Hello Family!
I’m back in Haiti. Thank you immensely for the send-off you all gave. Because of your prayers I arrived safely here, and without incident- although the airline almost denied me passage into Haiti on the last leg of the trip. Apparently, with no form of ID to validate my work in Haiti (such as a badge or business card) and no return trip booked, Haitian immigration will not allow entry. So, praise God I was at the airport early enough! I whipped out my laptop and bought tickets to return in May/June.
I am confident I will draw upon your encouragement frequently in the days to come. Just knowing that you’re praying for me is HUGE. It’s going to be of greatest importance that I prioritize my daily time with God! I am more aware now of how incapable I am without Him and yet how in Christ, I can do all things. I returned to Haiti without much progress made resolving my back situation and this could potentially mean my undoing. As much as I’d like you to ask God with me to heal me and restore me to normal life, please pray that this little trial is one that I will embrace with joy.
So, I miss you all and love you more dearly because of the distance! Praising God for you and praying for you!
abbey mac Psalm 30:4
Mamma says that what God does in a life is worth telling. Only He can create beauty from nothing. Borrowing and sharing, with my own voice this is my telling:
Unto Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we could ask or think...to Him be the glory now and forever. Amen(from one of Paul's letters)! We miss you already. Love to the Nons. Mama
ReplyDeleteLove you...praying for you as is most of the known USA...call us..collect...any way you can...God will grant grace to care for the kids...HE IS MORE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAN ANYONE!
ReplyDeletePraying for you Abs!! LOVE YOU :)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I was able to see you twice at the Y. I prayed for you today. I'm not sure what you're facing as I've seen the news about the earthquake.
ReplyDeleteTeresa
Abbey-
ReplyDeleteWe are rejoicing at the news that you and all of the children are safe and unharmed in the midst of this tragic earthquake. We continue to pray for safety, guidance, wisdom, and strength for you as you make your way through these next days and weeks. "The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed" Deuteronomy 31:8
Praying for you.
The Keens
We have gone to take a notebook to my work so I do not have to work this PM. Dad is staying home....Call after 10:00 AM...if you can
ReplyDeletePrayer meeting tonight for Haiti at CBC...love you and know that He is able to give you the grace that you need when you need it...not before or after. A team is on the way!
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom
Please be praying for Jack Nonweiler as he heads back to Haiti tomorrow afternoon on a plane through “Missionary Flights International”. Gretchen (one of the Board members from Three Angels), a man named Eric - who is a structural engineer and another gentleman – who specializes in search and rescue are all returning with him to survey the damage that has been done to the compound and to determine what the immediate needs are for all those at Three Angels right now. Marcia will be staying in the U.S. until it is decided that it is safe for her to return.
ReplyDeleteThis is what you were made for...take pleasure in the challenge that God has destined for you...
ReplyDeleteI am praying, and will do EVERYTHING I can to help.
Joe
Dear Ones:
ReplyDeleteWe received a text at 2:21 AM from Abbey. She received our texts to her Haitian cell phone and somehow got hold of a phone that would allow her to send a message back to us. I sent a message to her saying Jack is coming. Do not know if she received this response to her text. Here is her message. “This is Abbey. Got text. I am OK. Kids sick. Will contact ASAP.” PLEASE PRAY FERVRENTLY FOR SICK CHILDREN.
I'm so glad I found this blogspot! Abbey, with the thousands you've touched, I'm one more. I was one of your Y members that you did fitlinxx for at the Jordan Y. We talked a ton about God in our lives and how he's blessed us and what he's calling us to do. I remember when you told me you were moving to Haiti and how you just KNEW it was what God wanted you to do. I don't know when you'll read this again with the devastation, but when I heard the news, my heart immediately jumped to you and the children you work with. I and several others at Common Ground Christian Church will be praying for you and the children and Haiti. Have faith, God is with you!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Konz
Here is a collective update from Haiti: Jill Cobbs(Office Manager, Centennial Bible Church, 317.569.5100)
ReplyDeleteThe Taylors got a text from Abbey around 2am this morning via another cell phone she was able to use. Her message was simply, “This is Abbey. Got text. I am OK. Kids sick. Will contact ASAP.” First, we praise God that the Taylors were able to hear directly from her! This is their first direct communication since the earthquake. Please pray fervently for the health of the children. Pray for Abbey, her health, her endurance emotionally and physically. Another text revealed that the dust clouds are causing respiratory issues for the children. Abbey is evacuating the children to MEARS, we believe that to be another mission organization she has connections with.
The Mears Organization that was in the last update is another mission organization. Their name stands for Mission Evacuation and Relief Services. We’ve gotten enough information to know that they are now involved with Abbey and the children and are evacuating them because the orphanage has enough structural damage that they cannot allow them back in. The children will all be scattered among different other missions and orphanages through this organization. PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM. We have no information or contacts with this organization prior to this experience to know anything about them. We don’t know if the children are being taken places where there will be food. We don’t know how long they will be at the separate agencies or when they will bring them back together. There is so much uncertainty right now. Please pray for them unceasingly!
Jack was supposed to try to get to Haiti today…now he plans to go into Haiti tomorrow. The team is trying to secure a satellite phone for communication back to the States. Please pray that this will be able to happen. Once he gets there, he has been told they will probably not be allowed to leave for at least 1 week, but probably 2 weeks. It will take some work to get from Port Au Prince to Petionville, where the orphanage is. Please pray for him and the team going with him. Pray for their emotions (they are going to see some horribly gruesome things seemingly everywhere they look). Pray for their safe travels. Pray that they will be able to help the children.
Next is an email from Three Angels itself with an update:
ReplyDeleteWhere we are now…Dear Family and Friends:
Thanks for your encouraging words and financial help as we prepare to effectively deal with a crisis nobody could imagine. The plan right now is to send an exploratory / first response team into Haiti this Friday. This team will be our eyes and ears and will provide the first real reports on what we are facing at Three Angels.
Dr. Jack Nonweiler will be heading down to provide medical attention and determine what other medical issues are primary. Others accompanying him will be:
• A structural engineer, Chris Stockwell, will join him and inspect our structures to make sure they are sound and secure so the children can return to the property. He will also determine priorities for rebuilding our exterior walls, prioritizing repairs and securing the property.
• Gretchen Huijskens, our founder, will be coming down to help care for the children. Her contacts and experience in country will be invaluable.
• Kevin Boone, an adoptive parent will also be joining the team to help in all areas, rebuild structures, assist the children and direct relief efforts.
As anyone can see from the pictures and news reports, it will take an enormous amount of effort to begin to heal this country. Right now, we are focusing on our neighborhood, our friends, our family at Three Angels. Please help us.
Our biggest need right now is financial. We will need some extraordinary resources and every dollar will help. Thank you to those who have donated already. We are asking you to spread the word on behalf of those being helped by Three Angels.
• Donation page
• Forward to friends and family
-the Three Angels Team
www.ThreeAngelsHaiti.org
More from Centennial:
Right now, the best way to help is to pray and donate if you feel led at the Three Angels link above. While there are so many things to pray for it seems insurmountable, there are some specific things, besides the ones listed above, that you can be praying for now:
• Pray for peace among the Haitian people. Panic and frustration coupled with lack of food and water leads to desperation and anger.
• Pray for the adoptive families of the Three Angels children. Right now their prayer is that the Haitian government might push through the children’s visas so that they can get those kids out of there and with their adoptive families to care for their needs as well as provide space for the many new orphans who will now need care as well.
• Pray for Alex, the headmaster of the school at Three Angels. No one has been able to contact him or his family since this disaster. Alex is a strong believer and has not shown back up to Three Angels. All other staff members are accounted for.
• Praise God that Gabriel, the security guard at Three Angels, is there. Continue to pray for safety as looters get more and more desperate.
• Pray specifically for Scott and Dee Fisher whose baby, Kethia, is in Haiti.
• Pray specifically for Jack and Marcia as they try to sort through details and figure out exactly how best to help. Pray for them emotionally and physically.
• Pray specifically for Bob and Betsey Taylor as they continue to try to talk with Abbey and deal with concerns for her and not knowing exactly what’s going
The “Mears” family has a compound near Lifeline Ministries. All of the children are together. Gretchen, Shannon etc (Three Angels Directors).. are working with both the Haitian and US governments to get all 26 children to the US in Florida.
ReplyDeleteED NOTE: This request is offered knowing that though we are rejoicing, many are weeping. We are praying for those as well.
Dee Fisher, whose child, Ketia, is with Abbey in Haiti waiting to come to her Mom and Dad here writes: Please pray for the orphans at Three Angels. The building sustained too much damage for them to return safely. Contacts are being made to try to get the orphans refugee status so they can be brought to Florida
One parent writes: “Due to the earthquake in Haiti, many children will be orphaned. Bringing our children home will free up necessary space and resources for others .”
Praying for you dear sister. "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13
ReplyDeleteHi Abbey, you are in our thoughts and prayers. God bless you as you help the victims of the earthquake. Like Esther, you have been placed in the right location at God's time to make difference for many people. Be careful about contamination and disease due to the earthquake. We are so proud of you and continue to pray for your safety, health, and spirit. --Dave & Angie Palmer
ReplyDeleteI continue to pray for you and have asked my family and friends to also pray.
ReplyDeleteI sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Ps. 34:4
Dear CBC Family,
ReplyDeleteAn update from the Taylors indicates that the texts we have heard from Abbey today are apparently from two days ago! The children, Abbey and some of the nannies have been at a school not too terribly far from Three Angels where there is a large courtyard, shelter and care for them. This is the Mears group that we heard of earlier. They have been going back to Three Angels to get food that they locked up in the medical building to keep it safe. There is a new message that Abbey may be able to Skype tomorrow morning with Bob and Betsey. If this was not another delayed message, please pray that they can actually talk to her in person. Also pray for a couple of nannies that have not yet been accounted for. Alex, the headmaster has been found and is okay! Praise God!
Another thing we need you to pray about is a meeting being held tomorrow at some point with the USCIS--United States Center for Immigration Services. They will be deciding whether or not to grant humanitarian parole for orphans in Haiti. What this mean is that this group could decide to essentially allow all orphans that can be sent out of Haiti to the United States without the finalization of paperwork needed, if the Haitian government agrees. Adoptive families would be able to take their children and care for them while other children without adoptive families will be placed into foster care until they can be put into the US adoption system. This is good news for families like Scott and Dee! However, your help is neededl. Please contact Senators Bayh and Lugar and your congressman (Congressman Burton for Hamilton County) and let them know you want them to support this decision. (The web will give you information to be able to call them or contact them via the internet).
This is hopeful news! Keep praying!
Jill
WE CAN HEAR YOU ON SKYPE AND SEE YOU...CAN YOU TALK TO US
ReplyDelete