MEBSH Child Care

Dear Family and Friends,

It occurred to me this week that I haven’t talked about my job much in this blog. Normally, I mention all the fun, after-work activities or adventures I’ve enjoyed that week. This week, I’d like to tell you a little bit more about what I do everyday in the MEBSH Child Care office.

First, we need to ask the question, “Why was I sent here?” Primarily, I was sent here, to this particular field office, to fulfill the request of Madam Chavannes Jenue, known to the world in general as Marie Lucie, the director and administrator of Child Care. She asked the ACS (Apostolic Child Sponsorship) Board for assistance with the program’s bank reconciliations, sponsor/child correspondence, and general financial accountability. I work with issues in all these areas and a few others besides. Let me give you a theoretical vision of how the office is supposed to run. (Of course, as Rob Lehman likes to say, in the fog of war, it doesn’t always go as planned.)

The students are required to come to the Child Care office at least every three months for their support and to write and respond to any correspondence from their sponsors. At this time, Jean (receptionist, driver) checks for four items: a church attendance card, a report card, the last letter they wrote, and the last picture they had taken. When all is in order, he sends the students into the building where they either go directly to Pastor Amos for their support check or wait to see Marie Lucie about any questions or concerns. If they need shoes, books, extra money for food, a doctor’s appointment, or additional help, they speak to Marie Lucie about it. In turn, she will check their accounts and see what extra support they have available. We are able to help children who do not have any additional money for extras through a general fund called “Where Needed.” This is a huge blessing for the program as food and tuition prices have skyrocketed here in Haiti. When the student’s needs are met to the best of our ability, they go to Pastor Amos who writes the support check.

This ends the process for the student, but there is more to be done. The checks are all entered into Quicken, along with the deposits from the fundings for each of our support organizations. ACS is not the only donor to MEBSH Child Care, but it is by far and away the largest. I’m guessing that ACS supports about 75% of the students and costs of running this field office. We also received contributions from Puschendorf and German Missionary Fellowship (two German organizations), FOI (a French Canadian organization), and direct sponsors. All the money going in and flowing out is recorded first in Quicken and then again in the Child Care program. The Child Care program (gifted to us by the talented Rob Lehman) keeps track of all the details of the students – what school they attend, where they live, how old they are, when they are expected to graduate, the cost of their education, the support they receive, the money we pay out for tuition, uniforms, supplies, medical help, books, etc. It also can give us detailed reports for nearly every aspect of the office. We use Quicken to follow the money and deal with the banks.

So, it’s my job to take the bank statements and reconcile them with Quicken. Then, when I’m sure the statement is good and the information in Quicken is correct, I move on to reconciling Quicken with the Child Care program. It's a challenge with five different currencies, five different banks, and numerous accounts. In the meantime, I assist the Pastors by doing data entry into both programs and keeping up with correspondence from the children to the sponsors and vice versa. Lucner is our translator, and as he finishes letters, I reread them, note the date in the Child Care program, and individually label it with the correct funding organization, student, sponsor, and numbers. I write emails to our supporters and funding organizations and organize the files. In fact, I should be receiving two big filing cabinets soon to help me do just that. Right now, some of the files for 2008 are in a cardboard box. I love to organize, so I’m looking forward to a weekend when I can dig into the years of files stored in the office and categorize, label, and arrange them into some type of manageable system.

There are other facets of Child Care. For instance, we support 90+ schools by increasing teachers’ salaries. We give community aid to fix roads and host teaching seminars. We give education aid to help students who don’t have a steady sponsor pay for tuition by the semester, if we have the funds. We are starting a program to send out a school inspector to increase accountability among the staff and students. We distribute your generous gifts of school supplies, health kits, and extra money for food. My prayer is that my presence here will lift Marie Lucie’s burden, increase accountability, expand the program, and most importantly, glorify God.

But, I want a moment to speak plainly. Something my sister said to me has resonated within my heart for weeks. We are blessed to instance message nearly every day since we both spend most of our time at our computers. She said to me, “I read your blog and think everything is just great. Then, you IM and I see how things really are.” It’s not as if I’m making things up to put on my blog, but I do choose the best of the best that week. I work hard to make everything seem exciting and fun and blessed and uplifting, but you know what: This is life, and it’s hard to live here alone.

It seems to me that if I need your prayer support (and I do...desperately), then you should know the real issues that I deal with here in Haiti. These are the things that they warn you about in missionary training, the things you don’t write home about. So, let me be frank. I honestly believe that this is an amazing opportunity, a gift, and a blessing. I’ve learned a great deal about God and who He is and what He’s all about in the last five months. I’ve learned about relationships and culture and perspectives and conflict. I’ll be the first one to say that this has been an excellent time of refinement. But, I’ll also be the first one to say that it’s not a lot of fun – being refined by fire is not the most hilarious experience you can have. Trust me, it hurts.

Life on the mission field should not be romanticized. I still have to get up everyday at a certain time, report to my desk, sit at my computer, deal with difficult co-workers and office drama, and do boring and seemingly endless data entry. Then, I go home alone. I have a desk job, and I’d like to correct one misrepresentation: I’m not a missionary. I know, I know. You are all throwing up your hands and saying, “Abby, we are all missionaries! Our whole breath and life and purpose is to spread the Word of God, the Good News...Jesus!” I get it, and I agree. But, I support those on the front lines. I’m on the JV squad, the B list, a second-stringer, and that’s OK. The front line workers need the support of the senders or they would fail on the front lines. I support Pastors and teachers and schools who represent Jesus and are speaking the Gospel to their own nationals through education and the program requirements. It’s a good work. It’s just not a glittery, shiny, flashy work. It’s real life. It’s lonely here for a single woman. I miss my family. It’s not all zooming around on polished, red 4-wheelers or swimming in cold waterfalls or going to the beach in January.

I think I was very grounded when I first came here. Unfortunately, I didn’t even have that great honeymoon period where you think that your new culture is so fabulous and the people are so interesting and the work is so fulfilling. I expected it to be hard and lonely and different. I just got here and got to work, like everyone else does wherever they live. What I didn’t count on so much was the lack of fulfillment, the unsettled feeling, the lack of joy. It’s a war down here, and every single day, I have to choose to be happy. I consciously have to choose to be content. I think that was my biggest mistake, to think that something about serving God on the mission field would automatically make me fulfilled and content and happy. Please don’t worry about me, though. I’m fine. I'm deep into practicing contentment and happiness. I’m just attempting to be more transparent and truthful. There is a balance of good and bad in any occupation, and I’m just trying to present a more balanced perspective of my life and work.

In any case, please pray for me and the Child Care office. I want to continue to grow in dependency on the Lord, to be more like Him, to be His true disciple, to be a person of character, peace, joy, love, and contentment. Please pray that the program will continue to improve in accountability, efficiency, and influence. Please pray that all the changes that are coming will be wise and God honoring. Thanks.

Abby