Life lately..

We are doing really well and are continuing to learn the language and spend time with the girls.  Summer time is so much fun and today we had a little glimpse of what life is going to be like here when the 5 oldest start school in October! It is going to be a lot more quiet here but Cohen and Kiara will find ways to make up for that I'm sure. Cohen turned 2 and he has more energy than he did when he was 1 so we have our hands full.  Eric and Jared took an overnight trip out to the country with Rosiany and Mariline to see their Grandma.  I spent a morning in the kitchen with Evos (the cook at the orphanage) she showed me how she makes rice and beans that was fun and challenging in itself how many things are when you are learning a language.

Jared and Jalaye have been here since October 2009, there time will come to an end the last week of October.  This is going to be a very hard transition for everyone so I ask that you join us in covering them, the girls, our staff, and us during the weeks to come and after in prayer.  Pray for a smooth transition from them to us at the orphanage. Also pray that God provides for them as they move back to the states and that he covers them with His Grace, Peace and Mercy.

                    

My first attempt at doing their hair.  Rosiany was the brave one to allow me to practice on her.

The back :) - they were all so sweet encouraging me the whole time.

"Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city... "

"Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city... "

That is our prayer but even more significantly we pray for the girls we have come to love and for people we have met here and we pray that God would provide for them and allow them to be the ones to make a difference in their city.

There are so many things in moving here Eric and I realize that we took for granted.  One thing specifically is a free education to think growing up in the states going to school is just part of life and its free unless you choose a private school that then you have to pay for but here an education is far from free. It is a privilege it is a gift and it is something many long to be able to do but can't afford it.

With our girls, nannies, neighbors, friends, we have many people asking us to help pay for their children to go to school. We have a list of children (18) that need sponsored for this school year which starts the first week in October. Some children will complete a whole year of school here and then at the end of the year they may not have the money to take the final exam and they lose that year of school and would have to retake it when funds allow them to do so.

The cost of sponsorship would be $600 US. This would cover everything from registration, testing, books, uniforms, and the school its self. 100% of the $600 would be specifically for their schooling and we could in return give you updates on their education and photos.

We ask that you pray and see if this is something that God would have you do on your own or as a family, bible study, class, school, work, or church.  Thank you in advance please note that the majority of the funds for the child allowed in school needs to be paid up front.

Thank You!
If you are interested in doing this please email us!
Eric and Briana
ebcobz@gmail.com

"Dadda, Momma, I wanna see the girls" -Cohen David Coblentz

"Dadda, Momma, I wanna see the girls" -Cohen David Coblentz

After every nap and every morning when he wakes up those are the first few words that come out of his mouth.  He gets up with the sun here which is not the norm for him. We were fortunate enough to have a son that slept until say 9:30 or even the many times we would have to go in and wake him so he didn't sleep past 10. It was awesome and one of the things I prayed he would carry on in Haiti. :) Obviously God knows best and has heard and answered way more important prayers and probably just laughed at me a little or a lot with that one.
But Cohen is in love, and wants to spend all his time with "the girls" we are thankful he has taken to them so well and them to him in return. He knows them all by name and wants to pray for each of them at night and will go down the line when we are not with them and he will ask "whats Kiara doing?"... etc...
He sometimes loves to use that little 2 letter word "no" but we are working with that and each day gets better and better. Overall Cohen and Conrad are doing so good with the girls and it is so cute to watch them interact with one another and to hug and say "sorry" when needed. As parents and bringing our children to a totally new place with new faces every day we were in constant prayer that they would adjust well, not be jealous, and get along good with the girls. And they are both doing so well and Cohen is even picking up the language. He is entertainment to them and the ladies and men that work with us get such a kick out of any little creole word he has to say.

Our first month here has flown by. Eric has been learning so much from Jared on how to do everything at the orphanage. And we are working our hardest at learning the language. It can be frustrating at times but has given me a new found respect for anyone who can speak more then one language and especially for people I have talked to back in the states that had learned English. But language learning is our main focus right now along with developing relationships with the girls and each of the men and woman who work  with us here.

The girls love Eric so much and it is so fun to spend time with them.  Even now the youngest two girls that were scared of us when we first got here are not so scared of us anymore and will give us a smile now when they see us and let us hold them. :)

God is so good and he is already teaching us so much one thing Eric and I can both say He is showing us is how to love like Jesus we will never truly be able to love anyone we meet as much as their heavenly father loves them but we are giving it all we got. He is breaking our hearts for what breaks His and we are loving it. He has shown us so much peace, comfort, and grace already.


Just a little sneak peak into life here...

Cohen and the little flower girl Kiara 

Conrad and Juanese 

Cristelle

Rosiany, Dalinda, and Cohen 

Niclaudette

Genese

Bonswa!

Have you ever laughed to yourself at the crazy family running through the airport trying to get to their departure gate in time… well I have and I have many times thought to myself “I am glad that’s not me” but this time it was.. well to be honest I wasn’t exactly running I was calmly walking as fast as I could while pushing Cohen's stroller as Eric was running with Conrad. Yes he was embarrassing me… but running in public like that at 6 am is just not my thing. But with much delays and scares of being told there was no more flights out until the following Monday (after our original flight from Cleveland was canceled) we were very thankful to have landed in Haiti Tuesday July 17th on time with ALL of our bags (Thank YOU JESUS) and we got out of the airport in a timely manner.  Praise God… plus a pleasant surprise along the way…. 1^st  class to Haiti from Miami?!  We'll take it!  I thought to myself the men sitting next to Eric and I probably didn't appreciate our children acting like children. J Though there is no smooth sailing when you each have an infant on your lap but at least we had some extra leg room.

We were so anxious once we got there to go see the girls.  The older girls were excited to see us but we know it will take time for that trust and relationship to completely happen.  The little ones were a little bit terrified but I can't blame them, Cohen and Conrad would act the same way toward a stranger until he was more comfortable.  They see so many people come to their home for a couple days here and there and then leave so in time they will be more open and loving with us.  They sure are the most adorable children and they are so well taken care of and loved by Jared and Jalayne, the other workers and their heavenly Father. Having a crazy little son really helps bridge the gap in situations like this. Within the first couple minutes of seeing them at their home Cohen was chasing the chickens and some of the girls were chasing Cohen. J  Anyone who is fearful for my children living in Haiti do not be J Cohen is the happiest little thing running around here. The second he woke up from his nap he said “mom outside” and over to visit the girls we went. Conrad is just doing his usual thing eating and sleeping. The girls have enjoyed pushing him around in his stroller these first couple days. 

Before we know it these two will be chasing each other all around.

Cohen enjoying his first meal with the girls. Below his first fried plantain.
He hasn't turned any food down yet. :) 

What a blessing it is to have Jared and Jalayne already settled and living in Haiti they had a place for us to stay and they even had clean sheets, and some food in our fridge for us. We feel so blessed and almost guilty knowing things were much different down here for them when they first moved.  We are feeling very much at peace with our first couple days here.  Knowing it will not always be easy and the time will come to see Jared and Jalayne go and we may have a hard time at first adjusting to life in Haiti. But with all things HE is the ROCK that never moves, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever more. So in knowing and believing that we know that our time here filled with ups and downs hard times and great times is going to be a wonderful time for us and we are so excited to experience more of Gods love in Haiti, through developing relationships with each of the girls and the woman and men who work at the orphanage. I am putting all my expectations, fears, and doubts aside and I am putting all my hope, faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.

Cohen and Miles... poor Miles is learning very fast how ornery his cousin is.

Thank You for your prayers, and support financially and physically that have allowed us to be here, we were so ready to just get here! Saying goodbyes at home and leaving friends and family was not easy or fun but being in the place where God has asked you to be is filled with much Joy and Peace!

Please continue to be with us in prayer during our time in Haiti.

Blessings from Haiti

With Love

-Eric, Bri, Cohen, and Conrad

Things you can be praying for right now:  Saying goodbyes again this week to my dad (Briana) and Eric's parents, language learning, C & C adjusting to the heat and bugs J, the girls as they open their hearts to us, J & J as they share their lives in Haiti with us and adjusting to having us around watching and learning from them.

Waiting and Willing!

As a follow up to Erics last post I thought I would share with you my heart and feelings since our trip to Haiti. 

As far back as I can remember when someone at church has prayed for me, or my parents have shared with me, what Gods will on my life would be I have often always heard this from them : "God has a very special plan for your life." Having heard that it was something I knew was true because in fact God has a special plan for each one of us. And satan wants to do everything he can to keep us from achieving our purpose and plan. But looking back on my life and the events of all the times I have failed, and the hurt I had gone through or even put someone else through, I have realized that they have prepared me for such a time as this. Just in the last couple months I am seeing how much satan does not want us to move to Haiti, or do the will of God, and it makes you second guess everything and breaks you down to the point where you feel discouraged and confused. But yet it also makes you realize we, on our own can not do anything. And that we must totally and completely put all of our trust in God. We must totally let go of ourselves and our plans and completely put our life in the hands of God. I am constantly reminded that he is the potter and we are the clay. 

So to take you back to June when we were in Haiti I will be completely honest with you it was a very hard time for me. Having been to Haiti many times willingly and anxiously awaiting each trip, this time it was different. I was very anxious and excited to go and to spend the time with Jared and Jalayne and meet the girls at the orphanage and spend the time in prayer with Eric and seeking God for the plans he had for us in Haiti.  I was also very excited to be taking Cohen with us and thought the people we knew there would be so happy to meet our son. I did have a great time and so much enjoyed the time we could spend with Jared and Jalayne. My dad also had come down for a week to spend time praying about this with us. We sought out locations and even spoke to a couple who had been there for over twenty years. It was all very exciting and encouraging and the reality of being there with my family was becoming so real, exciting and scary at the same time. The one Sunday when we went to church with Jared and Jalayne Eric and I had went up for prayer and it was so neat that just as they ended praying for us and we were still at the alter the next worship song was "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back..." It is the little signs like that, that can be so powerful and helpful at times in our lives. 

After much prayer in Haiti we found ourselves still not knowing exactly where God wanted us. We still knew very well that he wanted us to continue to pray and seek him on the calling he has for our family. 

In the last couple months I have been reminded how much satan is here to steal, kill, and destroy..To steal our joy, kill our dreams, and destroy any plans God has for us. In seeing ways he has tried to attack our family it has only made us stronger and made us rely more on God and to continue to PRAY even more and made it even more clear to me that God does have big plans for us and the fact that the enemy is trying to discourage us in those plans it has only made it more evident to me that we are on the right track and have to continue to persevere.

We have come to one conclusion at this time and that is only God knows where we will be a year from now and we have decided that the best place for us to be right now is where we are. To continue to serve God at our jobs, school, on the basketball court, in our church, in our community, in our bible study and in our home.
Be still and know that he is God. Be still and know that he is God. Be still and know that he is God. We are ready for whatever he has in store for us and we are waiting patiently for his leading.  

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO IT SHOWS EXACTLY WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR HEARTS.  GOD IS FAITHFUL, HE CALLED US NOW  WE MUST BE FAITHFUL ON WHEN WHERE AND HOW.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbTFa9px9Lc


We thank you so much for how supportive you have been already just from us deciding this is the direction we want to go and we ask that you continue to pray for our family and for the new addition to our family coming in March 2012 :)

Obedience the Key!

Our family,
For all who do not know, Briana and I are going to moving next summer to serve the Lord and his people in the island of Haiti. As we continue to take steps of faith forward towards His calling we ask that you pray for us. We are open to what the Lord wants us to do and where he wants us to do it. We definitely know that we feel the Lord asking us to disciple people and plant churches but the question is where, how, and who? Therefore we ask that you all will be praying for us as we continue to step out. Disciple, disciple, and more discipling is the heart that God has given us yet we know that we must be obedient to the Lords calling on our life right now. As I am writing this out I am reminded of Lot and his wife in Genesis 19. The angel of the Lord comes to Lot and tells him to take his family out of Sodom for the anger of the Lord is going to sweep over them with fire. He tells Lot to run to the mountains and to not look back. Yet Lot tells the angel that it would be much better to go to the town rather then the mountains because it would be a better lifestyle for them. The compassion of the Lord was over Lot so the angel allowed his request. Yet as Lot's family is fleeing from sodom to escape the wrath of God his wife looks back to the city and immediately was turned into a pillar of salt. For Lot's wife this was the consequence of being disobedient to what the Lord has asked them to do. As I pray that this is not my consequence (thank you Jesus for your grace upon me lol.) I know that as a family, not just me but my wife and son as well, need to be obedient to what God is asking of us. With all that was said the point is that whatever God asks us to do I want to do even if he changes plans on us, we want to just take one step at a time and not look back.

We are in Florida right now with some family and next week heading out to Haiti for a couple weeks. The first week we are leading a group to help with my brother and sister with their orphanage and to do whatever else the Lord is asking. We always are praying that the Lord brings freedom as 2 Chorinthians says "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." so we continue to pray this over Haiti because we know that my brother and sister bring the spirit of God with them which then brings freedom to the people of Haiti. The following week and a half or so we are going to spend some time praying and seeking the Lord for guidance in what he wants for us and how we can be little tiny instruments in Gods plan. We know that as we seek the face of God with prayer and fasting he will reveal himself to us, as His Word promises. So we ask that as a body of Christ and brothers and sisters you will join with us and praying for not only what God is asking us to do but also the people of Haiti these next couple of weeks and we believe he will show up. Someone told me a quote this past week from a man named Austin from the city challenge in Columbus Ohio " we are not worried whether or not God will speak but rather we all must listen to hear that voice that prmises to speak"

I also just want to say thank you to all my family from Hartville Mennonite and Middleburry Chapel and brothers and sisters in Christ who have continued to poor into our lives as individuals and as a couple. Honestly from the bottom of my heart I want all of you to know that we can not follow the calling that God has placed in our hearts unless we have the support of our family which is you all We do not want this to be a calling that is only on Briana and Eric's life but on everyone that is reading this. We love you all and ask for your prayers as we start out this new journey with Christ who is always faithful even when we are not His mercies are new everyday thank you Jesus. We will also be praying for all of you and that the Spirit of the sovereign Lord fills in order to give all Glory to our Father.

CHRISTMAS- looking ahead

Why do we celebrate Christmas? Zachariah 12:10 and 14.  Verse 10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of Grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on Him whom they pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a first born."  This is the revival that God wants, His spirit of Grace to pour out over us and a spirit of mourning, repentance, to come from us.  When you were born again, did you mourn over Christ in your plea for mercy? or did we just say a prayer and move on.  People pray for revival because they want healing and they want their own selfish desires to come to pass, but have we forgotten about the risen Lord, the one who died on the cross for you.  HE BOUGHT YOU WITH A PRICE (Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Therefore we owe Him our life.  

Have we as a society (America) forgotten what Christmas is?  Have we forgotten that its all about Christ.  The gifts that we have gotten the gifts that we give are only because of Jesus Christ.  When we come to Christmas we need not look forward to opening up presents but rather look forward to revelation of our Lord and Savior.  We will give reverance to Him, for He alone is deserving and He alone will be my portion.  I will never ever serve any other God or any other idol on this earth, including the idol that we put before Jesus on Christmas.  That idol is our own selfish desires.  We too often put our desires ahead of Christ, and for some reason it happens to be more so on Christmas.  We do our normal routine go to a candle lighting service on Christmas Eve to achknowledge Him who was born, barely even remembering why He was born, and then forget everyhting and long desire to open presents on Christmas morning.  Not to mention we instill this phenomonon into our childrens brains then they not even knowing what Christmas is all about and believeing in some sort of crazy old man with a long beard to bring them presents. V. 14 ".....On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the hosue of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to clense them from sin and uncleanliness."  The Lord has provided a fountain to the hopeless a fountain that creates hope, it is a fountain that is full of living water and is cleaner than any water that you may drink.  It clenses you deep into your soul and brings a holiness that honors the Lord.  It will bring you Joy and a hope that not even death can destroy.  Something that no man can take away.   If you drink of it you wil be sealed with the blood of Christ and risen with Him in that last day when He comes back again.  Will you drink of it today?  Will you take this Christmas to look forward to Him who bought you with a price. 

I do not say all of this in order to be negative or to put anything down, I say all of this to raise Christ up.  I SO dearly I want all of us to glorify Christ on this day this wonderful day of Christmas and look forward to what Christ did for us that we were bought with a price.  We can still enjoy the holidays, have fun opening up presents and being with family, but please don't take Jesus out of Christmas, stand for what is right and stand for what the SPIRIT inside of you is saying.  He is speaking to each of you this moment about something so divine that your minds can't even be wrapped around it.  Spend some time with Jesus today, read Zachariah 12:10 and 14 and meditate on it.  Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you in a way that He has never before, becasue He longs for you.  Jeremiah 33:3 says "Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."  JESUS IS ALIVE and He will speak to you, but you must call on Him and wait on Him. the Psalms 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God"  Be quiet and listen to what He has to say don't just get into the word of God (The Bible), but eat and drink of it drench your Spirit in the goodness of who God is and He will answer.  If your going through a hard time please don't give up but put your trust in Him and He will provide.  He provides for the birds yet He loves you so much more.  He will provide believe that!  Moreover on this Christmas eve day and on Christmas morning tommorow do not forget to look forward to what Christmas is all about and tell a friend why Christmas means so much to you!  

MERRY CHRISTMAS-what a graceful day (Full of God's Grace)