My Soul Reedemed

             

We met a young man at worship the other night named Emmanuel, whose smile lit up the dark night sky. We later had the opportunity and complete honor of talking to him at dinner about his testimony. As Emmanuel sat down to tell us about his day, we quickly saw that this boy was in fact quite an outstanding young man of God. He started with asking us some heart-searching questions. His first, “What is the most important thing you ask God for everyday?” We talked about asking for the power of the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of the Lord's will and of scripture. We talked about love and forgiveness and to see His people the way He sees them. It was neat to see a piece of his heart in what He prayed for everyday. The next question broke our hearts before we could answer it, knowing by the look in his eyes that it was not hypothetical, but instead coming from a place of true emotion and past hurt... “If someone killed your dad and your only sister, how do you forgive them? What do you do?”

Stomachs sank and knots in the throat formed. After attempting to keep ourselves together and knowing we could not relate, we shared biblically how we are to forgive and find closure and comfort in Jesus when no one on earth can bring us healing in that way. He then began to share of his devastating loss of his family. At the young age of 10, Emmanuel experienced the power and devastating results of voodoo when his father and sister were murdered through someone’s curse upon them.

We have heard a few stories of how people use voodoo to kill and one we heard the other day was bone chilling. With walls filled with skulls cemented together, a voodoo practicing women lived behind her shrine and proved to someone how she can suck the life out of her prey from outside of their house. She demonstrated this by having an outsider place a ripe and good watermelon inside the house in an unspecified area. After reciting voodoo practices, the women told them to go back inside to get the watermelon, representing a life she potentially preyed on. The person came out with the watermelon in one piece, but when it was sliced in half it was absolutely hollow with only seeds left inside. She explained that this is how she sucks the blood out of her victims from outside the houses to give her life and power.

This may have been a similar curse upon Emmanuel’s family or it may have been a physical attack, but either way, it was devastating. We just wanted to hold him as we sat there fighting off tears and staring into his big eyes. At age 10, one of the only ideas of his future this young boy had was to murder the people that killed his family. Emmanuel fought feelings of brokenness, fear, and anger with no relief or form of coping. Emmanuel himself was raised in a voodoo practicing family, but by the grace of God, at the age of 12, his mother and grandmother were saved and gave their lives to Jesus giving them complete redemption of their past involvement in very demonic activities. Emmanuel soon thereafter found the Lord himself.

Emmanuel is 20 now and he ended his testimony with his redemption story. He was baptized this last year and loves the Lord above all else. He shared his dreams of being an architect, to go to the states to get better education, and then come back to Haiti to empower his own people to build this nation back up. He shared his hopes and desires for a wife who loves the Lord and wants to help him raise his kids to live their lives for Christ. He wants a wife that will do worship nights and bible studies with him as he leads his family in the way of the Word. It was so encouraging and refreshing to see such a young person really pursuing God’s will and being content with where He has him now.

  He said recently he saw a shrine of voodoo idols outside someone’s house and he watered it down and swept it away. With the power of the Holy Spirit and the healing of Jesus, he no longer had feelings of pain and anger towards those people who killed his family, but feelings of freedom and a new found urgency to pray for those involved in voodoo. His struggle with wanting to kill the people who took his family, is now a desire for them to have a new-found life in Jesus Christ.  This is radical proof of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in his heart. He no longer lives in fear of voodoo or people, but in the promises of God. A quote that he said that we will never forget reads "They can kill the body, but they cannot kill my soul. My soul is for the Lord.

Emmanuel mentioned how scared he was to share his testimony, but now sees how powerful it is and how God can use it to show His power in healing and redemption. Emmanuel has asked for prayer in boldness. He knows God has given him this story to proclaim God's glory, but he wants to overcome his fear and share his testimony to a bigger group of people who need to witness the healing power of Jesus and overcome tragic wounds of the past. 

            We were able to end our time with praying over him and we ask that you join us and be in continual prayer for him as well.   

"They can kill the body, but they cannot kill my soul. My soul is for the Lord" -Emmanuel Victor, 20

                                                                           

Happy Birthday Grandma!: Christa

Dear Grandma,

Happy 80th Birthday!!! I am sad to not be with the whole family in Colorado to celebrate, but today was a special day in Haiti as well. I hope you had an absolutely amazing time, can't wait to hear all about it! 
I fed a sick baby from the tent city who I never once saw crack a smile, but after I fed her and gave her plenty of water, she felt so much better I finally saw her light up with a smile for the first time in weeks as we gave her a toothbrush! (exciting, I know!)
It was also Willie's 16th birthday. He lost both of his parents at a young age and his birthday is often a reminder he doesn't have any parents to celebrate with, so we did our best to cheer him up and throw him a cupcake party. I hope you had lots of delicious treats as well! I love you so much and miss you tons!!! 

 

 

 

Whisper: Ray

We have officially been here over a week and I can’t even fathom how I was only here for that long on my last two trips!  One team has gone and another has arrived. It already has been such a fun time getting to know the different people that come. Everyone has their own story and their own perfectly orchestrated plan by God on how and why they are in Haiti. God knit Christa’s heart and my heart together in Haiti on our last trip, and I am so very blessed by her and what a gift she is. Knowing her heart for children, and for the Lord, and watching her serve Him by loving them is incredible. We have been going through Beth Moore’s James bible study in the morning and it has been a wonderful time of prayer and fellowship together. We are able to pray for our kids, for our day, our relationship, and that God’s will be done before the day even starts. 

Wednesday afternoon was yet another feeding program. I look into the sea of dark faces and am in awe of how beautiful they are.  This week had the amazing blessing of feeding and rocking Vatchna to sleep. Vatchna is one of the little girls who hang in my hallway back in LA. I have seen her face day after day, but seeing her again looking bigger and happier is an answer to prayer. 

Like Gibs said below, Wednesday night is worship with the kids. I am holding Daphne, 7, in my arms while worshipping. As she falls asleep in my arms while singing ‘How Great is Our God’, I was able to pray aloud over her, her life, and her heart. Daphne lost both of her parents when she was just years old, and was brought to the orphanage by an aunt how couldn't afford to take care of her along with her own children. Although she was very small and malnourished, she is now one of the most energetic, funny, and outgoing girls here. During the message being taught, I was sitting against the wall with sleeping Daphne on me, staring up at the stars in a clear sky, with the most perfect gentle breeze. It reminded me of I Kings 19 when the Lord reveals Himself to Elijah. 

“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  

 Elijah knew that it was God and then went and stood in the mouth of the cave. With my arms full in a place that he has called me, I feel so blessed to serve a God that is willing to reveal Himself to me and show up like He promises. 

 

I Love You: Christa

(Adnaika fell asleep at worship)

It’s been such a blessing to hear from readers, thanks for following this journey!! Well, Wednesday nights is worship night at the Boys Home and Ruth, the Haitian Nanny/Mentor and Arianna, the girl who started the orphanage, lead it. Both of their voices are just breathtaking, but it is also a very powerful night.

We had the feeding program that day and I was feeling pretty exhausted, and my stomach was turning (normal…) so I wasn’t sure if I would even make it. I am so glad I did. The little kids all go to a big basket to get different noise makers… also known as instruments such as maracas and tambourines to join in on the beautiful music being played by all orphanage kids. I decided to take a step back and stand all the way in the back to observe the evening instead of holding a kid in the midst of it. As I stand there worshiping the Lord for who He is, something happened in my heart and I melted. I opened my eyes and took a look around, and I saw young children of God lifting their hands held high to their Savior singing at the top of their lungs with great enthusiasm.  Ages spanning from 8 up to 18, they knew their ultimate need was taken care of, their salvation has been paid for.

As soon as I saw Ti-Junior with his hands lifted up, I started getting that knot in my throat… the waterworks were coming. (I’ll share Ti-Junior's story later). I just stood there in complete awe of the Lord… for more reasons than I can blog about tonight, but I think at that moment, it started to sink in that I am in Haiti for a long stay. This isn’t a week trip and I am here to love on these kids and share the hope and freedom, redemption and peace that the Lord has for them. I was overwhelmed that God picked me. Before the foundations of the earth, the Lord knew that in this time of my life, I would be here, in Haiti, where I’ve never been more joyful. And He also knew what I would have to endure to get me to this point in my life. It had me thinking about all the other things I would be doing or places I would be, and nothing compares to this. Would I rather be in a cubical? I couldn’t fathom it. Why am I so blessed to be here? God knows our hearts better than we do, and He chose to send me to a place I knew nothing about, to explode and melt my heart.

During worship, you could feel the presence of God in this place. We were given an opportunity to pray with someone we felt led to pray for, so Cindy, the Boys House mom originally from San Clemente, came over to Rachel and I to pray over us and our stay here. I prayed over a visitor Natalya, sensing she was having a hard time preparing to leave, but wanting to stay more long term. After worship, there was a teaching about "loving our enemies", like cooking dinner for a family member that wronged you that day, but that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to change our hearts, because none of us naturally want to do that. I stayed sitting on the ground leaning against the wall with Nat as she held a sleeping Estaline and Ray and she held a sleeping Daphne. I look over to my side and I see Keso, around 12, sitting by my side, but not trying to talk to me, just listening to the message being preached. Someone started talking about the stars and how bright they are here, and with no hesitation, he laid his head on my lap and stared up into the beautiful night sky and tried to teach me how to say star in Creole, which is zetwal (took my only 7 tries…). As he gazed up at the zetwal, I had my hand on his belly to show him I care for him. After a while, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a little laminated pamphlet in English. He pointed to a sentence and asked me to read it to him. It said:

YOU SAY: “I am alone and no one loves me” 

So I read it to him, sad that this may be how he was feeling. My heart sunk a little bit. He was extremely neglected as a younger kid. Then he pointed to the next line:

GOD SAYS: “I love you more than you can understand and will always be with you.”

I go to read this to him and I added, “and Christa does too.” He quickly looked up at me with those dimples, said “Christa” in his raspy Creole accent and snuggled up close for the rest of the program. I hope that this is a beginning to an open door to talk to him about some difficult things in his past and pray for him. I pray that Keso would know that “no height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate [him] from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Rom. 8:39 and that he would “…comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [he] may be filled with all the fullness of God.” - Eph. 3:18-19. We also have dancing to hip-hop in common, so we will get a long great ; ) He has some great moves… I’ll try to catch it on camera and post it!

 (My boys!!! Left: Keso, Right: Stanley Front: Yvenel after worship)

            Thursday was “God Day” … apparently Haitians will celebrate anything they can make up to celebrate, so the kids had no school. In place of school, they held a soccer game, basketball game, dance party and some games. The dancing was of course my favorite part... the kids all have such good rhythm, it makes for a fun time!

(Me and Ti-Junior) 

I’ve noticed that Ti-Junior is one of the first kids to come give me a sweet hug and a big warm welcome every time I see him. He lets me cut him in line for handball too, putting others ahead of himself. But today he made sure to say goodbye and gave me a great big hug and said, “Crreeesta (Creole accent),  juv you.” I didn’t understand him at first, so I asked him what he said… his English is still broken. My first trip to Haiti 6 months ago was the week Ti-Junior got accepted into the orphanage. Prior to that week, he was always in the same clothes just running around the streets with no parents or supervision of any kind, sleeping in an abandoned church, and coming to the Orphanage Feeding Program to get his only meals. When he would get there, he would be kicked out for erratic behavior, often getting into physical fights. Now, he is so grateful for his new brothers and sisters, a safe place to lay his head at night, good meals, and his new found relationship with the Lord. When I heard him repeat, “I love you” my heart melted and I of course told him with a big hug that I loved him too. I know this is the first time he's been able to just be a kid and not fend for his life. It brings me to tears, I just feel so honored to love him. 

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” – John 14:18

(Me and Stanley)

Welcome Weekend: Chiklèt

Estaline wants gum...

This is Estaline. She is one of the youngest girls here at Maison De Luminiere, the orphanage at Child Hope. She is physically very small for her age, but that does NOT carry over into her personality. Everyone who meets her, understandably and instantly falls in love. She is a little comedian, has an infectious smile, and sass beyond belief. She also LOVES gum! This is her way of trying to get it from me.

Welcome Weekend: Sugar Cane

So... apparently sugar cane is a hot commodity in Haiti. We had a lot of fun trying to eat it.  Ray dominated, I struggled. Here's what went down...

Welcome Weekend: Pool

Sunday as the sabbath is taken very literally here. I think for a few reasons, one of which is that it is the only day that the staff actually has the day off. This now includes us! This is a little snippet of our wonderful, but knowingly rare day.

Fun Fact 1 & 2

Mom and Dad this is one is for you! Our first night here, while trying to sleep with no electricity...meaning no fans...meaning sleeping in sweat puddles, we were awaken by two gun shots which, seemed down the street. While our eye lids were pealing open, the next FIVE gunshots really shot us out of bed. No pun intended. Lets just say they sounded like they were right outside...because they were. Britney, the young American mom of the family we are staying with, comes running in yelling "Stay down! Stay down! Oh by the way, there is no power... Welcome to Haiti!" Needless to say we are fine and finally have power tonight. Go fans! Family and friends, don't sweat it....we are sweating enough for all of you, LITERALLY. Welp, off to go bust a cap!


As some of you know, we like our piercings. Maybe one of us more than the other (13 vs 5). Well, in the Haitian culture, having a lot of tattoos or piercings is slightly looked down upon... by looked down upon I mean women with extra piercings are considered prostitutes or witches. Uh, we like to think of ourselves as neither so we took them out. Christa used a pair of jewelry wire pliers to cut out her six year long nose piercing and Rachel is down from thirteen piercings, including two nose ones, to four!

"For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them...I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."
(1 Corinthians 9:19,23)

Home: Ray

“Look at the nation and watch- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not even believe, even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5

I’m not even sure where to start. Bear with me as I recap and try to sift through all my memories and thoughts over the first few days. It is hard to describe the feeling I have for this beautiful place.  There was so much praying, preparation, and anticipation for this trip and God blessed me so much in the process with amazing support in all areas and continual confirmation that this is what He had for me. I have been overwhelmed, in an incredible way, by all of the love and encouragement I have received from people I am close to and many others that I am not. For those of you who are close to me, you know I have had a heart for children and missions since I was a young one myself. I have always wanted to work with kids internationally, loving on them and doing life with them. God has taken me to a couple different places so far, but this is my third trip to Haiti in a year span. I knew the moment I stepped off the plane on my first trip and saw my first Haitian child, that my first trip would certainly not be my last. God wrecked and bonded my heart with this country and it’s people.

I stepped off of the plane on Friday morning with nothing, but complete peace and comfort. I knew, in that moment, that this was right where I was supposed to be.  I don’t know if that has ever happened to you…when you walk into a certain building or visit a certain place and your only reaction is ‘this feels like home.’ There was no huge ‘hit me like a brick’ moment or panicking feeling about being here for a longer period of time, just the feeling that I was home…home for the next 11 weeks AT LEAST! What happens after that God only knows for now.

Because we came in on a Friday, we were able to go straight into the feeding program. Child Hope’s feeding program is for the street kids in the surrounding area and happens three times a week. The children get to come in, get loved on, hear about Jesus and worship, and are then fed a vitamin, bowl of rice and beans, and a clean cup of water. For some of these kids, these meals are the only meals they get to eat. This is one of the main things that stole my heart the last two trips. There is something about a small child, with a large language barrier I might add, climbing into your arms just to be loved on or have a safe place to sleep, that will both break and melt your heart. This is normal life to them. They know nothing different and they have pure joy. Unlike the kids at the orphanage, Christa and I were not sure if we would be able to see the same kids we had met and played with before. Well, we did and it was wonderful! After the controlled chaos of playing with, feeding, and cleaning up after over a hundred Creole speaking children, the kids from Child Hope came out. A lot of these children both young and older know a lot of English, so between my last two trips I have been able to bond with quite a few of them. 

Now, just know that I have pictures of these Haitian children (both feeding program and Child Hope) all throughout my apartment in LA. For visual effect, picture at least six on my fridge, seven in my hallway, two in each of our two bathrooms, and multiple in my room.  I get to pray for them and see their beautiful faces everyday, but there is an entirely different affect when I get to see them face-to-face and hug them…and a whole new fluttering of my heart when they remember me the moment I walk in and call my name. I will get into specific kids as time goes on, but I am thrilled to be back with “my” kids. 

The weekends are pretty relaxed here, as the staff gets some time off on Saturday and especially Sunday. Since we were fresh however, we wanted to get a head start! So…Christa and I ventured over to the familiar Transition House where we spent MANY hours on our trip in November sewing the Christmas costumes for the the kids' play.  From there, we began to organize the sewing room by sifting through donations, the supplies we brought, and current materials they already had. Praise Jesus that they have been blessed with these things, but it was a big task. It is looking pretty good so far, but we will be doing it all over again when 19 barrels of supplies get here in a few weeks.

Saturday night we went over to the Bens (the concrete open area at the boys home) and did worship with all of the kids. This is ALWAYS one of my favorite times here.  Worship is led by some of the older boys who are incredibly musically talented and most of the songs are in Creole, but they do some in English for us. Particularly this night, I had 5 year old Jefflina in my arms as she was singing at the top of her lungs,  “Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down, Here I am to say you are my God”, all while playing with my hair and touching my face. In this moment, my heart is full and I love every second of it! 

Here this week with us is a group from Time Square Church in New York. There are twelve on the team and almost all are in the medical field. Although the clinic is normally only on Fridays due to Brooke being the only nurse here, they will be able to hold a week clinic with the skills they have.  Almost all 12 members of this team are from a different country, but all live in New York now. Three are actually full Haitian. Others include: Jamaica, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Hungry, Ireland, and others I can’t seem to remember. I think is so amazing how people come with completely different background, life story, ethnicity, etc., but are bonded with Jesus Christ and all come to serve one purpose.   

“There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4-5

Pure Joy: Christa

 “Ask and receive, that your joy may be full.”- John16:24

Exactly one year ago I was in a high stress corporate job in the fashion industry. I found myself full. Full of anxiety, my schedule was full, my mind was full of racing thoughts and concerns.  I was at my ropes end. I was working 15 hour days and felt empty at the end of it, yet my life was so “full”. I asked the Lord on my knees to reveal Himself to me in ways I had never seen or heard Him, and to show me His will for my life.

To make an extremely long story “short” or short-er, the Lord completely answered my prayers in ways I would have never fathomed. I had never heard His voice through scripture before and He clearly showed me I was supposed to “go”… but I didn’t know where. I grew up in LA, never having a desire to go on overseas missions, so this threw me for a loop…

One day I was with my friends and a documentary was on called Rescued, a CNN special about Haiti, particularly focused on the orphanages at Child Hope. I LOST IT! My heart was flipped upside down in a way I had never felt before. I’d seen documentaries and heard about Haiti many times, but my heart was closed.  The Holy Spirit soften my heart through prayer as I was seeking Gods will for my life, and this documentary played a huge role. I later looked at a friend’s facebook page with Haiti pictures, and found myself sobbing, but also having spurts of joy and overwhelming love for these people I had never met. I stared praying specifically about Haiti and if it had anything to do with my future, and the Lord led me to a verse:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, you God reigns.” – Isaiah 52:7

To me, this verse was clear that the Lord wanted me to share the good news of his redemption and saving grace to lost people, but who? I felt strongly that I was supposed to look up Haiti in Wikipedia while praying for the country of Haiti (maybe to learn more about it and know how to pray more specific) but the first thing I read was, “Haiti, meaning the land of many high mountains.” As soon as I read that, I was quickly reminded that the verse He had given me was how beautiful upon the mountains… I definitely saw the correlation, but it was confirmed in my soul. I knew at that moment God was calling me to Haiti, a 3^rd world country I knew nothing about, and I dropped to my knees and said, “I’ll go.”

Since this was seemingly overnight to my friends and family, and it was nothing I ever showed interest in, it came as a shock to many at first, but quickly their response was, “of course… those babies!!!!” I have always loved children, but never knew I would use that in this capacity.

Soon after this decision, I quit my job and had nothing lined up, just trusting the Lord would show me what to do next, knowing Haiti was in the future. A few weeks after quitting, my church Reality LA announced they were taking a team over to Haiti… of course I signed up. My first trip to Haiti was in November of 2011 and God used Haiti and the people of Haiti to forever change my life. Where I was full of anxiety and stress, my life is now full of joy and peace, even in the difficulties. When I called on God to reveal Himself , He was already waiting there for me to ask. I have never seen my God in such beautiful ways, and I know this is just the beginning.

Arriving in Port-au-Prince airport on Friday June 1st, chaos and all, seemed normal to me, I felt like I never left. Walking into the feeding program just a few hours after arriving was the best way to start off the trip. I just praised God every moment for allowing me to be here where my joy is so full. My first trip I had a little girl jump into my arms with the biggest smile and it was as if my soul called her “my baby”. I just instantly fell in love with her and I have never forgotten her since. Being away from her in the states was awful, I just couldn’t wait to see her, terrified her parents gave her away and I’d never see her again, being that she is in the streets and her mom can’t feed her.  After being here for about 10 minutes, I was holding a few other kids and there she was, running towards me with that huge smile. Carline was in my arms once again and I was in heaven. I can’t even count the amount of kisses she got that day. I pray for her as I hold her. But mostly we play and swing around and laugh. It’s hard having a language burrier, so its very motivating to learn Creole so I can talk to her. She is about 5 years old now (pictured in the first post).

After the feeding program, all the kids from the orphanage get to come over and play. I was standing in the Bens and Jefflina practically ambushes me. My first trip on my very first day, she sat on my lap on the way to church and grabbed my hand the rest of the day to show me around and sat on my lap everywhere. I have a special place in my heart for her. Jefflina doesn’t have any parents due to their mental illness. Being with her today you would never know the hardships she’s already had to endure as a 5 year old. She is absolutely fearless and little miss personality. She loved jumping off the tall wall into my arms with her eyes closed and arms open wide. She’s got a lot of faith. I pray she can run into the arms of her Savior the way she jumped so freely into mine.

Saturday night was the street ministry worship night put on by the orphanage kids and a handful of kids show up that we also see at the feeding program. As the worship music got louder and louder, little Adanika fell asleep in my arms as we sang to Jesus. I felt so at peace, I don’t blame her for resting. She is only 3 years old and her mother died right in front of her at the earthquake 2 years ago pushing her out of the house as it crumbled on top of her.  Adanika’s 8 year old brother Stanley (who I love) took care of her and 3 other brothers and sisters until they were all accepted into the orphanage a little while after the quake.  Adanika is a sassy little girl who always has me cracking up with her little swag in her step after she does something cool or the funny things she says.

After putting Adanika to bed, I walked outside the house and all the street boys I helped teach English to on the last trip were waiting and all smothered me with hugs and kisses, saying they were so glad I returned and they missed me so much. I can’t tell you what this feels like, other than the fullest joy I’ve ever had and I can’t believe the Lord has blessed me in this way. Although I know this journey is going to be extremely difficult, the times like this make it so worthwhile, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

How good is our God to satisfy the desires of our hearts, and even some we don’t know are there! To Him be the Glory!!!

We're Here!

Who we are:

As most of you know, we are Rachel and Christa. Also known, by the Haitians, as Beyonce & Gibs. Yes, we wear our names proudly! We are from Los Angeles, but living in Haiti for the next 11 beautiful weeks! (June 1-August 18.)

Where we are:

We are in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti interning for Child Hope International. Child Hope is a non-profit Christian organization dedicated to providing orphaned, abandoned and needy children with care in all areas through homes, programs and ministries that are centered on the love and knowledge of Christ Jesus. Their vision is to raise these children up to be the next generation of leaders and Disciples of Christ to impact their own home country. 

What we're doing:

With our background in the fashion world and business industry, we desired to motivate, encourage, and equip the young girls of Child Hope to be self-sufficient and run a business on their own to provide for themselves when they graduate. We both will be interning at the organization's Transition Program that is already in place with this goal.

Rachel-

I will be using my degree in Merchandise Product Development and almost obtained Business Administration and Marketing degree to teach specific sewing skills and apparel manufacturing.

Christa-

My desire is to take their already learned basic jewelry skills and add to them with new concepts and techniques using the materials easily found around them. I want to foster a safe environment for them to think outside the box and encourage them to use their God given creativity to create something beautiful from their surroundings.

Together, we will also be teaching practical business concepts that one would need to know to run a small business.

Above all of these things, our hearts are really set on being in relationship with the girls at Child Hope. We want to get to know them and love them like Jesus does. We hope that the classes we are teaching and the time spent with them will provide opportunities to bond with them. 

Why we are doing it:

First and foremost, for the glory of God! The Lord has put a deep and specific burden for the people and children for Haiti on both of our hearts and we want to be obedient and respond to that call.

 Isaiah 61:1-3 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning,and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

What you can be praying for:

Thank you for all of your prayer and support thus far and we appreciate ahead of time your prayers while we are here! Please pray for physical health and safety while we are here. We want to be with the kids and working as much as possible and that would allow us to do so. We pray for the hearts of the girls to soften and walls to be broken down so we can really pour into them. We want the Lord to use us in whatever way they need. WISDOM!... in relationship and teaching, but above all, we pray that Jesus be glorified.