Sunday, January 2, 2011

Count down

In 9 days I will be leaving for Montrouis, Haiti. The day before the one year anniversary of the terrible earthquake that shattered thousands of lives. I will be working at Canaan Christian Orphanage helping the children with math. I am overly excited but also weary of what is to come. This will be by far one of the most life changing experiences I have faced. I cannot wait to see all the little children and learn about their lives. I know they will touch my heart unlike anything else and I hope to touch some of theirs.

All of this has happened so quickly, I only decided for certain to leave about 2 weeks ago. Thanks to all my friends and family I am able to make this happen. Everyone has been so supportive and understanding with my decision. Things in Haiti are still no where back to normal. Even a year after the destruction, new problems keep arising. In the last few months there has been a Cholera outbreak that has killed over 3000 people. Poor sanitation is the primary cause of this outbreak and there is not enough money or resources to fix it. There have been around 150,000 cases and in the next 12 months they are expecting that to rise to over 400,000 people infected. This country faces new problems every day. I cannot fix a whole country but I do hope to change a few children's lives and help to teach them to better their future. The truth is, most of these children are there to stay. They will face the problems of a third world country every day for the rest of their lives. Three months out of my life is nothing compared to what they face in their future. I hope to lead them and bring joy to their lives for the short period of time I am there.

This whole trip has fallen into place and I feel like it is definitely where I am supposed to be right now. I thank you all for your support. I don't know that any measures can prepare me for what I am about to witness, I just ask for all your prayers.

" In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul"
Psalms 138:3

2 comments:

Carolyn said...

Dear Amber,
I am a friend of your Mom and Dad's from Lumberton days. I was in your Dad's class from 1st to 12th grade.Your Mom and I have a lot of things in common...so much so that we began calling each other 'twin friend' a few years back. During our friendship,we've been praying for each other's children along the way. This brings me to say that I will be lifting you up daily while you are in Haiti. God bless you for taking time and energy out of your young life to help others. You will be blessed. I hope you will be able to add to your blog while you are there so we can keep up with you.
Love in Christ,
Carolyn (Davis) Cianciotto

Anonymous said...

Amber: you are in my thoughts and prayers. May God bless you in a way that you will know every day that you followed what God had planned for you. I will put you on our prayer list at church. A person can never get to many prayers. Take care of yourself. I pray that God will keep his loving arms around you on this trip and keep you safe.
Love Ya. Jo Gladden
Your favorite Cosmetologist, LOL