In Haiti Together…Finally
As you probably already know if you follow All Things New, our family is together in Haiti for the first time ever! When Sophie was born, we thought that we would be in Haiti by February, but we were definitely wrong. Now, however, everything is in place and Jess, Sophie, and I are finally consistently in the same country! We have been here for a week, and as you can imagine things have been exceedingly busy. We will keep you updated much more often now that we are settling into somewhat of a routine, but I wanted to just write a quick blog to give you an idea of what has been going on and to let you know that we have not forgotten to keep you in All Things New loop.
The first thing I am sure everyone is wondering is, “How is Sophie?” Well, Sophie is doing really well actually. She is hot, she is cutting a new tooth (her fourth), and she is in a brand new place but she really seems to be adjusting. She loves the kids and they love her. Some of them, of course, are a little jealous of her, but they all love her. The ones who kind of stick out in terms of how often they want to interact with her are BiGuedy (who Sophie adores), Dinna, and Son Son. The little ones of course love her and are in her face constantly, but those three have taken a special interest in her. We will eventually teach them that they do not need to be that close to her face all of the time, and that she does need some personal space, but right now they love her and are all over her. Sophie also really loves her stroller here. She could sit in it all day and never get upset and she has enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and meeting new people. It is so funny, she almost always laughs and smiles any time she meets someone new.
The kids were very excited to see Jessica for the first time. It was really funny and cute. There was a “welcome” sign on our front door and there were a few at the kids’ house also, and when Jess walked up she was showered with cards that the kids had made for her. I know Jess is going to write a blog about this sometime, but I cannot imagine how the last week has been for her. Moving her 6 month old to a new country, getting a house ready and organized that she had never seen before, not having clean water, and figuring out how to be a part of our kids’ life while taking care of a baby. She is doing great, and I am excited to see how GOD will continue to use her.
We are also getting used to solar electricity, water that has to be filtered and chlorinated, a washing machine that seems to be making our clothes dirtier, a constant knock at our front door now from visitors who mostly ask us for a job, and the consistent struggle of no hot water and no a/c (remember Jess has not worried about this for 7 months and Sophie has never known life without it). Really, we are just getting used to life on our own for the first time here. Up to this point, we have lived at Christianville and Hope Rising and this is our first time out on our own. There are challenges for sure, but we (us and our children) have a home for the first time down here!
With all of the challenges that the first week has provided (and there are many others that I have not mentioned) it is clear that we are in the right place and that GOD has brought us here for a reason. Please continue to pray for us as we learn to live here as a family, take care of Sophie and the rest of our kids, run our organization, and continue to seek GOD’s will for the future of All Things New. There are many things in the works right now, but they are difficult to get to with everything else going on. Please stay tuned to see how GOD is shaping our future and how you can get involved, but for now please pray for us as we adjust to life in Haiti with Sophie, Gueline, Yolmenda, Misthafa, BiGuedy, Dinna, Hiwerli, Malayika, Fedeline, Gladine, Herbison, Woodly, Kervinson, Apolon, Tony, Woodlerxe, Son Son, Maekin, Vageley, Mivinsley, Chinaider, Angena, Milouse, Kin Kin, Fransline, and Nythsonne.