Where He leads...: November 2011

I mentioned in my last blog entry that I went to Haiti this month to help God's Planet gather information for their Christmas project. God's Planet partners with several orphanages in Haiti and one of the big projects each year is matching the children at these orphanages with sponsors to provide them with personalized Christmas gifts. This year, we have nearly 150 children on the list. I took photos of the children and recorded their information (i.e. age, shoe and clothing sizes, etc).

After compiling all of the information, all we need is YOU! Sponsoring a child for Christmas is easy. God's Planet will provide you with a reusable shopping bag and information about your child. You simply fill the bag with unique gifts for that child and turn it back into God's Planet by December 18th. Volunteer teams will take the bags to Haiti and we will deliver them to each orphanage.

Here are some gift ideas:

Girls - hair bows, Barbie dolls, summer tops and dresses, jump ropes, lip gloss

Boys - toy cars, football, action figures, dress shirts, shorts, combs

Both - playing cards, school supplies, stickers, candy, socks and underwear, shoes, sandals

We also encourage you to put a card and/or photos of you and your family to personalize your gift.

If you are interested in spreading a little joy this Christmas to a child in Haiti, contact me and I can give you more details. If you live in the Maryville area, I can give you a bag and the child's information. If you live elsewhere but would still like to participate, let me know and we can arrange that. You would need to mail the items to us by December 18th.

Here are some of the children who are still in need of a sponsor.

Offlie is 9 years old. When she grows up, she wants to be a nurse.

Robens is 7 years old. When he grows up, he wants to be a pastor.

Medjine is 6 years old. When she grows up, she wants to be a lollipop seller.

Vlajimmy is 12 years old. When he grows up, he wants to be a driver.

To find out if these children are still available to sponsor for the Christmas project or to sponsor another child, email me at hannahsterling@live.com.

However you spend this Christmas holiday, I pray it will be filled with joy and that you will be filled with thanksgiving for the many blessings you have been given this Christmas season and throughout the year.

Earlier this month I spent 9 days in Haiti. This time, I went to Haiti through an organization called God's Planet. Grant and Eva Rimback are from here in Blount County and started this non-profit years ago after his first trip to Haiti in 1993. I met Eva's sister Michelle in September and she got us connected. Next thing I know, I'm at their house planning a trip!

God's Planet partners with orphanages in Haiti to support them in whatever way they can. For years, God's Planet has organized a Christmas project which matches children in the orphanages with sponsors who fill personalized bags with Christmas goodies. My primary purpose for this trip was to organize the information for the Christmas project. I stayed with Sarah Fagg, who is the founder of Living Water Haiti. After taking several trips to Haiti throughout the years, she moved there two years ago and recently started an orphanage. So far, she cares for 5 children and has a desire to have an orphanage one day with up to 30 children. Sarah is from Maryville and it was great getting to know her, chatting about Tennessee, and sharing our heart for orphans and vulnerable children. Sarah even got married while I was down there. It was a small wedding and I volunteered to be her photographer. I would post some photos, but she hasn't posted any (because I haven't given her the CD yet) so I will have to wait. :) It was wonderful to be there for that special occasion!

During this trip I visited four orphanages not including Sarah's. My job was to take photos of all of the children. Sarah helped write down the names and her dad (who was visiting and there for the wedding) helped measure each child's foot so I could record shoe sizes. We also tried to record clothing sizes for each child. If they didn't have a tag in the clothes they were wearing, we would eyeball their size. Though even if they had a tag, it wasn't always helpful. It was common to see 8 or 9 year olds squeezed into a 3T or 4T shirt. At the end of our info gathering, we would bring all the children together and ask them what they wanted to be when they grew up. It was neat to hear the wide variety of answers. Even some of the littlest ones contributed, most of them wanting to be banana, mango or lollipop sellers. :) Many of the 139 children want to be nurses or doctors. Some lawyers, architects, or builders. One a helicopter pilot. A couple want to be cosmetologists or chefs. And perhaps my favorite, the 7 year old boy who wants to be a ninja. :)

I'll write more in an upcoming blog entry about how you can sponsor a child for the Christmas project. Meanwhile, here are some photos from a few of the orphanages.

Kids' House Orphanage has 17 children at an orphanage on a mountain outside of Port-au-Prince. They have a lovely view but their living conditions are less than basic. They have no running water or electricity.

Agape Orphanage has 41 children. These photos are taken on the top floor of their building where many of them have school. Most of the older children attend a secondary school in town.

This is Pastor Nae Nae's orphanage. There were 34 children at this orphanage, including his own 5 kids and a baby on the way.

Here are Sarah's kids... Love, Mirlandia, Jimmy, Regina, and Dajna. Many of you gave money to make this trip possible for me. The money I had left after my airfare, transportation, and housing costs went to purchasing clothes and supplies for the children and workers. I bought the new outfits above for each of Sarah's kids. They were thrilled!

It was such a neat experience living at Sarah's orphanage and being so closely involved with her kids. They are so sweet and lively! I look forward to seeing them again and meeting the many other children Sarah hopes to have in the future.

This house belongs to the mother of Sarah's three youngest kids. It is located by the orphanage I mentioned earlier up on the mountain with no water or electricity. Their mother was unable to care for them and hopes that Sarah can provide a future for them that she cannot. As I've mentioned before, not all children in an orphanage have lost both parents. Families living in such poverty-ridden societies have difficulties caring for children that don't always involve the death of parents.

On our way down the mountain, we stopped by to visit a family Sarah knew. If you look behind those trees and bushes in the middle, you can see some of the tents they live in. This was a bit of a hike on a hot day, something that family must do often to go and buy food and bring water. Their living conditions are something most of us could never even imagine. They have two babies under one year old.

The majority of my trip was spent right outside of Croix des Bouquets, less than 10 miles from Port au Prince. But there was one particular day I was really looking forward to. I had asked to be driven to Leogane, which is where I was before with Samaritan's Purse. I wanted to say hi to my friends with SP and I also wanted to visit all of my precious friends at the Lamb Center. Pulling into the driveway I felt like a kid on Christmas! I was SO excited!! Kalebe called out to the kids that "Ana's here!" and they came running. It was a beautiful reunion!! They sang for us and were hanging on to me the entire time like they always do. I was calling out their names and was a bit surprised myself with all of the names I remembered. There are nearly 70 children there now.

We stopped by the building site for the new Lamb Center orphanage. It was busy with activity and it's amazing to see how much has been done since I left.

I'm always amazed by how the Haitian people can carry things on their heads. And it can also be very interested to see what they are carrying at times. This lady had who knows how many chickens. I think they were all alive...

We stopped at a market to get some vegetables. It was a typical busy day for shopping. I spotted some okra and bought it for next to nothing. We fried it up for dinner. Yum! At the back of this photo you can see an above-ground cemetery. Reminds me of New Orleans. The beautiful mountains are also in the background.

Another shot of the market. The white and blue wall is part of the jail. Notice all of the trash driven into the ground. Mostly plastic bottles.

This is one of many tent cities. Most of the tent cities I saw did not have these military style tents. You can see regular tents all around the outside. This January will mark two years since the earthquakes and people seem like they are there to stay. I heard a rumor that the people think the government will eventually buy them a house and they are staying until that happens. I hate to say it, but if that's the case, they're going to be there for a while...

A closer shot inside a tent city.

The photos below are at the location where Sarah and Yves got married. It was a simple but beautiful ceremony. We celebrated with a delicious lunch and swim in the Caribbean!

Sarah and Yves got married by the pool to the left of the palm tree.

Warning: Some parts of this post are graphic, as human trafficking is a real and often horrific issue.

Last night I attended an event put on by the Blount County Global Women to raise awareness leading to action in the fight against human trafficking. The stories and information presented were a bit overwhelming. Human trafficking is a huge and terrible problem in our world today. And it is not just something happening "over there". It is happening in our own communities as well.

Here are some facts you need to know about human trafficking:

More than 30 million people are enslaved today. This is more than the number of slaves during the entire trans-Atlantic Africa slave trade.
As many as 4,000,000 persons, mostly women and girls are sexually trafficked worldwide each year.
Trafficking of humans is the second largest criminal industry in the world after drug dealing, and it is the fastest growing with a profit of over $32 billion a year.
An estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually in the United States.

You can find these and other statistics at www.polarisproject.org.

Last night we heard from three women who had been on a mission trip to Moldova, the poorest country in Europe and the source of much of Europe's human trafficking. More than 30,000 girls and women have disappeared in Moldova without a trace. Beginning of Life is an organization committed to the fight against human trafficking in Moldova. Click here for more information about Beginning of Life. And click here to read a story of one young woman who was a victim of human sex trafficking.

We also heard from Senator Doug Overbey about the issue of human trafficking here in East Tennessee. In the past 2 years, 85% of Tennessee counties have reported at least one sex trafficking case. 4% of TN counties have reported over 100 sex trafficking cases! You can google "sex trafficking in Tennessee" to find a number of articles written about this issue. Thankfully, more people are learning about this global issue and how it is affecting women, children, and even men here in our own backyard. One man was recently arrested after it was discovered that over the past 4 years he has trafficked 400 women for commercial sex in Knox, Blount, Loudon, and Sevier counties. Another man in Knoxville was arrested after trafficking a number of girls under the age of 14. He would brand or tattoo these girls with his nickname, "T-Rex". This branding is common so traffickers can keep track of their victims.

Finally, we heard from Brittney Thomas who is the Regional Director for the Kentucky Chapter of Not For Sale Campaign. She shared stories of her own experiences in countries where human trafficking is a huge problem. In one of these countries, she was on a moto-taxi when the driver asked, "How old?" She found out that he was asking how old of a child she wanted to have sex with. Her translator explained that the local people assume that white people only come to that country to have sex with minors. If you want to have sex with a 4 or 5 year old, the driver will send you down this road. If you want an older girl, say 8 or 9, they would send you that way, and if you wanted a young woman, 14 or 15, they would send you another. In that same country, she was sitting outside of a restaurant when an American man exited the restaurant with two five year old girls. He was boasting to someone about how he had bought them for $25 for the weekend. I think of all the children I recently met in Haiti, and how I view them as beautiful and precious gifts of God. I do not understand how someone else can view them as objects of sadistic pleasure. It is sickening and absolutely heart-breaking.

Near the end of Brittney's presentation she said that we must go past awareness. If all the event last night did was make us more aware, then it was meaningless. Brittney urged us to go past awareness and create a movement. And in order to create a movement we have to move! Yes, the issue of human trafficking can be overwhelming, but Brittney encouraged each of us to find our gift and do that to enhance someone else's life. And that is the mission of Not For Sale.

So how can we take action in the fight against human trafficking? Here are some options to get you started:

Pray! Pray for those who are victims of human trafficking here in our country and abroad. Pray also for those most vulnerable who could soon be victimized.
Join the prayer initiative to stop human trafficking on Interstate-10. I-10 has been named as the #1 corridor for human trafficking in the US by the FBI. Go to traffickstop.org for more information.
Encourage your church to take action and raise awareness about human trafficking by organizing a Freedom Sunday event at your church. Go to freedomsunday.org for more information.
Be a conscious consumer! Learn how your favorite brands relate to trafficking and other labor abuses. Download the Free2Work app for scanning barcodes or go to free2work.org to receive information on forced and child labor for the brands and products you purchase. Nike changed their corporate policy to prevent forced labor after their consumers demanded it. Other companies, like Hershey's have yet to follow suit.
Are you a student, business professional, artist, educator, or athlete? Go to notforsalecampaign.org and click on "Take Action" to find out how you can use your gifts, talents, and resources to get involved in the fight against human trafficking.
Educate yourself about this issue and pray about how you can be involved. Two books I recommend: Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It and Terrify No More.
If you think someone is a victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resources Center at 1-888-373-7888 to obtain information and to access supportive services for the victim. In Tennessee, call 855-558-6484.

If you're in the Maryville area, come out tomorrow night for a great event to learn more about how you can get involved in the fight against human trafficking. It is from 6pm-8pm at Foothills Church. Doors will open at 5pm for shopping at their fair trade booths to support women and children in crisis. I hope to see you there!!

During my last trip to Haiti, I received terrible news. A good friend of mine, Linda Cooper, passed away. She had been fighting a battle with ovarian cancer, though by looking at her, you would have thought she was strong and healthy. And that's how she looked the last time I saw her. I can't describe how crushed I was at that news. Several days before I had received word that she was in the hospital due to fluid build-up on her lungs. I prayed and pleaded for her healing as I have many times before. The day before I heard she was in the hospital, I emailed to let her know I was thinking about and praying for her. I was very surprised and delighted to find a response from her the next evening! She told me it was good to hear from me and that she had been praying for me every day. She mentioned briefly that she had been sick and in the hospital. (She was never one to dwell on her condition and always tried to focus on the positives.) She finished the email by saying, "I am glad you emailed me. It is such a blessing to my heart to hear what God is doing. It is like a lovely bright spot in my day. Take care and I look forward to seeing you when you return." When I first read her email, I was so touched by her saying that my email was "a lovely bright spot in [her] day." I responded to let her know that her email was a lovely bright spot in mine! Indeed it was. After realizing all she had gone through that week with her illness, I was so blessed that she had taken the time to write me back. And now, it is difficult for me to read the last line of her email without getting very emotional. She was looking forward to seeing me when I returned. It crushes my heart that that reunion never occurred. Though I am thankful that one day it will!

I have been so blessed this past year to have had the opportunity to spend more time with Linda. If you read my blog back in June, I told about going to Children's Hospital with some ladies from church. I mentioned that Linda was the inspiration for that event. We were able to go a second time in July. Again, Linda came up with the craft and brought all of the supplies for us to help the children make colorful and funky bird feeders. The children loved it! I also spent an afternoon with her one day at her house, just sitting around like old friends talking about life, faith, our families, and so on. She encouraged me. I encouraged her. It was such a sweet time together that I will always cherish. Linda was also in my Sunday School class. I always hung on every word she said. She spoke about the faith I believe in, but there is something about listening to someone who is dealing with such a hardship, yet still remains faithful, that can teach, challenge, and encourage you like no one else can.

Perhaps some of the most meaningful times with Linda were during the Radical class I taught. We studied the book Radical by David Platt. Linda heard I was going to teach the class and told me she really wanted to come. With her cancer, some days were better than others, but she told me she would be there whenever she could. And thankfully she was able to come to most of the time. She would share with me outside of class how much the study meant to her and how much it was challenging her. She shared with me her struggles, such as how sometimes she didn't want to ask for prayer requests for herself because she felt selfish when there were so many others needs in this world. She didn't like to be the center of attention. I encouraged her to tell us her requests anytime and that it was our privilege to pray with her about any need or desire she had. But it was incredible to hear her testimony, to see how strong her faith was despite her illness, and she was a huge encouragement to me, constantly challenging me in my own faith! She was always looking to do more for others. It always impressed me how she would share about how the study was challenging her to want to serve in new ways. Here she was, dealing with so much, yet she was constantly thinking about what more she could do to spend more time with God and help others. After her death, I shared with her husband Raymond how I have met so many incredible people throughout my life, but Linda's testimony shines above all the rest as someone who has forever changed my life. Knowing what she was going through and yet hearing her praise God through it all has caused me to examine my own life in many ways. I don't think words could ever express how much Linda meant to me and the impact she had and will continue to have on my life. But I wanted to put some of it in writing for all of you because her story needs to be told. Especially what I'm about to share...

Linda wrote me that email on Friday. On Wednesday, she was gone. On Saturday, I was flying home, but unfortunately I would still miss her service. The night she died, I received an email from Tony Servies, a friend and member of my church. He and my family had been giving me information about Linda being in the hospital, passing away, and upcoming arrangements. The following email came about four hours after I heard of her passing away. It was the greatest gift anyone could have given me during those beginning hours of grieving. I will let you read it in Tony's words:

Those of you who were in church this past Sunday got to see one of the best examples of a testimony that I think you will ever see. As Mrs. JoAn was playing "Our God Is An Awesome God" Linda rose to her feet and lifted holy hands to the Lord. Her obedience in praising Him seemed to give our church a certain "liberty" and I saw a lot of teary eyes. It was an amazing moment to watch this person who had been brought into the sanctuary in a wheelchair, stand to her feet and confirm that our God is awesome!

But that is only part of the story. I was very blessed to have been by her bedside on Tuesday evening to have prayer with her. While I was visiting with Linda, I remarked to her sister-in-law, Debbie, about how this past Sunday Linda had given our church a liberty to praise by her actions. Linda told me that God challenged her with "if you think I am so awesome, then show me". That is what prompted Linda to rise up and praise Him. She overcame any hesitation and simply praised him in the best way she knew how.

Wow! And let me repeat from before, Linda never liked to be the center of attention. So when I read this email, I knew that this was no small thing. I can close my eyes and envision this entire scene playing out in my mind, and sensing how significant it was for her to act out this seemingly simple gesture. For her, it was a big deal. And I know that everyone in the sanctuary recognized that as well. She and I have had enough conversations about her faith and personality for me to know how huge this was, and how meaningful it was as an act of worship. And couple that with the fact that Raymond shared just how sick she was that very weekend as he had been constantly holding the "sick bucket". He said she had zero strength on that Saturday and told him she didn't think she would be able to go to church. But Sunday morning came, and she was up and ready to go. Exhausted and I'm sure still not feeling well, they wheeled her in. And what a testimony! After I read the email I was so thankful. I was thankful that she was used by God up until her last breaths as such a powerful witness to everyone around her. I'm thankful that despite her quiet nature, she displayed such bold faith and courage. To me, she displayed that boldness every day, but to hear about such a stand during her final days was just one more incredible story to add to hundreds more.

Earlier this year I had made a CD for Linda with a variety of Christian songs that have encouraged me. She seemed happy to receive it. A couple weeks after her death, I received a message from her oldest daughter Brittany. Brittany said she was driving Linda's car one day and nothing was on the radio, so she checked the CD player to see if anything was in it. On the CD was written "Our Hope Endures", the title of one of the songs. As she listened to the songs she said she could imagine her mom listening to them too. Brittany said the songs have given her peace and I pray they brought peace to Linda as well. It meant a lot to me to know that Linda had been listening to that CD up until she died. I know how powerful and worshipful those songs are and can imagine how they encouraged her and helped her to worship. And it meant a lot to me to hear about Brittany finding it and being so touched. I had also made a similar CD for her, but she hadn't found it yet. When she did, and realized I had made them both, she sent me that message to thank me. I give that thanks back to God for being a blessing to all of us, each in a special way.

I could go on and on about Linda's life and how it touched mine so, but I will close by asking you to remember her family and to pray for them. Aside from her husband and Brittany, she leaves behind another daughter, a son-in-law, two grandbabies, and many others who love and miss her so much. I thank God for the blessing of knowing Linda. And I know she is now shining brighter than ever!

On Saturday our church packed 300 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child! If you don't know what OCC is, it is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief and evangelism organization led by Franklin Graham. OCC connects giving hearts here in the States with children all over the globe. From their website: "The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ." And indeed, that is just what it does!

I have had a couple opportunities to help with OCC. I first did a couple on my own years ago. And then back when I worked for The King's Academy in Seymour, TN, my Bible students helped me pack and send nearly 30 shoe boxes. We had a wonderful time and students really enjoyed giving to children around the world in such a tangible way.

My church, Friendsville First Baptist Church, used to participate in OCC years ago, but hadn't done it for some time. My stepmom Kelly and our friend Shirley serve with the Women's Ministry at church. Last year they had both been praying about a project for the Women's Ministry. Kelly received a brochure about OCC and she and Shirley instantly knew that was their answer. They organized everything for the church to participate, and last year several people packed their own boxes in addition to having an "assembly line" of donations and a packing/fellowship day to finish them up. A dear friend of ours and like a grandmother to so many of us, Kathleen Grubb, was always seeking out ways to serve and bless others. After getting a difficult health diagnosis, she and her daughter Faye still packed up a box to send for OCC. She passed away shortly before packing day at church. Our church named our OCC ministry, The Granny Grubb Shoebox Ministry in honor of Kathleen. I was blessed to be able to visit with Kathleen during my brief visit to the U.S. last fall. She passed away a year ago today.

Last year our church packed around 150 shoe boxes. This year they made a goal of 300 shoe boxes. Throughout the year, everyone gathers up supplies and goodies for the big event. On Saturday, they had the tables lined up and all of the gifts sorted out for easy packing. There was a great turnout of people of all ages to help and we knocked it out in less than an hour! I enjoyed listening to everyone as they carefully picked out the items for each shoebox. I can tell you that they were put together with love, care, and prayer!

Here are some photos to give you an idea of the fun we had! And of course we prayed for the children and communities who would receive these boxes. We pray that they would experience God's love through this ministry and would have the opportunity to hear the gospel to receive God's most precious gift!

The quilters and crafters -- with the help of some volunteers -- made 300 pairs of shorts. One for each box!

Each box is for a specific gender and age range.

We put all the boxes on the altar for everyone to see Sunday morning. Several children from our church each carried one out and we prayed again for those who would be receiving them.

Now, let me share something really neat! My dear friend Linda Macdonald, who served with me in Namibia, was on the receiving end of the shoe boxes! When she served in Grootfontein before coming to FHS, a group of children she worked with received the boxes. She got to witness the joy and excitement of receiving such a special gift! She remarked how it was so interesting to see what the children got most excited about. One thing in particular was a little blue blanket. The children who received it were so thrilled to have a blanket of their own!

And finally, here is a video from OCC about one child and his story. It's not too late to pack a box! National Collection Week is November 14-21, but you can send in boxes year-round to SP's headquarters. Click here for more information.

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