Welcome back to my blog! Many of you are interested in what’s going on in Haiti with Three Angels and what my current status/future plans are… So for these (and several other) reasons I am re-commencing my blog. :)
Currently I am back at home in Fishers, Indiana with Daddy, Mamma, Tabitha, Drew, Lucy and Yoda. God provided me a part-time job working at Ace Hardware- what a blessing this is proving to be! More on that in future blogs, probably. Taba & Drew’s school year finished up with Taba’s senior prom & commencement ceremony. Thanks to the Parks & Farris’ for making the drive down/up ‘n’ over to celebrate with us and for our church family who came in support of my sister, too! When I think about the story I’ve lived these past 26 years it is you folks who have made it a thoroughly satisfying one. Thank you.
The Taylor-Macs are Back: Together Again
God has been restructuring Three Angels and giving its new leadership clear direction. These visionary, hard-working folks are laboring on three specific fronts.
The Nons in Action!
Medical mission teams continue to travel down to minister the love of Jesus to our neighbors on Delmas 91 out of our clinic which- miraculously- still stands! Dr. Jack and Marcia Nonweiler are no longer living on our Delmas property but continue to make trips back and forth from the States to Haiti. When they are on the ground, they see and serve 40-50 patients daily. Currently, the Nons are stateside to work through some medical challenges of their own so please be in prayer for these tireless warriors!
School boys during recess
The school, Three Angels Christian Academy (TACA), resumed abbreviated classes shortly after the 1/12 earthquake and will continue through July to make up for the weeks lost post-quake. A major goal of our ministry has been to provide a hot, Haitian-style rice-and-beans meal each school day to each school child and teacher. School child sponsorship really helps foot the bill financially to meet this need so if you haven’t “adopted” an adorable TACA Haitian school child please seriously consider getting your family involved to do so. (http://www.threeangelsrelief.org/christian-academy/sponsor-a-child/) It’s $27/month. If you have four people in your family, that’s one date night out to see a new movie. Please ponder the eternal impact of such a sacrifice.
Manger! Mmmm... Haitian Rice and Beans
Restarting Angel House Orphanage has been placed on Divine hold. Regarding our passion for orphan care, TA board member Shannon Hoffmann affirms, “We are still committed to the care of orphans by serving those in our community until we can provide a new home for them. We cannot lose this focus as it is the crux of who we are.” We continue to financially support our workers who once “ran” the orphanage- our hard-working Haitian nannies, groundskeepers, and guards- but the TA leadership considers it wise to purchase land (we were only renting the Delmas 91 property) before starting a new orphanage. The “hold up” is that land now in earthquake-ravaged suburban Port au Prince is around $200,000/acre- prohibitively expensive! Land in the countryside is much more affordable but to move our operations so far from our current neighborhood would be to change the nature and mission of Three Angels all together. We are praying and trusting God for the resources and the wisdom we need for the future.
With 300,000 dead in Haiti, there are many new oprhans who need to feel the Love of Jesus
I think and dream about Haiti, “my” kids, and the Haitian friends I left behind daily. Am I going back to Haiti? I have no idea. Do I want to go back? I have no idea. The Haiti “chapter” of my life feels very much unclosed & I feel a desire to return there but I’m not smart enough to know if that’s because God will send me back or because of the very unusual and very abrupt departure I and 26 other Haitian refugees made on January 18th. God knows. And for now, that’s enough for me. When I think about returning, here are some of the pros and cons I bullet-point list in my head:
Cons:• Pervasive poor work ethic and self-respect of the men.
• Arrogant Haitian self-identity of Entitlement nurtured, unfortunately, by a strong & long missionary presence in Haiti.
• Being taken advantage of as a foreigner.
• The sexual promiscuity which saturates the culture.
• City noise & toxicity.
• The “concrete jungle” of the city.
Pros:• Women’s faith & work ethic.
• Kissing Hello & Goodbye! Very classy & personable.
• Being called “Miss”!
• Foreign language(s)!
• Missionary community: quality folks!
• The hardness of life: I really liked the inconvenience of life in Haiti!
While I share the thought process that I routinely go through, the Question of me returning to Haiti will not be decided by a list of what I liked and did not like about life there. It will be decided upon a calling. –Am I called by God to go to Haiti? M'pa konnen. I don't know. I am thankful for the days, weeks, and months He is giving me here at home to wait for and to hear His answer.
Pre-Quake Port au Prince
Good stuff Abbey. Thanks for the update. We'll be praying for your clear direction from God on where He would have you next. Also thanks for the challenge I gleaned from you Pros/Cons list. I pray that more of us (that means me)would come to appreciate the hardness of life and the inconveniences. It is in these times we come to know the provision and grace of God.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Abbey. Good to hear from you. Helps me know how to pray more specifically, for you, the Nons and Three Angels. Hugs.
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