Our trip indeed come to a end to soon.  I was not ready to go home.  But the time came to say our goodbyes.  Goodbyes are hard for me.  It was hard to hole the tears back.  Knowing I wanted to come back to Haiti I did not know if it would happen.  But the goodbyes were over and we were home bound.  I did miss my hubby and my family but I really did not want to leave.  We arrived at the airport and we were on a delay.  We finally were allowed to board so we could leave and then off to Miami for the night.  Up early and off we go.  Arrived at the church with Mark and Kassie waiting for me.  Mark had flowers and open arms  .I was happy to see Mark and Kassie.  I love my family.  The three of us went to Cracker Barrel  to eat lunch.  All I did was talk.  Blessed to have a hubby that has open ears.  I told him about the whole trip.  We arrived home and set everything of mind out on the patio.  Went into the house and I came to a dead stop.  It brought me to me knees.  You see we don't have a lot, but I just walked into a mansion.  It completely over whelmed me at what I was blessed with and I filling so humbled. 

We did have debriefings in the days to follow but I was doing okay.  The only problem that I was having I was really missing my new found friends.  But on July 7th I started talking to Jean Mary on Face book.  If you don't know it, he will become more and more special in my life as time goes. 

Days went by, weeks went by, months went by and all along I am talking to Jean Mary.

On September 9th, 2011 I went to a bible study.  After it was over Kasey, my daughter in law ask me if I would like to go to Haiti with her, Pastor Ashley and Pastor Blake.  Are you kidding, YES.  I didn't have to pray about it cause I already knew it was what I was suppose to do.  From that day it was 161 days until we left.  Departure date was February 16th, 2012.  Plane tickets were purchased by Kasey the following day.  It was that night I wrote on face book to Jean Mary 161.  He ask what did that mean.  I said I am sorry.  I don't know why I wrote that.  A little later I wrote it again with me saying I really don't know why I keep writing that number.  A little while later I wrote it again.  He once again ask what does that mean.  I said well what if I told you I was going to come see you in 161 days, what would you say?  Let's just say he was excited.  He started counting the days down.  If I asked he could usually tell me how many days it was til I got back to Haiti.

Never thought I would do this, but I decided I needed to learn creole.  I started taking the creole class at church with Kim Reed-Bracey leading us. 

Now a little bit about Jean Mary.  I don't know why God put him in my life.  He is a wonderful young man.  He is 19 years old and he truly loves the Lord.  He has a mother, a brother ~ Nathanael who is 21, a brother ~ Dave who is 16 and a sister ~ Sarah who is 13.    He teaches me things about his country and I teach him things about my country.  I do correct him on his English and he does not seem to mind because I always tell him I do it because I care.  He always said's thank you.  He corrects me on my creole.  I need all the help I can get.  Mwen konpann tou piti Creole.  However he is doing so much better on his English than I am doing on my Creole.  He is actually making me a better person.  When I look at Jean Mary I see a person with a big heart and a great out look on life.  He does not ask me for anything.  I feel so drawn to make his life a little better.  I feel as if God is telling me to fight for him.  I just want the best for him and I would like to make his life a little brighter.  I felt like I was suppose to help him to get his English a little better.  I talked to Mark about us putting him in English school.  I discussed it with Mark before I said anything to Jean Mary.   Mark agreed.  Jean Mary was very excited when I told him.  It all fell into place and Jean Mary started English school on January 7th, 2012 at the Haitian American Academy in Port-A-Prince.  It's funny because on his first day of school he posted a picture of himself on face book.  He did the same thing on his second day.  I ask him why did he do it again and he said I must prove to you I am going to English school.  I told him I knew he was in school because I know he is so eager to learn.  That's Jean Mary.  He just wants to prove to me he is serious and he will do his best. I am very proud of him and I tell him that all the time.  Jean Mary is very smart.  He works really hard. He's real good to keep me informed about things that are going on. I pray for him just like I pray for my children and grandchildren every day.  Jean Mary does not have my blood running though his veins but he is a big part of my life.  I am proud to call him my Haitian son and he calls me mama.  If I can make his life a little different to the size of a mustard seed, then I feel as if I am doing what God has layed on my heart.

Well we are about to embark on our first full day in Haiti.  I will not go though each day and list what we did from start to finish but I will list all the things we did and hit the most important things that happened to me in Haiti.

We stayed at Prosperity of God alot and sat and hung out and talked with the children
We walked in the village and passed out food and got to see LOT'S  of children
We walked in the village and went inside their small homes and prayed with people.
We washed ladies hair out in the village.
We gave ladies a bath out in the village.
We attended church service at Bildad's father's church on Sunday morning.
We attended Mission of Hope's church service.
We attended worship service on Monday night at Prosperity of God.
We went to a store to get items where we saw guards at the door holding guns.
We had VBS out in the village with LOT'S of children.
We had VBS at Pastor Jose's orphanage for the children.
We got to see and paint bed's that children were going to get to lay their head and sleep on.
We cleaned and polished shoes to have ready for Sunday morning worship.
We had a tea for the ladies at Prosperity of God.
We got to see what Market Day is and what it looks like.
We experience car rides of our life while on the road.  (That's a story in it's self)  WOW!
We cut hair on children.
We passed out eye glasses to the elderly who needed them.
We got to hold hundreds of little hands.
We got to love on so many children and people.
We got (the men) to disciple 12 men.
We got to eat at a restaurant.
We got to sing.
We got to dance.
We sat on the beach at Kailko and saw the most beautiful sunsets.
We got to see the sunrise.  AMAZING!!!!!
We got to sit by a nice pool.
We got to buy Haitian Souvenirs
We got to witness how HOT is was in Haiti.
We got to visit and have lunch at Chelor's home.  His mom is an amazing cook.
We got to see the new future home of Chelor and his family.
We got to bond as a team.  The Haiti 12.
WE ROCKED!!!!!

My high light of the trip was on Tuesday morning, June 28th at about 10:30 in the morning I got to lead my first person to Christ.  They said I was jumping up and down in a circle but all I can remember is the sweet smile that will forever be engraved in my heart.  This is one day in my life I will never forget.  I someday will meet Max Filsiame again.

Another high light of my trip is I met Jean Mary Berdy.  Little did I know at the time how much he would become a big part of my life.  I remember when I first met him.  He came up to me and ask me,  Brock King's mom and I said yes.  With him patting his heart he said, Love Brock.  I was over taken with emotions that someone in another country would be asking about my son.  It was at that time when I had such a peace come over me.  Jean Mary and I talked often while at Prosperity of God and out in the village.  Sometimes I would just catch myself trying to see where he was at.  Didn't know why at the time.  When he come to me to talk he always said, There's my Queen.  (Because my last name is King).  Jean Mary loves the Lord and it did not take much time for me to figure that out.  He has a BIGGGGG HEART.  He spoke English fairly well.  He talked very fast with the Haitian accent.  But he helped me out alot with what all the children were saying.  As life goes on I am understanding a whole lot better why God put Jean Mary in my life but at this time I had no clue.  I just knew he was a fine young man.  There will be alot more on Jean Mary to come.

We kept pretty busy doing something at all times when we were in Minotree.  We were always with children or teenagers.  I love children.  That was the purpose I wanted to go to Haiti was to spend time with the children.  I love teenagers but  sometimes I don't like them.  Just because, well there teenagers.  Well with God's sense of humor, guess who I kept finding myself with.  TEENAGERS.  Yes, - me - but I fell in love with them all.  They all tried to help me learn Creole.  That was a joke.  However Jean Mary, John Peter, Kevin, Wendy, Neyo, Villarson, Joseph will forever remain in my heart.  All I can say is each one of them are amazing young adults.

If you know me, I love pictures.  I was taking pictures left and right.  To my amaze these children love to have their picture taken and then run to the camera cause they want to see themselves.  It is so cute.  When they saw themselves they would just giggle.  So sweet.  Then they would start posing for another one to be taken.

Our time is going by way to face.  There is still so much to do. 

I have made 3 post and for some reason they are not in the order that I posted them.  Well, it doesn't matter.  The best is yet to come.  Stay tune.

On January 7, 2011 Mark and I met our family,[Jeremy, Jessica, Tyler, Kendall], [Brock, Kasey, Cooper, Claire], [Kassie]at Cracker Barrell for dinner and then planned a night of playing Nertz's. While at Cracker Barrell Kasey was talking about Brock going to Haiti with our Pastor if his passport arrived in time. Brock and Pastor Ashley were leaving February 11th for Haiti. Kasey had already been to Haiti in March of 2010. While eating dinner Kasey looked at me and said you should think about going to Haiti. I said I don't know but I would think and pray about it. I remember Kasey telling me that there are children everywhere and they loved to sit and be with you. Well, children have always been my passion. I work with them everyday. I did tell myself to think about it. So off we go to play Nertz's for the evening. Well, I did think about it. I actually thought and prayed alot about it. It would not leave my head. So one night when Mark and I went to bed, I asked Mark what would he thought about me going to Haiti. Mark said if you feel like you are being lead to go, then go. Mark has always been very supportive of whatever I do. A whole month had passed by and the first Haiti meeting was planned for February 9th. However it snowed that day and the meeting was canceled. At this time I was going to the meeting but still had not made a decision. So the meeting was rescheduled for February 13th following church. I went along with quiet a few other people. The team leaders were Kim Reed Bracey, Bildad - our Haitian brother and Kim's Haitian son, Shirley and Ladd Bennett. All spoke about Haiti and we watched a clip of Haiti on the T.V. Wow, tears were flowing. On the way home I had a heavy heart. See I knew I did not have the money to go to Haiti. It was way out of my budget. BUT FOR SOME REASON I COULD NOT SAY NO. On February 15th I had decided to go to Haiti. The following morning I went to a bible study at church and Ginda Luckett asked if anyone had pray request. I ask them to pray for me because I had decided to go to Haiti. I had this feeling, and when I say feeling I mean it felt as if I had been lifted up off the floor. From that point on I was so excited about this journey that I was about to travel down. At this point I did everything needed to apply for a passport. They told me it would take 6 to 8 weeks for me to recieve it, but it only took 4 weeks. What a blessing! The next meeting was March 6st where I made the commentment to go and had to pay the first $400.00. Believe me I was wondering how in the world I was going to pay for this trip but I completly put it in God's hands. It was at this point I did send out some letters to some family members and friends and told them what I was doing, how much the cost was. Most of all I needed prayers. We started working on putting together a Haiti Run and Festival for April 9th. This would be a BIG fundraiser to raise money for Prosperity of God Ministry. There was a lot of planning and work ahead of us all. We all on the team were in charge of certain area's of the Festival. Well the festival date arrived and it was a hugh success. We made alot of money and everything could not have been any more perfect. God is so Good. He always shows up. Our next meeting was April 17th with another payment due of $400.00. This is tough. But I kept my faith and knew it was going to work out. The next thing I knew I had some money coming in from some of my family members. I later found out who sent me money and to respect their privacy I will keep that to myself but you know who you are and I will be forever grateful. What a blessing! I decided to make Easter candy to sell at work to try and make a little money to shave some of my expenses. I had lot's of order so I spent all week long in the kitchen making candy but it was fun and I did make some extra money that helped out. I thank all my parents who gave me a donation or who purchased candy from me. What a blessing! On May 1st the Haiti team prepare a Haiti meal to raise money for the ministry. That too was a big success and went well. Once again God always shows up. I have to mention my Bunco Buddies. They were so kind to me. They gave me a card with money in it. I felt so blessed. I took the money that they gave and put it towards a bunk bed for Pastor Jose's Orphanage. They provided a bed for a child to be able to lay their head down and go to sleep at night. See, Pastor Jose took in 40 children who were on the street after the earthquake who lost their family. These children were sleeping on the ground and now each child has a bed to sleep in. What a blessing! Our next meeting was on May 29th with another $400.00 due but it was a little easier because of my wonderful family members helping out. At this time we are one month out and it was beginning to be crunch time in getting everything ready. I am really getting excited. I was telling everybody that I come in contact where I was going. At this point I am doing shots, going to the Good Will stores trying to find dresses and skirts to wear. My good friend Gail Lewis gave me some skirts and some tops to wear so this kept me from having to buy so much. What a blessing! I am at the stage of purchasing all the items that I need to take. Getting so excited.

Well all I can say at this point is God is so good and so gracious.  You see when I first started this journey I said I don't know where the money is going to come from.  Well with my mom who is my rock, family members, some of my wonderful parents, my Bunco Buddies and God allowing extra money in our checking account, my trip was paid in full with $2.25 to spare.  Now is that a God thing or what?

It's time to pack.  Going into another country you need to make sure you have everything you need.  I started packing about 2 weeks in advance.   Cannot tell you how excited I am getting.

June 19th the church gathered around the Haiti team and had prayer.  I felt as if I was on top of the world.  I could not really understand why. 

On June 21st I headed out the door with my bags packed to the church for our packing party.  Each bag could only weight 50 pounds.  Each team member had 2 suitcases, a carry on and a back pack.  Loaded I might add.  See we are packing to get as much supplies as possible over to Haiti.  So packing and weighing came to a end.  Everyone headed home only to return in a few short hours.

So excited equals no sleep.  Up at 3:00 and started to get dress to be at the church at 5:00.  We all arrived and doing all the last minute things to gather on the bus to leave.  Several people showed up to see us off.  Good byes are sometimes really hard. One reason it is so hard, this will be the longest I have been away from Mark in 37 years.  Pulled out at 6:00 for the airport.  I am beyond excited and still could not figure out why.  Arrived at the airport.  Well it's that time.  Myself along with Kim Reed-Bracey, Bildad, Shirley and Ladd Bennett, Kim and Andrew Bell, Amy Thomas, Debbie O'Neil, Jessica Pugh, Cindy and David Thompson loaded the plane.  We became the HAITI 12.

HAITI HERE WE COME!!!!!

Arrived in Maimi and boarded another plane for Haiti.  Arrived in Haiti and while standing in the airport I got the sickest feeling.  I literally was asking God what have you done to me?  Why have you brought me here?  I was saying , Oh Lord I have to do this for 10 days.  I was doing everything I could too cover my feelings up so my team members would not see the sick feeling that I felt.  So off we go to pile in tap-taps.  We are on our way to Minotree.  If I wasn't already wondering what in the world I am doing here, the ride was SCAREYYYYY.  They drive crazy over there.  I mean really crazy.  Did I mention the sights I was seeing.  Oh my gosh, my heart was breaking.  Oh God, I want to go home.  NOW.

We actually arrived safely in Minotree.  When we pulled up I had never seen so many children, teenagers and adults waiting for us.  With open arms I might add.  I climbed out of the car and I will have to say I had such a peace that came over me and from that very moment my life has not be the same.  I was meeting so many all at once and they just swarmmed around us.  Could not understand a lick of anything but I was just as happy as if I had been there all my life.  I felt as if God was really telling me, don't give up on me yet.  It all just got so easy for me.  We were not going to be there very long before we had to leave to go to Kaliko where we would be staying.  But before we leave we went to Bildad's home to meet his mom and dad.  I never made it inside.  I was outside.  It is at this time I met someone by the name of JEAN MARY BERDY.  All I will say is I met him but the story will continue about him later.  I also met John Peter.  John Peter was on my hip the entire time.  Well it's time to leave and head to Kaliko.  We were all beat but we arrived at Kaliko to find a beautiful place for us to stay.  Bungalows, swimming pool, beach.  What, all of this in Haiti?  It was amazing.  Time to get to the bungalows, freshen up and meet for dinner.  The food was awesome.  Short meeting and time to unpack. I was in a room with Debbie O"Neil and Jessica Pugh.  Did I mention it is HOT IN HAITI.  Man or man it's hot.  Well the day was done and it was late.  Time to journal.

My Passion / My Blessings I have a story to tell and I would like to share with you my journey. Several years ago I was asked by Pastor Josh when was I going to Haiti. I said I don't feel like I am being lead to go. So several years went by. Then the story begins: