So I am yet again in the unfortunate, but all too familiar now, pattern of being on lockdown. There is unrest in Haiti that complicates and even stops daily activities, and the protesters are out in force right now. Please pray for the Haitian people! Pray for resolution and peace only God can provide. This cycle is wearisome to me, but I can only begin to understand the frustration of my friends who have lived their entire lives here.

But this post isn’t about that.

I wanted to share a couple of the miracles I’ve seen this week. First of all, we had an incredible Celebrate Recovery conference last Monday night! We had over 100 people in attendance. Deb Runge led the training, and brought both Haitian and American guests with her to share information and testimonies about addiction recovery. Four Haiti Teen Challenge grads gave their recovery testimonies, and Deb answered questions from the conference attendees about the Celebrate Recovery program.

We would like to see this ministry grow at Grace Church in Titanyen, and we are hopefully watching as God brings together the right leadership and willing individuals to make this happen.

For now, the community, especially our EKS group, is very excited! Their feedback revolved around, yes the delicious treats we bought from Fleri Resto, but mostly their joy in having invited friends who actually came to the conference. Education and resources are extremely limited in the area where I live, and our conference offered a signed certificate for attendance, but more than that, a window into hope of life beyond addiction.

The other miracle that has been in the works for months but suddenly came together this past week was a shelter that was built for one of our elders. When I asked Vania, my Haitian coworker, about this elder, she said, “She loves Jesus very much.” And it is the truth.

I love this woman’s ability to bless the teams who come to serve her. She knows all kinds of worship songs, offers words of gratitude and encouragement to team members, and pieces together English phrases to make others feel more at ease. She asks for prayers for her children and grandchildren, while a complicated living situation leaves her out in the cold… er hot yard most of the time.

Well, now she has her own place! We need to get her some paint and a bed, but she is rightfully proud of the structure she can now call home. And I am blessed by the staff who built it for her!

Beautiful things are happening in Haiti, and I am honored to be here. Hard things are happening too. All of our teams for this week were cancelled due to the protests in Port Au Prince, and I feel for all the individuals who had their plans change so suddenly, along with all the ministry opportunities that feel lost in that shuffle. We continue to trust that God will work all things together for good.

In that line of thought, I wrote a quick song today. If you promise not to judge my rough voice memo recording too harshly, you can hear that here: https://soundcloud.com/katie-venzke/god-of-hope