It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

So I always have to blog when it's a great school day because hey...they are few and far between. Richard has been spending mornings with Kamala, our Principal, just to get some one on one time for school work. Yesterday went horrible, but today was a different story. He worked with Kamala in the morning and did an incredibly great job. Afterwards he joined the class to make tissue paper flowers. They insisted that the flowers be huge so I held the flowers like a bouquet and said, "Hey look, it's like I'm getting married." The students quickly reminded me I'm getting old and that I need to get a boyfriend soon.

At recess I sat down, Richard sat down next to me and just laid his head on my lap. I was eating cookies for snack and he wanted to share with me. It was so sweet...he would get one, take a bite, and then try to feed me. I've gotten used to him being so cold and ignoring me so this was a great welcomed change. He hasn't been this nice and affectionate with me since the first week of school, so it was a great blessing. Then he quickly got up and said, "I know what's gonna happen when you go back to America. You're gonna get a boyfriend right away and after two weeks, you will get married." I laughed and said, "Did God tell you that, or do you just think that's what's going to happen?" "I know," he said with confidence. I said, "Okay, well pray that I will find a good husband and I'll email Brooke (our nurse here) and she'll tell you if what you said really happened." Haha, this kid.

To top it all off, at the end of the day I asked Richard if he wanted to take home his tissue flower. He said no, so I asked him if he wanted to give it to someone and he pointed to Kamala. So he so sweetly hid it behind his back and then handed it to her and said, "Thank you for helping me." The most precious thing is that I feel that both me and Kamala have been on the top of his list to hate because we have been the ones disciplining him the most and the fact that he said "thank you" on his own was a moment to capture. :) God's sincere love and joy in Richard captured.

Friday Night (High)Lights

You wouldn't be able to tell from this sweet picture of him sleeping, but this little boy from our feeding program was inappropriately putting his hand down my shirt and head butting me 5 minutes earlier. I love how God seems to always have me befriend the biggest trouble makers. It just makes moment like these that much more precious...probably because it happens so rarely! :)It was hard to wake him up, but once he was up...he was ready to eat!!
I went to visit the girls home and had a lot of fun with Oline, Yudelka, Baby Estaline, Katrina, and Cendy.
Daphne tried to braid my hair. It was sweet, but pretty painful. Gentleness is a little hard to find here...don't think it's in their vocabulary. :)

Spiritual Battle

So two nights ago I had a super gnarly spiritual attack in the middle of the night. I was in and out of sleep, but I woke up to feeling like someone was pinning me down on my shoulders and chest with their hand over my mouth. I could feel it down all the way to my throat...just an oppressing spirit. I couldn't get up, I couldn't speak. In my mind I was repeating scripture of God's sovereignty, His might, and His authority. I was praying that God would bind up these evil spirits and that His holy angels would come down and release me. I prayed for God's Spirit to come like a rushing wind. It had been a few minutes and I kept struggling to talk and get up. It was scary and creepy, but I had confidence in God that He is so much stronger. After a while, it lifted and I immediately became aware of the bondage of Voodoo in Haiti. I prayed for God to break those chains and went back to sleep in God's peace.

Today, however, one of my students randomly told me (with no prompting from me) that two of the boys from the orphanage had similar experiences this week. He explained, "Devils were holding them down in their sleep." Knowing that the missionaries, the MdL workers, and orphans are battling for souls for God's kingdom, I understand that in the spiritual realm, there is a gnarly battle going on. The kingdom of darkness is threatened and is trying to fight for those same souls. Please keep praying for us all...that we'd be protected and have confidence in God's might....that we'd endure hardship and wouldn't grow weary in battle. God is so much stronger and has great things in store for Child Hope and Haiti!

Two Steps Forward/Two Steps Back

Well, update since Tuesday. My kids have spiraled down. All except MarcKendy, who has been such a sweet and studious child these past few days. Oline got sent back to a little kid classroom for the day for having an attitude and being super disrespectful. My Richard had quite the day today. He got sent to go pick up trash outside the school in the morning for being rude and inappropriate in class. He continued to be super defiant while walking back home and so during elective time, he had to pick up two bags of trash from the street outside the school. It was embarrassing as neighbors watched him and classmates walked by and made fun of him. We went back inside the school to discuss what he could do differently so he wouldn't be in trouble. Long story short, we spent the next two hours with him writing sentences and I added more sentences to write each time he was yelling out and being obnoxious and yelling things in Creole that I didn't understand. He put papers in his mouth and started spitting it out on the floor that our janitor was cleaning. He then had the job of helping clean the room. I had enough as the Principal and I were waiting all this misbehavior out. We finally told him that Fritz, our orphanage manager, wanted to see him when he returned home. Our janitor, Andy, remarked, "OOOH, you're going to see Fritz? See you in heaven Richard. See you in heaven." Haha, everyone knows not to mess with Fritz. When we brought him home, we could feel the tension in the room already. Fritz handled it and I'll find out tomorrow what happened.

I feel like Richard needs a daddy to show him how to be a godly, respectful Haitian man. I, being a Filipino American woman, am unqualified to do that. During the time we spent after school, I gave Richard the chance to tell me what he would need to change so he wouldn't be getting in trouble all the time. He stubbornly stood their quietly so I wrote down what I thought should change. I put "I (Richard) will be more respectful and obey at school." I asked him if he agreed. He said, "I don't believe someone can change." I asked why. He said, "Only God can change someone." I said I agreed but that it depended on him to choose to obey or disobey and allow God to grow him in obedience and love. He said, "No, only God can." I seriously think this kid thinks that God has to do something major to make him a good...which I agree...but there also has to be a willing heart. God can change hearts, but is that heart stoney, thorny, or good? We're learning Luke 8 about the Parable of the Sower right now, so I've been thinking about that a lot.

What?! No Meltdowns Today! :)

Okay, so I'll just be honest. The teachers and I have been really frustrated with the kids' behavior as a whole. Lots of defiance and disrespect, but we're persevering and praying for God's wisdom. Yesterday, I felt like I had no patience for my little Richard as he was constantly trying to be rude and get under everyone's skin. This led to many trips to sit by himself in a neighboring room. At one point in class yesterday, I had asked him to stop talking. I was really quiet and Oline asked, "Are you sad?" I said, "No, just tired." "Tired of Richard talking huh?" she said. Which was hilarious, but I said, "No, just tired." Then Richard mumbled in Creole, "Yeah right, she's never tired. She's never tired when she's punishing me!" Haha, yes! It's good to know he knows I will stand my ground and he can't tire me out with his behavior. It was quite encouraging because I know there will be less testing and hopefully more obedience as he knows there will always be a follow through with what I say.

Then today he ran into my classroom 15 minutes early as I was setting up with an eager smile on his face. He said he rushed over so he wouldn't be late to school. (It's always great to see him smile so early in the morning...a big sign that he's chosen to make it a good day). I told him we would be planting today and that he'd get to pick which seed he wanted to plant. He was so excited and when the other kids joined class, he quickly told them about our project for the day. We started off with prayer and Richard, for once, had a prayer request. He wanted to pray for the older kids who were graduating. He even wanted to pray first!! So awesome!!! Then we read the parable of the sower in Luke 8. I got to take them outside our school gates and observe the rocky roads, the weeds and thorns, and the good soil with fruitful trees. For three kids who constantly had meltdowns every time I mentioned the word science, they were so intrigued and involved. During the time of sowing our seeds, Richard decided to plant sweet pea flowers, Oline planted lavender seeds, and MarcKendy sowed another type of flower that I can't recall at the moment. They were bummed I didn't have apple seeds so I told them I'd look for apples when I got home and would bring the seeds for them tomorrow. Anywho...they were so great the rest of the day. We worked on spelling, place value in math, and had a time of watching Planet Earth. Their amazement with creation was just precious. Seriously, to get through a day without having any major meltdowns, no hissy fits, no talking back, no kids having to stay for dentention....ahhhh...it was such a glorious gift from God! To top it all off, Richard returned to elective class in the afternoon with two apple seeds in hand that he got from home. :) For a boy who last week told me he wanted me to go home already, I think he's realizing I'm not going anywhere and I'm still gonna love him no matter what he does. This love requires much much discipline, patience, and strength through Christ, but I think he might be starting to believe that this love is genuine. Tomorrow's another day, but I'm enjoying this wonderful day as long as I can.

Thanks for the prayers saints! God is constantly making me aware of you faithful prayers warriors and I am ever so grateful for ya'll!!!

Random Sights and Sounds

1. Saw an 8 year old boy at a food court downing a Heineken. Not just a sip of his dad's....nope...one of his own that he was chugging.

2. A Haitian woman was walking down the street with a white baby doll on her hip as if it was a real baby.

3. None of the kids zip their zippers...ever. Guess its some kind of some unnecessary step they can skip in the morning and after they use the bathroom.

4. My students have asked to used the "boom boom room." I was like, "What the heck is that?" They explained to me that's where they go to go number 2. I guess there's a designated bathroom on campus that they all go to when they go poop. Okay then.

5. Asians are few and far between here, so when I was in the car on the way back from the grocery store, we stopped next to a UN truck. I saw an Asian guy hanging out the window so I just waved and said to the others in my car, "Hey look, another Asian!" He asked if I was Chinese, haha. Everyone here assumes I'm Chinois.

Some Sweetness

A couple of things have just gotten me so excited and have blessed my heart this week. First of all, the school has hired a Haitian Principal. He has been so awesome. Today he worked with a new boy, Emmanuel, who is staying temorarily at the home and helped him learn the color red. They colored and drew things that were red. He took the boy on a tour of the school and had the boy point out things in red. Then he took him to our porch to overlook the neighborhod and had the child point out things outside our gates that were red. Mr. Ivans explained later that this was a vision test and so now he knew this little boy could see close and far. I was so impressed. I am so stoked for the school to have a Haitian Principal who is very capable, intelligent, and has such a love and passion for what's best for the kids, especially in helping them grow to be successful citizens in Haiti. He's going to be such a great role model for our kiddos.This new little boy, Emmanuel, has been such a joy to have. I don't know much but he has his arm stitched up from a recent gunshot wound and is staying at our boys' home for a bit. He has such a sweet spirit about him. He's never been to school before, so on his first day at the school, he was amazed by everything. He was mesmerized by the computers and inappropriately stuck his face in front of one of the teacher's screens as she was showing a video to her class. He had no idea how to stand in line or to look for a trash can when he was done with something he ate. But Emmanuel was so eager to learn and comply. When he left school, he pulled me down to give me a kiss on the cheek. I'm not a super affectionate person normally, but these kids are teaching me to give and receive love with such sweet affection. Many of these kiddos don't have mommies that will hold them and love them and it's crazy how a hug and a kiss can mean so much to them (and me!).

Another thing that brought me such joy today was my student, MarcKendy. He asked if I would come over to the boys home and he would teach me Creole. Of course I said yes, but I told him that I would do it after I helped at the feeding program, which is held right next to his house. So he, so sweetly, sat on the steps of the feeding program facilities, patiently waiting for me to finish so he could teach me. When I finally got around to the boys' home, he brought me to their room that had a chalkboard and he already had numbers 1-10 written in Creole for me! So sweet! Then he wrote down a few phrases for me to learn. The first phrase was "An ale nanfete," (which I'm not sure is spelled right) This meant, "Let's got to the party!" Haha, one of the "essential" phrases I need to learn to survive here right?! He ended by pulling out his personal library of Creole books and said I could pick one to borrow and read. :) Afterwards, Davidson, a boy I had been tutoring started practicing writing his numbers on the board. First he wrote 1-30 and counted in English. Then he cutely stood there and taught me the numbers in Creole. I called him "Mr. Davidson" and he was so excited that he could teach me something. Sooooo precious!!!

Markenzy

Markenzy is a boy from the neighborhood that I've become buddies with (the boy on the right). He was the one I mentioned a couple of blogs ago who was asking me for water. Yesterday, I saw him before the feeding program as he was lined up and ready to get in. I had some school supplies in my hand, so he started looking through it and the other kids gathered around and were looking too. When I said I had to go, the other children were yelling, "Give it to me!" and were grabbing at my things. Even though they're little, they are so rough and can be overwhelming and scary. Markenzy came to my rescue and yelled at them and swatted them away. He proceeded by escorting me to the gate I needed to enter. Soooo awesome. When I asked God for protection, I never suspected it would be from a 12 year old neighborhood child!

They play music on loud speakers at the feeding program, so after everyone was done eating, Markenzy and I danced hand in hand...we danced all the way out the gates. He walked me to my house, gave me a big hug and kiss on the hand, and said bye bye. It makes me so sad how you can tell that some of these kids never get hugged and how they long to receive love, even from perfect strangers. But I feel so blessed to be able to show these kids God's love and I'm praying and believing for their salvation.

Progress

Much better day today with my Richard. He came to school late, but said sorry and wrote me a letter of apology. He was able to stay in my class all day without having to be sent to the Principal. Every time he wasted time not answering questions he knew the answers to, or was being disrespectful to me or the other kids, I had him sit by himself in the room next door where I could see him. I told him he could return to the class whenever he felt he was ready to be respectful to everyone or was ready to receive help for things he did not understand. He kicked and complained all the way, but got his work done, and they were mostly correct! God was so gracious in giving me wisdom of what to do (because I was really concerned nothing would work). I'm grateful to God for it and give all the glory to Him for this progress and I hope it continues! God is soooo good. I know Richard is still skeptical of how genuine my love for him is, but I'm praying the Lord changes his heart. No matter what he does, I will still agape him. Because no matter what I do, the Lord agapes me. :)

Thank you for your prayers!!! And please keep praying!!!

Highs and Lows

Let's start with the highs the last few days...

1. Yesterday I went to the orphanage's feeding program where there were sweet little neighborhood children, who for some, this is the only time they eat. There is a group of kids from another orphanage that come and they are so adorable. They are well behaved, greet every adult with a handshake or kiss, wait until all of their peers have been served their food, and then they start eating together. Then, they walk back home holding hands two by two. :)

2. As I was leaving the feeding program, there was a child that was standing outside the gate. I gave him a little side hug and greeted him "bonswa," (good afternoon). Then he just grabbed my arm and wrapped it around himself and asked me not to leave. So I just held him, talked to him and some of the other neighborhood kids for a bit, then he walked with me down a few houses to my home here. But then he asked for water and I felt so bad that I had to turn him away (our facilities cannot provide enough for the neighborhood so I had to say no). I saw him again today (in his same dirty, torn up clothes), and I remembered his name. He was so happy. But even with a water bottle in my hand, I had to tell him I couldn't give him water. It broke my heart. :(

3. Today the 1st and 2nd graders came together and drew what they thought heaven would look like. Ti-Bo, a second grader, wrote "In heaven, there will be no more sin. There will be no more sickness. I will see Jesus." Then there was a picture of a little angel. The kids sat in a circle and everyone attentively listened and didn't make fun or laugh at each other...those of you who have been here know that is very uncommon.

4. I was helping my 2nd grader, MarcKendy, write a paragraph about where he would like to fly if he had a ticket to anywhere. He said he wanted to fly to another planet. I asked what he thought would be there. He responded, "I don't know! That's why I want to go. I've never been there!" Then we had a discussion about aliens, which was hard to explain with a bit of a language barrier. He added, "If an alien came to eat me, I would shoot it. No No! I would get the Bible of God and beat it!" Nice strategy I say! :)

5. Me and Kamala tutored two 1st grade boys at their play area called The Ben's. We sat on the bleachers, with a nice breeze, and just worked on the alphabet with them. They were so eager to learn and little Lukenson, sweet little boy, just came and sat behind me and hugged me and kissed my face as I was teaching another boy. Soooo sweet.

Lows:
1. My Richard has just hit a low. He got in trouble the first two days of school for disrespecting the teachers. Then today he kept making fun of the kids in class and refused to apologized. He got sent home for the day and we had been in school for less than an hour! He had several chances to apologize today, but still hasn't been able to do it. I feel his heart hardening and I'm praying the Lord just does a work in his life. There's only so much love I can give, but only God has the power to change hearts and lives. Please keep praying that those walls he has built up would just fall, that he'd let God's love heal him, and that he'd allow others to love him.

Overall, much more highs than lows. God is good!

My First Day of School

So today was MdL's official first day of summer school. Because we were so low on space, my class of 3 kids is now in our medical clinic facilities. We started off class reading about the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5: 22-23 and the kids told me what they wanted God to continue to grow in them. Overall they wanted to grow in love and kindness towards others. Now, it was interesting because I planned some fun activities for the kids to do, like drawing themselves and making and "All About Me" poster. I was excited because I thought they'd love it because it was unlike things they've been accustomed to and hey, what kid doesn't like talking about themselves? But I soon found out, that would be a problem. Because I was asking them to think creatively or think critically today, Oline and Richard were very resistant. They were refusing to answer questions about themselves, they didn't want to draw. I was like....really?!! And my little, dear Richard. I've developed a good relationship outside of school, but school today was a different story. He was constantly not wanting to do work and jokingly told the kids (in Creole so I couldn't understand) that he was going to whack me hard in the head. This sent him straight to the Principal where he wrote me a little apology letter saying sorry that he hurt my feelings. I hugged him and told him I loved him but he had to get right back to work. The rest of the day went smoother as he had an incentive to finish work so he could do a puzzle. Later on when we were doing more structured activities, like finding the coordinates of places on a map and adding using a 100's chart, he did great! He even was a doll helping me clean up the classroom. When he'd get out of hand, I'd have him recall how he said he wanted to grow in love and kindness. His countenance and attitude began to change as he started thinking about that. He'll definitely be my hardest challenge but is already one of my favorite kids. Keep him in prayer please!

On a lighter note, my three kids were cracking me up today. As we talked about the different continents and where they would like to go, they all said they'd like to go to America. Then they asked me if I had a boyfriend. I told them no. They then said, "When a person is 25 they should be married." I said, "I'm 26." They responded, "Then get married already! But don't marry a Haitian, because they're poor." I was like, "Hey, if you're in love it doesn't matter if someone is rich or poor. I'd marry someone who is poor." Then my girl Oline says, "I want to marry an American because they're rich." I quickly responded, "Oline, not everyone in America is rich. There are people that don't have homes and have to beg for food too. Food and clothes and homes are much more expensive there!" She responded, "Miss Jessica, I just want to marry an American." Hahaha, these kids were too much. Love them.

On a not so lighter note, we had to cancel our afternoon electives because we were on house lockdown during our lunchbreak. There were some sketchy men down the street who were suspected to be scoping out to kidnap. Police came and talked to them, apparently it was nothing. Praise God!

Another light note...went to the grocery store, which had air conditioning. Thank you Jesus!

Provision and Protection

Yesterday afternoon began my journey to Haiti. I began in LAX where I was anticipating having to pay for excess baggage fees for one of my luggages. However, when I mentioned to the woman it was so heavy because I had books in there because I was teaching in Haiti, she decided to waive the fees ($50!). Yay God! When I had to recheck in in Miami, I was antcipating having to pay my excess baggage fee again. The man helping me asked if I could take some things out of my bag that was overweight and put it in my other luggages so he wouldn't have to charge me. I opened my bag and he saw that there was nothing but school supplies in. I knew there was no way I could rearrange anything to make it lighter because I packed so tightly so I told him I'd just pay the fee. Then again, he decided to waive the excess baggage fee because it was for a good cause. Wahooooo! God really does move on the hearts of people when you pray specifically!

Now for testifying of God's protection. I shared in my last entry that I had been struggling with fear, but felt on overwhelming calm and confidence in the Lord. So in Miami, as the girls and I were traveling dropped off our checked in bags and were in the process of going through security for our carry-ons. Caitlin, one of the other teachers, and I were in the same line when my carry on was stopped just outside of the xray table (still unable to reach). The security guard was pointing to his screen, calling people over to look at it. I began to get paranoid. Did I pack something in my bag that looked questionable? Then the security guard started questioning the man behind me. They asked him, "What do you have in your bag??" He stumbled on his words and said something. Then the security guard blantantly asked, "Do you have a firearm, sir?" Over and over and the man was hesitating. (Was it a language barrier or was he just being really sketchy?) Anywho, I was able to grab my bag as this man was escorted away for questioning.

Then, when we got on the plane, it was delayed because a passenger who had checked his bags in did not show up at the gate so the crew had to take his luggage off the plane before we could depart. The passenger that didn't show up was supposed to sit between me and Caitlin on the plane. Ummm, I don't know, but I get the feeling that this man with the gun was the one that was going to sit between me and Caitlin on the plane and that was God's divine protection over us.

What's on my Mind on my Last Day

I had such an amazing night with my fam last night...had sushi and played Gestures. Had a great, restful night's sleep and I'm ready to go.

Over the last few days I've been a bit overwhelmed with fear about going to Haiti. I've had nightmares of things happening to me, been scared after reading a travel warning that 4 Americans have been kidnapped and killed in the last 3 months, and learning that there's been a huge increase in rapes since the earthquake. I've been seeking the LORD, reading scripture, praying, and asking others to pray for me. Then this morning I felt such an overwhelming calm. The Lord is good, and He gives a peace that surpasses all understanding. This is what He spoke to me:

"I sought the LORD and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed. This afflicted man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them. O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalm 34: 4-8

I'm believing God's gonna do huuuuuuuuge things in Haiti. I just feel it in my bones, in my spirit. I'm excited and am going forth in confidence knowing that the LORD goes before me, is right next to me, and covers me from behind.

So today I'm leaving from LA to Miami for a 14 hour layover...staying at a hotel with 3 of the other teachers...then getting to Haiti tomorrow in the afternoon. I'll update again once I get there. Love you all and thank you for your support and prayers. I need it so much!