Wednesday, October 28, 2009

New Friends and Art



Couple things:

Check it out. A week ago I needed $8,000 to buy plane tickets for our November Team. I only had $500. Within 5 days, enough cashmoney came in for me to buy every last plane ticket. What. Now we are only $4,000 from having what we need to go down in three weeks. I've started painting and selling paintings for the profit to go towards our efforts in Haiti. Here are a couple. Interested? I paint commissioned pieces and would love to hook you up! britneywinn@gmail.com

Also, last night we had the most random/amazing surprise of getting to hang out with the 4 roadies for the deep south region of Invisible Children on their way through this part of their tour! They were incredible, and they've got something huge and moving that you need to look into if you haven't heard. Good things are happening, and I am thankful to be in such inspiring company all over the world. Go here: www.invisiblechildren.com ...you've gotta know.

love love.

So this is blogging...














Hey friends:) Seems that there needs to be some way to keep everybody who is catching this vision of a different world with us (specifically in this little corner of Haiti) connected. So, alas, I'm starting a blog.

Quick background...last spring, FUMC Shreveport made a trip to Les Cayes, Haiti and saw the massive destruction that the 3 hurricanes of '08 had caused to the already fragile and broken country. We fell in love with 76 kids at a little place called Bighouse Orphanage, and knew that we couldn't and wouldn't be the same, and that we would surely be back.

A college/young adult group went down in July for 16 days and evaluated the needs for food and medicine, as the conditions we found these survival-mode-kids in were far less from humane. Since then, we have partnered each orphan with 76 gracious donors from the States, fixed the contaminated well on site at Bighouse, had everyone tested for HIV (all negative!), set up a 3-meal-a-day-system for the site, as well as arranged for a nurse to visit weekly and a doctor to visit monthly.

I began working for FUMC in August as their Haiti Liaison. I took a trip down by myself to Les Cayes in September to do some follow-up work, team-prep, and a food drop. And I will be leading my first team of ten down November 20th-25th for a construction project to build latrines at Bighouse.

If you see someone who has a second to listen today...tell them what you know of the Lord. Tell them that you know He is good. And that He loves justice. And that He hears the voice of the weak and those without supper. Tell them that you've heard or seen Him do miracles. Tell them that He's in the business of providing. That He loves on us with a love that is fierce, specific, wild, and sufficient. Tell that that this love is what ties us all together to know that we can only do this if we're doing it alongside one another. Tell them that the scriptures are as alive as Jesus himself.

Tell them you know this because you're seeing lives change in Haiti. And in the States. Tell them $35 a month is feeding and enhancing the lives and energy of 76 orphans. And that they are different because of you. And that you are different because of them. And that we are all grateful to be in the growth that feels, that looks a lot like the Kingdom.

Tell them that we can do a lot together, and surely we are. And ask them to pray for all of us, for the humility to remain in the awe of the God whose grace winds through it all, for the ability to continue to be amazed by change and hope, for the reality that we may never...ever...be less than appalled by poverty, hunger, war, and inequality no matter how many times we go or how many pictures we see. Ask them to pray for wisdom and creativity. Ask them to pray that we each come to many points in the day where we're coming back to a conversation with the One who knows us best, and nurturing that like our lives depend on it. As they do.

And tell them thank you.

Keep up with our adventures on here! Thanks for reading:)