Tuesday, February 23, 2010

B&K in Haiti

Two Saturday's ago we had the awesome privilege of having our new friends Ben and Katie stay with us. Ben and Katie moved to Haiti to teach at Quisqueya Christian School just a few weeks before the earthquake. A few days after the quake, I was blog-hopping, and came upon their blog. Turns out, Katie went to Baylor, and we had met once through a mutual friend. My heart was drawn so much to them because I know what it is like moving to another country....the adjustment, the highs, the lows, missing family and friends, adaptation...and then on top of all that, a MAJOR earthquake??? I can't even imagine. So, I sent them an e-mail and told them if they were ever in Santo Domingo, or needed to get away, they were welcome to stay with us. They took us up on it!!! Their school had a week break for Canival, and they were headed to a beach just outside of Santo Domingo, and needed a place to stay the night before they checked in. We had SUCH a great time with them...they are such an amazing couple. It was such an encouragement to see their faith in ACTION, on the front lines. God is truly filling them each day, so that they can make it to the next. They are excellent writers and update their blog often. Check it out! It will help you see what is going on in Haiti, and give you names and faces to put everything together. They wrote about our time together here.

God really used their time here to give me a grateful heart. It is so easy for me to compare everything to the states, and start to feel sorry for myself....we don't have Target, it's hot and we can only use our AC at night, constant noise, it takes forever to get the simplest thing done, terrible driving and traffic...on and on and on. Through hearing what they have been through, learning what Haiti was like even before the quake, and seeing how big their eyes were in Jumbo (a Wal-Mart-like store), God was saying, "Be grateful!! You have SO much. I have provided you with so much...and even if you didn't have these things, you would be fine."

What a blessing they were to us! Come back soon Ben and Katie, and in the meantime, you are in our prayers.

(My camera is semi-broken, so unfortunately we didn't get any pictures together)


3 comments:

Michelle Sterchi said...

So thankful for your new friends Katie and Ben. Sounds like the promise of Jesus is true, "It is more blessed to give than to receive".....I love how you were blessed with the gift of appreciation and they were blessed with a peaceful taste of beauty.You and El keep on sharing the love, I loved reading Katie's blog, I pray all of you will be strengthened and encouraged daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Love you!!!

Sarah Mattheus said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sarah Mattheus said...

It is so good to keep up to date with everything that is going on in your lives and seeing the updates about Avery. She is a regular topic of discussion at EVERY meeting we have in Kent's office.
I am so happy to have met you both while you were here in December. I will continue to pray for both of you as well as your sweet little one who is getting so big!