T-11 Days

First off, I really had no intention of being silent for over a month.  Time just slipped away from me. But I have no time or energy to waste on “blogger’s remorse” (feeling like a bad blogger because I haven’t posted something every day).  I’m eleven days away from leaving on a jet plane.  I seem to have so much to accomplish between now and then.  Who am I kidding? I DO have a lot to accomplish, but I’m trying to keep my priorities straight.  The list is long and I won’t bore you with the details.  Suffice it to say that I have been procrastinating.  But I’ve always been a last-minute kind of girl.  Eventually, I’m gonna have to drag my suitcases out and start packing <shudder>.  Speaking of packing...

I used to have a living room floor.  Now I just have “take to Haiti” piles.  A pile of toys and supplies for the orphanage (more on this in a minute), a pile of toiletries, a pile of clothes, and a pile of miscellaneous items.  I figure I should go through the clothes and cut that mountain (at least) in half.  I’m certain that I’ll have so much more wisdom about what to take to a third world country after I’ve been to one.  C’est la vie!

I will be sharing briefly about what I'll be doing in Haiti at Southwinds Church in SE Calgary this Sunday morning; I’ll hand out some prayer cards (little cards I made up with specific prayer requests), and they’ll commission me and send me out.  It all seems so surreal.  I’m not sure when reality will set in.  Maybe when I show up at YYC (otherwise known as the Calgary International Airport) with an entourage of friends seeing me off.  Maybe when I set foot on Haitian soil.  Maybe when I return home.  Maybe never.  Ok, time to cut the rambling.

In my last post I said I would answer your questions about donating supplies that I can take with me to Haiti.  The short answer is this: It would be more beneficial to the orphanage and to the Haitian economy if people would donate funds directly to GLA’s General Operating Account.  That way, they can purchase as many items as possible right there in Haiti.  Of course, there are items that are not available in Haiti, which could be sent, but not necessarily with me.  While I appreciate the generous offers of many people to load me up with provisions, I am only one person travelling alone, and I cannot physically handle several large pieces of luggage.  There is a list posted on the website of what GLA needs (and doesn’t need) at any given time.  It is updated periodically. You can view the most recent list (updated May 25, 2011) by clicking here.  To make a donation to GLA's general fund, please click here. 

I promise I will update this blog more consistently in the coming days and weeks.  So, until next time...

Kudos!

As of today, 86% of the funds have been raised for my trip to Haiti!  The bottle drive was a huge success! Thank you to EVERYONE who donated empty cans & bottles for this cause. 

A HUGE ‘thank you’ to Evelyn Francis for organizing the ‘Chaparral arm’ of the bottle drive.  If you know Ev, please pat her on the back (or better yet, give her a hug) the next time you see her.  She sent around an email to her network, mobilizing her friends and neighbours to bring all their empties to her house in support of my trip to Haiti.  And with that, a GIGANTIC ‘shout out’ to the residents of the Lake Chaparral community in Calgary for donating over $200 worth of empties in only a few short days.  And, as always, the ultimate glory goes to God for orchestrating it ALL!

I saw the power of God at work again today as my friend Michael and I went door-to-door to collect empties.  We parked on a quiet neighbourhood street and started knocking on doors.  We received no answer at several homes, and of the ones who did answer, ALL of them (without exception) had cleaned out their garage/shed/basement and cashed in their empties LAST WEEKEND! After walking up one side of that street and down the other, I was beginning to feel discouraged.  That’s when I looked at Michael and said, “I think we need to pray.” He agreed, so we returned to the car and prayed that God would open the floodgates of blessing and direct us on which neighbourhood to go to next.  We both felt that we should try the area where Michael lives, as his neighbours had some empties to donate.  So we knocked on every door on his block and came away with a few garbage bags full.  When we stopped to grab a bite to eat for lunch, I checked my cell phone and there was a message from my friend Susan, saying she and her mom had another four bags of bottles for us.  So we agreed to swing by and pick them up.  On our way to Sue’s mom’s place, I received a call from the mother of one of my piano students, saying that someone had given her another two bags of empties for me! And (this is the best part!), a black sky was threatening to rain on us the whole time we were outside today.  When we got to the bottle depot, the line-up was out into the parking lot, so we waited outside with about a dozen big garbage bags of beverage containers.  As soon as we were safely inside, in the shelter of the building (trading in the goods for almost $100 cash!), the heavens opened up and the rain POURED.  Michael and I looked at each other and all we could say was, “Thank you, Lord.”  What an amazing God we serve!

I will still be collecting bottles until June 10^th, so if you are in the Calgary area and have empties to donate, please let me know and I will be more than happy to pick them up from you!

As you may have already heard me say, if funds are donated that go above & beyond the cost of my trip, the money will go to purchase supplies for the nursery at GLA.  Some of you have been asking about sending supplies with me for the orphanage when I go.  I’ll be blogging about that in my next post, so please stay tuned....

So, About Haiti...

If you’ve known me for any amount of time, or you’ve dug around on my sidebar, you know that I’m passionate about orphan care and adoption.  I read everything I can get my hands on about orphanage models, domestic and transracial adoption, attachment disorders, children from “hard places”, and the list goes on.  I believe adoption will be a part of my future in some way, whether it’s as an adoptive parent or with a career in adoption services.  No, I’m not thinking of bringing home a child any time soon, and ideally not until I’m married (don’t worry, Mom).  But I truly believe that God has grown this passion in my heart in the last year or so.  I know He has a good reason for it, and only He knows what that is right now.  I have my ideas, but I’ll save that for another post.

So, about Haiti.  My passion for orphan care began budding around the same time as the earthquake in Haiti, and it has been growing exponentially ever since.  I have become what Kay Warren refers to in her book Dangerous Surrender, as “seriously disturbed” by the plight of orphans and other underprivileged children in the world.  Haiti has been on my heart and mind for over a year.  I had inquired about volunteer opportunities in February of 2010, but there were no commercial flights to Port-au-Prince, and since I didn't speak fluent Creole (still don’t) and had no medical training, I would really not have been of much assistance.  I was politely asked to check back in a few months.  Several months went by; life in North America went on.  Haiti faded from the news like a phantom into thin air.  But it didn’t fade from my mind.  Long after the earthquake stopped making headline news, I could not forget Haiti.  I sensed that God was tugging at my heartstrings.  So, after praying and seeking wise counsel, I knew what I had to do. 

If all goes according to plan, in June of this year, I will be volunteering for two weeks with God’s Littlest Angels in the Kenscoff Mountains of Haiti.  I know, it’s just two weeks, and people go on short-term mission trips all the time.  But this is my very first mission trip, so perhaps there’s a little more anticipation (and definitely a steeper learning curve) around this particular excursion.  Since deciding to go, I have run the gamut of emotions: excited, amazed, nervous, terrified, discouraged, encouraged, and back to being excited.  Most of all, I am at peace with my decision to go.  It is not enough for me to sit here in my comfortable apartment and pray for the orphans.  It is not enough to blog about them, or send money to them.  Please don’t misunderstand.  While I do believe that God calls each of us to respond in a unique way (see James 1:27), not everyone is called to physically go.  But I believe that I am. I tried to ignore it for a while, that gut-wrenching, sick feeling of helplessness – knowing that I needed to do something to make a difference.  Like a nagging cough that lingers and keeps you awake at night, thoughts of malnourished, premature, abandoned, and suffering children disturbed me and spurred me to action. 

So, that is a snippit of my story.  I am looking forward to this journey.  Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me so far, prayed for me and/or with me, donated money, or simply been there to offer support.  Until next time...

Blast Off!

Whoosh...thud! That’s the sound of me launching into the blogosphere and landing here, in My Journey Toward Haiti.  It has taken me several months to muster the courage to leap into this world of blogging.  But here I am! Glad you’ve joined me!

Some people have the idea that blogs are “so 2001”.  So you’ll have to forgive me if I am behind the times for just getting started.  In fact, I didn’t even know there was such a thing until about three years ago.  No one could ever accuse me of being a “techie”, that’s for sure! It’s not that I wasn’t intrigued by blogs (once I discovered them).  It’s just that I struggled for a long time with putting myself “out there”.  You see, I’m a perfectionist.  I generally don’t want to “show up” (in any area of my life) until I’ve perfected my craft.  Blogging is especially intimidating because I read so many amazing blogs on a regular basis (check out Blogs That Shine in my sidebar).

I realize that there are several problems with waiting until I think I’m perfect: First of all, I’d be lying to myself and everyone else (because I’ll never get there this side of heaven).  Second, I’d be comparing myself to God, the only Perfect One.  And finally, I would not be of any encouragement to others who are struggling to make sense of this thing called life. 

But one thing I have discovered is that “my” story (my journey, if you will) is not about me.  What it’s really about is God’s unending grace, mercy, and love, and the fact that He still chooses to use the likes of me to do something - anything - for His kingdom.  It’s only about me to the degree that I am willing to be broken, poured out, and surrendered to His will. 

That’s all for now.  I hope you’ll visit me here again.  I plan to write about my passion for orphans and my upcoming trip to Haiti soon.  Until then...