Please reply to this post or email me if you're interested in giving us a hand, I'll reply privately with more information.
Thanks for considering, Ian and Pat
Now, I have a story that I want to share with you all.
2 years ago our church decided to get more active in international missions.
6 months ago or so it was announced that Haiti would be the area of the world and HFAP would be the ministry that we'd be helping. Many pictures were shown and there was a chance to support a child. Since we were in second service, there weren't any left, but we signed up to help anyway. A special child was showcased that needed a heart surgery. Her name is Kelencia and she's in the picture below. The light color of her hair indicates malnutrition.
They also raised awareness in the youth group at our church and a few things came out of that. For one thing, Ian came home with an application to join the mission team. Secondly, the youth group raised money to get a passport, visa and plane ride to the states so that she could have the surgery. The surgery would be covered by the doctors, but we needed to get her here.
Ian signed up and I pretty much forgot about it. 3 weeks ago we got a call from the Missions Team Leader letting us know that Ian had been selected to be on the team to Haiti. Primary goal would be to paint and decorate the small orphanage that HFAP maintains.
We were a bit nervous about Ian going on his own, but we started the passport process. While that's going I was idly wondering what to do with the last 6 days of vacation that I had to use before the end of March. Since Holly started working again, vacation is trickier to use. The mission trip would be 8 days, 6 during the week. I had 6 days left. Hmmm...
I asked Ian if he would mind if I went to Haiti with him. He was open to the idea. I talked with the Missions Team Leader, she was very open to the idea; "We were hoping that you'd go!" were her exact words.
So on the 10th of January I filled out the application and was immediately accepted and assigned to the same team as Ian. I was looking forward to this experience with him as any parent would. What a great opportunity to help and watch him grow, of course I knew that I'd be affected as well, but to be there with Ian would be phenomenal!
That Sunday they announced that the youth group had raised the funds and that Kelencia would be coming as soon as the visa was obtained. By spring for sure. All was great.
The following Tuesday, as you all are aware, tragedy struck.
Wednesday the youth group was informed that there was a 99% chance that Kelencia had died in the earthquake. They were rocked to the core of their faith. My son, said, that there's a 1% chance of her surviving, he's going to hold on to that 1%.
48 hours later we read this post on Face Book:
KELENCIA IS ALIVE! She has been found! Praise the Lord! She is weak and dehydrated.
And here is a recent shot of the little girl. Notice that thanks to the additional vitamins, her hair is turning black again.
What will we be doing when we go? We don't know at this time, all we're sure of is our determination to help!
Have an awesome day!
Pat
