Soooooo - the WONDERFUL news is that BOTH of Djenica's birth parents are safe and sound!  Our friend Enoch was able to track down Papa Joseph and he then wrote to us and sent photos of himself and Mama Selene.  Djenica is head over heels happy - as are we!  And while we won't see them this trip - perhaps next time.

SECOND good news - just got confirmation that my precious 'squuchy-face' angel is also safe and sound!  Saintana, my foster baby, and her family are unharmed - not only that, but the foundation for their home is being completed!  You may remember that we have been sending and raising money to build her family a stable home.  It is being worked on!  We don't have all the funds yet - but piece by piece this family will have a decent living situation. 

THIRD - oh, boy!  Saintana's parents are planning to bring her to the mission while we are there so we can see here!  AHHHHH!  I am so so so excited I'm almost peeing in my pants.  I'll see my Tana-baby!

FOURTH - progress is being made on the little boy we have been waiting to host.  He got hospital approval in January and we've been waiting on the paperwork (ugh) every since.  Heard from his orphanage today and things are progressing!  Hurrah!

FIFTH - not new but still GOOD NEWS!  God is good, all the time!  ALL THE TIME!!!!!

I was already a bit snotty feeling this morning.  Sometimes I get like that.  I think it happens most when I feel powerless.  Then I read a very good friend's blog where she stated she was "over it" and listed all the crap she is 'over'.  The bald honesty with which Sarah writes is overwhelmingly real.  I had to think for a moment about her issues to be over versus mine - which pale in comparison.  I thought for a second that I had no business whining - but I know that writing is cathartic so here I go.  Sarah, I am with you 100% and love and admire you and and always amazed with what you do for and with your kids.  I know you are SO among the ranks of "SUPERMOTHERHOOD" that I am unworthy to be in your presence (fortunately, Sarah knows me well enough to know what I mean here)

SO!  In the past few days I've been seeing a few things about Haiti - a very few - in the news.  The earthquake is 'old news' and many other things take it's place.  Good things, bad things, important things, trivial things.  I remember not long ago asking my friend Licia in Haiti what we could do for her - what should I tell people?  She said, very simply, "Tell them not to forget us".  She knew that Haiti would be replaced as headline news rapidly.  She knows that Haiti has been ignored by the international community for EVER.  She could count on the outpouring of help to trickle and die.  So I keep telling people.  Haiti is still broken.  Haiti is still, as it was before, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere - now it has even greater needs and even less ability to be self-sufficient.  People are still hungry.  Children are still parentless.  Families are still homeless.  People are still injured, sick, and suffering.

Reading Licia's blog today, seeing the new kids who were admitted to the RC - these are children who are suffering the effects of malnutrition.  Not because their parents are crackheads who don't feed their kids.  Not because they have been abandoned on the streets.  But simply because there isn't enough food.  Period.  These families are doing the best they CAN - not the best they want, or the best they are willing to do.  The best they CAN.  And they cannot keep the child healthy no matter how hard they try.  Some have travelled hours or even DAYS to bring their child to RHFH.  Does that sound like a 'bad parent?'

AND THEN - I recall reading an online story a few days ago about a Haitian child whose leg was amputated due to injury in the earthquake - and how an American doctor was in Deschapelles doing prosthetics - and how this child would likely NOT get help because he lived too far away.  A 'yanking on my heartstrings' story.  Sad.

AND I made the mistake of reading the online comments.  REALLY?  Are you serious?  People are bitching and moaning about how the world community has done so much for Haiti - and there are kids in America who don't have their prosthetics.  REALLY???  Where?  Oh, I know there are poor people in America.  I know that a certain percentage lives below the poverty line - which is $22,000 for a family of four.  In Haiti, the average income for a family of four is around $2,000.  The AVERAGE in Haiti is TEN TIMES LESS that the POVERTY LINE in America. 

The poorest of the poor - thats the Haitians.  Not just poor.  POOR.  Not just hungry.  STARVING.  Not just without medical insurance. Without ACCESS to medical CARE.  Without ELECTRICITY, RUNNING WATER, SANITATION.   

You know what REALLY IRKS ME???  It's Christians - yes, those of us who profess to 'love the Lord' and 'follow God'.  It's Christians who say absolutely stupid stuff like "We should care for our own first".  WHAT?  Can you tell me what book of the Bible you found that it?  Is it First or Second STUPIDITY?  The Acts of the Ignorant?  "Charity begins at home".  Is that found in the 25th chapter of the Book of Imagination?

Perhaps all y'all need to actually open that Book.  Read what it has to say.  Start with Luke 10.  Concentrate on verses 25 - 37.  When you've digested that, turn to Matthew 25.  I challenge you to read veses 31-45.  Tell me where it says 'charity begins at home'. 

In fact, get out your concordance.  Log onto any online Bible.  I'll make it easy for you - www.biblegateway.com - Look up charity.  find me where the BIBLE says 'charity begins at home'.  Oh, you can't find it?  Pity.  That's because it doesn't exist. 

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?  "Go and do likewise".  If you dare to take the name of Christ - if you announce to the world that you are His follower - you better be sure you don't misquote Him.  You better love your neighbor.  Yes, the little starving kid in Haiti.  He's your neighbor.  What are you gonna do about it?

Disclaimer - I know that most of you who read my blog are the good guys.  Feel free to share this with the blackhats in your life! 

Ah.  It feels good to get that off my chest!