We are in a battle

Life has been crazy here, and it has been a little difficult to find time to post the past few days. A quick recap of the past couple days here:

After we got back from Gonaives Friday evening, we were all exhausted and crashed. Saturday I had hopes of working on painting the wall, but it rained in the morning and was humid and cloudy the rest of the day. I would really like to get that finished this week if possible! Praise God - our water pump to started working again! Dyno, one of our repairmen, was finally able to come check it out Saturday afternoon. He disagreed with Alex and said that we did NOT need a new pump. He replaced a valve and it fixed the problem! To top it all off, it only cost $30! Most of the day Saturday I just did little things around the house and spent time with the ladies, Dianne and Staci, and the kids. Saturday night, I went to prayer at the church. Pastor Bobby invited me last Sunday. It was awesome! It was a group of about 12-15 powerful prayer warriors. I am SO glad that I am able to be a part of it. We prayed and shared thoughts and ideas for almost three hours. It originally started out as a prayer group for the upcoming election, but it has become more of a group for general prayer for the country. (I will come back to this later).

Sunday, I drove the kids to Sunday school and then we went to church. After church, I told Dorothy to go ahead and take the kids home. I decided to stay late and pray for anyone in need. I, along with others from prayer group, prayed for several people. Then, I got to talk with Marc and Scotty, mutual friends of Kez. They were at prayer the night before, and both share the same vision for this country
as I do. It was so encouraging to meet people closer to my age that share the same hopes and passion for Haiti. They said that often they go into tent cities and pray for the sick and minister. I would love to do that and told them to give me a call the next time they go. I am thankful that God is bringing friends into my life here, and I hope to get to know them better in the coming months. After talking with them, I walked home from church to have lunch with Dorothy, Dianne, and Staci. We spent the rest of the day doing laundry, cleaning, and working around the house. Dianne and Staci treated us to dinner at Epi-Dor for our early birthday present! It was so nice! We all had crepes. My birthday is on the 20th, Dorothy's is the 26th, and Chacha's is the 27th.

Today was a BUSY day. It was the first day of school for Mackendy, Frantzo, and Sonson. They go to a school for the handicapped. It seems like it will be really great for them, but it is quite a drive. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get them there depending on traffic. Dorothy and I both need to go because it is a handful getting all three boys and the wheelchair in and out of the truck. So, we currently have 7 kids in 3 different schools. On top of that, all three schools have different hours! You can imagine how hectic that makes it around here. After we got home from dropping the boys off, we discovered that Emanuella was not doing well. Emanuella is the little girl who we think is around 4 years old. Doctors were unable to determine what is wrong with her, but we know it is something neurological. She does not speak, walk, or hold her own head up. She was abandoned and then later taken in by a woman. However, the woman only took her as a begging prop, and did not care for her. Eventually she was brought here to FHL. Today, her skin was very pale and she was having difficulty breathing. Miss Audette and Dorothy checked her out, and she has pneumonia in both lungs. A Canadian nurse just happened to stop by later and was able to check her. She did not expect her to live much longer, and she reminded us that we should be thankful to have had her for as long as we have so far. I had to leave to drop Chacha off at school in the midst of all this, and then I drove to the gas station to refill our drinking water jugs. In the meantime, Dorothy gave Emanuella a breathing treatment. That combined with our prayers seemed to have helped because she looked much better later in the day. Thank you, God! Please continue to pray for her!

Now, I want to go back to the prayer group I mentioned earlier. To preface what I am about to write, I want you to know that in PAP, Haiti, spiritual warfare is not just something you hear stories about. It is a real, in-your-face, daily reality. You can clearly see the battle between good and evil in everything. During the meeting, we were discussing the situation in this country and the evil that seems to be so prevalent here. One woman in the group said that she has physically seen an evil darkness that descends upon this city during the night. Yes, I know this sounds scary and out there from your perspective...and it is. However, when she spoke about it, I knew she was speaking truth. She said that every night around 1 or 2 AM she senses this evil being released or sent out. She also said we should pay attention to the dogs in the area because they react to it. Here, there are many stray dogs that wander around. I was in agreement with her. On many occasions since I came to Haiti, I have been startled awake in the middle of the night and sensed an evil presence. I know that you all know what I'm talking about. It is the kind of moment when you pray in Jesus name for that evil to leave until you can finally fall back asleep. Also, I have noticed the dogs barking, too. I don't just mean a couple dogs barking back and forth. I have heard the dogs (a lot of dogs at once) barking in the way they would to an intruder. In fact, Dianne (who knew nothing about this) commented today, “What is with the dogs here barking so much at night?”

Last night, I prayed fervently out loud for Satan to be bound and for a blanket of protection over this country. There were actually gunshots fired next door or a few doors down as I was praying (Dorothy tells me she heard it and was not worried though, haha). Surprisingly, that didn't really phase me at the time because I was so wrapped up in my prayers. I believe that healing and restoration is coming for Haiti, but it is going to be a battle. It already is a battle. I honestly and truly understand the meaning of being a “Christian soldier”. We are in the midst of a war, but the good news is that my Daddy's team has already won.

So, I am asking all of you to please fervently pray daily/nightly for a blanket of protection from all evil for this nation. Pray that lives here will be touched by God's amazing love. The harvest in Haiti is ripe, but the laborers are few. We need Christian soldiers and prayer warriors who are willing to take a stand and take back the nation of Haiti in Jesus' name.