Ripe Mango Chronicles

Good evening, I hope you are all doing well. It has been a while since I have written, I am sorry about that. I promise to get back into the groove of writing soon. It is too easy to get too busy to write, but I do need to take the time. So much happens everyday, things I want to remember and some I don't! Raising kids is hard, I am learning more and more about that everyday. Raising teenagers on the other hand is a whole other level of crazy and right now over half of our kids are 12+. That being said, I would greatly appreciate your prayers if you think of it over the next few days. I am taking the next three days off to stop and re-assess. I am taking this time to seek the Lord’s wisdom and guidance, soak in the Word and hopefully find some direction on where we go from here. Life in Hope Village has been very challenging so far (change always is) and I am praying the Lord will overwhelm me with Godly wisdom and clear guidance on the changes that are happening and need to happen...

It’s hard to believe it was a year ago today my world fell apart. Most of the time it feels like the earthquake happened a hundred years ago, but when I find myself jumping out of my skin when someone bumps my chair, I am reminded that it really wasn’t all that long ago. For the past 12 months I have been waiting for the tears to come. I have cried, short little burst of tears, but there has been this lingering sorrow waiting to burst through my tear ducts. Last night the tears finally came. It was at our Tuesday night worship service, we sang this song we’ve sung a hundred times before but for some reason last night it hit me like a ton of bricks and the tears started falling, those tears turned into sobs and soon there was a small puddle of salt water forming at my feet. The song is a creole song that translated says something along these lines; When your life becomes dark and everything is difficult don’t be afraid. Our Lord says that He is responsible and He will be with you throug...

We watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas every Christmas Eve at the Hope House. It has become a tradition; I was thinking about traditions this year and had one of those “Ah Ha” moments. How incredible that I get to be the one to start some of these fun Christmas time traditions with the kids. I picture Michelove or Stevenson all grown up watching the Grinch with their kids telling them, “When I lived in the orphanage we watched this movie every Christmas Eve.” Of course I like to imagine they would continue with something along the lines of, “Growing up at the orphanage was a great blessing. We would not be where we are today if God has not intervened and brought me to that orphanage so many years ago.” Christmas is kind of a big deal at the Hope House. The kids talk about the party year round. They start right away on December 26th with their questions; What are we going to do for Christmas next year? Are we going to get presents? Will we eat at the guest house? Will we sleep in the ...

Pierre the miracle baby has been released from the hospital and is finally home. The doctors told us he wouldn’t make it. The mommies didn’t think he would make it. I didn’t think he would make it. A few emails and a few hundred prayers later and here he is smiling away! Through all of this we have discovered that Pierre has a cyst in his brain and needs brain surgery. We are working hard to get a medical visa for him to go to Austin, Texas for surgery at Dell Children’s Hospital. This cannot happen without a few mountains being moved, thankfully our God is known for mountain moving! Please pray that everything comes together for him to get this surgery. Peace, love and home sweet home! Rachel

I know many of you have been waiting for an update on sweet Pierre. I have not been able to send one because I have not had contact with anyone at the hospital since the riots began Tuesday night. Thankfully yesterday things calmed down enough for us to get through with our ambulance. I waited anxiously to hear how he was doing. I had a missed call Thursday morning at 3:00am from an unknown number, which made me nervous, I thought the call was possibly from someone at the hospital calling with bad news. When Frantz, the orphanage supervisor, got back, I called him to hear how Pierre and the mommy who had been with him were. Frantz told me he was coming up to talk to me. I panicked, thinking the worst. I ran down to meet Frantz asking him what was going on. He laughed and pulled out his phone to show me a video he had taken of Pierre LAUGHING!! Can you believe it, laughing and smiling! The same Pierre who has been on his deathbed for the past two weeks, Praise the Lord! He is still in ...

Good morning, Pierre is doing ok. He is still in the critical care unit but is apparently doing a little better. Cheryl was able to speak with one of the doctors who has been working with him, she said that there has been some improvement. We are still waiting for the results of the Meningitis tests, which should be back in the next few days. He will be going in for a CT Scan today or tomorrow hopefully which might provide some answers as well. The doctor said we just need to wait out the next few days to see what happens, if he does continue to improve he could possibly be moved to a regular in the near future. To be honest I was confused by Cheryl’s report from the doctor after I went in, because he appeared worse than he was on Tuesday. He was seizing off and on while I was in with him. Mommy Morpeau (The mommy staying with him yesterday) called last night to let me know that he had stopped seizing and was looking much better than when she first saw him yesterday, which was just a...

Please be praying for Pierre, who is one of the newest additions to the Hope House family. Some of you will remember his story, he was abandoned at our clinic a few months back. He was admitted into the children’s Hospital Saturday with an extremely high fever and some other complications. I don’t know all the details yet, as I just got back in country this morning, after a weekend away. I hope to go back to the hospital tomorrow and talk to the doctor to find out more. They are thinking possibly meningitis. Please keep this little guy in your prayers and I will keep you posted as I find out more. Peace, love and miraculous healing (Please Lord!)