busy day

im laying in bed currently...under my net... im observing a moth flying around the light in my room....

today took quite the toll on me... but wow...what an amazing day.
we went back to the tent city nearby today...got to see some of the people we saw yesterday... we gave a couple proclaimers away to a couple people... and there is a new believer in jesu christe as of today... praise god.
a woman who was caught up in voo doo now owns the bible... and accepted jesus today... yayyy
today was a day of learning for me... i learned things about these womens lives that i didnt know previously...they told their story and merceline translated it for us... it was amazing to hear how they ended up in the tent cities...next... i learned that goats poop... lol there was a baby goat...and i picked her up...and was holding her. she was the most calm and precious wild goat ive ever seen. so that was lovely.. i named her heidi. haha the little kids loved that i was holding her. there will be pictures posted...no worries. she was beautiful. and she pooped while i was carrying her around in my arms... it was disgusting..but luckily she missed me. haha in any event... it was fun. also, i learned how to do some electrical stuff when i got back... painted a house... umm... hmm...i learned that never have i been anywhere where i want to eat every single thing that is offered to eat until i got here... its amazing really... i learned some creole today.thanks to theodore and roberto. theyre my new buddies. they look so young...but they are  fifteen and fourteen. and awesome guys. super funny too. youll see them later and get a jist of their personalities... i learned about haiti tonight...good and bad...

basically it has been such an eventpful day and im exhausted... but this all goes to say that i love my life here...never being worried about looking good...or if i stink...or if we are listening to music too loud...or if we are following the driving rules...or anything for that matter... its me, my team, the people of haiti, and god...

god is doing so much work on the hearts of the haitians...
i love them. and i love god.

its been a long day... so ill update tomorrow.

bon nuit...

beautiful haiti

greetings from the land of haiti...

we got here safely, and we are having an amazing time already. god is blessing us left and right around here. people are so loving and the kids are so much fun. it really is true when they told us that when we go to haiti, we will end up getting more out of it then we could have possibly given...

well heres the update. yesterday, we arrrived and rode in a tap tap... its the taxi around here. aka... you ride in the back of a truck... it was so much fun. we rode all the way through port au prince. it was amazing how devastated it was. i took a nap on the tap tap and missed part of our three hour or so adventure. haha but once i woke up, we were suddenly pretty close to petit goave...and i was seeing banana trees everywhere. come to find out that those trees produce the most amazing bananas ever. we had a beautiful couple of meals yesterday. shared in fellowship with eachother and had a great time of worship. also, the highlight was playing with these amazing kids. and boy do they have energy.. i will post pictures when i get back when i have a computer...

today we went to a small tent city and we got to hold some babies. yay for me. i was obviously thrilled since i love babies haha but the most rewarding part was when we prayed over an eighty year old man and his wife who had eight kids and lost their home in the earthquake. i have pictures of their home and them as well... it was so emotional. they were beautiful and so cute. me and one of the guys on the team bryce.. rode up on the roof of the truck today headed to that tent city. we fit twenty two people on that little truck. it was unreal.  its amazing the things you can do around here....

me and sam a girl on the trip with me... were talking last night about how it didnt really hit us that we were in haiti until we were doing the dishes and looked at eachother and realized it was real... we were washing dishes...in bowls of water... standing in the dark...on rocks. you really dont realize how lucky we are to even have something as little as a sink.... its wonderful...

so i just wanted to share some of the blessings ive recieved by being here. ill update the blog when i can. but i dont get the greatest signal around here. haha

god bless.

The trip has begun

well everyone... i discovered i cant capitalize anything or use certain punctuation in my blogs from my phone. so youll have to deal with that. sorry.

we are in miami. thats the first step to our trip. im still on the plane...about to get off and get some pizza.

just wanted to report that we made it. 

It's Almost Time!!!

Well, for those of you who don't know...

IT'S ALMOST TIME TO LEAVE FOR HAITI!!!!!!!!!!

I leave with my team on Friday morning! :) I'm super excited to leave. It's going to be such a renewing experience for all of us! And definitely a refresher from everyday life here in Midland. Which sometimes kills me a little bit. But I'm grateful for everything I have and the people in my life.

I've been doing some packing today... It's amazing to me how much of an overpacker I can be. Sometimes I think I might be what they call "high maintenance". Haha. I can guarantee some people will read that, and agree completely. But nevertheless, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to fit everything in my tiny little carry on! Who'd have thought I'd ever be capable.

I feel like my preparation of my heart and mind for Haiti is coming along well! I've been in the Word a lot. Just seeing what God has to reveal to me each day. I've been spending a good amount of time in conversation with God. He's been putting things on my heart recently that I'm trying so desperately to accomplish.

It's been a while since I've gotten the chance to write an entry. I feel bad because this was supposed to be an everyday thing! But, sometimes life takes over, so I decided to update everyone on the fact that I am leaving very soon... going to make disciples of all nations... :)

Here is a story from the Bible for you guys to put on your mind today.

The Sheep and the Goats

     When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
     Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"
     The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
     Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you have me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."
     They also will answer, "Lord, when did you see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?"
     He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
     Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
Matthew 25:31-46

This story kind of makes me think a lot. Do I pass up the opportunity to help others when they are in need? Next time you see someone struggling, help them. Don't just walk past and ignore it. Feed them, clothe them, look after them.

Have a good day everyone!
:)

A Prayer of Thanks

Today, I don't have any fantastic stories to tell... Nothing out of the ordinary happened to me today. But I have a friend, that I care about very much, that I am so thankful for. I saw him for the first time today in a couple of months. He just made me realize how lucky I am to have people supporting me. Not only is he supporting me in my decisions for school, relationships and other things... he's supporting me in this mission trip. I told him today that I'll be going to Haiti and he got excited for me. We talked about how fun it will be and it just got me really excited as well. So I'd just like to say a prayer tonight.

Lord, thank you so much for the people you've given us in our lives that support us no matter the circumstance. Please bless our family and friends, and please give me the courage to go out and be supportive of my friends and family as well. Father, you've given us all so much that is good. And we can't thank you enough for the opportunity to be able to go to Haiti. It's amazing that this support from people also creates the opportunity to be able to fund this trip. Thank you for that as well. Keep us safe. Keep us focused on you. And keep us near to you. We love you Lord.
Amen.

Have a good night everyone!
Tell someone you're thankful for them :)  That's your assignment tomorrow!

Dancing

During the benefit dinner tonight, my good friend Hansel (a Haitian friend), did a dance.

Seeing Hansel dance, is such a joyful experience. He's proud to be up there and representing Haiti, and he's proud to be a dancer.
There's something so cultural about the way that he and other people of Haiti dance. It's so beautiful in such a different way than any other kind of dancing. There's so much emotion and meaning put into the dance. Seeing him up there tonight was so inspirational... It's kind of like he's dancing for Jesus. For as cheesy as that might sound, it's absolutely accurate. Some people sing for Jesus, some people speak His Word, some people play an instrument...Everyone is given a gift, whether it be a talent, or something communicative, everyone has been given a gift. And seeing those gifts used toward bringing people to Christ, or for showing His love and His work in your heart, just gives me so much joy. Especially when you know they are loving every second of what they are doing. I'm sure that I'm not the only one that thought about how happy Hansel looked when he performed.

There's a verse I'd like to share with you guys, a specific verse about gifts. Actually, I take that back, I have a few verses for you to all ponder. =)

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. --Colossians 3:23-24

Since we are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.-- 1 Corinthians 14:12

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently, if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. --Romans 12:6-8

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. -- James 1:17

I'd like to say a quick prayer, so if you're reading this, just fold your hands and read the prayer either in your head or aloud. I usually like to think of praying out loud as being more open with God. If you choose to, do so. It feels good.

Father God, I thank you so much for the talents you have given each and every one of your people. Help us to not hide our gifts Lord, but to use them to glorify You, bring honor to Your name and to build up your kingdom. Help us to be humble and help us to realize that we all need each other. Always remind us that our talents can be beneficial to others in some way. Lord, you are great, you are mighty and you are the Creator of all things. We love you Jesus.
Amen.

Have a good night everyone :)

Exodus

The past couple days, I've been spending time in the book of Exodus.
This book has so much to tell me about God leading His people. For a while I've thought a lot about why God is sending me to Haiti, and how in the world I'm going to survive the emotions and the possible ailments that may occur while in Haiti. This book has helped me to understand a lot about trust and faith in God that He will lead me and my team through everything. And it makes me so excited.
If you'd like to read the rest of this song, its Exodus 15... But after the Israelites were led through the Red Sea, and God allowed for Moses to part the waters for the Israelites, and to make it crash down on the Egyptians behind them, there was a song that they sang. There is a part of this song that says "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling." Today, I felt as if that spoke directly to me. God loves all of us more than anything, and he will guide us to the place where He wants us to be. I have been redeemed, and God will lead me through this trip to Haiti. He will place things on my heart that I've never experienced before, and I can't wait! This trip is going to change my life. He is using me and my fellow teammates as instruments to change the life of the Haitian people, and maybe the lives of each other as well.

I'm off to sleep! Tomorrow is the benefit dinner!!! :) SOOOO excited!

Goodnight!

Two Weeks

It's two weeks until I go to Haiti. Nerves are kicking in, (not that I haven't had them all along)... I'm about to go be the hands and feet of God in a foreign country. This could be the most humbling and faith strengthening experience I've ever had.
Last night at about 12 o'clock, I was beginning to realize a lot of things, about a lot of people. People were stressing me out, and if anyone knows how I am, you know that Stress and I don't get along. As the stress proceeded, I began slipping into a sort of anxiety attack. Scary enough as it is, I came to realize at that point, that this is the devil. The devil is attacking me before I go to Haiti. There is no other explanation as to why I'm struggling so much to even get through a day around here. God has called me to go to Haiti, and I'm going. The devil is wanting so much of the exact opposite that he will do anything to get me focused on myself rather than the reason that I'm going to Haiti. He wants me to focus on being selfish. Well listen here devil, God has a plan for me to go to Haiti to spread His Word and I will do exactly that and push through your distractions. =)

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. --Ephesians 6:10-12

This verse spoke to me especially today. As me and my other team members prepare for this trip to Haiti, we need to keep that in mind. It hard sometimes when it feels like suddenly everything is going wrong, to stay focused on what the mission is in going down to Haiti.

Prayers are needed and encouraged for while we are down there accomplishing what we need to accomplish and to serve who we are called to serve.

Allie