"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." -Oswald Chambers

It is hard to believe that it is over. We are not even really sure how to end something like this. I suppose that is because an adventure like this never really ends. It will always be with us. We spent most of the first day we were home so torn. We tried to explain bitter/sweet to the Haitians before we left...it was really funny and not really effective. We know Haiti is just a stepping stone for us in what the Lord has. We are excited to see what is to come. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. This trip really would have been impossible without it. God is good and many times, writing this blog, I found myself saying the words of John, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" -John 21:25. We cannot wait to see all of you and hear about your stories from the Summer. See you Wednesday.

All our love,

Brian & Lorey

Brian and Ken working on top of one of the shelters. We hiked out to where this shelter was in the mountains and hills and it was beautiful.

One day before we left we took a trip into Port-au-Prince and this was one of my favorite pictures. This is a huge pile of trash on the side of the road. The beach is directly behind it.

Me, Ken, Michille and Brian our last day of work.

Brian and I standing in front of one of the completed shelters.

Some of the Haitians came and said bye to Brian and me the night before we left. We all prayed in unison and it was beautiful hearing English and Creole all lifting up the name of Jesus. It was really sad to leave these guys.

This is the staff of the house. We were so sad to leave them...they quickly became our family. From bottom to top: Brian, Wes, Me, Christine and Johanna. Please continue to pray for them. Wes and Christine will be there for a year.

Coming through the revolving doors at the airport...we saw our whole family!

We really loved this sign..."I Haitied that you were gone"...clever Lyle.

Our first stop, of course, was Chickfila!

And it was awesome!!

"We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come." -A.W. Tozer

God is good. This week has been a very sweet one where we have seen the favor of the Lord. The house was closed to teams this week so Brian and I got to spend a lot of time working together. We put up 44 roofs and were able to pray with 42 families. We cannot believe that this is coming to end so soon. Part of us feels like we just got here. Anyways, here are a couple highlights from the week...1. We went to visit Ray Cooper, a friend from back home who was down here, at his hotel for July 4th. We got to swim in a pool and eat an awesome hamburger and pizza! 2. We went to Miguel's, our driver, church last week and the Spirit was moving. It is in the community where we build the shelters so it was really sweet to see so many of the people we prayed with after putting up the roofs at church. 3. Again, I just have to say how grateful the Haitians are. We shake each family members hand after we pray and they are so excited. We love it and have come to love inexpressibly the ones we have become so close with. That last one is obviously not a story but just a thought based on hundreds of stories.

Brian and I come home next week and we are going to spend a couple days alone and a couple days with Jim and Karen (the people who run Side by Side and who are building the orphanage here) debriefing the trip. We will be home from all of this July 21. I will do one more blog next Saturday with our final pictures and thoughts. We can't wait to see all of you and share with you the many other stories of God's work here and to hear about your Summer as well. We are so appreciative for your words of encouragement and prayer that we do not have words to express it. We love you so very much.

Brian and I on July 4th sitting by the pool. I sported my red and blue, of course!

I love this picture because it says exactly what we have been doing in Haiti. This is the rubble of a house after the earthquake and the new one, that we built, behind it. God is our restorer. He brings life to death, joy to pain, happiness to sorrow, love to hurt, shelter where there was none.

This is the crew we work with about everyday. From left to right Joe, probably has the most gentle heart I have ever seen, Frankie, who has a smile that will make anyone happy, Brian, me, Michille, who you already know and Ken, who is like a brother to us now.

This is Brian and Joe lifting up the metal for the roofs. It is surprisingly heavy.

I am making sure the roof is square.

Brian and I after doing only 2 roofs. We sweat so much! Here is an added note for humor for all you Elf watchers: everyone agrees I look exactly like the woman elf who works in the toy factory in this picture minus the gross sweat and 115 degree weather...obviously not the North Pole...if only Will Ferrell was here.

This is Joe and I showing our sweet boots (that everyone is jealous of).

This is Joe and his precious son.

This is awesome...we have to give a shout out to Melodee from Chaco who sent me a new pair of Chacos (Free!) after hearing mine got taken! God even cares about the small things.

"Sympathy is no substitute for action" -David Livingston

This week was probably the most challenging but yet the most fruitful week thus far. It is amazing how those two, challenges and fruit, usually coincide. We had a group of 11 come in from Stanwich Church in Connecticut. Brian took a team to the orphanage and to work at a clinic and I took a team to build roofs on the shelters in Bethel Village. The Lord was really moving in each group and we saw amazing things happen. I am not even sure where to begin...so I will just tell you a few things from this week. 1. The Haitians never complain but instead are so grateful. When we finish praying after we build the roofs, they often look at their 12' by 12' shelter in amazement, grab my hand and say, "Thank you for this beautiful home" or something like that which immediately brings tears to my eyes. 2. My team was awesome this week! We put on 50 roofs and by the end of the week had a crowd of Haitians following and helping us. The night before the team left, two Haitian men, Joe and Ken, came to say goodbye to the team. They sat with us for a while and just said thank you so many times. Joe said that every break he has, he goes to his new home just to sit inside and thank Jesus for us and it. Everyone was crying by the time they left. 3. When Brian was almost finished with the second building at the orphanage, he said the kids were lined up outside with their things, waiting to move in to their new home. They were so grateful and excited. There were so many more things that happened that are far too long to share. God is so good. Please keep praying for us. We love you and miss you all so very much.

This is our team from Stanwich Church

Brian got to do a mobile clinic with 5 nurses. They would go into a village and treat the people. This is part of the line...

These are some kids from an orphanage (there is an explanation for the little boy who looks like he is crying...see below)

Rosita made chicken feet for Brian...gross.

This is the second building Brian and his team built at the orphanage on the start of the first day.

They finished it by the end of the week.

And they moved things immediately into it! It will be the girls dormitory.

The orphans love Brian and playing with him.

So one of the days I was at the orphanage, this little boy got hurt and I picked him up and start making a kissing noise. They loved it and thought it was the funniest thing. Every time I go now, they run up and make crying noises so I will chase them and make kissing noises. I love it!

This might have been one the sweetest things I have ever seen. Josue, one of the Haitian workers who is helping to finish the upstairs of the house, saw Brian washing his clothes, came up to him and started laughing and said, "Brian! No no no." He then took a clothing item and showed him how to wash it. Then he helped to wash the rest of the clothes with Brian.