Though the Seasons Change..

*Many of you may have read this in my newsletter. However, in case you did not receive it, I wanted to be sure it was shared. If you didn't receive my newsletters but would like to, please share your email address in my comment section!*

This second year working in Jubilee has been one of challenge and growth for me. When I left Pittsburgh last summer I strongly felt God saying to me that I would not call America my permanent home for a very long time. Still not knowing what a “very long time” looks like, you can imagine this was a bit of a challenging conviction. I began looking at my work in the school and in Jubilee, and felt that known tension – the tension when a shift is coming. I knew God had something else waiting for me in Jubilee when I returned this year, and I spent quite a bit of my time praying into what that was.

Prior to
 moving to Haiti I was never a teacher. I studied 
social work at the University of Pittsburgh, focusing
 on global studies and child welfare. I then worked
 for two years as a child welfare caseworker in Pittsburgh. I
 moved to Gonaïves because I felt strongly called
 to this place, but teaching, while I have loved 
every minute of it, is not my passion. I knew that if
 God was asking me to stay and work in Haiti, 
that the school would be my stepping stone into whatever was coming next.

I didn’t have to wait long before God showed me where I was stepping. In October, Cody Smith, a close friend and our clinic director, approached me with the need for a clinic social worker. Immediately, I knew what my role was to be in Jubilee. It was as if God tore the veil just enough for me to see my passions and the place I love and feel called to all coming together.

After taking some time to pray and be sure I was committed to staying, I accepted the job. This will be my final year teaching at the school, but I’ll be moving just next door to work in our clinic with Cody and the amazing staff she has trained up! Big, excited things are happening at our clinic this year, and I cannot wait to be a part of it all! Starting when I return to Haiti in September, I will be creating a social work program and acting in the role of social worker for all of Jubilee. This is a large, somewhat overwhelming task, so I have prayed into the specifics of how God wants me to begin working in this new role.

Currently, our clinic has a medical mamba program – offering vitamin infused peanut butter to dangerously malnourished children. We also have a formula program for infants whose mothers are not present or for reasons of illness cannot provide breast milk. Within the social work program I will be overseeing both of these programs, as well as requiring weekly home visits with each caregiver involved, using that time for nutrition and family welfare classes.  I believe it’s crucial to break the cycle of child malnutrition not only with proper foods, but also with education on its importance.  Additionally, I will be working with Cody on a case-by-case basis to act as social worker for any client that comes into clinic.  Services to be provided in this area include in-home medical follow up appointments, child safety and family needs assessments, counseling, access to needs based resources, and child placement or transition planning when necessary in severe cases of child abuse and/or neglect.  I cannot express in writing how excited I am to being this work – and how grateful I am that God has given me the opportunity to do the work that I am so passionate about in the community that I love.

One of the greatest life lessons I have learned during my time in Haiti thus far is that there is no sense in rushing God’s timing; His plans are far greater, His timing more perfect, His actions more loving, than anything I could create for myself. Seasons of anxiety, or discontent, are often because we are hurrying the plans that are meant to take time. The most beautiful arrangements are crafted slowly and it has taken all my might not to crush them with my hurriedness.

God has given me the gift of time these past two years; the gift of slow adjustment. I was given time to learn life in Haiti. Through working at the school I was given a chance to learn how Jubilee functions, how our kids and families work together in community to raise each other up. I was gifted time to learn the language, to learn the culture, and to learn that I can live here on my own if needed. Piece by piece God has given me the confidence to stand on my own two feet here in Haiti, the knowledge that what I have to offer is enough and that God will work in the areas I am lacking.

This next step is frightening, but honestly, so was the last one. I am learning to trust more and more that sometimes the biggest, most frightening steps are where God provides the greatest reward. 

“Live in such a way that unless God shows up, what you’re attempting to do is bound to fail. This is the nature of the gospel.”

– Bill Johnson my summer in Pittsburgh again with the same wonderful host family and an incredible job offer. In order to make this happen, I desperately need a car! If you know of someone with an extra car available please contact me, I would be forever grateful!