Our Family

Our First Date.

When we met that Saturday in August, 2010, I don't think either one of us had a clue that we were meant for each other. Was it love at first sight? Yes, but not the romantic kind of love. Both of us loved serving the Lord and worshiping Him for all that He is and has done and will do. We loved each other because of that. And God took that love for each other and made into more. Then He made us a family.

After praying about our future and what God had for us, we started "dating" in April, 2011. Our dating life was mostly spent apart as I went to the states to share about how God was working and guiding me and Almando stayed in Haiti assistant trip leading for Praying Pelican Missions. By the time October rolled around, I was back in Haiti and we were certain that God had called us to be together. He proposed and I accepted--there is obviously a lot more to this story.

We got married on February 11, 2012, at our church in Haiti. Only my immediate family came down for the celebration (plus my best friend and a photographer). As our friendship began with worshiping our King together, we wanted our marriage to begin the same way. This was my favorite part of our wedding: leading worship with my best friend.

A month after our wedding, we led our first trip together. We loved serving together and over and over again, it was confirmed to us that we complemented each other so well. That first year of marriage flew by as we served on over 15 trips and were trying to figure out what our roles were going to be on the mission field and in our home.

Just before our first anniversary we found out that we were expecting our first child. We were soon to be a family of 3! After a rough several months of pregnancy and super busy months of ministry, Bityah arrived in September, 2013. Her name means "Daughter of Yahweh." She was a blessing from the start. She is now 2 and is a bundle of energy! She loves reading her books, watching movies, swimming, painting, cooking with Mommy, and working with Daddy.  She has been on multiple mission trips and is starting to attend the kids' clubs in the different communities we serve when the teams are in country. We anticipate her being a big help to the teams in the future with language and VBS preparations.

Bityah also loves her little brother. We found out we were expecting him just after

her first birthday. Oved, "the servant who worships," was born in May, 2015 and is growing so quickly. He has already been on 4 mission trips and is loved by everyone he meets. He is our little charmer. It is so fun to be a family of 4 and be able to serve the Lord together.

So, this is us. Serving the Lord and just doing life in Haiti. We visit the states a couple of times a year and enjoy the time we get to spend with our family and friends there, but our home is here.  Almando has worked hard to build our home and make our lives as comfortable as possible. With each child we seem to get an addition to our house to make room, so we will see what the future brings!

We are still learning how to be a family and raise our kids in two different cultures (three, really, as we are a mix of the two). We are still figuring out how to balance our ministry and our family life. We are still in love with each other and in love with the Lord. We are trusting Him with our lives and our future.