Thank You is Not Nearly Enough!

Dear Friends & Family,


Albert Einstein once said, "The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving." If this is the case, you are all worth your weight in gold. Dominic and I received piles of boxes from our friends and families. You truly poured out your love onto Haiti. Each week the boxes we gave away were replaced by more, and we have been able to give constantly to those around us since the day of the earthquake. This would of never been possible without all of our friends and families at home who took their time and money and packed up boxes to send to us on a regular basis.

 One of the places we gave items to on a regular basis was the World Reap for Christ Church. One of my co-workers, Jeudy, is a preacher there. He and his wife run the church, a school, a clinic, and a training program. After the earthquake, Jeudy had over 30 people living at his home. His daughter had been critically injured, and his wife had accompanied her to the U.S. for several months during her recovery. His daughter is still in the United States recieving physical therapy, but Jeudy and his family are praying and believing that she will walk again. 


Several weeks ago, Jeudy and his wife Miriam came to our house on a Saturday morning. They asked if they could schedule a weekend to show us what the items we had donated had done for them. We had not idea what sort of celebration that we were agreeing to, just that they wanted us to help them pass out some items to the children. We agreed along with our roommate Brittany who had passed along many items from her friends and family.


The weekend before last, Jeudy met us at our home and we followed him to his home. It is in the process of being repaired from the earthquake, they have filled in many of the holes in his home. 
Jeudy was so thrilled to have us there.

He took us to the back of the house, where many of the supplies we had given had been organized into small bags according to the ages of the children. These were the gifts we were to be giving.

 As always, I am amazed by the resilience of Haitians and the heart they have for their people and their country. I will forever been amazed by Jeudy, who in the midst of the crisis in his own life, showed up at the embassy every day and helped me get water to American citizens when the citizens of his own church had lost everything. His heart is shining with love for people, and an example of how each of us should live.

Jeudy took us to see the clinic where they treat people who are ill and do training courses. Miriam is a nutritionist who trains people from the mountains on nutrition, healthy living, and basic medical training.

We also saw the school which has been seriously damaged. The children have been doing school on the church grounds as the building is too damaged to use. Jeudy's dream is to have a compound where the school, church, and clinic can coexist instead of separate properties.

I cannot tell you how surprised I felt when Dom, Brittany, and I walked through the gate of the church. There were so many children! Truly, I don't think that we had any idea how far the items would go when we gave them to Jeudy. The children were so excited to be there, many of them had traveled since early that morning to get to the church for the event. And then the festivities began! We were welcomed with open arms by Jeudy's church, the children sang, the adults sang, the teenagers danced, they had a full band. It truly was a great celebration.

Towards then end we were asked to speak to the group, and then we helped pass out the gift bags to the children. Those bags had just the basics, flip flops, hats, soap, toothbrushes, and an occasional toy. But they were so excited to get them! A few kids answered some bible trivia correctly and got a big gift!

It was a joyous day my friends! But none of it would of been possible if each of you hadn't packed up boxes and sent them our way. Please share this blog with the friends of friends who helped as well. We got so many boxes from people we didn't know, I would love for them to see that they truly touch lives with the items they sent. Dom and I are so blessed to have all of you looking over our shoulder in our times of need, those boxes were you wrapping your arms around us when we needed to feel your love. Thank you all for that!