We're Blown away!

We're Blown Away!

Y’all are crazy!
Ok, that has been said of us but it can also be said of you!  Steve and I remain blown away by the support we receive for this ministry!  It seems often Steve will share that we received a donation and I say, “WHAT?!”, because of your generosity.  Amazing!

How is it that we get to be the ones who are trusted to share the funds YOU provide?  We are so humbled and blessed to be the middleman!  Your coffee purchases and donations are greatly appreciated; more than you know.  We would not have a ministry without your support!

So why are we called crazy?!
We’ve had people tell us that because we go into a dangerous slum while we’re in Haiti.  That we spend time with the gang leader of the sector that Luken’s facility is in.  That we go knowing  there's been gang fighting, aware that we are hearing gunfire.  But, we trust our team in Haiti!  We’ve been turned away from going into Cite Soleil before and we trust that will happen again, if need be.  

But this past month - May 16 to June 16 - we were called a different kind of crazy!  It was a whirlwind.  We had long planned to be in Haiti for 9 days and would need to be home for our daughter, Jada’s, graduation on May 30.  Our only worry was getting a negative COVID test to get home in time.

What threw a wrench in the month was being asked to join a small team to Colombia for 9 days. “Yes!”, was the initial response!  But then reality set in and we wondered how we could possibly go to Haiti, be home one week, go to Colombia and get home to throw together Jada’s grad party in three days.  We started praying that we would be obedient despite the demands of the “world”.  Many, many things pulled at us…  Plain old busyness - we’re not good at being too busy.  I own a shop in Waconia and would be closed most of the days I was gone.  We would need to test negative for COVID again to get home from Colombia.  Should I be home to help Jada plan her party - a big event in her life?  It was a very expensive trip, will the funds be covered?  Then, aha, I felt like Shale should also join us for Colombia.  Maybe I was prompted to go just so Shale would actually go instead!  Our questioning turned into secretly hoping something would happen that we wouldn’t be able to go.  Will our COVID test come back positive before departure?  Would the trip just get canceled.  Well, God’s will prevailed and the three of us ended up on a fantastic trip to Colombia!

Haiti

There is so much to share from both trips and instead of a play-by-play maybe just sharing our hearts is best. We feel so fortunate to have a ministry partner in Luken. He is simply one of the best men we’ve ever met. He is always positive, always trusting in God, committed to truth, committed to serving - especially the children in Cite Soliel. He is determined that the poorest of the poor get a chance at education and meals, but even more so he wants them to know they are valued! Life in Haiti is just plain hard and yet he, along with so many others we know, are making a difference! How I wish you could all meet him! Steve and Shale are working on a bit of a documentary of Luken’s life so watch for that!

Malnutrition Clinic

Gwyn and Troy Price have also become dear to us. They run the free malnutrition clinic that we’ve supported in Port au Prince, and they opened a new clinic in Luken’s facility while we were there! Very exciting for us to participate in this! One of the recent children brought in weighed about 15 lbs at 2 years old. The food these little ones get costs $73 and lasts through the 8-10 week program. When we talked in May, they had provided for about 450 children and only one was ever readmitted! All the rest went from unhealthy/malnourished to fully healthy in that short time with that small amount of money. Steve and Shale are also putting together a video of them that we will share soon.

Rev Cafe

Finally, for Haiti, the Rev Cafe (that we told you about last fall) is up and running and amazing! We really wish Amber and Leeanne would create the same coffee shop here! The kids are hard at work and earning income to head off to college! So cool to see this dream come true!

Colombia

On to Colombia. I guess I’m used to Haiti because as we flew into Bogota in the evening I looked out and literally said to Shale, “It looks like they have real roads and real cars!” What a beautiful country and what beautiful people. Our small team of seven was joined by 4/5 young translators who were amazing and added so much joy to our team! Time spent with Venezuelans who are fleeing their home - many have become prostitutes to feed their children. It is a very, very heartbreaking situation. At what point would you get to the spot where you sell yourself to feed your children? These Venezuelans lived in prosperity and then the government changed power and everything fell apart. These people are walking to a new life. Through the mountains. Moms and dads, children, toddlers and babies. All walking through the mountains in the rain and even in the bitter cold at some elevations. How do you tell your child they have to keep walking when they’ve already walked five hours that day?

What a blessed life I live.

Our hearts are broken with the struggles of these people but encouraged by the Colombians who care.  Most don’t, but those that do are working hard, with very little resources to encourage, feed, provide care, etc.  As a gift from Java Relief, funds were given to Ninos para Dios, a brand new ministry that will open a childcare center on August 1.  This center will be for the prostitutes' children to be safe, have education and meals while their mom’s are working.  Right now, the children are just left behind so many get abused.  Here’s a short piece from Carolina’s (co-founder) email when I told her that Java Relief would send support:

“No words that can express how shocked we are by what God does, there are only tears of gratitude for seeing God's faithfulness, for seeing and feeling that this work can impact lives leading souls for Christ. I never really even came to imagine that what God once put in my heart could have the support of foreign brothers.

Infinite thanks !!!! I send you from a distance a big hug full of love and immense gratitude.”…

Carolina and I speak different languages so we are grateful for Google Translate to cover our emails!  

Steve, Shale and I; each of us has left sweet friends in Colombia so we will be going back. We were blessed beyond measure for stepping out in faith and walking away from the things that called us to stay home.  

Thank you for your generosity in purchasing coffee and in your donations.  YOU are making a difference, enough so that people might call you crazy!  
 

Brandy Siewert
Co-founder, Java Relieff