- Abraham Lincoln
I LOVE LIFE! This love of life is not referring to just my own journey and adventure; this LOVE for life goes far beyond that. A fire in my heart starts blazing when I have the honor of working in the trenches for the sheer survival of another human being. I like the hard work, the tough decisions, the critical thinking, and the fight of life vs. death. God designed me this way. He did not miss a thing... He gave me just the right amount of persevering energy, compassion yet emotional stability, and desire to help those who cannot help themselves. This is what I've discovered about God-- He creates people for specific purposes, then gives them the life experiences and discipline to discover their place in serving Him.
Haiti--- Oh, how that word brings me to life! If you want to see me light up like never before, just ask me about Haiti. God chose me to torture this way :). You see, I cannot just ignore the passion He put inside me for this country. That would certainly be the easy way around all this. I'd be satisfied hearing the stories from a far and shake my head at the injustice. I'd have a nice safe apartment in a flourishing community, sipping Starbucks while watching The Bachelor. I would even probably donate money or pack food for the hungry. I would be safe. Comfortable. Clean. Prosperous. But the truth is that God designed me perfectly for something.... something so much bigger than myself.
He knew about the orphans in Haiti, the severely malnourished babies that weighed 7lbs at a year old, the poverty-stricken communities desperate for medical care too expensive for them to afford. He saw their physical suffering from starvation, AIDs, burns, rape, and disease. God also knew the parentless babies longing for arms to comfort them and He heard the hurting women's silenced voice. God does not ignore this injustice. The God I serve is honestly merciful, just, and powerful. He did not leave these people to suffer without hope. Oh no! Instead, He shaped some people who have a heart to give generously, some people who lead with unbelievable character in their homes, and some people who love to get their hands dirty in the middle of it all. Between those who pray, give, and serve in the trenches, we are His hands and feet that feed the hungry and wash the wounds of the "untouchables".
After spending time this summer experiencing firsthand the need that captivates Haiti, I have decided to pursue a path that would allow me to spend time making a difference in the lives of those that struggle to even survive another day. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, facing challenges we as Americans can hardly imagine. During my visit to Haiti this summer, there was a woman who begged us to buy her newborn baby off of the street. In a land where we cherish our children to no end, this seemed overwhelming bizarre to me. Yet Haitians often have nothing- no opportunities to work, no food, no water, no medical care, no way to provide a life for a family, and no home. Yet, the Haitian children that are brought into this heartbreaking world of poverty are not a mistake, a nuisance, or a tragedy; instead, they are truly priceless, beautiful, and deserving of love and survival. I fully believe that the orphans, considered the “least of these”, will someday be revealed by God as an opportunity to touch, serve, and glorify him on earth. The infants that I will be working with have a desperate need for medical care, as they are often hanging on to life by just a thread.
In a country where premature, severely malnourished, or infants with special needs can be just left to die because there was no way to care for them, there is an essential need to use my nursing skills to save these fragile lives. I have decided to take a year-long volunteer nursing position in Cap Haitien, Haiti, working with an organization called Children of the Promise. My job will be working with critically sick babies in a Christian infant care center called a “Creche”. The infants are often experiencing severe malnourishment, prematurity in third world country, or any other type of condition requiring life-saving care. On top of caring for these precious lives, there will be opportunities to provide medical care for the community that otherwise would have no options and serve shifts at the Cholera clinic. I also will be reaching out to pregnant women, working especially to decrease the transmission of HIV from mother to baby. Lord willing, this will decrease the amount of children facing the death sentence of AIDs.
In America, we have so many resources and willing people to help the needy. In Haiti, countless lives are lost to disease, starvation, and extreme poverty. American hospitals can afford to pay nurses, but Haitian infant care centers that help such desperate newborns cannot, as they are funding around fifty children to live each day. I will be raising all funds needed to carry out this special task I have ahead of me. For serving over a year, I need to raise ten thousand dollars. This blog is not intended to put any pressure on you to help support me, it is simply an opportunity to give you a glimpse of the genuine need that Haiti experiences.hat As a nurse, I am able to fight for these infants in the sense of basic survival- a chance to live when otherwise sure death would ensue due to malnourishment, prematurity, or special needs. I simply want to provide you an opportunity to be a part of live-saving measures for such precious children. If supporting me financially is something you would be excited to do, contact me and I will let you know the next step for your tax-deductible donation. I am leaving February 11th for a three month time frame, coming home for just less than a month, and then leaving to spend a year in Haiti. You can help me immensely by praying for my time there, that I will be able to touch lives in ways that God has created me so passionately about.
I will continue writing about my experiences once I am there. This experience will be challenging, demanding, and rigorous. Yet this passion to help save these priceless children is not something I can ignore, and I know that God will see me through. Thank you for your involvement in my life—you are appreciated to no end! The last time I left Haiti, the orphans pleaded for us to never forget them… I can show them that we have not.
Information about Children of the Promise can be found at http://www.childrenofthepromise.org/
