The beginning
After getting married we settled down into our day to day jobs. I was a Senior Software Engineer at Parametric Technology. Melissa taught piano lessons for 40+ students.
One thing you should know, for better or worse, we are both big planners and enjoy talking about the future. If you are married, you will be no stranger to the fact that you may both have different visions of your future together and what it might look like. Melissa talked about having a “missions house” where anyone who needed a place to stay could come to be served and rejuvenated. I have always felt called to reach out past our borders into some other country. The thoughts had been in our minds for a long time, but it was never very clear what exactly they meant and how those two plans could converge, if that was even possible. At this point in our marriage, we had large amounts of student debt. Nothing was going to happen for a while.
Fast forward five years. We paid off our student loans! Free! Now what do we do? This is when we really started to pray. Pray, pray, pray. We decided to start going through the application process with Covenant World Missions. During this time we met with our church missions team. We were very honest with them, and they were honest with us. We were not quite ready. However, they felt prompted to ask us to join them on the Compassion/Justice/Missions Team (We didn’t know it at the time but this is key ).
Throughout our marriage we have continued to be involved with a Bible study. This particular Sunday, Jeff Berg came as a guest to speak on the Holy Spirit. During our session, he felt the Holy Spirit telling him that God was calling Melissa and me to be a part of a Barnabas type ministry – coming along side people to guide and help them. Though we were very open to what he was saying, we had no idea at the time what that meant for us.
Now onto the good part…
Piecing the Puzzle Together
Now we go back to the Compassion/Justice/Missions Team. Mary, a teammember, has strong ties with Troy & Tara Livesay who are missionaries down in Haiti. Tara forwarded Mary an email about needing a couple to help out at the Heartline guest house. Mary thought of Melissa and passed it on.
Needless to say, this excited Melissa. A “guest house” – what does that mean? It sounded like it aligns with our strengths of hospitality. More importantly, it aligns with Melissa’s desire to have a house where people can stay and be rejuvenated.
For the first time since being married it was like our passions both intertwined – my desire to serve in another country and Melissa’s vision of a missions house. We never, ever thought it was possible to have those two visions come together.
We immediately started talking with John, the head of Heartline. In one of our correspondences, he mentioned the job description. He said that this is a very important ministry, even if it doesn’t sound like it at first. It is a Barnabas-like ministry where you would be serving the missionaries who go out into the field. No way! This is weird, exactly what Jeff mentioned a few weeks ago back at our Bible study. To be honest, I had to go look up what a “Barnabas ministry” really even meant. I have never heard it phrased that way before and now two people just told us about it for the first time in my life.
Our Visit
These little confirmations are what really kept our hearts open to doing this. When we went to visit, we were rocked by how great the devastation is in Haiti. It isn’t a third world country, it’s a fourth world country.
We have never seen anything like what we experienced during this visit. No video or photograph is going to truly portray the struggle and poverty. The life of the average Haitian bears very little resemblance to the lives to which we had become accustomed. We were challenged by our materialism and our expected level of comfort. We had both imagined what a life in Haiti would look like, but we quickly realized that we had completely underestimated the difficulty of even simple daily tasks.
As we learned more and more about our island neighbor, our hearts were broken. It seemed unfathomable that such conditions could exist in a nation that sat only two hours off of America’s shores.
Preparing to Move There
Since returning from Haiti, we have spent much time in prayer, the Word, and talking to trusted friends and relatives about our decision. It has become very clear that God urgently wants us there to serve at the Guest House through Heartline Ministries.
Things have been falling into place very quickly. Our biggest obstacle was our house. We bought a townhouse six years ago, and since the economy crashed, it has dropped drastically in value. Without spending every penny of our savings and possibly taking out a loan, there was no way we could sell it before going. We looked at the option of a short-sale, but after the realtor asked us to do some things we felt unethical – such as hiding money, not paying our mortgage, and avoiding calls from our bank, we decided that we wanted to do things the Royal Way – God’s Way. Within two days of posting our house for rent on Craigslist, we got a call from a young, married Christian couple who need a place to stay for two years! Everything about it felt right, and even they said that finding and renting our place was a total “God-thing!”
We are now moved out of our house, Melissa quit her job, and Ryan put in his notice at work. The month of July will be spent taking care of all the details to be completed before moving to Haiti. There have been so many little confirmations along the way from the Lord, and it has been amazing to see him take care of even the tiniest details.
24 responses to “Our Story”
Hi Ryan and Melissa,
We are moving to Haiti in early September. We have aquaintences at Heartline that we hope to get to know better! I have been to Haiti four times this past year and the Lord has opened many doors and made it clear that we are to move there as well. We have also rented our house in the states and are in limbo right now until we get to our beloved Haiti. My husband is teaching at Quisqueya Christian School and we will be living in the house on campus where the Hendricks lived last year. When do you expect to arrive in Haiti…or are you already there?
Please facebook us and/or send us your contact info. We would love to meet you when we get to Haiti!
In Christ,
Elisabeth Ream
Very awesome! It would be great to connect. I will send an email/FB invite your way with our contact information!
Daughter and her husband and two teenage daughters are moving to Haiti in October. They have rented their home, she has quit teaching and he has quit his position as a manager of Lowe’s. She will be opening a library and he will be running a Christian radio station. They are Tracy and Kevin Bolin…she just posted an article about your church there in Haiti I suppose. Somehow I ended up here…I am an elder and just kind of hunt and peck on the computer. Perhaps you could be her friend on Facebook and learn their story. So encouraging to see how God is working and calling the younger generation to fulfill the GREAT commission “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matt. 28: 19
God Bless you and your family!!!
Patricia Richardson
Patricia,
Thanks for your comment and verse! I tried finding you and Tracy & Kevin but there were way to many results for me to figure out which one is the right one. Sorry 🙁 I am curious – are they in the Port-Au-Prince area? Blessings!
We are moving to Mirebalais. My friend, Christie Barnes, has been to Heartline many times. She loves it there. We will visit the heart line church sometime in October, if I can figure out how to get there. We have two daughters, ages 16 and12, and we want them to be part of a church group and have friends that speak English, which won’t be available in Mirebalais. Congratulations on renting the townhouse!
Blessings,
Tracy Bolin
Look forward to meeting you in person!
Dear Ryan and Melissa,
Thank you so much for hosting our group on Saturday night. It was an oasis after a week of running a clinic in Jacmel.
It was great to hear your story and how you ended up in Haiti. I will keep you in my prayers and I am so proud of your decision to follow the Lord’s calling.
So great to hear from you! I was thinking it would have been great to get your contact info. This works great! I sent a facebook invite your way. It was fun getting to meet you! Thank you for the prayers! It helps so so much!
how do we read your bloggs?
By clicking “Home” they are sorted by newest blogs first and then the ones toward the bottom of the page are older. You can go there by going to http://ryanandmelissaalberts.com/
Hey Guys,
Finally got around to reading the rest of your story leading up to the move – quite amazing God stuff! Really fun to see how God can work in two people who are so tuned into following Him and doing things the way He wants. I just recently heard a quote from Oswald Chambers that talked about temptation being our attempt at finding a shortcut to a good end (maybe even a Godly end) through non-God-honoring means. How awesome that you two have been able to stay the course, follow God’s leading even when it didn’t seem possible to align what you both were desiring, and now to be able to look back at all the little steps He led you down in the process. Such a blessing to have that sacred history to be able to revisit – especially on those tough days when you question your place, position, calling, or resolve (know I’ve been there many a time…). Anyway – thanks for sharing your story and life with us – has been an encouragement for me and a good gut-check to make sure that I’m continuing to seek the Lord first, and not my own best laid out plans. Take care guys – keep up that good fight, even on the less-than-glamorous days, always remembering the Audience of One that you are ultimately serving.
P.S. Melissa – sorry that you’re not around this fall to watch your ‘Pack’ do so well. I guess I should have been travelling this fall (Viks 0-4) instead… 🙁 😉
Jake! Thanks for your encouraging words! It can be easy to forget where God has brought us from! Also – I really like the Oswald Chambers quote! I wish I could sit down with you both and discuss your travels! I have often brought you guys up in conversation and some of the things I had read from your blog/journal. Still look forward to the day we can meet up and chat again just like we did before you headed off! I would love to here how you guys are doing and what your plans are now. I sometimes wonder what that will look like once we come back to the U.S.! Obviously no need for me to think or worry about it now… just kind of interesting to ponder. We love you guys! Such an honor to hear from you and truly do look forward to the next time we can meet in person. Blessings to you both! Hope you know that what you have done was inspiring to us as well!
Hi Melissa & Ryan!
I hope you guys are having a really good time in Haiti! What you are doing in Haiti is amazing. I hope that the money will help buy lots of clothes for people so they can go to church. Are there schools for children there? Do you live in a regular house or something different than us? I will be waiting until you come to visit MN/WI in February. That would be great Melissa, if you came to visit St. Johns! I am in 5th grade. I have the teacher, Mrs. Thompson. (the 5th grade Mrs. Thompson) I just turned 11 on December 4th! How are your cats? Hope their great!
Have a great Christmas and May God Bless.
See you in February!
Happy Holidays,
Brianna 🙂
Very nice reading about your story and your journey so far. I was part of a group that stayed with you on 2/27/12 from Dessalines, EGO. I took some pictures I’d like to send copies to you. Is there a better email than the guesthouse@heartlineministries.org ?
Take care,
Tom Kenney
Tom – Great to hear from you! You can reply to this email (I think) or the guesthouse email is perfect. Wergsy and I both check that one! Blessings to you!
What an amazing testimony to God’s timing, leading, and your obedience. Praying for you both.
You guys are very inspirational. May God bless you,
My 15 year old daughter just got back from Haiti. She is already making plans to learn Creole…for when she goes back….someday. She fell in love with it! : )
That is so encouraging! Blessings to her and your family for caring about this great culture of people.
Dear in Christ
I am from Venezuela. Reading your testimonies, it makes me to think on myself. Because I used to be a missionary until the day I decided to live a day-by-day worker.
I love Haiti a lot, I used to do some evangelisms among them in Barquisimeto in 2003-2005 where there was a considerable number of Haitians living in the city and working at the public outdoor market. I used to converse some Kreyol that time.
I hope to have contact with you, and thank you for the material you published. I want to join a translation team english-kreyol. and I hope to go personally right there and help people in Jacmel and Kap-Ayisien.
M tre kontann paske m te konne kamin pou viv eternel.
Papa Bondie beni w 2+
Hi Ryan & Melissa!!
Congrats on that beautiful baby!! I met you both while I was a guest at the heartline house. I was reading your blog and would love to talk to you about your furcy/jacmel hike .. I plan to do it in just a few months with a group of people. Thanks for your warm hospitality while I was in Haiti.
Leah
Have fun on the hike! It’s an awesome experience! Hopefully we helped with some of the landmarks 🙂
Hi Melissa:
Please call or email me sometime when you get a chance to catch up!
-Nicole
Are you still in Haiti? I just stumbled on your site while looking for some help figuring out if I should take my family to Haiti or not. Is there a way I can contact you?