Archive for the ‘Organizations we Source’ Category

On our recent trip to Haiti, we had the awesome privilege of delivering beautifully made aprons to the nannies at Maison des Enfants de Dieu (Maison), an orphange that we source through another sourcing organization called For His Glory.  For His Glory carries all the responsibility for the needs of Maison.  The President, Kim Harmon had asked if we could help with this project.

The aprons were a true gift of love and hard work.  First, the fabric was donated by Edith from Kansas, then the pattern was cut by Darlene in Rhode Island, and finally the 40 aprons were sewn together by Deborah in Illinois.

My sister Debbie and I visited with the nannies and when we showed them the aprons they were delighted.  We assisted them in putting them on and gave each room their own color.  Though the fabric pattern was the same, we had been given it in many colors which allowed for some choices for the ladies.

Here are some pictures of the event.

Our apron project continues as the number of nannies at Maison continues to grow.  Darlene is presently working on a sample that we are considering for our next design.  The number of aprons needed this time is in the 60′s.  If you are interested in being part of the apron project please feel free to contact Darlene Hurst.  She is the sewing coordinator for Homebound Missions and serves on our Board of Directors.

Before the earthquake Heartline Ministries was an orphange with an adoption program, a birthcenter and a sewing school.  There was more that I am not mentioning.  After the earthquake the children went to be with their adopting parents and they became a hospital, a birthcenter and a sewing school.

When the earthquake occured Heartline itself experienced a shift in their paradigm.  The children were gone, but hundreds of hurting, maimed, sick, and frightened people needed medical care immediately.  John, Beth, Troy, Tara and many others gave everything they had to meet these new challenges, and even today they still have several patients living in their make shift hospital because they have no home to go to.

As if they were not doing enough, they also started raising money and working towards building homes for their homeless patients.  I overheard John joking that he could not get the people to go home so he decided to build them houses.

Now Heartline realizes that they cannot just stop being a hospital.  The Haitian people still need them in this capacity.  So, once again they are raising funds to meet this need.  If you watch the Livesay blog, which I encourage you to do often, you will even notice they spare no expense to make these fundraising events fun.

Join in the fun, get John his much needed hair cut, and build a hospital.  Be part of the Gwo Cheve Challenge.  You can make this happen!

BEFORE     AFTER

New Life * New Challenge * New Opportunities

Used with permission from The Livesay’s Blog

In the pre-natal program we fast track all teens in as quickly as possible. We always have a wait list but when a teen-mom shows up she goes to the top of the list.

This beautiful young woman named Adema joined us only 3 weeks ago; we haven’t known her long.  According to the dates she gave us we thought we had quite a while to work with her and get her ready to be a mom.  We thought we had time for prenatal care, spiritual guidance and time for her to grow and come to trust us.  Her dates were wrong.  Earlier this week she came to the door in labor at 6:30 AM; we prepared for a preemie.  We called Doctor Jen and an OB nurse to join us for the labor and delivery.  We brought out all the “big guns” at our disposal.  We were extremely relieved when the baby was small but not premature.
Mama and baby are both tiny.  Adema looks like she should be playing with dolls not raising a baby in a third world country.  Although both mom and baby were okay after the delivery we knew we could not send them home.  We added Adema and baby to the hospital population and started a mentoring program with our other teen moms,  including Djenie. (Many of you prayed for Djenie and her baby Kenny in the weeks after the earthquake. Thank you!)

Djenie explained that her baby, Kenny, had been small as well and now he is chubby, happy and developmentally on target.  Djenie has taken her job seriously and is full of advice, help and friendship.  She knows how it feels, she was there eight months ago.

This is exactly how our program was meant to work.  Women come and receive help, make positive changes in their lives and then help others.  They become examples in their own communities and make a difference.

Adema is now part of our hospital community.  Other moms are gently scolding her for not breast feeding long enough.  Others are watching out for her.  Doctor Jen is tending to the baby’s legs which are deformed.

While in Haiti, I had the opportunity to get a tour of the Heartline Birthcenter which is near and dear to my heart.  As many of you know, I witnessed a woman die in childbirth on one of my visits to Haiti, because (as I was told) no one had come in to pay.  I would have gladly paid, but unfortunately, I was too late.

You and I no longer have to worry about being too late, as  Homebound Missions has had the awesome occasion to source the Heartline Birthcenter, and we can move towards doing even more.

I could tell you all about the birthcenter and how it is so important to the women of Haiti, but I want you to get to know it more personally.  I want you to read the stories for yourself, so that you too will understand what the Heartline Birthcenter truly is.

I also want you to understand why it isn’t enough.  We need to offer more to do it right.  Heartline needs to move forward and build a 20 bed hospital.  This will provide for not only the women who are unable to complete their birth at the center due to complications, it will help many others.  It will create a continuity of care unheard of in Haiti.

I want you to learn more about Heartline Ministries in general.  Sign up to receive their newsletter, watch their blog, go to Livesay’s blog as they post frequently about the birthcenter, and occasionally Beth will guest blog.  Be a part of it in an intimate relational way.

People often mistake missions as being something that missionaries do; something that requires ministerial skill and or a calling, but missions is really just taking what you have and using it to serve others.

That is how we came about our, Day of Beauty.  While we were preparing to go to Haiti, Magnalie came to me wanting  to serve or give to the people in Haiti.  She had a vague idea of what she might do and then I offered this, “Let’s take what you have and use that to serve.”  What does Magnalie have?  Well, she has hairdressing skills and can also do manicures and pedicures.   I then suggested, “How about if we do a day of beauty for the ladies who are going to the Women’s Program at Heartline?”  We had our idea and presented it to Beth who runs the Women’s Program.  She loved it, so we set off to get all the things we would need for our day of beauty.

We purchased shampoo, condition, hair emollients, nail polish, soaking salts, nail clippers and more.  We had everything we needed to love on these ladies and make them feel like they were truly daughters of the Most High.

Magnalie, along with the help of her sisters Rebecca and Alexandria did the shampoo and conditioning treatments.  They also did the beautiful braiding.  Debbie in an instant became the manicurist, soaking the ladies fingertips, moisturizing their hands and applying polish.  I washed the ladies feet and gave them a trim and polish.

Here is the thing; we just had a great time as you will see by the photos below.   They are compliments of Beth, who graciously took them for us.  When your busy working, you miss a lot of details and looking at the photos was such a joy for us.  We are so thankful that we have them to remember our day.

On this trip to Haiti we stayed at the Heartline Guest House.  When we first made the decision to stay there our thoughts were that we would be encouraging and supporting Heartline.  This was not to be the case.  As soon as John learned we had booked our stay he had all our moneys refunded to us and insisted that Debbie and I stay compliments of them.  It was a WOW moment for me.

We were not only blessed by the fact that we didn’t have to pay, but in my opinion we stayed at a place that rated better than a five star hotel.  Debbie and I referred to it as our home the entire week, as this is what it felt like to us.

The moment we arrived you couldn’t help but notice the sparkle and clean.  The guest house was nicely decorated with lots of fans in each room.  We were greeted by Chris and Bev, who graciously poured ice water for us.  We were dehydrated by the excessive heat at the airport.

Each morning we awakened to breakfast set out at the table; each evening we arrived home in time for dinner at 6:00pm.  The meals were fabulous.  My sister teased me the entire trip that I have people and when I got home everyone was going to have to remind me, I no longer have people, but honestly the only people I was grieving was Bev and her delicious cooking.  The meals were enjoyable every evening.

The beds were comfortable.  The bathrooms were spacious and clean.  Each room had at least 2 fans and we did not miss the air conditioning of the hotel at all.

Chris and Bev truly did make our stay over the top.  What great host and hostess they are.  They are fun and interesting to talk to, they will even indulge you (a later story), and they feel like friends you have had your entire life.

Thank you Heartline Ministries; thank you Chris and Bev, your gracious hospitality will not be forgotten.