Mark-Day 23 (M.B. Go Home…Not Yet!)

Day 23 – Monday, March 12th

Relentless Scripture:  Eph 2:19

Relentless Focus: Aliens – M. B. go Home, not yet!

Relentless Example: “… no longer strangers and aliens …”

Well, this is the start of my fourth week here in Pignon, Haiti. It’s still hard to believe that I’m really here. Sometimes it feels like a dream, as I wake up disoriented trying to figure out… O.K., who stole my room, bed and pillows? Oh, my God, they stole my wife, too! Although I’m somewhat getting used to those dogs and roosters communicating all night, I’ll never get used to those Horney Donkeys copulating with great intensity and volume outside my bedroom windows. That in itself is enough to make a brother go mad like the prophet … it’s just wrong!

The four guys from Virginia left this morning, headed home to be with their families, friends, jobs, and ministries. However, like E.T., I am feeling like an alien, and even though I’m having fun and have made some new friends, sometimes I just want to go home. Like the Apostle Paul, I do miss all of you who have been supporting my efforts during this pilgrimage, especially my wife Jill. She’s been a gracious wife and a great supporter of both me and Loving Haiti.

Please continue to pray for me and Jill during our time apart. We believe God has called me here and there’s still much work left to do. Also, in case you didn’t know, we’re still praying and pursuing the possibility of adoption. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

Anyway, today marks a special day in my family. My oldest son Nathan and my youngest daughter Abby share a birthday on this day, March 12^th. So I would like to give a Haitian shout out to them … Happy Birthday! I love you and miss you.

You know, I can see my entire family down here putting on a family camp for these kids one day. Nate’s a natural comic, one of the funniest persons I know. He would have these kids in stitches with his sounds, imitations and skits. Rachel, my oldest daughter, is naturally gifted at teaching young kids and very talented in the arts and crafts arena. She would bring therapeutic fun and learning to these kids who love arts and crafts. And Abby (also known as M.C., which is what Jill, I and her husband Denny call her, the MC standing for Medical Condition)–she loves Health Education and its practices, along with nutrition and fitness. She would function well as the compound nurse, fitness and nutrition coordinator. My wife and I would do what we do best … being Bubba and Nana to all of these kids.

You know, birthdays in Haiti are not really celebrated, at least not within this compound, like they are back in the States, for reasons I can surely understand. Some of these kids don’t really arrive with a birth certificate or know when their birthdays are; others have and do.

So during dinner tonight with Pastor François, I asked if he would be open to a once-a- month orphanage birthday celebration.  The kids for whom we know their birthdays, we’ll celebrate them in the month in which they occur, but those we don’t, we’ll celebrate their arrival dates to this Orphanage in the same month. So Pastor’s going the collect the data and we’re going to give it a try. One way or another, it’s a great way of celebrating God’s goodness and grace in our lives, helping us all feel less alienated.

Tangible Need: A special birthday gift provided for every kid in their month of celebration.

Pray for Loving Haiti: Kids are valued and their lives are worth celebrating!

Pray for Me:  Mission’s Blues … I don’t know how these missionaries and military personnel do it sometimes, obviously through God’s calling and His strength.