WOOOOO WHOOOOO!!!

In case you didn't catch it. My last tweet said:

"100% funded for Haiti !!!

 Thank You God, Thank You, Thank You! 

He is Faithful to provide !!!"

You read correct - 100% funded.

Hoot, 

Holler, 

maybe even Dance a little :)!!!

and Praise God with me!!!

Stay tuned for a God Story about His Faithfulness....

 I will be posting it up tomorrow ;)

Almost there.

God is providing every step of the way.

Thank You God, Thank You, Thank You!

$605.23 left to raise for Haiti.

Almost there.

Last Day (!)

The winner for the $50 Barnes and Noble giftcard

will be drawn this Friday, September 7th.

TODAY 

is the LAST day 

to enter (!)

Don't miss your chance ;)

Give, Share, Enter now.

Give, Share, Enter to Win!

 I will be back in Haiti soon!

7 weeks

just 7

that's it now

 I will be at Well Being Orphanage, helping out there,

surrounded by children that I have already fallen in love with.

As well as ministering to a new children's home

filled with precious little treasures

called Loving Heart.

Can we say excited?!?!

But I need your help desperately!

My plane tickets have been purchased and all,

I'm ready to go, but there is one thing...

I'm still in need of donations!

Here is how you can help me AND enter to win a $50 gift card 

to Barnes and Noble that I will be giving away.

Every $25 donation= 5 entries

(So $50= 10 entries, $75= 15 and so forth)

...also...

Share my blog on Facebook= 1 entry

Follow my blog= 1 entry

You must comment on this blog post 

with the amount of entries you have

OR

 email the amount of entries to me at

 newmerciesdaily@gmail.com

Last day to enter is next Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Winner will be drawn and announced on here September 7, 2012

Fall Harvest

photo recently taken from my mom's garden

^" Then He said to His disciples,  
“The harvest truly is plentiful, 
but the laborers are few.  

Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest 
to send out laborers into His harvest.”
          
                                -Matthew 9:37-38

When I went to Haiti last summer (2011)... I KNEW I would be going back someday.

I was so moved by the people, the culture... the desperate need!

God put a love in my heart for the country.

But the question remained: "When Lord?"
"When could I go back again?"

I desired His perfect timing.

I work as a full-time (+) live-in nanny
and realistically it's not easy to go away for a week...

I also knew I needed to stay in my job.

It's hard to wait on The Lord sometimes.

Especially when you "feel" 

ready to jump on a plane and go back to help.

But I needed to wait on Him.

Seeds started to be planted in my heart

and doors of opportunity started to open up

 one. by. one. over this last year...

confirming His perfect timing for me to go back.

Last year, September 2011, I read a blog post

 from then, the Executive Director of the organization Visiting Orphans,

Amanda Lawrence (who is now a full-time, stay-at-home mom, to her handsome son Jordan)

Her post burdened my heart about

many mission trips being canceled during the Fall season.

I encourage you to click on the link and read it (awesome post)!

While reading what she had to say,
this verse she posted struck my heart:

^"Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" -John 4:34-38

Fast forward to this past winter,

I oddly enough kept thinking about sunflowers and sunflower seeds.

I began to write an email to a dear friend about sunflowers and how one must die

to itself to produce an even bigger crop the next year.

The sunflower seeds must be collected (harvested) though 
at the proper time.

My prayer continued:

"Lord, please clearly show me when to go back to Haiti." 

It was like a light bulb went off. 

What better time to go than the Harvest season?!

(I continued to pray... I would need to have a week off 

at the beginning of the kids school year, would that work out ok? 
It's a busy time of year to go.)

The very next day, after starting to write that email,

 I saw Katie Davis (a missionary in Uganda)

write this guest post about sunflowers.

While reading it, I was reminded of a favorite verse of mine

 that encouraged me going to Haiti the first time:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." -John 12:24

That day I read her post,

I KNEW what I needed to do. I had peace about it.

I looked on V.O.'s website and saw an October mission trip to Haiti scheduled.

They had just posted who would be the team leader:

It was Melanie, the same person 
that led the team I was on last summer!  
She had just agreed to lead another team there! 

I  was able to get that week of work approved off.

Thank You Lord!

 Quickly after, I announced to my close friends and family

that I would be traveling back to Haiti again in October.

During the spring months, 
I was continually reminded through verses about the Harvest Season.

During the summer months, 

while traveling throughout Michigan,

I passed more sunflower fields than I can count. 

More than I've ever seen in my life.

Beautiful reminders... again and again.

Thank you Lord!

The plane tickets have been purchased!

7 weeks and I will be back there again.

I am super excited! 

(Oh and about praying for laborers... did I mention this will be
V.O.'s largest amount of people going on a trip to Haiti to date?!
 All during a Fall month too!) 

Faithful Father!!!

 On a funny side note:

I can no longer eat peanut butter due to an allergy.

So last year, when I was in Haiti,
while everyone ate peanut butter,

I ate SunButter (made from sunflower seeds) on bread e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y.
A quick and easy thing to eat on the mission field for lunch.

humbled.

Photo taken by Karli Rose

It is hard for me to ask for things from people.

It's easier for me to ask for something

if it's for someone else.

But if it involves me, no way.

I hold my tongue. 

I decide that I need to pull myself up by my bootstraps

and figure it out on my own.

It's prideful. It's ugly. It creates a mess.

But I am humbled by God, 

His Holiness, 

by His mercy.

I need God

and I need help from God's people,

The Body of Christ.

My first trip to Haiti I didn't ask for help financially.

But this time around

(and in very recent days too)

God has shown me:

not once

not twice

but three times (!)

that I need to ask for help.

And The Truth:

That really it's not about me.

It is not.

 It's about giving up myself.

It's about becoming part of the bigger picture.

 

It's about people that are hungry and poor in every sense

physically and spiritually.

It's about going out into the world

loving and sharing The Gospel. 

 

It's about His Kingdom.

one that will never fade.

It's about His life in me.

It's about Him.

But I can't do it without The Body of Christ.

I need help.

So I'm asking. And I'm praying.

I need to raise a little over $1,500 more.

Every donation will go towards helping many.

I will be back in Haiti October 14-21.

If you are able to give, would you please give today?

And if you can't give, would you pray?

truly. i. am. humbled.

UPDATE (08/14/12)

I've created a PayPal "donate" button on the top

right hand side of my blog.  

Donations can securely be made through there as well! 

How to make a tax- deductible donation:

CLICK HERE: https://www.visitingorphans.org/cgi-bin/donate.cgi

THEN when it asks:

• Would you like to preference this donation toward the work of a specific team member or ministry? CLICK YES and WRITE: Alisha Bellows

Thank you!

Thank you to all who gave, donated, helped, prayed, encouraged, and came out to the yard sale this past Saturday. It was a big success! The weather was beautiful and I met so many amazing people in the community- truly, I am so thankful! I will continue to raise money while preparing to go back to Haiti this fall. Know that every bit (help, time, donated items, etc.) is dearly appreciated. 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

May God bless each of you.

p.s. -I made/laminated bookmarks for anyone to take at the yard sale and I saw this one left on the table with a rainbow of light around the picture. Remember my 7 beautiful colors God Story? I still see those rainbows everywhere and in perfect places... truly as it says below: "To God be the Glory"

My First Trip to Haiti

I thought I would share this:

It is pictures/video from my first trip to Haiti.

(Please pause music at the bottom of this page to watch. ;)

God really changed my heart in a BIG way through this trip.

And He continues to show me daily that it's not about me. AT ALL.

Can't wait to hug up these kids again...

Oh' Haiti, your on my heart!

 The other night,

 I dreamed about being back in Haiti.

Then in the last 36 hours, 

I've had Haiti on my heart 

again and again. 

I'm excited to go back there this Fall!!! 

So, so, so excited!

Does anyone feel called to come with me?

God Story--- Our Miracle Orchestrating God

I have an AWESOME story to share that happened yesterday... something ONLY God could orchestrate! I stand yet again in awe of You, God.

This weekend I was preparing to teach the Preschool Sunday School class. 

As usual, I was looking over the material for the lesson and praying. The lesson was about God orchestrating a miracle and saving baby Moses. I was so excited to teach the children this story! (Exodus 2:1-10) 

In my heart, I can just imagine the frightened mother nursing her son frequently... attempting to keep him quiet as she hid him. I wonder if she grew more bonded to him by the moment for three long months. Oh, how she must of felt as she placed him into that basket... 

(Could she have ever been prepared to know then the plans God had for this helpless little baby?)

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

God still orchestrates miracles!

E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y.

Things still happen that doctors cannot explain...

Come expecting a miracle because...

He still gives sight to the blind. 

He still heals the cancer.

He still makes the lame to walk.

(On a side note: Last February my kidneys were failing at an 80% rate. I was in the hospital on morphine for pain... when I was prayed over... and the next day God completely healed my kidneys and blood levels. Praise God! EVERY doctor tried to explain how that could happen scientifically, but couldn't give me any real explanation.)

When preparing for the lesson about God saving baby Moses... 

The Lord brought a 3-year old that I've met to my mind.

Before I even knew what the lesson was He brought him to my mind

and once again after I knew what I would be teaching... 

He brought this little boy to my mind again.

The 3-year old boy is an orphan, one I met in Haiti.

Perfectly named...
Moses.

(Funny enough...Out of all my favorite pictures from Haiti...

with so many children that I've fallen in love with there... 

my profile picture happens to be one I chose of him and I.)

Moses is a joy-filled child.

He is the happiest, most pleasant child to be around.

Despite losing his home (the orphanage) from an earthquake...

Despite living in a tent with no fans...

in a country where the heat index can exceed 120 degrees...

Despite limited food and clean water...

Despite no shoes...

Despite little clothing...

Moses is FILLED with joy. His laughter consumes you... and your left in smiles.

His giggles feel as if they are being poured down from Heaven above.

Moses is also unable to walk.  

 

And even despite this obstacle he is still full of laughter and joy.

When God brought Him to my mind the second time...
I grabbed some pictures of him to take to preschool.

                                                    After I taught the lesson (yesterday)....

  I pulled out a few pictures of Haiti and then a few of Moses

Pointing to the pictures... saying: 

"Boys and girls, Miss. Alisha went to a country called Haiti. 

There many people's homes look like this." (Pointing to a picture that I held up.)

"Many children there walk barefoot..."

"And many children have little food and water.

I met a little boy there also named Moses." (I held up and pointed to a picture of him.)

I explained a little more of his situation to them
and then said: "How about we pray for him.

What should we pray?"

Without skipping a beat...
 little curly headed, Maria holds up her hand really high.

I call on her.
"For him to have food and for his legs to work."

The preschoolers (mostly made up of 4 year old children) began to join me in prayer for Moses.

There are no words for that...

Maria's request and child-like faith was simply beautiful.

After Sunday School was over... something interesting happened during the church service...

 The message the pastor preached was on miracles.

The title of the message was called:

I remember thinking in my head: "If he preaches on the lame man (by the pool) who Jesus made to walk, that would be crazy."

He did.

Not only did he preach on it, 
but he focused in on preaching this miracle.

John 5:8-9:  "Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked."

(The man had an encounter with Jesus!)

God has a special plan for Moses' life. I just know it!

I pray... believing that he too will have an encounter with Jesus!

Let's STILL believe in miracles!

Let's believe...
 and let's praise Him! 

The first miracle Jesus did in my life:  

was when...

He took me in,
a sinner.

I repented
and He simply forgave me.

I was saved, 

I was born-again, 

I was cleaned.

I was given the greatest gift ever... Jesus.

A gift that NEVER fades. To have forever. Always.
Now for all eternity I can be with Him.

Now for all eternity I have hope. 
He adopted me.
God became my Father.
...and He made me royalty.
A daughter of The King.

A filthy, hopeless sinner I was.
No direction in life. No meaning in life.
THEN He came, gave me meaning to everything!

ALL by the powerful blood shed by Jesus Christ.

...this is the HUGEST miracle I've ever experienced to date.

You can experience this too!
(Have questions? Email me at newmerciesdaily@gmail.com)

Through Christ alone. 

He is Our Miracle Orchestrating God!!!

Airplanes

I love flying in airplanes. Up in the air, things look so small.

It's only on the ground when they are so BIG. 

                                   Circumstances in life can feel the same way close up- BIG!

Taken just before I flew over the Mackinaw Bridge years ago

I remember flying over Haiti, seeing smoke rise up to the heavens from burning garbage, and surveying the damage left from the earthquake, so many homes destroyed, so many tents everywhere, so many homeless.

I thought: Haiti needs help... MAJOR help... Haiti needs Jesus and they need Him badly! What could I possibly do to make a small dent for You in Haiti, Lord?

I also thought... each family, every person, from the first tent/home in Haiti... to the last homeless person in the streets- You know every detail Lord. You care about each and every person.... every single one of them. You know everyone on a very personal level, down to the hairs on their heads. You created each person Lord, unique, every strand in their DNA divinely formed.

Then I remembered: "God, You hold this whole world in Your Hands, You see it all from Heaven above, even me, this is not to BIG for You."

Look UP to Our Savior! Because that mountain of a circumstance that you are trying to move in your life.... is not too BIG for God!

Beautiful blue water in Michigan :) I took this picture years ago- about to fly over the Mackinaw Bridge

  

the numbers

While an estimated 163 million orphans worldwide may seem daunting...

 There is over 2 billion people on earth 

                                             who call themselves christian.

Sweet boy in Haiti showed me how he would keep the bracelet that I gave him... safe. See the bed sheet pulled up? That simple bracelet was precious to him and worth keeping safe. Children are precious too and worth making the extra effort to keep safe as well. If you are a parent, I'm sure you know a special love for your child...  

How much more does the Father love them as His children?

"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

Heartache

                      

It is with very real emotions and heartache that I share this story. Yet it is a story that I must share.

                ...Because you see, each detail was written by God from before time began.

                                                                  Dave Bompart
 

Dave Bompart and his wife, Nicolle have contributed greatly in caring for orphans through Eyes Wide Open International. They co-founded the ministry together.

Last week, Dave Bompart was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he picked up money to feed and care for orphans there. He was helping to build an orphanage for them and was getting ready to head back for construction. Soon after he picked up the money, the vehicle he was in was riddled with bullets. One bullet hit him. One right in the abdomen.

By miracle, Dave made it to a near by hospital in Port-au-Prince, one which he actually helped build after the earthquake. 15 units of deep red blood were then immediately collected by Haitians and Americans alike to help save his life. Two emergency operations were performed in Haiti. Money was quickly and miraculously raised for this one brave follower of Christ to be airlifted to Miami, Florida. There doctors performed multiple surgeries and procedures to save his life. Each day he lived was a miracle.

Thousands were connected and brought together around the world. Including me. Praying- morning, afternoon, evening, and in the middle of the night. Begging God to keep him here with his wife, daughter and adopted Haitian son. Inspired by this man's voice for the orphan and love for all people he came in contact with... I poured my heart out in prayer. I also poured it out in praise for the One who made him.

This afternoon, after a long, exhausting, good-fought battle-- I received this mass text from his wife: "FROM NICOLLE: Today is the day I never hoped would come & these are the words I never hoped to type. Moments ago the love of my life went to be with Jesus."

I know this: God is good.

Whether we understand or not, His plan is still good.

He is still worthy of praise.

Dave is with the One whom he loves more than anyone and it is in that, that we rejoice!


There is a dance of grief and joy.... joy and grief.

With heartache, the world lost a Godly man, and with heartache a new day starts tomorrow without him.

With praise, God brought thousands of believers together. Non-believers alike, saw God's miracles unfold day by day, all the nurses, doctors, and each one that laid their hands on him- saw a glimpse of God.

With Praise, "Big Dave" is no longer suffering, he is now face to face with Jesus!

With Trust in the One who made me... I will go back to Haiti and I will continue the work on behalf of the orphan.... because even though that bullet was meant for his destruction... to cause pain and fear in the lives of many.... something else happened.... death did not win, no.

                                                     CHRIST GOT THE VICTORY!!!

                                                                    Sunrise in Haiti

***Please continue in prayer as Nicolle and family- grieve, hurt and as they heal. As Nicolle puts it: "Prayer changes things"... yes it does... and much prayer is needed for them.