Sunday, May 8, 2016

Hamilton/Loween Sunday May 8th

Wow, What a week we have had! I am struggling with all the emotions and thoughts running in my head.  I have been told by my leaders, that I am processing and I think I will be for a while….  God broke me on this trip and now I have to go home and figure out how to not lose the impact of what I saw in Haiti in returning to my everyday life while becoming unbroken.  As my new friend Laura said she was “beautifully broken.”

I ended the week on a high attending “tent” church this morning.  This church was literally started in a tent and now they have a huge building where hundreds of people come to worship God seven days a week.  Even though we don’t speak the same language it doesn’t matter: worship is worship, prayer is prayer, giving is giving.  The service was half in English and half in Creole and to me it was just a reminder that all over the world church services are being held in every language and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  It was a great feeling.

After church, we headed up the mountain to do some much anticipated mountain shopping.  The views were truly breathtaking and many of us found treasures to bring home to loved ones.  It felt great to boost the Haitian economy.  We also got a great treat-ice cream and espresso.  Thanks Marcia, Trent, and Carlos! 

After returning to the guesthouse we had some team bonding time playing soccer with the neighbor boys, going to the pool, dinner, communion, worship, prayer, and word of the week.  I struggled with word of the week even though I have been thinking about it all day it is too hard for me to pick one word to sum up this last week.  All I know is that I am more blessed by this trip than what I gave to the Haitian people and will never forget this experience the rest of my life. 
-Kim

What a family in Christ this team is.  I think God hand-picked this team to come and experience Haiti together and after this journey, comes a new start for all of us.  We are different than what we were when we arrived. This trip marks a new beginning for all of us in our walk with the Lord.  If you are reading this blog and haven't been here yet I encourage you to pray and see if God is calling you to come.

Thanks to our families and friends for all of the support, we can't wait to get home and share with you what we have experienced here, but I have to say that our hearts are breaking because we are leaving beautiful Haiti, which in just a few days captivated our hearts.

My fellow 14 new brothers and sisters, I love every single one of you.  Thanks for all the love that you gave me. Haiti was only the first stop on this friendship journey for us.
-Carlos

As I sit here and add to the blog, my thoughts are more about the week, not just today. We will be coming back to what “WE” perceive as reality on Monday, but there is more “Reality” in this world that is never experienced and brought to light.
I only pray that I will be able to remember the smells, sounds and sights vividly enough to remain humbled by the experience.

I do see hope and future for the poor in Haiti, it will take time and lots of work. I pray that Healing Haiti will continue down the path they have chosen to support the people of Haiti.

I would like to thank all those who offered up prayers and financial support. It is something that I will never forget.

God bless my teammates! They are an exceptional group.


-Allen