There was no doubt about it… the Lord was moving Cornerstone Haiti into a new season. One that included our family not being full-time in Haiti and our team needing to step up and take even more ownership of CH. But we still had hopes of establishing some kind of new rhythm that included our family in Haiti together. That was how so many other ministries have done it. Six months here. Six months there. Maybe? We just needed to figure out our rhythm. Gwo Cheval could still be home.

As Jesse was with our team explaining what we knew, which in January of 2023 was very little, the kids and I were back in Fort Pierce, Florida. The kids were loving the pool time at the Missionary Flights International (MFI) guest space and I was doing my best to not freak out about all the unknowns. But with each unknown, the Lord knew. All we needed to do was listen to His voice, take a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other.

Where will we live after our time is up at MFI? Don’t worry, I’m with you. Some new friends offered us their front yard to park our travel trailer for free until we found a house.

How are we going to afford a house? Don’t worry, I’m with you. A dear friend sent us $20,000 for a downpayment.

Who is going to give us a loan for a house with our income? Don’t worry, I’m with you. We found favor with our mortgage broker who made the way for us.

What house are we supposed to buy? Don’t worry, I’m with you. Right as we stepped onto our property Jesse and I both were filled with the peace of God and looked at each other saying “This is it!” before we even saw the inside of the house.

It was a bad time to buy. We didn’t have the income. We didn’t know what we were doing. None of that mattered. God provided and March 27, 2023 we signed all of those papers and owned a home in Florida.

There are SO many more stories of provision that I could share during that time, but overall praise God that He provides for ALL of our needs, at ALL times. He was confirming our steps. It was unknown to us, but perfectly known to Him.

Deeper trust.

Deeper surrender.

During this massive transition for our family, Jesse continued leading our team through video calls and WhatsApp messaging. He took another solo trip right before we closed on our house to bring more supplies and explanation of what we thought was going on. At this point, the conversations left off with our family planning to return to Haiti after our stateside ministry travel. Our team was excited for us, but also anxious to have us all back. With four months of ministry travel and one more solo Haiti trip for Jesse ahead, we left our Florida home in May. We connected with ministry partners in various cities within ten states, doing our best to explain what we thought God was doing. Everyone was so full of grace and understanding as we tried to put into words what we still weren’t certain of.

Our hope was to be in Haiti as a family during the upcoming school year to keep Cornerstone School of Truth running smoothly and developing well. We bought six flights into the Dominican Republic for mid-September so that we could cross into Haiti in time for the start of school.

We returned to Florida early September after ministry travel to take a quick breath and then pack for the school year in Haiti. As we unpacked, prepped the house and began packing… bad news from Haiti. There was a dispute over a bordering water source between the DR and Haiti and threats surfaced of the DR closing the land border if Haiti didn’t stop building a canal. Haiti didn’t stop (since the water is rightfully theirs as well). Four days before we were supposed to fly, the DR closed its border. Our access was denied. We thought it would blow over quickly as many things do, but realized that we needed to shift our mindset. We would not be spending the school year in Haiti.

Confused and disappointed we decided that we would reevaluate at the end of December, allowing ourselves four months to “settle.” We spent the rest of that year adjusting to Florida life, leading our team by phone and asking God the way forward.

Once again with so many unanswered questions and the future very unclear, we came to that beautifully difficult place of surrender. And God’s response?

Don’t worry, I’m with you.