Saint-Fidor Family Ministry

   

 In just a few weeks time, Mikken, Nathaniel, and I are due back in Haiti for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

 •Our family's goal is to live out the plan God has written on our hearts- to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples (Matthew 28:19) through transformational education and to always “seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). 

Here’s what we’ll be doing this year: 

    Mikken will be the lead fifth grade teacher this year and already has eleven students enrolled in his class! He’s excited to start the year as a lead for the first time and is already brainstorming ways to make his class fun and engaging. He’ll also be trying to squeeze in some elementary art classes. 

    My role is very different this year as I will be stepping out of the classroom into the director role of Cap-Haitien Christian School. This summer I have already started on some of these responsibilities that will carry into the school such as our covid-19 response, hiring of teachers, and updating handbooks. I will also be meeting with teachers to review their lesson plans, create pacing guides, and get into the classrooms to work with them as they reach and teach our students. It’s my prayer to use the foundation of the leaders before me to continue on the path to academic excellence, spiritual growth, and making disciples to best serve our staff and families at CHCS.

    Nathaniel will be at home with his Grann (Mikken’s mom) and his fur-siblings. ;)

    In order for us to get back in time, we are in need of some more monthly support. If just 10 people would give $100 a month, we would be fully funded for the year. Would you consider joining our team? No amount is too small. We’d love to sit with you and explain the mission and vision of the school and how we hope to help achieve it as a family.

Thank you! 

Our Support Page:

https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/saint-fidor/

Love is...

Valentine’s Day was quickly approaching and there was one activity I knew for sure that I wanted my first graders to do. Our February Bible verse has been “God is love” so one day, I sat with my kids at station time to ask them a question.

Here’s what I said: “What holiday is coming up?...Yes, Valentine’s Day! What is our verse this month?...Right! ‘God is love.’ But now I have a question for you. If God is love, what is ‘love?’ When we talk about love, what do you think of?”

Here are some of their answers with no additional prompting from me: 

Love is caring for others.

Love is Jesus in our hearts and dying on the cross for us. 

Love is Jesus in our hearts.

Love is kissing goodnight and caring for someone.

Love is peace and helping.

Love is being nice and helping others. 

Love is peace and caring for others and not looking in your own interest.

Love is helping someone. 

Love is being kind and sharing.

Love is sharing food.

Love is peace and helping.

Love is kisses and helping.

Love is Jesus in our hearts.

Love is kissing goodnight and Christ.

Love is true. It is helping others. 

Love is life and Christ.

Love is sharing and giving kisses goodnight.

Love is God loves us.

Love is giving pizza and sharing pizza and playing together.

Love is Jesus in our hearts, sharing, and Jesus loving the world. 

Love is protection and peace.

If God is love (1 John 4: 8) then God is... patient and kind...He keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, and rejoices with truth. God always protects, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.  (1 Corinthians 13). 

                                                   

Discombobulated Thoughts

Discombobulated Thoughts

      Hello! First of all, I apologize for the lack of posting in 2017 so far. Every time I would start to write, something would interrupt or my thoughts would jumble. I am also currently on my third round of antibiotics since New Year’s for what was/is some sort of respiratory/sinus infection that just might have been walking pneumonia. Please forgive me! J  We are now on spring break and this the first actual  “pause” I have taken since December. 

   So… I thought about writing about embracing the “messy” parts of life, like building cross-cultural friendships, working with kids from hard places, or navigating tough decisions about the future without having my mom close by.

     I thought about copying my housemate Susie’s idea on writing about the verse that states, “How beautiful are the feet of those who share the good news.” Because, you see these feet?

They are almost always dusty, peeling, and mosquito bitten, and a little bit sore. Beautiful is not the word I would use for them. (And yes, I know that’s not what the Bible literally meant).

     But finally, as I walked home from school hand-in-hand with a couple of my girlies, I decided I would show some pictures of things that have made me reflect on what love has looked like the past couple months.

      Love is freshly picked flowers from my students.

      Love is half-birthday celebrations.

Love is notes from my mom.

      Love is friends taking you to get food when your lazy.

      Love is a “Sign if you love your teacher!” board.

      Love is fourth grade completing 100 acts of kindness.

      Love is chocolate from a stranger for loving on her kids when she can’t.

      Love is having personal hairstylists almost every day.

      Love is “Have you had enough water today, Miss Kacie?”

      Love is school supplies from pen-pals.

      Love is a picture drawn of my and student with the words, “This is me and my teacher. I love her and I know she loves me.”

      Love is long talks and Hawaii 5-0 with housemates. (We need more pictures!)

     Love is “Kacie! Eske ou manje ak nou souple?” “Will you eat with us please?”

      Love is morning hugs.

      Love is students praying for me and each other.

      Love is a “pixie dust holder.”

      Love is handmade dresses from mom & grandma for the orphanage.

Love is a happy face on my sidewalk “because you love everything cute.”

Love is this:

Not Enough

As I held one of my favorite toddlers in a long snuggle, a feeling foreign to me in Haiti crept its way into me—anxiety. Besides some moments of homesickness, I have not felt worried or anxious about too much here. Being flexible and patient with the slow pace here has helped a lot. So why now? I finally realized that I am nervous and anxious about going home. I am not ready to leave these children that I have come to know and love. For the past few days every time I hold a baby I worry that this will be the last time I get to cuddle with them. My time here is not enough for me and I get overwhelmed with this.

What if this is the last time I hear ______ yelling my name as he sees me coming down the path? My time is not enough.

What if I never get to see ________ and _______ sticking their lips out through the gate waiting for kisses again? My time is not enough.

I want to be there when _______ starts walking or when ______ finally can hold up her head. I want to see all of the babies healthy and all of the children with their forever families.

“When I am overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2) and because of this reality, I know that God had a reason for me to be here in these specific six weeks. I know that these babies will get along fine without me being here because they are loved by wonderful Haitian and international staff. Though the adoption process is slow right now, I am confident that God will not leave them as orphans (John 14) because He sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68). I am thankful for all of these things. I am thankful that He is more than enough.

As mentioned before, being here in Haiti for six weeks instead of just one has taught me many things. I have learned so much about having a constant biblical worldview, have changed my so-called “mission ideology,” and have witnessed firsthand how to really rely on God’s daily grace.  

Before coming to Haiti God taught me the important lesson that His way is the best way (Proverbs 19:21). I wanted to go to Africa or Asia—somewhere far away—for the first chunk of summer so that I’d be home in time for home’s VBS, my 21^st birthday, and school preparation. The way it turned out though is that God chose for me to go Haiti—just a short flight from Florida—during the last chunk of summer where I would ‘miss' all these things.

I thought I learned this lesson well, but still was making plans in my heart. I told myself that this trip is just to get my feet wet in an “orphanage” setting with a longer than normal time-frame. It would act has great experience, but Haiti was to be a one-time deal because I was probably going to settle somewhere close to where I student teach. Though the latter might still be possible, God once again broke my heart and filled it with love for Haiti, these kids, and COTP. If I fell in love with a kid after a week in Mexico, I must have been crazy to think I wouldn’t do the same with babies after 6 weeks with them! I’m not exactly sure if there is a future for me here, but I am definitely planning on visiting. If God saw fit, I’d definitely be open to considering Haiti for anything in my future.

Lots of prayers will be said in the upcoming week which starts with my 21^st birthday and ends with my homecoming. I will be praying that my anxiety is settled and that peace will cover my heart as I readjust to home and school. Many many many prayers will be said for the all of the children here and for their biological and forever families. Now I’ll also be praying for God to really direct my path because I know for certain that His will is where I want to be.

Though my time may feel like not enough to me, I know that my God is enough (2 Corinthians 12:9). So now I’ll strive to worship in the waiting—through the rest of my schooling—while He teaches me more and leads me to where He want me to be. J

Children Disguised as Statistics

If I gave you a list of statistics such as this:

     “There are children all over the world sick, starving, dying, unloved, and uncared for. The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million, who starve to death or die from preventable diseases, and the 8.6 million who work as child sales, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions, and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million children.”

      It would seem overwhelming. Helping them would seem like an impossible task. But there’s a way to change that mindset. First of all, realize that you cannot save the world on your own-for it will be Jesus who does that. Second, realize that these are not just statistics and numbers. They are young children and babies with their own backgrounds, testimonies, and lives. I've had the privilege of getting to know some of these “statistics.” They happen to love being held, rocked, and talked to. Each has a personality that is so different from the rest. Please don’t think of “orphans” as a whole, but realize that every single “number” is a unique gift from God who is worth every oz. of love you can give them.

      In Haiti, I have already fallen in love with all the children. I can't wait to come home and tell everyone all about them. One of the preemies that I had the chance to cuddle often was healthy enough to go home with his papa. I love playing with the toddlers, making the babies smile, and being covered with the young children who climb up my legs for me to tickle them. In just a week and a half I seen the joy of watching babies go home with their families and have felt sorrow for the ones still waiting for a forever family. I do know this though; “God is a Father to the fatherless and a defender of widows…God sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:5-6).

     “Though at first glance 164.8 million children look like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians. The truth is that if only 8% of the Christians would care for just one more child, there would not be any statistic left. This is the truth and I have the freedom to believe it. The freedom, the opportunity to do something about it. The truth is that He loves these children just as much as He loves me and now that I know, I am responsible.”

So, how do you reach a world with 143 million orphans?

One at a time.