Update on Move to Haiti

We have moved to Haiti!! It is quite an amazing feeling. It doesn't seem quite real yet. I've traveled to Haiti so many times that going to Haiti was pretty normal. Even bringing some of the kids and bringing large groups is also pretty normal. Bringing the whole family was a whole different experience. Above is a picture of the kids (or many of them) the day before I left with some of them and the medical team. Ron arrived a few days later with the rest of the kids (with the incredible help of Amanda and David). After various cancelled flights, two people throwing up, a peeing incident, and the loss of 10 bags, they all arrived safely in Haiti. AND we did actually end up getting those 10 bags the next day. All in all, it went pretty well. :)


It is a humbling experience to be blessed in so many ways. The Lord blessed us with a large and unique family. With that has come many exciting, often humorous, quite frequently frustrating, and certainly many humbling moments. We certainly could not do this alone. Without the help of so many amazing people that are praying for us and supporting us, we would not be where we are today. We originally had a home situation tentatively planned in Haiti that was a 3 bedroom 2 bath home. The overhead on that location was very high due to the area it is in, the grounds, and various other things. It is a great location for teams, but not necessarily what would fit our family dynamics. We certainly could make it work in a 3 bedroom home and we have seen time and time again that financial details do not have to all line up in order for the Lord to make it work. We've never had the tens of thousands of dollars it took to adopt, but we've adopted again and again.

We were blessed once again! Willem and Beth found and worked out an amazing deal on a home that is literally 2 houses from the ministry and their guest house. It is HUGE and half what we thought we would have to pay to rent a home here. Clearly this is a God thing. For those of you that have been to our home in Oregon you'll be happy to hear that we finally have a kitchen. For years we had talked about popping out our kitchen, but we just never could justify the expense. This home has a huge kitchen. Granted, no running water yet or electricity and we have a bit of an ant problem (like millions of them), but still, we finally have a kitchen. The Lord has blessed us beyond our understanding.

We really do not need such a big house and honestly we would not live in such a big house, but the price of this house is less then smaller ones we have seen. Plus we won't have to heat or cool this house, so the size really doesn't matter all that much. We'll have plenty of room though for a school room with homeschooling and there is a concrete area inside the compound basically where the kids can play wall ball or skateboard (we packed a couple) or play soccer. Not sure if they could do basketball because of the razor wire that goes around wall of the property, but we'll see.

Details are coming together in regard to propane, having something to cook on, getting running water (the pump is broken and it is not rainy season to catch water on the roof), having internet eventually (I'm using internet at the guest house), and buying an inverter system so we have consistent power in order to have relatively consistent internet. The initial start up costs on this home is more since it is completely empty and has been vacant for many months, but once we are set up, the monthly expense will be less. We appreciate your continued prayers about these details. Hopefully we will have beds to sleep on at some point and some sort of furniture in order to sit at a table to eat and do school work. :)

We also had an amazing week at the clinic. We saw I believe 905 patients. Yeah!! The first two days we saw over 200 patients and unfortunately had to send people away, but the next three days we were able to see everyone that came. Many of the patients had significant medical issues. Praise God that we were able to see so many patients and help so many people in a range of ways. There has also been challenges on this trip that I have not seen before. Overall, it was still a good experience and a productive trip, but some things simply did not work out the way we would hope for them to work out in a team setting. Please pray for the teams in general as well as for the safety of the medical team as they travel home today.  Julia, Roseminique, and Melissa were able to help in the clinic. Julia was amazing at triage and in the labs. Roseminique helped to count medications and worked in the fluoride station. It has been a blessing to see her back in Haiti and doing so well. Melissa also assisted in the fluoride station and was able to interact with the children. Melissa loves to laugh with people!

When Ron and I went to The Journey Deepens (a retreat for individuals praying about long term ministry work), we remember the warning that there will be attacks coming in ways that you least expect it once you move into the realm of full time ministry service. We know that where God is working, Satan will try to attack and tear down. Although we know this, it still is difficult and heart wrenching when it happens. Please pray that we will not allow Satan to get a foothold and distract us from what the Lord has called us to do in Haiti. I will hopefully post more in the next few days based on internet access.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support!!

Team Arrived Safely in Haiti

The team arrived safely in Haiti~ Praise God!! It has been an amazing experience. We pretty much hit the ground running. We arrived on Tuesday, made it up the mountain, and prepared for clinic the next day. It was REALLY hot that day, but the team did great through it all. The airport was a little hectic, but all 37 bags arrived as normal: just a little worse for wear (some were ripped up). Thankfully we don't think we actually lost any supplies.

We had a busy first day at the clinic. There hasn't been any medical care over the summer, so many people were waiting over night at the clinic for care. Today (the second day) was also busy. We saw 200 patients and unfortunately had to ask some to come back tomorrow.

The team has been amazing! They have just jumped right in and have worked incredibly well together. Julia, Roseminique, and Melissa have been great. We anticipated some challenges that we have not seen yet and other challenges that we did not expect have come our way, but overall things are going great.

Please pray for our personal housing situation. Ron and the rest of the kids come in on Saturday and we do not have a firm agreement with where we will be staying. There is an amazing house very close to the ministry that seems perfect for our family. The other house also would have been fine, but this one logistically seems to be a better fit and may in the long run be less money even though start up costs are significant. We are praying that the details come together by time the rest of the family arrives. We know that God is in control and has an AMAZING place for our family in Haiti. We would greatly appreciate prayers though in regard to the details.

On the Way to Haiti!!

We are on the way. Yeah!! Julia, Roseminique, Melissa, and I have left Portland and are now in San Francisco waiting for our flight to Miami. There was a bit of a delay (close to 2 hours) at the Portland airport because they had difficulty printing our tickets. We're on American into Haiti, but were flying US Air by way of United. There was a bit of confusion on where we needed to check in after lugging eight 50 pound bags to one location (the one listed on our ticket) plus the other 8 carry-on's we were packing.

Turns out the problem was more about the fact that we have booked one way tickets. We have been told that we are not allowed to book one way tickets if we are not of Haitian descent. Hmm....well.....some of us are of Haitian decent. Does that count?  They did finally print the tickets, but we have been warned that we could arrive in Haiti and be denied entry. Please pray! I know we are in good hands with Willem and Beth (Mountain Top Ministries) and all will work out. There are just sometimes little snags along the way, but we feel up for the roller coaster ride at this point.

One blessing through it all: the lady at the counter could not figure out how to collect money for the extra checked bags, so we were not charged. Yeah!! Please pray that we are not charged later on in the process.

Our flight is boarding and will post more details soon....

Thanks for the continued prayers!!

Leaving for Haiti Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow (Monday the 19th)  is the big day! I leave with the medical team and three of our kids:  Julia, Roseminique, and Melissa. This will be the first medical team after summer break. We expect to be VERY busy at the clinic. Medications just arrived and we've distributed many of the supply bags to team members. We're still packing bags for the remaining team members, but hopefully we will have all of those passed out by tomorrow.

Ron, David, Amanda, Phuong, Christelle, Talitha, Billy, Steevenson, Jordan, and Naomi will leave on Friday the 23rd and arrive in Haiti on the 24th. Please pray for safe travel. Although everyone is very excited, a couple of the kids are nervous about all the details.

Willem and Beth have looked at a different house for us that may be a better fit for our family. They sent some information today. It sounds amazing and we are very hopeful, but we know that plans can change. It looks like we "may" be able to find a place that will cost us less on a monthly basis.  Praise God! I hope to look at one of the homes as soon as I arrive in Haiti on Tuesday. We know the Lord has the perfect place for our family. We just would like Him to fill in the details sooner vs. later. We're thankful that I'm arriving with just a few of the kids earlier then the rest of the family. Hopefully most of these details will be figured out before the entire family arrives.

We had an amazing going away party with over 150 people at our house over last weekend. It is incredible to think about how many people are praying for us. More and more have stopped by over this past week and prayed with us and wished us well. Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers! God is good ALL THE TIME (even when we are running around trying to finalize details that are incredibly overwhelming). It seems like we have a million things to do all on Monday before I leave at 2pm. Please continue to pray about the logistics, funding, and that we will continue to be obedient and follow the Lord's will in our lives.

Below is a picture of the entire Sheppard family. Although only 11 of our kids are moving with us, we would greatly appreciate prayers for all 14 of our children.

Final Passport...Yeah!!

Our final passport has arrived! We are all set to travel to Haiti in less then two weeks. Four of us will be leaving on the 19th with the medical team and the rest will be traveling on the 23rd. Everyone is excited for the big move. Haiti here we come!

There continue to be challenges along the way, but also blessings along the way. Originally we had planned to return for the summer with specific funds designated for that purpose, but those funds have now fallen through. We have 14 one way tickets and we're not quite sure when/if we will return, but we are confident that God has a plan for us. We feel at peace with the unknown at this point, but would appreciate your prayers in regard to finances and funding.

God continues to be faithful. Where one door closes another opens. The Guatemala team was amazing and increased our faith in the unknown. Many things fell through on that trip, but we saw time and time again the Lord's faithfulness in providing through unexpected challenges.

The Haiti medical team is shaping up to be a great group. Above is a pictures of some of the team members from the last medical team. For this next team, we have many team members that have traveled on previous trips as well as new team members. It is always a blessing to see people return and continue to serve the needs in Haiti.

We are seeking a small group to come down in October to help with the house on some building and remodeling projects. Our family is moving into a 3 bedroom 2 bath home that needs a few minor repairs. There are also numerous other projects for the ministry that a team could assist with. We would appreciate your prayers for locating team members. The main way we consistently get supplies into the country is through mission teams. No specific skills are required to join a team. Just a wiling heart to serve others. A picture of the home we are moving into is shown below.

Please contact me HaitiMissionaries@gmail.com or 503-888-0050 for information about upcoming teams.