In less than one month I will be heading to Haiti once again! This will be my fourth and longest time ministering in Haiti since August. To give you a brief refresher, I first went to Leogane, Haiti in August 2011 with Samaritan's Purse. I was there for one month working on an orphanage rebuild project. In November, I took a 9-day trip to Croix des Bouquets, Haiti for God's Planet, a ministry based out of my hometown. My focus for this trip was to gather photos and information for their Christmas project where they find sponsors to bless orphanages with individualized gifts for each child. God's Planet blessed nearly 150 children through that project. In January, I returned to Croix des Bouquets for God's Planet to manage their guest house. We had seven volunteer teams come through during the 2.5 months I was there. It was a busy time but one filled with so many blessings!

This time I will be returning for three months. I mentioned in a previous post that a few days before I left Haiti last month, I met a missionary named Roland who was serving in Haiti through an organization called Baptists 4 Haiti. Baptists 4 Haiti is a non-profit organization based out of Georgia. They have a guest house in Leogane and have a steady stream of volunteers who come to serve in Haiti and stay at their guest house. Baptists 4 Haiti helps organize their ministry sites and of course provides food, lodging, and hospitality through the guest house ministry. Roland is the only missionary serving with them, but they have several Haitian staff including cooks, translators, and security guards. I will be coming on board as a volunteer missionary. I will be assisting Roland with his responsibilities. And although I will be about two hours from all my friends in Croix des Bouquets, I will be in the town I was in with Samaritan's Purse. So I can reconnect with my friends there and this is also the town where The Lamb Center orphanage is located. This is the orphanage many of you helped me raise money to provide shoes and clothing for the 60+ orphans they have there. It will be great to be able to more easily maintain relationships with those children. I have visited them on my past two trips to Haiti and had wonderful reunions. And I should have some free time occasionally to get to Croix des Bouquets and see my special friends there like NeNe and his family, Josien, everyone at Sarah's orphanage, and Fibi too, of course! :)

I am so thankful for these opportunities God has given me already to minister in Haiti. I have said it before, but one of the reasons I fell so quickly in love with Haiti was because of how much it reminded me of Africa. There are bits of Haiti here and there that remind me of this or that country that I've been to in Africa. And yet, Haiti is still a place so unique in and of itself. I want to give God all the glory for the work He has allowed me to be involved in. I am honored and again thankful for the opportunity to play even the smallest role in the Kingdom work He is doing in Haiti!

And I want to thank all of you who have prayed for me and given to help both my needs while on the mission field as well as assisting with the needs I have encountered while there. I pray that God will bless you for how generously you have given! The Bible promises in Proverbs 11:25, "A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." So many of you constantly encourage and refresh my soul! I pray that you are also encouraged and refreshed.

Through your prayers and giving, here are some of the needs that have already been met and projects that have been supported during my time in Haiti :

I am thankful that so many of you have chosen to become partners in ministry through your prayers and support. Although my next assignment with Baptists 4 Haiti is as a volunteer, I am thankful for many provisions they are graciously providing. And there is a chance that this could be an opportunity to continue in partnership with them longer term in the future, maybe even come on board as more than a volunteer. Until then, however, I do ask for you to pray as to whether God would have you once again support me through prayer and/or giving. Or maybe for some this will be the first time for you to come alongside and support my ministry. If so, I want to say welcome and I am excited! I could not serve as a missionary without the prayers and support of many people like you. I don't even like to call it "my" ministry, because it is of course God's ministry first and foremost, but secondly, it is "our" ministry. I do not set out alone on this journey. All of you who support me through your prayers and giving are on my ministry team and play a crucial role in the work God has prepared for us in Haiti.

I hope you all will pray about how you can become involved in that work. Maybe some of you feel called to take a trip to Haiti yourself or with a church or school group. If so, contact me or go to Baptists 4 Haiti's website for more information.

I have a couple upcoming speaking engagements where I will have the opportunity to share about my past and upcoming work in Haiti. One is April 29th at the am service at Coker Baptist Church in Coker, AL. The other is May 6th during the pm service at Friendsville First Baptist Church in Friendsville, TN. I have made up support cards and prayer cards to distribute during those events. I also want to include them now as a way of providing you with all of the information you need if you feel led to support my ministry in Haiti through prayer or otherwise.

On the support card below you will see several categories. Although most are self-explanatory I will give you a little more information here so you can decide which category or categories fit you best. Prayer support is so important to a missionary. If you would like to commit to praying for me on a regular basis, you can check that box. I have also included some specific prayer points at the end of this blog entry to give you ideas for how to pray for me and those I will be ministering to. I also would love to know how I can pray for you and there is space provided for you to include prayer requests.

Like I said, I will be in Haiti for three months initially with the possibility of a longer-term assignment with Baptists 4 Haiti. If you would like to financially support me during this time you can do so with a one-time or monthly gift. My budgeted needs are around $300 a month.

I mentioned the feeding program at Family of God orphanage. You can read the full story of how I became involved with this orphanage here. Beginning in February, I committed to helping find supporters to provide $200 a month for food at least through the end of 2012. So far, 5 out of the 11 months have been sponsored. If you would like to sponsor a month or a portion of a month, check that box.

There is a place to check if you'd like to help with unique needs in Haiti. Anything I receive over my budgeted monthly expenses or anything designated in this way goes towards needs I come across while in Haiti. Needs like the sick child Jobens I mentioned above or the urgent need for food the day I visited House of Hope orphanage. As you can imagine, there are needs every time I turn around and it is truly a blessing to be able to use your gifts to help make a difference in the lives of those I meet in Haiti.

And finally, if you'd like to support the general fund for Baptists 4 Haiti, you can designate your gift in that way. Baptists 4 Haiti has committed to dozens of rebuild projects including rebuilding several churches and homes that were damaged from the 2010 earthquake.

Above all, I ask that you will pray for me, Roland, and the teams as we minister to the Haitian people. I've come up with a list of nine specific prayer points.

• Pray for me to be flexible and to worry about nothing and pray about everything. (Phil 4:6)
• Pray that the Holy Spirit will empower me for productive and lasting ministry. (John 15:16)
• Pray that I will have a consistent love for and desire to study God's Word. (Ps 119:16, 105)
• Pray for unity and encouragement among the missionaries and ministry teams. (John 17:21)
• Pray that all that I do reflects Christ and His love. (1 Cor 13)
• Pray for others to join in the work in Haiti. (Luke 10:2)

Please pray also for the hearts of the Haitian people.

• Pray they would become hungry for the Word and that the Word would find good soil. (Mark 4:8)
• Pray that they will resist the temptation to mix their traditional beliefs with Jesus' message. (Deut 4:2)
• Pray that Jesus would call out disciples from Haiti who would in turn disciple others. (Mt 9:37-38)

Thank you again for the many prayers you have already lifted up on my behalf! I know God has answered your prayers for safety, protection, strength, and fruitful ministry. I am amazed to see all of the wonderful and unique ways God has provided for me throughout the years. And I am excited to head out once again on the path He has chosen for me. Thank you for journeying with me! And thank you for being partners in ministry in Haiti and beyond!