Shaken by the Haiti Earthquake.

We have taken Ariel to several different Christian concerts with us. Each group typically has it's own charity preference, and concert goers are given the opportunity to give to that particular group. So Ariel has had the opportunity to hear about The Blood Water Mission, World Vision, and Compassion International to name a few. For weeks following a Casting Crowns concert we heard about how many of these children had nothing but dirt formed into "cookies" and dried in the sun to eat. It really had an impact on her. It wasn't much later that we went to another concert at FBC in Wichita Falls. During this concert, Compassion was the charity that we were given the opportunity to support. Again, after hearing the stories, Ariel was very touched, and insisted that we sponsor a child. So we looked through the cards with all of these little faces, names, and birthdays looking for one close to Ariel's age. She chose the girl with "the pretty pink dress." Her name is Mischma Dimanche, and her birthday is February 28, 2001. The closest we could find to Ariel's DOB January 18, 2001. Ariel and Mischma have written several letters back and forth, and honestly have SO very much in common.

When Ariel first heard of the earthquake in Haiti, she asked if "that's where her little girl lives." I told her yes it was, but we would have to come home to see exactly what part of Haiti it was. Mommy has ADD and doesn't remember these things for longer than a day. Well, tonight I was finally able to pull out a letter and look up Mischma's information. Unfortunately, her village is located very near the epicenter of where the earthquake hit. I have recieved several emails from Compassion reassuring me that they will let us know when they have information about Mischma. The things I've read online do not look very promising. So now, this tragedy that first seemed so many miles away seems to have hit so very close to home. Please keep the Dimanche family in your prayers, as well as the rest of the country. It's times like this when I remember my mom returning from her mission trip to the Ukraine with pictures of the orphanage. Ariel kept asking my mom, "how much does it cost to buy those children?" Oh if there was enough money to "buy those children."