My heart will be reunited with the land that I love this July!

Tears fell from my eyes as I boarded a plane and left the country I had come to love. The deep love in my heart for the Haitian people was overwhelming and to leave left my heart broken. I knew that I had not finished the work that God called me to in that land.  I had lived with these people, worked along side them, struggled when they struggled, cried when they cried, laughed with them, prayed with them, and suddenly found my heart bound to theirs. How could I have known on that day all that God had planned for my life. He sent me to the people of Africa where I learned and grew as I served there. I felt compassion and love for the people of Africa, but my heart remained in Haiti. When my time in Africa was over, I headed back to the states to begin my education at the Nursing College to prepare for the work that God has called me to.
In ways I could have never imagined, God provided for me! Through a Dr Pepper scholarship all my schooling will be paid for. This is a huge blessing that I am still in awe of. God has shown me over and over that he is my provider and will supply all my needs. There are more blessings that God has added to my life...but that's for another post.


 I am now halfway through my nursing education and heading into a summer break. I will be busy with a summer job and 2 classes, but God has provided a great opportunity for me to return to Haiti in July with All Nations Soccer. It has now been 15 long months since I left Haiti and I am so pleased that the Lord sees it fitting for me to return again to my future home.
With the team from All Nations Soccer we will be using soccer as a ministry tool to connect with children and youth to share the gospel. We will also be doing gospel crusades, tent city evangelism conferences, and work at orphanages.  My heart fills with joy knowing I will be returning to share God's love and his salvation with these people.

As I said before God has provided for my education and I know that he will provide for me as he leads me to go to Haiti in July. Please contact me if you are interested in partnering with me prayerfully or financially. I will be needing and greatly appreciating both.

It is my desire to live out Isaiah 58,  and by God's goodness he has lead me in this path. His name be praised!!
    ~Katie~

Praises because He is worthy...
In the last few weeks God has answered many of my prayers, above and beyond what I could ever imagine. And my heart has been humbled and filled with praise. But this overflow of praise in my heart got me thinking about praise in a deeper way.. Here are my thoughts.

When God says yes to the prayers of our hearts, we thank Him and praise Him. But what about when he says no? Should we not thank Him and praise Him in just the same way? In both situations God has not changed neither does His love or good purpose for us.

My prayer for myself and those around me is that we would glorify our Lord in every situation. Times will come when the Lord has plans for our lives that we aren't "god enough" to know or understand. But 'When we can't trace his hand, we can trust His heart' knowing that our Lord is unchanging yesterday, today , and forevermore.

Hey Everyone!

I know its been a while since I wrote anything, so I'll give you a brief update:

I got back from a great, four month, trip to Africa in May. I loved my time in Africa and I am thankful for the opportunity I had there to serve and learn. But even while I was in Africa my heart was burning to go back to the Haitian people.

When I got back to America I wanted to go visit Haiti, but the timing was not right, and I spent the summer working. I am now well into my first semester of Nursing school.
The first few weeks of adjusting to school took all my focus, but I am now settling into the heavy work load of a 2 year RN program. Daily I speak to myself in Creole to make the"Homesickness-for-Haiti" go away, but it only makes it worse in a strange and comforting way.

I don't know what God has for my future or how he will use me. I only know that I love Haiti with all my heart.

Today I was doing a bible study with two of my friends. We were reading in Acts chapter 16 about Paul and Silas. To summarize the story:

They had just been led by the Spirit of Jesus to Macedonia. Some people got saved including a business woman named Lydia but there they also ticked off some people, by driving a annoying demon out of a young servant girl. They were beaten and thrown in jail for this. This is where I think it gets interesting! Their feet are in the stocks. They are bleeding and bruised for preaching the Gospel. And its midnight. I think most of us would be begging God to deliver us. But what are Paul and Silas doing? They are sitting in their cells worshiping God. Then there is an earthquake and their chains fall off and the way is made clear for them to escape. My first thought is that this story, this earthquake, is all about how God delivered Paul and Silas from the hands of evil men. But that's not it at all. The earthquake wasn't about the salvation of Paul and Silas, It was about the salvation of one of the "evil men"- their Roman guard. So, the chains fell off, I would be sprinting out of that jail cell praising God for his deliverance. Who wouldn't? But somehow Paul and Silas caught the bigger picture, they were not focused on their own deliverance, and they stayed where they were at.

The Roman guard saw that the prison was broke open, assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he was about to kill himself. Paul and Silas call out to him. The Romans eyes are opened though this and he says "what must I do to be save?" He takes them home to his house. That night he and his whole family are saved and baptized. They all go back to the prison the next morning where God provides a new way for Paul and Silas to be released.

Okay, so why am I telling you this story?

I find it extraordinary how in tuned to God's plan these two are. I want to be that close to Him that I can tell the difference between what is good and what is God.

Psalm 16:8
I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

With more threats of cholera, unrest with the upcoming elections on the 28th of November, and various trials, I need more than ever to hold this verse close to my heart. Each day is fresh with various different trials and problems to solve, but God is good and is carrying me through.

I was so blessed with joy to see my mom, Aunt Kim, and sister Hope when they were here last week. We had a wonderful time together and it just flew by way too fast! We shared some good laughs, talks and even a few tears. It was hard to say good -bye to them at the airport.

I am still caring for Mercy and cannot believe how grown-up she is becoming. She is a blessing to me and I will miss her dearly when I leave here. I hope you will pray along with my parents that her passport will come through so she can travel to the states for medical treatment.

I will not be celebrating Thanksgiving here in Haiti, and I will be missing my family especially on that day. I know it will be a hard day, but I will still give thanks to God for his goodness in my life!

Thank you all again for praying for me. I am still trusting God for the rest of the money I need to travel to Uganda. The balance is due by the middle of December, and I know that God will provide, so I rest in Him.

Please pray for the children's health as Jasmine will be leaving in a few days and we are still dealing with sick children. Pray also for Loveka, a 8 month old baby who only weighs 8.5 pounds and has multiple health issues. I ask that God gives me the chance in my last weeks to share His love with the children and the madams who work here. I desire to share with them a hope that only comes through knowing Jesus!

Thank you all for your continued prayer! I love and miss you all!
Katie

Cholera, Hurricane, and hard work!


First off, I want to thank every one who was praying for all of us here in Haiti. Every one is well and nothing was ruined at the orphanage, although sadly, the hurricane did cause 7 deaths in our town. It could have been disastrous for everyone in the tent cities, so we are thankful for the storm turning away from us.

Second, I have not heard of anything new on the cholera issue but for the most part I think it is contained and not very close to us. Hopefully the flood waters won't make this condition worse here.


We heard about the hurricane last Saturday. The two days before that ( Thursday and Friday) I had spent 5 hours each afternoon, (after teaching in the morning), in the MRE food tent organizing everything. It was a very hot tent and I had a back ache for many days from staying bent over under the low tent for so long.


Then on Saturday, with less than 24 hours of enjoying the results of my hard work, we were emptying and taking down the tents...including the MRE tent. Sadly all of my hard work was in vain. All the boxes were combined and shoved in any dry area on the property we could find, and almost all of my work was undone.


Then we spent Saturday-Thursday working hard to hurricane proof everything...only for Friday to come with no real hurricane in sight... only some rain. I am thankful that the Category 2 hurricane they predicted did not hit us in our wood buildings and tin roofs. I am thankful that those living in tents still had some shelter at the end of the day. But when we had to turn around and spend all day Saturday working to try to get things back in order... lets just say frustration was nagging at me all day.

I am learning to just roll with it, but the full week ahead of us to make things livable again is not exactly a job I'm looking forward to.

Yet....

My lovely mother, sister Hope, and aunt will be coming in on Tuesday! I am sure that their much needed presence will overshadow any frustration from the seemingly silly, frustrating work.

And even greater still....

The biggest and best news that fills my mind is not the hurricane, the work, or the cholera... The thing that is going to impact my life the most, the thing that I am going to remember, is the things I am learning about God and our faith in His son. I can not explain to you how much my heart has opened up and realized the truths of what the word of God says. I have honestly been in awe of God and who He is for days on end. I don't know what is different here than in the states, but I know that this place or maybe just this time in my life has set my heart to stand in awe of God and who He is like never before. The interesting thing is that when you begin to understand in your soul who God really is, it tests your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Because... The more I grasp the character of God, the more I am sure that I do not want to stand in the presence of an Almighty Holy God, (I found God described as Almighty 40 times in the first 8 chapters of Zechariah), with out the blood of Jesus Christ to cover me.


Another realization that has made its home in my heart is that as children of God we stand in his grace and favor. Not new... but it has really sank into my heart deeply.


I am not... but I know I AM!
(anything) (God)

Love you you all :)

I hope this finds you well and in the hands of God.

Kaitlyn Joy

Hey all :)
Time is flying by here and I cannot believe that tomorrow is the 1st of November, and the fact that it is still HOT here doesn't help.
For anyone interested in praying for us here, Cholera is a problem and now we are facing a hurricane some time mid orlate next week. Please be in prayer not only for us in our wood buildings but for the hundreds of thousands in make shift homes and tent cities.
Kaitlyn Joy