This song is hitting me hard tonight....

"My Jesus" by Todd Agnew

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Then why do you look so much like the world?

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side or fall down and worship at His holy feet?

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!

Not a poster child for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means, to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You, but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like my Jesus

I'M GETTING MARRIED IN 4 DAYS!!!!!!!!

Hi :) Well, we made it home late Monday night, safe and sound. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to send out an update while I was in Haiti, but we didn't get the internet set up at the mission, and there was no time to go to an internet cafe. Overall, our trip was good and productive, although challenging on many levels. We got all the classrooms in the school painted, and they look so much better now! As I mentioned, Gerson wasn't able to get the internet set up, because of some problems we encountered, but hopefully he will be able to do that the next time we go in. He did some electrical work on the campus and also installed shower heads in the women's showers, which I was very happy about. :) I registered 27 new little ones for kindergarten, as well as a few others for other grades. The parents of these children were so excited to get their kids into a school with a feeding program! I measured and weighed and took pictures of each of these kids. They were so funny-- they didn't know how to stand on the scale, or how to look at the camera and smile for a picture. I think out of all the kids, only 4 of them actually smiled for their picture. All of these children will need sponsors as they start school, so if you are interested in taking one of them ($25/month), please let me know.

Gerson and I were able to visit several different places during our time there, and start dreaming about what God has planned for those places. We visited Berge, where the construction of the new hospital has already begun. It is a beautiful piece of property on the coast, with grass and palm trees and a constant breeze. It's where I want to live once we move there! However, since I don't plan on being too involved with the hospital, that may not be where God wants me. :) We also visited a place called Mon Vann, which is also along the coast. The mission purchased the land earlier this year and is going to build the new Bible college there. Gerson and I were able to pray over that property and start thinking about all the possibilities for ministry there. The next week, we took an overnight trip to the Far West to visit an area where Gerson is hoping to start a school. He spent several months living in the Far West last fall, and God has really given him a heart for the people there. He has teamed up with another guy who has a similar vision, and they are hoping to buy a piece of land and build a school within the next year. The three of us went to look at the land and start negotiating prices with the owner. It is a remote area with several small villages nearby, full of children who don't have the chance to go to school. There is one school in the area, but it is too expensive for most of the people who live there. When I saw the kids there-- dirty, barefoot, and malnourished-- my heart immediately went out to them, and I am so excited to see what God is going to bring about there. Please be praying about this project, that God would give us wisdom and discernment on where to go from here.

One other thing I want to mention....there is a group of 4 boys that I have come to love over the past few years at Northwest. They each have a younger sibling in the nutrition program, and that's how I got to know them. One of these boys-- his name is Sonel-- fell out of a mango tree a few weeks ago, and is now paralyzed from the waist down. When I went to visit him, my heart was absolutely broken. They have him laying on a pile of blankets on the floor of his aunt's house, with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling. He can't feel anything in his legs, but he is in a lot of pain in his back. They took him up to Northwest in a wheelbarrow after it happened, and he got a catheter put in. Now they are just waiting for the next surgical team to come in with Northwest, which will be in October. The problem is, Gerson and I don't think he's going to make it that long. (And even if he does, it's not likely that the surgical team will be able to do any kind of spinal surgery.) He has a nasty infection where the catheter is, and we're sure he has internal damage. He is so skinny....they said he had been eating, but I could count his ribs just looking at him. They took him to the hospital in Port-de-Paix, but there is nothing that can be done there. The doctors referred him to Port-au-Prince, but the family has no money to send him there. As I sat there in the house, looking at him, I felt such a burden to do something to help him. I just can't stand the thought of him laying on that concrete floor, counting the minutes and slowly dying. All the Haitians expect him to die, but I want God to do a miracle. He is so young and has a life ahead of him. He is such a funny boy....he has always said that he's going to marry me, and tried to convince me that he was really 25 years old, not 12, and that he would take good care of me. :) It makes me so sad every time I think of him now. Please pray for him, and pray that God would show me what to do to help him.

Thank you all for your prayers during our trip, and for your continued support and prayers. I will send out a couple emails with pictures now. If you want to see more pictures, you can go to:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40656&l=b1f30&id=616695216

God bless,
Heather :)


Before painting



After painting



Me and Gerson at Berge



Kids out at the Far West, where we want to build the school





Sonel, the boy who fell out of the tree