Fun in the Sun

We have been planning and thinking about all of the things we want to do before we leave Haiti.  One of our favorite memories was when we took all of our aunts and children to the beach, so that definitely had to go on the list.  Last week Tuesday was the day.  We talked about it for a few days and I might have been asked over 50 times if indeed, everyone was going to the beach.  Usually the children  have to take turns so they really didn't want to be the one left behind.  We assured them over and over that everyone was going.  

Tuesday morning, after packing way too many towels and many other "just in case" items, eleven children, six aunts, and Dan and I packed into the van and were on our way.  We prayed and sang on the way to the beach.  I love to hear these ladies sing so I will treasure that time.  

Once we arrived, almost everyone went for the water.  Some people like it more than others, but the children definitely spent  more time in the water this time than they did in previous times.  They seem to be getting more used to it and enjoying it.  It was bittersweet to watch all of the children playing together, the aunts interacting with our children, and everyone laughing and playing.  We will miss these times!!  Here are some photos of our day for you to enjoy.

17 Kids and Counting

One of our biggest challenges in house parenting at Children of the Promise was that we were the first. No one had ever done this before.  There was a lot of talking and planning and preparing and ideas but no one had actually lived it.  We had to figure out shopping and who to cook when and how to cook for fourteen people  and what to eat and how to discipline and where to sleep and who to hire and what to call the aunts and how to deal with our biological kids and who gives baths and when do we worship together and so many other things.  And this was amidst learning a new culture and language.  It was overwhelming and we struggled through while feeling like we didn't have a clue.  We asked a lot of questions and kept praying.  Sometimes we cried.

Then came Seth and Melissa Johnson.  They first came and stayed at our house while we went to America for a surgery for Dan and to see family and friends.  Then they moved into the Joy House and became houseparents like us!  Their situation is a little different as they had the opportunity to watch how a house ran and decide what they liked and didn't like and could change it when they were moving into their own house.  They could ask us questions about how we handled things and then they could decide if they wanted to do it the same or differently.    But they did understand better than anyone else what it was like to live in a child home day in and day out.  That there aren't office hours or separation between work and home or any QUIET to be found ANYWHERE.  They comprehend the joys and the trials and the laughter and the tears that happen in the child homes every day.  They understand the love you have for the children, but also the longing you have for them to be placed in their adoptive families as soon as possible.

Seth and Melissa are in America right now and I miss them.  Even if we don't talk every day or just call a "hello" across the dirt road, I still know that they are there.  They understand the craziness in my house because it is happening there too…..I can hear it!   Children of the Promise is growing and changing and there are more people here and soon to be even more people living the life of a houseparent.  I am so grateful that God placed us here and that we survived the first months of muddling through the waters of questions and confusion.  I am so grateful for the people that served alongside of us along the way!

We have tried to do a few photos with the Joy House and anyone who could get 17 children dressed and clean and all willing to sit and smile at a camera is welcome to come and try.  Yes, I did say 17.  Within yards of each others houses without windows.  Silence can be found at 3 am, sometimes.

If you think this looks like a lot of children, you should see what it looks like when they are all running in different directions!!

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

To The River!

One of the main reasons we came to Haiti was because we love our Savior and we want others to know Him.  Somedays in the day to day of changing diapers, cooking dinner, dealing with arguments, and giving baths it is difficult to feel like we are doing that.  But then there are the times when we have a great time of worship with our aunts and children, reading the Bible, singing, and praying together.  There are the times that we can help someone and when they thank us, we can point them to Christ.  Most Sundays Dan preaches at our COTP church and has also preached a number of times in Haitian churches.  There are discussions about Jesus and what he did for us.  There are the gifts of Bibles we have been able to give with the help of many of you.  There are the countless people we have met in the village or through friends and we can help them because of the church offerings or in other ways.  There are the funerals that have been conducted with the comfort of Jesus' love through difficulty being spoken.  Dan has built relationships with many others beyond the walls of Children of the Promise.  He loves to interact with people and get to know them and their life story.  Many times this brings much sadness and a heaviness that is difficult, but it has also taught us about life in a way we would have never known without these experiences.  

Dan was recently asked to baptize two individuals.  He has been asked this before and has always encouraged the person to go to their own Haitian pastor to do this so they are connected with their church.  This opportunity was different as their pastor asked Dan to baptize them because he was sick and couldn't go down into the water.  One of these individuals was a woman whom we love dearly.  Her name is Evane and she works in our home.  We work alongside her every day and have great respect for her.  One of her quotes is a highlight of our time here.  She said, "You help us walk with Jesus."  She will always be like a sister to us.

The other person was Carmello.  He has been attending Dan's Bible/English class for the past year and came to saving faith in Jesus Christ on New Year's Eve. It was a joyful day and a privilege to be a part of these moments.  

Evane walking into the water with Dan.

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Our friend Papito translating for Dan

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Our friend Peter with Malachi and Zion

Dan and I with Evane

Dan, Pastor Cola, Papito, Evane, and Carmello

Our friend Magalie,  Nevenson, Jadyn, and Zion

Our friends, Jason and Stacy, happened to be here the day of the baptism.  It was great to share this experience with them!  It was a hot day and they were able to experience the fun of a REALLY crowded truck in the Haiti heat with a lot of singing.   Then walking down a rocky, weedy path to a spot in the river that was chosen for the baptism.  It was joyful and emotional.  On the way home there was again a lot of singing….and after our Haitian friends sang for a while they decided it was our turn.  That day is one of my favorite memories of their trip.  

We Love Noel!

Sometime last year I posted pictures of some of the kids riding Jadyn's horse, Noel.  They love her.  They love to point out where she is eating each morning, walk out with Jade to pet her, help "papa" bring her water, and pretend they are a horse while they are playing.  It is fun to see their different reactions to animals and how they continue to grow in their comfort levels with them.  I hope you enjoy these photos!

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Long overdue update!

It is difficult to believe that it has really been over three months since I have updated our blog.  Life stays busy here in the Grace House and we are never bored!  There is laughter and tears, dishes and cooking, laundry and paperwork, playing and fighting, praying and seeking, and we are striving to offer GRACE to each other every day.

Dan recently returned from Florida for some medical testing he needed to do and we are all happy to have him back.  We are talking more and more often here about moving back to America and what that means for each of us.  We talk about possibilities for work, leaving people we love, returning to people we love, fears, excitement, what we look forward to, and what we will miss.  We know that we will need some time to transition back to life in America and also to be "the Willis family" again.  It will be two and a half years since we have been in a house with just the seven of us and no extras when we return in June.   At this point we plan to take some time reconnecting as a family and spending some time with extended family.  During that time we will continue to pursue job possibilities for Dan and trust that God will show us His will for the next phase in our life.

Several people have asked us what we need and how you can help us as we move forward.  First and foremost we would love your prayers.  This will be a major transition for all of us and it will involve some grieving.  We have loved and cared for and invested in these five little children for over two years and now we will be saying goodbye.  There are many more people we will be leaving also, and a beautiful country we have grown to love.  Please pray for our Haitian children, the aunts, the new family that will care for them, and their adoptive families.  We could also use your financial help to finish here in Haiti and then to transition to work in America.    We have always hesitated to ask, but a friend recently told me that if we do not ask, people do not know how they can help.  If this is a way you would like to help, please contact one of us and we can point you in the right direction.  Your gift can go through Children of the Promise and be tax deductible.  Thank you for all of your encouraging words, prayers and gifts while we have been here in Haiti.  And I promise to write more posts and show you more pictures in the near future!  I will leave you with some photos that our friend Jenna took a few months ago.  Aren't these children precious?

We are quite the crew!

The "triple threat"

The girls

Best buds

Sweet relationships

The beauty of the open road

We can't take a walk without the cows!

The milk man photo bomb! 

Love!

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Our Haitian Sisters

I wrote a post over a year ago about the aunts that work in our home.  As I reread it, I was thinking many of the same things.  You can read it under "Meet Our Aunts" in a blog from 2013.  After the past two years of working with four of the same women,  adding one regular one last year and a substitute that works a few times a month this year, we are so blessed.
  
I still wish I had my own space.  I still long to work in a kitchen by myself without worrying about what someone else would prefer.  I still wish we could have a "quiet" family meal together more often. I still would like more alone time.  And I still wish that the aunts that work in our home didn't have to hear EVERYTHING that goes on in this house!

There are so many things I love about these ladies, though!  One of them goes back and forth with Gabe all the time about who is the best soccer team.  They are always comparing scores and teasing one another about their favorite player.  She  can also calm an irate toddler better than anyone I have ever met.  That is a valuable skill here!  Another spends a lot of time with Zion Hope.  She lets her help cook or just sits and chats with her on the front porch while they are all playing.  She will sit and hold Ezechiel and sing for a long time in the afternoon.   A strong spiritual presence is a strength of another one of our aunts.  She loves the Lord and it is clear in her actions, her singing, and her dedication to reading her Bible.  She works hard every day.  There is the strong, steady one.  The one you can count on to be there when you need her, you know she has your back, and she appreciates your efforts and affirms you when you need it.  She can tell when we are missing family and will step in when we get tired or weary.  We sing often in the Grace House.  During family worship, while doing dishes or mopping, and while sitting on the porch with the children.  We have an aunt who loves to sing and it is a joy to listen to her voice.  She makes the other aunts laugh when she is here, and brings a lightness to the day.  Lastly, we have a sub that is only here a few times per month.  She speaks great English and it is so nice to just ask her for help when trying to convey something when I don't know the correct word.    She is kind and patient and is easy to have around. 

We love these ladies.  Our children, all of them, love these ladies.  They have been key adults in their lives and I never would have known how they would connect with them.  I love them.  They are precious to us.  I have said it before……they see us at our worst and still love us.
  
We took them out for lunch a few weeks ago and told them about our plans to leave Haiti this summer. That we feel that God is calling us back to the United States.  It was hard.  At one point Dan looked at me and told me he wasn't going to do it.  He pleaded with me, "Let's just wait for another time".  But he did.  He explained things well.  He told them that we love them and that Haiti will always be in our hearts.  That we want to stay connected to them.  They told us things, too.  Things about Haiti, their difficulties, and they were sad, but they understood.  They asked questions about our future and about who would live at the Grace House.  We laughed together.  We teased one another.  We decided to make the next several months a precious time together.  To pray for one another.  To treasure the time. Will you pray that we can indeed treasure the time? That we won't live in the past or in the future.  That we will indeed appreciate the blessings of each other.