Erline's wedding

We went to a wedding Tuesday night. Villa was a leader in the Bible study that we started several years ago. We had the joy of mentoring him and Erline for three years. We were helping her financially; however, after the earthquake January 12 we discovered that we were her only means of support as her uncle couldn’t find work in Florida. So Judy and I decided to see her through financially to her graduation and wedding (both this month). When we told her back in January that we would completely support her for this year, she cried tears of joy.

After we suggested a budget, she followed it, showing us how she spent everything we gave her. She tithed, she saved 10 percent, she helped her family back in Haiti and helped another Haitian student here as well as finishing her university studies. As we gave to her, we rejoiced to see that she didn’t waste money and didn’t spend it all on herself.

Monday we gave her our final month’s gift as a wedding gift; Villa thanked us up-and-down and said, “Don’t worry, with the LORD’s help, we can make it now.”

And Tuesday night there were no tears. Instead God gave me an overwhelming sense of joy of a job completed, and completed well, helping to see one chapter in two young lives successfully close and a new chapter open. A sense of joy due to Erline’s perseverance, we were able to help her finish school and prepare for marriage—and helping her was the right thing to do, the right way to spend that money, the right way to invest especially as we saw that as we helped her, God used her to help others. A sense of joy knowing that even though their road will be rocky (literally, the roads around Port-au-Prince are that bad), still, God will provide for them—especially since they BOTH have jobs waiting for them in Port-au-Prince, a miracle in itself!