Prayers for Preggos Update

Esther & Lourdes Milla

Esther's baby is now head-down!  Thanks to prayers and the brilliance of Dr. Jen and Jonna  - with some help, on Friday the baby turned.  Esther came in at midnight last night very upset and afraid. She has a sister that died after giving birth.  She was not in labor last night but was emotionally causing herself to feel pain. Please be praying for her to be at peace in the final days before she delivers.

Lourdes Milla, the clown of the Harbor House, says she is having a boy. We're not sure of that -  but she says we should be. She informed us last night that she plans to deliver last. Now that Mirlene has delivered she is waiting for Alloune to give birth.  LourdesMilla seems ready and confident but won't likely deliver until October.

Widlene

Widlene seems a bit apprehensive. We keep reassuring her that she is doing well and that her baby can safely be delivered any time now. She lost her first pregnancy/baby to preeclampsia and that has caused her to seem detached at times.  She called this morning to say she was having some pain that she thinks are contractions. She may be in early labor right now, later today when we know more we'll post an update in the comments section of this post.

Marie Rose "Mama Emmanuel"

"Mama Emmanuel" (Marie Rose Lundi) did not make it on the original list we posted, but she is also inside of the 36 week mark.  I apologize for missing her on that original list. We've been doing "distance" prenatal care for her. She lives in Petit Goave but really hopes to come up to Port to deliver with us at Heartline.  We're praying the timing will work out for her to do just that.  We have a relationship with her because her son Emmanuel recovered at the Heartline hospital for many months after the earthquake. Dr. Jen built a close relationship with Marie Rose.  Once they transitioned out of the hospital, their new house was built with funds you helped us raise! You can look at an old post and read more about them here.

Olina & baby Elizabeth

Olina is so excited to be having her first child.  She is 38 years old and couldn't be more ready.  She prays every day that her daughter will be born safely and soon.  Olina is a huge encouragement to us. Each week after we finish her consultation and pray for her, she also prays for us.  She is a beautiful lady and we're blessed to be a part of her care and delivery.

Alloune is exactly the reason Harbor House exists.  Like a few of the other girls, no family will come to stand by her side (or wait in the waiting area) during the birth of her baby. When she was five her mom decided to have her leave the country-side to go live in Port au Prince. She was supposed to be sent to school in exchange for doing some household chores - but that didn't happen. She worked for the family, but was never enrolled in school. She does not have a family support system  - but she has found a new family at the Harbor House.  In the previous post Alloune is the smiling beauty in the gray and plum colored dress.  She believes she is having a girl.  She says she is not afraid.  Once Alloune delivers we'll all cheer her on while she attends literacy class and learns to read and write.  We're anxious to see her grow even more confident as she realizes how smart and capable she really is!

The most recent deliveries (Sheila, Ylna, Mirlande, Jocelyn, Mirlene) were bathed in much prayer.  That is beautiful and humbling to us and the ladies.

These are the six ladies we think will deliver next.  Thanks for all you do to support them and us with your prayers and kindness.  We truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Community Grows: A baby girl for Mirlene

Some of the Harbor House girls visiting Mirlene

Mirlene had an unusally short labor for a first time mama. She gave birth to a little girl at 11:35 this morning.

Mirlene named her daughter Bianca.  Thanks for praying for a safe delivery. We're always grateful for uneventful deliveries.  Thank-you Lord for yet another measure of your grace and protection.

Beth sharing L & D photos with Mirlene's housemates 

happy new mama

Harbor House: Expectant

LourdesMilla helping bathe Sophia

Alloune doing laundry

Mirlene getting ready for class

The Harbor House gals are building community.  We know God's hand must be on this place when we sometimes go a week or two without a single small skirmish.  The girls help one another and are mainly living in harmony.  It really is amazing for so many young women with so much hurt and history to come together and find peace and a safe place to grow.

We're beginning to put on paper  what we think "success" will be for these young women and what we hope to see them accomplish before we begin to transition them out of the house.  Because some come into the house at higher levels of education and ability and some come in illiterate with a lifetime of abuse and neglect, "success" will be relative. 

For all of them bonding to their babies and nursing them and loving them well is a huge success.  That is our starting point. Those things may sound small, but they are huge.

Everyone is very excited for Mirlene, Alloune, and Lourdes Milla to give birth. We're expecting the hormonal changes to cause some tears and drama and are ready for the postpartum cry-fest. Three new babies in one already busy house should be quite something.

We woke to the news that this morning Mirlene is in labor.  We don't expect a baby until tonight but wanted those that agreed to pray for Mirlene to know what she is up to today. :)

Dokte Jen's Science Field Trip

No worries, before science began everyone signed their Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 release form. We're all about privacy. Obviously.

thursday flurry of activity

Mirlande shared with the class about her birth experience

6 lbs 8 ounce baby boy for Jocelyn

Jocelyn arrived at 9:45 and delivered 10:57 - sat in class an hour later

Widlene

Esther's baby is still breech

Jocelyn and her 5th son, she says he is the grand finale

Olina waiting patiently for her delivery day - doing great

For those praying for the ladies that are due now ... two of eight have delivered. The first couple of weeks can be tricky because of their living conditions, please keep praying when you think of them.

I'm too spazzy to string together much information tonight so I'll keep it brief.  We celebrated Beth's birthday, had a quick and easy delivery of a baby boy, did prenatal checks on the due ladies and a few others.

I was feeling pretty pompy and texted Troy at 11:50 a.m. to tell him that prior to noon I had run seven miles, spent time with the two little girls, frosted four cakes, helped deliver a baby, and tested 14 pee samples. Like you do. After that Jen and I took turns poking needles in me trying to see if our hemoglobin machine was working correctly.

 Then we watched a silly Haiti style program/show that the ladies put together ... It included dancing that made all the expats nervously laugh and fidget - but that everyone else loved.
Happy Birthday Beth - as your gift we want you to feel awkward and uncomfortable!  After the show we celebrated by eating massive quantities of butter and sugar before doing the scheduled prenatal checks.

Mirlande and baby Eli are doing great.  She beamed today. (See photo proof.)  She spoke briefly with the class about her experience giving birth at Heartline last Sunday morning.

Jocelyn acted like giving birth was tantamount to a light cardio work-out ... She stood in front of class and shared about her labor and delivery approximately 63 minutes after her son entered the world. No lie. 

Today was one of those happy chaos days that we all really love. Nothing horribly sad, much celebration, new life, and with new life, HOPE!

Tomorrow morning Dr. Jen is going to do a little science lesson with the kids at the Maternity Center and they'll get to see their inards on ultrasound.  Being an MK in Haiti has its perks. Seeing your kidneys is one of them.

:)

Jocelyn is in Labor

Fast fast labor ... Baby boy arrived at 10:57 am - Jocelyn and baby boy doing well.

Maternal Mortality

A woman's lifetime risk of maternal death is the probability that she will die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth at some point during her entire reproductive life span. It is often used to illustrate the differences in the risk faced by women in developed and developing nations.

The newest WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that were shared with us are said to have found that a Haitian woman has a 1 in 17 chance of dying from pregnancy related causes in her lifetime.

(The lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 76 for developing countries versus 1 in 3,000 for industrialized nations.)  (Statistics from The White Ribbon Alliance.)


"Women are not dying because of diseases we cannot treat .... They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving."  -Mahmoud Fathalla

preparing heart and home

In about a week and a half Moses will move on to the next chapter of his journey.

We're all over the place with his impending departure. We are sad and happy, worried and hopeful, scared and excited, filled with dread and filled with relief.

Our complex human hearts can hold all of those emotions at once, or so it seems.

We are working on writing up everything there is to know about Moses and everything we can tell you about the ambiguous adoption process in Haiti and the program that will eventually be matching him to a mommy and a daddy.

While we work on getting that information together will you all pray that God does a mighty work in the hearts of Moses' future parents and that He begins even now to prepare them for the arduous journey ahead?  We know they are out there and we want to hold them in our prayers.

We continue to see Moses make great strides and much visible improvement.  We're thankful to Jesus for those answered prayers and fully expect that his growth and healing is only just beginning.  

When we think of the least of these ... When we think of Moses ...

We pray and ask for hope, we pray and ask for peace, we pray and ask for justice, we pray and ask for Jesus and we cry out ...  "Your Kingdom here and now. To the least of these. Let Your Kingdom come." 

amen amen amen amen

Great read by Steve Saint:
Projecting Poverty Where It Doesn't Exist.

Lots of truth, worth your time.

before you pack ...

We receive emails semi regularly asking for our ideas or direction about where to serve or find volunteer work  or paid employment in Haiti.  We kind of stink at getting back to those emails. We're posting this as a way to have a permanent link to point to for future reference.  

When it comes to the more spiritual question of "How do I know for certain I'm hearing God on this?"  Truthfully?  We couldn't ever know how to begin to help with that part of the question - it is intensely personal and we can only speak about our experiences. We don't assume everyone will take the same or even a similar path. We don't know how God will speak into your hearts, we only know how He moved in ours.  Keep praying and asking and risking  -  you'll get your answer.

Lots of people visit here and feel a heaviness over what they see and feel a burden to help more and are open to exploring what that might look like.  The best way we've heard it put was by a guy at our church, he said: "Almost everyone that visits will be burdened by it, but most are not called to move here because being burdened for a place and being called to live there -  are two entirely different things."

The questions we frequently receive come from both families and individuals.  I don't know a ton about the best way into a salaried job here, I can only share about more missions-type positions.  In full disclosure, smaller, grass-roots organizations always get our vote simply because they generally spend less on staff and travel and overhead and more of the money they raise makes it to actual people and programs on the ground. I also like the way people working with smaller organizations can make decisions and make things happen faster.  After the earthquake we could easily spring to action and make decisions without seeking layers of approval. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. You've got to do your homework and choose with caution and wisdom.

If you feel that you would like to work with an  organization and/or faith-based ministry as a "volunteer" (self-supported) for the long term we suggest you look at these things ... the decision becomes bigger if you're going to be moving an entire family:

1.  Does the organization have a lot of turnover?  For example, if there is a history of missionaries/workers staying for a shorter time than committed? Do new people come in every year or two?  Worse yet, do people stay just a matter of months? Constant turn-over speaks volumes. Don't ignore it. A constantly changing staff means something.

2.  Think about your convictions and philosophy.  Maybe you don't have that figured out yet.  If that is true, read and research and listen to varying opinions and begin to decide those things before you sign up to work with any organization. If you are uncomfortable with something you'll be asked to do as part of your work (even a small part) you need to figure out if that can be changed, or you need to keep looking. For example, even though we believed in some of the programs at the ministry we started at years ago, we struggled with the habitual hand-outs (mass distribution of goods during non-emergency time) and the chaos and fallout that habitual handouts cause.  While doing the handouts was only a small part of the whole, those days felt so wrong to us that we couldn't easily ignore that part of the job. Additionally, coming here or going to any country with great need and saying "We'll just see what the needs are when we get there" is probably going to backfire.  It is better to come with an idea of which need you're hoping to help with and then to tweak it as you learn more.  Coming without any idea what you'll do could be very overwhelming and discouraging.  The needs are endless, we cannot meet even a fraction of them, narrowing it down drastically is an important step. Doing one thing well is far more wise than trying to do a whole bunch of things at once and doing all of them poorly.

3.  If possible, come for a six to twelve week "test the waters" period before you decide to pull up stakes and sell all your possessions. That is a wise way to be sure you will match up well with the organization you choose and confirm that you're ready to take on a totally different lifestyle for the long haul.

4.  We were told early on that having the trust and support of your counterparts in the USA is very important. Even if they cannot understand everything shared with them, there needs to be mutual trust. If all decisions are made from the main office in the USA (or elsewhere) and are not made by people who live the reality of Haiti (or wherever) every day, it could get very frustrating. (But all of us need accontability and the person/people in the USA or elsewhere need to be that for you.)  We all need accountability at the same time we are trusted and empowered to act.  When a serious problem presents itself in Haiti and a call to someone else is required in order to act, it becomes a sticking point after a short time. For example - when a little boy was found abandoned in the street, no one had to get permission from a USA boss-person to pick him up and take him in, we have the leverage to make day to day decisions ourselves.  If you're thinking about going to work for someone, try to figure out how much decision making power you'll have in Haiti.

5.  Take it or leave it, but our advice is never to move abroad underfunded and think that the money will show up once you're there.  The intensity of learning the new culture and language is enough stress, you won't want to add the stress of not enough money.  You'll want to have enough personal support to easily pay your bills. On the flip side, be sure the organization you're coming to work for and represent is also financially stable and able to fund the things you'll be overseeing.

6.  Read this book.  Think on it. Pray on it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you've emailed us in the last few months and we didn't answer .... We are sorry!  Troy is uber awful at keeping up with email. I'm only slightly less underwhelming than Troy.

Bondye  te bay nou anpil petit men pa anpil tan.  (God gave us a lot of children but not a lot of time.)

Bird house translation:  

Do all the good you are able to -
Any time you are able
Every way you are able
Every where you are able
For every one you can...
Until you are able to again.

celebration(s)

Besides the birth we also managed a weekend-long celebration of our 10 year old.  My sister says Isaac looks like 'Donkey' in Shrek when he smiles this big. She only says that because it is true. :)

It looked like this:
Saturday - to the fancy people hotel for swimming and lounging and food and fun. (We're not certain the other more fancy guests appreciated our truck loads of kids or their volume - but we had a nice time.)
Sunday - to Beth and John's house at noon for delicious Beth food and much dessert and celebrating.

In between the two parties Mirlande's baby (now named Eli) was born.  Thankfully the time she chose to give birth didn't interfere at all with the partying, which was super considerate of her. Beth went home a couple of times during the labor to work her magic in the kitchen and voila! a party happened Sunday.  Troy and I are so grateful for the selfless effort Beth puts forth to make things feel festive and special for all of us on birthdays and holidays. 


Candles optional.

Beth's birthday is this week and none of us can begin to compete with her amazing skills of feeding large masses of people - so we're taking her out to eat instead.

Thanks for responding to the prayer requests for our ladies that are almost due (or overdue) ... we'll keep you posted as more babies are born.  Troy brought Mirlande and Eli home today and is going to try to write about that and the interesting insights Mirlande shared with him sometime soon.

Mirlande

BABY BOY - NAMED ELI !!

The first of the eight babies we are waiting on has arrived.  Mirlande came Saturday around noon and spent the entire day slowly laboring.  She is very quiet and calm by nature and she labored the same way.

At 11pm things had slowed down a lot so we all went to sleep for about three hours.  At 3am she was dialated to 5cm.  At 4:55am she was dialated to 10cm.

She gave birth to her son at 5:05 am.  He is 6 pounds 2 ounces and his name is Michele - ELI .  Dad waited outside patiently all night and came in afterward to congratulate and comfort Mirlande. This is their fourth (and final they say) child.  They now have three boys and one girl.

Mirlande lost enough blood that had she delivered out in Camp Corrail where she lives it is fairly likely that she would have bled to death.  We had the meds needed to stop the bleeding. We're so thankful that the five Heartline houses out in that area meant that we were given an opportunity to meet her (the neighbor) and that Troy invited her to come to the prenatal program.  We're thankful for the prayers for Mirlande and we're grateful for those of you that give and pray and make this program possible.

Truly thankful for each of you,

Beth, Jonna, Heather & Tara

Double Digit Boy

Happy 10th Birthday Isaac!

This is a very special day. 

The appointed Livesay family diplomat turns the big one - oh today.  

Ever so skilled with people, Isaac Livesay has been designated to conduct all official negotiations and maintain political, economic, and social  relations on behalf of his parents, siblings, and pets, whom by their very nature are far less tactful at managing delicate situations.  (Peanut especially can be quite crass. Not to mention Lydia, I mean really. No one can negotiate with that.)

As the years have quickly passed, we've been blessed again and again by this boy. We've come to realize that he is beyond unique. His smile brightens rooms. His joy lifts spirits. His sunny disposition trickles down on all those around him. His crazy levels of curiosity kill the cat...or at least ensures that he knows absolutely everything about them. He loves to learn. He asks dozens of questions every day, hoping to glean a greater understanding of things. He cares about how others feel. I mean he really genuinely cares. He is a gentle, kind, and peace-loving boy.  

In so many ways Isaac amazes us.  We'll sometimes say, "He's not like us. He's SO good." Much of who Isaac is is nurture; we know that.  But more is nature.  God made Isaac a boy that loves harmony and desires to encourage others. We'd be hard pressed to remember more than a handful of times when Isaac was mean to anyone. He really is one of the very kindest people we know.

It's pretty amazing that we get to get to have this boy in our family.  We're so lucky. 

So.Very.Lucky.

To our fabulous son -

Happy 10th Birthday Isaac Antoine Livesay.  Your family would be so lame and lost without you. You are love, joy, peace, patience and kindness.  The fruits of the spirit are evident in you our sweet son.  We are very blessed to know and love you. Thank you for being you. Thanks for making our whole family nicer by just being you. We hope your day is special. We're very excited to see what God does in your life this year.

Love Mom and Dad

Sara Groves - Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

When you see a man walk free, makes you dream of jubilee, when you see a child walk free it makes you dream of jubilee, when you see a family free, makes you dream of jubilee.

Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Due: Praying Persistently

We are thankful for those of you that make praying for these ladies and the other things we share an ordinary and regular part of your week. We cannot express to you how much your prayers matter. 

Every single woman we work with has a story and carries a heavy load; more than most of us can even imagine or understand. We so desire to see them safely deliver healthy babies. We work with a high-risk population; the prayers are necessary. Please pray with shameless audacity for these precious women. Prayer takes persistence and we humbly ask you to pray persistently for these amazing ladies.

Below are the 8 ladies that are 36 or more weeks pregnant.
If you're willing to choose one or two to pray for please
leave a comment indicating who you'll be covering.

Olina - 1st baby, already named Elizabeth

Esther - 1st baby

Mirlande - "Troy's girlfriend ;)" 4th baby coming

Mirlene - Harbor House 1st baby

Lourdes Milla- Harbor House 1st baby

Jocelyn -  5th baby coming any day

Widlene - her first baby died due to preeclampsia - second pregnancy

Alloune - Harbor House - 1st baby

For a thought-provoking sermon series on the importance of prayer that challenged our perspective on prayer and confirmed much of our thinking on spiritual warfare please go check out these links sometime soon.

"Prayer isn't magic. God is not a genie. Prayer is warfare. We're laboring with God to resist forces of evil to bring about His will on earth as it is in Heaven. Prayer is a form of social and spiritual revolt. We're revolutionaries!"
Greg Boyd in Scorpions, Eggs and Prayer part I

The Insane Importance of Prayer

Scorpions, Eggs and Prayer part I

Scorpions, Eggs and Prayer part II

a dignified birthing experience

Ylna and 2 day old Christina ~ Sheila and 4 day old Gabriella

Yesterday I saw this on Facebook: 
"Their work at dignifying the birthing experience for Haitian women is inspiring."  
It was written by expats that delivered with Heartline in 2009.

22yrs of love in Haiti - Beth McHoul

I know that most of us cannot imagine any other option besides "dignified" when it comes to such a momentous event.  Why should we? Barring emergencies, we expect the birth of a child to be both beautiful and dignified.

If only that were true for poor women around the world.



Today at class Ylna and Sheila shared about the births of their babies earlier this week and both said that having experienced other options with previous births, they felt cared for and loved by our program.  They felt valued and important. They felt safe and secure. They shared their gratefulness for the program and the atmosphere of love and community.




I sat in the front row concentrating hard not to miss any of their fast Kreyol. I sat and I listened and I felt grateful that God made a way for this to be true for them. Thank you LORD. 

Because today is a very special anniversary for two people we respect,  I also felt grateful that twenty-two years ago today John and Beth moved to Haiti to bring the love of Christ with them and to offer dignity and love and friendship to so many. 

Ylna's new baby Christina

Jonna teaching Alloune excercises

three Harbor House teen moms all due soon

Heather & LourdesMilla

Thank you Lord that women are finding love and meeting you in this place.  I pray you continue to guide and direct and provide for this program.   I pray that more women would find dignity and your strong unconditional love. Amen.

Vote for us in the Giving of Life grant program  - helping keep mamas and babies together - go here.

be alert

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. 

Colossians 3:1-2 ~ The Message

 

We have posted a poll to the left.  We're curious to know what you think.

For clarification, the definition we're using for spiritual warfare is:

Spiritual warfare is battle between the members of the Kingdom of God on one side and an extensive network of spirit beings that are loyal to Satan on the other side which is fought in the realm of the spirit. 

And/Or ...

Spiritual warfare is the cosmic war of good versus evil: its battles are fought daily between God and Satan.

Billy Graham explained his opinion on the reality of spiritual warfare in his book Angels:

"We live in a perpetual battlefield …The wars among the nations on earth are mere popgun affairs compared to the fierceness of battle in the spiritual unseen world. This invisible spiritual conflict is waged around us incessantly and unremittingly. Where the Lord works, Satan’s forces hinder; where angel beings carry out divine directives, the devils rage. All this comes about because the powers of darkness press their counterattack to recapture the ground held for the glory of God…"

What do you think?