THIS BLOG
In January 2011, I was given the opportunity to spend a week on the ground in that gorgeous Caribbean island learning about the people and their culture, history, and current situation.
The time I spent in Haiti was easily the most impactful time I have ever spent anywhere. After my return, weeks passed before friends (and husband) quit saying my body was back in Minnesota by my head and heart were still in Haiti. They were right! There is something about Haiti that just captures you--maybe it is the dignity and strength displayed by a people who are constantly dealt difficult hands in life. Maybe it is the extreme gratitude Haitians display for the little the average populace does have. Maybe it is that you see "Glory to God" and "Thank you Jesus" written on tap-taps (their form of public transportation, it is like a bus) everywhere. I'm not sure, but it does not matter where I go, what I do, or who I work for--Haiti will always be lodged firmly within my heart and prayers.
This blog is meant to document some of the tears and joys about working with an organization that does work in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. First assignment--go look for Haiti on a map, do you know how close it is the U.S.? And which U.S. state is its nearest neighbor? The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is literally a two-hour plane ride from the richest nation in the entire world. Some absolutely incredible things have been happening in Haiti thanks to God--this gal has literally been crying with joy and doing happy dances at some of the things God has been doing, He's pretty amazing!
This blog is also meant to document the outrageous goal I've set for the 2011 summer - running 300 miles (meep meep!) to raise money to buy water purification units for communities in Haiti affected by cholera. Click the "Just keep running...." tab for more info on this audacious goal.
Click through the posts in this blog to find out about what is going on, what you can do to help, and how we can get you to Haiti!
The time I spent in Haiti was easily the most impactful time I have ever spent anywhere. After my return, weeks passed before friends (and husband) quit saying my body was back in Minnesota by my head and heart were still in Haiti. They were right! There is something about Haiti that just captures you--maybe it is the dignity and strength displayed by a people who are constantly dealt difficult hands in life. Maybe it is the extreme gratitude Haitians display for the little the average populace does have. Maybe it is that you see "Glory to God" and "Thank you Jesus" written on tap-taps (their form of public transportation, it is like a bus) everywhere. I'm not sure, but it does not matter where I go, what I do, or who I work for--Haiti will always be lodged firmly within my heart and prayers.This blog is meant to document some of the tears and joys about working with an organization that does work in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. First assignment--go look for Haiti on a map, do you know how close it is the U.S.? And which U.S. state is its nearest neighbor? The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is literally a two-hour plane ride from the richest nation in the entire world. Some absolutely incredible things have been happening in Haiti thanks to God--this gal has literally been crying with joy and doing happy dances at some of the things God has been doing, He's pretty amazing!
This blog is also meant to document the outrageous goal I've set for the 2011 summer - running 300 miles (meep meep!) to raise money to buy water purification units for communities in Haiti affected by cholera. Click the "Just keep running...." tab for more info on this audacious goal.
Click through the posts in this blog to find out about what is going on, what you can do to help, and how we can get you to Haiti!
ABOUT ME
Named Nora Romness (known to some as Ellie Walker due to my having two nicknames and being
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At the Real Hope for Haiti Rescue Center in Cazale, Haiti (January 2011)
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married), I grew up in a log cabin in Alaska surrounded by the beauty of God's creation. It says in the Bible that the very fabric of creation cries out the glory of God, and I'm thoroughly convinced few natural things display this glory better than Northern Lights dancing in the sky, the simple elegance of a forget-me-not flower, how animals bounce across the snow, and the sudden explosion of vibrant green on the land when Spring realizes snow is finally gone.
During the spring of 2005, I graduated high school and went on to pursue an undergraduate degree at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN (the journey from AK to MN happened because my mother grew up in MN). There I studied psychology, creative writing, and anthropology, graduating in 2009 with a major in the first of this list and minors in the following two areas. ACR Homes employed me as a Program Counselor (basically a group home worker) and I then went to work for World Wide Village. Currently I work for WWV and attend Luther Seminary in the pursuit of a MA in Children, Youth, and Family ministry. In free time, I volunteer for Antioch Ministries, run (a LOT), and am a part of the acting/modeling scene in the Twin Cities. Oh, I'm married as well to a cool guy named Dahmon. He's pretty much fantastic and one of the most in-tune with God people I've ever known.
God is at the center of absolutely everything I do. 'Tis not unheard of to see me start chuckling for "no reason" or shake my puny little fist at the sky--generally God and I are discussing something and I'm either agreeing with him or trying to do things my way (the latter of which never works, just fyi). I'm only in my early 20s but have already seen too much in my personal and professional life to deny the existence of a Creator. There is a tattoo on my foot, a stained glass window dedicated to the glorification of a God who has saved me from myself and the mistakes of others more times than I can count (ask and I'll tell you the story behind my tattoo).
The love of Christ in my heart is what compels me to act towards a better world. Believe it, were it up to my discretion, I'd climb in a cave somewhere and hide from the world that hurts so much. Yet Jesus did not tell his followers "Go ahead and hide your light because the world will try to snuff it out." Rather the message of the New Testament seems to be "shine your light as brightly as you can in spite of the world's efforts to snuff it out. Simply accept my love and douse others with it." Okay, so I'm paraphrasing a little, but the gist is the same. We are to be in the world, but not of it. As a good-doing vampire on TV once said--we live in a world where nothing is as it ought to be. We must live as though the world were as it ought to be in order to show the world what it could be. We must start acting like we trust the Lord who says he will never leave us nor forsake us. After all, if God is for us then who can stand in the way?
