Live In The Moment

For the past couple days God has been telling me to “Just live in the moment. Don’t worry about 30 minutes from now, next week, next month… I am doing something every minute that you don’t want to miss.” I have been thinking of that and trying to only concentrate on the here and now and not worry so much about my daily plans being changed… a.k.a. stop being a control freak!

Monday April 9, 2014 I had the choice to do that or continue in my ways of schedule, schedule, schedule. I went to the feeding program like every Monday afternoon but after we were finished with our Romans 8 lesson and the food had all been eaten, Milene Jean Louis approached me to tell me that she just reached 6 months of being pregnant but for the last 3 days she had some bleeding. I am not a nurse and have never been 6 months pregnant BUT I do have the Holy Spirit inside of me that set off a warning. I actually listened, canceled my plans & since I knew an American doctor team was at the Pierre Payen Hospital nearby we rushed there and with urgency they put us right in for an ultrasound. This was the first ultrasound either of us had ever seen and unfortunately it will be the worse, there was no heartbeat. I had to tell Milene who is 31 with 3 living children that her soon to be 4^th was going to have to be delivered the next morning and it would not be alive. She threw her hands up in the air, almost like she was giving up or admitting defeat which brought tears to my eyes. This was her 4^th miscarriage. We hugged and began to cry together.

 

That night I told Fritznel that we HAD to get our pregnant women checked… the “what if” bug was flying around my ear… all the “what if’s” wecould have done and “what if” we could have saved a baby. Tuesday morning at 6 o’clock, Milene was induced and a precious baby boy’s body was delivered. 

 

On my normal “ministry work day” I went to Bo Lise and gathered all the pregnant women in our community. After getting the women registered, tested for AIDS (all NEGATIVE!!) and syphilis we began the waiting game. Waiting for the 1 ultra sound machine to come available. Waiting for Milene’s blood work, lab tests to be done & fluids administered. Waiting for the emergency patients to come and go while I prayed for the peace of God to flood them. Waiting with 6 friends who had never seen an ultra sound machine nor understood they COULD see the little human growing inside their bellies.

 

What took 6 hours because of emergencies in and out, one by one I brought the women in to see the life that God had entrusted them to steward and care for. The sweet Dr. Kim from Nabraska was patient, loving and very descriptive in telling me everything we could see on the computer screen so I could translate it to the proud mama’s. I had tears many times as I watched my friends take their 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd look at the baby they were carrying. They couldn’t get enough and couldn’t smile any more than they were. Little head, legs, waving hands, heart beats and little feet were clear and beautiful just as God’s love showering down on us that day. Best of all each mom was far enough along that we know the gender of all 6! There is only 1 princess coming to us this summer and 5 warriors coming to protect & serve. I can’t wait!

 

I keep thinking of how blessed I was to share these moments with these 6 friends and saddened when I remember that Milene wasn’t able to take her new baby home with her to meet his brother and sisters. It was tragic, unfair, unexplainable and unreal but God brings peace that surpasses all understanding. Through the loss of Baby Jean Louis we were alerted to bring prenatal awareness to a new level and we’re learning how to care for the mama’s in new ways that will prayerfully prevent another tragedy like this. I am overjoyed that 6 mama’s got a new experience and get to wonder “HOW CAN GOD DO THIS IN MY BODY?” God is truly amazing and “Works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.” Romans 8:28

 

Please be in prayer for Milene, her children and the rest of the family & friends as we mourn and grieve this loss. Pray for Fritznel & I as we continue to live in the moment of everyday life without being worried about “what if’s” and “when this” and “when that”. Lord help us to “lose control” and just be.

 

We were placed here for such a time as this and I can honestly tell you… it’s all worth it.

 

A special thanks to Maureen Day for Heaven Born Ministries. She has a beautiful ministry for helping women cope with the loss of a baby and we were able to use it to help Milene. God’s people are a blessing!

http://www.heavenborn.com/







A City Within A City

EHM's goal for self sufficiency is on the top priority list. One thing we do NOT want is hand outs and the mentality it gives to the people of Haiti (and in America too). We are passionate about helping families rise above the statistics and not live day by day when most people are living under $2 a day.

Monese

 

We began phase 1 of the industry buy teaching the women what the Word of God says about integrity, money making and handling we also equipped them with basic knowledge of business ethics. The women attend our classes, participate in the feeding program for a long period of time and are prayerfully and carefully chosen to receive the loans.

 
Proverbs 11:1  "Scales of deceit are hated by the Lord, but a true weight is His delight."

Gladys

Lisiane

Phase 2 happened December 1st thanks to a supporter of EHM.  We started empowering the women by investing a start up fee into a new small business. By becoming entrepreneurs they can sell high demand and non competitive items to the locals in the market and from their homes. The women are held accountable, still doing the business classes and our Ministry Manager Pierre is on site making sure the women are being held accountable, being encouraged and being good stewards of their gifts.


 

Denise

Investing in jobs for this community means more opportunities for Haiti, less dependency on others and more dependency on God! 

 

She obtains wool and flax, and she is pleased to work with her hands. Proverbs 31:13

 

Phase 3: Coming this May. Again, we are not into "hand outs" and that goes for this program as well. Each woman is required to pay back the full $130 to EHM so that we empower yet another woman who is ready to begin the road to sufficiency as well! This brings encouragement and motivation to a whole new level.... "When I do well, work hard and save... my sister/friend/cousin/daughter will get a job and have success too". God is taking what is one of the poorest, under educated and weakest communities in Montrouis and making it to be the "City on a Hill" which can not be hidden because of the light of Christ that shines even through their jobs!

 

If you'd like to support a mom by investing please contact us at Empoweringhaitianmoms@gmail.com or you can send a tax deductible donation to paypal with Empoweringhaitianmoms@gmail.com as well OR send to (Jobs in the memo)

Empowering Haitian Moms

P.O. Box 4142

                         Chesterfield, MO 63006.                       

Milene

Hermitte

 Know that 100% of your proceeds goes DIRECTLY to the mom who is selected and that they can start a small business for as little as $150 and up to $300.

 

"Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established." Proverbs 16:3
 

 

 

 

Remain In The Vine

Exodus 17:11-12 says, "As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up-one on one side, one on the other- so that he hands remained steady till sunset."

Support -noun- the act of bearing the weight of or strengthening.

 

 

I have been working on a Bible study by Beth Moore called "A Woman's Heart- God's Dwelling Place" and just finished a chapter called "The Gift of Support". Re read that... the GIFT  of support... because that is what support is. A gift.

 

I  believe that no one can do anything without support, or maybe they can but they can't do it well. These past years I had times of many challenges and trials but I have learned how to be flexible because God changed MY mind several times and I saw him do His will without me even asking or knowing he wanted it done! But I know I couldn't have done any of this without support of a few close friends... true God-friends. Since I accepted Christ he has given me several amazing friends who have walked with me through thick and thin, never given up on me and continue to be blessings in my life. Now, I want to tell you about some new gifts that I have received and what God is showing me through the team called Remain In The Vine.

 

The Lord spoke to Aaron about being a gift and hold the office of "service" for the priests of the Lord and I dare to believe that God has asked all of us to be that kind of gift to someone at sometime... who comes to your mind?  Who in your life needs you as a gift? What can you do  to BE a gift for a friend, spouse or even a stranger?

 

In Numbers 18 during a battle Moses needed his friends and didn't even know it, but Aaron & Hur had been sent along side him by the Lord.  Don't you love how Jesus knows our needs when we don't and he solves our problems before we even know we have them!  God sent Aaron and Hur up on that mountain top with Moses knowing that during a battle, he would need help and support. They probably went with him to watch the battle that Joshua was fighting  but little did they know they would be used in a mighty way and be apart of God's victory over the enemy. It was a simple act of holding his hands up to give him that little extra strength needed.

 

Isn't it interesting that no one could have won that battle on their own? The army needed Joshua, Joshua needed Moses, Moses needed Aaron & Hur and they all  needed the Lord. I can see the difference it has made on my walk, life and ministry by God sending me a few of my own Aaron and Hurs. "A friend loves at all times" Proverbs 17:17  Again, my past has a few great ones but this is specifically about a group of women who were hand wrapped gifts from God, who showed up last year with their hearts prepared to serve Haiti and like Aaron and Hur- I don't think they knew what their support would mean to the battle happening here in Haiti (and my life). They came with much needed supplies and tangible support but it was not the contents in those bags but the ones who were carrying them that was the true blessing and GIFT.

 

These women have since been daily holding me accountable, encouraging, praying and standing by my side holding up my hands when I feel like dropping them and giving up. It takes a true warrior to sacrifice their own self and rights to serve someone else. We laugh, cry and pray together. I am thankful for each one of them and that God loves to repeat History (His Story). I know I can not do this without my Aaron's and Hur's and none of us can do anything to impact Haiti (or America) without God's blessing.

 

1 John 4:11 "Dear Friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another."

 

So again I ask, who are you holding accountable, encouraging and praying with. Who is your Moses? Who are your Aarons and Hurs? What is the battle going on in someone else's life that you can be a support to? Loose yourself and serve someone today... get out of your comfort zone and be the gift God has designed you to be... I know I am looking forward to being someone's Aaron and someone's Hur. Every one of us is equipped for it.

 

P.S. I captured the picture of Brooke (orange Tshirt) last week worshipping in Haiti without her knowing (she will when she see this) but I was in tears watching her love for Christ come out in her adoration in a public area without caring who saw her. She truly is a blessing for me and I want to honor her with this picture. Thank you for holding me up.

 

 

 

Living Water!

 

Therefore with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation.       Isaiah 12:3

In Bo Lise, Haiti where EHM does the feeding program, the life of a mother is to say the least, difficult. Imagine not being able to wash your dishes, do your laundry, bathe yourself or your  children or even brush your teeth the way that you'd LIKE to, let along NEED to. In our community there are 2 local wells that are not easily accessible, very far away and filled with salt water. Laundry, which takes the most amount of time and water, is a day or two worth of her time. Located near this community is a beach with a "fresh" water stream where everyone goes to do laundry and unfortunately this is also where they bathe. Same water stream. The moms gather their family's laundry in a wash basin, put it on their heads and walk 10 minutes to wash it and lay it to dry on the trash covered rocky "beach front".

The children can not come with them, leaving them to tend to themselves or leaving the neighbors or older children responsible. During the mornings the older children haul water to their homes providing the mothers a way to cook and clean for meals. The children must wait in line at the well, hand pump  enough or haul a bucket up from the bottom, to walk home hoping you save more than you lose. The children from 5-10 years old carry gallon sized jugs and the older children, if lucky enough, have 5 gallon buckets to fill.

 

Putting a well in this area means making water accessible to many.

 

·  Clean Kids; Keeping the children clean would cut down the risks and problems of disease. In 2013 we treated 14 children for 6 weeks for "gray spot" which is a fungus on their heads caused by lack of cleanliness. We have treated many children for stomach parasites as well due to unclean water and not being able to wash food before cooking.

·  Clean homes; The children all sleep on dirt infested floors causing horrible respiratory issues keeping them sick. With access to water the moms will be able to keep the floors a little more dust free! Washing plates, cups and silverware will be a sure way to keep cross contamination from happening helping everyone keep healthier.

·  Watering a Garden; We have tested our agriculture plan and planting a garden in this area will provide fruits, vegetables and spices to give better nutrition to the families and feeding program while also giving jobs to locals.

Thanks to a friend of EHM, Sandi Turner who applied for a grant from Ershel Franklin Foundation, we have begun a well! Hiring Komsu, the husband of one of our moms we are on our way to accessible water. In the photos shown here you can see how the men partner together to dig by hand and haul up the dirt to dig 125 feet until we reach water! We began on 1/18 and within 2 days the men were already 8 feet down! Fritznel says he expects these hard working and eager for water men to have the well finished by the end of Feb! We were able to put the well in the yard of our granny Magge who just recently turned 84. This yard is a 2 minute walk from our feeding program and we are SO excited to enjoy the blessings that God has provided! Please join us in prayer for this adventure and project. Safety, joy and strength for the men and for everyone to see God's faithfulness!
 

     

 

Silver and Gold I have none

Being a white foreigner in the "First freed black nation" is the primary reason I get asked "give me one dollar" anytime I go out of our community. This week I was asked this question and I told the 3 young boys (9-12) that if they're going to ask for something they should ask big. Ask for $20- not $1.

That's what our Father God wants from us; to ask big, dream big and desire big!

Later that night, I was sitting down at the same park and spotted a "crazy man" eating food from half of a to go box that a man nearby gave him with a few scraps in it. Torn pants, half a shirt and what looked like a glimmer of an earing I wondered what made him "crazy"? In St. Marc where we live & Montrouis where we do ministry we have lots of people who wonder the streets, walk aimlessly in front of vehicles and rarely have clarity when I want to talk to them. The are "crazy" to the locals but I wonder what got them to that point. There is no assisted living homes here, no homeless shelters or food banks so I wonder, "how do they make it?"

 

This one man made something click in my heart as I began to pray for him from afar. I prayed the "normal" prayers for strongholds to be loosed, chains breaking and freedom to come... but surprisingly nothing changed and I was expecting freedom with evidence immediately and nothing looked to be different in him.

My prayers changed that moment. That moment made me look inward. What do I lack that kept the Word of Truth setting that man free from his bondage? Do I lack faith, sincerity or the belief that I carry Jesus' authority which will make every knee bow? Because I read that I do have that same authority based on His Word.

So again, I share with you, my prayers changed. I pray there comes a day that I can say, "Silver and gold ($1) I have none, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk (be set free)" like Peter said in Acts 3:6. I pray that you and I can walk in that much faith, to be able to speak and see the mighty hand of God at work.

 

Today Lord, I ask you to increase my faith and forgive me for my lack. I pray that you show me HOW to ask bigger, dream bigger and desire bigger for your kingdom to come and your will to be done. In Jesus Name

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year End Update

Happy New Year! We pray this year has been as exciting for you as it has been for us. We have so many things to be thankful for as we reflect on what He has done through Empowering Haitian Moms ministry. December was the anniversary of Stacie moving to Haiti & our 1 year anniversary for the feeding program. That’s where we want to start with praising God in our year end letter!

I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations I will sing praises to your name. 2 Samuel 22:50

Dec 24, 2012 was the day the Lord led us to begin a feeding program in Bo Lise, a small hilltop in Montrouis. The goal was to help the 3 moms & 15 children that we had been helping since 2011 and had school sponsorships for. Everyone knows it is harder to learn anything on an empty stomach & since the children didn’t have a lunch break at school we knew most of them were not eating much more than a pack of crackers until dinner time. With that in mind the Lord prompted us to serve lunch 3 days a week to help the children’s minds grow as well as their bodies. Being servants of Jesus we know that “man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4, so we saw this kind of poverty as the open door to the gospel, to help them grow more in love with Christ, the Savior. This year on Christmas day we fed 150 people the “Freedom Food” which is pumpkin soup. When the Haitian people were enslaved they were not allowed to eat pumpkin so it fit that we should celebrate the birth of the One who set us free with a meal that represented freedom.


Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed. Proverbs 16:3



1st Community Toilet!

God knows the plans we make for our own lives but we are here to tell you His ways are better & His thoughts are higher! While we thought it was just a way to help our 3 moms & serve food to 15 kids, God had HIS way on that hilltop. Recapping 2013, we are OVERWHELMED with His goodness and want to inform you that every day on that hill God places an average of 150 people who are being filled with His Word & receiving nutrients to their physical bodies as well. That’s 150 lives impacted & an average of 1,800 meals a MONTH because of supporters like you.  

Every family received 5 gallons of clean water

In addition, God has done so much more in Haiti this year such as; 17 children were healed of parasites, babies were born healthy to moms who are continually being educated about post & prenatal care & reminded that God has the utmost confidence in them to raise HIS children. Teams came to teach, encourage & strengthen while relationships formed around the families in Bo Lise and our school sponsorship tripled in numbers. We began an English class, rented transition homes, improved homes with roofs, toilets and bunk beds but most importantly because Jesus being our #1 focus, we began investing in the woman with job training, skills and micro loans that allow them to become self-sufficient, depending on God as the provider and no one else!

Fritznel and Stacie were married in April surrounded by friends and family from both Haiti & America & are still awaiting Fritznel’s residency approval. A few board members came to Haiti this year while the others are making their plans for visiting in 2014 with many more projects, teams & medical clinics forming. If you’d like to know more about these trips please email us at empoweringhaitianmoms@gmail.com and we’ll let you know how to get involved and come be a part of the exciting adventure.

Thank you so much!

We just want to take this time to thank every person who supported Empowering Haitian Moms this year. Every thought and prayer counted and we can testify to God hearing and answering! We are ending the year 2013 by celebrating the birth of new chapters in EHM and especially the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In His Love,

Fritznel & Stacie Ulysse

A Full Tank Of Gas

Fritznel VERY happy to drive it home
from customs!

I am ecstatic! Over flowing with joy! Blessed! Thankful and praising God for the testimony I get to share with you about our truck project. As most of you have read in previous blogs we needed a vehicle for Empowering Haitian Moms for many reasons. I was amazed that God brought one to us as a gift only 12 days after being in American to raise $7,000 for it. We got our home rent free when I moved here so I DID expect God to do the same for us with wheels! He loves to give GOOD gifts!
So the process behind getting the truck here has been a learning experience that I would love to do again. I am sure it has been difficult for some and it wasn't exactly easy but I felt God's grace through it all. As you read further know that God is the PROVIDER.. not for me only but for you too. I am not any more special and I want to show you that God can do ANYTHING He wants!



 
Here are the amazing things GOD did for EHM with our truck...


Millie HAPPY with her
"machine"!

• He gifted EHM a 9 seated SUV that I drove 22 hours to FL for $439.00
• Before I left St Louis we called Monarch Shipping Co. in FL. and asked them how much it would cost and they said $1,500 to get the truck ON TO the boat... when I got there it was only $900
• The day after it arrived in Haiti, Fritznel was able to get there with our contact and removed everything from the truck! Nothing missing... nothing broken~ just like we prayed! The customs didn't look through anything we had and we emptied it ourselves. The peanut butter was a little warm and the marshmallows.. well they'll be melted down anyway!
• Paper work took us 7 business days to complete and receive the truck
• The director said we needed to pay $4,675 but our contact got him down to $2,500!!
• After plates, insurance and paying our contact our TOTAL for our new ministry tank is $3,212 on the Haitian side. Total of $4,551 for our new wheels!!

Everything piled into our living
 room from the truck

I have to admit that the past 2 months while waiting for this truck to come here has been stressful for me since we didn't reach our goal of $7,000 but God had prepared the way for His name to be glorified in other ways!


Even the rooster loves the truck!
(His reflection is a threat!)

The best part: Our contact said, "You serve some God... I've never seen anyone leave with a full tank of gas!"

We are so blessed and appreciative of everyone who has prayed for us and has been any part of

getting this vehicle here to Haiti. Our teams will be comfortable and we are arriving to our ministry safer thanks to you! :-) We would absolutely do this again!