tear-stained faces

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. To anyone and everyone who has been praying for us in the Dominican Republic this week. I have been repeatedly amazed at the way that God is healing these children. And I have been in daily astonishment that He has chosen me to help show them that this is His work, not that of surgeons or Chadasha or Christians or me… only Him. It’s really exciting!

So all the kids are doing great… Pricile went back for her checkup on Friday and they found a leak with fluid building around her heart. They took her almost immediately back to the OR and placed a drain to get the fluid off. Barring any more complications, she’ll be fine! Everyone else is out of the OR and will have checkups this coming Friday. If everything is good, back to Haiti next Saturday! All the kids and their guardians are homesick… they have never been out of their country before and I’m sure it is a very strange feeling for them. Also, they have sacrificed a great deal to be here, and have much to return to when they get home:

Pricile’s mom, Darlene, has a small ministry in her tent camp where she meets 3 times a week to pray with other believers.
Naika’s mom, Marijo, has a 4 month old baby girl at home she had to leave with her mom.
Zaikel’s grandmother, Avala, has 5 kids and 2 more grandkids living in her house.
Ysnadaire’s brother, Guerson, is missing school to be here [he’s studying English so he can get a student visa to come study in America].
Loundjenckia’s parents have a 5 year old child at home they had to leave with family.

These guardians need prayer.. For strength and stamina to continue the fight of saving their children’s lives. We often forget that this is not their only commitment.. They have lives just like we do that they are anxiously waiting to get back to.

Also I just wanted to give you a little glimpse of how these surgeries have already begun to change the lives of these kids. Our two sickest children, Ysnadaire and Pricile, both had oxygen saturation levels of 69-73% before we left Port au Prince. Ideally, these saturation levels don’t drop below 92% in healthy people. So these sats are really not good at all. And now, 2 days after surgery, Ysnadaire’s oxygen saturation is 91% on room air. And Pricile, 10 days post op has an oxygen saturation level of 95% on room air. They haven’t gotten the chance yet to walk without fatigue or climb stairs without getting short of breath, or play soccer with their friends, or laugh uncontrollably without coughing, but oh what I would give to see their faces light up when they realize the limitations that have been lifted off their lives!


Since the surgeries and recovery period are lasting longer than expected, I will be traveling back to Haiti tomorrow and Kensly will stay behind to finish up with the kids and families. I am homesick for Haiti as well, and am excited to return to Port au Prince [I miss my Chadasha family SO much]! I didn’t realize until today, however, how hard it is for me to leave these kids and their families. In a matter of 15 days, these children have dramatically impacted my life in a way that I will never forget their faces and their names. I had to say goodbye today, knowing that some of them I may never see again because they live so far away. I hugged their necks and kissed their faces and tried not to cry, but inevitably the end result was several moms and a couple kids and myself all with tear-stained faces. I love these people, and it’s hard to say goodbye to people that you love.

But just as He always does, God reminded me today that I have done by job here. I have fulfilled the plan He had laid for me with these heart surgeries. As I was leaving the hospital, Ysnadaire’s brother, Guerson, hugged me and in his best attempt at broken English said “Chelsey, I can see that you love these children, like they are your children. I am amazed at your love for them. You love Haitian people. You are not American, you are Haitian. I will tell my family about you. I wish I had a camera to take your picture so they could see your face, but I don’t. I will tell them about you though, because you love us so much.” Of course this gave me the perfect opportunity to tell him it’s not me, and it’s not my love… that I only love them because Jesus loves me. I only know how to love people by knowing the way that Jesus loves us. It was a beautiful moment, and it reassured me that God has used me here and I have served Him faithfully this past 2 weeks.

It also touched me because we had been thinking about a gift for these families to help them remember this adventure God has taken them on. This confirmed that the best gift would be a photo album for each of them with pictures from their trip here. So while I’m home in America I will print hundreds of pictures and make albums for each individual child that tells the story of how God saved their lives by fixing their hearts. We hope that one day this adventure will be part of their testimony of how they came to know Christ. How amazing if one day Pricile can say “When I was 2, people who love Jesus saved my life, and now I serve the same Jesus they served” and Naika can say “When I was 8..” and Zaikel can say “When I was 3..” and Loundjenckia can say “When I was 1 ½” and Ysnadaire can say “When I was 11..”

If you are interested in donating money to go toward creating these photo albums for the children, please email me at chelseybeckman@chadasha.org.

Praying that whoever you are, wherever you are today, Jesus will make Himself known to you in a new and amazing way. Keep your eyes wide open… He is with you!