Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Two become one




Well the first week of our time in the USA has just flown by. Some of you might be wondering why we planned to spend a week in Vermont. The short answer is that way back we accepted an invitation to attend the wedding of some very dear friends from Haiti. As you know we thought we would be back in Australia for only a few months and then be back in Haiti. Haiti to Vermont not that far. Australia to Vermont slightly further. As you also know our time in Australia turned into 6 months and for many months we were not sure we would make it to the wedding. We prayed a lot and by Gods grace we were able to leave and arrive just a few days before the important day.

Our Vermont family looked after us really well and we were able to spend some really quality time with our friends. Barry got to golf with the groom and I got to go to the nail bar with the bride. So fun. Karen Gilbert (Brits Mum) even introduced us to bread in a can. Who would have thought bread came in a can.

"Can you believe it bread comes in a can"


Our friends Brittany and Collins met in Haiti shortly after the earthquake. They have been dating long distance for along time as Collins is studying medicine in North Carolina and Brittany was the house mom at the teen mum house (Harbor House) in Haiti, as well as the full time carer for her two sweet siblings Melo (3) and David (2). Two Haitian kids Brits parents are adopting from Haiti.

Barry impersonating a bridesmaid in rehearsal

 Brit and Collins both have super giant hearts and we were so privileged to be part of their special day. We were so excited to be asked to read the bible verses, although I was told by Collins friends, it was just because we sound cool that we got the gig.

The wedding took place at the base of a ski mountain. It was so beautiful. Truly special place.

The Very Happy Couple


The wedding was perfect and so much fun. We made use of the photo booth and played dress up.

Cowboy Dj rocking the tunes

Haiti Team Joanna, Brit, Collins, Baz and Bec ( John Mchoul would be proud)

Haiti Team gone crazy


At the end of the night we each got a paper lantern that we got to light. Once the wik was burning well the lantern filled with gas and we let them go.



We lite up the night sky


My photos are bad and they certainly do not do it justice. It was so beautiful, best end to a wedding ever!!!!! And we have been to a lot of weddings.

God also used the time to open some really amazing doors for Barry's run and also my library project but there will be more on that later. We flew out of Boston today into Colorado and we are now with our friends the Thomas's and looking forward to getting lots of planning and meetings happening.



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

THANK YOU

Well we finally left, what a mixed bag of emotions we are right now.

Many months later than we expected,  but although we had thought we would be back in Haiti well before now we are at peace and know this is Gods timing. We wanted to thank a few people for taking such good care of us.

Firstly thanks to Andy and Neen for allowing us to stay in their home for so long. You guys are so wonderful to us and we feel very blessed to have been able to spend so much quality time with you and your boys.

Thanks to our families for loving us and for making the effort to come see us so that we could spend valuable time together. You are all very important people in our lives and we will miss you all so much.

Thanks to our church KBC we love you guys and we thank you for guiding us through support raising and also for allowing us to share our testimonies with our church family. Thanks to Steve and the Sim team for putting up with and helping missionaries that don't fit the mould and for walking on this journey with us.

Thanks to Chay, Henry, Justin and Felicia for taking such good care of our Mac. Spending time with him just makes us love him more and we are so blessed to know he is so loved by you and as much a part of your family as he is ours.

I also want to thank our prayer team. Thank you for being so dedicated to praying and interceding for us and the work that we are doing. Your positive impact on this journey can not be overstated. 

Thank you also to our generous supporters who have stepped in to financially support us and our projects. You truly are share holders in what Gods doing through us. Thank you for giving so sacrificially so that others you will never meet will have a better future.

Finally I would like to thank our friends. You are the sweetest most encouraging, on fire group of people I have ever met. Thank you for loving us, journeying with us, crying and rejoicing with us. Spending so much quality time with you all has made leaving again that much harder.

I cried a lot this time leaving and I know we will miss you all very much. We knew there was a price to pay when we signed up for this but someday's it is harder than others.

 Through the sadness we are excited and looking forward to what adventures lay ahead over the next 12 months. We are certainly excited to see what God is going to do not only in Haiti but back home in Brisbane too.

Love Barry and Bec

P S if you would like to be on our Prayer email click here

P P S  if you would like to be a financial support click here

Monday, May 7, 2012

Quick Update



The flights are booked and we will be flying out of Brisbane on the 15th of May.

This week will be a crazy mess of last minute jobs and squeezing every last moment of memory making with our nearest and dearest.

If you are wondering if we hit our financial goal the short answer is no. Actually we are quite a way away from it but we have decided it was time.

We both feel like now is the right time and just as God provided last year we have full confidence He will provide again.

We will be in Colorado for 2-3 weeks and then we will be in LA for about a week and then the plan is to head to Haiti after that.

Barry will be able to again train in the heat which he needs to be ready for the heat of Haiti. He will also be doing some altitude training in the mountains of Colorado.

While in Colorado we will be staying with Joel Thomas  and his family. Joel is a board member of Heartline and with the combined expertise of Brenda Kaker the Communications Manager for Heartline it is hoped most of the Co-run logistics and some of the run logistics can be worked out during our time in Colorado.

There are also 3 publishes I will be meeting with that are based in Colorado to further the library project.

So we are expecting a very productive time in the US before heading back to Haiti.

We hope to speak at a few churches and home groups etc while in the US so if you know of any that would open their doors to us to share our testimony and promote the run we would love to hear from you.