summer time update

Where does time go?  I obviously struggle with blogging.  For one, it's hard to find time to sleep let alone write.  Though that's not even the hardest part.  The hardest part for me is that SO much happens here in a day. A week.  A month.  We constantly deal with situations that are not "normal".  Situations that are hard to put into words.  I'm always asking myself, "Should I really write about that?"  After all, our ministry is with vulnerable people, and I never want to exploit their situations.  On top of that, working in the orphan care world is a hot mess of it's own.  It's a hot topic and Christians everywhere have opinions on orphanages, best practices, family-reunification, short-term mission teams, adoption, adoption ethics, etc.  Honestly, I love talking about his stuff and blogging about such topics can be a great way to share experiences and encourage others who are striving out of pure hearts to defend the cause of the fatherless.  But blogging about these topics can also bring a lot of un-necessary drama (in my opinion) so I usually choose to have conversations about said topics in person.

So as we continue to pray for discernment on what and what not to share…here's a little update on what's been going on in our neck of the woods:  

**We are expanding out onto the back of our property!  We have purchased some additional land in recent months to spread out.  This will create 2 separate compounds connected by a bridge.  The new homes on the 'back property' will be our family homes.  Our current 'front property' will be utilized as our activity center (worship night, games,special activities, etc), education center (daily lessons/homework time after school and computer lab), administration, missionary housing, short term group housing, and our age-out campus. 

This is happening for a few reasons:

 1. According to IBESR (Haitian social services), our kids can't live on our compound with the other children once they turn 18.  We will still have kids who are not finished with school at that age, and we are committed to walking alongside them for a period of time to help our kids "age-out" well.   They will move up to our front property when they reach that age.  There they will be given the opportunity to finish school and be mentored as they choose their next steps in life and prepare to spread their wings and leave their Hands & Feet home.  The same concept is also happening at our Grand Goave site right now.

2.  We are crowded! We have 90 people living full time on our small compound, plus short-term mission teams when they come.  We desire for all of our children to have safe, stable family units away from the hustle and bustle of people coming in and out, and having a separate family home compound will accomplish this.  Interaction with all other people will happen on our front activity campus.  

3.  Our families are currently full right now, and the extra space will allow a little more room if IBESR comes to us with a child who needs a family.

We had a new well drilled on the back property at the beginning of the summer!  You can see the wall that was completed around the property as well.

This summer we've had some great teams working hard under the direction of our Haitian construction crew on the back property.  After a lot of work building the wall, digging and leveling land, we have our first new home going up.

** Our kids have been having a great summer.  For starters, ALL of our kids passed in school this year.   Not only did they pass, but they all did extremely well!  Stephen and I along with all their house moms are incredibly proud of each and every kid.  They all put in a lot of hard work over the last semester.  

Their summer break has been filled with loads of fun activities!  They've gone on field trips to the national museum and other sites in Port au Prince, our older kids got the chance to go to an amazing church camp for a week with their 'cousins' from Grand Goave, our house moms have been teaching cooking and sewing classes, they've done lots of crafts including bracelet making and wood working, they have done service projects, and the list goes on.  Our kids are incredibly talented and I have especially enjoyed watching the house moms invest in teaching the kids their skills this summer.  Oh how I love our staff!

This photo was taken shortly after the kids found out they all passed.  These two incredibly smart guys had to run and tell us the good news right away as they worked hard and showed tons of improvement this semester!

Our kids and staff put in some hard work and painted our church last week. It looks beautiful, and I'm pretty sure they had a lot of fun doing it!

You've got to have time for a good water balloon fight.

One of our house moms teaching our girls the process of designing and sewing clothes.

I'm incredibly thankful for the tables one of our group members made for our kid's activity room and for our family for home school this fall!

Of course we have to squeeze in some hang out time.

That covers a lot of ground from this summer.  We have so much great stuff currently going on. A special thanks to all the teams for their hard work and being such a blessing to us this summer.  We continue to appreciate all of our amazing supporters as well.  We covet your prayers and could not keep going without each and every one of you.

On that note... I think we're also looking forward to a slow-down in pace this fall and a chance to breathe :)  

An Encouraging Haiti Day

Today was an encouraging Haiti day.  Unfortunately it's easy to get discouraged living in this country with all the government corruption, trash, lack of infrastructure, lack of medical care, physical poverty etc.  But today was one of those days that the Lord sent us to make our hearts smile :)

A few weeks ago IBESR (social services) brought us a lady who wanted to abandon her three small children here.  She was being kicked out of her current home and had no way to provide for herself, let alone her children. We talked to her about her children, being a mom, and other opportunities (or lack thereof).  This woman has actually abandoned previous children as well.

We had been needing to hire an additional wash lady, and after talking about it with her she gladly accepted the job in hopes of being able to keep and care for her kids.  We agreed to give her a small pay advice to secure the rent for a place to live, and the IBESR worker was happy with this solution.

IBESR has only been active in Jacmel for the last couple of years.  Our orphanage has to be licensed through them and they are in charge of placing children-in-need in homes.  I believe that these workers really care about the kids, but they lack major resources and staff to be able to do their job well.  They end up relying on us and other organizations in the area to help find places for children which can be rather draining as it's a whole other job entirely!

Anyway, back to this encouraging Haiti day:

Today the man from IBESR came over to check on this woman and see how things were going.  It caught us off guard, but we went and got her to talk to him.  After chatting for a while, he said that he was pleased with the solution of her taking the job, and that they were proud of her for following through and doing the job well.  Because of this, he gave her some supplies (from IBESR) to help her in getting her family back on the ground: a couple air matlas (mattresses), pots to cook with, some additional clothes for her kids and some peanut butter.  He also said that he was going to go check on her after her next pay day to assure the kids were being taken care of with the money and supplies.

Stephen and I were quite shocked!  It was beyond encouraging to see them out advocating for keeping families together and lending a helping hand in a situation that really needed it.  It matters to this family. We're proud of Haiti today :)  Praise God!

Our newest employee and the worker from IBESR

Year Two and a Half Marathon

Friends and Family,

We are quickly approaching our one-year-anniversary of living and serving in Haiti with the Hands & Feet Project.  October 25th marks our first year.  What a year it has been!  We have walked through joys, trials and tragedies with our Hands and Feet family. It has emotionally been a gigantic roller coaster for us, but the Lord has remained the same, and is our rock. We couldn't be more confident that this is where He has placed our family.  I get choked up when I try to explain how much we love our kids and staff; they are truly our extended family.  We're also blessed beyond measure to work for an incredible, integrity-filled organization.  We're excited to head into year two, and all that lies ahead!

As we near the end of our first year, we are raising support to fill in the gap of our upcoming 2012-2013 year.  We are incredibly blessed by those of you who have thus far financially sacrificed to allow us to serve in Haiti with Hands & Feet. We are humbled by your generosity, but more importantly your donations have gone to help the orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti live in a loving, Christ-centered family such as this one.

This is 'Kay Yrmithe' (Yrmithe's house). She(in the lower right corner) is the head house mom, and Rosanie (to the left) is a nanny who lives with them.  The boys in this family include Marvensky, Richnaider, Wadley, Modlaire, Stephane, Cadet, Willcharson, Edmond, Nickenson and Jeziman. They are one of the 7 families on our compound in Jacmel.

There are a couple of ways you can support us for the coming year.  On December 2nd, Stephen is running in the Las Vegas Rock-n-Roll Marathon with team Hands & Feet (along with the new, recently re-launched Audio Adrenaline).  He is running the half marathon. If you would like to make a donation per mile, please click HERE, then scroll down and click on the icon for Stephen Mulligan to fill out the sponsorship.  He's been training each evening when the heat gets *slightly* less intense.  The boys and nannies are cheering him on….they think he's going to win this race, and Stephen is content with letting them think that!  We won't tell them he's just aiming to finish well :)

We are also in need of a few more more monthly donors.  If you feel led to join our monthly team, click HERE.

Please remember that financial contributions are not all that we need.  We covet your prayers!  We would not be in Haiti today if not for all the prayers and encouragement we have received this year.  We feel your prayers each and every day.  The Lord continues to remind us that we cannot do this on our own.  Serving here is so much bigger than us or an organization.  It's about the body of Christ coming together for His purposes and to make him known - to orphans, to Haitians, and the rest of the world.  We are so grateful for all who have joined 'team Mulligan' and those of you will will join us for year two!  None of this would be possible without your support, so on behalf of our family, ALL of our kids, and the Hands & Feet Project: Thank you!

A precious little life

Words can't express the emotions we've gone through in the past month.

We had a precious little boy head to his forever home in Heaven a little over a week ago.  Woodley Pantaléon, born November 18, 2010 was a special little boy loved by many.  He had many health issues that he struggled with on this earth and was in the care of doctors quite often during his short life.  So much so, that we had transferred him to a home with a large medical team on staff that cares for kids with medical problems such as Woodley's. We wanted him to receive the best medical care that he needed, which is hard to find on this side of the island.  A few days later we were informed that after a severe seizure, Woodley went home to be with his Father in Heaven.  This saddened us, his house mama Emilia, and many others who cared for him tremendously.  He was brought back to Jacmel to have a funeral service with his Hands & Feet family on Tuesday.  

It is very difficult to put into words all that has gone on and the roller coaster of emotions, so I will share what my husband spoke at Woodley's funeral:

     Brothers and sisters, all of us are gathered here to celebrate the life of Woodley.  We loved him as our own.

     The God that we serve has bigger plans for us than we can imagine.  He is sovereign and just in those plans.  He knows that every situation and trial is for his glory.  They test and refine our faith.  

     Woodley's short life was a gift to everyone.  He has a special place in the heart of his biological family, Mama Emilia, Magalie, Miss Diane and all the rest of us in his Hands and Feet family. 

     It was a miracle that he survived his first few weeks of life, a miracle that he lived as long as he did, and a miracle that he is now at peace with our eternal father in heaven.  

     His body is no longer suffering.  May we be filled with comfort knowing that he is embraced in the arms of Christ.  Woodley knows the future glory that we can all anticipate described in Romans 8: 18-25. 

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spriti, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

     We love you Woodley, but God loves you more. Welcome home.

si dye vle

Most all of you have heard about the tragedy that happened to our Hands & Feet family last Friday, August 10.   On a weekly beach outing, our precious six-year-old, Junette, was swept out to sea (We did find her body two days later).  I will write/reflect more about the story soon, but I just want to ask for prayers as we're still in the whirlwind of heart-ache, funeral preparations, counseling/loving-on the kiddos and staff, as well as all the social-services/local government meetings that have to be had.  The funeral is tomorrow, August 15th at 3:00pm.  Please continue to pray for our entire family here at Hands & Feet in this time of sorrow....and joy, as we know that Junette was adopted into her forever-family in heaven this week.

In the midst of another struggle and tragedy, I'm constantly reminded of a few things:

1. I have a great God who is in control, sovereign, and loves us

2. I have a pretty spectacular husband. for real.

3. I love my mulligan and hands & feet kids to pieces, and cherish every moment I'm gifted with them.

4. I have to end all of the plans I make for tomorrow and beyond with "Si Dye vle".....a Haitian phrase that is always said meaning, "If God wants/wills." They literally say it after every plan, and it's so true.

Thanks for all the love and support!

                                                   

                    Love you, Junette

summer and a mid-year resolution ;)

It has definitely been a while since we've posted!  The spring and summer have flown by, and we're just a couple months away from our one year mark in Haiti. Crazy!  I want to catch you up to date on what's been going on in the last few months and reveal my 'mid-year' resolution: to have a new blog post each week!  Hopefully this will enable me to tell some of the little stories, big stories, or just funny happenings along the way, without having to have big, long update posts :)  So hold me to it - I'm committed!

Our summer has been full of kids home from school (yes, we have 68 kids + 3 Mulligan's) and many groups volunteering their time to come serve with us!  It takes a lot of extra energy to host groups, but they are also a huge blessing to us at Hands & Feet.  They've added summer time activities for our kids, served our staff, and have put in a lot of hard work in the intense Haitian heat!  We have almost all of our buildings newly painted, new gardens planted, and tons loose ends fixed up around our compound thanks to all these people who decided to spend a week of their summer with us.  We can't thank you enough - not only for your work, but the amazing encouragement you provided our family this summer was priceless. I truly mean it.  I can't forget our volunteer, Natalie, who came down to help us out with our kids this summer.  In the midst of our busy group season, it was a blessing to have an extra set of hands to help us out with our own kids.  It's quite an adjustment moving somewhere with 3 little tots and not having your babysitters anymore - especially on top of a demanding job. We really appreciated having Natalie for close to three months.

Check out Caleb an Bryan from our TVC group from Nashville, going the extra mile to get the second story painted :)

The kids got out of school at the end of June.  They got to enjoy a couple weeks of freedom from schedules with plenty of free time and no school work before we started our 'summer schedule'.  With the summer schedule, they have lessons to review school work each morning from 8:30-10:30.  We've also had extra activities scheduled that the kids have signed up for such as cooking class, gardening, and crafts, along with our usual beach and hiking trips each week.  The lessons and classes have been nice to keep a little structure in our day.  We have a few more weeks, and the kids will be heading back to school.  A lot of them have told me they're already ready to go back!  We're looking forward to the new year ahead!

just hanging out with Melissa

Jameson :)

Some groups come in with some fun stuff!

Book fun

The pool that lasted at least a couple uses before popping!

This summer we also enjoyed our first planned rest-time home!  Let me tell you, it was much needed and wonderful!  We had fun on vacation with my family on Table Rock Lake, and also had some good time to visit the rest of our family and friends in Iowa.  We appreciated being able to *mostly put our stress aside for a couple weeks and catch up on rest!  We miss you all!

cousins!

Ouch! Grady has really learned how to swim well this summer - go buddy!

fishing with Grandpa

The kids always have a great time on Grandpa Ed and Grandma Mary's farm!

Overall, life in Haiti is always interesting to say the least.  There's always a new disaster waiting for us around the corner....whether it's our generator breaking, or some other dramatic happening (think about it - we live in a very small space with close to 100 people, of whom most are under 10!) We embrace those disasters around here as a chance to build character :)  And yes, we have had a lot of those chances.  An interesting verse that was brought to our attention this summer was Proverbs 14:13: "Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief."  It sounds a little depressing, but this accurately describes a lot of what we've gone through this year.  God has taught us a lot about his faithfulness over the last nine months.  It's not that He makes everything work out perfectly, nor has happy endings for every situation.  He does, however, walk along side of us in every circumstance, chips away at what we don't need in our life and builds up the things we do need!  Haiti is an incredibly hard place to do ministry, have a marriage and raise your family.  I definitely picked the best partner ever in this endeavor; Stephen and I celebrated our 7th anniversary last month.  The kids and I are so blessed to have such a great husband and daddy!  There's nothing this guy can't fix, or wouldn't do for us.  Love and appreciate him more and in new ways each day!

Prayer requests:
*Please pray for our family.  As I just talked about the craziness of Haiti life, just pray for unity in our marriage and time to spend as a family.
*Our kids - Haitian and American :) Grady, Ella, and Mikah are doing great here, but they're still in the first-year transition which is a big one.  Pray for our Haitian kids as we're getting ready to start a new devotion series with them....that ultimately they would all come to have a relationship with Christ who is the only person who can fill that hole in their life and heal the wounds of abandonment. Also for the end of summer and their upcoming school year!
*Our staff-we have some Haitian and American staff transitions coming up.  Pray for this to happen smoothly and for God to build up the team he has chosen to serve at Hands & Feet in wisdom and unity.

the silent funeral

An emotional day here in Haiti.  It started a few days ago when IBESR (social services) came to Hands and Feet with a story of a little boy named Toto Leon.  He was a 12 year old boy at an orphanage in Jacmel.  He had epilepsy and was unable to walk for the past two years (for unknown reasons).  He had a seizure in the middle of the night and died.  He was taken to the local hospital St Michel and placed in the morgue.  This was on March 5th!  Now, the 2nd of April, the hospital had called social services and said that no one had come to claim and bury the him.  The orphanage where he was staying didn't have the funds and the hospital was going to dump the body.

It seemed like a far fetched story and without the time to check it all out was reluctant to help out.  We were prompted by the spirit to help out financially and trusted that God would work it out.  The next day, another missionary called with questions about the story and verified that it was true and they were looking for funds to give this abandoned child a dignified burial.  Over the last week, it has been beautiful to watch IBESR gather funds from other Haitians , Damou Ministries and Hands and Feet to complete the preparations for a funeral today.

The visitation was at 2:30 this afternoon.  There were five people there, none of which personally knew or had ever met this child.  The funeral was moderately attended by people who had interacted with him at his local school and some people from the orphanage he lived at.  My heart ached for the life this child had.  Here at his funeral, who really knew and loved him.  I longed for someone to be crying for him, for him to be missed, for a family to be comforted.  There was none of this though.....

It made me question if his death was really an answer to his prayer for a family.  That Christ had gleefully embraced Toto who came running to his true 'forever family' back on March 5th.  As we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the crucifixion of our Savior, let us crave the family that is promised in Christ's death and resurrection.  What a comfort that will be when we are embraced in his loving arms and may we all desire to be with him in our 'forever family'.    ~ SM

"Michael Haiti"

Some days around here are crazy and fun.  Others are sad.  Yesterday was one of the latter days.  It was a busy day of language school all morning, catching up with all the day-to-day work that has to be done on our compound during the afternoon, as well as hosting two different groups of visitors that stopped by throughout the day.  

At one point, we received a phone call from IBESR (Haitian social services) saying that they had a "2-year-old" boy that had been abandoned in a gutter that morning.  They asked if we would take him because they had no place to bring him.  We said to definitely bring him over when we heard he had nowhere to go.

In the afternoon, IBESR arrived with the little boy.  He definitely was not 2-years-old, it was obviously just a guess.  Our best conclusions are that he is around 4-years-old. We noticed right away that he has some serious mental and physical disabilities. His teeth are all rotted out, and he can't talk, stand, or walk - potentially a reason his mother/caretaker abandoned him in a gutter.  IBESR tried tracking down anyone who knew of him for any information, but had no luck.  Without a question we took him in and had temporary custody signed over to us(Hands & Feet) so we could take some time to figure out what is best for him and what his needs are. "Michael Haiti" was the name they wrote down for him on the paperwork as they had nothing to call him.  Let me tell you how much it breaks my heart that we didn't/don't even have a correct name to call this precious child by.

What happened next melted my heart.  I watched about 5 or 6 of our girls take in the child who smelled awful, and change his soiled diaper, bathe him, powder him, put him in some clean clothes, and feed him without being asked. "Li ka dòmi nan kay nou! Li  

                                              

ka dòmi nan kay nou!" (He can sleep in our house, He can sleep in our house!!) is what they kept shouting. I wanted to cry, as our girls saw this boy just as God sees him....not a smelly, useless kid for the gutter.....but truly, truly precious.  Tamara named him, Michael.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14

We did find him a great home today.  The friends taking him are well-prepared to take on a child with special needs and get him any tests, assessments, and medical care needed to provide him with the best home possible.  So in preparation for them to take on custody, Stephen went into town today and applied and received a birth certificate for him (yes, in the same day!). They also got TB and HIV tests done.  The good news is that he was HIV negative!  Tomorrow, our fellow missionary Matt and I are taking him over to his new family.  Our girls are sad to see him go, but we're confident he is going to be very well-loved!

A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10

To all our faithful supporters, family, and friends,  I apologize for the lack of updates from us.  We have had an intense and trying first 3 months in Haiti.  A lot has happened, and every time I sat down to write an update, I just couldn't get anything out.  What do I really want to say?  What am I "supposed" to say?

Well, in my last post I stated that the Lord prompted us to send our children home for a while after a string of armed robberies were happening to (mainly) missionaries in our area.  Friends, was I ever thankful for this prompting and protection from God!

We feel that we need to share some details, as to accurately give due credit to the power of God and his protection over our family, friends, and the entire Hands & Feet Project, and what He has delivered us from.

A couple days after I returned to Haiti, my worst fear happened.  At around 1am, a group of 7 armed men broke into our compound.  They started in one of our girls' houses.  It was a house that I happened to be sleeping in that night.  About an hour and a half before that, I went up to sleep with one of our fellow missionaries, Stacie, because I couldn't sleep and I felt it would be a safe house to stay in if anything did happen. After all, the robbers were after money and electronics.....things that weren't really in that house...

It started with a loud crashing noise and Stacie and I flew off our bunk beds and scrambled into the shower where a lot of little girls poured in, and with trembling fear in their eyes, clung to us.  We knew exactly what was happening the moment we heard the crash.  It was our turn.  The next thing we knew, there were 3 armed men, standing there demanding that the "white girls" come with them.   They were leaving the children alone, so we immediately surrendered and with immense fear went where they drug us.

To be honest, the next hour was the scariest hour of my life.  The men took us at gunpoint through our compound, demanding all the money we had, and stole anything else of value in sight.  After us, they broke in and got Stephen.  Later they took 2 very close friends of ours who flew in that day to help us put up additional security on our compound, and finally involved another fellow missionary shortly before leaving.

The scariest part was that everything we gave them never seemed to be enough.  Visions of fellow missionaries' robbery reports flashed across my mind, and I was waiting for gunshots to start firing.  Would it be me, my friends, my husband?

For the last half hour, we were surrounded by the armed men in the middle of our compound, while others were in looking for more money.  Nowhere to go.  Nothing to hide behind. We had never been in such a vulnerable state.  Ever.  Stacie started to get a little panicked at this point as her foot (later we found out was broken) was throbbing from the fall off the bunk, and we were feeling a super defeated and helpless.  We were praying constantly since the first minute, but at this point of desperation, I started to pray out loud.  At one point, I just started whispering Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is right HERE with us. Jesus.


Let me attest to the power in his name alone. In those moments I felt the presence of God in a way that I can't even describe.  I literally felt this force-field type hug around my group of friends.  Psalm 34:7 says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them."   We all are confident that the Lord sent angels to to "encamp around" us that night in the courtyard.  Eventually the men let Stacie and I go, and we fled up to the girls room as fast as we could.  A few minutes later, Stephen came up to tell us that all the men were gone.  Not a single shot was fired, and not one of us were physically harmed directly from these men.

While I was praying in the middle of the compound that night, the thing that kept going through my mind was, "All we have is the armor of God."  I will never read these verses the same again.

Ephesians 6:10-18  "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Now, don't get me wrong, we were terrified and felt super hopeless at times.  But that night, I feel like God handed each one of us that shield of faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Somehow, we each had this peace from God that passed all understanding.  This peace that allowed us to stay calm in such an unfathomable situation.  No matter what the outcome.

Moving forward.....the next day, under the direction of our director and board, we moved all the children off our compound and to our sister site in Grand Goave.  We stayed there for about a month.  Grady, Ella, and Mikah remained in the states with my parents during this time.  Stephen and I got the opportunity to go home for about six days for some counseling and rest during this time period as well.  When we returned, we worked on sprucing up our compound, had an amazing group from Washington come and help re-paint each of our houses and build new lockers for EACH of the 66 kids at Hands & Feet.  We got some full time security, the robberies died off (we've heard positive reports this group has pretty much been caught) and a couple days before Christmas, all our children returned back home, to new houses and Grady, Ella, and Mikah returned with my parents!

Yes, that was the extremely SHORT version of what happened after the robbery :)  It was a difficult process to work through, and we're still working through it, but we have strongly felt the Lord's hand on us throughout ALL that has happened.  He took our children out of the situation, and also protected us and the rest of our staff and children.   In all honesty, we've wanted to run back to perceived safety in the States, but we cannot deny God's presence walking along side us here.  This is where He wants us, and He continues to show us this every day.  We've experienced many arrows thrown at us, but our battle is certainly not against flesh and blood, but against the evil one.  And the Lord has already claimed that victory for us.

So for now....we continue to walk out one day at a time.  God has turned this awful event around and used it for GOOD and his purposes!  More on that to come in a different post!

A HUGE thank you for all you that have continued to walk along side us in prayer and support....even with a lack of updates.

And I promise to keep you all more informed of the every day adventures in our lives and how God is moving at the Hands & Feet Project :)

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!)