Haiti Update: January.

Well January is coming to a close and I thought I'd fill you in on a few of the latest deets of my trip! January was a productive month of prep for my April trip to Haiti.

- I got the first round of my hep A and hep B vaccines.
- Met with my doctor to discuss health related things.
- Got my passport in the mail.
- The fear of not getting my birth certificate back was eliminated...whew!
- Attended my first missions meeting.
- Made my second big payment. I'm happy to report I'm well over halfway paid!
- Wrote my first (very small) set of support letters.

I shared mid month how the Lord has blown me away...that has continued. I'm a funny little Christian in that my relationship with the Lord is kind of quirkily (I made that word up) honest. And I told the Lord as I set out on this journey that I'd give it 100% but I needed him to keep reminding me along the way that I wasn't insane to decide to do this.

This month the biggest reminder of that came from a sweet friend. I hadn't asked this friend to contribute financially to my trip but one very long, hard day, I came back from the mailbox with what I thought was a card. I exchange mail with this friend regularly and I felt excited to read her thoughts for the week and I always find encouragement from her snail mail...what I didn't expect to find was nearly a third of the money I needed for my trip to Haiti.

I'm tearing up just sharing this with you as I think of how the Lord has constantly used people in my life to encourage me that this trip to Haiti is His plan for me. That gift grew my excitement and the belief that the Lord has something big for me waiting in Haiti. Her provision that met a physical need and her words that met an emotional and spiritual need for me were beyond words...I pray the Lord will richly bless her for being that vessel for me.

With a yard sale coming up on the 18th of February and a few support letters out, I expect that I will be able to fully pay for my trip very soon. I feel grateful for your prayers and may I assure you - they are being heard, answered, and felt!

The heart of my personal prayers for my trip have been changing. I've moved beyond my safety and the avoidance of aids and bad water to praying the the Lord will strip away 'me' so that all that remains to offer the people of Haiti is Christ's love. I hope to serve passionately and work hard. I pray that the church we build will be a beacon of hope to the people of Haiti who will attend there. I pray that it will allow the truth of Christ's love and ultimate sacrifice to abound in a land that has endured such hardship.

I've had a tough couple of weeks personally. When I went to church this past Sunday, I realized that when I go there weary I experience the renewing of my strength. God meets me there among my fellow attenders and I have to say, they have never felt more like a church family to me than they do now. I am grateful to worship with them. It is an honor and a privileged I don't take for granted. I say this to share with you my excitement that the hard work of our team in Haiti will provide that place for others. I beam when I think about the Haitian church having a place where there weary can go, and find the Lord's strength.

It continues to be the cry of my heart in 2012, that the Lord break my heart for what breaks His. I am humbled, encouraged, and blessed by your willingness to lovingly support me as I take this journey. Less than 3 months to go!!

Love,

B