Detours Along the Journey

 God, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed a couple detours to come up on our journey. Our original plan was to fly back to Haiti on January 14th, Lord willing. Well, it is abundantly clear to us that it is not yet God's timing for us to return. We are very thankful that He has brought to light some medical issues with two of our children while we are here in the States. Our oldest, Rebecca, has been struggling with swollen tonsils and infections since the beginning of November. She has been on several different rounds of antibiotics, which have failed to make her better. We had an appointment with an Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist today and it has been decided to completely remove her tonsils and adenoids next Friday. She will have a recovery period of at least 2 weeks before she can travel. We feel like this will be a huge help to her with her allergies and other issues and are thankful that she will get relief. :o)
  As you all know, one of our main reasons for returning was to find out what is going on with our youngest child, Caleb. He was diagnosed with having a rare nerve disease called neurofibromatosis. This is a degenerative disease that can worsen with age. Basically, he has several light colored spots on his body that may develop into tumors as he gets older.(This disease literally affects 1-2 people in 3,000 nationwide.) He has the milder form called NF1 and seems to be doing good at this point. He had an MRI done and we have received the results back. There are definitely NF1 spots on his brain that we will need to monitor. Thankfully, there are no tumors. The concern is that the scan showed abnormalities in his pituitary gland. We have another appt. scheduled with an Endocrinologist at Riley for the 22nd. We are somewhat relieved that this has come to light as he is under-weight for his age and short. He weighs 35 lbs at 5 1/2 years old and has a poor appetite. Pieces of this puzzle are beginning to come together and we are hoping for more answers as we go to his next appointment.
 
  The 3 amazing facts I blogged about in our last post remain! God is the same God! He is in control! We can FULLY trust Him for His perfect timing for our return to Haiti! We are so thankful that many of you understand that we continue to need your prayers and financial support as we live each month by faith. Living here in the States is quite a bit more expensive that it was in Haiti and we appreciate each and everyone of you who continue to faithfully send in your monthly gifts! THANK-YOU!

 I will leave you with 2 more urgent prayer requests. We needed $30,000 to build our house in Haiti and God was so faithful to supply. However, due to the rising costs of some of the materials as often happens during building projects, we are about $6,000 short of having enough to finish out the house. There is a work team going in to GR January 10th with the main purpose of re-doing the kitchen in the mission house below our house. There is a possibility of Danny going along and working some more on our house. To do this we need the finances to take care of his plane ticket there and to finish out the kitchen. Would you help us pray that God will supply this need in His time? We also have the need of the new water pump for the orphanage. Some money has come in toward this and we continue to trust God to bring in the rest. God is an awesome God and we praise Him for seeing the big picture and working all things out for our good and His glory!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear Family & Friends~

  Christmas greetings from our family to yours! We are so thankful for 3 amazing facts this Christmas season:

#1. God is Who HE says He is and we can know Him and love Him!

#2. He is in CONTROL of every part of our lives, no matter how things may look!

#3. We can fully trust and follow Him wherever He leads us, knowing that He will NEVER fail us!

As most of you know, our family has been in full TRUST mode since He called us to move to Hobe Sound, Fl. 3 yrs ago. There have been many times when we did not know how we were going to pay a certain bill or even buy groceries or gas, BUT God came thru every time! He trained us to begin to rely on Him during these times AND as He has called us to serve and minister in Grande Riviere du Nord, Haiti. He brought us thru 9 months of Deputation and almost 5 months of living in Carrefoure, Haiti for language school.  This past summer we went thru the scariest moments of our lives when Caleb fell and suffered a concussion. We really thought we were going to lose him. But God touched him and his accident lead us to discover that he has a rare nerve disease called, neurofibromitosis. (You can read the full story on our blog: www.flowersbloomingforjesus.blogspot.com (July 2013)

God’s peace, grace and strength have been available and evident throughout this whole ordeal and we give Him praise and glory for all He has done!  We thank each of you for your prayers and support! You will never know how much it has meant!

 Lord willing, we plan to move to Haiti this next month to began ministering at our orphanage/church/school in Grande Riviere. God has helped us to re-new our children’s passports and worked it out for another team to do more work on our house (Our house is not finished but it is coming along. Pray that God will supply the needed funds to get it finished out. Thank-you!)

 We look at this fresh, new year, realizing, that many challenges and blessings are waiting for us as we learn to live in Haiti. Because of the 3 amazing facts we shared at the beginning of this letter we know that we can boldly go where God is leading our family! He is already there and He has all the grace, help and strength we will need and we choose to continue fully trusting Him. The best part is that every one of His children can claim and carry these amazing facts into 2014!  We challenge you to choose to trust, obey and follow Him in this coming year!  You will never regret it!

Merry Christmas Blessings!

 

 

Water Pump Down and Christmas Presents All in the Same Day!

 As most of you know, Danny and Frank Vaughn, our Regional Director, have been in Haiti all week with a wonderful Missions Helps team. They have been doing a wonderful job on our house and you can see some of what they have been doing on our FB page: Dannynliz Hirschy Flowers.  I talked with Danny this am and found out that our only water pump at the orphanage has quit working. This means that they have to go out into the street to get water for bathing and cooking. It is not always clean and safe water. This is a SERIOUS need and the ox was definitely in the ditch today so the men dug up the pump and were able to temporarily replace it with an older pump. This is VERY temporary and will not last long. Thankful that for the moment they have clean, safe water!  This pump needs to be replaced ASAP! The orphanage needs $1,500 or more to get a new pump. They are checking into whether it will be better to buy it in Haiti or ship it over, keeping in mind that shipping it over will cost $1.50 per pound as well as customs fees. Please help us pray about this situation for wisdom and for God to supply a new pump however He sees fit. Anyone wanting to help with this need can click on our donate now button and mark your gift : Water pump for Haiti. Or you can send it in to Hope International Missions PO Box 1065 Hobe Sound, FL 33475 
  Thank-you for praying! Thank-you for giving!
Today our children at the compound were given their Christmas gifts. A HUGE thank-you to Mrs. B.'s Missions Practicum class for putting together backpacks, to friends in NC and PA for sending in toys, t-shirts and other fun things, and to everyone who gave toward buying new shoes! There were lots of happy faces today as they opened their treasures! (Wish I had been there!) I enjoyed seeing the sweet pictures my husband posted and I think you will too! These kids do not get regular school supplies like our kids here do and to get their own backpacks filled with school stuff, toys, new shoes and fun snacks made this a very big day for them! Thank-you for blessing our kids this Christmas!

Answered Prayer!

 This is going to be just a short up-date to let you know that God has answered #3 on our list of needs about needing finances for our airfare and shipping our stuff to Haiti! He continues to CONFIRM that this is His will for our lives and we are more than content to follow His leading. We excitedly await to see HOW and WHO He will use to meet the rest of our needs!  A quote I just saw comes to mind...God IS good...but sometimes He is VERY, VERY good! Satisfied serving Him!



         Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful Christmas season! We sure are!
Enjoy this picture of our kiddos at a sweet, little candle shop we discovered along our travels :o)

Trusting God to meet our needs.

So thankful that God see's the Big picture of our lives and knows every curve ball, strike or homerun that we will be thrown. He alone knows when we will cry tears of sadness,experience bursts of joy and happiness and the days that He will carry us because our own strength will not be enough. So thankful we have that promise of His help and strength! If you are going thru something today that seems just too much for you to bear, remember that if you let Him, Jesus will carry you and give you the strength you need to make it thru. His strength is perfect when our strength is gone, He'll carry us when we can't carry on! Thank-you Jesus for that promise and for the times in our lives when we have been 'carried' by you!

   May we share some needs with you to help us pray about? When we look at these financial needs, the current economic situation of low un-employment and uncertainty make them seem impossible. However we know that God LOVES to work in impossible situations for His honor and glory! We know that God has called us to Haiti to minister and serve there and that where He guides, He always provides! So, keeping that in mind, we want to share the following concerns with you:

1. A work trip is planned for Dec. 10th-17th for Danny,our Regional Director and 7 other men. These men will be doing the cabinetry in our kitchen and bathrooms, hooking up the plumbing and getting our house ready for us to move into in January. $1,500 is needed to cover this trip for the food and transportation expenses while they are in country. We are so thankful that they are willing to come and get our house ready as we are beyond ready to move into our own home!

2. We have had to re-new our 4 children's passports to the tune of $420. This cost comes out of our monthly support and causes us to have a tight month living on the $2,000 a month support we receive.

3. As of right now, we are scheduled to fly back to Haiti on Jan. 14th. We need finances to fund this and to cover the cost of shipping the rest of our belongings. Missionary Flights International charges $1.50 a pound for all items shipped.

4. We spoke about the desperate need for an inverter in our last Oct. newsletter. Having an inverter  will mean that we can have more consistent power to run our few appliances and our kids will be able to keep their dvd players charged so they can do their schoolwork. An inverter will collect the power while the generator is running and when we shut off the generator then the inverter kicks in. This will save us a lot of money in the long run and is a better and wiser way to run our power system. Cost to get this going is $5,000. To break down this cost, the inverter itself is $2,500. The batteries for this system cost $160 a piece and we need 12-16 to run it efficiently.

5. Lastly, the immediate need remains for a vehicle for our family when we move to Grande Riviere. We have had lots of interest in teams coming to visit, work and minister and we will have to hire a tap-tap's services to get everyone around in. Paying for a tap-tap will get expensive over time. We have a Vehicle Fund that we are working on raising $26,000 to buy a KIA 1 ton 4x4 truck in Haiti. Buying new is the wisest way to get a vehicle as used ones are in too bad of condition and shipping one in will be very high as customs can charge up to 80% of the vehicle's worth in fees to us! Plus, they may hold it for as long as they wish and we may never get it out of customs.

Thank-you for helping us pray about these BIG needs. We know that we have a BIG God who will meet them in His time and we are excited to watch how He will do it! Perhaps He wants to use you and your obedience. One thing we know for sure is that we cannot out-give God and He has many blessings that He is waiting to pour out on those who are obedient to His leading! Trust and Obey is the only way to be happy in Jesus!

 As always all donations are tax-deductible with Hope International Missions.

FYI: We are receiving mail at our IN address until end of Dec. if anyone wants to send us a Christmas card. PO Box 62 Craigville, IN 46731

 

Update on Caleb's Appointment and why we are feeling hugged!

  For those of you who are not on Facebook, I will update you on how Caleb's appointment went at Riley Children's Hospital. We thank God for once again going before us and working it all out! We were happy with our neurologist and she relieved a lot of our fears. She answered several questions that we have had as well. Basically, Caleb has been diagnosed with a rare nerve disease called Neurofibromitosis. This a a degenerative disease and as of now, he has a mild form. We will need to have yearly MRI's and eye tests done to check on the disease's progression. We were concerned about the spot on his brain and she said that a lot of kids have spots on their brains that go away as they get older. It  is just part of the brain's maturation process. We are going to have another MRI done in the States before we go back just to make sure everything is ok. She does not anticipate any problems at this time and we continue to trust that God is in control whatever the outcome. We had anticipated a large down payment on our bill but they did not require anything that day ( The bill will be in the mail soon, no doubt!) The whole day ended up just costing us a $2 parking fee :o) We left there feeling relieved and thankful! All the praise and glory to Him! We are praying that his MRI can be scheduled now while we are here and will not delay our return to Haiti, Lord willing.
   Now, the reason why we are feeling hugged is because of the sweet kindess and generosity of our friends. One sweet couple who are expecting their first baby allowed us to stay in their guest house when we stayed in Indy so we did not have the cost of a motel to worry about while we were there. Thank-you Jesse and Jennifer! Then we drove to our long-time, good friends Tom & Gale Wheatcraft in McArthur, OH to stay the weekend. We had a wonderful time visiting, riding their 5 horses, baking, eating, goodwilling and relaxing. Tom and Gale are so sweet to let Danny and I sleep in their very comfortable King-sized bed when we visit and we really appreciate all they do in opening their home to us! It truly feels like home there! Thank-you for everything Tom, Gale, Trish and Katy! love you all.  Sunday evening we had the privilege of sharing with the Unionridge church an up-date on how God is working in Haiti. We really enjoyed sharing and it was fun to go over to Pastor Rob & Lydia Raines house afterwards. Great to visit with them :o) Thanks for the refreshments, Raines!                           
     We are currently staying in Warren, OH visiting our good friends at the Warren Bible Methodist Church. We arrived yesterday afternoon and it was so nice to see our friends, Pastor and Sis. Young with Ashley and lauren again! We went out for delicious mexican with the Youngs and then we got to help Sis. Young can some apple pie filling :o) I have grown up doing lots of canning so it was fun to do it again. They have a cozy fellowship hall that they are letting us stay in and the church people have been so kind to make sure the kitchen is stocked with food for us while we are here and there was a pretty 'Welcome fruit basket' to greet us as well ;o) Regina Zeigler does a wonderful job keeping everything clean and looking nice! Her husband is in the hospital and we appreciate her having our beds made and everything else she did to prepare for our stay, even though we told her not to worry about it! Bless you, Regina!  We truly feel like we are stepping into a giant hug when we visit here! We are blessed to have such sweet, generous friends! We are staying the week here and then heading to VA to see some more of our good friends that we have not seen in way too long of a time! Very much looking forward to seeing Mike, Tiff, Brooke, Kori and Bianca Summers! See ya soon guys!
  If you have not guessed, we are having a wonderful vacation! Thank-you for praying for us! Exciting things are on the horizon for God's ministry in Haiti!

Thankful for God's provision and protection

We have been back in the States since Oct. 17th. We spent a fun weekend in Hobe Sound and then drove to Pensacola to visit our family. We had a wonderful time with G-pa and G-ma Dunn visiting the beach and some other fun places. G-ma took the kids to a pumpkin patch and they got to pick a pumpkin, bring it home and carve it. They all let their personalities shine through the carvings and G-pa and G-ma's front yard was lined with a cool dude on a skateboard with his ipod, a princess carriage, a truck and a flower. I will let you guess who carved what?! ;o) Thanks for everything Lee & Edna!
  We left Fl. and arrived in IN late Mon. night at my parents house. We were only here two days when my 55 yr. old dad suffered a heart attack. It was a mild one and he went to the ER after realizing that something was wrong. His quick action saved his life. He ended up having a heart cath done that showed a 95% blockage in his main artery! The Dr. was able to put in a stint and he spent 3 days in the hospital. He is home now and recovering well.
  As you can imagine, this was a huge shock to our family and we are so thankful not only for God's protection on dad, but also for allowing us to be here when it happened! I cannot imagine how hard it would have been to receive that news in Haiti or even down in FL. But God knew and went before us and worked it out for our best and His glory! My dad is a wonderful, dedicated Christian man who we all love very much. Realizing how closely we came to losing him makes us appreciate and love him even more! Please keep him and my mom in your prayers as they have a lot of life changes ahead to help dad get better. He also has another small artery that is 75% blocked. The Dr.'s are hoping that his meds will clear it up, but if not, then they will need to put in another stint.
  We continue to ask for your prayers for Caleb's up-coming appointment at Riley Children's Hospital this coming Wed. around 9 am. Please help us pray specifically for answers to what is going on and what we need to do to help him. Once again, this is in God's hands and we rest in that fact. God is so good and has never and will never let us down! Can we ask for anymore than that?! Lets make sure we share about our amazing God to a hurting world who needs a savior! Blessings on you all!

Praise Report and an Opportunity for YOU to recieve a blessing!

 Wow! We are so thankful to announce that God has answered two prayer requests for us! On our last post we asked you to pray about a team for December to finish out our house. We are happy to let you know that we just heard this morning that A TEAM IS BEING PUT TOGETHER and they are planning on going with Danny in December! Praise the Lord! God is so good!
  Secondly, we have been looking and praying about how we could put ceiling fans up in our house to help with air flow. We have looked here and had not found any available at the few stores that carry home goods. Danny has been checking into the cost of buying them in the States and bringing them in and that appeared to be our only option until yesterday. We stopped by a store that we have checked before and there they were! And they have different styles to choose from and cost around $125 each . Here is where you get the opportunity to receive a huge blessing! We need to put up 6 fans throughout the house and we need 6 people to sponsor a fan. For just $125 you can help buy a fan for our house. These fans will make the extreme heat a lot more bearable and we are so thankful that they carry them here in Haiti now! All you have to do is click the Donate Now button and mark your gift :Fans. Thank-you so much! It is so exciting to watch as God provides for our every need as we serve Him!

Prayer Request

 We are asking you all to help us pray about an important need we have. As most of you know, we are in the process of building our house in Grande Riviere du Nord, Haiti. Our family is planning on coming back to the States in a few weeks to re-new passports and for medical issues with Caleb.( He has an appointment on Nov. 6th at Riley Children's Hospital in Indy. Please pray that we will get some answers about his condition. Thank-you!) Danny is planning a return trip to GR to continue working on our house. Here is our prayer request: We need 4-5 guys who are skilled and have knowledge in electrical wiring, drywall finishing and cabinetry. The trip is planned for Dec. 10th-17th. The cost is $850 per person and includes a round trip flight from Fl.(They would need to get to Fl.), delicious Haitian food and lodging.
  Lord willing, our family plans to return to GR mid January to began our term. It would be a HUGE blessing for our house to be more livable then it is now! At this time, we have up the walls, ceiling, flooring and windows. Would you help us pray and if you meet these terms, will you ask God if His plans are for you to spend a week in Haiti helping the Flowers build their house? We have no doubt that God has wonderful blessings in store for the team that comes! If you cannot come, yet feel lead to give toward this need, you can sponsor someone else who can go but may not have the finances.
  Please contact us via email or Facebook if you are interested in being a blessing. Thank-you for helping us pray about this urgent need! Lets watch together how God supplies! We appreciate you all so much, your prayers and financial support!

Rebecca Turns Fourteen and Our Fun Outing

Seems like only yesterday that we held our firstborn in our arms and now she is growing up into a lovely young lady! We made her birthday here in Haiti as fun and special as we could and she had a great day. We threw a party for her with all our new Haitian friends and enjoyed Homemade tacos (Haitian style..Mmmm!) and cake with ice cream soup! Yes, we occasionally enjoy ice cream soup here due to it being so hot that we can not keep the ice from melting and the ice cream will not set up in the ice cream maker. So we POUR it in our bowls and SLURP down our ice cream soup! It really is quite tasty....you all should try it someday!
  Becca and I had fun doing her birthday photo shoot and I am going to try to upload some of the pictures on here. If it does not work you can see them on our Facebook page.

  We were so happy to be able to drive up the mountains into Fermathe, Haiti yesterday. It is BEAUTIFUL up there and a LOT cooler than the miserable heat we have been experiencing here in Carrefoure. Some of the kids even remarked that they could use a jacket but us adults loved it! We went up there to visit the Haiti Baptist Mission Compound.
  This is the same place Danny and I went to in 2011 with Mrs. B.'s Intercultural Missions Class. On that trip we had the privilege of helping build a couple houses for earthquake victims. Also on this trip, I had the honor of reading Mrs. B.'s book, 'Jesus My Very Best Friend' to the children who were watching us work. I had a translator who helped me read it to them in creole and it was an amazing experience as I read the invitation to accept Jesus as their Savior and 11 children responded! I took pictures of each one and wrote down their names in my Bible and told them I would pray for them. We had a LOT of amazing experiences on that missions trip and will never forget it and as a result HBM is a special place for us. We visit as often as we are able when we are in Haiti. This was our 3rd trip there.
 HBM recently had a church in the States come down and build an awesome Noah's Ark playground for them. We saw pictures of it on-line and he has asked to go see the Ark ever since. We were glad it worked out to go visit and the kids had a lot of fun checking out the Noah's Ark playground. I got to meet another missionary sister, Monica Bidwell, who's blog I read frequently. It was so nice to meet her and share with her how I have appreciated reading her encouraging, honest posts about missionary life! We also got to say 'Hello' to another missionary couple that we met when we went there 3 yrs ago. Trey & Chelsea Salter have been missionaries there for around 3 yrs now and we enjoy reading their blog too. It was nice to connect with some other missionaries :o)
 We had a wonderful day just getting away for awhile and we went by the Dominoes Pizza place in PAP to see if they were still around. They were and their pizza tasted sooo good! We enjoyed watching the boys eat Dominoes pizza for what was most likely the first time some of them had ever been in a restaurant.
  It is now the 18th and tomorrow Danny and Don will be going back up to GR with our new windows. They will be staying a few days to get them installed. Please pray for safety for them and for the kids and I as we stay behind to keep a 'normal' school schedule here in Carrefoure. Thank-you for your prayers and continued monthly support! We count on BOTH very much! Bless you!


Enjoy the pics below:


Go to this link to see pics:
https://www.facebook.com/dannynlizhirschyf/media_set?set=a.599762023403113.1073741845.100001079620051&type=1

Working thru the challenges with God's Help!

 We had a wonderful time at Grande Riviere the last two weeks! It is always sad when our time there is done and we have to say goodbye again. I told Madame that I was sad that we were leaving and she replied, "Me too." We thank God for the friendships that He has given us with our dear Haitian people and look forward to deepening them when we move there. I have especially enjoyed getting to know Madame and God is helping us to communicate quite well with each other. She is such a sweet, Christian lady and Pastor's wife!
 God helped the men to get a lot done on our house and we are getting so excited to see it coming along! The ceiling and walls are all up, lighting fixtures in place, block wall is built around spiral staircase and almost all the window security bars are in. We are ordering the windows from a place here and as soon as they come in another trip is being planned to get them installed.
 In the meantime, we are attempting to get a routine going with homeschooling. Those of you who have been on the mission field are familiar with the challenges we face: limited electricity, washing our laundry in a wringer washer and hanging them up to dry which takes 2-3 hours about 3 times a week, going to the open market 2 times a week to buy our groceries, preparing and cooking our meals, trying to keep the house in a presentable state and language classes everyday. We try to get everything plugged in when we have power but the batteries on the dvd players and laptops only last about 2 hours. Watching their school dvd's takes about 3-4 hours. So, we often run out of battery life and have to wait until the city power comes on or pay to have the generator run so they can finish their schoolwork. We were short a player so we had to switch on and off between students but we were able to find and purchase one on the street so now we have enough :o) As you can see, we do not have regular school hours since we have to work when we have the power and battery life. Considering all these issues, God is helping us and they like their teachers for the most part. Thank-you for praying for us as we navigate thru this school year!
 Unfortunately, I am still having technical issues downloading pictures on here :o(  Go to our Fb page to see lots of pics of our time at GR and our house. Our FB name is:  DannynLiz Hirschy Flowers
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment! We love to read them!

Back at Grande Riviere

 Our family has been here at GR for a little over a week now. We have been getting work done on our house..yay!  The men are putting up the ceiling today and the cement block wall has been built around the spiral stairs and the front windows have been enlarged as well as our security bars have been installed. Slowly, but surely, the house is coming along. Don brought us here along with his boys and they all have been busy working on it ever since. I have posted several pics on our Fb page. Feel free to check them out.

  This past Monday we started our kids school for the year. We are using Bob Jones University curriculum Distance Learning on dvd this year and so far we are very impressed. It is a curriculum that really makes learning fun! They use puppets, bright, colorful props and fun themes for each grade. Our kids are really enjoying it despite the challenges we have of limited power and some technical issues with our dvd players. Pray for us as we work to find some kind of routine amidst the challenges here in Haiti. Thanks-you!
  We are also enjoying having our Regional Caribbean Director, Frank Vaughn, here with us. We went to Cape Haitian (O Kap) and picked him up at the airport yesterday. He treated us out to our favorite restaurant, La Kay, and he also brought a couple suitcases with snack foods, toiletries that are expensive here, garbage bags, plastic re-sealable baggies ( Very expensive here and we always need them!), batteries and other stuff that our wonderful family sent us :o) It was very nice to get everything! We hope to get a lot more done on the house the rest of the week. In the meantime, we are enjoying getting to know our Haitian family better and are enjoying Madame Dominique's cooking very much!

Celebrating Fifteen years!

 Today is our fifteenth wedding anniversary :o) ( Kenz Ane in creole.) We are thankful for the way God put us together and has given us fifteen amazing years! We love each other more than ever and feel blessed with the good life He has given us. We celebrated by making cupcakes and decorating them with little hearts and we baked a yummy lasagna and Apple cobbler for our meal today. All of these foods are rare treats for us and we fully enjoyed them! Danny and I went to the open market today and when we came back the kids had put up a few decorations and made us a paper flower bouquet..so sweet! Caleb was trying to figure out what the name of the special day was and he told Becca that they needed to get some flowers for Daddy and Mommies Valentines Day! They looked for flowers in the yard but could only find weeds so Abby ended up making us a flower bouquet. Danny told Caleb that our anniversary and Valentines Day were the same thing! ;o)

  On another happy note, we have been pricing a stove and refrigerator for our house in GR. We decided to go ahead and buy them here in Port and use them here at the mission house while we are staying here since the ones we are currently using do not work very well. We prayed during family devotions for God to help us to find a good cost-efficient deal. God certainly answered our prayers as Danny and Don went to buy them. When they walked into the store and started looking at the appliances, a sales lady came up and immediately dropped the prices! By the time it was all said and done, she had given us such a good deal that we would have been foolish to pass it up! So, we now have a brand new Whirlpool fridge and stove that God helped us get :o)  The oven was not working in the other stove so I have enjoyed using this new one very much! And since the refrigerator is new, it holds the cold air very well and our food does not spoil when the power is off. Yay! This is a huge stress reliever for me! So thankful that God gives good things to His children!

Thank-you for your prayers! God is really helping us and we praise and thank Him for the grace and strength He gives us each day!


 I tried to post some pictures but blogger is not allowing it. Go to our FB page to see our pictures.  Dannynliz Hirschy Flowers is our FB name.

 

God's Faithfulness and the Power of Prayer

It was about eight o’clock  Friday night, July 12th, when we heard a thump and Abby screaming. The kids had been playing outside with some of the Haitian children and Caleb had accidentally been pushed off the side of 4 concrete steps. He had fallen on his head. Danny ran down the steps and picked him up. He was crying & whimpering and in obvious pain. We checked him and found a goose egg and applied ice and gave him Ibuprofen. He was so sleepy and seemed to be doing ok so we let him fall asleep. Suddenly his eyes popped wide open, his pupils were huge and dilated and he was very confused. He was not able to answer basic questions and acted like he did not know us. We were very scared and decided to call Bro. Vaughn. We had the kids run and get our Haitian friend, Escotte. I explained to Bro. Vaughn what had happened and asked him to tell Escotte in creole that we needed to get him to a hospital. Bro. Vaughn was able to explain everything to Escotte and we quickly got Caleb ready to go. By this time, he had grown limp, pale and had thrown up once. He shut his eyes and was in a lethargic state. I talked with Bro. Vaughn for a short while after letting him know how scared we were and asking him to please pray that things looked really bad. He kept reassuring me that they would be praying and that we needed to calm down and pray too. Our older kids were very upset and we were all crying and praying out loud for God to touch our Caleb. Danny took Caleb to the court yard and a couple of the boys who live here with our missionary host and friend, Don Mobley, tried to start a couple motorcycles they have here. Don was gone for the week end and had taken his truck. They would not start and so they went out in the street and flagged down some taxi motorbikes. Danny jumped on one with Caleb while the boys jumped on another one. They raced off to a hospital about 2-3 miles away from us.

 

  In the meantime, I gathered Becca, Ben and Abby around me and we prayed hard that God would clear the way for them to get to the hospital for traffic is terrible here in the day and night. We prayed for their to be a good doctor who would know what to do for Caleb. Our Haitian friends were holding their own prayer meeting down in the courtyard too. I put out an emergency prayer request on Face book and people began to respond and say that they were praying. Many of you reading this touched Heaven for us for God's touch on Caleb! Within minutes of their prayers going up, we began to feel them! God gave me such a calmness in the midst of this terrible storm! Shortly, I was able to hear from Danny via someone’s cell phone that Caleb was still out of it and that the Dr. had only checked his pulse and temp and wanted to keep him overnight for observation. We were concerned with this and thought he should have a cat scan done immediately. Escotte was in the process of checking him into the hospital and was going to ask for a cat scan. I was talking to Danny when the cell went dead. Thankfully we had power for a short while and our laptops were fully charged so that I could stay on FB and talk with Daryl Hobbs, who is a missionary nurse practitioner and good friend.  She was able to help me stay calm while giving medical advice. A little while later, I heard back from Danny only to find out that they were now at a different hospital. The boys felt that it was too expensive to stay there and so they paid for the care he had received , hired more motorcycles and went to a clinic. The first thing Danny said was that Caleb was AWAKE, was asking to come home and knew his name, age and other basic questions! Danny said that he felt he was doing good and he thought he could come home. The Dr. at the second clinic checked him out, gave him ibuprofen and sent him home with instructions to get a cat scan the next day.

I cannot explain the RELIEF and rejoicing that we all felt when they came back and Caleb looked completely back to himself! We were so happy and praising God for His touch!

   Escotte came up to our house and asked if they could come and pray around Caleb. We agreed and several of our Haitian friends came and surrounded his bed. They began by singing 'Trust & Obey' in creole. At first I thought it was an inappropriate song but then God showed me that it was perfect. God asked our family to 'trust and obey' Him to come here to Haiti and now He was asking us to 'trust and obey' Him once more to take care of Caleb. By this time, it was nearly midnight and Caleb had fallen asleep. As they sang the precious words to the hymn, tears began to roll down my cheeks and God's calming presence began to settle around us. We all prayed after the song, they in creole and us in English. God met with us! There were many tears and hugs as we thanked God for His touch and asked for His continued healing on our little guy. After we finished praying they all stood for a while just gazing down at him as he slept. My eyes strayed above his head to a picture that is hanging there and suddenly I realized that it was a beautiful picture of Jesus. At that moment I knew that God truly was watching over Caleb and God had just shown me a tangible reminder! Needless to say, we watched him closely throughout the night and even had him sleep in our bed as his room seems a little far away! He slept thru the night and woke up asking to play my tablet. I gave it to him and he played it just fine with no problems at all. He got up and walked, talked, ate and was doing wonderful!

   The next day after going to 2 different places, we were able to get a cat scan done. The results took 4 days to come back. We received them in French and the only word we could understand was ‘mass’. We were worried that he had a tumor. After having the scan translated, we found out that it said there was possible swelling and that a contrast scan needed to be done to rule out a tumor. That same day we discovered a bump on his head that was dime sized when we found it and by the afternoon it was the size of a quarter. We put ice on it and gave him ibuprofen and it went down. We were very concerned and wondered if we should take him to a hospital that night. Because of how dangerous it is to travel here at night and not knowing if the hospital would even be open, we prayerfully decided to wait until the next morning. Daryl had given us the name of a lady Dr. that she had went to when she lived here. This lady had studied in the States for 9 years and spoke English fluently. She also founded a very nice hospital in Port-Au-Prince and so we went to her hospital. We asked people to pray for God to work it out for us to get answers and for things to go smoothly. He definitely went before us! We mentioned Daryl Bradbury and Frank Vaughn and she ushered us right into her office. She gave Caleb an examination and then took us to her head Pediatrician. She took us thru a crowded waiting room right to her. The Pediatrician examined Caleb and was concerned that he had a bump a week after falling. She wrote out an order for another cat scan. Then this sweet lady called ahead and set up an appt. for us at the lab.and then refused any money for her time and care. I hugged her with tears in my eyes, so thankful for her direct attention and concern.

  We took Caleb to a lab. and once again we were ushered right in past a crowded room of people. We had a short wait before they did the scan. The radiologist came out and talked with us and let us know that he had studied in the States for 14 yrs. and that he would take care of us. He did a wonderful job. After doing the scan, he came out and talked with me. He said he was confused because he was looking for a tumor but there was no tumor. He reported there was no bleeding, no clots, no cracks in his skull. He did say that there is something going on but he did not know what. He recommended we get a neuro-radiologist’s opinion in the States. He informed us that he is the top radiologist in Haiti and there are no neuro-radiologists here. He was confused about the bump but said it appeared to be on the outside of his skull and that he did not feel that Caleb is in any immediate danger.

   We praise God for His touch as Caleb has healed from his fall and has no complications from it. We feel that God allowed this to show us that he needs further medical attention. We do not know what is going on with him. We have some suspicions but nothing has been confirmed. Please pray for us as we will be sending the cd to get another opinion. Pray for us as we have many decisions to be made. Pray for Caleb's healing if it is God's will. Above all, pray for God’s will and leading. Thank-you! We could not be here with out your prayers!

    Looking back on this traumatic night, we can see that God's provision and protection were evident. If Caleb had fallen just an hour earlier there would not have been any of the boys home to help us get him to a hospital. They all had left for several hours that day and had JUST returned right before the accident. We had short amounts of power insuring that our laptops were fully charged. I had a good enough internet connection to stay on FB and talk with good friends who helped me stay calm and I was able to put out the emergency prayer request. God helped them to get safely to the hospital and clinic despite the heavy, crazy traffic here! And God taught us in a REAl way what it means to rely ONLY on Him! We felt so helpless and the only thing we could do was PRAY! We were at the mercy of the Haitians with our broken creole. We are so thankful for our Haitian Christian friends here! They were there when we needed them! And YOU all were faithful to help us pray! God is so good! Please feel free to leave a comment letting us know if you were praying that night or if you just want to let us know you read this story of God's Touch on our Caleb!

 

 

 

Celebrating independence Day in Haiti and Caleb turns five!

 We were blessed to have two July 4th picnics with our American and Haitian friends. July 3rd we enjoyed a supper of hotdogs, homemade baked beans, potato salad and pasta salad. Later we had brownies and homemade ice cream with pop and ice! Those are rare treats here! Our ice cream did not set up because we did not buy enough ice but we thoroughly enjoyed ice cream soup ;o) our missionary friends to the island of LaGonave were visiting, Yben and Laura Dalla and her sister, Tiffany, who flew in for a visit from the States.

Celebrating the 4th

 



 

Our yummy meal. The' hotdog buns' are actually a type of bread here.

 

We had a fun time visiting with each other and then the next morning we took Yben, Laura, and Tiffany to the boat docks so they could go home to the island of La Gonave. After telling them goodbye we drove another hour to the village of La Croix. Our friends, Elwood and Anita Martin are missionaries there and we enjoyed visiting and staying overnight with them. Anita does a wonderful job of running a clinic there and it was interesting to see where she sees the patients. The Martin's fixed us delicious hamburgers on the grill, coleslaw, fresh veggies and Doritos..yummy! We have missed Doritos! Then we enjoyed Anita's wonderful homemade brownies :o)  It was a nice relaxing visit and we all enjoyed getting away from the noisy, busy city of Carrefoure. Thank-you soo much Martin's for hosting us in your lovely home! We really appreciated everything!

Enjoying our cook-out

Mrs. Anita had a willing helper with the dishes.

Our happy group with Reggie, their dog.

 

Elwood & Anita Martin

 

Reggie and Caleb hanging out

 

Abby by a huge tree in the front yard of the compound.

 

Next big celebration was Mr. Caleb turning five. He requested pancakes for his breakfast. I have learned how to make them from scratch and the syrup too so we enjoyed pancakes. Later in the day we made a big cake with Abby & Caleb's help. He wanted a jungle theme cake so using what we could find such as Abby's Pet Shop's and some very cute palm trees that Ben made out of straws and construction paper we were able to deliver a jungle cake! We were quite happy with how it turned out and so was he :o) We made homemade chocolate ice cream and invited Don and 9 of his boys over for a fun birthday party. We brought some decorations from the States and Caleb's siblings had fun putting up crepe paper and making the kitchen look festive. Everyone enjoyed the cake and ice cream and then we passed out some glow sticks we had left over. Then everyone went outside and had fun tossing glow sticks. It was a fun night! You can visit our Face book page for lots more pics.

 

 

Checking out his jungle cake.

 

The finished product!

 

Party guests playing with the glow sticks

 

Happy Birthday Mr. Caleb!

 

Fun with the TLC team and Beginning Language School

 Sorry that I have not been able to up-date this blog in quite a while! We have been in Carrefoure for almost 2 weeks now. We had a great week with the TLC team in Grande Riviere :o) They were a huge help with the ongoing  work projects for our house. They put on a 3 day VBS and we had around 200 children some nights :o) They all enjoyed getting to know the boys and had a great time playing with the children. Several of them brought treats to hand out and some of the team even donated some of their clothes. We put together goody sacks for each one, including Pastor and Madame Dominique, Madame Masees, and some of the helpers that cooked and washed clothes for us. It was fun to watch them open them, knowing that it was like Christmas to them as they rarely get fun stuff just for themselves :o) We thank God for His help and protection and for giving us all a good week! We also thank you for your prayers!

                                                  

                                     

   We began language school last week and God is helping :o) Our teacher is our good friend, Escotte, who is doing a good job helping us learn creole. The kids are learning how to count in creole too :o) Language school is costing us $250 a month. If you feel lead to help towards this cost you can click the donate button. Thank-you!  Escotte has taken us to the market a few times and we are learning how to barter and buy our groceries. Completely different then going into Walmart ! ;o)

 I am learning how to 'cook' again, as cooking here is very different than in the States! I thought I knew how to cook but I am discovering that I do not! You have to plan ahead to soak the beans, wash the rice and wash all the veggies and fruits. The flour must be sifted. The eggs must be washed well with a little bleach and water. Leftovers do not keep due to the heat and the in-consistency of the electricity for running the fridge. These are just a few lessons I am learning. ;o)

 Life here is hard. We have a lot of comforts that we take for granted in America. In America we turn on the tap and fill our glass with fresh, safe water, open the freezer and pop out ice cubes into our drink, proceed to the living room where we sit down in our comfy lazy boy while enjoying the cool breezes of the Air conditioner!  In Haiti we get our drinking water from a jug of water that has been filtered and IF the power has been on long enough, it might be cold from being in the fridge. Ice is a rare treat here. We sit down on hard chairs by the open door hoping that a breeze might be out today. Notice the differences?! The moral of the story....enjoy America today and pray for God's grace and help as we adapt to Haiti.

  In other news, we are in NEED of a team to come to GR (Grande Riviere) the first or second week of August. We plan to be putting up the walls in our house, possibly plumbing in the bathrooms and other house projects. We are looking for 8-10 people who are not afraid to ROUGH it and are willing and able to do HARD work. Rewards will be enjoying Madame Dominique's DELICIOUS cooking, getting to the KNOW the boys at the orphanage and the BLESSING of helping to further God's work in Haiti! All interested applicants email us for more details such as cost, what to bring and etc.

We VALUE your continued monthly support and prayers as we go thru language school and fight sometimes daily culture shock! Blessings on you all!

Hello from Grande Riviere!

 We have arrived safely and are doing well. The culture shock has been minimal so far. The city power has actually ran pretty steadily here in GR and we have been able to have our fans going and keep our water (dlo) cool in the freezer ;o)  We brought Terro and other bug sprays/killers with us and it has helped a lot with keeping the creepy crawlies away! We were received with shouts of joy, open arms, hugs and kisses from our Haitian family when we finally got here Tuesday afternoon. We had a long day of travel with minimal problems. Praise the Lord! God helped us thru customs, even though we had a few hairy moments. We have NO DOUBT that your prayers went before us and God intervened during the long, frustrating process.
  Our kids have had a wonderful time playing from dawn to way after dusk. They play futbol (soccer), wheel chair races, duck-duck-goose and anything else their imaginations can come up with. Danny has gone to Cap-Haitian with Pastor Dominique and is beginning to learn the ropes of shopping. I have went to the open market twice now with Madame Dominique. What an experience! I am thankful that she has been helping me as it is a LOT to learn! With God's help and your continued prayers, I will get it :o)
  Madame Dominique is a very good cook and she has been teaching me how to cook like a Haitian! I am enjoying it and learning a lot of creole words in the process. We made Diri and pwa with pul today and colsla ju to drink :o) (Rice & beans with fried chicken smothered in cashews. The juice is made with a fruit that grows here in Haiti...Mmmm!)

   We are all getting things ready for the Touching Lives for Christ ministry work team that will be here next Monday evening :o) Keep them in your prayers as they help with some building projects for our house and teach a 3 day vbs. We are looking forward to them coming. Will post up-dates as often as possible!  Bonswa! ( Good evening!)

Our family at the airport ready for the adventure!

Timoun jwe (children playing!)

Last Sunday in the States

 Life is full of 'lasts'. Last day of school. Last day at work. Last cookie in the cookie jar. Last time you see a loved one before they move or pass on. Today is a significant 'last' for our family. This is the 'last' Sunday we will be in the States for a span of time. As we sat in the service this morning, we were aware that next Sunday we will be worshipping in a completely different culture that will soon become 'normal' for us. We will understand about 25% of the service as it will all be in creole until we learn more of the language. We will hear very little English, if any. We will be with people we do not know very well, but will learn to know. We are all feeling a range of emotions: Sadness about saying goodbye, anxiety/fear of the un-known, Excitement for what lies ahead and overall a deep, abiding peace. That peace over-rides all the other emotions and it tells us that God is in control. This amazing journey that He has set us on has been His idea from the beginning, He has called us, prepared the way, provided for our needs and given us a ever-growing passion for Haiti! We are going to Haiti with His protection, His strength, His grace and He will NOT fail us! And we know that we are also going with the support of an awesome group of prayer warriors who are not afraid to touch Heaven on our behalf! Thank-you! You may never know, this side of Heaven, how MUCH your prayers mean to us and to every other missionary who is in the midst of deputation or on the field of their calling laboring for the Master. Thank-you for praying for your missionaries!

Please remember us in these SPECIFIC ways:

-Pray that God will make our way thru customs smooth, in-expensive and without incident.

-Pray for the culture shock that will no doubt hit us immediately as we experience the intense heat, warm drinks, no a/c, creepy crawlies and the language barrier. ( We will be without an interpreter for a week)

-Pray for the Touching Lives for Christ ministry work team that will be coming to Grande Riviere the 11th-18th. They will be flying into Port-au-Prince and driving up to our compound. Pray for safety on the long, winding roads. Pray for all of us as we minister to the children through Vacation Bible School and as the team works on various building projects.

-Pray for all of us as we will be driving back to Carrefoure (day long drive) to take the TLC team to the airport. Then our family will move in to the same guest house we stayed in last summer and began language lessons.

We will try our best to keep you all up-dated with pictures and blog posts as we can.

On to the Adventure!

Pics from the work team and...We have a departure date and the countdown is on!

 The work team made it back safely and they were able to get all the tile floor laid, a spiral staircase and a heavy metal door installed. God gave them all a good trip and many opportunities to minister. When Danny left, he let Pastor and Madame Dominique know that we are coming back in just a few weeks and they said "oui!" ;o)  We are thankful for God's help and protection and for the wonderful group that came from Warren Bible Methodist Church! Thank-you! We also want to say a special Thank-you to Bro. Don Mobley and Menal. They have been with us from the designing of the house to building every part of it, lending their knowledge and expertise! We appreciate everything you have done, Bro. Mobley, and really appreciate ALL your help!
   Yes, you read the title correctly, we finally know when we are moving to Haiti! June 4th is the scheduled moving day. Just 9 short days away! The list of stuff we need to have done before leaving the country is overwhelmingly long but with God's grace, strength and YOUR prayers we will get everything done! We will be flying into Cap-Haitian and staying at our compound in Grande Riviere for 1 week and then the 2nd week we are excited to be hosting a TLC (Touching Lives for Christ) ministry work team! We will be involving them in various work projects and working a VBS for the village children in the evenings. Satan has fought this team hard from scheduling obstacles to personal issues that some of them are dealing with individually. We all agree that God must have some wonderful things in store for us all as we minister at Grande Riviere! The dates are the 10th through the 18th that the team will be in Haiti. We plan to ride down to Carrefoure with them and send them  back to the States on the 18th. Then our family will live in Carrefoure staying at the same compound that we stayed in last June. We will be working HARD to learn creole for about 3-6 months. Thank-you for keeping us in your prayers!  
   Abigail turned 9 this past Thursday on May 24th and we were able to have a sweet Birthday Tea Party for her with 5 of her friends. She was so happy that it worked out to have her party before we leave for Haiti. Abby and her friends had a lot of fun playing a water game, making a cute purse for their dolls and enjoying cute mini cupcakes, chocolate drizzled strawberries and mini strawberry pies topped off with snow cones! It was a cute party that she will always remember :o)
  Happy Memorial Day! Remember those who gave their lives so we can be free here in America!

The men working on the tile floor in our house.

The team enjoying fresh fruit!

Danny and Mr. Rice showing some of the children how to work on the flooring.

Danny behind our new door...Thanks, Menal!  Bon Travay!

 

Miss Abby with her doll waiting on her guests.

The sweet Tea Party guests enjoying themselves!

God is Faithful! All our shares have been pledged!

 Praise the Lord from whom ALL blessings flow! Shortly after we arrived here in Hobe Sound, we found out that All of our shares have been pledged! We are so thankful for God's provision! Danny and a wonderful work team from Warren Bible Methodist Church in Warren, OH flew to Grande Riviere this past Thursday morning. Their goal is to get the tiling down for our floor and the walls up for our house. We are thankful for the team that God has once again put together as they have the expertise and knowledge needed for this part of building our house. God always knows what He is doing! :o)
   The kids and I are enjoying our stay back in HS again. They have put us in the missions house and it has been such a blessing to have an area where we can just hang out, relax, cook in the kitchen and wash laundry in the washing machine and dryer provided! This may sound silly to some of you but when you are on the road as much as we have been, cooking your own meals and having a place to do laundry that does not require change is huge! We are also very diligently trying to get school work done! The team will return on the 21st and we are already counting the days :o)
   The plan is for our family to move to Haiti the first part of June. We will be staying in Carrefoure for 3-6 months for language study. Then we will move into our house and began ministry at Grande Riviere.  We have a few needs that you can help us pray about and give toward them if God directs. We have been given the opportunity to purchase an inverter, that normally retails for $2,700, for around $1,600. This inverter would give us more hours with power at GR and we would not have to run the generator as much which would result in a cheaper gas bill. This would also ensure that we could run our few appliances and have electricity and internet more consistently. We also are needing some more funds to purchase a vehicle. If we have our own transportation then we will not have to wait on and hire tap-taps to get us to town. A vehicle will also be very helpful when teams come to work, minister and visit. God knows that we need these things and we have no doubt that He will supply! Thank-you for helping us pray about these!
  We VALUE you prayers and support! God bless you!

Share Count Up-date and Special Prayer Request

 We are so happy to let you all know that we have gotten in more shares and only have 16 to go! It has been fun to watch them come in and we have no doubt that God will bring in the remaining 16 as we continue to get closer to Haiti :o)
  Two weeks ago our family got to enjoy IHC in Dayton, OH and we loved getting to see a lot of YOU! We appreciate you all so much for how you have supported us with your prayers and investments into God's ministry in Haiti! You truly keep us going! Thank-you!  The bad news is that we all apparently caught some kind of yucky bug and it has done a number on us causing ear infections, high fevers, sniffles and even tonsillitis for one of us! We are beginning to feel much better now and thank the Lord as we NEED lots of energy to make it thru this next week! Lord willing, this will be our last week in the Hoosier state for a long time. We have MUCH to finish up with the packing and storing and last minute appointments this week. Would you please pray for God to give us all a healing touch and a huge dose of strength?! Thank-you! Also, please remember Danny as he is having an MRI Tue. morning to check out why he has swelling, pressure and loss of clear hearing in his r ear. We have put this in God's hands and are trusting Him for the outcome. He is faithful!

  Yesterday we had a large Haiti Benefit Yard/Bake Sale at our church parking lot. God gave us a beautiful day and we made a good amount of needed funds for our move. Our church family at Grace were very generous in the way that they donated items and baked goods to be sold. And several of them also donated their time and energy to helping out with the set-up, running the sale and the clean-up! Another HUGE blessing was that a local motorhome company donated one of their motorhomes to us to use for shade and ect. during the day. It came in very handy as most of our kids were not feeling well. They were able to rest in the motorhome while we worked the sale. A big relief for us and them! God is so good to know our needs even before we do!

  Today was our last Sunday at Grace and it was an emotion packed time! Our pastor called us up front and presented us with a card that the whole church had signed! So special! And then Danny shared with everyone where we are at with our shares and our plans. Lots of good-bye hugs were exchanged after the service. There a lot of precious people at Grace whom we love and appreciate very much! They have been with us since the beginning of this exciting Haiti journey and have been supportive all the way through. Having a good church family is indeed a blessing! We also claim Hobe Sound Bible church as our other church family too so we are doubly blessed!

 Thank-you for your prayers this coming week! We VALUE and NEED them! Blessings to you all!

                                       
                                         

Introducing Tape Designs By Becca!

 Our oldest daughter, Rebecca, is very creative and has designed adorable flowers out of duct tape :o)They are in different sizes, colors and designs and can be worn in your hair or to dress up your outfit. She has been selling them and we have just created a Facebook page called Tape Designs by Becca. All the money that comes from selling these will be put in a fund to use for our children's needs while we are in Haiti. This will help Becca come back to the States for youth camp and fund other things/events that come along for Becca, Ben, Abby and Caleb.
  The flowers can be picked up in person at our booth at IHC or you can order them through the mail. The prices are very reasonable and when you wear a flower by Becca you will be helping support us in Haiti too! Thank-you for checking them out!

 

 

Praise Note!

Praising the Lord for #31 share that came in last night! God is good! We are expecting #30 anytime! Ask God what He would have you do to support His work in Grande Riviere, Haiti!





We are putting out a challenge...will you join?!

  Our God is amazing and we are so excited at the way He has been moving the last few days! When I last up-dated we were just 40 shares away from having all our support in. I am happy to report that we are now 31 shares away! Danny and I have been praying about those remaining 31 shares and we BELIEVE God wants to bring them in! We are putting out a challenge to YOU! Is God leading you to sign up to support His work at Grande Riviere du Nord, Haiti?

 A full share is $20 a month for two years or a one time donation of $480. A half-share is $10 a month or $240 for the two yrs.
 We are going to pray in each and every one of these 31 shares that are left and we need you to help us PRAY and GIVE if God leads you. We are excited to see how God is going to bring these in so we can get to Haiti! God started this work in Haiti a long time ago and has asked us to be a part of it and we are HONORED that He would call us...this is SO much bigger than us or anything we could do or say! God is GOING to fund His work and He has and is going to use those who are obedient to his leading. Where do you fit in? Are you ready to be a part, to invest in souls for His Kingdom?

 We will be up-dating and letting you know as the shares come in. If you give through our 'donate now' button, please email us so we can count your share and let everyone know that another share has been covered. our email is flowersinhaiti@gmail.com

Up-coming Events



                                           

 Another work trip has been planned for May 9th-21st. We presently have 5 men going to get the interior work done in our house and make it as livable as possible. We hope to set a moving date soon after :o) Please help us pray as the details come together for the trip.
  In the meantime, we continue to sort, pack and store our things. We have a large yard/bake sale planned for the 27th to help raise funds for moving expenses. If there is anyone who lives locally and would like to donate items to sell or baked goods then please contact us. We would welcome your donations! 

Packing and Seeking God's Timing

My mind reflects back as I type this post.  The time that we are at in our lives right now is very similiar to where we were in 2008. We were living in Bluffton, IN and felt God opening doors for us to move to south Fl. Danny ended his lawncare and landscaping business, we packed most of our house up and prepared to move as we had an interested buyer in our home. We felt sure that it was God's will for us to take this big step and we were ready to go. Then the sale of our house fell through. And then we had another interested buyer and thought this would be the one who would buy. Once again, we mentally prepared ourselves to move far away feeling like this was definitely God's will. Then...you guessed it...that potential buyer could not get a loan due to their credit and we were back at square one. This same disappointing scenario happened over and over through out the next two years. We would pray and ask God if this was really what He wanted for us and and if it wasn't then to please take this longing to serve Him on the mission field out of our hearts. We asked Him to help us be content where we were and kept up our involvement in our home church, yet, not only did He NOT take away the desire to go to the mission field, but He intensified it!

  Danny took whatever odd jobs he could find as he felt reluctant to find a full-time job that he would soon have to leave. As a result of this, money was tight and some times non-existent. When we look back at that time, we can see that God was teaching us to Fully Rely On Him and increasing our faith as He supplied our daily needs. He used some very creative ways. One example of this is one cold, winter night I was driving home and a deer jumped out in front of me and I hit him.  Thankfully, Caleb, who was strapped in his carseat and myself were unharmed. Our insurance company pronounced our van totaled and settled up with us. We then turned around and bought our van back at a cheap price and ordered a new hood, which had been destroyed, and replaced it ourselves. We then took the rest of the money, caught up on our bills and drove to Hobe Sound, FL for Seabreeze Camp. It was while we were at Seabreeze that we were approached with the idea of going to Haiti as teamleaders with Touching Lives for Christ. To make a long story short, after much prayer and discussion, we signed up. Then we typed up and sent out letters asking for financial support and prayer. God amazed us when one donor gave half of what we needed...$1,500! After that, we knew that God wanted our family to go to Haiti! God supplied the rest of the money needed and our family had the honor and priviledge of going to Haiti in 2009. That trip changed our lives and we will never be the same again!
   Another year passed before God finally sold our home and lead us to Hobe Sound, FL. We can see that during that two year period that God was teaching us many lessons. Not only was He teaching us to depend only on Him for our daily needs, but He was also teaching us that His timing is perfect. Even when we in our humaness feel that things are moving too slow, He is in control. It was NOT an easy lesson to learn! Many times we would pray and ask each other what God was doing? Why did He ask us to quit our business, our main lifeline of support for our family of six? Did He not understand how crazy our friends and even our family thought we were?  What about our children? What were they thinking? These were just a few of the many questions swirling through our minds. When we had family prayer, the standard prayer request was for God to sell our house and find us a house in FL. The children were sad to leave our family and friends, yet they seemed to understand that we were waiting on God and this was His plan for our lives.
   God gave me this verse: Psalms 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, Wait,I say, on the Lord!"
   My Wesley Bible had this footnote to say concerning this verse: The idea of waiting on the Lord is prominent in the Psalms. Although it contains an element of time, there is more to it than time alone. Waiting expresses that complete dependence on the Lord which does not run ahead of Him making its own plans and relying on its own strength. To wait on the Lord is an expression of COMPLETE TRUST. It is better not to rush into doing something today if the doing is an expression of dependence on our own strength and on our own sense of timing.
 Wow! I copied this verse and the footnote onto a 3x5 index card and taped it on our bathroom mirror. God used that verse over and over again to calm and reassure our hearts as we waited on Him.

   So here we are now. Fast-forward a little over 2 years. God has helped Danny to complete college, Paid off $18,000 of our debt in 5 months, gave us His help, strength and annointing to go through almost 9 months of deputation, with just two services left, and has provided the entire $30,000 to build our house in Haiti. He has given us a strong, burning passion and excitement to serve Him in Haiti. It seems that, as each service that we speak at passes, God intensifies our excitement and passion and we are so ready to go!
   Yet, here we are...waiting on God just as we did those long two years back in 2009-2010. Is it any easier? No, yet, we have learned that this is the best and only way. God sees the big picture and He, in all His finite wisdom, knows what is best for our family. He knows exactly when He wants us in Grande Riviere du Nord and we do not want to be there a minute before He wants us. God has lead us down this path and we know that He does not make any mistakes!  We need your prayers as we pack, sell and give away our stuff. We need your prayers as our Regional Director and ourselves seek God's timing for our departure date. We need your prayers in putting together a team to go finish our house at the end of April.

   You may wonder why I have shared all this? Simply to let you know where we are right now and how you all can pray for us.  Please help us to pray for the rest of our shares to come in. AT THIS TIME WE ARE JUST 40 SHARES SHORT!  Help us pray for the $5,000 that we need for moving expenses. Pray for us to have clear direction and wisdom as we wait on God. Thank-you for coming on this amazing journey with us! Your prayers and financial support mean more than we can say! Please feel free to leave a comment or two as we enjoy reading them :o) Blessings!


       

 

Happy Easter from our family to yours! He is RISEN!