Monthly Archives: July 2013

Today is a day of extremely mixed emotions for me. On the one hand, it has been a day of huge blessing as I have been inundated with well wishes for my birthday long before it was even my birthday, and the messages continue to come by the minute. I am overwhelmed with joy to know that my God has blessed me with so much love all around, from near and far; I am completely saturated with love. On the other hand, I am overwhelmed with grief today as I realize it is my last day in Haiti before I leave with Jacob to return to the states for his senior year in high school. Tony and I have spent the last seven weeks preparing for this day – beginning with day one of my return here – but I still do not feel ready to go. I look back over my time here this summer and I see in my memory many brown, happy, faces and toothless grins from old to young, smiling at me with so much love in their eyes that words are not even necessary. We share a language of love that is a very special gift from the God in whom we each share a belief and for whom we deeply love. I see the faces of mothers who have become close friends of mine who love me so much because they know I love their children with a love that is so large that it hurts. When they can’t put their appreciation into words I can understand, they simply take my face into both of their hands, they look into my eyes with a smile, and then kiss my cheeks and nod at me with a knowing nod because they are certain I understand. I do know what they feel in their hearts because I feel the same. It’s beyond words. I see in my memory the beads of sweat on the brow of a mother in labor who takes my hand and places it on her belly as she sings through another intense labor pain. Their only medication is the strength they receive from God as we each pray in our own language. I try hard to insert a few “Mesi Jezi”’s into my prayer so they know I am praying the same prayer. In my memory, I see the precious smiles of the men and women who work on our staff who spend ten minutes or so practicing to say four words to me in English knowing I will make a big deal out of their effort to speak my language. They love that I am learning to speak theirs, and they return the respect by trying to learn mine. God has blessed us with a tremendous staff of brothers and sisters who have the same goal here and that is simply to serve our God by living the example of Christ in this place. It is not a foreign land in which I live here….it is home.

Once again, my heart tightens, my throat burns, my eyes begin to fill with tears, and as their rims can no longer contain the water that is welling up, it begins to streak my cheeks, and I simply give in and cry. I can’t wait to see and hold my son, Jonathan, when I return to the states and help him prepare for his wedding; I am so excited to watch my son, Jacob, soak up every moment of his senior year; I look forward to praising my Lord in song with my brothers and sisters at Crossgates; but Oh How I Dread the nights when I lie in bed unable to sleep because the love of my life is an ocean away and the people I serve are carrying on life without me. I cannot adequately describe these mixed feelings I have. My emotions are like a tiny rubber ball let loose to bounce about among the walls of my heart.

The pain will cut deeper and deeper as 5:30 Thursday, July 25th nears, but today is July 24th – my birthday – and today I will celebrate like there is no tomorrow. Today I will leave my suitcase under my bed. Today I will hug every child in anticipation of tomorrow. Today I will bake the cake that Jacob planned to bake for me before he came down with a virus. Today I will enjoy the company of 18 amazing visiting missionaries as they cram into this last day of their mission all that they can. Today I will hold my precious husband’s hand as we walk up the hill and enjoy the full moon standing together on the same piece of soil for the last time until June.

Today is my birthday. I celebrate the journey today that God planned long before July 24th, 1964, and I am so very thankful that He led me to this place in my life. I am so thankful for the person that is reading these words right now because I know you love me enough to endure this long on my post. You are special to me. I pray that God will bless this day for you. Know that He has a plan for your life as well, and in order to experience the greatness of it, all you have to do is spend enough time with Him to let Him lead you to it and through it. There’s nothing better than living one’s life in the Will of God.

School time is approaching everywhere, and the children of Galette Chambon are excited about going to school. Last year we had a tremendous response to the scholarship program and were able to help over 200 children go to school. We are now asking God to provide for those same children again this year. If God leads you to help, you can do so for as little as $25. That’s all it costs for a full year’s tuition. For $100, you can cover the cost of tuition, uniform, books, and exams for the entire year. If you are led to give ANY amount, go to www.butgodministries.com and click Make a Donation. On the drop down box, choose Scholarships for School Children. Your donation is tax deductible and better than that, a HUGE blessing to a child in need.

So sorry everyone that it’s been so long since I have posted on my blog!! We had to cut off our Access Haiti Internet because they were charging us a ridiculous amount and we switched to a Natcom thumb drive. It’s like a mobile hot spot, only it’s not very hot. I can’t login to WordPress to post pictures right now. They do have a way for me to email an update, which is what I am doing now, but that’s all I can do. I have been able to post a few things on Facebook when we have a strong signal, but it takes hours to load a couple of photos. I am going to try to update you on some highlights here from the summer.

First of all, it has been an AMAZING summer at Hope Center. We have hosted back-to-back teams all summer long and they have done a fabulous job. We have hosted several teams from FBC Brandon that have done work on the church, VBS, painting houses, and other odds and ends. They are a hard working bunch of people and it was a pleasure serving our Lord with them as we all serve the people of our community in Haiti. The church now has a pulpit stage area, sound system installed and built into a protective cabinet. We also have a new baptistery built, and we celebrated the salvation of 8 new believers who followed The Lord in believers baptism. We now have about 18 houses painted in vibrant Caribbean colors, and that adds such excitement to “The Hill” beside Hope Center. We had a couple of groups from FBC Jackson come in and build a playground for the children of Galet Chambon as well as teach the ladies on the hill how to knit and crochet. The children are constantly down there playing and the ladies spend many of their days knitting things to sell in market. One mama told me that her kids don’t even want to come home to eat dinner in the evenings. Ha! I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to see the smiles and hear the laughter of countless children playing together everyday down there. It’s a dream come true for them.

Last week we had a team here from Pensacola working on the orphanage and getting it ready for opening soon. We are hoping to have children there by the end of July. This was a fun group and they accomplished many things not only for the orphanage, but for Hope Center as well!

While the FL team was here, we also had a group from FBC Jackson along with an OBGYN from Starkville. God, as with every team, knew before hand what our needs would be, and he sent the OBGYN as well as a labor and delivery nurse to help us deliver our first babies at Hope Center clinic! So far to date, just in the month of July, we have had 4 babies here! That’s so exciting! And because we had an expert here with us for the first two, Tony and I feel comfortable delivering others in the future. God knows our needs and prepares the way. I am so thankful that we have learned to put our complete trust in Him. He IS God!

This summer has been a time of many firsts. First baby, first paint job, and first youth team as well as first time to host interns. We have had several interns stay to help extended periods of time. Our first was Kendal Banks from Brandon, then Adam Buckley and his roommate Rawls and friend Shane, and now we have a young lady named Grace Bigler from Jackson here. These young people have been a huge help to us each week and it has been a joy to have them here. It takes a very special kind of young person to stay in a third world country, away from the comforts of home for an extended period of time. We have loved having them here, and they have provided great friendship to Jacob too while he has spent his summer here. Right now, Jacob’s girlfriend, Madison, is with us too, and we have enjoyed having her with us as well.

The current team here is from Gautier, MS, and they are hosting our first Youth Evangelism Conference at Hope Center. This is a HUGE need. We always have teams doing VBS for children and Bible studies and classes for adults, but rarely things designed specifically for teens. This week, we will host pastors during the day to talk about evangelism and discipling youth, and at night we will have a crusade for young people with music and entertainment, and if course messages designed specifically for youth. I am so excited about this because I have such a burden for teens. I can’t wait to see what all happens this week in the youth conference.

Another exciting thing that has happened this summer is that Tony and I started language school! We now have class every day at 4:00 and our teacher comes to our house for class. We are learning to speak the Creole language very quickly now which is a huge answer to prayer since God not only led us to a fabulous teacher but led someone in the states to fund it. We are so very thankful for God’s continued provision. What we do here would not be possible without God’s strength and provision as He leads other believers to participate in our mission through support. We are so very humbled and blessed when God leads someone to bless us in such amazing ways.

Last, but certainly not least, we have an announcement to make! Our oldest son Jonathan is now engaged to be married! His sweet fiancé is Katelyn Meeks and we absolutely love her! We are so excited about the upcoming wedding celebration and we look forward to helping them prepare when we return to the States.

Well, I am about out of time, so I need to sign off for now. I am sure I left many things out, but perhaps I can post another update with pictures when we return to the States.

Jacob and I will be returning for his senior year of high school on July 25th and Tony and Vladimir will join us for some time of much needed R&R on August 3rd. Please pray for our family as we travel and prepare for another time of separation to come while Jacob is in school. Pray for Hope Center and the people of Galet Chambon as we move forward with the tasks that God has set before us. We are blessed to be His servants, and we are honored to be serving here in Haiti with such amazing friends, staff, and neighbors. God is faithful, and He has proven his love for all of us time and time again. We rest assured in His mighty hands as we follow His will daily in our lives. Thank you all so much for your prayer support as well as financial support as we serve. You bless us immensely!!

Blessings to you ALL!!

Mickie & Tony
Jonathan & Jacob West

But God Ministries
Galet Chambon, Haiti

http://www.butgodministries.com
(Nursing Ministry)