Tuesday, October 18, 2011

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.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

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 :)