Day 14 | Bronlynn Morlan

I am such a blessed woman! I am not a regular on the mission trips but when I get to go some of my favorite memories are watching God work through my family and friends. I don’t add much to the work force and they don’t let me too close to the small children without doing a pat-down and a luggage search but I love to do what I can. Bill has such a passion for mission work and it has been passed down to our sons and I pray that it will be a passion for generations to come, and they will also want to travel to places where they can serve others. I know God has some big things in store for my family in the near future with additions to the family and growth in ministries. I am so excited to see what God is going to do and I feel ready for whatever it may be. Thanks for following us as we journeyed and your prayers are what made all this possible. I count it a privilege to call you my family and friends. I love you all and I will see you sometime Friday.

Day 13 | Bronlynn Morlan

What an experience! I have worked with children most of my life and a lot of them were needy children but none so needy as what I have seen on this trip. I knew that this would be the most difficult part of the trip for me because I have a tendency to want to “fix it” for the kids I work with. Well I can’t “fix this” here, but the most amazing thing I have learned is that they don’t want me to “fix it” because it’s only my eyes that see them as broken. I stood at arms length from most of the children to start with because of some past heart aches and wounds that this “foster mom” can’t get past, but yesterday I allowed myself to interact with a small girl and a 4month old baby and I was able to just play and not try to fix anything. Yesterday’s experience allowed me to be a little more open today as I worked with the children in VBS. I painted their hands for the craft and I asked them their names and we smiled and laughed as it tickled their hands. I also held a second baby and was able to hand it back with a smile. I must confess that I am not completely cured because I am trying to talk Bill into letting me bring Feto home with us so we can help him get the education he wants. Feto is 15 and in the 6th grade and he wants to learn English so he can work with his brother Johnny who is a translator for the mission and works very hard so that he can pay for Feto to go to school. Needless to say I have not convinced him as of yet but I don’t give up too easy! Some habits are harder to break than others, I guess? Thank you again for your prayers and comments. Much love to my family and my church family! I miss you all and look forward to being home on Friday!

Day 12 | Bronlynn Morlan

We had a great day at the house today! We SIFTED!! But that is not all, we learned a lot of Creole. Our interpreter worked with Allie and Emily in some fun and favorite phrases. I of course was standing right there but remember very little but the phrases they wanted to learn were: “I am hungry”, “I am thirsty”, “ I sift sand”, “Don’t cheat Jesus” to name the main phrases. “Don’t cheat Jesus” is the favorite phrase of our interpreter Robinson. He uses it on any of us that take a break to get water or stop sifting, however, he never uses it on himself. I believe I have found the Haitian motto also, “There is always room for one more!”. No matter if we are traveling in the truck, sitting in church, having dinner, mudding inside a 12x20 house, or watching taxis pick up their 10th passenger they never seem to turn anyone away. They said that VBS could only take 100 and they had to turn away children but I have since learned that we snuck a few extras in every day. I have learned a lot while being here both about myself and about life. I don’t want to take the time to write it all out here because there are many waiting to take their turn to blog but it is my prayer that as I return to the life God has blessed me with, and to those I share this life with, the changes will be evident in both actions and reactions. I had a humbling conversation today with the mother of the family we are building the house for and just to hear what her everyday struggles are and what dreams she has for her family. Thank you all for your prayers it has been those prayers that have made this trip possible for me. I love you and please continue to pray for safety and strength to finish the mission.

Day 11 | Bronlynn Morlan

Well I must say that Sunday has been my favorite day so far. We went to church down the hill instead of at their usual place of worship here at the compound. Evidently the church on the compound was having a special celebration service that was going to be anywhere from 7 - 8 hours with a few breaks for food. They were to baptize 40 people today in the driveway here at the compound as part of the celebration. That would have been awesome to see and I have loved hearing the music coming from the same church every night this week as they have been finishing up revival. They sang for what seemed like hours on the two nights of revival that I could hear. Our morning service had a guest speaker that spoke English and the pastor then translated for the Haitian church members. The “old people” hung out around the compound today while the “youngsters” took a great hike with great views. We sat around the playground and played a little soccer and watched children play. It was awesome watching Riley and Allie play with the children and learn some French Creole. We had an evening service with Logan leading worship in song and Bill brought a message. We are finishing up the evening with popcorn and an evening with Roger and Judy. I am constantly hearing about things I have missed while watching something else. I just heard about Tyler carrying an older lady out of church that had passed out and then helping with first aid for her. Our kids just never stop looking for someone to serve, the girls are struggling with leaving the weekend dishes for Mary Lou but they are not allowed to wash them. I don’t know what else the Lord has in store for me this week but I am ready to live every minute of this adventure for His Glory!! I love you all and I could never have done any of this without your prayers and encouraging words.

Day 10 | Bronlynn Morlan

Just when you think you can’t see more hazardous roads or driving God finds a way to show you just how wrong you can be. I took literally today the scripture in James that says “Pray without ceasing”, as we traveled to the church to work today. I prayed scripture, Psalm 100; I sang scripture, “I will call upon the Lord” anything I could think of to get me through the harrowing truck ride I had heard so much about. Well, I am happy to report that God gave us safe travel and the girls that rode on the truck the day before said it was a much better ride. I am so impressed with how hard the young men and ladies are working, they constantly look for ways to help and learn, and they try constantly to communicate with the children. God has blessed us with rain both today and yesterday after we returned from the job site. On the way home today there was a very black cloud hanging low over the mountain and we were sure we were going to get wet and have to end up walking out the road, but God held back the shower till we were safely home. Thank you all for your prayers not only for our safety and for the mission but please continue to pray that God would do a GREAT WORK in our lives and we would come back changed and ready for the mission God has for us at home! Mom and Dad I Love You and I pray that you are still feeling well. Bryson, Leandra and Jarren much love to you guys also. And to my Bible Study Girls, thanks so much for your comments and prayers, know that I love you and I look forward to when we study together again and share stories.

Day 9 | Bronlynn Morlan

Well I have decided that the last part of the driver’s test is a tetris puzzle or one of those slide puzzles that I had as a kid. You would have to experience the ride in the back of the truck to completely believe it. They have also provided me with a bucket to get up into the truck for all of you that were concerned, besides me, with just getting up into the ride. I had a great first day, but this city girl who just pretends to be a country girl is more than tired. Yes, just as was planned I sifted sand, and sifted sand, and then I sifted sand. I took one 15 minute break to carry a few blocks with Kenton because he was doing it by himself but then it was back to the sand and sift, sift, sift. It is funny you start out at 9am with energy and strength to move mountains of rock with shovels and sift and throw the large rocks and by 3pm you are focused on just maintaining any steady pace. We really didn’t have a lot of kids around the house today but a few of the girls played a little soccer with two boys but we were on the side of a mountain so it was a long run to get the ball when someone missed it. The plan right now for me tomorrow is to travel to the church site and, yes you guessed it, sift sand. We are also planning on doing VBS at the church site tomorrow and most of us will be working with around 100 children. Mom and Dad I love you and I sure am glad you are feeling better! Bryson, Leandra and Jarren I love you too! Bible study girls I love you guys too and thanks for your comments and I know that you are praying I feel them!

Day 8 | Bronlynn Morlan

I feel as if I have traveled 1600 miles in 36 hours, oh wait I have traveled 1600 miles in 36 hours. Praise God it has been a safe 1600 miles and I am praying for those that we “passed” in the airport who have yet to reach home. I think the most alarming experience for day one was the bus ride to the Baptist Haiti Mission Compound. I am unsure if there is any driving exam that a person must take to get a license here but I am sure that it involves how to properly use a horn and how to squeeze into impossible places. You would have to experience it to believe it! The playground is awesome. I haven’t seen any children playing on it yet but I look forward to playing with them over the next few days. They tell me I am going to the house to work tomorrow and I will be sifting sand and moving block. I don’t know if I can compete with all the commercials and songs involved with sifting so I should probably stick to moving brick. Thanks to all of you that are reading this, I know that you have prayed for this group and I ask you to continue with those prayers as we work hard to complete the mission. Also pray for our friends here at the mission they are going through a bit of a transition time and they really need our prayers for this great ministry. Dad and Mom I am doing fine and I will be texting you from Bill’s phone. Brice, sorry I missed you at the airport and know that I am praying for you and Leandra and your first visit tomorrow. It will be great, be yourself and you can’t go wrong. Jarren, sorry you couldn’t come with us, we miss you! Bible study girls keep praying! Love to all of you and I will survive and with God I will even thrive!

Day 6

Hello Family and Friends,
First off I want you to know that I really miss all of you! It is really hard being away from you for this long, but God is really using us here. This has really been a great experience so far and I anticipate even more great things. It is just so amazing to me that as beautiful as God has painted our little part of the world in West Virginia, He sculpted gorgeous landscape out here. There is so much to see and hear and learn here that I know that I will only just scratch the surface of the wonder of this area. Thank you so much for your prayers as we work, love and serve. Our kids are awesome here. They are constantly being praised for their hard work and determination. I know that it is from the great examples that they see working in their families and in their church. Keep praying for us, we have some things that are still uncertain and are leaving up to God but I know God will not cease to come through. We have some big jobs over the next few days and some of us “old” people are already feeling muscles that we forgot we had so please pray for the “oldies” especially. See you in one week!

Bronlynn