Next time you have to take a trip to visit a friend, perhaps just 40 miles away from you, be thankful for the roads on which you travel! I never used to think how lucky I was that I could hop on the freeway and choose between four lanes in which to drive. I would usually just complain that there was traffic! That is, until I went to visit an orphanage just 40 miles from us. We load into army trucks with benches along the edges -this one even has a back so you don’t fall out- and off we go. Luckily, a veteran told me to grab a pillow to sit on. (In fact, the girl who told me this is Emily. She has been coming here for years. She heard about my sad flip flop story and how I didn’t bring long comfy pants for night time-and she just gave me her stuff! She is the one who I mentioned earlier that wanted to go to the brothels and made goody bags for them)It’s a bone jarring, butt bumping, sun scorching ride for a solid three hours. And the reason they use these types of trucks is because the roads are terrible-they have gapping holes the size of cars, puddles, rocks and rivers we have to cross regularly. In fact, during some times of the year, you cannot go out west because the rivers are too high to drive through. But, it sure is beautiful out in the country. A lot of it looked like home. Fallbrook even! Rolling green hills mixed with trees, some dry sections too. The population is more sparse out there, since water is very hard to come by. We arrived covered in dust, but so excited to play with the kids. There are about 120 orphans there, ranging in ages from just potty trained to about 15.  Right away I found a friend, Jonathon. He is 8yrs old. We were buddies and hung out all afternoon together. It’s fun to see how many games and things you can do with someone when you don’t speak the same language. We only had a few hours there before we had to pack up and make the trek home before it was dark. It was sad to leave those beautiful smiling faces.

I was hoping to go and buy donkeys with Brandon today. I love farm animals. But, when I heard it was a boys trip, I instantly was bummed. Until, I was sitting with a NWHCM staff woman, Melanie, and she told me what she was doing that day. They were going to visit a brothel. God took my moody attitude and used it so I could go with them. What an amazing experience. As we were walking to the brothel, I was thinking, “why am I so excited to meet these women and talk to them, when I have never done that in that States?” Or ever wanted to, to be honest. I was allowed to follow along, in hopes that while living here I could return and build a relationship with these women, along with Melanie-who had been praying she could do something like this for a long time. Doing this was the idea of two sisters and their mom, visiting from Kentucky. They put together care packages for them. They had toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, panties, brushes, etc. They went the day before and asked if we could come back the next day and deliver the gifts. The woman in charge of the brothel said yes, a huge answer to their prayers. When we got there, a small crowd had gathered, curious I am sure to see what all the ‘blancs’ were doing. We were able to say hello, introduce ourselves, and pray with them. Tears were flowing down our faces.  They said we could come back next week and talk to them. Then, we went to the next house.  I was so thankful I spent time before the Lord that morning, asking him to allow me to see these women as He sees them.  He did.  All I could think about was that Jesus would be found in these kinds of places. That is where He went-shady, dodgy places that no one would expect the Son of God to go. To love on everyone. The women lined up on small chairs to greet us. There were about 13. They were so sweet.  They smiled at us, stared at us, giggled at us. Some looked annoyed, others happy, others indifferent. There were no holes for windows, and it was warm. Through the interpreter we were able to say the same things to them as well. That we love them, as does Jesus. That these are gifts for them to show them God’s love. We asked if we could come back and visit next week, and they said yes.  Then the mom of the two daughters prayed. The Holy Spirit spoke through that woman.  As she prayed, I wiped my eyes and could no longer tell what were tears and what was sweat all over my face.  Then another amazing thing happened. There was a man, among a few others, standing inside watching the whole thing. We had no idea who he was until he came up to us afterward and introduced himself.  He is the man who runs a brothel in Port de Paix (7 miles away, where we will be living) He asked us if we would come and visit his brothel too. We all were so blown away and shocked that he would ask us to come there-we stood there speechless for an entire minute. Finally, Melanie answered yes. And then she found out it was only a few blocks from the prison (where she and a few others go every week to visit and share Jesus.) God is in control.