You may think I'm crazy after reading this one. That's ok. Maybe I am. I've read countless stories from the Bible of ordinary people who lived out their faith in God and had seemingly impossible events occur around them—plenty of people thought they were crazy, too. I mean, really…in Numbers 22:21, Balaam's donkey started talking to him! Try explaining that one. Remember Noah and Moses? And even Jesus made a reputation for himself because people thought he was crazy—they even killed him because of it. 

We definitely experienced some "crazy" things while we were in Haiti. God truly moved in some unexplainable ways that left a big impact on all of us. You can believe me. Or not. That's up to you. But I can't even contain my excitement over some of the mind-blowing displays of God's power that unfolded before our eyes. These a just a handful of the "crazy" highlights…

Everyone has a story. A way in which you got to your current point in life. A series of events—and reactions to those events—that shape you into the person you are today. While visiting an orphanage in Carrefour, Haiti on Wednesday, August 3, I couldn't help but wonder what the stories were that surrounded each of the 70 precious children who lived there. It was surprisingly an extremely happy environment for toddlers all the way through 18-year-olds, filled with love, joy and respect. But you don't generally end up in an orphanage because of a string of uplifting memories. What lead each of these children to smile in this place? To laugh and sing praises together to the Lord?

There was another man that Devin and a couple others had met earlier in the week as well. This man too left quite an impression on them and they wanted to reconnect with him on that Thursday morning. After meeting him, I could instantly see why… Baptiste was easily the most selfless person I have ever met. 

The 5 of us who were out meeting with people in Carrefour were invited right into Baptiste's home as soon as he saw us. Amongst a neighborhood that had been quite affected by the destruction of the earthquake, his home was standing strong. It was actually the nicest home we had been in all week and was seemingly most "house-like" (in comparison to our American culture).

On Thursday morning, all 20 of us (plus the AIM leaders) had a time of singing, prayer and worship where we asked God what we should do that day. Some people felt lead to go hang out with children, some people wanted to continue splitting up rice and beans at the house, and some wanted to go out into Carrefour to meet people. I wasn't quite sure at first which direction I should go…

Before going to Haiti, I felt God was encouraging me to use my photography as a tool in some way. I had been following some of my favorite photographers' work and interviews. Jeremy Cowart's Voices of Haiti  was especially inspirational, as well as the work of Esther Havens, a humanitarian photographer who loves the Lord. In an interview she did with Matt Brandon, I was really compelled by her words and her story.

As far as where we stayed while in Carrefour, we were actually spoiled (at least to Haitian standards). AIM was renting what we affectionately called the "Mission Mansion". It was a two-story, 7-bedroom, 3-bathroom house with solid, complete walls and a functional, covered roof. The AIM leaders, our translators, Pastor Manny and a few of his church members stayed in the house with us all week. Thankfully, we felt very safe and truly blessed.

As I let on in previous posts about Haiti, there was an overwhelming need for basic essentials by pretty much every Haitian we met. However, what would seem the easiest place to assist—meeting basic, felt needs—actually proved to be more difficult than we expected. You see, we began to quickly recognize that although those "things" would help for a few days, the depth of Haiti's complex surrounding circumstances was extremely troubling.

This post is regarding what we actually did while in Carrefour, Haiti. We didn't actually have an "in-stone" plan when we got there. Each day ended up being very different. We started out with a focused time where we simply asked God, "What do you want us to do today? Where should we serve? Who needs our help?" We felt lead to do all sorts of ministry—in the process of being obedient to God's call, we met some felt needs, met some amazing people, and were each stretched on personal levels as we ventured outside of our comfort zones.

On the surface level, it was really cool to be able to meet some of the obvious felt needs we recognized while we were there. Here are just three of the highlights:

Since we've been back, there have been so many times I have wanted to write this blog post, each time not knowing how to even begin. God revealed SO much to each of us during our one-week stay—experiences and emotions that can't be fully expressed in words or shown in photos. In fact, it's taken most of our group weeks to process through what we saw, heard, tasted, smelled, and felt first-hand (internally and externally). 

One thing is for certain: as it is written in Acts 4:20, "We cannot keep quiet about what we have seen and heard."  I believe we experienced Haiti so that we could come back and be storytellers to our nation; to share encouragement and inspiration over what God is doing in Haiti, and what He did in, through, and around our group in our very short time there. 

So, buckle up… This entry, along with eight more to follow (yes, eight), are my attempt to share raw and emotional tidbits of our encounters in Haiti, as well as observations of American culture and lessons we learned. My prayer is that you don't read this as a journal of "what Chad and Amber did with a group in Haiti", but as a painted picture of what God is doing and how you can jump on board with His movement. May God soften, challenge and convict your heart as He did ours.

Back at the beginning of July, we had the opportunity to spend a weekend down in St. Louis with Chad's brother and sister-in-law, Kyle & Kelly. We crammed all kinds of activities into a couple short days. Great memories!

According to our blog, it doesn't look like we've been up to anything since May....a slight understatement. We've been super busy, which is actually why there haven't been any updates. :(  BUT, to make up for it, here's a long one ;)


Two weekends ago, Chad and I went camping in New Glarus, WI with two of our best friends, Aaron & Nicole. And yes, Sock Monkey came too. He absolutely loved being out in the wilderness. We camped in one of the walk-in camp sites, so we definitely got our exercise. Trails run from the thick wooded campsite areas, through the picturesque prairie section, passed the New Glarus Brewery, and all the way into the little Swiss town square of New Glarus. It's so beautiful and peaceful!

Here are the four aspects of our weekend that made it such a memorable getaway: