How one baby boy saved 46 girls...

This story & video was posted on AIM's blog this morning... imagine an infant boy abandoned and brought to an all girls orphanage. An orphanage that does not take in boys. Yet, because of how small he was they decided to take Charlie in... and that decision saved the lives of all the young girls living there. Listen to (or read) the full story to find out how...

A Life Laid Down from Adventures in Missions on Vimeo.

Vaccinations & a minor freak-out

This morning, after having pneumoccocal, Tdap, typhoid, and H1N1 vaccinations pumped into both my arms, the Doctor at the travel clinic took one look at me and asked me to lie down for a few minutes - I'm guessing I looked like I felt, as if I was about to faint. And lying there I had another one of those "what-have-I-gotten-myself-info" moments where the reality of going to Haiti hits me (its been happening more and more) and I get a bit overwhelmed...

I have 33 days left in San Diego.

I have a return ticket as far as Atlanta. But, beyond June 30th arriving in Atlanta, I do not know what the future holds.

And, of course there is the fact that I have no idea what the future holds for me in Haiti itself.

Lying on that paper sheet on the bed in the Doctor's office I have to admit, I kind of had a minor freak-out moment of "what am I doing?!". And then I remembered my devotional from last night, "Character creates courage" and was encouraged.... so I thought I would share:

All you who put your hope in the Lord be strong and brave

~Psalm 31:24~

A legend from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear... until he met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger - so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused o help "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."

Sound familiar? How many people do you know who have the formidable exterior, only to tremble inside with fear?... We face our fear with force... or... we stockpile wealth. We seek security in things. We cultivate fame and seek status.

Bud do these approaches work?

Courage is an outgrowth of who we are. Exterior supports may temporarily sustain, but only inward character creates courage.

I don't feel the need to cover up my anxiety or fears or concerns, I'm human and although we all say we need to "walk by faith, not by sight" it really is easier said than done. I know I need constant reminders.... I'm the first to admit I really, really, wish He would just let me see a glimpse of what life after Haiti will look like. Most of us, if we're really honest, have doubt and fear when it comes to totally trusting God to take care of things. I'll admit to my doubts and my fears, but I'll also put my hope in Christ to prepare me for the future, whatever it holds, wherever it may be.

Hope & Strength

I was thinking tonight that life right now feels a little bit like when you're trying to catch a wave on a surfboard.

Not that I can surf. I have a long history of being a "learner". The fact that there's been a longboard propped up against my living room wall for the past year, untouched, attests to that.

But from my "attempts" at surfing, I feel like the last few months have mirrored the process of trying to catch a wave. One of the hardest parts (for me at least) is getting through the white wash before you can even begin to think about catching the wave. Setting out my journey to Haiti felt a lot like getting pounded and tossed around in the white wash (for which I have lots of experience). But, with a clear end goal in mind I set out and God has gotten me through to some semi-calm waters where I've hung out for a bit, waiting for the right wave.

As support has been pouring in and things have really begun to fall into place I've felt a bit like I'm at the part where I see my wave coming and I start to paddle, trying to gain enough momentum so that I'll actually be able to catch the wave. That's where I feel like I am right now; I'm almost done with my own momentum. I'm tired. But, I can feel the wave picking up. It’s about to take over and soon it'll be time to stand. It's exciting and nerve wracking all at once. The fear of falling vs. the thrill of possibly getting to stand and let a power bigger than me move and carry me....

I believe if we're growing, we're going to be out of our comfort zone. There are a million reasons why I could have rationalized and said "no" to going to Haiti. But all the support and love that has come in from family, friends, and even strangers has made it pretty apparent that saying "yes", regardless of how I felt, was the right choice. To have people who barely know me reach out and support me has touched my heart in ways I cannot even put in to words... By supporting me, know that you are walking the walk - you are not merely listening to the word, you are doing what it says (James 1:22). It moves me so much that you are allowing me to be your representative of Christ in Haiti. I'm so humbled that God has chosen me to help build His kingdom. I have moments where I wonder if there's been a mistake, I can't possibly be the right person for this job...

A special thank you to the 5PM hospitality crew @ the Rock. Thanks so much for your support & letting me share my story a bit with you tonight and for those of you who headed out to Rubio's to show Haiti some ♥! Kim S. & Chris your contributions to my trip are much appreciated. Ruben M., your generosity leaves me speechless.

And, for anyone who may be tired, feeling like you have been struggling through the white wash, remember and believe in God's promise that "those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31).

Faces of Haiti

We're finding out a bit more about the details of where/how we'll be spending our time in Haiti. AIM is stressing that as Logistics & Setup continues to put things together, we need to remember that plans are always subject to change. God is, after all, allowed to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants! So, it is entirely possible that God may change some of these plans, but here is what is in the works (I'm excited!!!):

1) Haitian Christian Missions ( Fon Parisien, along Haitian/Dominican border) - teams here will be working on building housing for refugees who have fled away from Port-au-Prince in light of the earthquake. They will also be assisting in an ongoing medical clinic providing aid as well as a feeding ministry. There is talk about the preliminary building of a new orphanage to meet the needs of the recent influx of orphans. They will either be tent-camping or sleeping on the balcony of the main building within the compound. The contacts are both Haitians who have lived in the US.

2) Mission of Hope (Grand Guave, an hour up the coast from Port-au-Prince) - teams will be camping in a compound along the beach. They are currently rebuilding this compound as it was destroyed in the earthquake. The needs of this area are ministry to the orphans, teaching English in their school, construction, and serving in the local church.

3) Renmen Orphanage (Port-au-Prince) - This is actually a catholic orphanage that suffered some damage during the quake. It is mostly girls at this orphanage, but the need for discipleship, construction, and outreach to the community around are HUGE right now. One of the contacts is a Canadian priest who is very open and welcoming to other denominational groups. Tremendous ministry opportunity here and teams will also be camping within the compound.

4) Pastor Jean-Claude (Fon Tamara, suburb of Port-au-Prince) - This man is incredible! Tremendous heart for the Lord and for transformation of his community. Teams will be serving in "tent cities" putting up tarps and temporary housing along with feeding/outreach ministries. They will also be serving with Pastor JC in his church by teaching, preaching, and discipleship.

(kids in the picture are some of the faces of the beautiful children at Pastor Enoch's, another community AIM has partnered with in Port-au-Prince)... can't wait to love on these kids... only 40 more days!!!

"Do it afraid," but DO it

"What we have is based upon moment-to-moment choices of what we do. In each of those moments, we choose. We either take a risk and move toward what we want, or we play it safe and choose comfort. Most of the people, most of the time, choose comfort. In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

So I know we’re not supposed to be afraid (2 Timothy 1:7) or anxious (Philippians 4:6) but let me be real and say ya, I'm slightly afraid and kind of anxious about going to Haiti.

There are the more obvious and usual safety/health issues that most of my family and friends have brought up and are concerned about. Come on, who likes the idea of living in tents with giant tarantulas and centipedes crawling around? Both get close to 20cm in length, by the way. And there’s the fact that sometimes I don’t exactly have the strongest constitution when it comes to staying healthy in foreign countries (oh Ecuador, how I loved you and your amoebas and parasites ADORED me). But the biggest fear I am actually struggling with is the fact that I may have to leave for Haiti with my work authorization status not processed. What does this mean exactly? As a Canadian on a temporary work visa (eligible for yearly renewal, mine expires it just so happens in June), if I leave the country before it gets renewed I revoke my rights and have to go back to Canada and through a NEW application process all over again. In the simplest of terms, if I go to Haiti before my application gets processed I won’t be able to get back in to the US, to life as I know it, unless I can get a new visa.

I’m a planner by nature and the temporary status of my life in California since school finished in 2008 has been something I’ve struggled with for the past two years. I have zero job security – my contracts are on a semester-by-semester basis. My work authorization is temporary and I need to apply for renewal on a yearly basis. Having to acknowledge how little control I have over my life frustrates and unnerves me. Because, like most people, I want to be in control of my life.

I know God has been working in me to bring me to a place of complete surrender in relation to this specific issue I have with control. And it is becoming ever clearer that going to Haiti is a key part of this process. I’m not sure it’s ever been so apparent to me that I’m supposed to do something in my life... the way God is providing for all aspects of this trip has been incredible to experience. It has also become apparent that by going to Haiti I may be forfeiting everything I love about my life right now. I LOVE my life in San Diego. Even though there isn’t the job security I would like, there is nothing else I would change about my world here. I live in a city where the sun shines 90% of the year. I have a fantastic job with an amazing schedule that lets me spend weekdays outdoors. I love my students – their life stories are inspiring (most of them are recent immigrants), they are hardworking and motivated to learn, and they motivate me to be a better teacher. I have a great apartment with two wonderful roommates. The sweetest dog. Kind and caring friends. I'm in the best shape I've ever been. My walk with Christ is the strongest its ever been. I'm a part of the best church community I’ve ever experienced. I could go on and on in all the ways I’ve been blessed here. I want to keep this life so badly. To be brutally honest, I do not want to go to Haiti if it means giving up my life in California. And admitting this makes me pause. It scares me. I want it too much, I’ve gotten too comfortable. And that is why I know it is so important to GO. Loving God means obeying Him. It means being prepared to sacrifice what is important to you, what you want for yourself, and to trust that He wants and will give you things even greater than you can imagine when you walk in His will. Walking by faith, not by sight. If my work authorization doesn't get processed, I will have to take a step of faith and trust that if He wants me here, He’ll bring me back.

I am confident that God has blessings and new opportunities in store for ALL of us – the key is we must take steps of faith. Doing things we might not “feel” like doing. Things that might not even make sense to us (or our families and friends). Things that might make us wonder at first if they will even work (when I signed up for Haiti I had no clue how I would get the money, I felt like it was the craziest thing I’d ever done, my family was less than thrilled initially). But to receive these blessings/opportunities we have to trust God more than what we might personally feel, think, or want.God wants us to be like Peter and the disciples in Luke 5:5; after fishing all night they were exhausted and had caught nothing. Jesus asks them to lower their nets again. At Jesus request Peter says “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets”. What happened? They caught so many fish that THEIR NETS BEGAN TO BREAK! God wants our attitudes to be like Peter’s. Maybe we don’t feel like/want to do something. It might not even seem like a good idea to us or others. We might be fearful that none of it will work. But, we must make the choice to obey God rather than obey the fears or feelings we have. I guess I’m going back a bit in theme to the blog I wrote on fish growing to the size of their environment... the devil can use fear in many ways to keep us in small ponds and prevent us from receiving the blessings God wants to give us.Joyce Meyer writes that "the feeling of fear or fearful thoughts is simply our enemy Satan trying to distract us from God and His will for our lives. We may feel fear at various times in our lives but we can choose to trust God and if we need to, 'do it afraid'."Even if we feel fear, we need to focus on God and launch out for bigger water, confident of receiving the blessings He has in store for us.

I would love to come “home” to San Diego and the life God has blessed me with here. But, I can’t let my fear of losing it stop me from the plans God has for me. I fully believe in God’s promise of having “plans to prosper [me] and not to harm [me], plans to give [me] hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)”. And so God is bringing me to a place of complete surrender. I realize that the only way to be free and receive His blessings is to let go of my illusion of control. And I’m ready to be free. I ache to be free – the kind of freedom that’s only found by completely surrendering your will to Christ. By going to Haiti I choose to take a risk – to move towards freedom, to walk away from playing it safe by choosing comfort. I want experiences that make me more like Christ. So this is me, hands high in the air, waving a white flag. I’m done trying to control. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know and trust the ONE who holds the future. And I want HIS will, not mine, to be done... because, after all, His plans are always better than ours.

Haitian Rains Create Quandries

Daily now the clouds gather and take on a dark persona, the winds shift and inevitably an incalculable number of free falling water droplets descend on Port-Au-Prince. The forecast for this week alone predicts several inches of rain will fall in this disaster stricken city.

The rainy season is a normal, yearly occurrence in the Caribbean, but this year it seems to be ramping up earlier than usual. With hundreds of thousands still displaced and living in homes of tarp and rope, sheets and string, and other makeshift housing in Port-Au-Prince and outlying areas, torrential downpours also bring even more fear. There is trepidation that rains will cause mudslides, flood communities and disease will rise among an already vulnerable population....read more: Haitian Rains Create Quandries

Blown away by love & support

This whole experience of fundraising has been absolutely incredible. It has been very humbling to ask people for support - I have never been the kind of person who has easily asked for help and so in that sense this has been a very valuable experience for me, to learn how to reach out to people and ask. Because, without you, there is no way I could go to Haiti. I do have the TIME to go, but I do not have the finances.

It has also been a HUGE blessing to see so many people respond to my request for support - whether your support has been financial, prayerful, or emotional encouragement, ALL of it has blessed me so much and meant so much to me!

Special thanks today to Kevin K. and Miriam H., your donations are very much appreciated. For anyone who is still considering supporting me financially, please note that St. John's Anglican Church (thank you in advance!) has notified me that they are sending in a substantial donation and once that gets processed I expect AIM to have the required $2000 for the trip. To be this close to having that amount already submitted to AIM absolutely blows me away - my deadlines were to be at 75% by May 1st and 100% by May 25th so thank you so much for helping me get there. Your love & support means so much to me.

However, note that while the $2000.00 does cover all my expenses once I am in Haiti, there are costs that are not covered in that, such as

• my return airfare to/from our launch point (we all will fly out from the east coast together)
• the gear I need (see list here)
• medical consultation
• shots/vaccinations/medication (i.e. malaria pills, etc.)

So, if you are considering giving, financial help is still needed. Please contact me directly (mdpiche@gmail.com) if you would like to help with any of the above areas that are not included in the $2000.00.

Half way there

Woohoo! I am now officially @ 50% which means...drum roll... my plane ticket will be booked shortly!

Thank you so much Mariko R. and to my Uncle Rodney & Aunt Annette for their generous donations!

Also, the Shipping Center of Little Italy ROCKS for making 200 copies at NO CHARGE of the flyer for my Rubio's Fundraiser on April 25th!

Team Blog

AIM has set up a team blog for us to share with all our friends, family, and supporters. This is the place where you can meet/read about the other people on my relief trip and keep up with what we are doing both before and during our time there.

When we are in the field, we'll get a chance to post videos and stories about what God is doing there so you can keep up with me while I'm away.

You can also sign up for email alerts so that every time there is a new post, you get notified by email! Check it out: http://relief.theworldrace.org/

Special thanks this morning to Josh C. and Juyoun P. - you guys are awesome! Thanks for your generous support - its helped get me to almost 50%!!!

Taco SUNDAY for a cause!

Forget Taco Tuesday.... its Taco SUNDAY!!!

Stop in for a taste of Baja at Rubio's (mmmm, fish tacos!) and help me raise money for my Haiti relief trip with Adventures in Missions.

That's right, whether you eat there, take food to go, or pick up a catering order, just present the flyer I posted to the cashier and Rubio's will donate 20% of your transaction towards my trip!

*NOTE* This offer is for the Point Loma Location only, on Sunday April 25th, 2010 between the hours of 11:AM-9PM. You MUST print & bring THIS FLYER when you order.

I need your support to get to Haiti!

This morning I got a call from AIM to let me know they are going to be booking plane tickets soon... just another little step closer to this relief trip becoming a reality. But, as you can see from the numbers I have posted on the right of the page, there is still a ways to go.

I wanted to thank everyone who has stepped up to support me so far - without your support I would not be able to head to Haiti. Each of your donations have brought me closer to the 50% I need to reach by April 19th to secure my spot on the trip, and ultimately (God willing) reaching 100% of the funds needed for me to fly out in June.

Please know that every little bit of financial support helps. There is no such thing as a "small" donation.

Each and every one of you who has gotten involved is responsible for sending me there, without you I would not be able to go. Marilyn R., Jessica P., and Joan K. your donations just came through - thank you so much! Elizabeth G., your generous donation was such a blessing!

I would also like to send a special thank you to George S. for offering to take in my dog Cooper for the entire month. That is a HUGE blessing and I am so thankful you have offered!

"If you want to walk on water, you've got to step out of the boat"

Someone once told me that freshwater fish, like goldfish, grow to fit the size of their environment. Keep them in a fishbowl, they remain a small fish. Put them in a pond, they’ll grow too large to comfortably return to a fish bowl. I’m not 100% of how true this is, but tonight as I sat on the beach listening to the surf and stared at the stars, for some reason I was thinking of how we are like freshwater fish (maybe because I spent the afternoon looking at fish and wildlife in Myakka State Park); kept in our comfort zone, our familiar environments, we’ll only grow so much as individuals. But, if we push ourselves outside of our fishbowls and ponds, out of the familiar and comfortable, the possibilities of our potential growth are endless...

Over the past 8 years I’ve sat on beaches, listened to surf, and stargazed in more than 6 countries, across 3 different continents. It’s been almost eight years since I was last in Florida, looking up at the night skies contemplating life. And, had you asked me eight years ago where I imagined life was going to take me over the next few years, I’m sure my answer would have been drastically different from the path God’s led me down. Before my summer in Florida in 2002, you see, I had never thought of leaving my fishbowl. That summer was the catalyst that led to my move to Ecuador, which ultimately changed my life in ways I never could have predicted. And now, as my trip to Haiti approaches, and I reflect on all the growth that resulted from my being willing to step so completely out of my comfort zone and move to a foreign country (where I didn’t know the language or a single person), I wonder how God will work change in my life through this very different, yet equally uncomfortable and very likely even more challenging, chapter of my life.

I really do believe that the more uncomfortable we are, the more usable we are. I am uncomfortable about going to Haiti – I often find myself asking God what use I will possibly be down there – I’ve always been squeamish with blood, I’ve never been handy with tools and building things... and I’ve always been more on the awkward side when it comes to meeting new people and sharing about my faith. Yet, there continue to be reminders to me that it is when we are weak that God is able to show His strength in our lives.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:10, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." We might see our weaknesses as detrimental, but our weaknesses are opportunities for God to show His strength in our lives. "God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27). In our weakness, He is strong. This encourages me (and you too, I hope) not to be discouraged by reproaches, needs, persecutions, and distresses. If our life is uncomfortable, we are useable. If we feel inadequate, He is more than capable. After all, "if you want to walk on water, you have to step out of the boat."The key is that we must never stop trusting HIM, and never stop rejoicing. "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4).

Tonight, as I sit here writing, breathing the salty sea air, and listening to the pounding surf of the Florida keys, I am very grateful for where God has taken me, all that He has brought me through, and for the fact that when I have been weak He has always proven faithful to His promise and given me strength. I am confident He will prepare me for however He wants to use me in Haiti. And, I’m thankful for this time of rest with my family before a new chapter of life. Most importantly, as Easter approaches, I am thankful beyond words for the greatest gift of all - that He so loved the world that He gave His son for all of us.