Thursday, June 19, 2008

So Glad God is in Control!

I've been struggling on how to write this for the past few days, and decided I just need to do it. We are so grateful for all your prayers on Aline's behalf. Despite all of our efforts to find out what was wrong with her, she passed away early on Sunday morning. It is at times like this that we are so glad our Heavenly Father is in control of things, and even though we don't understand everything, we can rest in the fact that He knows and does what is best for us all.

We are also very grateful for the chance we had to have Aline in our home for the past 8 months, and for the chance we had to share the Gospel with her multiple times. In each of our conversations with her about Jesus, Aline assured us that she was a believer, and had accepted Jesus as her Savior. Her life showed the peace and joy that only he can give in the midst of such terrible suffering. She was a joy to have here, she loved to sing praises to the Lord, and knew all the words to the songs we sing with the kids here, we miss her, but know she is much better off now, and that her suffering is over. Please continue to pray for her family, they are not believers and they are sure someone put a curse on their family (this is the second child they've lost in 2 years).

Our trip to the Dominican Republic went really well. Once again we were able to see God in control of everything, as He worked out all the details of this trip. He provided a friend of ours to be able to purchase our flight tickets in Port-au-Prince. Then He worked it out so Darlene Rimer, a CrossWorld missionary, was visiting Santo Domingo the same day we were to arrive. She picked us up at the airport, took us to our hotel, then picked us up the next day to take us to the UK Embassy. She was such a huge help to us, I really don't know what we'd have done without her, as none of us speak any Spanish. Then she set it up for a taxi to take us back to the airport the next day as she needed to return to her home. She is pictured here with Linda, St. Germain and myself.

We had such a fun time. We ate hamburgers and fries at Burger King, and ice cream at Baskin-Robbins! We shopped in their Colonial tourist district, and even got some rest in our nice Hotel. It's amazing the difference it makes when you only have one "kid" with you instead of 40 or 50! You can see St. Germain and Linda sitting in the courtyard of our hotel in this picture.






















Of course we had the appointment at the Embassy as well, the real reason for our trip! We were a bit discouraged after the appointment, because it seemed like we had gone through a lot of steps for nothing. All they did was take Linda's fingerprints and picture; no questions, or comments, just fingerprints and a picture! Once we were finished there we came back to Haiti, and sent off the paperwork to the UK Embassy in New York. They told us we'd have to wait 15-20 working days to find out if she got the visa to visit the UK.

Early yesterday morning, I received an e-mail that the Embassy in New York had received her paperwork, and after reviewing them, they thought it would only take 5 days to decide if she'd receive the visa or not. Then yesterday afternoon they wrote back and said they were finished deciding, and that they had granted her a visa! Wow, there's God in control once again! As you can imagine we were very excited, as we've been working on this for months now. So, it feels good to have a positive outcome for all the work we've done. So, be listening to hear about our trip to the UK this coming fall.

Well, school is officially over, and to celebrate, we sent some of our younger kids off on a day trip to a beach not far from the HOH. Vitania, the teacher we hire to teach the younger children planned the day, and supervised the trip for them. They had an incredible time, just playing in the sand, kicking a ball, running around, and a few even went in the ocean. They had an incredible time, as you can see by the smiles on their faces.
Our 6th and 9th grade students are finished writing the government exams, and now the waiting begins for them to find out if they passed or not. If they don't pass, they have to stay in that grade until they can pass the exam. Over the next two weeks, the grades 12 and 13 with write their exams. Unfortunately if they don't pass, they are not allowed to remain in school until they do pass the exams which are given every 6 months or so. So there is a lot more pressure on them to pass their exams, and I know they'll appreciate your prayers.

So, the next week and a half is going to be full of activity as I prepare for my next trip. You'll remember I told you about a seminar I was going to attend in Portland, OR during the month of July. I'd appreciate your prayers as I try and get homework done that they gave us to complete before the seminar. Pray also for safety as I travel, for the HOH and Linda as I'll be gone for 4 whole weeks, again; and also pray that I would learn as much as I can during this month, and that it would be very helpful for our ministry here in Haiti and at the HOH.

2 comments:

Heather Kibler said...

Hi Jenny,
Thank you so much for being willing to take the time to blog & keep us all updated on what's going on at the HOH. We were all so very sad to hear about Aline. Yet, at the same time, we are relieved to know that she is with the Lord and no longer in pain. I know I wasn't the only person on our team who was touched by her special heart and her sense of peace & contentment in the midst of such a difficult struggle. We are all praying for you, Linda, the kids, and especially Aline's family... and we thank God along with you that he is in control!
Blessings,
Heather

Kerry Henry said...

Hi Jenny,

Thank you for keeping us up to date. I think about the HoH often and am praying for you, Linda, and the kids. I'll be praying for Aline's family now, especially that God will open the doors to their hearts to accept him. Hope to come back next year.

God Bless!
Kerry