Not always picture worthy

Excuse my appearance in this one, it was a little bit hot :)

 

I've learned over the last few weeks that one of the biggest things I struggle with is not doing "picture worthy" ministry.  I've always loved seeing pictures of what missionaries are doing; seeing the heart wrenching pictures of kids, or the joyous baptisms.  In my mind I guess I thought that's what I'd be sharing with everyone regularly.  What you don't see in those pictures however is all of the behind the scenes not so "picture worthy" things that take place.  That is where I'm at in ministry right now.  I have not had the chance to feed a starving baby, help an elderly man or woman to the hospital, give out life saving care, or anything else so dramatic.  My ministry right now is developing budgets, typing up procedure manuals, making signs for the house, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, providing water to the KOFAEL women, etc.  Some days I struggle with not being able to share incredible pictures and stories with you all, but for now this is where God has me. 

You see, all of these things are critical to the success of this ministry.  Without a budget, procedure manual, or plans on how to do ministry, HFMS would never actually get off the ground.  I've had to remind myself many times over the last couple of weeks, that while I may not be saving lives right now, the work I'm doing will eventually lead to making a big impact on lives one day.  So for now, I'll pour another glass of ice water, serve another pack of crackers, clean the bathroom, type up documents, and keep the house running smoothly until God places bigger ministry opportunities in my path. 

"His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord."  Matthew 25:21

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.  But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities."  Luke 16:10

Here's to being faithful in the little things!

Hello, My Name Is:

I realized that I've thrown a lot of new names out recently and that most of you have no clue who I'm talking about. So, to help you put a face with the name in my posts, here is a little break down of who's who in my life right now :)

Patricia Goodman:  

Founder and Director of Hope for My Sister. 

Emily Schoneman:

My soon to be American roommate, and the Assistant Center Coordinator here at HFMS.

Julienne Pierre:

Our Haitian roommate, leader of KOFAEL, and ministry partner of HFMS. She is engaged to Frantz.

Frantz Osier:  

Julienne's fiance, leader of KOFAEL, and soon to be third housemate in December.  He will be moving in once they get married to help with things here at HFMS.

Esther Soloman:  

The Haitian woman who helps when we have teams, and a dear friend of mine.

The Hambrick's (Jeremiah, Jennifer, Ella, Ezra, Eli, and Zoe):

My dear friends from the States who are also serving here in Port au Prince.  

Jim & Debbie Hambrick:

Jeremiah's Parents and fellow missionaries here in Haiti.  I've worked with them many times over the last few years.  They are great friends and have been mentors for me through this journey.  They also live two doors down, so we're neighbors! :)

Hope that helps!! You can read more about KOFAEL and their ministry here. You can also read more about HFMS by clicking the link on the navigation bar above!

Almost three weeks in..

 The view from our balcony last night.

I've been asked a lot recently how I'm really doing.  Since I'm about to hit the three week mark, I thought I'd try to answer that question for you.

How am I really doing..? 

Well, I'd say that varies on a day to day basis.  Some days I really enjoy living here.  Some days every thing goes right, ministry is good, and I feel like I'm getting things accomplished.  There are also days where I'm ready to pack up and leave.  Days where anything that can go wrong seems to go wrong, and I just can't find my way out from under the pile.  Those days are hard and filled with emotions.   And then there are days in between, where I don't necessarily love it here, but I'm not eager to go home either.   I'd say most of my days are spent somewhere in the middle.  It's been a balancing act of emotions. 

I'm also finding that I can't trust my emotions as easily as I do while at home.  There are times where even the silliest of things can bring me to tears; like rain.  I've never been much of a crier but I'm pretty sure I've cried more here over the last three weeks than I have in years.  They haven't all been sad tears; some are from overwhelming joy, like getting a call from a friend or an encouraging email. Nonetheless, I have cried more than I expected, and usually about things I never expected to cry over :).

I'm coming to accept that some things are just part of life here in Haiti, and there is very little you can do about it.  Some of these things include:  mosquitoes, itchy legs/feet/arms because of mosquito bites, limited power, water issues, and more.  I am learning to live with these new realities.  I have found myself much more aware and grateful for life's blessings here.  We take so much for granted at home.  I don't want to ever lose this mindset of gratitude.

There are a couple of things that would make life a little easier, such as a car, inverter, and a washing machine. Top of my list right now is getting an inverter.  We haven't had city power for two days and without a backup power source, it is very hard to keep groceries fresh.  Warm refrigerators just don't quite do the job effectively :).  No power also equals no water.  We have to pump our water from the cistern to a tank on the roof, but unfortunately the pump requires power.  Thus no power = no water.  I don't say this to complain, just to explain how important power is here.  Please join me in praying for the funding of an inverter, and that we could get one installed soon.

Some other specific ways you can pray for me:

Pray for good health.  I have been fighting a cold the last couple of days, and while I think it's finally turning a corner, prayers are much appreciated!  My energy has been very low the last couple of days so I really appreciate your prayers!

Pray for my emotional well-being.  As I mentioned, my emotions can be so hard to trust here.  A couple of things have made that even harder.  Please pray for my strength, patience, and ability to love as Christ loves.  Please also pray for my ability to work with those God has placed in my life.  One of the hardest parts of being on the mission field is learning to work with those you wouldn't normally choose to work with.  I'm learning continually that patience with others and their work methods is a must for a successful ministry.  This can be easier said than done sometimes.

Pray for God's financial provision. God has truly blessed my ministry financially over the last few months.  Right now I've got enough funding to cover the next 6 months.  That said, there are some unforeseen expenses that have arisen, like the inverter.   Please pray that God would continue to provide the finances needed to cover my time here in Haiti.  If you would like to donate to my ministry, simply click the "how to give" button above.  Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to support my time here.  Your generosity has been such a blessing and encouragement to me!

Pray for wisdom and discernment. My days and weeks have been filled with searching for wisdom and the discernment needed to help this ministry.  Please pray that God would continue to show me what it is he'd have me do here and how to carry out that calling.

Pray for my new relationships here. Over the last three weeks, I have met a lot of people and made some good friends.  As I mentioned though, it can be hard at times working with so many new people.  Please pray for my patience in those instances.  Please also pray for Emily, Julienne, and me as we will all be living under the same roof in a few days.  Pray that we would get along, that we would be gracious to forgive each others faults, and that we would find a balance of life and friendship in the house.

Thank you again for all of your prayers.  I really do feel the power of them every single day. Also, thank you to everyone who has sent encouraging notes, emails, and calls.  Those connections with home bring such joy to me!

Not Me Monday

I did not fall down the steps outside of our house the other day.  There's no way I'd be that clumsy.  And there's absolutely no way that I fell in front of the four Haitians working at the house that day.  I always make silly mistakes like that in private, never in front of an audience! And there's no way I fell on my butt so hard that Esther had to call at 9pm to make sure I was ok.  I always fall gracefully and end up on my feet. Ahem.

I also did not do my laundry at the Hambrick's the other day only to get home and realize I never put laundry detergent in with the wash. I definitely decided to wash the load again. I would never smell it and decide they were clean enough to hang my clothes back up.  That's just gross. Only teenage boys do that.

I also did not shed a few tears when it rained the other night.  I would never get so excited over a little thing called rain.

Ahem.  Nope not me.  Never!

The View from Here: Picture Dump

For those of you who don't follow me on facebook or instagram, here are some pictures from the past two weeks of my life!

 Packing up my life.

 I had the honor of sharing my testimony at Church with all of my family there.

 Saying goodbye at the airport

 Nap time in Miami :)

 The first team to stay and work at HFMS.

 These beautiful ladies cooked and cleaned for us all last week.

 The team built 4 sets of bunk beds for the big room at the end of the hall!

 This is Danielle, the land-lady's daughter.

 This is my new dear friend Esther who helped up tremendously over the last two weeks.  More to come on her soon!

 

Dad made some new friends.

 Mom and I trying to organize all of my stuff.

 The guys built this shelving unit for my bathroom

 Dad hanging curtains in my bedroom

 Kofael meeting that took place last Saturday.  This was the first outreach women's ministry to happen here at HFMS.

 The upstairs kitchen - took me 5 hours to get it clean and organized!

 Other end of the kitchen.  Please take note of the cooler aka our fridge when there's no power.

 My bedroom.  The guys built this bed and the nightstand.

 Sunset from our balcony.

 Driving around Haiti.

 For all of you who asked, here is one of the grocery stores I shop at. It's just like an American store, just more expensive!

 They even have Kirkland (Costco) brand stuff!! This made me laugh out loud and miss my dad.

My second purchase of groceries was 3,612 goudes which is a little more than $80.