Anticipation

15, 14, 13, 12….

Every day for the last week one of these numbers has been announced to me by my middle son, Brennan, who will be traveling to Haiti with me.  Today he announced:

9 days till we leave for Haiti!

And my heart did a little somersault in my chest.

I have been very busy preparing all the little details for this trip, but in quiet moments, I take time to remember some of my favorite moments from my last trip and allowing myself to feel the excitement, anticipation and privilege of getting to go to Haiti a second time.

There are so many things I am looking forward to.

Seeing the children…

A few of the sweet faces I will get to see!

delivering gifts from our sponsors to “their” kids,

Clothes, toothbrushes, dolls, hot wheels, notepads and pens, a soccer ball and even a life straw! I am blown away at the generosity of our sponsors!

meeting the kids’ families,

Family members of one of our sponsored girls.

seeing friends,

My oldest son, Jason, with Claudel, Alix and Sander in January 2012

and sharing some of these experiences with my two oldest kids and  a great group of youth and adults from our church!

Desiree from That None Shall Perish training our youth team on teaching VBS.

This trip is mainly a Youth Group trip with the purpose of teaching VBS to children at Pastor Gilbert‘s 4 different churches.  We have a great group of kids going on this trip who will be sharing the Gospel message with over 1000 Haitian children!  What a life-changing experience! Hopefully… prayerfully…  life-changing for both our American team as well as all the Haitian kids we will get to meet!

My son Brennan and I will be leaving for Haiti a few days ahead of the rest of the team so I will have time to meet with all of our sponsored children.

I will also have the opportunity to meet with the families of our sponsored kids to discuss the Bridge program with them, answer any questions they might have and discuss with them the importance of their role and influence in the lives of the children in their care and the importance of the children themselves- and their education- for the future of Haiti.

I also plan to deliver a curriculum which was written as a follow-up to the VBS which our youth will be teaching. This is a great curriculum which has been translated into Haitian Creole so it can be taught to the children of Carrefour Poy by the teachers at the school after we leave.  It is called The Colors of Salvation and reinforces the message which will be taught by our youth, going into more detail about the Gospel.  We will be delivering 5 teacher’s manuals plus all the coloring books, craft materials and supplies needed to teach the curriculum.  At the end, each child will get to make 2 bracelets with colored beads representing different parts of the gospel story. One bracelet is for them to keep and one is to give away and share the message!

As I deliver the materials and curriculum, I will have the opportunity to walk through the curriculum with the teachers to make sure they understand how to use it & share some teaching ideas with them.  Claudel is planning to use it as a summer school program after our team leaves and before the next school year begins in October.

The Colors of Salvation in Haitian Creole!

I am also very excited to get to help out the youth team with VBS in Carrefour Poy.  I am really looking forward to having that time to spend with the children of Carrefour Poy watching them learn, seeing more of their personalities and just playing with them!

As you can see, I have a very full trip planned.  And so many things to finish preparing before I leave in just 9 days!

I know that God will bring all the little details together as He always does.  I am so amazed at all the ways He has provided for this trip so far.

So many people have invested in this trip in so many ways.  People who have been praying, or spoken words of encouragement to me.  Our sponsors, who are sending gifts to their children.  The many people who have been involved with getting The Colors of Salvation ready– from my friend Debbie King, the author of the curriculum, to the men who worked to translate it, to Mandaly of the Sweet Coconuts blog who is graciously editing it.  So many people who have donated money, materials or time preparing materials. The youth who are going out of their comfort zones to bless all these children and will also be preparing baggies of the materials to make the salvation bracelets and helping me pack everything!  And my family who has been so patient with me as I pile supplies and sponsor gifts and suitcases around the house.

I feel so blessed by each you.  So blessed to have the privilege of going to Haiti.  So blessed to be a part of the worldwide Body of Christ.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

9 more days…

Jason & I with Madocher in January 2013… Looking so forward to seeing him again!

I can’t wait!!!