Feb
04
No, not me. No, not my 38-weeks-pregnant sister. But some beautiful young (and not-so-young) girls I’ve never even met but have fallen madly in love with.
Some of you may know of Heather Hendrick. She and her husband and their four boys moved from Texas to Haiti last Spring (I think) as missionaries. Heather is this gorgeous person inside and out, and when it comes to writing, this girl flat-out has a GIFT. I can’t remember how I first found her blog, but it took about 1.5 sentences to get me hooked.
So, one of the things Heather does is work with a ministry called Heartline. This crazy-amazing ministry helps girls and women who are pregnant, alone, and scared by educating them about their bodies and pregnancy and breastfeeding and taking care of babies. They feed them meals packed with protein and give them water to keep them hydrated. They do exams and ultrasounds and give them a place to stay and share the love of Jesus. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Amazing. And these young mamas (some of them barely older than Livi) have grabbed my heart and won’t let go. I can’t get them out of my head. I see their faces, I ache for the dismal situations they come from and live in, I rejoice that God has brought them to a place where they and their babies can thrive.
A couple months ago, God gave me an idea. I think I shared it briefly here on the blog. You know how y’all have donated about 500 copies of Expecting to pregnancy centers around the country (and world!)? Well, I know these women in Haiti can’t read (especially not in English), so a book (full of drawings of white babies) wouldn’t do a whole lot of good.
But what if…?
What if WE women here in this online space, we women who CAN read and have the luxury of time and money and safety and access to health care and know Jesus, what if WE could do something for these women and their unborn babies?
What if WE could hold a copy of Expecting in our hands and pray the prayers for a God-breathed womb-baby down in Haiti as he or she develops inside of Mama? What if we could pray for a Haitian girl BY NAME, pray for her THROUGH HER PREGNANCY, and then get to rejoice with her when her baby is born?
I get chills just thinking about it.
I e-mailed Heather with my idea, and she was so gracious, so thankful that there might be some women who would care enough about these women in Haiti to pray for them once a week, or a couple times a week, or every day.
She’s going to get me a list of names of mamas-to-be along with their estimated due dates. Some will be early on in their pregnancies. Most will probably be later on. And you can do however much or little God lays on your heart.
You can choose one name to pray for. You can pray for the whole list. You can pray for a handful. You can pray once a week or more than that.
If you have your own copy of Expecting, just use that. If you want one, I have plenty. If you want to pray and can’t afford one, let me know.
Here’s a God-thing. Awhile back, the book was discounted to $6 on Amazon, so I bought 6. When I got them, there was a black mark on the bottom of each one (hence the discount). I didn’t want to send a marked-up book to a pregnancy center, so they’ve been sitting on a shelf.
If you’d like one for $6 + $3 shipping, let me know.
(And just so you know, Expecting is no magic book with super-power prayers (obviously). In no way do you need a copy of it to pray for these women. It’s just a guide if you’d like to know what’s going on developmentally with baby each week.)
Please go check out Heather’s blog, look at the pictures of these women, read the stories, marvel at God’s tenderness toward them, and ask him if he wants you to play a part in this incredible story he’s writing in Haiti.
I’m so excited about this I could bust. Who’s with me?
[...] to pray for these sweet expectant mamas in Haiti! If you’re joining us late, here’s the post that started it all. And here’s the post where we gave The Run-Down about the Prayer [...]
Could you sign me up for Joanne, April 29th (my daughter’s birthday) and whoever else needs prayer? I love what you’re doing. Please let me know if there is a fb group or anything!
LOVE this idea! I will try to pray for them all, but my heart is drawn to Francois and Joanne. Thanks for this!
Wonderful! Let me know which Joanne (one is due April 6, the other April 29), and I’ll add you to the list. Thank you!
Sorry! I am praying for the one with the due date of April 29th. I noticed you said that you were trying to come up with a way for us to pray corporately as well as individually and was wondering if a private Facebook group might work. Someone commented on Heather’s log about being a prayer doula – which I thought is about the perfect description of what we’ll be doing! Maybe that’s a possible name for it.
Sorry! I will be praying for the one with the due date of April 29th. You mentioned looking for a way to pray as an on-line community and was thinking that maybe a private Facebook group might be a good way to do that. One of the comments on Heather’s blog was about being a prayer doula – which is really a perfect description of what we are doing! That would be a possibility for the group name.
Perfect! That Joanne was the last one we needed so that every single girl has THREE people praying for her now!
I’m looking into the possibility of a FB page and YES, Prayer Doulas IS our name (see my post from yesterday).
I would love to be praying for the girls! If you are making “buddies” I’d choose Yolette because we have the same due date.
Awesome idea!
Yes!! Pray for Yolette! I’ll mark you down as one of her buddies. Thanks, Beth!
I love this! Thank you for obeying the call to share in this way.
(And I couldn’t agree more about Heather. She truly does have a gift!)
Let me know if you want me to “assign” you a girl! Thank you!
I would love to be prayer buddied with Leoni. We have the same due date!!!
That’s wonderful, Ursula! Isn’t God good?? I’m working on a way we can pray as an online community (as well as individually for the women God lays on our hearts).
FYI–I just ordered a “used” copy of Expecting from amazon for ~ 6.00. I love this idea!!
Woohoo, Laura!! I’m working on a way we can pray as an online community (as well as individually for the women God lays on our hearts).
Isn’t it cool how God uses this technology (the internet) to link us together to serve Him!!!
I would love to be a pat of this also. My husband & I had the great privilege to go to Haiti last May. It is so much a part of my heart & I would love to be able to give back to these beautiful women & their babies.
Wow, Shelly. That’s wonderful. What did you do in Haiti?
I’m working on a way we can pray as an online community (as well as individually for the women God lays on our hearts).
Let me know if you want me to assign you a specific woman to pray for, Shelly!