Greetings from snowy Northern Michigan!  As I look over past blog posts, most of them contain pictures in a climate so different from this one.  We are eagerly looking forward to spring in the Willis home.  And we also know that, God willing, we will experience some of that tropical climate in less than a month, despite what happens in Northern Michigan.

Yes, we are returning to Haiti. Not to live, but to volunteer. This trip has been long anticipated.  There were so many times we were tempted to jump on a plane and we talked about so many possibilities.  We obviously have been settling into our work and life here, and we were also waiting for most of our "Haitian children" to go to their adoptive homes.  Praise God that this has happened for four of them!  And please keep praying for precious Ezechiel.  We know that he is well cared for in the Promise House, but we also long for a permanent family for him.  

We are going to Haiti with our family, several members of our church in Kalkaska, and also a missionary couple that our church supports that are currently doing ministry in the Caribbean.  We will be staying and volunteering at Children of the Promise doing whatever jobs we can help with there and Dan and some of the group will also be doing a pastor's conference for local pastors.

This trip has been the topic of much conversation in our home over the past months.  Why can't we stay longer?  What will we be doing?  Who will we spend most of our time with?  Can we play soccer?  Can we play with the kids?  What if we get really sad about leaving again?  We all have special people in our minds that we want to see and reconnect with.  We have visions of riding into Lagossette and all the flood of feelings and emotions.  Some of us are extremely excited about eating Haitian food again.  Taking a walk on the road through the village is definitely on the list.  We are all looking forward to this trip and are excited, but we also know that we will have many other emotions.  We miss this culture and these people.  What can we do to help?  Why are there so many hurting people?  Why couldn't we adopt?  Are we going to grieve again like we did before?  As you can tell, we have a lot of emotions about Haiti and our time there!

How can you help?  PRAY!  Pray for our hearts.  Pray that we will be open to whatever God wants to teach us while we are there.  Pray that we can be servants and serve well.  Pray for unity in the group and building of relationships.  Pray for safety and health.  Pray for people in the group that are experiencing a third world country for the first time.  Pray that God provides the money needed for the trip.  So many of you have been a vital part of our journey as we lived and served in Haiti.  We so appreciate all of you who have encouraged us and prayed for us for years.  We are grateful.