in Croix des Bouquets). My intern friends helped me transport the lonely, hungry, frightened girls to the orphanage. Here are pictures from that trip.




My interns have long since left Haiti, but their help with Ronise and Berlinda has had lasting effects. The girls are thriving in their new home. Tim and Toby Banks run the HOPE Center for girls and Ronise and Berlinda have fit in really well there. I was able to visit Tim and Toby a few weeks ago, and got to see how the sisters were adjusting. When we arrived, Ronise was at a ballet lesson in Port au Prince. Apparently, she shows signs of becoming quite a dancer. She also can put more calories away in one sitting than a grown man. She has been known to eat all the food on her plate, plus the leftovers on everyone else's plates. Berlinda has thick dark hair now, compared to the sparse orange hair she had when we met her in 2007. She is called the "little policewoman" by her house parents, because she loves to remember the infractions of all her sisters and playmates and then recite them in detail to her caregivers. Here are some photos of the girls now:






The second story I'd like to tell is the story of a truck. Not the green truck that I drove into a raging river just weeks after purchase in October of 2005, but a white Ford Ranger which replaced the flooded truck and has served me and the people of Haiti well since 2006. After Hurricane Rita and I destroyed the green truck, my church in South Florida (Community Christian Church) along with two of my friends from PA school were willing to believe in me again and donate large sums of money for me to purchase a new truck. The little white Ford Ranger was baptized in blood within one month of purchase, as I was transporting a hemorrhaging woman to the hospital (with the help of a couple dedicated interns). The woman lived, and so did several other sick and injured patients who were able to get to the hospital with the help of the little white truck. It forded the river well for a couple years, and then when I got married and moved to Christianville, it became a family vehicle, transporting my husband and daughter and I to Port and back for supplies, eye clinic medicines, and trips to see friends. But the little white truck hasn't given up it's days as a life-saver. Just last month, we had a seriously ill patient at the clinic. I was busy seeing other patients, Jim and Sandy were busy in Port au Prince with a team, and the vehicles usually used to transport sick patients to the hospital were occupied. So I called my gracious husband and asked if he would be willing to take the patient to General Hospital in Port au Prince with our truck. He did, and the white truck once again sped happily down the road with its cargo of sick people inside.




This blog is dedicated to all of my supporters, both those who have come to visit me and lend a hand and a heart to the work in Haiti, and to those who have given of their resources so the ministry can continue saving and touching lives. THANK YOU, and GOD BLESS YOU! What you give to the Lord and to Haiti will not return void.

Time to Follow Him

Time to Follow Him

A few weeks ago, I gave a devotion at the clinic about Today being the day of salvation. I explained that each week, we see at least one patient who has a terminal illness, and we have to give them the bad news that they have a disease that will most likely end their life. I asked the patients listening to the devotion to think about that possibility, and to think about the life that comes after this life is over, and where they want to spend it. Then I urged them not to delay in making a decision for Christ. Later that day, I saw a patient with advanced symptoms of AIDS. I sent her for an HIV test, which was positive, and I gave her the news that she may very well have a disease for which there is no cure. She took this news silently, and as I was counseling her on which steps to take next, I asked her if she was a Christian. She said no. I asked if she had given any consideration to becoming a Christian, and her reply blew me away. She said, “You know, the thing about being a Christian is, you have to have time. And I have no time. I am a single mom and I work every day to feed my kids, and I just don’t have time to become a Christian and serve God.” After my initial shock, I continued counseling with her and urged her to make time for God and for Christ in her life. She left to go get her medicines and some follow up confirmatory testing at another clinic, and I haven’t seen her since.
That evening, I thought about her “plight”. Often, I find myself making excuses for the poor because I know their lives are harder than mine. When employees are late to work, I remember how hard it is to cook breakfast on an open flame, get water from a distance source for bathing, and walk through mud or find public transit. When friends take things that I’ve left in my yard without asking me, I try to remember that in this culture if you’re not using it, people think it’s public property. So in this woman’s case, I tried to put myself in her position and see if I could justify what she was saying, about Christianity taking up her valuable time. I agreed with her on one point… it does take time to serve Christ, if you are going to be serious about it. Waking up before the kids get up to have private prayer time, going to church on Sunday and any other days of the week when special programs come up, responding to God’s urgings to help others instead of relax or play or get your own things done. Yes, it takes time to serve the Living God and the Savior of your soul. But isn’t it worth it? Didn’t He take time for us (Phil.2:5-11)? On the other hand, I’m not a single mom. I don’t know how hard it is to raise children without the help of a spouse. I’m not poor. I don’t know the agony of putting my kids to bed hungry. But I know many poor Christians, some of whom are single parents. I know an unmarried Haitian girl named Bethany, who has a small child that she supports, while at the same time finishing high school, taking care of other nieces and nephews, singing in choir, praying morning, noon and night, and worshipping God every Sunday. I knew a single woman who turned down two jobs in a country with 70% unemployment because she refused to disobey God and sleep with the boss when he told her that was all she had to do to get hired. I see many people who have lost jobs and homes and parents and children in the earthquake who still come to church every Sunday to worship God with all their might. And so, in the final analysis, I decided that this woman’s excuse was not valid, not at all.
Whether rich or poor, there are always excuses not to accept God’s gift of eternal life through Christ. “I’m too busy. I’ve got too many other commitments right now. It’s just not a good time for me. I couldn’t give it my all right now” and the list goes on. But in the end they are all just excuses, and won’t hold water on the day of judgment, when every one of us will have to give an account to our Maker of what we did with the life that He gave us and the gift of His Son that He offered us. The day after I met my HIV positive patient who didn’t have time for God, I had another terminally ill patient come into my office. She was dying of lung cancer, and I had to give her the bad news. After we cried together a bit, I asked her if she was a Christian. She said no. I asked her if anything was stopping her from giving her life to Christ now. She said, “Nothing”. She wanted to pray and accept Christ and begin going to church and serving Him. So we prayed together. I have the feeling I’ll see this woman again some day, even if she doesn’t live to keep her return appointment, because she understood the importance of accepting Christ… not tomorrow or when it’s convenient or when she had more time, but Today.

Nora's One, and the New Baby is a Boy

Nora turned one year old today! We flew back into Haiti yesterday after a few weeks of visiting with family and attending Ryan's sister Lauren's wedding. We were glad for an uneventful trip home this time. Our last trip home included an earthquake 20 minutes after we reached our house. So this time, when we came home to the smell of rotten meat because our fridge/freezer had run out of propane, we couldn't grumble too much. We'll take a messy clean-up over an earthquake anyday. Today, Nora enjoyed a lazy day around the house and then a trip into Port au Prince for some groceries. She likes trips into Port because of the air-conditioned car ride on bumpy roads that rock her to sleep. We also got her a teddy bear cake and a candle. She liked the candle, and took a few bites of the cake before deciding it was time for bed.
While we were in the states, we had a few doctor's appointments to keep. Nora needed her vaccinations, and I needed to see the OB doctor. Both visits went more wonderfully than we thought they would. At the OB doctor, we were given the opportunity to look at the baby on ultrasound. As I sat in the air-conditioned room with a big screen in front of me, displaying the ultrasound pictures, and a huge fancy ultrasound machine humming beside me, I got a little sad. I was feeling sorry for Jim, the doctor that I work with in Haiti. He has a small portable ultrasound machine which is currently on its last leg, and he spends half of his day bending over it in the heat of our tin-roofed clinic-that-is-really-a-school building. I wish he had the pleasure of working with a machine that gives incredible images and is serviced by representatives of the manufacturer whenever anything goes wrong. Oh, well. When you don't have big and fancy, then small and glitchy gets the job done, and saves lives in the process. At any rate, while I was in the sonography suite, feeling sorry for Jim, my sad mood didn't last long, because the technician told me that we are having a baby boy. He is due the first week of November. Yes, for those of you that are keeping track, Ryan and I are expecting our second baby one month after our second anniversary. What can we say? Life moves quickly here in Haiti, and God is good.