This week was our most nerve wracking week here in Haiti. On Monday we heard that two kids had been kidnapped down on the Bon Repo side of our street. Then we also heard that the same group broke into a house just a couple minutes down our street and kidnapped at gunpoint the wife of a local Haitian pastor. The details of the break in were really scary, and our contact at Good Rest, Sherlie, even stopped by that night to tell us not to go out and not to walk on our street in case the gang of kidnappers saw us. We were really nervous! The local American missionaries in the next town over suggested that we stay with them for a couple nights since both kidnappings happened right on our street. They have security wire and more dogs. The husband is a former marine and they have been in Haiti for 5 years, yet he was worried about safety. We said, "Yes!"
We couldn't sleep. Carl spent a lot of time on our roof with a flashlight and we prayed and tried to untangle rumors from truth. We never got the full story on the kid's kidnapping. The words Sherlie said to us ring in my ears, "Watch your children, they know Americans love their children more than anything so that is why they try to take them!" My worst fear, my very fear.
Things began to calm down after a late night prayer meeting. The ransom for the pastor's wife was paid and she was returned to her family. It was a miracle, truly, that she was unharmed! We heard of no new kidnappings. According to the locals, kidnappings and robberies are more common at this time during the year as people are trying to get extra money to send their kids to school. We are back in our house now, but I will not be walking with just myself or with myself and the kids out on our street. This is so upsetting because it cuts down on the time I can spend with the kids at Good Rest. I was walking over by myself almost every day. We really need a car. We are trying to find a rental car while Children's Heritage looks into buying options. It is just not safe to be out on the road unprotected. Please pray that we are able to get transportation so that we will be safer and so we will be able to get out of the area if we need to. We can also then get to visit more local organizations to help get more food for the kids. We also need prayer that the food will come in to Love a Child, their containers are still stuck in customs at port.
We rented a Tap-Tap yesterday to take us into town. We had to pick up boxes from MFI, get some groceries, and go to MSC (the Home Depot of Haiti) to get security lights and some other things to make our home a bit safer. I put some pictures of our trip on our Facebook page :)
We have so many positive things to focus on, and that is what we will do to recover from the stress of this week:
1. Shoe drive at Chaparral High School to buy shoes and pay for shipping so that each child at Good Rest will have a new pair of shoes when they start school. Contact Emmett (ekeith-jones@tvusd.k12.ca.us)or Michele(mloza@tvusd.k12.ca.us) for more information if you would like to help or donate!
2. Amelia's third birthday is this Thursday!!! I can't believe my baby is growing so quickly!
3. We hope to make more progress this week regarding food for Good Rest, also we want to start getting the kids ready for school!
4. I am going to start homeschooling CJ (3rd grade) and Trenton (Kinder) this Monday!
5. We have had such love and support from friends old and new back home. Thank you ALL!
We couldn't sleep. Carl spent a lot of time on our roof with a flashlight and we prayed and tried to untangle rumors from truth. We never got the full story on the kid's kidnapping. The words Sherlie said to us ring in my ears, "Watch your children, they know Americans love their children more than anything so that is why they try to take them!" My worst fear, my very fear.
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| Carl and our dog keeping watch over the yard. |
Things began to calm down after a late night prayer meeting. The ransom for the pastor's wife was paid and she was returned to her family. It was a miracle, truly, that she was unharmed! We heard of no new kidnappings. According to the locals, kidnappings and robberies are more common at this time during the year as people are trying to get extra money to send their kids to school. We are back in our house now, but I will not be walking with just myself or with myself and the kids out on our street. This is so upsetting because it cuts down on the time I can spend with the kids at Good Rest. I was walking over by myself almost every day. We really need a car. We are trying to find a rental car while Children's Heritage looks into buying options. It is just not safe to be out on the road unprotected. Please pray that we are able to get transportation so that we will be safer and so we will be able to get out of the area if we need to. We can also then get to visit more local organizations to help get more food for the kids. We also need prayer that the food will come in to Love a Child, their containers are still stuck in customs at port.
We rented a Tap-Tap yesterday to take us into town. We had to pick up boxes from MFI, get some groceries, and go to MSC (the Home Depot of Haiti) to get security lights and some other things to make our home a bit safer. I put some pictures of our trip on our Facebook page :)
We have so many positive things to focus on, and that is what we will do to recover from the stress of this week:
1. Shoe drive at Chaparral High School to buy shoes and pay for shipping so that each child at Good Rest will have a new pair of shoes when they start school. Contact Emmett (ekeith-jones@tvusd.k12.ca.us)or Michele(mloza@tvusd.k12.ca.us) for more information if you would like to help or donate!
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| Kids start school here in Haiti at age 3! This will be Clarence's first time to go to school. |
3. We hope to make more progress this week regarding food for Good Rest, also we want to start getting the kids ready for school!
4. I am going to start homeschooling CJ (3rd grade) and Trenton (Kinder) this Monday!
5. We have had such love and support from friends old and new back home. Thank you ALL!
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