Auntie Carrie's Reflections

Auntie Carrie is one of the five incredible His Little Feet interns. She is 23 years old from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and wanted to share the following post with the His Little Feet community:

Thoughts from a His Little Feet intern….

Working with the His Little Feet ministry has been an adventure and an incredible blessing, in many different ways. And it has been more challenging, rewarding, and enriching than I ever would have thought.

The children are definitely my favorite part of touring with HLF. Just getting to know them as individuals and building relationships with them has been not only fun, but as I pour into them I have been blessed and inspired by them and they have caused me to grow in my walk with Christ. It is definitely not an easy responsibility to disciple and teach these children, but we all know that the best things in life don’t come easily or without cost. And just an affectionate hug or an “I love you!” from one of these precious children makes it all worthwhile. 

Traveling on tour with HLF has brought us to about 20 different states, and we have been able to do a lot of exciting and interesting activities and experience many of the favorite vacation spots and tourist attractions in America. Most of them are the first time for me, too, so I get to share in the thrill of experiencing new things with the children!  One of those things was Disneyland in California. The children loved it, and I think I enjoyed it just as much as they did-- especially all the rides!  It was so much fun to walk around with the children, holding their little hands and seeing the wonder and excitement on their faces.  

Definitely one of my favorite memories of the whole tour will always be going to the Grand Canyon with the children. I had never been there before, and it was more than incredible. There are no words to adequately describe it, and it is one of those things that you just have to see for yourself. It is also one of those things that when you see it, praise and awe of our awesome Creator just well up within you. What made it even more special was being with the children and seeing them experience it. When we had trekked a ways down the path into the Canyon, we began singing worship songs to our God, which was so very appropriate and beautiful for where we were.

Another special time for the His Little Feet children and staff were the days we spent at the beach of the Pacific Ocean.  It was in January, so it was a little chilly, but we got wet anyway and had a great time jumping waves, getting knocked over by the waves, boogie boarding, sunbathing, going for walks on the beach, hunting for starfish, poking the sea urchins (the kids were very fascinated by them), and just enjoying being together. The ocean is such an awesome reminder of how great and powerful God is. The waves are so powerful and the beauty of the ocean caused us to praise our awesome Creator.

Staying in host homes almost every night on tour has been a special opportunity to be a part of the lives of many families. It is only for a few days each time, but often we build a special connection with them and it is hard to say goodbye. We stay with wonderful Christian people and we enjoy good fellowship and make a lot of fun memories with them. It is such a unique opportunity to get a glimpse into the lives and hearts of Christian people all over the United States, from all different backgrounds and churches. It reminds me of Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” The host families are blessed when they open up their homes and have these special Haitian children stay with them, and at the same time we are blessed by their generosity in ministering to us and enjoying fellowship with them.

Another aspect of the His Little Feet team are the relationships that the staff have with each other.  As we travel together, Mike and Christa, Jennifer, James, Aaron, Rachel, Brooke, and I have gotten really close and truly feel like a family. We work together really well, and it is obvious that God hand-picked each of us for the roles we have taken. The fellowship with them has been an incredible blessing. We are an awesome team because we are united by the same vision of bringing glory to Jesus Christ our Lord and reaching out to the poor and orphaned children all over the world. That along with our mutual love of these 15 children and simply spending a lot of time together has formed a special bond between us that I think we will always have. All that to say, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world!  

Seeing new places, experiencing new things, and meeting so many new people has been really amazing, but truly what I’ve enjoyed the most about the tour is watching God’s plan for this ministry unfold.  I am continually amazed at the impact these children can have on churches and individuals. God’s hand is upon this ministry and He is really using the children’s songs of worship and our message of hope to the impoverished to speak to people, touch their hearts, and prompt them to do what Christians are meant to do-- be His hands and feet to the orphaned and vulnerable children in this world.

I hope you enjoyed my musings and that this gives you a better idea of what HLF is really like!

May God richly bless your day!

For His glory and renown,
  Auntie Carrie

One more step...

A wonderful part of our tour this year has been rejoicing with each other as we experience many “firsts” along the way. Auntie Carrie seems to have the longest list, so we decided to include it as a part of her blog entry.

Auntie Carrie’s Year of Firsts (so far!)
- Disneyland
- the ocean
- sushi
- Grand Canyon
- amusement park
- rollercoaster
- basketball game
- Denny’s
- Qdoba
- Sonic
- Red Robin
- In ‘n Out Burger
- Cheesecake Factory
- Outback Steakhouse
- IHOP

We love you, Auntie Carrie!!! You are a blessing to many.

Host Homes

As the His Little Feet choir travels around the United States, we stay in host homes provided by each church we sing in along the way. By the end of this tour, our Haitian children and American staff will have stayed in about 70 different homes in around 20 states. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to meet all kinds of people and we are grateful to them for sharing their homes and lives with us.

The children are able to participate in many fun experiences when they stay with families. We asked all 15 of the kids what their favorite activities have been so far in the host homes, and this is what they said:

Ederson, 14: playing games

Likendley, 13: playing baseball, playing games, and going to Chuck ‘E Cheese

Jefferson, 12: going bowling

Moise, 10: going to Chuck ‘E Cheese and swimming

Kesnel, 12: going to new places and meeting new people

Johnson, 7: playing basketball, watching movies, swimming, and eating chicken

Francia, 18: reading

Loudrige, 17: getting to know new people

Cassandra, 13: going to Chuck ‘E Cheese

Nephthalie, 10: watching movies and going to Chuck ‘E Cheese

Esterline, 12: watching movies

Daphney, 13: seeing new places

Djoulie, 8: playing mini-golf

Dianelie, 7: playing dominoes and going bowling

Falencia, 10: going to Incredible Pizza

Our First Steps...

Welcome to Stepping Stones! We are so excited to use this site as a way for people to be a part of the wonderful journey God has planned for the His Little Feet community.

His Little Feet exists to help, love and train orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide.

The purpose of the His Little Feet Children’s Choir Tour is to give a voice to millions of children around the world who do not have a voice, and to equip the American church to practically respond to the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide.

Through His Little Feet, children around the world are helped, loved and trained in the following ways:

1. Children involved in the His Little Feet Children’s Choir are given the opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of the His Little Feet Children’s Choir and Life Training Academy.

2. Children in 26 countries around the world receive an education, medical care, and the opportunity to hear about Jesus and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God.

3. Children in orphanages all around the world including China, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Ecuador, Ukraine, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, India and Costa Rica, are visited and cared for by loving Christian adults.

4. Children in Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Russia, Rwanda and the Ukraine, who need a family are given permanent families.

The choir this year consists of 15 children from Haiti. They arrived to the United States on November 15, 2010 and will return home to Haiti on May 31, 2011. The children are wonderful and fascinating examples of how God can use people to spread His word and His purposes. All the kids think of themselves as missionaries to the United States and understand they are here to worship the Lord and share His love for orphaned and vulnerable children around the world.

We are in the heart of our tour right now in the southeastern part of the United States. The entire His Little Feet team looks forward to sharing our experiences, stories, prayers, pictures, and lives with you through this blog. We hope you enjoy stepping from stone to stone with us on this journey, and may it testify to the faithfulness and goodness of our God!

Following in His footsteps,

Auntie Jennifer