Praise God for Answered Prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Megan and Gabriel.  Pray as she works to get him back.

-  The Son of God Orphanage was closed down.  Um.... this is a miracle.  I mean, this just doesn't happen in Haiti.  Only a couple days after our friend Megan Boudreaux asked for your help signing the petition to close it down, she had a meeting at the presidential palace.  The next day Haitian authorities removed the children from the orphanage.  The Associated Press covered the story: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Haiti-closes-orphanage-for-child-neglect-2229995.php#photo-1688710  As you can see, these kids are scared.  That could be the only home they've ever known.  PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THEM!  Continue to pray for Megan too.  Here is the link to her most recent post: http://blessedwithaburden.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/as-the-dust-settles…/  She and others are still trying to locate 34 children that should have been at the orphanage!  

Moses

- Baby Moses has a family!!!  All I know is his dad is a surgeon and his mom's name is Lisa.  What awesome people to adopt a special needs baby!  PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT HE'D BE WITH THEM SOON!  The process can take awhile, and he needs to start getting therapy.  I'm sure the Livesays will have updates soon on their blog: http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com 

Rachel caught me working hard unpacking.

-  We moved into our new place and all have our own rooms!  No longer will Sarah wake us up at 6AM to go to the cafe.  No longer will I wake them up at 4AM as I clean up from painting.  All our new friends in Bristol have been so generous housing us while we waited for our place to be finished.  None of us have furniture here either because we don't know how long we'll be in Bristol.  So many people here we've just met have donated furniture.  Without them I'd continue to sleep on the floor.

-  I get to spend Sunday to Thursday at USC!!!!! HOW AWESOME IS MY JOB?!  I am meeting with some big people to talk about USC students getting involved with SafeWorldNexus.  If we could start a partnership between SafeWorld and Carolina, I think all of my desires on this earth would be fulfilled.  

Psalm 34

¹ I will extol the LORD at all times;
   his praise will always be on my lips. 
² I will glory in the LORD;
   let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 
³ Glorify the LORD with me;
   let us exalt his name together.
 ⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
   he delivered me from all my fears. 
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
   their faces are never covered with shame. 
⁶ This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
   he saved him out of all his troubles. 
⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
   and he delivers them.
 ⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
   blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 
⁹ Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
   for those who fear him lack nothing. 
¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
   but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 
¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
   I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 
¹² Whoever of you loves life
   and desires to see many good days, 
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from telling lies. 
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.
 ¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
   and his ears are attentive to their cry; 
¹⁶ but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
   to blot out their name from the earth.
 ¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
   he delivers them from all their troubles. 
¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
 ¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
   but the LORD delivers him from them all; 
²⁰ he protects all his bones,
   not one of them will be broken.
 ²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
   the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 
²² The LORD will rescue his servants;
   no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
-  There are a lot of other personal prayers and prayers for SafeWorld I'm watching God answer.  It. is. insane.  If you have prayer requests, I tell ya now's the month to ask them.  I think in America we are so easily distracted, and brought up thinking if you just work harder, find the right self-help book, things will come together, when what we need to do is STOP.  It's not about us.  We're here for God.  Ask Him.  Enjoy Him.  He's smarter than us.  He'll do something we never thought possible.  It might not be WHEN we want though.  While waiting, this is a great song (Thank you Livesays for introducing me to Sara Groves):

Help Expose This Orphanage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The least graphic picture I could have shared.  A child who had severe burns, left on a dirty floor.  She went 13 days without her wounds being treated.

Part of the reason I went down to Haiti was to meet this girl my age named Megan Boudreaux. She started a school for children who are pretty much slaves. We wanted to see if SafeWorld could help in any way.  Megan is also the primary caretaker of two girls, former slaves. If raising these girls in a language she's only been speaking for ten months, while trying to run a school for the first time wasn't hard enough, she is also trying to save the lives of children in a downright evil environment. The Son of God Orphanage in Haiti had 53 children go "missing" from October 2010 to March 2011.  They are trafficking children and even trafficking children's organs!!!  There was a five year old there who only weighed 11lbs due to starvation!!!  Along with her two girls, Megan was caring for a young boy from this orphanage named Gabriel.  Megan worked with the police to bust this orphanage, only to have the police take Gabriel AWAY from her, and the orphanage to REMAIN OPEN!  Haiti is corrupt.  Even though the orphanage has known trafficking (sexual and organ), known abuse, known neglect, it is still open.  Megan is petitioning CNN to expose these atrocities.  The government won't act so we are going to the media.  I am begging you to share this with all of your friends, coworkers, family.  Here is the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/the-freedom-project-expose-human-trafficking-at-son-of-god-orphanage-in-haiti 

Catalyst 2011 and then some.

I got to go to the Catalyst Leadership Conference in Atlanta for the first time this year.  It was filled with 13,000 Christian leaders.  Matt would introduce us to someone and then say, "You know who that was right?"  We'd reply, "no".  Then he'd say, "he worked with Eva Longoria on her campaign for Haiti after the earthquake."

Oh OK.  

That's pretty much how the weekend went.  

"Hi what do you do?"  

"I change the world."

I got to meet Katie Davis' youngest two daughters.  If you haven't heard of Katie Davis yet, you will.  Her book Kisses from Katie just came out.  Here is her interview backstage of Catalyst: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17711160  

I wish I could have heard all of the crazy awesome speakers like Katie or Francis Chan or Andy Stanley. I got to hear maybe ten minutes of Andy Stanley.  Then I heard Mark Driscoll, Judah Smith, and the TOMS shoes founder.  I think the best parts inside the conference were moments like Catalyst telling Katie they would pay for her daughters' college education, or when the men in Jeff Foxworthy's Bible Study were presented with a car!  I did not know Jeff Foxworthy lead a Bible Study. So cool!  Check out his backstage interview here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17734404 

Here's what SafeWorld did all weekend:

Matt ran a lab panel with Pastor Charles Jenkins, Lisa Harper, and Jim Reese.  He also was interviewed backstage of Catalyst.  You HAVE to check that out to better understand what we do and hear Caroline's story.  I'll get to meet her in November.  Here's Matt's interview: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17718850  While he was shmoozing with the best of them, Sarah, Rachel, and I manned SafeWorld's booth in the Justice Tent.  Throughout the conference area there were organization's booths, however SafeWorld was FEATURED with top social justice organizations.  It's pretty amazing that little ol' SafeWorld was in the tent with groups like Compassion International, Blood Water Mission,  International Justice Mission, Adventures in Missions, etc.  Pretty much we talked to people about coming on medical trips to Uganda with us, but every now and then we run into people from other organizations that were interested in helping us do really big things for the people in Luwero, Uganda.  I really look forward to talking more with everyone we met in the next couple of weeks/months.  

Again, SafeWorldNexus is kind of unique in the fact that we have been working with the same people over the last couple of years, with no plans to leave them.  If you go on a trip with us we will be introducing you to friends.  You will pass out mosquito nets with no quota, meaning if you pass out one net to one family and spend the evening with them then WE LOVE IT!  We want you to get to know people and make friends.  Our board member, and Senior Producer of The Dave Ramsey Show, Blake Thompson, just wrote a great piece on the Luwero people and our upcoming trip.  I'm copying this straight from his blog http://beyondblake.wordpress.com/ :  

I'm headed to Luwero Triangle, Uganda at the beginning of November (a few weeks away) for 11 days w/ SafeWorldNexus.  Devastated by war in the mid-1980s that killed more than 100,000 and displaced 750,000, Luwero struggles to regain traction. The use of child soldiers was commonplace, which has led to a deterioration of the family unit, and leaving over 123,000 children listed as “at-risk” for reasons of AIDS, malnutrition, slavery, etc. Upwards of 50,000 of those children are known orphans, some left to care for several younger siblings alone. Fresh water sources are scarce, and many residents have to walk up to six miles roundtrip to have access. SafeWorld is pretty established here providing/maintaining water sources, etc.  One of the most important parts of this trip will be mosquito net distribution. We have been working to find ways to connect personally with each area that we work. Our delivery method is door-to-door. We don’t have a quota for each day, but instead we’re wanting to spend as much time as is needed in each home. Representatives from the village leadership (frequently including the chief) will be traveling with us to make sure their people understand just how important the use of their nets are to help avoid malaria. Distributing in this way helps us build trust and relationships, and build demographics for the area. Each house will be marked by GPS, and basic information on each household will be recorded. This gives us a specific picture of the needs in each area.  We will also be taking a medical team to help with medical needs.
This is where I can use YOUR help to make a MAJOR impact.  I’ve personally already paid for my trip, but could use your help in raising an extra $2500 for medical supplies needed.  If you can help w/ $10 or $100…I can reach this goal in the next week or so, alowing us time to purchase what is needed before leaving in November.  If you decide to participate, please make your checks out to: SafeWorld Nexus (put Uganda Trip in the memo line).  You can hand them to me personally or you can mail them within the next two week deadline to: SafeWorld Nexus 516 Holston Ave. STE 204 Bristol, TN 37620

Thanks for your continued support with our work in Haiti and Uganda.

-Blake

If you would like to donate any bit of money (again, just $10 even) towards medical supplies on our November trip then you can also go to our giving page.  (Seriously if you've read this much there's no excuse.)  In the dropdown menu select "Mission Trips" (don't worry about the second dropdown that will come up), put in your amount, and then in the comments section say "November Medical Supplies".  THANK YOU THANK YOU!


Updates:
If you read my post on baby Moses, he was just moved to an orphanage.  You can read about it HERE.  So far there have been no applications to adopt him.  Pray for his future family.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 
 -Micah 6:8

Missions Conference

Wednesday to Sunday we lead a missions conference in Johnson City.

Our director Matt talked with the adults Wednesday night and Sunday morning while Sarah, Rachel, and I worked with the children.  We talked about John 21:15-25, where Jesus tells Peter to follow him.  Growing up, all I usually got from this was that Jesus wanted Peter to build and care for the church.  Matt focused more on verse 21 and 22, which I don't think most people do.  After the whole mess of Peter betraying Jesus three times, then Peter being offended Jesus asked him so many times if he loved him, AND Jesus is speaking to Peter AFTER he rose from the dead, Peter wants to make sure things are fair and is concerned about what John is going to have to go through.  Why do we care so much about other people's mission?  We may be burdened with a much more difficult calling than others, but it's not going to help matters if we're constantly comparing circumstances or judging others.  God tells us to be obedient.

Thursday we had a social/cocktail-type party at a restaurant owned by one of the church members.  While we mingled I got to know two people.  One lady I talked to had been married to her husband 54 years when he died last September.  They dated through high school and college and then both became teachers, driving to and from work together every day of their lives.  She said she's only been able to talk about it the last couple months.  As you can imagine, she could really use a prayer when you have a moment.  Then I met a man who should not have been standing there talking to me.  A couple years ago he got sepsis which caused all of these other problems.  He had seizures; he had strokes; he had open heart surgery; he had toes amputated; you name it.  Doctors told him there was nothing more they could do; it was over.  He said the most comforting thing through the ordeal was knowing  all the people, all over praying for him.  When it gets that bad, you know God's the only reason he can stand and talk to me.  The cool thing is he's a chaplain in an Intensive Care Unit.  He says he wouldn't trade the experience away because now when people tell him, "you don't understand," he can say, "but I do."  It's so amazing when you get to see how God uses the heartaches in your life for His glory.  I love so SO much that these two opened up to me, a complete stranger, because I got to see another glimpse of MY God in action.  When you get a chance, also praise God for what He's done in this man's life!

After some mingling Matt spoke on malaria.  The point of the evening was to raise awareness and funds on bed nets, something I'll be passing out to families in Uganda in November.  What I love about SafeWorldNexus is we'll be going about things differently than I would ever go about them.  I would think we need to get as many nets as we can, just drop them from planes.  The project is to end malaria, so that's the fastest way to do it right?  No.... It turns out the culture in Uganda (um... a lot of the world) is very different from here.  What happens when organizations do mass distributions is people will use the nets for fishing or even wedding gowns.  At SafeWorld we get to go door to door and hand deliver mosquito nets.  We're invited into the homes of families.  There's no quota or time limit.  We can get to know people.  The village chiefs now know SafeWorld and respect Matt, so they come along!  Having your own village chief tell you the importance of the net makes all the difference.  Then we take a picture of the family and mark their GPS coordinates.  If you donate a family's net ( just $10 ), you will eventually receive this information.  Then, if you ever go on a trip with us, you just tell Matt you'd like to meet your family and he'll take you there.  I am so blessed to be working for an organization that reminds me people>projects.  

Jesus didn't tell Peter, "then go feed as many sheep as you can."  He just said to feed HIS sheep.  I am so thankful for the tangible experience I'm gaining in organizing events and communication, however the most valuable thing I'm getting from this internship is (it's corny, but...) the reshaping of my mind.  If you would like to donate a net to a family go here.  Then select "Net:Worth" in the dropdown menu.  Maybe I'll get to meet your family in a couple months!  

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

-Romans 12:2

Orphanage

I'm going to follow up one of the most beautiful things I witnessed with one of the hardest.


After spending most of the week with Heartline in Port Au Prince, we traveled to Gressier, a town off the beach.  When I think of the beach I think of a flat area.  This was mountains right next to the beach.  It was gorgeous.  We went here to visit Megan Boudreaux's organization Respire Haiti, to see how SafeWorld could assist them.  I don't like saying organization though, because I know what you're picturing and it's not that.  Heck, I don't really work for what you're picturing either.  It's just people.  I'll talk more about Megan later though.  


While in Gressier we visited an orphanage.  I have never been to one before.  I have never met a child without parents.  I don't even think I've consciously met foster children.  This was the hardest thing for me in Haiti.  Once we got off the tap-tap, the children swarmed on us.  I think they were literally claiming us, like "this white-girl will be mine while she's here.  She's holding ME.  Stay away from her!"  I was claimed by nine year-old Esther and three year-old Jessica, who could not keep her pants over her tush to save her life.  They pulled us under, what I gather, is their common area.  It was a tent you would tailgate under with some ratty plastic tables and chairs underneath.  

Here we are- pretty Esther on the left with goofball Jessica on my lap.  Notice the details.  I am pretty sure this is equivalent to their living room.  The children move chickens and puppies out of their seats, never washing their hands.  Their carpet consists of dirt, more than likely with animal feces here and there.  Look at Esther's shoes.  They're terrible.  Jessica couldn't hardly walk in hers, excluding the fact she was lookin' like a fool with her pants on the ground.  There are photos on the pole behind Jessica but no frames.  I wonder if they would even know what something like a frame is.  For awhile we all sat there.  There was nothing to do.  They have a little playground but it's smack in the sun all day.  No one plays on it.  I was remembering the day-care I worked at this past year.  The kids have more toys than they know what to do with.  We taught children things like cooking and photography.  They raced remote control cars and swam in a pool.  From what I saw there were NO toys at this orphanage.  

Megan told the kids they should show us their new school that was built.  We walked across a field to a cement building.  There was nothing inside yet.  

It was really tricky with the language barrier.  If we all just spoke the same language I could have easily organized races, games, JUST CONVERSATION.  As a kid I remember how much I loved someone older asking me about my interests/dreams.  I couldn't do that with them. :(  Esther did teach me some hand games.  I wanted to tell her I wasn't good at them even at her age.  Eventually she figured it out and let me watch her do it with other girls.  The girl sitting in my lap is six year-old Daphnis.  She was really sweet too.  I think the boy behind me is six year-old Djoervensky.  Look how he just LONGS to be near an adult, how he NEEDS human touch.  No boy that age at the day-care needed/wanted that from me.  

This is what they played with: rocks.  I think the point of the game was to see how many you could pick up while one was in the air.  Notice how some kids don't have shoes and puddles accumulate. 

The kids LOVED watching videos of Jordana's children on her iPhone.  It could have been the first time some had ever seen white children.   

I think this photo is gorgeous and says so much.  (Most of the photos from Haiti are by Sarah.)  The girl is sitting in the most bare/basic of windows, wearing simple clothes, looking so bored.  I don't know her name or her story.  I know she must have a big one though because she had awful scars on her arm, chest, and neck.  It looked like she'd been burned somehow.  She mostly stayed in the window the whole time watching everyone.  I don't know if she was shy or what.  I felt sorry for the shy kids.  We hung out with the outgoing ones who were constantly at our side.  If you wanted any attention you fought for it.  

                                         

This is 12 year-old Venise, she was looking through a math workbook.  She wasn't studying.  She just had nothing else to look at or do.  All my years of french did help a little, being so similar to creole.  Numbers in creole are exactly the same as in french.  Once the girl figured out I knew all of them she started asking me math problems!  She would get so excited when I answered and say, "correct."  When I was slow, I think she thought I didn't know how to say the answer in creole, so she would go straight to the next one, when really I was just having trouble doing the math in my head.  It was really cool being able to "speak" (I mean, it was so minimum.) in another language.  I was able to get children's' names and ages.  I kept pointing to things and saying, "en creole?" and Esther would tell me how to say it in creole, then I would teach her how to say it in english.  Esther knew a good bit of english.  You could tell she wanted to learn too.  She would repeat stuff I said, practicing the pronunciation.

Megan says the children are really smart.  The Korean UN is close by and has been teaching the children Korean too!  The Koreans had covered a poster board with pictures of them hanging out with the children and had it hanging in the common room.  It said, "Remember you are always loved."  I hate that these children have to be reminded!  If they were in a home with moms and dads they would just KNOW they were loved.  

The sad thing is a lot of these children have biological parents still living who DO love them.  They love them so much they put them in an orphanage because they know they'll eat better there.  Sometimes economics are the reason a child becomes an orphan.  It's heartbreaking.

This is me again with Daphnis and then the girl on the left is  three year-old Minaura.  A woman who went with us to the orphanage was interested in adopting Minaura and her ten month-old sister.  Megan said she knew their mom visited the orphanage every two weeks though.  They had to meet with her.  The whole time we were at the orphanage Minaura just wanted to be held by her potential future mommy, however once her real mom arrived she ran for her.  She knew that was her real mommy.  Megan asked the mom, "if you could keep your girls with you, would you do it?"  The mom replied, "but I can't."  Megan said, "I didn't ask that.  I said if you COULD, would you?"  The mom still said she had no way to keep them.  Megan had to ask her several times.  Finally the mom said she would keep them if she had the means.  With that, they knew they couldn't go through with an adoption.  Instead, now they are figuring out a way to help this mama get her babies back.

It's crazy to me that this orphanage is a step-up for this woman's children.  The children are lucky there if they get to eat every day.  Us girls wanted a water break at one point, when we realized there was no water for the children to drink.  Jordana filled a water bottle up from her own and passed it around to the children.  You could tell immediately they felt better.  The poor things just need a little water!  This orphanage doesn't have a lot of money, but it is run by a couple who actually care, giving these children a huge advantage.  So many orphanages have child trafficking and other atrocities.  There is no protection around the compound to keep people out who may want to steal children for these purposes.  The owner therefore has bells hidden around the property and if he hears anything throughout the night, he goes out with his gun.  Haiti's government is crazy, however he saves up so he can register the orphanage and make it legal and legitimate.  It's so sad the government puts them through this.  The money is needed for food.  Megan is trying to find a church to be a permanent sponsor for this orphanage.  I am looking at ways YOU could personally help.  Stay tuned.

But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.  For we wanted to come to you--certainly I, Paul, did, again and again-but Satan stopped us.  For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?  Is it not you?  Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

A Beautiful Dinner

I am going to stop putting parameters on my blog posts.  This one is not about a particular person.  
One of my favorite things from Haiti was having dinner at Heartline's Harbor House, a home for new and expecting teenage moms.  When we got there the girls were playing soccer.  We got to hold some of the babies while dinner was still cooking.  One of the little toddlers Jobins was so cute getting in the middle of the game.  They kept trying to shoo him away, but he would come right back.  Everyone was so friendly towards us.  You would have thought we were new neighbors who'd just moved to Haiti, not a couple girls on a week-long trip.  I would have thought nothing of it had we not been invited.  We had a lovely guest house with food.  

Above is a photo from another day when the girls were making tie-dye shirts.  The white girl on the left is Brittany.  She and a haitian woman are the "house moms" I guess.  The white girl on the right is her cousin who came down to visit and teach the girls tie-dye.  Not only is Brittany looking out for these young teenage moms, she also cares for her young haitian brother and sister her family is in the process of adopting.  From what I've heard, I think the haitian adoption process takes two years.  Because they still can't take her brother and sister home to the states, Brittany's mom flies down from Vermont every 2 months or so to be with her babies!!! I can't imagine having to leave your children for weeks at a time, or being a young kid and having to tell your mom goodbye for weeks at a time.

When we came over for supper Brittany's mom did the cooking.  I'd been sick from malaria meds and had hardly eaten the day before.  Haitian food wasn't my favorite and I never ate enough.  It was such a surprise and blessing to go over to the Harbor House to eat American food!  She had green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pork, etc.  One of the Hendrick family boys said, "we get to eat meat on a plate by itself?!"  In haitian food your meat is always mixed in with rice and beans.

This is the Hendrick's family blog: allthingshendrick.blogspot.com.  They have four boys, the youngest, who's three, is adopted.  His little voice was so cute and reminded me of my brother's when he was that age.  He kept asking if there would be cake and was so excited.  When the cake was brought out his mom kept eyeing him and reminding him not to touch it.  I think later he DID steal another kids piece when they weren't looking.  He was so adorable!  We sang "happy birthday" to one of the moms in the house.  She looked so happy.  It's crazy when you think about what these girls' living situation would be if they didn't have Heartline.  They could be in a tent, up all night listening to their baby cry for food, scared someone will come in and rape them, ashamed as people hurl insults at them for having a baby so young (though those same people probably wouldn't have done anything to save them if they heard them being raped).  At the Harbor House they have a safe place, a LOVING place to raise their children.  They can get their hair done and do crafts like a girl should be able to do, while simultaneously transitioning into motherhood.

This dinner was so low-key.  It wasn't a "staff meeting".  It was friends and family and friends who became family, all sitting around a super long table laughing, talking, loving.  Looking to my left and right, it was just ...beautiful.  Though it was so hot the icing slid off the cake and our bodies expelled more sweat than we thought possible, no one cared.  There were teenage moms giggling, old friends sharing stories, adopted children asking their mommy and daddy to kiss booboos.  This table was filled with so much redemption and love.    

More tie-dye!

I wish we had pics of them when they were done! So Pretty!

They even dyed little onesies for the babies.

I have got to practice Creole for next time!

Jordana with baby Sophia!

  

Meet Moses

I have been trying to figure out how to possibly describe all that I learned in Haiti.  For now I think the easiest thing to do will be to share a different person's story a day.  This is Moses'.

Jordana loving Moses for the afternoon.

A couple weeks ago a woman asked a guard at Heartline's maternity center if this was an orphanage where she could leave her son who looked to be around two years old.  The guard explained that it was not an orphanage.  Later that day the baby was found laying on the side of the road.  He couldn't sit up.  He couldn't even hold his head up.  He could have been run over.  The staff decided to call him "Moses".  This is what the Livesays said in their blog when they went to report the incident: "The police literally told our staff that they should have left 'Moses' in the street, that by picking him up they did the wrong thing.  They actually said that!  The staff members that went to report what happened (with 'Moses' with them) were reprimanded.  Oh.my.head.  Nothing like getting a lecture for doing what is CLEARLY the right thing.  How can leaving a living disabled human alone in the dirt be the right thing?"  T.I.H.  (This is Haiti.)  Our friends at Heartline use this phrase a lot.  For now Moses is living with the Livesay family.  I think their 16 year old daughter Paige has been the primary caregiver.  (She got malaria while we were down there too!  Thankfully I hear she is fine now.)
Sunday we met Paige at church and took Moses for the day to give her some rest.  It appears he has cerebral palsy.  It was so sad trying to feed him.  I don't think he was really able to swallow so we were scared food was getting into his lungs.  He started crying after we fed him. :(  He couldn't even suck on his sippy cup though he kept trying.  If you saw my facebook status last Sunday I was trying to find something we could be doing with him.  It's a tricky situation.  Some of Heartline's staff are scared his mom may change her mind and come back for him.  They don't want to put him up for adoption without her consent.  You never know if she is even watching from afar.  Meanwhile, the Livesay family is getting more and more attached, as is Moses.  Also, he really needs to be getting specialized care.  An adopted family in the United States could provide that.
These are the crazy situations that the Livesay family and other missionaries in Haiti have to deal with all the time.  They already have their plates full with their own families and the "normal" day-to-day activities at Heartline, not to mention bouts of malaria every now and then.  But then one day you can wake up to find out God is calling you to care for a disabled baby orphan for an unknown period of time.
Please pray for Moses to find his home.  At least for now he is happy and in a safe environment. :)  Look for updates on the Livesays' blog, livesayhaiti.blogspot.com.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

-James 1:27