Something Borrowed, Something Shared

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2012-01-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

This little entry was written on the 2nd anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. It is dedicated to all the first responders but especially to Kez, who was exactly where God wanted her to be at that moment. Right next to me.

It didn’t rain. All day it had looked of rain, and night was usually the time of day when the look became reality. The heavens would open and -if we were so fortunate- flash too, thundering, crashing, pouring wet and light down upon the streets of Port au Prince. Lightning storms in the rainy season: God’s unrestrainable exhibition of power, danger, mysterious beauty. But it didn’t rain.

Tonight snow falls. And unlike that night I will be warm, I will sleep in a bed under a roof, and the world around me will be as silent as the snow. And I will remember the earth that trembled, the women who sang, the nurse who labored, broken bodies, peanut butter sandwiches, January cold, sky that broke, the bright silver loneliness of a moon looking down upon our chaos. And it didn’t rain.

Thank You, God, for your mammoth and miniscule provisions. For circumstance and routine, community and conversation. Thank You for presence and absence, for limitation and ignorance. Thank You for adrenaline and exhaustion and grief.
Thank You that it didn’t rain.

Please Look at this Link Re: Haiti Cholera Epidemic

2010-12-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

Please Read This:

http://goatpath.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/cholera-reaches-port-au-prince-as-victims-are-left-in-mass-graves/#more-553

An Open Door

2010-08-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was challenged by a conversation with a new friend. I was describing to her how my life felt like I was pinned up against a wall, suffocating, with no direction and no end in sight. I didn’t even know what to pray. Jen counseled me to start asking God for an open door. So I did.

Very shortly thereafter I received a phone call. An answer!

Back in February I when had been home from Haiti for about a month a good friend spoke into my life. She said she was seeing things in my life which she felt God was pressing upon her heart she needed to talk to me about. I’ve struggled (Ha ha ha! What a mild word. “Been engulfed by” is a more fitting description.) with an eating disorder since I was a teenager but I thought I’d had victory over it last year before I left for Haiti. Apparently, I was wrong; coming home from Haiti that became very evident. My friend felt strongly that I should admit myself into a residential treatment center to get help.

So we researched my options and pursued several paths but all paths became blocked except one. (And, boy, did that one drag on, and on, and on!) Six months later, I received my phone call! I had a move-in date! An open door!

On Wednesday, 18 August I am walking through that door. I will be living in a residential treatment center with 19 other girls who, like me, are there to work on an assortment of addictions, disorders, and issues! The program we are going through is called Vision of Hope. It is a ministry of Faith Baptist Church of Lafayette, IN.

How long will I be there? As long as it takes. (The staff says anywhere from 6-12 months.) Initially, the program is very restrictive so forgive me for not returning emails and phone calls. I will be allowed one personal phone call a week and you can bet I’ll be using all 14 minutes to talk to my mamma (and Daddy, and Taba, and Drew)!!! I will have no internet. I think I will be allowed to send and receive real mail, though. If you write, I will certainly write back!

I need prayer for transparency. My heart is so deceitful and deceived that I myself am often unsure what to say and do and think. I need Jesus to shine His light on. I need grace to respond to Jesus as He continues to pursue me for a relationship. For the past ten + years of being a Christian, somehow I’ve been totally missing out on that. More than anything, I think I need to feel and become convinced of God's love.

The Beautiful Letdown album seems to be providing the soundtrack to this season of my life. In my preparation, as I vacillate between pure excitement and sheer terror, the chorus of this song repeats itself in my mind…

When everything inside me looks like everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I'll take

And I'm on fire when You're near me
I'm on fire when You speak
I'm on fire burning out these mysteries

I'm standing on the edge of me
I'm standing at the edge of everything I've never been before And I've been standing on the edge of me, standing on the edge

Thank You, God, for good friends! and for the Journey You’ve promised to lead me safely on, as long as it takes.

Switchfoot - On Fire Lyrics

2010-08-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Switchfoot - On Fire Lyrics

Twenty Four (Six)

2010-08-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

"Ok, what's the next Step?"

July, 2010...
Do you have songs which, when you hear them, immediately bring to mind a specific person, place, or season in your life? I do- in fact, I have entire musical albums which remind me of past seasons of life. Switchfoot’s “Beautiful Letdown” was one that I downloaded (uploaded?) onto my iPod prior to moving to Haiti last summer so when I ran the streets of Petionville for the four and a half months that I lived there a visual track evolved to accompany the music. (I especially laughed at the chorus of one song: “From the third world to the corporate ear we are the symphony of modern humanity”…)

God and I have been talking about the next step. I have officially been home for six months now. “What’s next, what’s next???” I demand, frantically. Back to Haiti? Where’s my passion? Do I have a heart for orphan care? Or is it against the cruelty of the sex trade? Is my calling on the foreign missions field? Should I go back to school? These questions reminded me recently of lyrics in Switchfoot’s song “Twenty Four.” I am a bit past twenty-four but I am still in my twenties so the song speaks personally to this season of my life:

I want to see miracles, to see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You're raising the dead in me
http://artists.letssingit.com/switchfoot-lyrics-24-hh5pt3w

The gracious sifting and scourging and pruning that the Father is working in me currently is spoken of in the lyrics above. Yesterday the Holy Spirit showed me that, although the Lesson for me has been and continues to be, God, God, God, God, God- more of Him, getting to know Him, desiring Him and enjoying Him more than His gifts- my heart still clamors for some kind of definition outside of Him: a name, a feeling, a cause. The song speaks of something more valuable than even these enviable gifts: intimacy with God and a life made new.

So how can I respond? I am laying down my demands. I will cease striving. I will wait.

Francois Fenelon has this to offer we Pilgrims who find ourselves needing to practice the lesson of walking with God:

LIVE DAY BY DAY
Your spiritual walk is a little too restless and uneasy. Simply trust God. if you come to Him, He will give you all that you need to serve Him. You really need to believe that God keeps His word. The more you trust Him, the more He will be able to give you. If you were lost in an uncrossable desert, bread would fall from heaven for you alone.
Fear nothing but to fail God. And do not even fear that so much that you let it upset you. Learn to live with your failures, and bear with the failures of your neighbors. Do you know what would be best for you? Stop trying to appear so mentally and spiritually perfect before God and man. There is a lot of refined selfishness and complacency in not allowing your faults to be revealed. Be simple with God. He loves to communicate Himself to simple people. Live day by day, not in your own strength, but by completely surrendering yourself to God.
-The Seeking Heart

A recent view along the Appalachian Trail, Dalesville, Virginia

You Can Help

2010-06-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Indiana Friends,
I wanted to let you know about an opportunity to further serve the people of Haiti through work that is going on with Three Angels… I will be sending down a shipment (number 3? or 4 from Indiana? Great job, Indy, for your support efforts thus far!) of relief supplies the week of July 5th. These are the supplies we could especially use at this time:
• Food (beans, rice, peanut butter, oatmeal, tuna, etc…)
• Clothing (gently used, please, and keep in mind that Haiti is a HOT climate)
• Protective rain gear (ponchos, umbrellas, etc.)
• Personal Hygiene (Haitians are black, so please consider the needs of black skin & hair)
Please drop off your donations at Centennial Bible Church in Westfield. The items should be placed in the bins under the coat racks. Or contact me through Facebook. The Fishers YMCA has donated more than 100 t-shirts which will go down on this shipment… Are there any old VBS shirts that could be included? Many thanks to the Brown family for the beautiful clothing they donated- I am smiling when I think about how pretty those little girls will look in their new sundresses.

Three Angels has been on the hunt for land to purchase for several months now. (The 91 Delmas property we have been on is a rental property.) Last week a lucrative opportunity arose; please pray for our Leadership to have God’s wisdom and clear leading as they enter in to the negotiation stage & seek to be responsible stewards of the money available.

Hurricane season is upon us. Will you pray with me that God will completely protect the nation of Haiti from hurricanes this year?

On Wednesday of this week (6/30) Dr. Jack Nonweiler will be in Indy having surgery to fuse vertebrae in his neck. Please support he and Marcia in prayer during the procedure and during the 6-week recovery time to follow. They are eager to return to their work in Haiti!
Blessings!
Abbey McArthur

A Re-Commencement

2010-06-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

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

Earthquake Calendar: Day Seven, "The Great Escape"

2010-02-28T13:12:00.001-08:00

Rousing the troops- at 3 am!
Pappa Kevin gets Rebekah ready.

Gretchen's two duffle bags of granola bars

come in handy- throughout the day we're feeding

the kids a bar every two hours just to keep them occupied!

The Cage

Awwwwww!

Finally inside the Embassy, the kiddos have some fun!

...For ten hours!

Here, we wait.

And wait...

Regan Blesh and her stow-away.

This little guy made it through American customs

without a word. (Maybe it was the 26 kids that

distracted the customs agents.)

Pappa Kevin takes special care of Stephania.

It was hard for me to think of the hundreds of other

kids like Stephy we left behind in Haiti. I'm glad now

that I was nearly unconscious throughout the whole process.

Denise Blesh. She and her four kids were a godsend- literally.

Without those extra hands our ship would have sunk- or more

appropriately, our plane downed!

Praise God that they were able to receive the same humanitarian

parole for their little Bethania that we did for our 26.

The adoption paperwork Jack and Marcia had slaved over for 8 months.

Jack and Marcia were ready. Apparently, so was God.

Gretchen and Jack jump through the legal ropes.

Finally- we're on the shuttle headed towards the airfield.

We're tired, but grateful.

At the airport, international news crews descend upon our

adorable and highly photogenic Haitian refugees.

On the plane, some of the kiddos nap...

Most of them play!

"Daniel, where are you going?"

By this time, the kids know.

They're going HOME!

Chloe Blesh goofs off with Djoulie and Nicot.

This young woman- herself a refugee- was another

blessing from God. Her hands were so helpful with our

babies! Needing transportation to the states, she joined our group

at the embassy and flew with us to Florida. There she met up

with her own adoptive family! Her English was very limited,

though. I can only imagine the bittersweetness of her own homegoing.

I am sure the adjustment has been difficult and very lonely.

Kethia and Rob. We're on American soil!

This precious girl almost broke my heart!

In customs, the tears careening down my face,

I had to tell myself, "If God can preserve little Bethany from

the throws of a 7.0 earthquake, He can protect her heart and deliver

her safely to her family." I believe He did. Faithful God!

The melee! The kids wait in a back room as we process them one by one

and hand them off to their familes, anxiously awaiting behind glass doors!

Twenty-six kids only took us six or so hours. Great job, Ft. Pierce Customs Agents!

Dave gives his signature sign of approval.

As I hugged each one of the kids Goodbye,
I knew this moment was a highlight of my life.

Monday 1/18
3 am- wake kids. Load cage. Pray with nannies; tearful farewell. They want us to remember them! We will, we will! We will come back for you! Sean Blesh’s family: his wife, Denise, and four kids, are evacuating today also. They have a Haitian-adopted daughter whose paper work they too must expedite to get her out of the country. We caravan to embassy, leaving at 4 am. The cage full with cargo and kids; I ride with Renato on my lap in Blesh’s vehicle to embassy. Eerie scenes on the dark drive there: crew working on extracting what they think is sixty (wrong estimation) live people from the basement of the collapsed Caribbean Super Market- corpses on the street outside the gate evidence their efforts; packs of dogs hunt together under cover of the black morning hours; sections of the street are blocked off where masses of people sleep; rubble everywhere. Sean and Denise remark how deserted the streets are of the usual traffic and how uncanny the silence is (the city before the quake was never quiet). My hungry and searching eyes devour it all. I want to Remember.

Arrive at embassy. Unload kids and cargo at embassy door- the side door. Wait past 5 outside. I am still painfully ill. Per an American medical worker’s suggestion, I eat a vegetarian MRE, which makes me sicker. The Blesh kids are in awe of the MRE heating system- me too! After this fateful meal, Tom snaps a picture of me lying on the road by the curb in the fetal position: I spend most of the day in this position, doubled over in pain, exhausted. Quite a long time later, after many Haitian embassy workers and cars have passed by the crazed American woman, I move from the lying on the curb to sitting in the midst of the children on the lawn. It is here, observing the simple actions of the kids eating (more!) granola bars, and pondering their interactions with each other that I quietly shed my first tears. This is it. It took a 7.0 earthquake and only God knows how many deaths but these kids are going HOME.

The sun rises. Helicopters circle above us. Lines of hundreds of Haitians become visible outside the front gate. We are escorted inside the embassy. It is quite the scene as the ten of us “big people,” 27 small children, and more than a dozen large totes make our way forward- a bedraggled caravan of tired refugees. Our cargo is deposited in the interior court yard where hundreds of relief workers have set up camp. This is unbelievable and the joke of the day- we are actually inside our own American embassy! Such a thing has never happened in Haiti before! Everything inside this sanctuary communicates that we are on a transported piece of American turf- the English-speakers, beautiful landscaping, orderly rows of matching chairs, flushing toilets, clean windows, offers of food and water, men and women in military garb. We are led to the second of a series of adjacent waiting rooms where we spend the next nine hours waiting. Hundreds of people filter in and out of our assigned space over the course of our wait; it is “organized” chaos.

Once inside, I collapse into my curled- up position on the ground with a sheet pulled over me- for hours- waking only to drink water, visit the bathroom, and recoil from kids crawling on me and dogs licking my face! Meanwhile, calls are received and made, VIPs consulted (and stateside, prayers offered without ceasing). Several hours into our wait somebody in our group (my guess is Gretchen or Denise- a mom!) suggests we turn the chairs inward to create a huge circle- much easier to contain the kids that way! Every once and a while I awake to overhear “Nicot, stop pulling your sister’s ear!” “Kids, you can have a lolly-pop if you sit down!” “Who needs to go to the bathroom?” “Lay down, Kethia!” “Don’t step on Stephania, Matu!” “You want a granola bar?” “Sebastian needs a bottle.” “Djuolie needs a diaper change.” “Reece, can you help?” Finally, finally, we are told we’re on our way! Again, we load ourselves up (or rather, down) with children and cargo to plod out to the shuttles.

The shuttle has DR plates and the driver speaks Spanish. Today, we love the neighbors! We are taken to the big airport where news crews prey upon Jack and Gretchen and camera men upon our kids! This was a mistake, though- we’re supposed to fly out of the smaller air field. We wait- what are we waiting on?! We need to move! Finally our driver gets the message and we start for the missionary airport. A CVS camera man accompanies us to film the kids getting onto the plane- a comfortable image to project for Americans to end the day’s Haiti news coverage . Hendricks Motor Sports has donated the plane and crew. With Jameslee and Dave on separate arms, I climb the ladder. On the plane, we try to position ourselves throughout the 40 seats to create an effective distribution of adults and kids. All day we have avoided talking with the kids about our actions and the desired result. Once settled, smiling to myself as I take in the sight of our giddy assembly, I begin to probe them one by one,“Reece, where are you going?” –“To Evansville.” “Daniel, where are you going?” –“Chicago.” “Steeve?” –“Arizona.” “Elmise?” –“Michigan.” They Know. Contentedly, my heart affirms, “Yes, you are really are going HOME…”

The engines gear up. We are the last plane daylight permits off the field today. Unfortunately I’m seated on the wing so I can’t visibly say goodbye to Haiti as we ascend. One week after arriving in Haiti from my Christmas vacation with the mind to serve there the next seven months, I am on a plane flying back to America. Once at altitude, our stewardess serves the kids snacks. The crew is so kind!

We land in Fort Pierce, FL, after seven pm and dress the kids in yellow t-shirts donated by the embassy and Hendricks ball caps. These kids are rock stars! The customs crew is waiting with food, toys, blankets (it’s very chilly!) and even cots for the kids to sleep on. Outside the air field, families cheer and camera crews capture the jubilee. Inside we spend the next six hours processing the kids through customs. After sleeping all day, fortunately my body is now cooperating with me a little more and I am able to help out. As I hand the children off one by one to eager and joyful parents, I am in awe. When I moved to Haiti I expected –no, hoped- to witness five, maybe six home goings over the course of my year there. Now five months into that year I am participating in the home going of all twenty-six and it is my privilege to personally hand off twenty of these to their families. The other six -Steeve and Jean-Baptiste, Sebastian, Bethany, Sara, and Lukeson- will spend the night with Gretchen in a safe house and be re-united with their (mostly west-coast) families in the morning. As I hug these children goodbye, humble thankfulness for God’s protection of each one and a strong confidence that He will continue to provide swells my tired and happy heart.

In Florida a surprise greets me: my own parents! They flew into Orlando and Mamma texts me that they are driving to pick me up! At one a.m. Tuesday morning Daddy rouses me from a dead sleep off of one of the chairs. We drive to a nearby hotel. Mamma has clean clothes, a heating pad for my back, and a new toothbrush waiting for me there! On the TV news coverage of the Haiti earthquake is surreal. I enjoy a hot shower and collapse into the most comfortable bed…

Earthquake Calendar: Day Six

2010-02-27T20:57:00.001-08:00

US Air Force! I couldn't resist!
What girl doesn't love men in uniform? And these boys were from back home!

Behind the scenes, behind security

Tom in action with the boys from the 82nd

Thanks, guys!

Military checkpoint. That's a Haitian police officer.

Squatters camps were springing up.

The Relief Team scheming.

Miriam and Cathy helped in so many ways!

Sunday 1/17
Yesterday? or the day before my Pastor explained to me about Church services to be held this morning but can it really be Sunday? What an odd feeling- disbelief that Sunday has come so quickly married to the shock that only four full days have passed since the quake: time has been moving so slowly. It feels like a whole month has gone by since my return to Haiti but it’s not yet been even a full week.

Make l’abri for kids’ breakfast at Tony’s. Serve Bertoni and Rebekah, refugees staying in Tony’s apartment, coffee and our leftover pancakes from dinner last night. Rebekah is 8 months pregnant with their first child. I love making coffee for friends and through this earthquake perfect strangers quickly become such; “old” friends become brothers and sisters. Jack, Gretchen, and Chris conference at picnic table (where our Team breakfasts) then Tony’s apartment, drawing up plans for the future of the post-earthquake Three Angels. After a QCS staff meeting, Miriam and Cathy make the hard decision to leave for the states. The school directors had surveyed the wider area around Port-au-Prince and used the meeting to express to the staff the realities facing Haiti. They predict there will be food shortages, rioting, and untimely deaths from lack of medical care- they say it will get much worse before it gets any better. I help Cathy pack- she has one hour. The evacuees are allowed a single backpack. Cathy’s whirl-wind departure is hard to digest. By her absence my prayer-warrior and strongest support is gone.

But there is little time to sit and cry. Tony Decoder- second in command at QCS- seeks me out: “Abbey, we need to know when your orphanage will be leaving. The school is going to become a central command station for many relief agencies and we need you out.” This is the Question I’ve been avoiding –and trying to resolve- all week. Trips to the Chapel, a failed attempt to relocate to the Meers’ house, the initial failure to find Pastor Jules, and the growing awareness that my “Plan B” to place our kids in ones and twos into QCS students’ families indefinitely are efforts which have kept me busy all week yet have yielded no solution. But now, with my Team on the ground, we’re moving forward.”Abbey, I just need to know a day.” I can’t put this off any longer. My response: “Tonight’s our last night. We will leave [presumably to return to O] tomorrow morning.”Plans are made with Steve Hersey to use the QCS “cage” vehicle to transport all children and materials to O Monday. We will sleep in the school room on our compound, post guards at night, and try to get a water truck. Immediately after my response to Mr. Decoder I begin to feel panicked for the first time. I am not excited about leaving the safety net of QCS. Gretchen interviews by phone on Gary Hoffman’s KFI radio program. Afterward she shares with me that she has the exact feelings. She also says that when the kids get to the states they, the Board, want me to come too. This is not what I wanted to hear, but I will acquiesce. The Board is the authority God has elected over me; I will submit.

Meanwhile, the guys have gone to the O and are prepping for the kids’ return tomorrow. Tom, the visionary and adventurer, wants to go to the airport to secure supplies for our people (our kids, Haitian staff & their families) and to establish favorable relations with the US military- maybe they can use 91 Delmas #19 as a command post for Petionville- the security would be an asset to us. Francois drives us- of course I have to tag along! I have to see this guy in action (Tom claims he can get anything from anybody at anytime) and to learn this new skill set- very valuable in disaster zones. We meet a Sgt. of the 82nd Airborne division at the big airport and determine he wants a Haitian cell phone (that works- that’s the trick!). He gives us 45 minutes to find one and 1,000 minutes. We are told upon securing the goods to go to a military checkpoint and give a code name. This is so Jason Borne. We race around the PAP suburbs to find phone. Back in Delmas, find Simm card and minutes, need phone. Return to airport out of time and without phone. Tom buys phone from Jean Smith, a young Haitian who is one of a hundred lined up outside the military check point offering themselves for translation work in exchange for food. Smith has three children, no wife, and no house. He is desperate to feed his kids. Our Sgt. accompanies Tom & I onto airfield- Francoise has to stay behind. We exchange the coveted Haitian phone for boxes of water and MREs. Conceal the boxes in back of vehicle with a towel- very inconspicuous! Pick up Francoise and Smith outside of checkpoint, I drive us homewards. Discover that phone cards are in ash tray, return to airfield. Offer cards, return to QCS. Prep chicken soup for the kids’dinner in Tony’s apartment. It’s already dark. Gretchen keeps me company. I am grateful to learn more about Three Angels and to hear Gretchen’s heart on the matter. It’s nice to have a girl around! For my dinner I eat trail mix and samples of the Teams’ MREs. Probably not the best idea! Around 9 pm, seized by debilitating gut pain. Lay down on the couch in the girls’ apartment to sleep (Jaime and Jamie have moved into Cathy’s room). I am in agony.

Around 10? 11? pm Nichole stumbles out of her room with a text for Gretchen. Gretchen scrambles to contact Shannon in Los Angeles who had fielded the call through Facebooking Megan, who then texted Nichole. Shannon had received a call from our angelic case-worker in D.C. who had taken an interest in us and who had been working on our case all week. Her message: get kids to embassy ASAP Monday morning, meet Pius, and if you have a plane we can get you out of Haiti. With this message Dr. Jack and Chris are mobilized to retrieve legal documents and supplies from O. I task Chris with bringing back my US cell phone and computer drive since I am unable to move. (I can think of no other irreplaceable personal items at the O. I have my computer, camera, and my passport. Everything else is scrapped. I don’t even have a Bible! I will leave Haiti like the others before me- with a single bag.) Concerned for my condition, Nichole prays over me. Will I even be able to get up, much less travel? I ask God. Slowly I shower, pack, and write notes to friends- not exactly the goodbye I’d imagined but it is the opportunity I am given so I take it.

Mr. Decoder, amazingly, this is our last night at QCS. We will be leaving in the morning! My desperate but determined statement hours earlier became a prophetic declaration. Our God is the heavens; He does whatever He pleases! I lie down fitfully til 3 am.

Earthquake Calendar: Day Five

2010-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

In line for water- this is washing/cooking water.

It cannot be drunk.

It cracked me up to see a white guy in the crowd

gathered here to purchase gas.

UN police on the patrol

Looking legit

The choas of the Big airport

Back at QCS- Ben and Katie play with our kids

Saturday 1/16
Walk breakfast food across the street to make at Miriam’s since Tony’s apartment gas is out. Prepare l’abris for kids’ breakfast. Try QCS internet to check Relief Team’s status. Net down. Jeni and Kaite, QCS teachers, leave for states. They are the first of my friends there to evacuate. Clean public bathrooms that our kids have access to. Leave for airport with Francois in rented tap-tap around 11(?) The drive to the airport is AMAZING- I am outside of my bubble and witnessing the wider touch of the earthquake- devastation, yet in pockets- nothing. What decides the buildings that crumble and those that don’t? At the “Big” (the international) airport, for the first time in Haiti my white skin isn’t a hassle- I march right onto the flight line and witness the beginnings of the enormous relief and evacuation efforts . News crews- everywhere. Welcome to Haiti, American marines. No visual ID on team at Big airport, race over to little (missionary) air field. Team nowhere to be found at either airport. We have no team and no cargo, so we give tap-tap to John Garvin of Map International, who is waiting for transportation to Mission of Hope but, surprise, has no communication. From conversation with John, who is the last on his flight, Francoise & I determine that our team flew in with him. We take off on motorcycle for Livesay’s to hopefully connect with Megan. Megan not there. Check on my friend from church, Myrtho Dartiguenave in her home inTabarre. Meanwhile, at QCS: “To give the Three Angels kids some much-needed stress relief, the "young teachers" from Quisqueya took the kids off the porch to run around on the "big kid"/older elementary playground. This sweet one was my sidekick. They are wild. They've learned two new words in English- "helicopter" and "ladybug". They aren't sleeping well- most still wet the bed at 4, 5, and 6.”-from Ben Kilpatrick’s blog. Motorcycle back to QCS. Half of Relief Team is there with Megan who picked them up at the airport per Gretchen’s request. Walk to O- meet Chris, Tom, and Rob, who have moved all downstairs bunk beds into school house. Plan is to relocate kids to O after mason rebuilds back wall. Make pancakes for kids’ dinner, tote them down to school with team. Sleep in Cathy’s spare bed- on a mattress! Mourners wake me up; sounds like an angry mob outside the walls.

Earthquake Calendar: Day Four

2010-02-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

Friday 1/15
Walk with Tony and Nichole to Van Dam’s and skype Mamma & Daddy- my first direct communication with people stateside. Leave off on my own for O; make Pancakes at O for kids’ dinner. Choppers flying constantly. Make it down to QCS to join Tony and Nichole on walk to Quesqueya Chapel- must ask Pastor Bobby if we can relocate kids to Chapel. Steve picks us up on our walk and drops us off on the corner- he’s taking the four American refugees to the airport. Meet Nichole’s friend on the road; brief conversation. Young Haitian man who speaks English, in shock, walks up to us: “They’re gone. They’re all gone. My family is dead,” showing a photo of him, his wife, and 3-4 young children. He walks away, in a daze. -How do you respond to that? No time at Chapel to talk in depth to Pastor Bobby- Tony graciously does so while I high-tail it back to QCS. I am anticipating that our relief team will be arriving that evening and need more bedding materials for them- 6 adults. Conscript Katie and Jaime to help and we high-tail it to the O. We make it back to QCS right at dusk. Meanwhile, Francois is unsuccessful in picking up Relief Team from Airport. In light of the team’s absence tonight, I am struck by God’s gracious hand in the small details of life: tonight we have more staff on hand, so the additional bedding is extremely useful!

The Earthquake Calendar: Day Three

2010-02-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

Jenni- One of my heros and a dear friend!
Cathy- if I am Anne, she is my Dianna!

Nurse Clotilde. Very thankful for her care of the six

or so sick little ones (lots of resiratory illness)!

Key Leaders: Madame Valet and Francois.

They are made of steel!

Francois, a dad of three, loves our kids!

Here, he plays with Rebecca. He also played soccer

with Reece and Steeve regularly at the O.

Thursday 1/14
Feed kids oatmeal raison cookies with peanut butter and milk for breakfast. Walk with Francois and Mme. Valet to O; give Francois money for bread at Epid’or, whose back door is open. Michel gives me a ride up Delmas to the O in his truck. Choppers flying constantly. Leave, walk to Meers’, check on Clays, who say they have a two day supply of food, and walk to Quisqueya Chapel- no one there. Meanwhile, Megan visits kids at school, helps Francois transport lunch down to school from O. (Natacha still working- she’s been on duty since Tuesday morning!) Back at QCS, Rich Meers urges us to buy eggs- buy two crates. Prepare dinner of Man ‘n’ cheese, chicken/tuna, and green beans/peas casserole at QCS Snack Shop. Jenni and Cathy help serve meal & get kids to bed. Call Mom on Ben’s phone- leave message. Tonight, put most of the kids in diapers. I am prepared with this speech to give to the older kids: “Now if you make fun of the others wearing diapers, YOU will have to wear them, too!” but the enthusiasm of everyone to wear them makes my speech obsolete.

Earthquake Calendar: Day Two

2010-02-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

This photo belongs at the bottom of the stack

to show, in order, the other half of the porch we slept on at QCS

but of course I can't get it there! With 26 kids, what a blessing to

have nearby access to toilets (although we didn't always have water).

Walls were down all along the perimeter of our property

The back wall was out so we all clung on to kids while we awaited

our transport. Katie holds Daniel-Isaiah.

Mobilizing the troops! QCS friends Cathy and Ben help

hand-carry bedding materials down to school.

Tony and Katie sport these fashionable mattresses.

Anderson grads Jaime and Katie to the rescue!

This is where we set up camp for just short of a week.

Wednesday 1/13 Rouse myself up from the dew-wet, cold ground when there’s enough daylight to necessitate activity. Feed kids another half of peanut butter sandwich, use up the last of the bread. Determine that it is critical that children are moved from field where it is becoming more crowded as neighbors move in and it is increasingly unsanitary with urine, feces, and corpses littered about. Start out for QCS with Francois in car but quickly decide that gas must be conserved. Walk to QCS with Francois. Meet Kez and G on the way; give them my last granola bars- neither have slept all night and both are on their way to see more wounded in the neighborhood. Upon arrival at school, talk to Steve (director/principle) about staying at school; he suggests talking to a pastor in the neighborhood for more permanent housing. Unsuccessful in finding; decide to move kids to QCS for the day with plans to stay that night. Mobilize several QCS friends (young teachers) to help with the cleanup of O with intention of moving kids back in the next morning. Load car up with girls and nannies; Francois drives them to school where they set up camp. Amber and Marc Williams visit the O to check on us- what a relief to find, increasingly, that friends around town were also protected from the quake! Per Reggie’s suggestion, move food supply from food pantry into school house (“in case the O falls down”). Ben and Katie arrive with Francois from QCS to help. Pray with staff and friends at O. Load up car with boys; Francois drives them to school and parks the car, where it remains. Back at O, Tony suggests that moving kids back tomorrow is unwise due to what he believes is structural damage to the O. On walk down to school with bedding supplies & clothes for kids, stop at Delmas 63 CSI Guest House to ask structural engineer about safety of O. Advised that O is unsafe to stay in. In a conundrum: QCS directors are preparing school to become a central command center for many converging relief organizations & are thus unable to accomodiate our kids there for any length of time and, with the back wall of the orphanage out, moving back there is unwise. Conversation with Rich Meers leads me to plan on relocating kids to their home the next day and buys me time with the school directors. Meanwhile, Christine, our Haitian cook, makes lunch and dinner (l’abris) at O, which we transport to school. That evening, use Jamie C’s phone to text Mom plans. Nannies severely under-staffed- Mirea, Natacha, and Mommy. Sleep with kids on porch- several wet themselves. Sleep in urine- very cold. I think I unconsciously take Ellie’s blanket from her in the night! Francois stays with us. Wake up to gun shots outside the walls. Around midnight, four American women descend upon the school- refugees who landed at the airport minutes prior to the quake- banging to be let in.

The Earthquake Calendar: Day One

2010-02-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

The kids & I play at QCS Wednesday night.

The green steps to the left above Reece's shoulder are where

Kez and I sat at the time of the Quake.

Tuesday 1/12
Quake hits while at Quisqueya Christian School. Reunion with Francois on road in front of Orphanage and then with kids & staff in Alix’s field. Trips back and forth between O & field to retrieve books, blankets (for kids and for the wounded who are trickling into the field where Kez, who arrives an hour or so after the quake, begins treating them), diapers, bottles, a dinner of half a peanut butter sandwich for each child (Reggie helps), flashlights, try the internet connection (no connection). Meet young American woman who lost her husband at St. Joe’s. Help kids pee in the grass. Tell kids, it's like a camp-out, without the campfire. After kids secure and sleeping, help Kez. Search the neighborhood for alcohol for dying woman with crushed legs. Sing to her with two Americans, pray with her. She dies. Move her body. Trips with Kez to her apartment -which, miraculously, was spared- for supplies. Walk with Francois and Reggie to bring woman on stretcher to Kez. Move another body. Accompany Venise with Manita to find a suitable toilet. Megan Haug and Troy Livesay arrive around midnight from Tabarre. Troy sends twitter saying we are safe. Give Megan parents’ contact info to relay message about our situation. Finally sleep, feeling in my whole body the earth-tremors throughout the night and hearing the loud prayers and singing of the Haitian women. God withholds the rain, clearing the sky to reveal His beautiful constellations. Tell Reece, you can study the stars when you grow up if you want to.

The nannies- many of whom did not know the condition

of their own families or homes- formed a perimeter

around the kids that first night. Few, if any, of these women slept.

Abbey's Update

2010-02-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Hello from Fishers, Indiana! Finally a word from me- in the flesh! (Many thanks to my mom and to others who have been kind and faithful to post updates.) I am sensitive to the fact that many of you are in different stages of informedness concerning the events of the past 3 weeks so please be patient with this update…
I returned to Haiti Monday, 11 January from my two week Christmas vaca in Indiana. The next morning it was Jack and Marcia Nonweiler’s, Mission Directors of Three Angels, turn for their vacation to commence. They flew to Florida. That night, the 7.0 earthquake rocked all of Haiti. God protected me, my 26 Haitian children under my care at the orphanage, and many of our Haitian staff members’ lives. He provided that by that Saturday, 16 January, Jack and a team of 5 others were able to fly down to us and by Monday evening, the eighteenth, we –myself and all of the 26 kids- were on a plane headed to Florida! God provided a family for each child and they have now been in their new homes for 2 weeks!
I am also home- for how long I do not know. I am praying about what my involvement with Three Angels will look like now. Obviously, my reason for going there (to teach the older children English) is no longer relevant. Three Angels no longer has any children under its care but it is sensitive to the reality that Haiti now has many more orphans. TA is seeking God’s vision for its future to determine how it can now minister to the needs of the people of Haiti. Its vision is to have a long-term and far-reaching influence in the community for Christ by providing education, medical care, and empowering families to keep their children (instead of having economic reasons to give them up for adoption).
You can stay abreast of TA happenings by following their website: http://www.threeangelsrelief.org/. Please consider how you could give to financially support the work there. You can also follow my adventures through my blog: http://www.somethingborrowedandshared.blogspot.com/. Please continue to keep Haiti in your prayers!
Blessings,
Abbey mac :)

A Letter from Dad

2010-02-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Abbey,

Does is matter that you Know or Don't Know the next step? Whether I want you in Haiti or the Himalayas?

What's the Lesson you've been learning and practicing these past five months? Yes, child, live Today. ALL you have is Today. So be here fully.

Love you so much,

Father God

So Much to Say...

2010-01-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.missionaryflights.org/field-reports/up-to-the-minute

A Haiti Update

2010-01-15T09:46:00.000-08:00

Haiti Update:

Praise God for His continued protection and provision! We have been staying at night at the Quisqueya Christian School compound. We would not be functioning at all without the aid of our amazing Haitian staff. Most of our workers lost their homes; some lost family members; some lost many family members. At this point, about 3-4 of our staff are unaccounted for. I am amazed at a gracious God who spared so many.

Our food supply is good right now. Jack and Marcia, who are somewhere in the states (they left Tuesday morning, about 6 hours before the quake), had stocked up a 3 week supply. We’ve moved the food into the med clinic, which sustained very little structural damage and is secure with a lock, to protect from looters as there is no one staying at Three Angels at night. Our cooks have been showing up diligently to prepare the noon meal, which we tote downhill (just under a mile) to the school for the kiddos. I’ve been degajing (Haitian for “make do with what you have”!) breakfast, snack, and dinner. Again- the staff here is an amazing help.

I am stunned and so thankful for God’s sovereignty in orchestrating that over the past few months I’ve met and made friends with so many of the QCS faculty; I’m sure they’d be helpful and kind regardless of the previously forged bonds, but because of those bonds I feel at ease soliciting help and recruiting workers! And they are helping immensely!

My main immediate concern is access to water. The school at which we are staying does have a little potable water and there are places to purchase it, but cooking and cleaning water is scarce.

This is my first “direct” communication with the States since the quake. I’ve been communicating via Megan Hauge, the former TA House Manager, and others’ phones (text messaging). If you’re ever in Haiti longer- term and purchase a cell phone DO NOT buy Digicel! Go Voila all the way- it’s the more dependable server.

Anyway, I understand that a handful of Three Angels' VIPs are landing this afternoon. They will assess the structural damage to the O and we’ll go from there. The O itself is still standing. We’ve been advised to not go into it (which I of course have had to disregard at times!) as there are significant cracks everywhere. Again- I am stunned that NONE of our kids or workers sustained even a SCRATCH. Most were inside when the quake occurred and the internal damage (stuff on the floor, etc.) is significant. AMAZING. The walls are all down around the O (including the back wall, beyond which is a 20 foot drop off which makes the area unsafe for the kids) but the front gate still stands. We’ve been securing it at night and most of our neighbors have remained at home so as of today there has been no looting.

The kids are extremely resilient. Our first night was spent in a neighbor’s field and we tried to make it a camping adventure. The scariest thing for them has been the tremors, which I believe are now over. The last one we experienced that was significant was more than 24 hours after the initial quake. We have a handful of little ones who have respiratory infections. I’m sure this was compounded by one night on the dewy, cold ground. We now have a safer and more comfortable arrangement on a concrete slab under a tin awning. We also have transported enough bedding materials for all to be warm.

Praise God we have medical care available and plenty of meds. The kiddos who are wheezing are Djoulie, Sebastian, Lukeson, Dave, Jean-Baptiste. Some of these have pre-existing conditions so parents, please do not worry. All is well. Our God is in the Heavens.

Are you amazed to be alive? After Tuesday night, I now am. We who are deserving of God’s just punishment for our sin benefit from His amazing Grace with every breath we take; every moment this side of hell is a blessing we don’t deserve! Check out Psalm 112. “Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” What a privilege to have not only experienced such a demonstration of God’s power but to have survived it! This God who shakes the earth is the same one who Himself crushed His Son because of our rebellion and vile sin. His generosity to punish the sinless Jesus in our place proves that He is a good and merciful God. What an opportunity is now ours to follow and know this amazing, undomesticated and untamable God! One day He will shake not only the island of Haiti but the whole earth as well. On that Day I want to be found to be on His side and I encourage you to be prepared as well. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!(selected Scripture)

Our greatest needs besides water: tents, powdered milk, working gloves, we do not need peanut butter right now. PRAY THAT AID WILL ARRIVE AND BE DISTRIBUTED AS MANY HAVE BEEN WITHOUT FOOD AND WATER FOR DAYS.

Back Again

2010-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

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

Abbey's Top Ten

2009-12-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

Haitian artwork for sale adorns many street walls.

Why I’m excited about visiting Indiana, and arriving in America in general, after five months of living in a third world county-
1. Daddy, Mamma, Tubs, and Drew! and Yoda.
2. My church family!
3. Worship music led by Steve! (Steve, can we sing your Heaven song? Please!)
4. Pastor Kirk and his PREACHING!
5. My Y-M-C-A!!!!
6. MY BED! Quiet, good SLEEP!
7. Target- it’s just so ridiculously clean and orderly. Ridiculously. It’s ridiculous.
8. Pow-wows with old and fabulous friends and especially my youth-groupers!
9. I am going to go out and walk around my block. At night.
10. I am going to watch the news! And not complain! Mr. Obama, bring it.
11. Vegetables.

What I will NOT miss about Haiti:
1. The neighbors’ music, the neighbors’ dogs, the neighbors.
2. Being tagged as a foreigner by the locals as I walk the streets. How can they tell?
3. Guys, I can’t speak Creole, I really can’t! Stop talking to me in Creole!
4. The black air my lungs inhale every breath I take.
5. People, people, people! This island is swarming with them! There is a person in every nook & cranny, around every corner, behind every door. The streets are teeming with them. Really people, it’s simple. Birth control.
6. My curfew.
7. The kisses I get from guys on the street. It sounds like they’re sucking spinach out from their teeth. Very attractive.
8. Mosquitoes.
9. The neighbors.
10. What did you say?

What I WILL miss:
1. 26 children who, amazingly, love me!
2. Coffee with Jack and Marcia in the mornings. Well, Jack drinks tea.
3. Greeting friends with a kiss!
4. My youth-groupers!
5. The bourgeoisie are so polite. They call me Miss!
6. I never set an alarm clock.
7. No TV.
8. Friendships with solid young adults whom I see regularly- almost daily!
9. Avocados.
10. Clean laundry right from the line. Washed by hand by fabulous Haitian women!

Your Vote COUNTS!

2009-12-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hey friends, I NEED YOUR HELP! Let me please explain. This is in regards to an ongoing medical condition. I am going to be as thorough as possible in this explanation so that you are empowered to offer me your best suggestions! (Translation: prepare for this to be rather lengthy and boring.)

God gave me the wonderful privilege of playing a unique sport called field hockey for several years in high school & college. From this experience however, through my ignorance at the time concerning conditioning and training, I developed back “problems.” Looking back, I believe what I did was over-train my abdominal muscles without strengthening the opposing muscles in my lower back. If I understand synergistic muscle groups correctly, this means that the stronger muscles in the front of my body began pulling on the weaker back muscles. I first began experiencing problems from this in 2003-ish: occasionally, after sitting down for a length of time, when I stood up I could feel the bones along my spine in my lower back “shift” like, I was done moving (to stand up) but they continued to move forward, like a loose joint. No pain, though, so no problem. Just weird.

I was extremely blessed to play sports in high school and college essentially injury-free. I’ve always attributed much of this to my diligence in my workouts to warm up, stretch, and cool down. Well, graduate from college and welcome to Real Life. Stretching, etc. became less of a priority as time became less available- time enough to work out was the commodity; there were not enough minutes in my day to leisurely enjoy my former exercising routine.
So when in 2007 my right hamstring began tightening up, I attributed it to this. Change in routine = body rebellion. So I laid off from things like running for a time, but with no effect. My hamstring was unexplainably tight and I lost flexibility in it, but still no pain. So I bucked up and learned to live with it and began running again.

Then, enter the stress of a full-time job that drained me physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and I began experiencing more symptoms. I think my stress honestly went to my spine! In a period of maybe two months my back tightened up almost to the point where I became unable to walk. This happened in early April of this year. I didn’t know what to do. I was used to being healthy, mobile, and active and yet I was locking up and slowing down like an old woman. I’d heard that massage therapy helped loosen tight muscles so I pursued a kick-your-butt, oh-so-painful-but-good-for-you deep-tissue massage which literally restored to me the ability to walk normally again.

Temporarily. The back tightness returned not long thereafter (my hamstring continued to be tight) and turned into an ache-y, lingering lower back pain. Uncharacteristically of me, I decided after a few months of this to pursue professional medical care. I visited a back specialist in Avon (Indiana) who took x-rays of me which revealed a “healthy” back. His answer: take muscle relaxers and go to physical therapy. If this didn’t fix my pain, come back to see him. Well, muscle relaxers were a bad idea for me. I felt GREAT so I of course over-exerted myself. I did the stuff the PT told me to do-INCLUDING! not running- but still experienced pain. And no one could say what was wrong with me! Why the pain???

I then did three things things: re-commenced running, saw a chiropractor (I’d heard they were pretty helpful with these kinds of things), and consulted with my family doctor about pursuing an MRI. The chiro, in conjunction with monthly massage therapy sessions, must have helped me because I saw him several times. From him I learned that I have built-up scar tissue in my lower back. Not an answer to my pain Question but one more piece of the puzzle. I didn’t go back to the back specialist; my family doctor said the expense of an MRI was unnecessary at this point: take muscle relaxers and stop running. I didn’t do the former but did do (again) the latter.
During my 5,926 mile car ride this summer to the west coast I began experiencing tingling and temporary numbness in my legs- a sign of sciatica nerve problems. The tightness in my leg continued as did my low back pain.

I moved to Haiti in August in the midst of this unresolved back drama. Again, I had stopped running. The effect: pain decreased but not evaporated. Still no answer to the cause of the pain. And my low back continued to do its weird “out of joint” stunt. So to retain my sanity I began running short distances again. And I felt pretty good! But Haiti took its toll on my body (unpaved and uneven surfaces, merciless hills, poor sleeping conditions, etc.) and the pain, this time intensified, returned. And with it more problems- my right hamstring tightened more and my right quadriceps locked up: this felt (feels) like I am fighting my own body to walk. When I walk I of course am moving forwards but these muscles in my legs are pulling against me in the opposite direction. Walking is like trying to run in deep water but the resistance, rather than external, is my own body! My muscles are fighting against me.

About two months ago, nearly unable (again) to walk, I began seeing a chiro here. She adjusted me weekly and after some time and much progress released me to bi-weekly appointments. It was within that span of two weeks that I experienced totally normal (no tightness or pain ANYwhere!) running again- for the first time in nearly two years!!!! Miracle of miracles! But I, being the zealot that I am, over-extended myself and found that two weeks was too long to go in-between adjustments. The localized, ache-y pain in my lower back returned and with it the same symptoms I described above: numbness & tingling down my legs and the tightness and resistance in my leg muscles. I thought that getting back into weekly adjustments would do the trick but I’ve been unable logistically to make the appointments and my last one didn’t yield the result I anticipated.

I am near despairing. Sitting hurts, walking and standing hurt. I am in constant, unexplainable pain with no Plan to resolve it. Oh, one more potential piece to the puzzle. I have a friend at the Fishers Y named Todd who described to me a tight muscle problem he once had in his (I think) hamstring. He saw a physician who diagnosed him with built-up scar tissue on the insertion point of the muscle. The treatment: he went for regular appointments at which the doctor scraped away (using tools externally) at the tissue until it was broken up and the muscle relaxed. Todd said the treatment was the most painful thing he’s ever known but that he was completely healed as a result…

What should I do? Do I get an MRI? I am going back to Indiana Monday but am not able to see my stateside chiro until Jan 4th; I don’t want to spend my vaca in this kind of pain! Do you have a chiro you could recommend? What do you think? Marcia wants me to NOT go to a homeopathic or chiro doctor; she wants me to run the traditional route of medical doctors and tests, etc. The problem I see with this is that they want to push pills on me which I will NOT take- pills which only treat symptoms, not causes (and they have yet to offer me an explanation for the Cause of this pain) and I am not willing to undergo back surgery, so… What do you say???

Christmas Eve Eve

2009-12-24T03:02:00.000-08:00

What an exciting day today was! I awoke to the sound of rain. Rain! We have been in need of a shower for more than a month and last night our downpour arrived. With the rain came a damp cold. Cold! Today our storm veiled the skies, lingering long into the afternoon. The damp, the chill, the brilliant grey worked together harmoniously in our delightful December tempest to create in me for the first time this winter the feeling that we are in the Advent season.

Our school activities today included an interactive skit with the kids. What a blast! Our four wise men (plus me)- Steeve, Nicot, Kervens, and Daniel- met with King Herod (Reece) about the new star (Bethany). After a conference call with the scribes and scholars (Elmise, Ellie, Naitile), Herod texted them back and sent them to Bethlehem. Bethany shone brightly and led the wise guys to the abode of baby Jesus (Matu), whom they worshipped and offered gifts- a tow truck, dump truck, and a bus. (No irreverence intended; here in Haiti we have to degajé: use what we’ve got to do what we need where we’re at.) The kids and I love it.

After our opening exercises we made Christmas cookies and Christmas cards for our staff! We listened to Christmas songs! Later in the afternoon Jack, Marcia, and myself put together the kids’ Christmas gifts! Did I mention that today for the first time I felt like it was really Christmastime!? I love this chill that has descended upon us! What magic it is working! I think I’m going to make some hot chocolate tomorrow morning!

Prayer

2009-12-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Praying Friends,
Joyeux Noël! Happy Christmas! I am so excited about seeing so many of you very soon and wishing you a bon anné!
I have several personal prayer requests I’d like to ask you to pray! I want and need continued diligence in having a daily time with God. Pray that it will be my first priority! …The Holy Spirit has been making me more aware of the deep, deep layers of PRIDE and SELF which separate me from God and from loving and serving others. Pray that I will KILL these sins daily! …Praise God, I’ve been seeing a chiropractor weekly for my back pain and it helped- a lot. Two weeks ago, however, I over-exerted myself and now I am in very bad shape. Chiropractic care didn’t solve it like it did before and this week I was unable to make my appointment. Translation: in my lower back I feel constant pain and the muscles in both my lags are locked up. This means that I’m fighting my own body just to walk. Pray, please, for God’s grace to richly fill me and spill onto others; being in physical pain is so distracting. I am irritable, tense, and impatient. I am also asking God for a very specific thing regarding this situation. I am asking Him that on Tuesday the 29th when I visit the Fishers YMCA :) I will run into Todd. Todd has information that I think might be really helpful to me with regards to a doctor.
Love you guys and praising God for you.
Abs
“You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” Psalm 71:20

Tuesday, 8 December, 2009

2009-12-09T12:50:00.001-08:00

Elmise helps hang Christmas bulbs.

I realize my postings rarely correspond with my pics,

but I think this randomness better corresponds to the

Reality I experience down here of, well, Randomness!

Dearest of mothers,

Mamma! How are you! I miss you, Mamma! I miss White Christmas, your repetitive listening to Josh Groban's holiday album, and coffee in the mornings. I miss you, your insight into life, your humor, and the way you’re so hard on yourself! I will see you in 19 days, amazing!

Our team of 12 is leaving on an early flight tomorrow. We have a medical resident down who is staying another week, working with Dr. Jack. I have received a lot of help recently with the homeschooling from the input & suggestions of visitors to Three Angels and I thank God that it is progressing as it is. I also praise God that He is dealing with me on heart issues regarding my teaching. The whole Point is pointing these little ones to Christ. AND, I am responsible for their academic maturation! We may not be discussing Locke and Hobbes or arguing man as he is in the state of nature, but learning is learning, so I am laboring daily to have fun with it. Although it is not what I love doing, He does give me joy! :) Do you know how rewarding it is to have your students demonstrate that their little ears have been listening and they get it? Yes, you do. :)

Please pray that I will consider this trial of back pain and minor paralysis JOY (yes, minor, very, very minor). And pray boldly that God will heal! Most significantly, pray for my PRIDE to DIE. I am really hand wrestling this Monster and it is pinning me every time. How can I kill Pride?

What’s going on in the free world? How much longer will freedom reign?
Love you so much, Mamma!
abs Psalm 30: 2

A Feeding Program

2009-11-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the amazing work going on here... Shelly Clay and her husband, Corrigan, have a ministry to street kids and malnourished children. They invite them into their home for a meal & a movie on Saturdays. They have discovered that old silent slapsticks get the best reception from the kids on the entertainment front. The kids' favorite meal? Beans and rice. :)

The Clays started out a few months ago feeding a dozen or so children. They now get numbers in the fifties and have had to cap it off. Currently they purchase food for the kids from their own income but are looking for outside finanial support as they would like to expland the program.

Paradigm Shift

2009-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

A typical city scape: A market in Petionville

This move to Haiti has involved an immersion into Missionarydom. My life is swarming with foreign missionaries! My friends are foreign missionaries! I go to church with foreign missionaries- the faces that hang on your fridges at home, “Pray for the _____s,” these are the folks with whom I converse, worship, work, and play. It makes life interesting indeed.

“What do you do?” is the common question at social engagements in the states. “I’m a teacher,” “I drive trucks,” “I’m a doctor,” “I stay at home with my kids…” The question and responses suit the context. Here, in this context, although we do not phrase the Question in this way, we could just as appropriately ask, “So in what way are you saving lives?” and the regular responses would include… “I run a feeding program,” “I nurse kids in the ghetto,” I’m teaching women about STDs and prenatal health,” “My husband and I train church leaders,” “We run an orphanage…”

What a humbling contrast to consider, one I can hardly get my mind around. These peoples’ daily work involves saving lives! And I find myself still thinking in stateside terms: “What am I going to be when I grow up?” …

Mom and Dad, meet Edward, my Haitian boyfriend.

2009-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought a Snail would be so F.U.N.?

In Haiti, that’s how we roll.

I captured this little guy at the school (QCS) at which I spend so much of my free time. I thought he’d be a great creature to show my kids. These kiddos at Three Angels are so cloistered! No pets, no grass, only a few trees (which are not suitable for climbing L)… the highlight of my week with them is usually playing in the rain (or our impromptu Dance Parties)! I want so much for them to enjoy the amazing creativity of our God as evidenced in His creation so this week our learning moment was brought to us by a snail!

Edward, the Snail, was a dramatic guest during his stay at Three Angels. After his first night with us he disappeared and was feared dead. Upon his rediscovery, (which necessitated somewhat of a resuscitation since he was drying out) my elation prompted an Ode in his honor. Maybe I will share this piece of literature with you in the future. Mom and Dad, don't freak out. I did some soul searching, thought about the relationship, and Ed and I have since split. It's better this way. The cultural differences were just irreconcilable. :)

Reece was the only Haitian brave enough to hold Edward!

2009-10-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Friends!

Dear Friends!
Thank you for your sacrifices which make it possible for me to live and serve in Haiti. I am able to be here for at least two reasons. First, many of you are supporting me financially. Thank! you! I am in your debt and it’s my desire that God’s kingdom is the richer for it. Second (and I am increasingly beginning to believe, more significantly), you are praying for me, for Jack and Marcia, and for Three Angels. THANK! YOU! Please keep praying. God is honored by your prayers and takes great delight in them. I pray that we all grow in the delight that we take in spending time lingering in God’s presence and in laboring in intercession. Probably we are all ignorant on this side of heaven how effectual prayers for this ministry are. My prayer is that God will sweep back the curtain at intervals to reveal glimpses of the precious and powerful value of prayer. I know I need such glimpses to be encouraged to persevere in prayer and motivated to pray more! Here are some things that are on my heart for which you can pray...

· Praise God that I got to share the Gospel with the older six kids this week: Reece, Steeve, Daniel, Elmise, Bethany, and Naitile. PRAY for my sensitivity and obedience to pursue future opportunities. I know God will create them!
· PRAY I’ll slow down and serve more, especially making time for the kids individually. I want to invest into them outside of school “hours” and classroom “activities.”
· PRAY for God’s financial provision for Three Angels. This month Haiti passed into law a minimum wage increase that, unless God intercedes, will force us to let several workers go (and we don’t want to!). The wage increase is staggering- a woman who earned $75 US last month will this month and hereafter make $165 US! It’s just not sustainable. This law will lead to many economic problems here- already the gas companies have responded by limiting their operating hours to between 6 am and 2 pm daily because they can’t afford to pay their workers. God is sovereign.
· Praise God for Dave Voltz’s safe arrival this evening! We are excited about the week of teaching and sharing from God’s word ahead of us. PRAY for our staff who will be participating in the Bible studies and for our spiritual growth as well.
· Praise God that I am now enrolled in a twice a week Creole class! PRAY for my diligence to study and practice and that God will bless my efforts.

Love you my friends- anpil (a lot)!

-abbey mac

Teenagers! Surprise!

2009-10-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

God is my good, generous, and giving Father! I received an incredible gift from Him this week.

I discovered shortly after arriving in Haiti that within walking distance of our orphanage is a Christian school compound called Quisqueya. (The church that Jack and Marcia attend, Port au Prince Fellowship, meets at the chapel on this compound.) It is a large school, K-12, that serves missionary families and the Haitian bourgeois in the Port au Prince area. After school sports like soccer and volley ball are offered for students and staff so I put on my running shoes a couple of times per week and head over for some competition and endorphins. Through these expeditions I’ve met a handful of other young people (teachers at Quisqueya) who, like myself, heard the call to drop their lives in the states to get to know God better and love people in Haiti. The friendships I’m making here are sharpening, encouraging, and are good, plain fun!

But it gets even better than that! Each high school class at Quisqueya volunteers monthly at an orphanage in the area. Last month Three Angels received a phone call asking could we use some help with our children? Mais oui! But of course! So we were assigned a class and it was arranged for them to come the first Thursday of each month. This week was our first encounter with our assigned class. Thirty-two teens and one leader descended upon us and I found myself welcoming more than a dozen familiar faces- teens I’d played sports with or seen on campus. And they recognized me (You’re the girl with the pig-tails! I’ve seen you running on Delmas… or, Hey, you played soccer with us!) What energizing feelings of love and acceptance! I was drinking liquid happiness the whole day.

But it gets even better than THAT. These teens are the tenth grade class. DREW IS IN TENTH GRADE. What a joy, what an unexpected, undeserved little jewel of a gift from God. My heart was bursting with joy the whole day, thinking thoughts as, that guy is like a Haitian Drew and, that kid would be my sister’s best friend! Thank You, Jesus, for these surrogate brothers and sisters throughout this year of being an ocean away from my own! And they are the cream of the crop- every teacher friend of mine at Quisqueya drips with praise for this class.

The ratio of teens to orphans is something like 1.13 to 1 so they will be doing a lot of interacting with our kids. Marcia elected to have each teen paired with a child- some children have two teens. The pairs are permanent for the year so each orphan will get to bond with their teen. This month the teens played group games with the kids, ate lunch with them, went crazy with stickers and face paint and a giant parachute, and decorated cupcakes. Next month they plan on doing learning and activity stations. The kids loved the attention and affection. I loved the teens.

GOD wrestled Jacob

2009-10-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

The mountains heave under the weight of thousands of people and concrete houses

Some random thoughts...

God, WHAT? were You thinking when You deposited me into a volitile city where I visibly stand out as foreigner? Culture SHOCK!
Ahh, I get it! There are so many men just loitering about, sitting around, looking unproductive all the time because over 50% of the population is UNEMPLOYED!
I will celebrate the day I can shoot the neighbor's dogs.
The Quoteable Dr. Jack: On gaining passage to the Promised Land- "If I were a Haitian, I'd apply for a visa to Mexico and walk across the border into America!"
On the criticism he's received by Haitians concerning his command of Creole- "Well, the way I see it is that, when I was a baby, I first spoke baby-talk. I then became coherent in my pronunciation. I then learned how to complete sentences. So, I figure that in two or three years I'll get the hang of this thing!"
It is not generous of the neighbors to share their music with us at ungoldly hours of the night.
The litter everywhere, the filth and noise of the city, and the cultural chasm between "them" and "us" cannot deter my ardent infatuation with this Carribean sky! Tres belle!
My purpose in this Blog is to report on life here at an orphanage in Haiti, to be transparent about things between God and I, and to share my scribblings from the past and present, praying that God is glorified and His kids are encouraged by these offerings...

Sunday, 20 September, 2009

“Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.” Genesis 32:24,25

Jesus!
Dezod.
You wrestle with this sinner’s heart.
Uhg. grr.
I shouldn’t be surprised to discover that my heart is sinful.
You told me that.
And I believed You.
But this?
Uhgrr.
You really do want everything.
I can’t blame You,
I reject the old notion that You are a cosmic killjoy, that You want to beat me into submission, stifling me, suffocating my personhood.
I choose to believe You are good, You gave me Jesus.
Oh but Jesus, my heart throws doubts upon Your generosity and kindness. I am stuck on me, my kingdom come.
Uhgrr.
You see me clinging tenaciously to This?
Please! help!
You know that song, Please take from me my life when I don’t have the strength to give it away to You. Hear me praying it now. Remember what I am made of. You made me a mere human girl- I’m not much.
But oh! You breathed the strength of Your Spirit into my own.
And that changes everything.
So, You know I’ve given You permission to batter my heart, Three-Personed-God.
*Sigh.
Yes, sigh.

Inside Karibe Hotel, the Paradise in Petionville at which Mr. Clinton and Mr. Preval recently spoke. We go there for lunch when we need an escape.

Check it Out!

2009-09-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Check out the amazing kids I get to live with, love on, and teach!

http://www.threeangelsorphanage.blogspot.com/

God bless these little sinners- It's to their advantage that they're so CUTE! :)

Pray that I will communicate God's truth & love to these kiddos.

O-R-E-O! (which I've been having too many of, thank you, Dr. Jack!) : Michelle, me, & Mikile. These ladies care for the upstairs babies.

Into the Hills!

2009-09-07T17:58:00.001-07:00

On Sunday
I took my first trip

into the mountains! God knew I needed a respite from city life. Jack, Marcia, & I visited a Haitian-American woman named Gerta, whom Marcia met recently on a flight home from the states. Gerta is launching a village football program this fall and it looks like the 14 soccer balls that a friend of mine had the vision to collect for me will soon be serving Haitian villager children!

Gerta cooked pumkin soup for us! We enjoyed this hot meal as our skin breathed in the cool, damp mountain air. She showed us her home which has been under construction for the past 6 years. She is building it into the mountain out of cement blocks- the most common building material I've observed here (both in and out of the city).

The drive up the mountain took us an hour- too short! I could have driven days on that road! Each twist in it unveiled a richer feast for my eyes and in so doing nourished my soul. It was better than church! Dear little villages clung to the mountain sides. Extravagent homes boasted acres of land for their wealthy families. Hundreds of simple farm plots transformed neighboring mountains into a patchwork quilt of textured greens and browns, rows of earth and crops mingling with trees and rock. The mountains were mesmerizing- pure and dazzeling as the laughter of a young girl at first glance but a deeper gaze suggested the silvering wisdom and poise of a very, very old woman. So it was like a perplexing but very attractive riddle, or a good song to which you can't remember the words but the soul of the music gives your own soul a little thrill.

A Haitian staff member of Three Angels has been reported to have said that "There's nothing good about Haiti." Has he never been to the mountains? I now have and I will be returning there as soon as possible!

The People Behind the Girl

2009-08-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

Jesus Is Lord!

Mardi 25 Aout 2009
Three Angels Children’s Relief,
Petionville, Haiti

Dear Centennial Family,
Hello! I am so exciting to be greeting you from my new home here in Haiti. For just over two weeks now I have been acclimating to life here and think that an update is appropriate. I hope to report to you all many of the things I have been experiencing, learning, and doing, as well as the general goings on of the Three Angels orphanage, school, and clinic.

The American “on the ground” staff here at 91 Delmas (our street address) consists of Dr. Jack & Marcia Nonweiler, Megan Haug, a twenty-something from Evansville, IN, and me. Jack & Marcia serve as the Field Managers of the orphanage and medical clinic. I am learning that a typical day for them begins at 5 am or earlier depending upon how early the sick babies need attention or how soon they are awakened by the crows of our neighboring roosters. They might even arise as early as 3 am, the time at which city power enables them to best access the internet! I have been enjoying my mornings with them, my newly “adoptive” parents (Marcia decided that I am to be their sixth daughter & claims that it will make Amy, their youngest, happy to no longer be the baby J). Their apartment, which includes a bathroom, pantry, kitchen/dining room, sitting room, and outside veranda, and my room share the upper floor of the orphanage, so we take most of our meals together upstairs. During the morning hours J & M read some scripture and pray, work on small projects (such as color-coding adoptive file folders), and overview their vision for the tasks of the day, which necessarily requires the flexibility to adopt Plans B through E! After breakfast they get right to it. Daily tasks include a variety of things. In the past two weeks they have wired the new office with electrical wire, daily treated +/-10 patients who visit us from the neighborhood with diverse medical needs, shopped twice at Mega Mart for orphanage supplies, and mucked through the adoptive process for our now 26 children, among other things!

I have been charged with the homeschooling of our 10 oldest orphans. Colleen Monfills (you’ll probably hear her name quite frequently so I had better introduce her) is an adoptive mom of two of our little guys here and serves as our stateside Orphanage Director. She and her husband Mike are based out of Chicago and she makes frequent trips down here, helping us immensely each time! Hers was the idea to pull the older orphans out of Three Angels Christian Academy, the on-site Haitian grade school, and teach them from a homeschooling program in order to better prepare them for their transition to American schools. She elected to use the A Beka home school curriculum- a choice for which I am praising God! It basically includes a “Teaching Preschool & Kindergarten for Dummies” manual on which I completely rely, being a dummy so far at teaching preschool and kindergarten. J Praise God that Marcia is helping me with the schooling! I am thankful for her experience as a mom and grandma, for her energy, and for her logistical help. Currently she is undertaking the mathematics and I the phonics, but we tweak and modify things as we go. I am learning that in Haiti, you have to be flexible.

Challenges that I continue to encounter in now our second week of school must be specific to teaching in an orphanage in Haiti. For several of my students language is a major barrier. Bless their hearts- I don’t yet speak Creole and they can’t yet fully communicate in English! Obviously the goal is for them to get up to speed in their English skills but it would be immensely helpful to them if I were able to speak both languages (and helpful to me as well). Several of my kids know their kindergarten basics in French and Creole but you can see on their faces their little minds searching desperately for the English terms. Another major challenge I’m facing at this time is 8 younger kids for whom (Haitian) school doesn’t begin until September 7th- these little guys are quite a distraction. For the next couple weeks until school begins for them my few schooling goals are to create a routine for my students and to instill within them the basics of sitting quietly, listening, and OBEYING!

Along with acclimating to orphanage life, I am laboring to develop a life outside the orphanage. I that think church will be a good outlet for this. Port au Prince Fellowship Church has been for me a breath of cool air on these hot August days. Services are held in English but 90% of the congregation is Haitian. Pastor John Mchoul and his wife, Beth, are ex-hippies who have been serving in Haiti for years. Their authenticity and their love for Jesus are very attractive. Recently Pastor John has been teaching on Elijah the prophet. I am encouraged that our God pursues us so specifically and that He is sympathetic with our human limitations and frailties. For me a highlight of the service is the worship music which lasts for no less than half an hour! What a delight to be praising our God in a foreign land together with men and women of so many shades! What a healthy thing for me to be in the minority!

It is evident that you all are praying for Jack, Marcia, myself, and the people we’re serving here. Thank! you! Keep praying for us. We are grateful for your support and have a lot of joy in praying for your needs as well. Here are some specific requests that are currently on my heart…

Disciplining the children. I’m trying to learn my boundaries as a non-parent responsible for so many little hearts and minds. These kids are good kids but when they disobey they need spanking! Pray that I will have wisdom and love to use discipline as an opportunity to share the Gospel with these little sinners!

Staff members. We’re seeking to serve the needs of the staff here & have a burden for their spiritual needs. Cultural disparities are cumbersome obstacles that make our tasks even more difficult. For example, when (as a cultural generality), Haitians “tell you what (they think) you want to hear,” how do you form authentic relationships? Whom do you really trust? Pray for wisdom and for God to go after our staff members’ hearts. Pray that we as Americans will not be a distraction to the Gospel we desire to communicate to the nationals. Also pray for the spiritual maturity of the believers who work for Three Angels.

I am indebted to you all for your friendship and support. You all, my fabulous family, are the reason I have been able to make the move to Three Angels and your prayers sustain me and the work God is doing in and through me. Love you my friends!
Abbey McArthur/ Jeremiah 17: 5-8

Obesity Observed

2009-08-21T20:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I witnessed a sad but laughable spectacle. (Yes, I did laugh.) I was sitting on a Haitan form of public transportation, the tap-tap, comfortably squeezed in with 20 others- my sweaty best Haitian buddies. We were waiting for the driver to decide that there were enough passengers to go when a pleasantly oversized woman approached the vehicle. She walked toward us and the tap-tap slowly began to move forward. Not fast, but sllow-ly. She continued to waddle behind us. The driver continued to move forward- just out of her reach. The passengers around me began to wisper to one another and laugh quietly. Obviously, our driver wasn't willing to take this woman on board. Taking her he would lose money since her plus size would take up two seats. So this game continued for several meters until the defeated woman turned away. I had to think, America, obesity isn't uniquely your problem, although you have uniquely made it fashionable!

Glancing at the Rear View Mirror

2009-08-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

My journey to Three Angels, Haiti was a whirlwind experience from the initial conception of the desire to come to its actual birthing- around 13 weeks from start to finish. But during those 13 weeks (which actually felt like 13 months!) God was doing a work in me that I am confident now needing doing. The work itself is not at all done, but interspersed with the current happenings of my new life here I'd like to provide you with some samples of what was going on prior to my arrival, that work God was initiating...

Monday 27 April 2009

O silly, silly Heart!
Are you laboring to be Woman when underneath,
the soul of you is all girl?
Who is it that says you must be woman?

Little Heart, do not tremble.
Your Maker passes by, takes notice of you. You are a frail creation, your blunt edges and patchwork pieces held together by adhesives of your own human strivings. But He is making you stronger, replacing tape with permanent bonds. And He is ordering your chaos until He becomes fully the center of your orbit. The work He does may be frightening- everything outside of the ordinary, the expected, the comfortable, the known, can sew doubt or fear- but to remain this jumbled mass of confusion would be more so. As He does His awesome work, look intently upon His character, relive His past faithfulness, rejoice in His promised provision.

Little Heart, grow.
Stronger in your Maker’s hands.

Dreams and wonderings of Womanly pursuits, joys, experiences- patiently entrust them to Him, your wise and loving God.

Have You Hugged Your Trash Man Today?

2009-08-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

My fellow Americans! It was a startling discovery for me when after my dad’s retirement from the Air Force and our subsequent move to the civilian world I learned that living in that world entitles one to many freedoms, including the liberty to choose one’s own trash removal service. In Indianapolis I believe choices include Rays, Republic, and a few others. This discovery was shocking at the time but, seasoned civilian that I now am, is a normal part of life in the Indy ‘burbs.

Therefore my recent move to Petionville, one of the ‘burbs of Port au Prince, Haiti, is quite a regression. A choice in one’s trash removal service? Hahahaha, Ha! Let’s start with first things first. First, is there a trash can available? and is it being used for trash? If you live in PAP and you can answer yes to both questions, congratulations, you make up about 60% of the population! Now, what to do with the trash you collect. Hmmm. Well, we haul it up the hill and dump it in a green trash receptacle. (Word on the streets is that these green receptacles, randomly located along the sides of major roads in the city, were introduced recently by Wycliff Jean, a Haitian rapper who made it big in the states and hasn’t forgotten his roots. This philanthropist is on a green kick and has a vision [among other things] for a cleaner Haiti so he’s organized this nouveau system of collecting trash.) But, new challenge: what happens to the trash once/if it reaches the receptacle? I actually don’t know. I can tell you what appears to happen to it- it spills out over the side and into the road, replacing what was once (prior to advent of the receptacles)more evenly distributed refuse covering a larger square footage area with a more concentrated mound of rubbish. (Hopefully I’m just out of the loop about who/how the trash is removed from this last step but my senses don’t leave much room for optimism. It’s filthy out there!)

So, have you hugged your trash removal man/woman today? If this response to my little lesson in public sanitation is a somewhat uncomfortable one for you, you might at least consider remembering to put your trash man on your Christmas list this year. You know, make him up a batch of cookies to express your enthusiasm for his service! Or, write your senator to express your gratitude for the work he/she is doing to keep America the Land of the Free and the Home of the Clean!

Abbey, Out!

Thank You, Jesus, for the little swimmies in the water...

2009-08-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

(Well actually, they are more like little floaties becuase most of them are dead.)

Water!

Jesus, thank You for providing for our needs!
At Three Angels two huge underground cisterns hold our cooking & cleaning water reservoir. Recently a water drainage system was installed/repaired (?) to drain rainwater into these cisterns. For the past three weeks Port au Prince has been drying out from want of rain. When the cisterns dry up we have to purchase water. City trucks drive around to deliver this precious resource. Yesterday both of the cisterns reached the bone dry point This was bad because it required us to hand over cash for water. But it was also good because it gave Renald, one of our workers, the opportunity to clean them out. We purchased some 300+ gallons to tide us over ‘til a heavy rain, which God provided that evening!

I feel so incredibly blessed for the resource that these cisterns are to us. They are a water reservoir and we, unlike so many of our neighbors, have the privilege of filling it up from an outside source when we are in need. In the poorer parts of our city Haitians drink this water that for us is only suitable (safe) for cleaning & cooking (we daily purchase drinking water) which means it is only available to them when the rains have been faithful. Can you imagine? No, not even face-to-face with the reality of this poverty, can I. Praise God for this water! And pray for continued nightly rain for our neighbors.

On a lighter note, the water delivery trucks, in the spirit of our ice-cream delivery trucks, play the theme song from The Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On”! You can be sure that I frequently find myself humming this tune! And, on an exciting note, I believe I'll be able to help haul water on a regular basis from the cisterns to our buckets around the compound at least twice a week! Working on my guns, you know... :) It's just fun!

A Letter Home

2009-08-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Lundi 10 Aout 2009-

Dearest of Mommas,

Megan is here! I enjoy her very much (like I've said before, she has great theology) although we are extremely different. She will return to Evansville (home for her) in September for two weeks & then back there again for a month- Thanksgiving through Christmas. Apparently, House Managers (such as she was until Jack & Marcia arrived in April) receive(d) a small salary for the work they (did) ((I’m using parentheses here because HMs are now obsolete with J&M serving as they are)) and soon her salary will be terminated & she will, like me, need to raise support. She told me today that she feels like Haiti is home and wants to return to continue with her work for Three Angels. She just needs to determine how long she will be staying. I think Colleen’s visit will help her with the timeframe.

Mamma, I got to work out this morning using the exercise bands –Thank you SO MUCH!!!- and the jump rope in my normal workout clothes! This is a small but such a significant blessing to me,,, Marcia OK-ed it. (I was concerned that the short Nike running shorts & skin-tight tops wouldn’t meet “dress code” but she said that Tara, an American missionary here for 20+ years who trains here & runs marathons in the states, wears the same gear on her runs,) Praise God! because to wear anything else in this heat would be prohibitively uncomfortable. Oh, and I can’t say enough for iPods! Mine is incredible- I loved listening to my tunes (Family Force Five this morning!)… just the motivation I needed to get pumped; although at this point, should God restore my ability to run long distance again, I’m still a stubborn adherent to listening only to the sky on a run- that’s the magic of it.

I am loving my room. A mission team sent by Woodstock Baptist Church in New Brunswick, Canada, transformed it from the bachelor pad it had been for 4 years (Junior & Jimmy, staff members of TA, formerly occupied it) to a sweet little sanctuary. One of the girls even wrote “May God provide you with quality rest in this room.” Oh, Rebekah, what a prophet you must be to know I will need it!

This morning I awoke to a beautiful sky… maybe I’ll describe such a sky and the trees and rooftops that frame it from my window in a later message. I am excited to include pictures of this room and the warm-hearted wall the children created for me when Dr. Jack brings my camera in a few weeks. Unpacking is pretty much complete. Just need hangars for the clothes and a few nails to mount my message board.

My day thus far has been spent pretty leisurely and I have invested more time in this ‘lille Note than I anticipate will be available to me in the future (so don’t get used to this lengthiness). Colleen, my home school coordinator (who is an adoptive mom & is based out of Chicago), comes in this afternoon & I expect we will get right to work!

Hopefully future correspondence will require fewer parentheses- their over-use is aggravating me as a writer. I just feel like so much background info is necessary to fill you in!

Love you much, Your-
abbey

Having a Go at It...

2009-08-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

Greetings, friends!

Thank you for visiting Something Borrowed and Shared.

My upcoming life-transfer to Haiti for the next year is the motivation for launching this Blogging Expedition. Through this blog I intend to share with you images of the challenges and adventures I encounter as I take up my editorial pen and interject my thoughts about it all.

The picture to the right represents in a way at least one of my anticipated roles in this Expedition. In it I am capturing the image of my super-model sister & best friend, Tabitha, as well as my own image as we both stand in front of a mirror. Similarly, I expect that this blogspot will be my forum for sharing with you reflections of the people, stories, & adventures that I meet while my delivery of these images imprints an image of my own picture in the background!

Your Word Photographer and eyes & ears for Three Angels, Haiti!