Thursday, April 5, 2012
jess at 4:13 PM
Meet Phoebe

My sincerest apologies to you guys who are
using the blog as a main way to keep up with
me in Gressier… I have totally been a slacker.
Well, that and I could not share up until
recently what I have been doing with the
majority of my time since I arrived in Haiti. I
am so thankful for the sequence of events
that has occurred and I am happy to share
what these last few months/weeks have held
for me. I will start from the beginning.
On February 24, my favorite little person in
the world, was released from the orphanage.
Most of you have heard me talk about Phoebe
(formally known as Sandra). Phoebe came to
me as a 4 week old in Passe Catabois after her
mother died from child birth related causes. I
have maintained as much of a relationship
with her as I could over the last 2.5 years
while she has been in an orphanage but I
sincerely felt called by God to fight for this
little one. After a long battle, she was
released! I flew down to Haiti unexpectedly on
February 25 to pick her up in Port-au-Prince
and bring her to our new home in Gressier. It
was in Gressier that I had to leave her until I
could come back full time (which I was
planning to do anyways).
When I arrived back in Haiti on March 29 I
was reunited with Phoebe. She has been
joyful and walking on clouds ever since I
returned. Everyone says she is so much
happier now that I am here with her. I think
she, too, has a deep sense of knowing that we
belong together.
I am also SO HAPPY to announce that I am
now her LEGAL GUARDIAN. Which means
what we are doing is validated by paper work
and is totally legal. Praise Jesus! It is only by
the grace of God that we have all of this
paperwork. God has orchestrated this in ways
that only He could take the credit for… He
has brought my daughter to me by the
strangest of circumstances but I could not be
more affirmed that I am walking down the
path that Jesus has set for me. I am just
going to keep putting one foot in front of the
other and see where we end up

God has used a very good friend of mine,
Chrisnet Fertilus, to help me with Phoebe. He
was the one who brought her all the way from
the Northwest and met me in PaP. He stayed
with me for days as we got her settled in
Gressier. When I came back to Haiti in March,
Chrisnet brought Phoebe’s father to PaP so
that we could complete her paperwork. I give
ALL of the glory to God for this victory but I
also think of Chrisnet as a very crucial piece of
this journey. God used him to accomplish His
purposes! Chrisnet was Jesus in the flesh with
me as I walked this road… and I could not
have been more thankful for him!
So… all of that being said… I am now a
mother of a 2.5 year old precious little girl.
Phoebe has consumed most of my time since
arriving in Gressier. I have enjoyed bathing
her, reading to her, eating with her, sleeping
with her, playing with her… I have just
enjoyed getting to know her more and more.
Now.. don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all a
bed of roses. She is 2.5. We have our
moments… and she HATES the word NO

But we are learning together and I am asking
for guidance every day from the Most High
God how I can best parent and love this child.
In the mean time we have been getting
settled and I have been trying to make a life
here. Things like getting a bank account,
getting a phone and internet service are all
time consuming tasks here in Haiti. Megan
and I went to see the house where we will be
living and sooner than later will run a medical
clinic/birth center from there too. It still has
some more work to be done before we can
move it but it was fun to walk through and
envision how we could use the space to walk
out what the Lord has placed on our hearts.
Rays of Hope has offered us medical
equipment, furniture, and supplies and will be
sending some of our first supplies down on
the container to be shipped on April 16. So
that’s exciting! Thank you all who have
donated online or given donations to me… I
will be using that money to get the supplies
here!
I have also made contact with a guy named
Phil Harris. He works with an organization
here in Haiti who is passionate about the
medical community here. He invited me to go
to a meeting today at 11 am with the Mayor
of Carrefour and some important medical
personnel. We met with the mayor and a few
other important directors and they have
approved for us to have a medical conference
in March of 2013 where we will bring MD’s,
nurses, midwives, and any other medical
personnel and educate them on topics they
feel they need further education. I will be
working with Phil and the leaders of Carrefour
to make this happen. An exciting step in a
good direction!
He also invited me to meet another woman
who is in this area working in a clinic. Megan
and I will meet with her on Friday. So.. lots of
meetings and contacts to be made over the
next few days.
Please keep Phoebe and I in your prayers as
we continue to make our lives here in Gressier
and as we grow as mother and daughter. I
intend to devote the next few weeks to her
and our relationship before we do anything
major with the clinic. During this time I will
continue to coordinate supplies, volunteers,
and the start of this crazy vision that the Lord
has placed on my heart for a birth center and
medical clinic in Gressier.
Thank you all for your love, support, and
encouragement. Stay tuned… the blogs will
be much more frequent!