Santiago de Cuba- A roof over their head.

Joel, the babies and I headed down to Cuba once again this past march. Before leaving we collected funds in order to help rebuild his uncle's home after hurricane Sandy. We were overwhelmed with the generosity and genuine concern of our church community, family and friends. In a matter of days, we raised over $2000!

We really didn't know what to expect when we began thinking of fundraising for his uncle's house. As always, God came through and exceeded every expectation!! 

We stayed in his uncle's town of Santiago de Cuba for only 2 nights before we took a long 17h drive 'home' to Habana. Santiago is a beautiful town which sadly was torn apart by hurricane Sandy. By the time of our trip though, rebuilding was already underway... After months, the streets were finally cleared of all debris.

As all repairs, restorations and rebuild in Cuba...it will be a long time before all is back to the way it was. The government has not provided much aid and whatever donations of materials received by other provinces and countries are being sold at exorbitant prices. Our pastor in Habana was even telling us how the church collected a truckload of clothing for the Sandy victims. Unfortunately, the truck was intercepted by the police and everything was confiscated and never made it to Santiago.

Joel's uncle is still searching for the steel rods needed to continue the roof. For the moment, thankfully, the excess of funds we received have been used to build temporary tin roofing. Tin roofing makes the home feel like a furnace but at least protects them from the wind and rain. They have completely rebuilt the front wall and the side entrance has been cleaned out of debris and repaired. 

We cannot begin to express how grateful Joel's family is as well as how your generosity has blessed them and encouraged us. We are so thankful to all of you. Above all, we are thankful to God, to whom all glory is given! 

Here are a few pictures of before and during our trip.... and a few recent renovation pictures sent to us from his uncle. I will post updates as soon as I receive more news from family. :)

Debris from Sandy

Joel and his uncle Luis walking the boys down his street

The streets of Santiago - finally cleaned of all debris

Roof before

Roof before

Temporary tin roofing :)

The front wall completely torn down and house exposed.

Front wall - Rebuilt :)

Side entrance -wall and window gone, filled with debris

Side entrance rebuilt :)

Luis, Luis jr, Karelia, Joel & I

God knows....

Before I even begin, I know this blog is going to be a difficult one to write. I'm just so overwhelmed with emotion.

God you are so good.

You have blessed us so greatly.

I feel unworthy and am so humbled by your love.


(found in my drafts. Written march 29th 2010)

Emmanuel

My sweet Emmanuel...

I can't believe it has been a year since my last post! So much has transpired since last september and I will really have to set some time aside to write my thoughts, journey and all I have and still am learning. God has blessed us with another beautiful boy that has, just as his brother has, captured my heart. I am now on maternity leave enjoying my time with both of my boys.

I was worried before Manny's arrival about how we would manage with two children. As always, God has provided for us in so many ways. I will definitely have to blog specifically about how he has immensely provided for us soon.

But for now, I just wanted to thank God for bringing Emmanuel into our lives. For blessing me once again with the responsibility of being his mama. Thank you Jesus!!!!

Aleandro's dedication

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Dearest Aleandro,


Today September 11th 2011 was your dedication day and what a beautiful day it was. Mama and Papa, Westside, friends and family all declared, promised, that we will all lead you along this wonderful life ahead constantly pointing and guiding you towards Jesus. Know, my love, that you have a community of people around you that truly care for you. Authentic love does exist.

It is my deepest desire to have you live your life knowing that God loves you. It is my biggest prayer that you be able to turn to Jesus in any situation and that you trust that He will always be there for you.

I pray that you be filled by His spirit, that you be so in love with God and that you follow Him with all of your heart. You cannot even begin to imagine what God can do when you obey and follow Him.
Beleive, my son, that this life means nothing without God in it. Nothing else will ever fulfill you nor complete you.

I cannot force you to follow Jesus, but I will teach you all I know, I will share my heart with you, I will lead you by example and I will pray and pray and pray.
We will continue to live out Proverbs 22:6 for you and I will continue to pray for you all the days of my life.

I love you so much. SO MUCH. I love you infinitely. Jesus loves you even MORE.

Love,
Mama

My purpose..

I am heading back to Cuba in a month. Once again, plans have begun to visit my church and Pastor Gustav.. Since I will be in Cuba alone for a week and a half, I hope to have the opportunity to spend more time with the church whether it be in prayer, relationnally, serving or in worship. I pray that God give me this opportunity.









As well, once again, we hope to visit the orphanage.
Last year, we had the opportunity to bring toys to these 'children of the state' and play with them for a little over an hour. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I am especially fond of this one boy Hector - whom I hope to see again this year. He took me by such surprise last year when he hugged me so tight and with such love after I gave him his Buzz Lightyear doll. I had never felt a hug like that -ever!

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In my last post a year ago..I was amazed at the providence God had over our trip. How He brought donation after donation to our doorstep. I am assured that this year He will do the same. God provides.
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What encouraged me this year is God's wonderful 'coincidences' that lead me to wholeheartedly beleive that He is once more arranging for my trip. I had the opportunity last week to meet with a couple who were visiting our church. The husband is a missionnary who travels to Cuba 5-6 times a year working with the Cuban churches. There are not many organizations in Canada that go into Cuba. His wife gave me the website of the organization he works for (http://www.worldserve.org/) as well as his email.
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They have this program in which one may 'adopt a pastor'. As well, they bring down Bibles and bring support to the churches and missions of these churches. I will definitely be emailing this man this week in order to see if we can arrange that Worldserve come to aid to my little Cuban church and to see if there is any way they could contribute to my visit or any way I can participate or support with their mission and purpose.

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Another encourager was my friend Angie. She brought me a book today called God's Smuggler. It is about Brother Andrew who's mission field was Yugoslav in 1957. Not only was the title perfect (I have often refered to my Cuba travels as smuggle trips) but what was written on the back off the book jumped of the page...
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"Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture that I want to take to Your children across this border. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, that you make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see."

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This is my prayer every time I pass through customs. On one of my facebook picture blogs in 2008 I even wrote.."Praying once again that customs turn a blind eye. So thankful for the donations and opportunity."

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Now, to anyone, these may seem like simple coincidences..that I am reading into things too much..spiritualizing. Bah!!!...time and time again, God has done this for me before a trip. Time and time again, I have been able to bring my suitcases in. And every year..God has done more than the year before. Every year, we are challenged just a little more.

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I love my Cuba trips. I love seeing family. I love seeing many whom I consider friends.I love my church. I love the fact that the kids in the neighbourhood all know that I am the Canadian that brings gifts. I love to see the smile on their faces when presented with a simple gift. These trips are one of the things in my life that brings me such joy, they fill me, fuel me, give me a sense of purpose and always brings me closer to God.

Ohhhhhh one month to go!!! So excited!!!

3 months into motherhood. What Aleandro has taught me.

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- I never thought my heart was capable of containing so much love.

- I've realized even more than before how much I really love new experiences in life.

- God will work things out when you confess your fears to Him and place them in His hands.

- Babies grow really fast. The closet is in constant rotation. Take a picture of that 'favorite outfit' cause he may just wear it once.

- I never thought I could be so excited about the frequency and consistency of one's poo!

- Doing dishes, laundry, moping the floor now feel like great accomplishments in a day.

- Enjoy every moment. Dedicate this maternity leave to him. Everything else is secondary. I will never get these fleeting moments back.

- It's never too early to pray with your child. Ale and I pray together every night.

- My husband still needs to feel loved. Even though my heart overflows with love for Aleandro..there is still enough for Joel.

- My morning 'me time' devoted to spending time with God shapes my day. I am so thankful for it. It is so important. It fuels me.

- I have been humbled by the changes to my body and physique and battle every day with the lies to my self esteem.

- Joel is a fantastic father. It is ok that he does things differently than I do.

- My heart really hurts when my son hurts.

- Aleandro has taught me to look at everyone through a mother's eyes. It has softened my heart and is making me a better person.

- I 'can' do this.

- God must really love me to allow us to raise this little boy. He has given me such a great responsibility and every day I thank Him for the opportunity.

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His Word on my heart.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive and inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is Lord Christ you are serving."

- Colossians3:23-24

Definition of prayer

A friend of mine described prayer as such...I just had to share..

"Prayer is so beautiful..when someone sees your broken bleeding heart, picks it up and hands it to Jesus." -S.Rose

24 hours of prayer

Westside just made it through another 24 hours of continuous prayer. From my own experience and from what I heard from others this was very much needed. It was refreshing and reviving.

For myself, being a new mother, there are very few times that I get to sit in complete silence without any distractions, without a list of things going on through my head to do in the next minutes, hour or day.
I beleive these moments of 'intentional prayer' are much needed and unfortunately with the distractions of this world, they are sometimes difficult to acheive. Although Aleandro was with me, he fell asleep a few minutes into entering the room, so I really had the opportunity to sit.. be still with God..read His word and... just listen.

I left the prayer room refreshed and encouraged. I was reminded of God's promises. As I walked out, I felt like I was standing taller, feeling stronger, standing firmer in my faith and belief of who my God is and what He can do.

I returned to the prayer room that evening for community worship. It was intimate..so real.. so pure..so transparent.
I was amazed to see the walls filled with prayers, cries to God, requests and thanksgiving. It was beautiful. I saw the heart of God's people written out before me. God's heart through our prayers.

His Word on my heart.

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"You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not in ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets but on tablets of human hearts."

2Corinthians 3:3