A Little Family Fun!

This past weekend we were blessed to be able to unwind and enjoy the company of some great friends in God's amazing creation.  Our amazing friends and supporters, Wendel & Merci, joined us in Haiti for a long weekend.  While they joined us in Haiti to check out our new surroundings we decided to venture to our Jacmel campus for a little Hands and Feet family fun.  

Friday night with the help of our awesome interns, Christian, Lesley & Jay, we got to enjoy a nice dinner out with NO kids, I repeat No kids.  This may of been a first for Jen and I since moving down in August.  Sad but true...

With our adult only mountain side dinner behind us we were all looking forward to a trip to the Basen Ble waterfall.  I have had the chance to visit a few times before, but this was a first for Jen and Major.  

Video by our awesome Grand Goave intern, Christian, who has done an amazing job helping get Haiti Made launched.  Footage by Sean and Wendel.

View looking down upon the Jacmel bay as we make our way up to Basen Ble.  

Christian contemplating the big jump.

Maj and Grady enjoying the day without their little siblings.

Jay, one of Jacmel's interns, making the leap.

Stephen & Carrie Mulligan - Jacmel Site Directors

Andrew & Angie Sutton - Grand Goave Site Directos

and yours truly

Jen & Maj 

Wendel & Merci

Andrew staring down the big jump.

Maj, Merci & Grady crossing the palm tree bridge on our hike back from the falls.  

This weekend was a reminder of our amazing need and desire to be surrounded by Godly, authentic community as we serve together in Haiti for His Kingdom!   

We've Got Mail

We are excited to let many of you know that we now have a mailing address!  Many have asked in the past and we did not have any way of receiving mail or small care packages.  For those that have asked for it in the past or are interested in having it, here is our mailing address...

Sean Moore (and family)
3170 Airmans Dr. #2129 FEET
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946

This is a service through MFI (Missionary Flights International).  They deliver to Haiti on Thursdays.  For this address you can send via USPS, UPS, FedEx, or DHL.  It is best to keep things small, possibly under 5 pounds, as there is a charge on our end per pound of package.

Love everyone and thank you all for your love, prayers and support!

The "New" New for Us

The move and transition to our new role here in Haiti has been beyond amazing!  We have often reflected on the last few months and how the Lord is working in our lives.  When we have the opportunity to tell people about our new adventure, I love to be reminded and explain how the Holy Spirit interceded for us and a prayer was answered that we couldn’t even put into words at the time!  Through this we have also been reminded of how our plans should always be thought of in pencil, because God is the ultimate editor.  He is working through us, His power is within us, and chooses to use us even with all our faults.  Colossians 1:29 “That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”

We were blessed by a team serving at Hands and Feet last week that were gracious enough to take on the task of helping us move, and close in the porch of our new house so the kids could have a room.   So as we settle in, and find our groove here, we are full of joy and life to share with those we are doing life with.  Currently we are living at the Children's Village with 27 children, 4 house moms, 2 cooks and a few Pastors that help over see the property and the kids.  So our first task is to meet and spend time with our neighbors.  How fun is that!  This past weekend we had a training that was so encouraging and enlightening both, emotionally and spiritually, of how we can pour into the Haitian culture and our kids better. 

Our family has been through a lot of transition and change, even with all being good, it still comes with some chaos.  The kids have been out of rhythm and routine over the last week and it is showing greatly!  (aka… they are being absolutely crazy!)  Now that we are in our new home, we will have to get back on some sort of rhythm and create a new normal (again).   For now I wanted to share pictures that we have taken over the last few weeks so you can kind of see what we have been up to, sometimes that is easier then finding words.

T-ball

Chasing Goats

Soccer Game

If you feel lead to partner with us and the Hands and Feet project visit the website at http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/donate/sponsor-a-missionary/moore-family to see how you can get involved and help support our family.

The Journey Continues...

Growth.  This is one word that we use to describe the last six months of living in Haiti.  We use this word, because it encompasses so much more…adjustment, frustration, change, acceptance, forward progress, newness, listening and learning. 

We are so thankful for those that have chosen to partner along side our family to help make it possible for us to call Haiti home.  We have been blessed to see the Lord move during this time and we have learned so much.  Mainly that our hearts and minds must be kept open to change, and that flexibility is needed to embrace what the Lord puts before us.  Seeking Him in the midst of every decision brings Him glory, and that is what our family has sought to do.

As a new year has begun, so has a new journey for the Moore family.  We are excited for what the Lord has led us to, and find great joy in what the future holds. Currently we are in the process of transitioning from Education Impact to the Hands and Feet Project, still serving the Lord and spreading the name and love of Jesus to the people of Haiti. It’s amazing to see how God has turned our friends into our new family.  We want to wish Education Impact the best, and are so thankful for how God aligned our paths and hearts, and how He has used this amazing journey to grow our family and plant us in Haiti. 

The Hands and Feet Project operates four Villages in Haiti with one Children’s Village and one Mission Village in both Grand Goave and Jacmel.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to encourage and equip compassionate individuals to partner with us in caring for orphaned and abandoned children with the love of Christ.

OUR VISION

Our vision is to provide faith-based, family-style care on the campuses of safe and nurturing Children’s Villages, ensuring each child the opportunity to reach their God-given potential.

Our involvement will include the discipleship and encouragement for the older children.  We will walk along side them as they are learning life skills, continuing their education and exploring vocational training as they prepare for life outside The Hands and Feet Project. Another role for us will be hosting and leading teams that want to see and learn more about the organization and Haiti.  With the growth and development of this organization we are certain there will be many more opportunities for our family and others to get involved!  We encourage you to check out the website and learn more about Hands and Feet Project (Click here for Website) and see all the great things that are going on. 

As we prepare our hearts and minds for this move, we ask that you would join with us in praying for the transition ahead.  We ask that you pray about your partnership with our family and please consider transferring your financial blessing so that we may continue our mission here in Haiti.  As always, we want to be open and honest about how God is moving in us and working through us.  With that, if you have any specific questions please feel free to contact us, as we would love to discuss the road ahead in more detail. 

If you would like to continue your partnership with our family, please follow this link (http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/donate/sponsor-a-missionary/moore-family) to add your support through the Hands and Feet Project.  If you are currently donating to Education Impact you will need to email give@eihaiti.org with your name, donation amount, and when the cancellation is to be effective. We apologize for any inconvenience this might be, but we appreciate your support and willingness to continue your partnership in God’s amazing and exciting plan!

Bòn Ane 2014!

Guest Post - Alfonso Pasquel

A Thanksgiving like no other...

Because of an amazing blessing from some dear friends we had the opportunity to share Thanksgiving in Haiti with our best friends: Alf, Sarah, Hannah & Pia!

The links below are to Alf's blog on his journey to visit us in Haiti.  As my best friend, my brother and fellow believer I am honored to share his humbling and loving words.  There is no one person that I miss more from American than my brother, Alf!  We have had many adventures and Spirit filled discussions, but none as blessed as his time with us in Haiti.

Alf and I on a hike in Colorado!

We are struggling, we are tired, we miss home, we are lonely but we are so gratefully for the blessing to have the Pasquel's join us.  Today we can think back and smile! So I ask you, I encourage you, to check out Alf's blog!  He is a gifted writer, photographer, outdoor enthusiast and self diagnosed foodie with the heart to see the Lord in ALL he encounters!  Read, share and be blessed!

2 part post:

 

http://seekingtheburningbush.blogspot.com/2013/12/haitiand-hard-walk-part-i.html  (more of the matters of the heart)

 

http://seekingtheburningbush.blogspot.com/2013/12/haitiand-hard-walk-part-ii.html (more of recreation)

So to our dear friends who sent the Pasquel's, we say thank you!  Words can not express our gratitude!  Thank you for loving and caring so deeply for our family that your love leads to great actions.  Thank you and we love you!

Alf, Sarah, Hannah & Pia:  We love you, we miss you and will forever cherish our time together.  Thank you for walking this journey with us and pray to see y'all soon!

Guest Post - Ryan Martin

I've been traveling down to Haiti since the earthquake in early 2010.  Every trip has been unique in its own right...but this one even more so in particular.  I've traveled to the country in order to build walls at orphanages, I've been to help conduct vacation bible school, I've gone to shoot footage for videos and perform various levels of admin as a director on the board for Education Impact...but this was the first time I was going, in part, to simply visit family.  The Moore family of "Almost Missionaries" represent yours truly's Brother and Sister-in-Law, sweet niece, and two studly little nephews.  As you may be able to imagine, there is certainly a mixed bag of emotions that can float to the surface when visiting close loved ones in a place like Haiti.  

One of the elements I've always loved about the country, but never been able to really pinpoint until recently, is the pace of life that the place offers.  At first glance on a drive from the airport through Port-Au-Prince, there are certainly some aspects of Haiti that could seem just as frantic and hurried as life back here in the states.  But if you press a little further, and sit back to truly watch someone doing life the way the Moores are, you start to see things in a different paradigm.  

I read something recently about 2 different concepts of "Time" found in the bible.  There is the Greek word "chronos" which means time in a quantitative, chronological sense...and the Greek word "kairos" which means time in the qualitative sense and deals with opportunity.  As "still not completely converted people", and probably even more so as westerners, we have the tendency to stay focused on the "chronos" and immerse ourselves in "clock time."  This is simply viewing time as a means to an end, not moments in which to enjoy God or pay attention to others.  When we do this we end up believing that the real and better thing is always still to come.  We live as victims to our schedules and try to simply cram every moment of our lives  into half-hour slots...squeezing out any room for reflection, celebration, conversational prayer, or God-sized dreams.  

The Gospel, however, encourages us to live more in light of a "kairos" time...which deals with recognizing the intended purpose of every opportune moment.  In this sense, we are to look for glimpses of how God might be working out his purposes throughout every detail of our entire day. Time becomes not just something to get through, or manipulate, or manage, but rather the actual arena in which God is choosing to work within us.  Whatever happens - good things or bad, pleasant or problematic - we look and ask, "what might God be doing here?"  We see the events of the day as continuing occasions to change the heart.

When I first came across this "chronos" vs. "kairos" concept I immediately thought to myself, "Ah hah! That's what's going on in Haiti that the Moores are discovering...'Kairos' time."  Every moment that one of them has a conversation with another haitian neighbor, every moment that they have to work on the water pump, every moment that they need to check on the battery or fire up the generator, every moment that they head to the market for the bare essentials, or view the sunset from the roof, or simply watch Major, Addy & Becket run around with the other neighborhood kids out front in the heat of the day...every moment...they are embracing what it means to live life in light of Kairos time.  

As a director on the board for E. I., I'm thrilled at the progress that Sean and Jen are making with regards to the mission at hand.  More than they probably realize, they are learning the language, getting to know individuals and connecting with their community.   But beyond that, and more importantly for me personally, as a brother and as an uncle I now have a deep comfort that has come from witnessing them in action as they model what it looks like to live a healthy pace of life.

It's revelations like this that have me excited for what's in store with the Moores and for what lies ahead with Education Impact.  Every trip provides the opportunity for our friends and loved ones to learn something new about their world and about themselves.  Each trip provides the opportunity to hear from God in ways we might not otherwise.  Accompanying me this past week was a group of some of my closest spiritual brothers...one being my actual blood brother, which I'm so thankful for.  After returning home to the states one of them had this to say in a text message exchange:

"This morning I thought about where we were: a beautiful country that God loves but that is really evident of a fallen world and the fall of man.  Full of young men acting like adolescents, and hungry for some God-fearing leaders to change their country and share Jesus....Then I thought about where we are this morning:  a beautiful country that God loves but that is really evident of a fallen world and the fall of man.  Full of young men acting like adolescents, and hungry for some God-fearing leaders to change their country and share Jesus."

...here's to God for all that he's doing in and through the Moores.

-Ryan