January, 2012

Our team is gearing up and preparing to head to Haiti this January 23 - 30th, 2012.  Please pray for these individuals:

• Rachel Krueger
• Mark Carbert
• Shannon & Mike Immer
• Tyson Burke
• Kathy Larson
• Annika Mohr
• Brian & Tobi Roesler
• Katie McComb
• Mackenzi
• Lori DeRoo
• Colleen Henderickson

May God provide comfort and strength as these individuals prepare for the journey ahead!  We will keep you posted to our daily adventures starting on January 23rd.  Tune in daily to hear from our team!

Faithfulness

As we continue to experience this place and make sense of it all, we are faced with witnessing enormous problems and injustice to these beautiful people, who by no fault of their own are born into a world of destitute and poverty. We struggle to find the answers to make sense of it all....but in the end we realize that it is about being faithful to God's calling.

This morning our team headed back into the heart of Cite Soleil to deliver clean water to hundreds of women and children in desperate need. They came from every corner with their buckets and we carefully helped lift these full buckets onto the tops of their heads and assist small girls with carrying them back to their shacks. You could see that to them this is the most precious of resources and to me I would barely think twice when I would turn on my water faucet to brush my teeth, or flush the toilet, or to even grab a glass of water from the fridge. We were swarmed with kids wanting our attention and mothers handing us their babies to hold while they could get their water. All of our hearts continued to be break as people came up to us with needs we could not meet....children requesting to go to school, babies that needed to see a doctor, or the last 30 buckets that could not get full of water because the truck was dry....and here our team struggles to make sense of why? Why do we have so much and them so little?

In the afternoon we went back to the orphanage for sick and dying babies to continue to pour our love into these babies. Many of them were the same as on Wednesday when we made our first visit and it was nice to continue the bond that was made on that day. But again, as we rock these babies and wonder if they have parents and what will their futures hold, we ask why? why can't we take them home and give them everything they need? Why are there so many laws and barriers to children being brought to homes with open arms and means to provide for all their needs.

Again, I struggle, just as the rest of my team, with making sense of this all...and thankfully, in the end we are left with our faith. Our faith to trust that God will continue to work in our hearts and care for those he places in our paths. Faith that we do not know what lies ahead but that He does...and it is only in faithfulness that we can begin to make sense of this place.

Word of the Day: Humility

Friday's Word of the Day:  Humility 

Prior to coming on this trip, I was assured that I wouldn't have to worry about bathrooms because I would sweat it all out.  I questioned this...because, I have been with this bladder for 37 years.  It has been able to produce regardless of location, condition and abundance.  This bladder is able to MOVE even when it isn't supposed to...just ask my poor husband who has had to stop every 90 minutes on road trips for over 19 years!

So, it isn't a surprise that on the first day, I raced through the door after a day on the water truck to hit the bathroom FIRST.  Day 2, I dreaded another day of limited to non-existant restroom opportunities.  Again, I was reassured that the heat would shed off those extra liquids.  NON!  As we played with the children at the orphanage, I came to the very real conclusion that I had to locate a toilete...now!  I asked one of the young girls and she took my hand.  We walked through the orphanage to her bedroom where she pulled out her bag.  Out of it, she retrieved her own personal stash of toilet paper and led me to the community outhouse.  The young girl guarded the door while I did my business.  What an embarassing and frustrating  experience!
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Day 3, I was determined NOT to need the restroom this day.  I limited my water intake and visited the restroom over 3 times before we headed out for the day.  I was in charge of my bladder and it was going to take note of my demands.  As you can predict, we arrived at the orphanage and I knew I was in trouble.  It was at least 3 hours before we would be riding the bumpy, rocky roads back to our guest house.  And, I was already confident that I wasn't going to be able to make it home.  Once again, I had to find one of the young ladies and go through the walk of "shame" of borrowing toilet paper and being escorted to the public outhouse. 

I was furious with myself and this human condition.  Why was I the only one having to go through this?  Then, as I had my pants around my ankles the realization came to me.  This is my lesson of humility.  I needed to be stripped away of my pride and arrogance so that I could truly serve God.  I needed to recognize that each face I touched, each hug I received, each moment that occured was NOT about me.  My humility of having to ask for the help of a child and to use their limited supply of toilet paper was a hard lesson to learn.  But, a lesson that I needed to learn in order to better serve and better understand my role here in Haiti.

Hey you, which way is UP?

If you think you know what you will see here,... you don't.  If you think you know how you will feel here,... you don't.  If you think you will control your emotions,... you won't.  If you think you will see the truth,... you won't.  If you think you can understand,... there's no damn way.

The truth is that no matter what I write here, you won't get it.  I'm here and I don't get it, so how could I possibly explain it to you?  Can you be heart-broken and healed at the same time?  Can you be deflated and uplifted simultaniously?  How is it that Joy hurts and Pain can make you smile?  How is it that the ones "in need" seem to provide for the ones "who came to give."  It makes no sense, and it is crystal clear.

I have longed to know God's plan for me.  Many times I have thought that I figured it out.  But, just after the epiphany comes and I think I understand someone yells "Hey you," and it's all mixed up again.

If you think you have it all figured out, step out of the box for just one second.......... I dare you.

I have always been jealous of people who had a clear understanding of what they want to do with their life.  Being driven by passion is something I don't know much about.  Being driven by reason and logic... now that's something I can sink my teeth into.  With reason and logic everything is neat and clean and it all makes sense.  The only place in my life for passion is in my role as Husband and Father.  My wife and my children fall in the passion category, but that's it.  Everything else need to be boxed and controlled..... And then there is Haiti.

What do I do about the fact that I have fallen in love with the people here?  What would people say if they knew I want to be with these children?  What would people think if they knew that I have been thinking all day about moving my family here?  It is not neat and clean.  It does not fit into my boxed of reason and logic.  It must be passion.... now what do I do with it?

Submitted by:  Brian Roesler

Word of the Day: Partner

Let me begin by saying that my word of the day yesterday was broken.

• Broken for my heart - I spent the morning and 2 hours yesterday afternoon holding a sick, malnourished infant, Junior.  My heart was ripped wide open knowing that he was so weak that he could only rest against me.  I yearned to help him...love him...keep him.  It killed me to lay him back in his crib and walk away.
• Broken for the families of Haiti - I am confident that Junior's mother, if given the resources, would gladly have fed, nourished and loved him into a life full of energy and play.  However, her family is now broken as her child lies sick and recovering.  She may visit for an hour daily.  I cannot imagine the pain of a mother who cannot mend the pain of her child.
• Broken for this country - A country where the history of embezzlement (both internally and externally) and corruptness, has left a nation where poverty is the norm.

Today, I am refreshed and renewed after a variety of new experiences that have both restored my heart and my passion.  Today's word of the day is partner.

• Partner for my time sharing with Brian in mending the wounds of children.  It was incredible to sit on the bare ground, under a beating sun and surrounded by children.  Brian cleaned their wounds while I assisted with creams and bandages.  The smiles from the children and the gratitude we felt was amazing.
• Partner for my time helping Carol clean an elderly man's arms and legs.  I loved being able to apply the lotion and sing with him.  It was truly a Godly moment.
• Partner for this team and how we worked so well together playing with the children at the orphanage.  It was amazing to see how we each used our skills and talents to glorify God as we played soccer, blew bubbles, applied lotion and snuggled with the kids.  The children were such an amazing contrast to anything else we had experienced. 

I continue to feel that it is an amazing blessing to be here and experience this place.  I do not know how God will use this to transform me and Brian.  But, I feel confident that the seeds are being planted for change.  It is a blessing to have prayers and support from home knowing that I am being lifted up throughout this journey.  God is so good!

Visiting Elders / Healing Haiti Orphanage

The team eagerly embraced another day in Haiti. Our morning was spent looking over the burial site of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Reality sunk in for all of us as we walked through the grounds.

We next visited some elderly Haitians who live in shelters set up through international donations. They welcomed our team in with open arms and were so appreciative of us being with them.

Our team ended the day by setting up a circus with orphanage children at their residence. The children made lions, jumped rope, had popcorn, played keep away, and played lots of soccer. It was difficult to break the bonds we had formed by the end of the day. They gave us the only thing that they posses; Love.

Written by Dylan W. Krueger

Glory to God for all his many blessings....

Our second day in the trenches of Haiti began with an amazing and powerful Haitian worship service at 6:00 am. After about a ten minute walk, we arrived at a huge tent and were greeted with the sound of many beautiful voices being lifted to Him in prayer and praise. The Spirit was alive and present with each and every person as they spoke their prayers out loud, paced and lifted their hands in praise. It was an amazing experience to share in, as the deep faith of each Haitian poured from them into all there. We were blessed to have our translator with us, since the services was in Creole, and could understand the message that was spoken, which was to remove all the things that separate us from God having our full heart and giving our life to him. This seems to be the foundation of the culture of Haiti. This is a country that has little to nothing, the most extreme poverty you could ever imagine, but what they have is God. They have no stuff getting in the way of their heart and God. They have a faith like no other. I have said these many times since arriving here, these are the most beautiful people I have ever met and I have seen the most horrific living conditions imaginable.

After our early start to the day, we replenished with breakfast and headed for our first orphanage for the sick and dying babies of Haiti. As you can imagine, it was a very emotional day as we held, fed and poured our love into this beautiful children....even if it was only for a few hours. It was amazing to witness the dedication and commitment the women that ran the orphanage have for these children and that they have given their lives to God and serving his most vulnerable children. Many of our hearts broke wide open as we felt helpless in what we could do for this children. However, we found comfort in praying over them before our final good byes and a few shed tears.

During the middle of the day, we had the pleasure of going to a second orphanage for the children born with special needs and developmental disabilities. These children had the brightest of smiles and full of such life as they requested rides on strollers, pushes on swings and most of all hugs. We were able to bless many of them with bandanas and it was priceless to see all of them wearing them.

It seems that it is almost hard to express in words the feelings that we receive from every experience and every interaction we have with every precious child and every set of eyes we look in as we are greeted. Our hearts are broken for these people, but yet so full as we witness their faith and joy.

We are all so truly blessed to be in this place, where our "stuff" is removed and God has full access to our hearts. He is having His way with each of us on our team and we hope that through this blog, you will also open your hearts to His calling for you.