our sweet Chedelle

Wednesday night after the car accident and Frantzy and I had talked to our family and promised that we were fine, we sat in our room and just cried.  We were so overwhelmed with emotions!  The accident could have ended in so many different ways, the two girls who Frantzy stopped for could have been plowed over by the box truck who blew through the front of our car, the truck could have hit our car at a different angle and gone right into Frantzy's door, or the day could have been just like any other day...nice and accident free.  We spent the next few minutes just praising God that He had spared us and those two little girls, that our car was repairable, and asking Him to show us His plan in all of this.  Since that time of prayer God has been so faithful and allowed us to see a little bit of what He's up to - and He's using a beautiful little girl named Chedelle to show us just that!



Wednesday: In the midst of the commotion just minutes after the wreck Frantzy and I heard a little voice say, "ou pa tande?  mwen di 5 gourdes!"  (you didn't hear me?  i said 5 gourdes!).  We looked around and didn't see anything, then we looked down and there was the sweetest little face staring up at us offering to sell us peppermint sticks!  We laughed it off, bought some peppermint sticks, and then went back to dealing with police and our car and the little girl was off to find her next sale.

Thursday: The day after the accident we met with our lawyer and talked about going to court and all of the insurance paperwork that had to be filed.  Because we had to wait around for the trailer to come and pick us up we had a few hours to spare and we went for a walk.  We randomly decided to pass by our car.  While passing by we stopped to talk in the shade of a building and we heard that same sweet voice, "ou pa tande? mwen di 5 gourdes!".  We looked down and were shocked to see the same sweet face staring up at us!  We were standing in the exact same place too!  We bought again and asked if she had time to sit and talk.  We started asking her questions and she began to share a little bit about her life.   Her name is Chedelle and she is 7 years old.  Her mom died and her dad lives in a city called Pignon, which is about 3 hours away from Cap Haitien.  Her and her 11 year old sister live with her auntie out by the airport and every day she gets on a tap tap and travels into town (about 30 minutes and SO dangerous) to sell peppermint that her auntie makes.  We asked if she had eaten and she said yes.  We asked if her tummy was full and she said that the little bit she finds to eat never fills her tummy.  We took her to a nearby restaurant and bought her lunch.  I don't think she knew what to do when they put that huge plate of food down in front of her.  We all held hands and said a prayer for the food God had provided and the huge smile on her face never faded.  While we sat and watched her eat I looked up and tears were streaming down my husbands face.  She was the SWEETEST little girl.  Frantzy and I agreed that if we had a home we would adopt her in no time.  We gave her enough money so that she could go home and not get in trouble for not selling enough and sent her on her way with the rest of her food.  As we watched her walk away Frantzy and I just cried.  If something happened to her while she was out selling by herself, no one would ever know!  Chedelle is what we call a Restavek in Haiti.  She's a child slave.  She isn't allowed to go to school, just work to help provide for the family she is living with.  We plan on going to her house and learning more about her life and seeing how we can get involved to make this little girls childhood actually bearable!

Here's what blows me away, if we hadn't been in a car accident on street 16E in Cap Haitien, chances are we would have never met Chedelle.  God allowed us to meet with her in the exact same spot for two days in a row!  Frantzy and I joked about how if God was trying to get us to help her He certainly could have used a less destructive way to get our attention ;)  But on a more serious note, how GREAT is our God?  How about that verse in Romans...in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him!  In the midst of a terrible situation, He shows up in the form of a 7 year old little girl and provides and opportunity for us to serve the 'orphans and widows'.  Frantzy always says, "if that wasn't God, it must have been Jesus!"

Please pray with us for Chedelle.  Pray that God would hug her extra tight, that she would be safe while she is out selling, and that God would show us what He is asking us to do to help her.  We are ready to go rescue her and take her in, but we are waiting for the Lord's guidance and for Him to show us exactly what He expects of us in this situation.

This is only one of the ways God has answered our prayers Wednesday night when we were calling out to Him to show Himself in this situation.  Serving an intimate God who hears our every cry is the most incredible thing!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - james 1:27