the move, transition, and the unexpected...

I need to apologize to all of our amazing supporters, family, and friends that I am just now getting around to making a post since our arrival in Haiti.  We arrived close to three weeks ago, and it feels like we've lived in Haiti a year already!  It's been a whirlwind and there is so much to share, so I will break it down:

The Move:

We had four wonderful friends travel over to help us with our initial move.  Curt, Nancie, Kyle, and Katie.  We cannot thank them enough for their sacrifice of time and money to support us in this move.  From luggage problems in Miami, almost not making our flight to Port-au-Prince (ohhh boy), unpacking our stuff, cleaning our apartment, watching our kids, bathing our kids, entertaining our kids, doing projects around Hands & Feet.....they were such a blessing and gave some amazing moral support!  From the bottom of our hearts we thank you guys!!

The Transition:
It hasn't been an easy move.  As we've stepped into our position there have been inevitable challenges....and let's face it: we're directing an orphanage with close to 70 children - there's going to be tons of challenges!  Days are long and there's always lots to do: from bringing sick kids to the doctor (and another doctor, and another all in one night to get the child accurately treated)  to getting supplies, to payroll, to staff meetings.  We also must not forget stopping in the middle of business to love on a kid who's having a rough day.  It's crazy, but we're loving it.  We already love each and every one of the Hands and Feet kids (we've seen quite a few of them grow up over the last five years too) and we're beginning some good relationships with our Haitian staff.

Our children (as in Grady, Ella, and Mikah :) have done amazingly well in the transition.  Even better than we anticipated.  They were of course a little reserved at first, but a couple days into it I started having a hard time getting Grady to come inside for supper.  He would rather play with all the boys outside!  Not a bad problem for this mommy to see! He loves playing with the older boys - and it probably helps that they are the ones that have some good English-speaking skills.  I heard him speak his first Creole word without prompting in the second week.  He opened up the front door and our dog, T-Bone, came up to him.  Grady said, "T-Bone, Alé!"  (T-Bone, Go!)  It cracked me up.  The girls have done very well, too.  They love to go upstairs with one of our nannies, Francine, to play!

The Unexpected:
Some of you may know that there have been some unanticipated events in the first 2 weeks of our move.  The area we moved to has been a very peaceful and safe area.  Unfortunately, there have been a string of armed robberies in the past few weeks.  American missionaries have mainly been targeted.  We've been on it, trying to "up" our security even though we live in a fairly secure compound.  After the third armed robbery (to missionaries in the area we know) happened last week, we started getting quite a bit more concerned.  They've appeared to be getting more frequent and bold.  After a bunch of prayer and talking with our director, we decided it was best to send our kids home for a while.  It was a very, very tough decision.  We decided that they needed to be in a safe place while we get some additional security measures in place, and even wait to see if the dust settles with this group of intruders.  The UN has started a night patrol of the area, and the town police have shown up when called to the robbery situations.  We're praying that these men are found and pay for their crimes, but even more importantly that somehow their hearts would turn toward God.  I brought the kids home last Thursday, made it all the way home on Friday, and leave early tomorrow morning to return to Haiti.  I (along with Stephen) am going through some pretty raw emotions right now as we will be apart from the kids for a while.  They have loved Haiti, the kids, and are doing sooo well.  We don't want to confuse them or anyone else that will be rattled by this situation, but are very comforted knowing they're safe while we figure situations out in Haiti.  After all, we've only lived here about 3 weeks.   We're hoping for them to return in a few short weeks...but will play it by ear.  We will not bring them back until we're confident to do so.  In the meantime, it's very hard on us as we have a job to do in Haiti and a bunch of very special kids to take care of.  We're praying for things to be settled as soon as possible.

SO........we're calling out for some huge prayers over this situation.  For us, our kids, Haitian kids, staff, and all area missionaries.  We almost didn't want to share this crazy news, but know that Satan likes deceit.  We want people to know the truth and how to specifically pray for us!  Pray for safety, for our kids and family back home, for peace in the hearts of those who have been robbed and are fearful as they try to move forward, for the men to be caught and arrested, as well as their hearts - we know they need a savior just as we do!

I've struggled as we've dealt with this whirlwind JUST as we got to the mission field.  WHY, God?  That's been a pretty common question in my heart these days.  I was reassured this weekend, by the book of Isaiah:

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
   and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

In my mind, this situation is ridiculous.  Why now?  Why would God allow this to happen?  Right as we moved our family down?  But God's thoughts are not my thoughts, His ways are not mine.  No, God is not responsible for the evil-doing, but I'm confident that He has a way in which to work this situation out for His glory!  I'm not sure how yet....but I know it will be done.  I'm confident.  Until then......we appreciate all your prayers!

if we are faithless, He remains faithful

If I could find a book entitled, "Moving Your Family to a Third World Country for Dummies" I would buy it.  Strangely enough, I haven't found one.  Ok, I'm sure even if it existed, it wouldn't make the process any easier!  Instead, we'll keep plugging away, making a new 'to do' list each day, and pray that everything is miraculously taken care of by next Tuesday!

One week left.

Have I mentioned how stressful this process has been?  Have I also mentioned how throughout all the stressors, God has remained faithful and shown up in His perfect timing to work out details from big to little.  He's shown up just when we need him to give us encouragement. To take something off our plate. To calm our fears.  

I was reading in 2 Timothy tonight.  2 Timothy 2:1 says: "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."  How poweful is that? Even when I'm faithless, God is still faithful!

This past week has especially been a roller coaster for us.  Let's just say that a few short nights ago, we were so discouraged that we didn't think we could go to Haiti.  I ashamedly admit we were nearing that faithless point.  "If God wants us in Haiti, how come our house isn't sold/rented?  There's only one week left! Should we really go? There's a lot of issues to work through in Haiti once we get there. It would feel safer and more known if we just stay in the US. Can we do it? Can God really use the Mulligan family for these tasks and His purposes there?"

Doubt. Fear. Faithlessness.  It all crept in.  We sat on our (empty) bedroom floor praying that God would answer just ONE of our unknowns right now.  Just one. Then, a day later God revealed His faithfulness when my faith was almost gone.  A perfect renter came to us, signing a year lease with the potential of adding a second year.  An older couple that needs to move closer to family from out of state.  God had this planned all along, and it wasn't just about US needing to rent our house, but about THEM needing to find a place this past week.  Funny when you get reminded how life isn't all about ME! :)  

The verse in 2 Timothy was written by Paul (in a letter to a pastor named Timothy) when he was in prison in Rome.  At the time he was expecting that in a short while he would be executed for his faith.  He wanted Timothy to know that trials and hardships are a normal part of life.  He encouraged him to stand firm and faithfully follow Christ even through those hardships.  Something that Paul was such a testimony to.  Did I mention Paul was expecting to be executed for his faith while he wrote this???....."God remains faithful"  

I'm so glad I have that nugget of truth to hold on to. We've been scared....but we're surely not facing execution (as Paul was) for serving orphans in Haiti. Yet Paul stood firm in His faith in God.  You see, all the "roller coasters" we've been on over the past few weeks have served a purpose.  I truly believe God has wanted us in a place where we can't do any more in our own powers or manipulations.  Where we depend solely on Him to provide what we need next.  We're not accustomed to that dependency in the US.  We can do a whole lot on our own with our resources and create a false little bubble of security.  Haitians know that dependency, though.  They depend on Him daily as they lack the resources to create a security bubble.  God has wanted us to look to Him FIRST and trust in the him for everything we need.  We've been in that state of dependency.  Badly.  He has remained faithful, and I love the place it has left us. Craving him more. Loving him more. Depending on him more - for everything!

What a refining process it's been.  I know there's a lot more refining to do, as always, so please pray for us in the roller coasters to come!  We're excited as we enter our last week in the states with energy and confidence in our new journey.

We're excited to get rolling in Haiti.  Please pray for our staff in the coming week.  Our Haitian staff and American staff.  That we would all click as a family and that we can work together for the common purpose of caring for the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti with the love of Christ, and to ultimately Glorify God.

Countdown Begins!

It's official.  We are IN the month that we leave for Haiti.  It all seems a little surreal at this point.  We move on October 25th.  I have to admit, I haven't changed over our family calendar to October because it makes me so sad!  Don't get me wrong, we are super excited for our move....but with it comes some inevitable sad goodbye's.  We are blessed with some amazing family and friends who will be extremely hard to leave. Anyway, moving forward......

Two weeks ago, we packed up our house (or at least a few items from our house that will fit in our apartment!) and loaded them on a truck being shipped to Haiti!  We were so blessed by the people that donated this moving truck to ship over supplies to our H&F sites, and that we were able to use some space on the truck to send over stuff for our apartment.  We also had a great lunch with Drex and Jo (H&F's trip coordinators who originally started the site we will be the directors of) who were driving the truck across the country.  It will soon be in Florida and then on it's way across the Caribbean!

We are pushing through our last few weeks here in the states finishing up our fundraising.  Before the update, I need to do a little 'shout out'.  God has extremely blessed us with a wonderful team of sacrificial ministry supporters who are partnering with us financially.  A very sincere THANK YOU to each and every one of you that have joined our team with a one time gift and those who are giving monthly/yearly to our ministry.  We couldn't do this without each and every one of you.  You truly are a huge part of being the Hands & Feet of Christ to our children in Haiti.  We are praying for all of you.

We are getting so close to having our full budget raised!  Our monthly need is $5800.  When all of our current pledges come in, we are about 10 people at $100/ a month away from being 100% supported!  If you would be interested in joining our team, please let us know.  Of course, it doesn't have to that specific amount.  You can check out our page on the website at:  https://handsandfeetproject.org/stephen-and-carrie-mulligan/  You can sign up online from that link, or we can send you a form to fill out and send to our stateside office which is in Franklin, TN.  All contributions go through The Hands and Feet Project (a 501(c)(3) organization) and are tax deductible.  Our email is csmulligan@gmail.com.  Please feel free to contact us with any question you may have and we will be happy to give answers :)

OK, I promise we won't be using this blog in the future as a way to fundraise, we've just recently had many questions about how the support raising is going.  It is truly a necessary part in enabling us to do our job, which is ministry to the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti. We are praying that God will close the last gap in fundraising and bring us the needed supporters to be fully funded by the time we depart on October 25th.

With that, as I said, we're counting down.  Our final days are being scheduled to the max to get everything accomplished.  No day taken for granted, enjoying every moment with family and friends before we move across the sea!

Please pray for safety for our family in the move.  For us as we transition into a new culture.  For our kids as they transition into a new culture. For the huge task we have ahead of us as the directors of a children's village that is responsible for nearly 70 children.  For the current Haitian and American staff down at H&F as they care for our amazing children.  For the children that they are given the best care and family possible. For peace for our family back home as we leave the country.  That God would take some very imperfect people and accomplish His will in Haiti.

Thank you for all the prayers and support!

I have to leave you with a picture of the kids in a wedding a couple weeks  ago!  Aren't they precious?  Congrats Melissa and Andy :)

eye of the hurricane

Life has been a bit overwhelming for us lately.  That could even be a bit of an understatement.

It has been a daunting task to get all the details together to move to a third world country, fundraise a large sum of money, raise our family, try to sell our house, as well as Stephen working many hours a week on a big project that is currently paying our bills "in between" jobs.

Then there's the drama in between it all.  Doing life with a bunch of imperfect humans wouldn't be complete without it.  I'll admit it, we have felt very defeated over the past few weeks.  Physically, emotionally, and spiritually defeated.  We're getting ready to head out on an exciting adventure in Haiti the Lord is sending us on.  We're confident in the calling and many details are falling into place, but we've been caught in the chaos of life around us.  Wednesday a bunch of issues and disappointments all got the best of me and let's face it......I was perfectly content in the land of a personal pity party.

Then this song I've never heard before came on the radio as I got in my car that evening  (here's the first couple verses):

Feels like the hurricane has come,
Feels like this ship is sinking,
These skies seem they are empty of your mercy tonight,
Sometimes the mystery of grace runs deeper then I am thinking,
In the dark I find your light,

(Chorus)
When I am over my head yeah,
I am waiting for a miracle,
I am fighting the wind and the waves,
Then the weight of this storm drives me straight to your arms,
You hold me I know that I am safe in the eye of the hurricane,
In the eye of the hurricane.

Sometimes I am crying for relief,
God let this night be over,
One word if you would speak could silence the storm,
Instead your mercy has a way of turning heart ache to faith,
So that hope will be reborn,

The phrase just made me instantly melt in my Father's arms: "Then the weight of this storm drives me straight to your arms."

I knew that's exactly where I needed to be.  Pity parties never really get me anywhere!  God reminded me that we're ALL imperfect and I can't put my complete faith in any person other than Him.  Just as nobody could ever put their faith in me as I will surely let them down.  So I rested in the Lords arms that night.  When I got home, Joshua 1:9 popped out at me from something I was going through in our fundraising tasks: "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

It's amazing how refreshing that is.  How can I lose sight of that so easily?  I'm so thankful I have a God whose arms I have to run to "wherever I go".

What's your hurricane?  We all have them going on.  My "hurricane" probably sounds silly to the storms facing others right now.  I encourage you to run to your savior's arms today and rest in the "eye of the hurricane."  It's a great place to be!

funny of the day

Conversation of the day: (to set the scene, we were driving past the courthouse, aka: Ella's castle)

Ella: I'm going to have a wedding at my castle.....and Jayden (cousin) is going to dance with me....and I'm going to wear a princess dress and be a princess just like you were mommy.....and Grady's going to be a prince.

Grady: Noooooooooo (in disgust)!  I'm NOT going to be a PRINCE! I'm going to be SPIDERMAN!  And I'm going to have a wedding at a basketball game!!!

Enough said, I guess. We couldn't have twins with more of a girly girl and a completely opposite "all boy" boy!

Moving Forward

It's been quite a while since I have posted.  Let's just say it's been a crazy few months.  Here's the rundown since our last post:

-Stephen's been crazy busy with work!

-When not at work/traveling around for work, he's been working on finishing up loose ends on our house.  I have an awesome husband!

-We've been attempting to check things off our Haiti list in our spare? time (kids' shots, fund-raising prep, etc).

-We had a successful garage sale getting rid of a lot of the excess!

-We've made trips to Indiana (fund-raising seminar), Tennessee (take care of some Haiti business), and Kentucky (orphan summit <-------awesome!)

-Had a fun and special weekend in Illinois with my family for my Grandma's 90th B-day

-Mikah turned two :)

-Twins started swimming lessons :)

-Stephen took a trip to the boundary waters with a group of guys from our church

-AND, we officially got our house listed today!  

     I know there's plenty of things I've left out, but those are the big ones.  We've also managed to keep three kids alive and thriving :)  That's a big enough task in itself!  In other big news, Stephen has 8 days left of work at InVision!  It's going to be a bittersweet end, but I am looking forward to having my husband around and to be able to devote the time needed to fully prepare for our move.  Please pray for our family during this transition that is coming faster than we ever anticipated.  Pray for our marriage, our kids, and that all the details we need to work out would fall into place.  

Also, check out Hands and Feet's new website!   It just launched this past week and is pretty cool.

I'll leave you with a conversation Grady and I had on our way to the store tonight:

G:  Who's truck is that mommy?

Me:  Um, that's Aaron's truck.

G:  Daddy sold his truck because we're going to Haiti, and we love Haiti, mommy.  And all the kids there.

(funny fact: Stephen didn't sell his truck to move to Haiti.  His truck died like 5 months ago!)

A New Journey

I've been thinking for a long time on how to even make this post.  Well, without babbling on for days that is.  The simplest and most sincere way to put it is this:

We are moved.

Five years ago, Stephen and I made our first trip to Haiti.  We instantly fell in love with the people and culture.  Since that first trip, it is crazy for us to look back and see that God has been shaping and refining us for the last five years to serve somewhere in the country full time.  It wasn't something we planned out, but something that God was planning out for us.   Over this past year, God has specifically burdened our hearts for the orphan and the social injustices of the world.  As parents it breaks our hearts, just as it does our Father's heart, for the thousands upon thousands of children in our world that have not one person to advocate for them.

Psalm 82:3 says, "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."

We are moved.

Our family has the opportunity to serve at at a children's village in Cyvadier, Haiti called The Hands and Feet Project.  Their mission exists to care for orphans and abandoned children of the world with the love of Christ.  The vision is to raise a generation of orphans who will grow into men and women who will have a relationship with Christ and be leaders in their communities.  The Hands and Feet Project has a big impact on the community around them, employing 40 + people in an otherwise job-scarce country.  


Stephen and I truly believe in this mission and are humbled by the opportunity to join their team full-time.  With the burden of our hearts, we are excited to use the skills God has given us to advance His kingdom....in Haiti.  Hands and Feet currently has one main site in Cyvadier with 50+ kids and a new site in Grand Goave with 31 kids.  Stephen will be the project manager for these sites as well as dealing with daily needs around the orphanage.  My role will evolve as we get there including tutoring the kids, working with the nanny's, the many short-term groups that come throughout the year etc.  Grady, Ella, and Mikah's role: to be kids, make lots of new friends, and spend more time with their daddy than they currently get to :)


Our move date is October, 2011.  Now let me tell you dear friends and family, we of course have some fears!  We know it seems a little crazy to move our family of five to the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and the reality of our move is hitting closer and closer to home as our plans move forward each day.  With each and every fear though, God confirms to us each day that this is His will for our lives right now.  We have had friends, family, and even somewhat strangers ask if they can financially support our mission before we have even launched our funding endeavors.  God is good, and He continues to tell us to fear not, for "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  We know in this journey we will face many trials, some of which are currently known and some unknown.  But we know where our Hope and future lies, and with that in our hearts we are confidently abandoning our lives as we once knew it and embracing the journey God has in front of us.


Our prayer as you read this, is that you will join us on this journey.  We are extremely blessed to have loving family and friends in our lives and we will continue to update this family blog regularly along the way. 


Blessings,
Carrie & Family

Birthday Parties!

Grady and Ella got to celebrate their birthday three times for their third birthday!  It started with a celebration with mommy on the actual day, followed by a party at our house the next day, and one at Grandma and Grandpa Mulligan's a few days later.  It was more of a birthday week :)  I now have two super-big three-year-olds!  Gotta love them :)

As requested, a Ming-Ming duckling cake for Ella...

...and a dinosaur cake for Grady!  

fun in the sun......i mean blizzard

Yesterday, the girls had a blizzard party.  What winter storm party is complete without bathing suits?

Don't you wish you looked this cute in a bikini in the middle of winter?

Mmmm, a bowl full of cheese :)

Ella loved being in her swimming suit all afternoon, but was pretty disappointed we weren't ACTUALLY going swimming.  

cloudy with a chance of pizza

I don't find much time to blog about all the crazy happenings and funny things that come out of my kids' mouths,  (heaven knows we're not lacking for stories in this crazy home)  but I really wish I would write some of the silly things down more often.  So without further ado;  a story from this morning!

To set the scene, our house has been pretty chaotic for the last three weeks.  Stephen has been working late hours and he's started teaching another class at UNI for the spring semester.   There have been at least three nights out of the week over the past 3 weeks that he hasn't been home until after the kids are in bed.   This has made it extremely difficult to stay on top of the cleaning and errands that need to be done, as I've just been in survival mode.  Oh yeah...have I mentioned that we've only had one vehicle for quite some time now?  We haven't had a full refrigerator or cupboards in a while....and even if I could muster up the ambition to bring my three small toddlers to the grocery store,  I don't have a way to get there during the day and our grocery store closes at 9pm.  Ok,  I'm not whining.  Just setting the stage for our morning :)

I once again wanted to get to the grocery store last night, but Stephen wasn't home until 8:00 and I couldn't make it in time.   This morning we were at an all time low for food.  I was struggling to figure out what to put together for the kids for lunch.  Stephen happened to be working in the area this morning, so I called and asked if he could stop by the store and grab something for lunch for the kids before he left for Waterloo.  He said that he'd grab a frozen pizza and leave it on the front step so he could get on the road asap.  I heard a knock at the door and thought he had changed his mind and decided to come inside.  I told Grady to go open the door, so he ran to the door and found a bag.  

"Moooommmm!!!  I found a PIZZA!  It dropped.  It got dropped by the sky!!!!!!  I found it!!"  Then Ella joined in, chattering away about the pizza that dropped from the sky.   I haven't laughed so hard in ages.  Oh, to be a kid and actually believe that a frozen pizza in a Fareway sack dropped out of the sky.  I just played along and we had a magical lunch time :)

Happy Birthday Grady & Ella!

3 years ago

Now!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Grady & Ella!  Three years ago today, you guys made quite an entrance to this world and we've had a crazy, fun journey ever since.  I've been blessed to see you grow from little helpless babies, to little tiny people.  Ella, you make me laugh every day with your funny conversations, belly laughs, attention to detail, and love for learning.  I know and pray that God will shape and use that strong will of yours for something amazing some day!  Grady,  you're a pretty funny BOY!  You sure know how to balance out all the girly activities during the day by "rooaaaarrr"ing at the girls like a dinosaur when you're frustrated or turning their play cookies into basketballs.  But, you have such a tender heart that will (in the VERY distant future) make you an amazing husband and daddy someday!

 Life is always a little chaotic as you now know that you are 'twins', but you guys make quite the pair!  I love you both so incredibly much!  Happy Birthday!                     Love, Mommy