Buy your Gifts and Change lives at the Same Time!

Do you know why I'm excited about Christmas shopping this year?
Because I've found a way to buy quality gifts for the people I love and to have the money also go into the world to make a difference in the lives of the poor and needy at the same time.

A friend here in our new town started this by approaching me to do an Origami Owl jewelry fundraiser for the month of November where she would donate ALL of her profit to Gilmans Loving Léogâne Kids. God began to quickly multiply her idea and now 7 different businesses are donating their profit for sales through the fundraiser too.

Interested in beautiful, personalized jewelry? Check out the lockets and bracelets at Origami Owl. (Good for Moms and Grandmas too!) Origami Owl: http://kayleechord.origamiowl.com/parties/corigilman13121/how-to-build.ashx
The party code, if needed, is: CoriGilman13121 

Like to cook or know someone who does?
Pampered Chef: www.pamperedchef.biz/thecollinskitchen Look for it under the organization Gilmans Loving Leogane kids when looking for the party in the top left corner 
Tastefully Simple:www.tastefullysimple.com/web/kwhitegon (Search for a party and put in first name Gilmans, last name Kids)
Looking for purses, bags, totes, and more:
Thirty-One: www.mythirtyone.com/rcarter  Search My Parties for Gilmans Loving Leogane Kids fundraiser
Who likes things that smell good?!?
Scentsy: https://tessdarling.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home?partyId=209799341
Do your kids, nieces, nephews, and friends like to read?
Usborne Books and More:www.itsaliterarything.com Just select shop and then select the gilman party. 
Half of my personal Christmas list comes from this site! The PJ pants, scarves, purses, T-shirts, and Sandals are made in Uganda and Haiti, providing jobs for the families who can then better care for their own kids and the kids in the community. Then, the GO Exchange also donates 100% of the profit back towards orphan care too. 
The GO Exchange: http://thegoexchange.org/index.php/the_goex_brands . If you purchase, simply put "Gilmans" in the Ambassador or Affiliation box during checkout. 

Often times the best gift for that person who seems to already have everything they need is to simply make a donation in their honor to a good cause. If you are considering that this Christmas, would you consider donating to the school and orphan prevention efforts of Gilmans Loving Leogane Kids?

https://my.goproject.org/project/gilmans-loving-leogane-kids/

A slightly more tangible way might be to give the gift of a chicken. The campus at Eben Ezer Leogane has a chicken farm as a way to support the orphans that live there. The chickens are doing well there. Can you add to the mix?

http://thegoexchange.org/index.php/go-project/a-chicken.html

I have some other favorite sites that benefit the world when you shop. If you have others will you share them with me so that I can check them out too?

Beautiful jewelry made in Kenya in support of the artisans and ministries to widows and orphans
http://backtoafrica.myshopify.com/ (Specifiy Christy Wyatt in the checkout process and a portion also goes to a friend's personal fund to adopt a child from Ethiopia)

Delicious coffees yum from around the world. My love language - I think so!

https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/teamwyatt/ (Benefits clean water and my friends adoption fund)

http://www.coffeegiveshope.org/orphan/ (Haitian coffee to benefit the Haiti Orphan Project in conjunction with GO Project)

Happy Shopping!!

Our Story

Today I want to share the story behind the story. This past spring, we felt God clearly communicate to us that He had work for us helping the children of Haiti.

In our first few blogs, we've shared the WHAT of our work with Global Orphan project to advocate and fund raise for the children of Léogâne, Haiti but I've never taken the time to write about WHY. Why us? Why now? Did this come up out of the blue or had we been planning it for a while?

The short version is we feel like God called us to this work, and we are going to be obedient and follow Him trustingly.

It’s hard to pinpoint when He started working in us towards this. In fact, I know He was doing it well before I can try to guess. So, we’ll start with March 1, 2012.  On this day, God swooped in to our life with a surprise.  Derek got a surprise phone call at work from the Air Force Personnel Office “offering” him a unique AF assignment in St Louis, Missouri. We had less than 3 hours to make the decision about whether to stay in GA (like we wanted to) or take the leap of faith that God was ready to “move” us. Even in 3 hours of praying, deliberating, pro/con list-making, and maybe a little bit of “I don’t wanna move”, God was faithful in providing us an answer: a peace in our heart and a scripture verse, Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” He followed through by faithfully providing us all we needed to move to St Louis, including just the right rental house and the right church.  And, he used our time in St Louis to introduce us to the Global Orphan Project.

Our St Louis church, Crosshaven Church, is a vibrant church that lives out its mission through serving the community that we lived in. In particular, one Sunday in November the church celebrated Orphan Sunday, and our pastor had invited a local couple to come speak. This couple shared the story of how they had built an orphanage in Haiti and fund-raised to support the livelihood of the 40 children who would be living there. They had done it with Global Orphan Project, and each year, they go back to see the kids and worship at the church there. I believe God gifts us with imaginations, and this idea excited Derek’s imagination immediately. He couldn't stop daydreaming about it! We were so stunned that “you could just build an orphanage in Haiti” and we began to research it through the Global Orphan project website, goproject.org. We had been feeling God’s tug on our heart more and more towards helping and loving orphans, especially as we've experienced such great joy in this wonderful family He has given us. Even as we’d felt that tug, we hadn't felt called towards adoption or fostering. Now we had an idea in front of us that excited us: it was very tangible, it was hugely impactful for current and future orphans, it was something we could do as a family and involve our kids in, it would be sustainable (based on the way GO Project models its programs for the long-term), it did not depend on where we lived, it was a place we could visit periodically to truly connect with the kids…and the list went on!

We didn't stop thinking about it through the winter holiday season and at the beginning of January, we contacted the family, Randy and Tiffany Wild, who had spoken at our church and invited them over for coffee. We had so many questions, and they graciously spent almost 3 hours of their Sunday afternoon with us, sharing stories of the Wild House of Hope and their Haiti experiences. As we ended they gave us the number for Adrien Lewis with the Global Orphan Project and urged us to contact him when the time was right. Our excitement was deterred by the worst sick and flu season our family has ever had. God’s timing is perfect and in March, we contacted Adrien to tell him that we would like to get involved.

In our first conversation with Adrien, we explained that we were interested in building an orphanage, or more accurately, a children’s home in Haiti like the Wilds did. He asked us lots of tough questions about our reasons and specifics about what we felt God was calling us to do, which were very helpful to encourage self-reflection. Ultimately Adrien explained that they did not need any new children’s homes at the time and did not have any church in Haiti ready to support a new one. He asked if we would pray about getting involved and financially supporting other construction needs one of the existing villages might have such as a security wall, a bathhouse, or repairs on existing structures. We left that conversation open minded and confident we would get involved somehow, but also a little down because we’d been excited about the idea of building an orphanage. As we ended this first phone call, Adrien urged us that he felt the Holy Spirit telling him to tell us that “this is going to be bigger than you think it is”.

The next time we got in contact with Adrien a few weeks later to learn what specific construction needs might be suited to our help. He told us that he’d be happy to tell us about construction needs but that he had something different he wanted to tell us about. He wanted to tell us about orphan prevention. He explained that Go Project had learned a lot in their years of church-led orphan care in Haiti, and that one of the things was that education and food (or lack of ability to provide these) are two of the main reasons that a desperate family might abandon a child into orphan care.The parents’ might give up a child hoping to get him or her a better life. Knowing this, GO Project was going to start a new initiative to help prevent orphans by fully funding the budget of their church-based schools.  Almost all schools in Haiti are private and too expensive for local villagers’ children to attend. By fully funding the schools that already existed at the GO Project sites, the churches could provide scholarships  to the children of needy families in the community. GO Project could also improve the quality of education through teacher training and consistent staffing. The plan would also involve feeding every school child  a meal during the school day. In a country where 2 meals a day is a luxury, a free meal at school is a BIG deal. Adrien explained that approximately 6 schools in Haiti would be the first to really implement this concept in the fall of 2013, but that those 6 schools were not funded yet. We were intrigued by the idea of orphan prevention and asked a lot of questions, including the big one, “How much money do you need to raise to fund a whole school?” The answer made me gulp…$3000 per month was the approximate amount needed, for a grand total of $30,000 each year. I asked another question in a small voice, “Adrien, can we fund half a school maybe?” His answer was spot on, “Yes you could fund half a school. There are no specific rules, and we’d gladly use whatever money God prompted you towards. But should you?” Before we left the conversation, Adrien shared a personal story and gave us some wise advice. He explained that often in a big decision, one tends to pray for God to give clarity on the right path. He challenged us instead to pray for conviction.  That we would just know in the core of our being that God was convicting us to act in one way or another even if the exact details were still not clear at all.

We took that advice to heart and began to pray for conviction. That Thursday night, Derek prayed for conviction and then opened his eyes and chuckled that “nothing happened yet”. And yet, God works mysteriously and quickly. When Derek woke up the next morning, he felt a huge joy and excitement about raising money for orphan prevention. In addition, he felt strongly that we should not only commit to raise the amount for the school’s annual budget but also fully adopt an orphan village such that we would also financially meet construction-type needs as they arose. Derek said “It’s hard to describe something as supernatural as the working of God’s spirit but as a left-brained fellow, I haven’t felt like this often”.

It took a few more days for God to really get ahold of me as I was praying, but when He did, I felt it most as if He was asking me the question “What are you afraid of Cori?” (This was actually a very similar feeling to how I knew He was calling me to quit my job and become a stay at home mom 2 years ago). Well first, I was afraid of the huge amount of money. It’s interesting that when we wanted to build an orphanage , the “price tag” was an amount that I could imagine the end of how we could fund it. It would have been a “stretch” but my planner-self saw it as “big but do-able”. This new number of $30K per year was my big hang-up, and now my husband was telling me he felt like we should add in construction needs too! I’m classically good at trying to do things on my own strength, and God made it clear that He was going to give us a goal so big that I knew from the very beginning that there would be no way to do it without His hand on it the whole time. Two key verses gave me hope. John 14:12-13 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” and Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” The 2^nd thing I was afraid of was timing. I kept telling God, “This is a crazy busy time! We are about to move and we have to find a new house too. Surely you don’t want us to do this right now”. I felt Him answer that I’d have to trust him now with my capacity, my energy, and our future housing. (Sitting now on the other side of this, I’m so thankful for how God provided enough energy to get us through starting this and moving, and He faithfully provided a wonderful home for us here in Niceville and renters for our GA house as well). Finally after wrestling with these questions and fears, I felt a peace and excitement and a knowing that this was right and now was the time.

On April 5^th, we called Adrien again to tell him our good news, that indeed we felt convicted and wanted to move forward to sponsor a school in Haiti and the corresponding orphan village too. After hearing us describe how God had been speaking, he added his part to the story. He explained that he had sensed from the beginning and continued to feel God leading him that “this was going to be bigger than we thought it would”. He said he had never interacted with a family quite like he had with us. Typically he would connect the dots between an interested donor and a need but that he had never felt led to push someone to consider something so different and so much bigger than what they’d initially come to him with. God was at work! For weeks, scripture felt so alive as it seemed like everything we read and songs we heard all seemed to relate to Haiti and confirm our decision. As we talked with Adrien on April 5^th, he described 2 orphan villages and churches to us to pray about, and ultimately that’s how Eben Ezer Léogâne became the village that has our heart and our focus.

6 months later, we've seen God provide so much towards the goal and surprise us in the ways and timing by which it has come in. Almost $19K has already been donated (61%) of the total goal. This money has fixed damaged roofs for the children’s home and has begun to fund the school. This year 225 children attend Eben Ezer Léogâne school compared to 160 last year. All grades are staffed, including 3 kindergarten classes, and the teachers have access to new training and consistent pay. 15 Haitian adults have jobs as teachers or staff members at this school. All of these kids are not just learning key skills to give them hope as Haiti’s future but they are hearing the gospel of Jesus regularly! We’re praying that indeed orphan prevention is happening, and that there is even the potential that some of the orphans living in the children’s homes might be re-united with family now that school costs are no longer a burden. The food program is still in development, and we’re praying it will start soon and work well to feed the children.

I've told you our story now. I've wanted to for a long time. Will you make it part of your story? Will you consider giving to help these children continue to go to school or to help the orphan village continue to meet the needs of the fatherless? If you are interested, you can donate and learn more on our website here or you can send us an email so we can give you a call.

We're going to Haiti. Are you coming?

For anyone who would like to consider coming with us to Haiti in January, the purpose of this blog is to give the details and resources to get you started.

God is moving in Haiti, and we're eager to see what He will do.  As the GO Project president said this past weekend, “You can’t think yourself into a change of living. You have to live your way into a change of thinking.” So, let’s go!

Dates: Jan 3rd through Jan 8th in 2014. 

Cost: The cost is $655 PLUS airfare, and the airfare is the variable part. The GO Project trip planners purchase airfare for the whole team to ensure that we are all on the same leg from Miami to Haiti. They typically purchase the tickets approx 6 to 8 weeks before the trip once the team is assembled. If that seems like a pretty big cost unknown then you can get an idea by researching flights from your home airport through Miami and then including a late afternoon American airlines flight from Miami (MIA) to Port au Prince (PAP). The tickets will probably be between $600 and $1000.

Fundraising tool: You can create a "myGO Project" page to fund raise for your trip by telling friends and family members about it. It would have the same basic interface as our page here, but would allow others to contribute to your mission trip. You can receive support/donations through myGO to fund the whole trip, including airfare.

The team: The team is being led by 2 families who have traveled to Haiti 5+ times and are familiar with GO Project churches and villages. They are Randy and Tiffany Wild (whose talk at our church started our involvement with GO) and Jeff and Brandi Huebner. GO Project also enlists Haitian support as translators and security.

What to expect: This link and the PDF trip planning guide found here give a lot more good information.

What is a Vision Trip?: On each Vision Trip to Haiti you’ll become part of the GO Project family, playing with children at three to four different homes. Activities are similar to what you would do with your own kids – singing, games, crafts, hugging and holding. The simple act of loving these children is just like treating a physical wound. During your visit, you will also have an opportunity to experience our ministry model, worship with the local church in Haiti, and learn about job-creating businesses, all against the backdrop of the sights and sounds of Haiti. 

Where will we go: We will spend at least one full day in Léogâne, the site of the village and school that we are sponsoring. We will also spend time with a Haitian pastor, time at other GO Project sponsored orphan villages, and probably stay at Jumecort Inn, a GO Project business that helps fund the orphan care.

Reading: If you are at all interested and have time to read, I recommend the book "Ruined for the Average". It tells GO Project stories of their involvement in Haiti since the earthquake and highlights some of the areas you will visit. Guaranteed to make you really, really want to go. I have a Kindle version I think I can loan to the first person who asks but it's $5.99 on Amazon, or available in hardcopy from the GO Project store.

How soon do I have to commit: You don't have to commit immediately but they are working to solidify the team this fall. Some things are time sensitive including: making sure you have an up-to-date passport, checking your current immunizations and starting on the ones you need, and thinking about funding.

If you are interested, give us a call or send us an email with your questions. We'll be praying for God to make a way for you to join us!

Back to School!

What does “back to school” mean to you?

Does it mean a break from the full-time parenting of summer? Is it a chance to find or redefine the family routine again? Does it mean shopping for sharp crayons, new backpacks, and that one mysterious item that none of the local stores has in stock? Does it mean the beginning of weeknight activities, practices, homework and early bedtimes? Does it offer excitement about new subjects and new goals? Do you look forward to chances for your child to make new friends and see old ones?

Our kids, Kaley and Amaris started 2^nd grade and preK these past two weeks. For us, back to school certainly means all of the above and brings a mix of emotions, mostly excitement.

What if instead “back to school” meant the difference in your family staying together? What if it meant hope for the future of your child or your neighbor’s child? What if school meant the difference in going hungry vs. not hungry? What if going to school meant the hearing the good news about God’s love for the first time?

Here in the US, school does not seem like the answer to such dire questions, but in other countries, like Haiti, the ability to go to school can change a child’s life. In Haiti, 50% of the population is illiterate and less 35% of the population graduates from 6^th grade. Many families cannot afford to send their children to school, because most Haitian schools are private.

This past spring, Derek and I began to partner with Global Orphan (GO) project as they help improve life for impoverished families and orphans through education. We have begun to share information about and raise funds for the specific village and school we’ve adopted in Léogâne, Haiti. This village is part of GO project’s 6-school pilot for major improvements for education.

It’s really happening! Next week school starts for 225 children in Léogâne. That’s 65 more children that were financially unable to attend last year! In addition to added capacity, the quality of education is improving too. Children will be learning, growing, and hearing the word of God. The school is comprised of about 60 orphans cared for by the church, and the rest are children from the community who may not otherwise be involved in the church.

We want to share with you the 3 huge goals for how improving education can ultimately improve the lives of many children in Léogâne.

1. Orphan Prevention: Families may abandon their children into orphan care if they think their children will have a better life, particularly through the ability to go to school. When we help fund the school’s budget, the church can offer affordable tuition (like a scholarship) to the needy families in the local community. The financial burden is also improved as the children receive a meal at school and are provided uniforms through the GO Haiti sewing center. With these costs out of the picture, we pray that abandonment can be reduced! 
2. Increase the standard of care for the orphans in the GO Project villages: Prior to help with the school budget, the church could only hire a few under-qualified teachers (who still often went months without pay). Just to keep the school running, the “orphan care” dollars that might be intended for other uses would sometimes be “leaked out” to cover shortfalls. Instead, now there is money for more teachers who are more qualified, and there is a GO Education Director who will provide accountability, training, and support for the GO schools. It’s a better school for the attendees and the staff too.
3. Reunification: Some children currently living as orphans in the Eben Ezer Léogâne may have family members who would be willing to re-assume care of the child if school costs were no longer an issue. Did you imagine that your dollars could actually help reunify families! Pray that this would be the case in Léogâne. 

We’re raising money for the school’s operating budget which is about $3000 per month. This money allows the church staff members (who also run the school) to:

• Cover the cost of all the orphans (about 60) from the village who attend
• Open the school to at-risk families in the community who could not otherwise afford school
• Hire qualified teachers and staff to support the school’s true capacity. This includes 15 teachers and support staff. (This is the biggest part of the budget and means that 15 Haitians have good, reliable jobs.)
• Improve education quality. GO Haiti has hired an Education Director to oversee all the schools to provide support, accountability, and training. Each school will cover a small portion of those expenses
• Hire a nurse. Having a nurse on site will not only bless the children, but the community at large.
• Offer a food program. Providing one meal a day will make a HUGE difference in the lives of the children and ultimately their families.

God is working! He is using your generosity and hearing your prayers. Right now, the school’s budget for the year is about 40% funded. We are praising God for this progress and trusting that there will be more. Would you consider making an investment in the Eben Ezer Léogâne school and changing lives in Haiti? Even a small amount per month can send one of these children to school. You can make a recurring donation here and make a note of “Gilmans Leogane” for specifying how the donation should be used. You can link to the page to make one-time donations to this project here and click the donate button. Please call or email us if you want to talk about this more. Thank you for all your prayers, support, and encouragement. 

Beans and rice experiment - checking in at the midpoint

We made it this far (day 5) in our experiment week of eating only beans and rice, mangoes, so I thought I'd give you the highlights (and low points so far).

• It started getting hard yesterday. It's really hard today. Derek is "so over it" and I had to text a buddy for some encouragement when I came home from the pool hungry and tired and just wanting a snack. I'm pretty sure someone described needing to scrape the beans off the spoon at breakfast time.
• I'm realizing how rarely I feel hungry. Thanks to my usual, "the healthy snack", I normally just snack, beat the hunger and move on. This happens every day around 10 am and again around 4pm. I sure have missed those snacks!
• It's taken a few days to try to train myself to stop and pray when I feel hungry pains. My first reaction is grumpiness. My goodness, it is hard to be cheerful when you are hungry. How blessed I am to not be hungry on a regular basis and to not be truly hungry even now!
• I've enjoyed praying more for the children and people in Léogâne. Yesterday, my prayer thought I shared with Derek in the afternoon was this: "The Haitian Mamas in the orphan village have 8 to 10 kids each and eat 2 meals! I'm hungry on my 3 meals, tired from the heat and chasing my 3 kids, seeing much more work ahead of me this evening. And they do so much more! Lord, give me the strength to keep working hard and being a good wife and mom. Please help the village Mamas to do the same knowing they are working for you. 
• I'm not tired of the taste of the red beans and rice. Man, it's delicious! Especially when I make this recipe I found, substituting onion for shallot and cooking with half a fresh jalapeno floating in it.  I'm hungry enough by the time it's meal time again, I'm very thankful to have the beans and rice. (That being said, it's still a strange taste for breakfast).
• In 2004, Derek and I vacationed in Costa Rica, where they served black beans and rice alongside scrambled eggs every morning for breakfast. I joked then that black beans and rice is the only food I think I could eat every single day. How ironic! I'm pretty sure it's the only food I've ever said that about.

• I'm glad I included black coffee. I don't drink nearly as much coffee when I'm not loving the taste. But, I'm so thankful that caffeine detox headaches were not part of this program. I've felt pretty low on energy these last few days.Not sure if that's just busy summer + getting ready to move or if the reduction in calories is affecting me too.
• If I deprive myself of food this much, it's easy to find delight in a simple food once you get it back. Or in mangoes. I'm thankful for their sweet juiciness that is like a dessert at the end of my meal.
• Baby Mia is too funny. If I give her anything different to eat and then eat my rice and beans in front of her, she just grunts and complains until I give her beans and rice too. Same with mangoes. So, she was the only one not needing to participate, and she's had beans and rice and mangoes for well, uh, part of every meal so far.
• It has been really hard for Kaley but I also think it has really sunk in. She was not able to keep having it for breakfast (made it 2 days!) and she doesn't like mango so we subbed in bananas (which she didn't like but now she does, so that's a big win!) At dinner, Kaley listed what 7 food she would choose for a week: pizza, ice cream, pancakes, french toast, cookies, steak, and bacon I'm pretty sure were her list. Let's just say beans and rice didn't make the top 7.
• Amaris doesn't complain, she just eats slow. She really likes the mangoes too. She really likes to pray for the kids in Haiti and this has been a good reminder to do so more. She is counting down to pizza night, I must say! Each night Amaris will say "I can't believe the people in Haiti survive eating only this all the time"
• What a privilege to share this experience with our kids! I've been honest about our reactions overall, but I have to say I could not be more PROUD of them!

• Beans and rice is cheap! My grocery runs have been so EASY! Rice, beans, onion, jalapeno, milk. Check and done! Each batch of beans and rice costs me $2 to make and feeds our whole family 2 meals or lasts one day of the experiment (because we're eating different amounts at different times). Each mango is roughly $1 and we've gone through about 2 per day. Wow! Not sure yet the total amount we've saved to donate to Haiti yet but this is sure a way to make room in our budget.
• I've been so encouraged by the friends who have done a meal or meals along with me and shared their thoughts to encourage us. Thank you! I'm also thankful for my bible study group members who each did their own version of food-change fast this past week. If you haven't joined us yet, please consider it for a meal. It's such a tangible way to talk with your family about needy children in Haiti, carve out a little extra money that can go a long way in Haiti, and gain an increased appreciation for what we have!
• I'd like to find a way to incorporate the rice and beans in a more limited way into our regular diet. Not sure what that looks like yet. We may need some time off before we decide how. 
• This is going to end after only 6 days. We have a fridge, freezer, and pantry with too much perishable food to finish before we move. If I buy beans and rice for a 7th day but throw away other expensive food in the end, then I think I missed the point.

Red beans and rice, anyone?

Starting Sunday, our family is going to do a 7-day red beans and rice experiment. The orphans living at Eben Ezer Léogâne and many Haitian children eat this for their 2 meals a day, every single day. So, for a week we’ll eat red beans and rice, with a side of mango slices, for every meal. Even starting out, we’re more privileged than most since we’ll have 3 meals. We’ll modify this for our kids, tentatively 2 meals of beans and one “other” meal for Kaley (her choice) and 1 dinner of beans and 2 “other” meals for Amaris, but we’re excited to have them participate in such a tangible lesson and learn along with us.

Why are we doing this? Well, we have 3 main reasons, and we’re praying that God uses this time to really work in our own family.

First, we want to develop a deeper appreciation for the trials of children in Haiti. The other day, I got fed up during a typical grocery run with my 3 kids, particularly when we missed an item and had to back track and again when I had to fit the groceries into my already-full fridge after I got home tired. Seriously, upset about too much food? I could certainly use some additional perspective. We are so blessed by the variety of foods we eat on a regularly basis. You probably know well that Derek and I love our food, especially our weekend treats like pizza. This will be very tangible for our children too, and I’m so glad that they can participate. As a family project, we talk often with them about the children in Haiti, but they have little context for what life is really like there. And truly I have little context too.

Second, in the spirit of a fast, we want to make reminders and make room for God to strengthen our prayer lives for these children in Léogâne  Our daily routine revolves around our meals. Often if I’m not in the middle of eating it, I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat next or making menus for the next grocery run. Simplifying our food down to no choice, just beans, will provide ample reminders and extra time to pray. Not to mention the tangible reminder to pray when my stomach growls between meals, which I assure you it will after being used to multi-food meals and frequent snacks. As we do this, we’ll continue to post prayer requests through our Facebook page, so that you can pray along with us.

Third, we want to turn around and use the money we save to donate to the children in Léogâne. I don’t know about you but sometimes it seems like our budget is already “full”, not just in the giving category but in all categories, so that when a request for donation comes along, I’m stuck, even if I’m truly interested. If you identify with this, here’s how you can help. Beans and rice is cheap. I saw a box in Target yesterday (Zatarains brand) for $1.65 which makes 4 servings. Making it at home is cheap too, (though I haven’t totaled the amount yet). We’ll keep track of the groceries we’re not buying and restaurants we’re not eating at and give that money directly to support the children in Léogâne.

What are the stakes? Some families in Léogâne can barely afford to feed their children or send them to school. The money we’re raising to support the church-led school in Léogâne will allow the children in these situations to have the food and schooling they need, and hopefully keep the family together so that no orphan-ing occurs. For the 60 orphans living in the village who eat 2 meals a day right now, there is a benefit as well. When they go to the fully-funded school, they will receive a meal there, their 3^rd of the day. The spiritual food from the teaching about the Grace of Jesus Christ that all these children will receive at the school is of even greater worth! $20 is about the cost for one of these children to go to school and receive a meal for a whole month. Would you trade your one meal or few meals for their month of them?

Will you consider joining us sometime this month? It doesn't have to be a full week of beans and rice to make an impact. Consider one of these options or create your own:

·         Pick a meal you would eat out and eat beans and rice at home instead. Talk with your family about children in Haiti by reading our blog or looking at pictures from this site. Trade your $20, $30 or $50 you would have spent at the restaurant by making a one time donation here

·         Pick a day, a meal period for a week, or a single meal to change from your normal fare to just beans and rice. Pray for the children in Léogâne and the church and the school. Tell your family why you are doing it. Tally your savings and share them with Haiti

·         Get with your small group or Sunday school class to have a red beans and rice fellowship meal where multiple people bring beans and rice. Talk about Haiti’s needs and how your group can get involved

·         Pray for us and more importantly for the children in Léogâne all next week as you sit down to eat your normal meal, remembering the blessing of variety you have.

Here’s the link to the Haitian red beans and rice recipefrom Allrecipes that I have tried, and here is a link to a simplified version (onions instead of shallots, etc) also. I’m going to practice this week with a crock-pot version (again, the first try was pretty watery) and I’ll post it too, in case you want to make a large amount more easily. If you don’t feel like cooking, you can buy some boxes at the store and make the exact same impact.

I’ll keep you posted on how our week is going next week too.

PS. I didn't come up with this idea on my own. It mostly comes from the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker, which is the most impactful book I've read in years. I also found a blog from a family who had done something similar here when I was looking for recipes. 

Tour of Eben Ezer Léogâne village

Today, I’d like to take you on a picture tour of the campus of the Eben Ezer Léogâne village. I’ll share what I have learned from various GO project websites and stories. Until we go there next year, we’ll have to let our imaginations fill in the gaps. If you have specific questions let me know and I’ll try my best to find out the answers.

Léogâne is a seaside town in Ouest Department, Haiti. The town is located about 29 km (18 mi) west of the Haitian capital, Port au Prince. The town was at the epicenter of the earthquake on January 12, 2010 and was catastrophically affected, with 80-90% of buildings damaged. It also had been destroyed in an earthquake in 1770. You can see it near the center of the map below, the little orange icons denoting locations where Global Orphan Project has established villages.

This history of Eben Ezer Léogâne began in 2011 when Pastor Claude Mondiser created a new church in Léogâne, Eben-Ezer Evangelic Church, which was the only church in the area. Pastor Claude and the church’s members have a heart for caring for orphaned and abandoned children in the Léogâne area. He had previously partnered with Global Orphan Project for other orphan villages. The construction began at Eben Ezer Léogâne in the summer of 2012. By October of 2012, about 60 children live here.

As you see the following pictures, the 3 signature components of Global Orphan project’s orphan care become apparent.  As we “tour”, I’ll point out how the care is: 1) Local Church Owned, 2) Base Level (culturally relevant) and 3) Sustainable

Here are the outside and inside of the Eben Ezer Evangelic Church.  The church is the heart of the village. GO Project does not own the day-to-day care of the children. The local church does.  The local church leadership selects and supports the staff to help care for children.  This way the children have a steady assurance through the Gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.

Next you’ll see a side by side view of the children’s homes. These are the homes that have roof damage from previous hurricanes.  We are praising God that, thanks to a generous first donation, the roof repairs can start soon before the rainy season begins and the houses become a mess.  The construction of the village buildings is done by Haitian workers, and the staff leading the village are Haitian as well.

Here's a closer view of the girls' home and a picture of some of the children living at the village.

The next picture shows the inside the one of the children’s homes with some of the children who live there. With triple bunks and cribs when needed, each home can house 24 children. Here you can see the base level of care represented.  Living here gives the children a ‘bump up’ into a humble, base level of care within the church family.  The homes and standards of care blend into the community, rather than jump over the top of it, so that intact families will not try to send their children here in hopes of “getting them a better life”.

The latrines, bathhouse, and kitchen are each separate buildings from the children’s homes.  Here are pictures of the bath house and kitchen constructed this past summer.  No comment is even necessary on the stark difference between this and what we have in our American homes. 

The campus has a garden with a variety of plants, including mangoes, which help feed the children who live there.

The village well is a source of clean water for those who live there.  Apparently it is easy enough to draw water that the children are able to do it too.

The garden and the well, in addition to a chicken coop on property, all offer opportunities for future sustainability for the village, the 3rd facet of GO project’s model.  In addition to using these to provide for the kids who live there, there is an opportunity to sell the extra water and food in the community, proceeds of which could help offset some village expenses.

The campus has a large soccer field where games and fun can be had. Below, you can see jump rope and soccer fun when a GO Project group came to visit.

Lastly and importantly for our piece of the project, there is a school on campus, divided into 2 buildings. The crux of orphan prevention is the school.  By funding the school budget of $3000 per month, each child can attend for a nominal fee.  The fee is enough to keep the families engaged but small enough that they can afford it.  The children who attend receive a Christian education and one meal a day.  This sounds so common and basic to us where we live, but to these Haitians, it is a huge step forward. Currently, there are 160 children at the school, including all the Eben Ezer Léogâne Village orphans, but there is capacity to grow. The church leadership provides the oversight for the school choosing the staff and making decisions for the school. Ultimately, as the school is able to open up to the at-risk kids of the community, the church will be able to identify the kids most in the need to join the school in the upcoming year.

The first building is for the kindergarten.  Adrien said it is not uncommon to have multiple ages represented in the kindergarten as children who have never been to school get their first start.

The primary school has room for more students in the upcoming school year too.

Will you pray for God’s work here in this part of Haiti?  Will you give to the orphan prevention effort at Eben Ezer Léogâne to help these children?  A one-time gift or a recurring gift can make a big difference here!  Click here to be directed to the myGOproject page which allows for a one time gift directly towards this project.  If you’d like to set up a recurring monthly gift, use this link instead and please make sure to specify “Gilmans Loving Leogane Kids project” in the box for specifying about the donation.

As a side note, for some reason I was having writers’ block as I started this blog, so I took a break to read my bible.  I had been reading in 1 Samuel and came across this verse: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.  He named it Ebenezer, saying ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us’” 1 Samuel 7:12 (with the note saying Ebenezer means stone of help).  May God use each of us as He continues to be the rock and the help for these children.

Thanks for joining the tour! We thank God for your open and interested hearts.