The Global Orphan Project

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, . . .

defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Proverbs 31:8-9

For the next 2 weekends, God is giving us the opportunity to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and we are humbly asking for your prayers. Sunday the 24th we'll be speaking at our church and Sunday the 31st Isabelle will be speaking to 4,000+ people at a Missions Conference in Texas. Both of these opportunities were scheduled before the quake - but we KNOW that God was fully aware of all that was coming and that He wanted us to be ready to share for Him & His children!

Here was a portion of Isabelle's prayer tonight as we prayed for her courage, boldness, & peace about speaking. "God, I only want to do the things you ask me to do. Thank you for giving me the chance to speak to people about orphans. Give me your words and help me to be more like you." Will you pray this with her?

We have a lot going on in our lives right now with our work, our home, Haiti, orphans, homeschooling, etc. We are experiencing some great exhaustion mentally and physically. (I hate writing that knowing our friends are working tirelessly in Haiti with little to no sleep & extreme conditions.) None the less, we are asking God to give us strenght to endure right now. Below I have listed some things we are focusing on in prayer. If you feel led, would you pray for 1 or more of the following with us? We say thank you!

We are praying specifically for:

1. Wisdom - God's words for His purposes

2. Safety as we travel & speak

3. Good weather - NO snow, ice, rain storms, etc.

4. Isabelle - boldness & courage to speak God's truth; protection from nightmares

5. Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of all who will hear her message

6. God will move the hearts of those who hear into ACTION!!!

7. John Michael challenged & encouraged in his faith; to have dry nights

8. Kevin & I to focus on God's purposes & to be protected from distractions

9. House - completed on time; good communication with our contractors; NO RAIN!

10. Work - for burdensome paper work, details, & organization stuff to come together smoothly & quickly

We'll keep you updated on God's work in the coming weeks. Thanks for partnering with us and being willing to lift us up in these days & weeks ahead.

There is still need for donations for the Relief Fund. You can make those donations at www.theglobalorphanproject.org Keep updated on Isabelle's blog for future projects. Isabelle has made the decision to put house 4,5,6, & 7 in Haiti - there will be more details to come on this - we will be looking to raise more funds with your help & support for more homes, schools, etc. She is hoping to have an "Isabelle Village" in Haiti in the future as the needs have become even greater than they were before. This is still very raw & very fresh as the EMPHASIS is on relief right now. She is very excited about this as are we - so we'll keep you updated!

House Updates

It's been a long week & we want to continue to emphasize the need for funds for the Global Orphan Project Relief Fund. 100% of your donations will go straight to the needs in Haiti . . .

http://theglobalorphanproject.org/donate/relief For information & updates, please visit http://www.theglobalorphanproject.org/ and click on BLOG.

It's been a very frozen, wet winter for us here & the progress on our house stopped for a few weeks, but this week the thaw began and they were able to do a few things. With warmer temps & sunny days the next few weeks, they are planning to make great progress. We are SO excited!!

See Kevin in our "front muddy" door. I love the gabel. It will be cute!

Kitchen area & front door

In Master Bedroom, door to the right is closet, door to the left is bathroom

The kids "patio". JM bedroom window. Kevin wants to put up a 6' basketball goal on the wall fo the kids to play with out here! Cool huh??

More patio - "Isabelle's side". Her window is on the left.

mechanical/storage room

John Michael's room & closet

Isabelle's room & closet

Looking to the East off our screened in porch.

Looking to the west on our screened in porch

West side of house

East side of the house

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake in Haiti

Our hearts are heavy with the news of the earthquake hitting Haiti. Please check http://artsfororphans.blogspot.com/ and http://www.theglobalorphanproject.org for updates and information. Please join us in prayer and in help however that is asked of us.

Who says I can't try to snowboard?

There are NO pictures of me snowboarding, but YES I tried! The kids spent 5 hours yesterday playing in the snow. It was 32 degrees, feeling balmy compared to today's high of 8! They loved every minute of it. This is Kevin's old snow board . . . the kids mastered it pretty well, but I didn't have the same luck. I fell every time & the kids just laughed. They couldn't understand why I had such trouble. . . I heard "mom, it's not that hard. Keep trying. I can do it." I tried to explain that I have to fall a lot farther than they do! So much love!
Only one small wreck . . . sled headed straight for the tree . . . no injuries, just laughs!
Snowboarding Experts!
Check out the looks on these faces . . . the sled turned and headed straight toward my legs as I was taking the picture. They thought they were going run right into me!

Sweet little snow angels!