3 weeks left brings a lot of thinking...

My entire journey in life leading up to Haiti is a miracle. I am a miracle. In reality we are all miracles. The way God works in each of our lives; the fact that we are alive; the way He provides for us even when we don't see it... life is full of tiny back to back and overlapping miracles each day. I have been very pensive as of late regarding my time here and my walk with Jesus. If He took away everything I did not thank Him for... what would I have left?

Not that He would. The point is He is good and I am ungrateful most of the time.

The life He has given me is not extravagant, but it is sufficient. My life is wonderful because I have a God that loves me. He is a God big enough to make the entire world and all that is in it. and yet He loves me enough to die for me; an insignificant and often disobedient daughter. He loves me enough to care about the small details of my life...to be a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. He loves me enough to sing over me while I sleep, speak to me, to guide me and to shower me with peace when things don't go according to MY plan.

Words can't describe a relationship with Jesus; you must have one to understand the significance of it; the intimate details of it. Each relationship is different. He is a Father loving on each of his children. We are all made uniquely thus must be related to by him uniquely. But He knows. He knows me. He knows what I need. He always provides for my needs; not always my wants, but always my needs. He laughs with me, he cries with me, He rejoices with me. He corrects and teaches. He provides before I call out. In my weakness He is strong. Thus I hold fast to this faith I profess for He who promised is faithful.

I don't know what is next. I know leaving this home where I have been loved and where I have loved will be hard. I know leaving these people that have taught me so much about Haiti and even more about Gods love will be tough. Leaving this family and these boys I have grown to love will be painful. But I know that God has a plan. His plans are good and loving and merciful. He is good always. I will thank God for the time I have had here. For the things I have learned. For the kindness that has been shown to me. I have 3 weeks left to soak in as many new memories as possible and then God will open new doors. Leaving is always bittersweet. I love my family here and am eternally grateful for the time I've had with them.

Guest blog... Life in Haiti

I love the look on people’s faces when I tell them “God told me to sell my stuff, leave my career and move to Haiti… He coordinated my move. I just said ‘Yes’”. A few years ago, I would have been that person with the blank and/or skeptical stare. But now I know otherwise. Saying ‘yes’, although extremely exciting and rewarding, is a scary step… to trust God for the things that don’t make sense to the human mind; that is hard. John 14:21 summarization basically says that the more we obey God, the more He talks to us. This is exactly what is going on in the life of Linsey Jorgenson. God said ‘start’ and she said ‘ok’… At StreetHearts, daily, you will see God move in the details. You will see how much God loves Linsey by His provision and you will see how much God loves those boys. Linsey’s interactions with them is one such example.

If you go back and read the archives of the blog, you’ll read her sincerity and transparency in writing the blog. Her work is hard. Her work is rewarding, but it is hard. She is quick to tell you this isn’t her, this is “Gods project”… and it is. After being with her for one week, there is no possible way a human can accomplish all that has been accomplished in the last year. He is doing amazing things with those boys, with her staff and with her.

It was my absolute honor to fill in the gaps wherever I was needed. I had a few commitments of my own, but other than that…and playing momma to Lins during her bacterial infection (there’s always something going on!), my time in Cap was devoted to StreetHearts and to the boys. It’s funny how you can fall in love with a child after mere minutes. I found that much of my time was spent, yes laughing and talking with the boys (they were so patient with my broken Creole), but really observing the house, the interactions, the staff, the needs; physical, emotional and spiritual. How is it possible that this precious child laying here in my lap sleeping, has lived a life I would not wish on even the most heinous of enemies? He has lived his childhood in a mans world needing to provide and protect himself. When can he be a child?…

Thus… LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!! The week was Awesome!! Another volunteer popped in for a few days and so the two of us decided to pool our money and take the boys to the beach. We were able to afford to take 6 boys and 3 staff; the staff picked the boys and off we went. The ride there is one of the most beautiful rides. Northern Haiti is lush, green and the ocean is spectacular. We were taking the boys to Paradis beach, a public beach only accessible by taxi boat from the landing at Labadee… where the Royal Caribbean (RC) cruise ship comes in. RC is pretty intense about security of their passengers in any country and because of an over dramatized media portrayal of Haiti, they are extra tight on security in Haiti. When the cruise ship is docked, entry from the road to Labadee is prohibited.

We rounded the corner of the road at the security gate to find another car with some wealthier locals talking to the guard at the gate. The car drove in and the security waved us through as well. The road from the top of the gate to the shore is winding and really bumpy. As we are driving down the road, you can smell food. Pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs… not typical Haitian cuisine. I can see the RC staff inside the fence line staring at us… note: I’m used to being stared at in Haiti, but this was intense staring. We passed another guard gate where we didn’t even pause, we just kept driving. Again with the intense staring, but we had a beach to go to! As we round the corner at the bottom of the road, even my mouth dropped to the ground! The ship was there… how the heck did we make it through 2 security check points?! I have been on a cruise before, but this ship was HUGE. The look on the boys faces and even the staff was priceless…. even better was the huge smile on Linseys face just before we both started to laugh about the fact that WE SHOULD NOT BE THERE! We got the boys to pose for a picture before we took off in the water taxi’s. Pay not attention to the censored shirt on the right. It really cracks me up when people here wear shirts when they don’t know what the words say. Needless to say we got him a new shirt once we read what his said!

The day was amazing. The boys had a great time splashing, swimming and doing flying ninja sidekicks in the water. Lavila, one of the staff got in and swam around with us for a few hours. He was so fun to watch him with the boys. Discipleship changes lives and seeing the staff interact with the boys and the boys respond makes my heart happy! Since Paradise is a beautiful beach, RC apparently offers it as a beach excursion. One curious couple from the ship made their way over to talk to me. They were from Israel. They could not comprehend why I, a white woman, would chose to leave my life and career in DC to work with Haitian children. It made for a very interesting conversation about Jesus. They asked A LOT of questions and eventually asked for the website. Who knows… regardless, the day with the boys was richly rewarding!

By mid-week I was giving tours of StreetHearts as if it were my own baby (which it is now a precious “neice” or “nephew” like project in my mind). I am passionate about what God is doing through Linsey and with those boys. I am also passionate to see Haitians provide for Haiti. Linsey is not teaching these boys to rely on her to provide for them. She is teaching them to be proud of THEIR heritage. She is showing them that with God all things are possible. She is giving them a safe home to be kids. A safe place to learn, to play, to be loved. She is trying to provide connections to families for jobs so they can get their kids back. Every child should be raised by their family. No family wants to tell their 7 year old to go live on the streets of a city and send money home, but that is the unfortunate reality for some rural families in Haiti. Why water the fruit when the root is what provides for the fruit?! Water the root and entire plant will thrive. Linsey’s vision does just that. She has an amazing 3 tier program depending on the situation of the child. I won’t go into it here, but I encourage you to check it out.

(I am learning a new Jido move in the above photo. Clearly, I’m intensely listening to the details of the move.)

The nature of Haitians: Before the feeding program kicked in (special thanks to God for hooking up random encounters with Chick-fil-a to provide all we needed for the kitchen and thanks to all our donors!) and the boys were still providing their own meals. The boys would tell me “I’m hungry” when I first got there in the morning. I would tell them “me too. You haven’t eaten yet and neither have I” by the end of the week, the boys were using their money to bring me food. I couldn’t believe it. Here they are, haven’t had breakfast or lunch and they want to provide for me. That is true Haitian culture. You share your first bite with someone who also is in need. Linsey felt the strong prompting of providing meals for the boys. This is a huge financial commitment. Two meals a day is no small task in any country for 80+ boys. The only thing cheap in Haiti is manual labor. I’ll just tell you. Prices of groceries here are more than I paid in DC. Haiti may be the poorest country in the western hemisphere, but it’s expensive to live here (thank you Clinton for your rice embargo… and yes, I’m happy to discuss in detail). I strongly encourage you to consider being a reoccurring monthly donor to contribute to the food budget.

Our last Friday night together… Linsey and I were exhausted. As we went over our day and all the amazing things that happened during the week, we commented on the fact that we were going to bed before 10…Life is different these days. Thank God for new perspectives and priorities in life!

The hightlight of my time with the boys?… after telling them all week how much Jesus loves them, Johnky (one of the rougher boys that didn’t believe Jesus loved him) asked me to pray for him. I can’t wait to go back!! My dear sweet Nixon!!… N’ap we talé!!

Nepali Mission

I apologize for the horrible layout...this computer is so slow if I don't just throw them on here I'll never get a post up!!

did I say "Ni-Hao"?! I meant Kanichiwah!! oops! these Japanese people were very nice considering the insult of saying Hi to them in Chinese!!! :/

The bull on our hotel front porch every morning..

Napali women at the end of the day

Everest, Nuptse and I forget the 3rd peak.

Me and Mindi out front of Hotel Herati, Kathmandu, Nepal

quickly before my computer crashes: The airport and road to the small village of Khandbari is shut down...for whatever reason, we don't know. We have thousands of dollars of medical supplies waiting to be put to good use and a team of volunteers anxiously waiting to help the local people. There is need every where we look but we can't just set up triage on the streets of Kathmandu and start practicing. The process to find a clinic that can use our team on such short notice is a bit like trying to catch a baby pig during a rainstorm. We have been working withe the US embassy in Kathmandu to try and find placement (Thank you Jason for all your efforts!!). We flew to Pokhara yesterday and are fairly certain we will start with a local hospital here in 2 days (such is life in a 3rd world country).

IN the meantime I am enjoying just being with the local people. I was given a motorcycle tour by my new (and dear) friend Niraj. He and I have decided we are twins...He is an amazing man with a heart of gold! I am really captivated by the culture and the customs. life here is so different than anything I could prepare myself for. I am including a photo documentary for the time being. I'll send updates as soon as we get more news. I am also including a video of the traffic situation...I thought China was full of crazy drivers. I think it's far more chaotic here!!

Much love to you all, thank you for your support while I'm here!

so apparently the streets are two ways; bikes, scooters and people, chickens and stray dogs also welcome :)

I'm an awareness ninja and should have a medal or a park named after me.

In everyone woman's life, there comes a time when you must choose in a split second, "do I stand by and do nothing, or risk getting shot..." -jenny's attic*

The weekend was already exciting and eventful. My main ooly-doolie was in Baltimore for a conference, so I headed up to Fells Point to hang out with her and two other friends of ours from college. I had the cutest little red jetta (thank you Zip Car) and really enjoyed driving it with the windows down and sunroof open...okay sorry, too much extraneous detail! I dropped Mindi off at BWI and came back to DC. I stopped in at the Exxon on Bladensburg Road and New York Ave on my way back to Chinatown never expecting for my Sunday to get so intense so early in the morning.

It's about 9:45am, I pulled up to the far right pump on the far right side of the station. I got out and "ohhh mannn, the tank's on the other side"...I get back in the car to turn the car around so the tank's on the correct side to fill up. As I shut my door, a blue car pulled up right on the other side of my pump. The car came to an abrupt stop and the car was clearly hurriedly thrown into park. I saw the two late teens/early 20's boys in the car and my initial thoughts were "this guys a moron, not only did he just take the spot I was going to move, but he is parked so far away from the pump (6' at least) he'll never get the nozzle that far over there to fill up...and why is he in such a hurry?!! Idiot"... (sad to say, I really was annoyed and the name calling were really my initial thoughts). I then realized that the driver side guy had quickly jumped out of his car and crouched down. Before I realized what was happening I thought he could possibly be looking for something under his car because of the way he immediately got down. I then realized he was running in a crouched position (impressively strong leg muscles) to the car parked on the right side of the pump to our left (I hope the positioning I'm referring to makes sense, I don't have time to draw a model...maybe later).

Before I go any further, I have to tell you, this whole scene played out in under 2 minutes, so the thoughts and events I am sharing with you happened (obviously) very quickly. the woman/driver of that car was fiddling with her card at the pump and didn't look behind her when the "idiot driver" pulled up. By now the boy has reached up and grabbed the door handle to her car; it was unlocked and he started to get in. My thoughts from here forward for this incident were like a rapid fire rocket attack from my cerebrum.

My thoughts in order were this

1. "HOLY CRAP!! He's getting in the back of her car to attack her when she gets in! Wait, that only happens at night, right?!"


2. "He's going to steal her stuff! turn around lady!!"


3. "I HAVE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!!"


4. "I can't, they'll shoot me!!"


5. "SCREW THIS! I can't just sit here with my mouth open and do nothing!"

Keep in mind also, the guy in the passenger seat and I have had direct eye contact...he watched my thoughts invade my mind and you could see the look on his face turn from "I'm a thug" to a slight panic when my decision to do something finally registered on my face with a look of determination.

Not really knowing what to do, I threw my car into drive and whipped around the pump to block his car all while yelling out my window "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GET OUT OF HER CAR!!!" and literally laying on the horn.

By now the lady pumping her gas turns around and starts screaming on repeat "WHAT THE %#@&" because she A. is so confused, and B. can't think of anything else to say.

Here are the more thoughts after I got my car in front of his...

"Get out and you can shut his door, that way he can't get away!"

"HOLY CRAP!! here comes the part when they pull out a gun?!?!"

By now the driver is back in his seat and slams the door shut...he looks up and for a split second both passengers are staring at me with very annoyed and yet puzzled looks on their faces. My thoughts continue...

"DEFINITELY don't get out of the car...they'll run over you!"

"OH LORD, I think he is going to ram into my car...or they are still going to pull a gun and shoot me..."

They put the car in reverse and the driver slams his foot down on the gas without even looking (thank God there is no one walking behind the car). By now I realize they aren't going to run over me and are going to get away...so I did what any moron would do. I got out of my car and chased after them through the parking lot so I could try and get their license plate. As I'm running past the lady's car I yelled at her "they were in your car" and she yelled (there's a lot of yelling going on) back "what do I do?!"...REALLY?! I was somewhat in disbelief that she didn't know what to do...call 911...

I am such a super fast runner that I was able to catch up to them, jump on the hood and hold on while they took the corner out of the parking lot at 50 mph. I then reached around through the open window and grabbed the guy by the dreads and slammed his head into the steering wheel. this caused the airbag to deploy blocking any vision he had of direction... But that didn't matter because I am so strong he was unconscious from the blow to the wheel. We hit a parked car, but my death grip to the hood kept me from flying across the street. The passenger jumped out and started to run. Since I am awesome enough to catch a speeding car, I (naturally) caught up with him and slide tackled him to the ground. he got up and tried to pull a knife, but I jump kicked it out of his hand...did a round house to the face followed by a stunning blow to the gut and finished him off with a head butt. But none of that happened actually and they got away.

So what really happened: I realize now that they still could've shot at me if they had a gun as they were driving away...but they are not typically a good shot standing still let alone driving wildly at high speeds, but neither here nor there...they were gone. I turn around and see the lady standing by her car with 5 other people and no one is on the phone. I had mine in my hand, so I called 911 myself. Conversation as follows:

Dispatcher- "911 fire, police or ambulance"

Me- "Police. Two guys just robbed a woman at the Exxon on the corner of Bladensburg Road and New York Ave."

Dispatcher- "Is that Northwest, Southwest...??"

Me- "It's Northeast! what?! is MPD outsourcing to India?! how do you not know that?! Everyone knows that..." Okay, I didn't say the outsourcing part, but I was thinking it.

The rest of the conversation with her was equally frustrating...but I won't waste anymore of your time with those details. The get away car (unfortunately for the screamer lady) did not have tags and the temp tags on it were not readable. The car was probably stolen anyway. The chaos (aka: my yelling out the window, blowing my horn and the lady screaming WTF on repeat) caused the gas station attendant to hit the emergency shut off valve...the 5 other men (who stood by and did nothing) came over to talk about how the lady should have kept her doors locked and then told her their stories of robberies in the hood...bad things that have happened to them. I really don't think this helped the poor tourist from S.C. that just got EVERYTHING except her credit card stolen from her car. After a good 20 minutes of waiting for the police to FINALLY get there, they took my overly descriptive account of what happened and I was on my way...

The End

PS. Lock your doors at gas stations

PSS. Always strive to be an awareness ninja no matter where you live

The End for Real

* "jenny's attic" = description of the place where my thoughts happen...

I'm technologically radically fabulous...

Disclaimer: My niece is just the most hilarious little kid I know. She is brilliantly persuasive and insightful...and she has an amazing voice...we'll witness all of this in the next few videos.

I have this awesome new phone that allows me to do very cool stuff such as selectively listening to voice mails rather than going through the stupid automated system (this is the only reason I actually listen to vm's now), download apps that allow me to body scan unsuspecting individuals (this isn't actually true) and find a local restaurant in the touch of a button. I can video life events and send to relative and I can teleport in the touch of a button (that part isn't true either). The only down side is that my phone is actually too advanced for me so I can't figure out how to change a video from quicktime to a program everyone can open...so I'm posting videos here on my heavily neglected blog. Please note that I am also not cool enough to figure out how to rotate the video...so if you don't want to turn your laptop/monitor sideways you can just tilt your head. but really, where would the fun in an upright video be?! If you don't think turning your computer or your head sideways is "cool" or remotely "fun" then you're lame and I'm still radically fabulously more technologically advanced than you ;)

PLUG: I also have some really great new stories from the block...a block posting is coming, and it's coming soon!...

Abby performed beautifully for Chris's birthday concert...


Here we see Abby displaying her early improv skills by impersonating a gorilla for about 1.5 minutes :) Her first animals to learn noises for in order 1.Tiger (growl) 2. Owl (whooo whooo)... Now she just loves to "trick" us with the wrong noises...



Okay...I'm out. more later

cake and balloons

We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary as a church... The weekend kicked off with a flag football game in which no one walked away NOT covered in mud! It was such a great time. Flag football in the fall is so fun :) We plan to play football after church on nice days... give me a call if you wanna play with!

Anyway, the video is the MVFF year in review...enjoy!

MVFF 1st Annual Turkey Bowl

We are having a flag football food raising event! Sign up to come play football or just come and cheer on the players while drinking hot apple cider!! Bring a bag of canned food for donation to a local food bank. The game is from 10am-noon (tailgating starts when ever you want!) and then we will go to the church space to have a pot luck lunch and some really fun* activities from noon-4! (fun activities include competitive, meaning head to head, hard core bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving competition, coloring activities for the kids and a possible guest appearance by Conan O'Brien**
T-shirts are $10.00
Let Me or Stephen Norberg know if you want to play and/or if you want a T-shirt!

more info on the church space

and now a message from our organizers...

* Fun in this case is defined as:

1.	something that provides mirth or amusement: A picnic would be fun.

2.	enjoyment or playfulness: She's full of fun.

all terms are not relative...this will be as defined above if not "funner"

** this will never happen