teach a man to farm.

--Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime--

I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!

you all know how important teaching kids life skills  is to me. well this upcoming trip to haiti we were going to have farming classes with the kids. we would have a beginner class & an advanced class. well the first week we had to cancel the class because the kids will have final exams that week. 

SO. food for the poor delivered some really cool raised garden beds to CAD, with some AMAZING dirt. you might think that is absurd for me to be so happy about dirt but if you go to haiti & you see the dirt i have to work with sometimes you would understand. dirt that has been worked & worked is a precious thing. 

the kids helping unload them. they are always so willing to help.

the agriculture guy who delivered the beds spoke with alix & they organized a trip for him to come & give the kids a class on CAD property with the new raised beds. in a few days they will plant SO MANY VEGGIES. 

this is an answered prayer. you have no idea. a lot of people think i don't do anything because i don't have a full time job, but let me tell you these 53 children keep me busy. they keep me in prayer & keep me figuring out a plan to keep them fed, to keep them in school, to keep them drinking water, to keep them feeling loved, to keep them believing in their dreams. my heart is broken so many days. my mind spends too much time in worry instead of trust. God knows those kids are there. he knows their needs before they even ask. i am a mother to them. i feel responsible. when i raise money for these trips every single penny goes to these kids, translators, transportation. anything extra goes to buying them fruit & spoiling them while we are there. 

they LOVED the class. 

when i get photos of my kids working in the dirt & learning such an amazing skill that so many take for granted it literally brings me to tears. 

dear wilderson, you can stop growing. love your mom. 

mixing compost & dirt. *fun fact* most of the compost has rice in it to hold moisture. SMART. 

even the teachers were helping. 

THIS is what i live for. these kids have NO ONE. i don't think most of you can comprehend that. these kids fend for themselves. they eat rice every single day & you won't hear them complain. you will see them by themselves & you ask them whats wrong & they tell you they are hungry & their stomach hurts. its heart breaking. they don't have anyone buying them clothes. hugging them in the mornings. NO ONE. as i sit here & write this i am in tears bc i know these kids so well. i want the BEST for them & sometimes things seem impossible. i choose to trust in God. even when things seem so out of reach. please be in prayer that the non-profit goes quickly so we can start getting some funds on a regular basis to support these amazing kids. 

today when i had a little moment of worry the song "first", by lauren daigle, came to my mind. 

i put the lyrics below, just take a minute & read them. gosh, help this be my life's song. 

Before I bring my need
I will bring my heart
Before I lift my cares
I will lift my arms
I wanna know You
I wanna find You
In every season
In every moment
Before I bring my need
I will bring my heart
And seek You

First
I want to seek You
I want to seek You
First
I want to keep You
I want to keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First

Before I speak a word
Let me hear Your voice
And in the midst of pain
Let me feel Your joy
I wanna know You
I wanna find You
In every season
In every moment
Before I speak a word
I will bring my heart
And seek You

First
I want to seek You
I want to seek You
First
I want to keep You
I want to keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First

You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
I seek You

First
First
I want to seek You
I want to seek You
First
I want to keep You
I want to keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First
First

what would i do without the lord? i would be a mess. i would be nothing. nothing good that i ever did would ever truly matter in the long run. my pastor growing up used to say "pursuit is the proof of desire" that has stuck with me since i have heard it. i constantly ask myself, God is what i am pursuing something i should desire? i want everything i do to reflect the bigger picture of what God is doing. i want people to know my heart. i want people to know what really matters to me. i don't want to have to defend my character to someone. i want my life lived to show my hearts intentions. don't get me wrong i do NOT have anything together more than my neighbor, but as i have gotten older i have realized more & more what is REALLY important. i have realized how much i NEED the lord every single day.  i have realized the importance on relationships that are genuine & healthy. i feel so incredibly blessed to have found these 53 children who are in need of so many things. i feel blessed that THEY love me. i feel so blessed that they know how much i love them. i feel so blessed to be able to go & see them & spend time getting to know their hearts & dreams. to pray with them & look into their eyes & tell them that they matter. 

if you want to give towards our next trip you can do so HERE but PLEASE pray for these kids. please. 

28 more days. 

- e

keep my mouth shut lord.

Psalm 141:3

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

i have been learning a lot lately about keeping my mouth shut. when you start walking through doors the lord is opening, i promise the devil is like WHOA. hold up. let me throw a wrench in this & lets see what happens. i have been praying so much that when things like this happens that i give it to him & i just don't speak about it, but lets face it.. i am human & ultimately screw up. i would talk about it with people bc i needed to "get it off my chest" but its all the same. its all gossip. i don't want to be that person. i don't like drama, but lately it has been popping up everywhere. 

Proverbs 20:19

He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

so to all of those that are my friends out there. say a prayer for me that through all of this i will keep my mouth shut & trust the lord to work it out. that i won't gossip about it, that instead i will pray about it. that i won't give any room in my life for this stuff. 

& to my friends out there. i don't want to spend my time talking about other people. there is so many other things to talk about. life. adventure. pursuing our calling. helping our community. feeding people. raising kids. baking. drinking coffee. so. many. other. things. 

-e

44 days.

only 44 days until we leave for haiti again. that is crazy to me. i feel like time goes by faster the older i get. cory was going to go with me for a few days on this trip but we decided he should go on the september trip considering we will be celebrating my birthday there. i am going to miss him so so so so so so so much. it is always so hard being away from him & i wish he could come every single time.

i cannot wait. i cannot wait for all of the new people going who will build life long relationships, learn so much about themselves, who they are in christ, learn to be more humble, meet the kids, meet my family there, try new things, step out of their comfort zones & everything else in between. i cannot wait for the people who have been before coming back again & seeing everyone that they have missed so much. i cannot wait to see the look on the kids faces when their best friends are back. i cannot wait to go to la cabane & hug tina's neck. i cannot wait to see my son & tell him how much i love him & missed him. i cannot wait to plants veggies. i cannot wait to take these kids to farming classes. i cannot wait to teach them about business. i cannot wait to teach english classes. i cannot wait to do sewing classes. i cannot wait to organizes rooms to make the staffs life a little bit easier. i cannot wait to clean up trash with the kids. i cannot wait to go to canaan & see some people who i am growing so fond of. i cannot wait to pray with these children every night. i cannot wait to have team meetings & talk about the goodness of God each & every day. i cannot wait to stay up late laughing with all my girls. i cannot wait to see nancy & hug her neck. i cannot wait to speak kreyol more & practice with all my little loves. i cannot wait to teach lessons on dreaming, & have the team teach lessons on forgiveness, trust, self-worth, fear, purpose, pursuing god, & sewing & reaping. i cannot wait to do small groups & talk to these kids about their life & how to stay on the path the lord has set before them. i cannot wait for all of us to get to know each other better. i cannot wait for all the hugs & all the i love you's. i cannot wait for prayer at night when they tell me, "evanda i pray for you". that means the world to me.

you guys know how much i love these kids. how much of my heart is for them. how much i am thankful to be able to go every 2 months to these people that i truly love. god has had a plan my whole life for this path i am on right now. i know it is just the beginning. my prayer is that every decision i make is for him to get the glory. every door i walk through is a door from him. i want every thing i do to be pleasing to the father. i truly do. every person i work with to be someone god put on my path to further his kingdom & plan.

i am super excited about this small group of people banning together to make a difference. we are not apart of just one church. we are a group of people spread out in different states just answering gods call to serve. to be an impact, no matter how big or small. it all makes a difference if our hearts are pure.

if you would like to be apart of our vision- you can donate HERE

please pray for the people coming & their efforts for raising funds.
our teams for the 2 weeks consists of.

corrissa
tiffany
laura
kat
dd
courtney
brandi
elana
matthew
raegan
ashleigh
me

most of these people have been before & some of them have not. please be in prayer that we would allow god to work through us. that we would be vessels for his message & his plans. help us to not complain, help us all to work together, help us all to have a servants heart, help us all to help each other, & encourage each other.


ALL proceeds that we raise go towards translators, transportation, supplies for projects, water for the kids, propane for the kitchen & extra money for fruit for the kids while we are there.

--e

non-profit & stuff.

I AM SO EXCITED.

so many doors are opening. so many amazing people on my team. people i feel like i have been praying for since i knew this is the direction the lord wanted me to go.

as some of you might know i am in the process of starting my own non-profit. this has been something i have been praying about for a really long time & it is finally happening. i have someone working on the logo & the website & i am so excited to show you guys.

GOD is up to some really cool things. i am just so blessed to be surrounded by people who are true friends & pray for me. it is cool to see everything unfolding. of course i am sitting around day-dreaming about all of the possibilities for my community, in haiti & wherever the lord takes this non-profit.

please continue to keep me in your prayers. i want to walk through the right doors.

i cannot wait to introduce you to everyone on my team.

mesi mesi mesi! ak bondye tout bagay se posib.

-evanda

early mornings.

i don't know what it is but in haiti i wake up at like 5am everyday. i hear the roosters, chickens, cars going by, people off to work for the day & the kids doing chores & i am fully awake anticipating the day.

one morning when i woke up this last trip i could hear sinciny singing "good, good father" right outside my window as he was sweeping.  cory taught them this song in january & to wake up hearing them sing this sweet song of truth made my heart so happy.

these kiddos start their day doing their chores. sweeping the cafeteria which is also their church. mopping the bedrooms. mopping the offices. helping with laundry. using machetes to cut grass & pick rocks out of the grass. chopping & shaping bushes. cleaning out the area for our future garden. you name it they do it. 

all these photos below were taken by alix. the BEST photographer. 

these kiddos play & wait for their turn. 

them using these machetes made me a little crazy. already looking into better tools for them to use instead of these. 

we would cut up the grass & rocks & then put all the weeds into the wheelbarrow. then a kid would take it all the way up this huge hill to the trash pile, so we can burn it.

see- i worked too!

so did kayla. 

little dawensky was trying to tickle me. 

diana always so loving. so loving with the kids & i love it so much. 

my mom & robenson. 

i LOVE this photo. look at the joy on her face. this is one of my favorite photos. EVER. 

sammy is still too young for chores. so he plays & bosses everyone else around. 

kim!

guytho & robinson taking their break to ride the bike together. 

robinson takes photos for me sometimes ( & he is a natural) he really likes to take selfies. hahaha. 

trimming the bushes. this whole area will be a garden. 

this was all grass before! they did so good. 

took a break to help robenson make another hole for his belt. one of the things we are taking with us are belts. these boys usually don't get clothes that fit them specifically. they all share which means most of their pants are falling off. if you would like to sponsor our next trip you can do so HERE.

PLEASE be in prayer for Mrs. Marline who started CAD almost 20 years ago. She has been battling cancer & is receiving treatment in the states now. She has some major bills that need to be paid. We are praying God opens doors to get those paid!

ansanm nou kapab fé yon diferans!

--evanda