Acknowledgments

Due to time constraints, other letters will have to come after I'm home. I am terribly sorry about this, but I want to thoroughly think through each letter, and I want each child to have their own day with no other posts.

Thank you to everyone back at home who emailed me words of encouragement, posted on my wall, sent me messages, commented on my blog posts, prayed for me constantly, sent me letters and even packages – your presence sustained me in more ways than you can know. Thank you especially to Rachel Schloneger, Grace Chen, the Fader family, Marissa Chester, Lisa Boehr, Vicky Wong, the Paternoster family, Janet and Andrew Chen, my family, Liz Galpin, and Herbert & Mary Lynne Swick for sending me letters. I treasured each one I received.

Thank you to my church and my family. You prepared me well. I would not be who I am or where I am without all of you investing so heavily into shaping me.

Thank you to my trusty old backpack. You've seen me through many a harrowing experience since seventh grade, and I appreciate you and your purpleness greatly.

While I'm thanking inanimate objects, I have to say a word of gratitude for my computer. You have been such a faithful companion. There were times when I was sure you would cease to work, but you always pulled through. Thank you for tolerating dirt and grime on your beautiful white cover. I'm sorry about all the bugs that have crawled through the keys and cracks into your system. I'm sorry about all the times I accidentally allowed spit-up to splash up on you. Thank you for so diligently holding my 3000 photos from this trip. Thank you for playing me music each day. I appreciate your services with all my heart.

Thanks also goes to my books. I love you, books. I'm so glad you came with me to Haiti so I could read you.

Thank you to Ramelle for taking such good care of me at the airport and for making the start of my trip to Haiti a very favorable start indeed.

Thank you to all the GLA staff who are graciously willing to allow volunteers perpetually invade their space and their territory in order that these children might know the love of Jesus. The opportunities you are giving to countless people to experience what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ to the orphan is truly important and I am extremely grateful that you have given me this privilege. Thank you especially to Holli for coordinating all the volunteers and for meeting our many needs, to Brandon and Nikki for welcoming me into their home each Friday morning and for providing a place of worship each Sunday, and to Molly, Joyce, and Melissa for hosting me in their living quarters for such a long time. Thank you to Lilly for being my constant companion and friend; you are welcome to visit Michigan any time! And to all the staff, thank you most of all for your dedication to loving these children and providing them with good homes.

Thank you to my roommates for being kind, courteous, and (for the most part!) very enjoyable company. Thank you especially to Beka, Vanessa, and Ganene who had to put up with me for the longest out of anyone else and whose companionship was an important part of my trip here, and thank you to Wendy for being like a mommy to me, for making me tea when my tummy hurt, for doing my laundry, for showing so much interest in my life and who I am for the two weeks she was here. And to Marguerite: you may not have been my roommate, but I sure did spend more time with you than any other volunteer. I think you're amazing. Thanks for everything.

To Elie Lafortune – thank you for visiting me. Seeing you not once, not twice, but thrice, was certainly a highlight of my trip to your beautiful country!

To the children of OEBC: the day that I spent with you is priceless to me. Thank you for including me and welcoming me with open arms into your community when I first arrived here in Haiti. Serving alongside you was an honor like none other I have ever received. Worshipping God with you brought me a great joy that I will not forget. I'm sorry that I was never able to come again, but I have thought of you each day. May the Lord bless you and may you know who you are in Him – princes and princesses of the King.

To all of the nannies and nurses and cooks: the work you do is so important. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for dedicating your life and your energies and your passions to making it possible for these children to live and grow and thrive. Your work is not in vain. Thank you for extending graciousness to me as an outsider. Thank you especially to Esther, Margaret, Jisclyne, and Patricia. Your friendships have brought me great joy and eased the homesickness. And to Claudia: this would have been a completely different trip without your joy and love in my life. You've been like a mother to me.

To the other children of GLA, particularly the children of the Main House: I love all of you. I really do. Each of you brings something unique and wonderful and special to the table. Each of you is beautiful. I wish that I could have spend time every day with every single one of you. You are all phenomenal people, and I am stunned, absolutely floored by how amazing you are.

To the biological parents and especially to the birth mothers: thank you for giving life to your child. Thank you for being brave enough and strong enough to bring them into this world. May God protect you. May He be your portion, your strength, your deliverer. May He ease the aching pain that must never go away completely. It is an aching pain that this whole world must suffer under until finally one day every knee must bow and tongue confess. Until then, there are only groans of a world in need.

To the adoptive families: you are in my constant thoughts and prayers. Thank you for reaching outside of your world of comfort and safety and making room in your hearts and your homes for these orphans. This is pure and undefiled religion. Caring for your children has been an honor – they have blessed me more than words could express. I have learned to love them deeply, and I have cared for them as best as I know how to, but they need you. They need families. It gives me great comfort to know that they will have you to bathe them and clothe them and feed them and hold them and teach them to walk in the way of the Lord. May God give you strength as you wait to bring them home, and wisdom as you parent them. Thank you for following the call of God on your life to adopt. You are playing a pivotally important role in God's redemptive plan for this broken world.

To my children: you have been my home away from home. You have loved me like none other here in Haiti. Each day you have brought me joy. God has answered my prayers and given me a great and enduring love for each one of you. Your faces are a reflection of your Creator. Thank you for loving me, for letting me hold you and rock you and sing to you, for laughing with me and crying with me, for letting me change your diapers and give you candy and wipe your snot, for sharing in life with me these past ten weeks. At your mere smile, it is as if a flood of warmth and happiness streaks throughout my whole body and heart and soul. I marvel at the people God has made you to be. You are beautiful, you are intelligent, you will do great things through Him and for His Kingdom. You are sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. You are princes and princesses. You are priceless and beloved. May you dwell in that truth for all of your days. I praise God because of you. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you his gospel shalom both now and forevermore.