Visiting "Home" for the 1st time

Joy and I leave Thursday for Haiti. We are excited about this trip because no kids are going :) Just kidding... well not really, but we are also excited because we will be visiting the orphanage where we plan to be living. We have never seen it in person and have never met the precious missionary couple that started it. We were led to them through the internet and found out about the opportunity for us to live there after we surrendered to full time following our last visit.

We will be doing eye exams on the kids in the home and having an eye clinic as an outreach for the church that they work with in Montrouis. We will also be looking at the feasability of opening the eye clinic there on the compound and I will be seeing what the wood working shop is equipped with. Lord willing, I will be doing some training in wood working for the boys in the home as they get older.

We will also spend a couple of days with pastor Cesar doing planning for the ministry. Monday night is the last night of a 30 day long prayer meeting at St. Marc church. We will get to go to that prayer meeting. The church there has been praying for money to complete the church and school before more problems arise with the Minister of Education over the setup of the school building. We also have acquired audio players that are preprogrammed with the New Testament in Creole. Since many of the people can't read, I wanted a way for them to hear the word. We have a player for each of the eight churches and we will be training the pastors how to use them and setting up a weekly meeting for them to come and hear the word and discuss it.

The reality of the opportunity and move have really set in and we are more ready than ever. Talking to the missionary couple that is there now has really helped us to understand even better what God is calling us to. I asked them what things we could bring them when we come and he simply asked for one pack of beef jerky and she wanted a pack of granola bars- peanut butter flavor. We take for granted that we go to the grocery store at least 4 times per week and can get whatever we have a craving for. We don't have things that we really want or look forward to but can't go and get. It really is a whole different world.

Family Update

Some of you may find it surprising but we have not added any new kids since the last post! We are holding strong at just 7!

Thank you to everyone that has continued to pray for us and the things that need to happen before we can move. The house still needs to sell as does the farm land I own with a partner. We also need to find out what is going to happen with our little guys.

Judah's case is caught up in appeals before we can proceed with the adoption. He is doing great though. We have really seen God work in his life as well as ours through him. I have never had such a need for patience as I have needed with this little guy. God has really helped Joy and I learn to love even through intense frustration and discouragement. Now he is really showing huge strides and although we still have bad days, we know God is doing a work. We were at the beach over the 4th and he could not believe it. He was so fun to watch and to play with. He really is a special child and we praise God for letting us get him.

The baby, Jaxon Kooper as he is known around our house, is simply a foster child at the moment. Things could change and he could be returned to the mother at any time. We are just waiting on social services and the courts to decide his little fate (but we know that God is in total control). If he becomes available for adoption, we want to adopt him so that he can grow up with Judah. We know that the Lord is in charge.

Jacy Klaire, Josie Kate, Luke, Megan, and Logan are all doing good. We are just seeking God's direction for Megan and Logan as far as school/work/whatever other options may be available! Luke is enjoying his summer and Jacy and Josie are as sweet and precious as ever. Jacy is looking forward to being home schooled. We will start that even before we make the move to Haiti.

We will be posting some pictures of the kids at the beach soon.

Prayer Needs

Keep us in your prayers. We will be in Haiti 7/10 - 7/16. Pray for our family while we are gone. The Benfield family (Bob and Shelley et al) will be covering the first couple of days and then my sister and her family are coming in from GA to house/baby/horse sit. Don't tell them but they have NO idea what they are getting into! Pray for hurricane Bertha to continue into the North Atlantic and not turn and hit Haiti. We don't do hurricanes yet.

Thank you all and we will have plenty of pictures and video when we get back from the beautiful caribbean islands!