Day 2

Today we visited an orphanage. The Director / Founder of the orphanage told me that these children are typically taken in because the parents cannot afford to feed them. The orphanage can't take all children in but if a parent brings a child and the orphanage cannot take the child, the parent will leave the child at the gate or in the streets. The orphanage must and will take the child in at this point regardless of why they could not accommodate the child in the first place. Haiti has an average family size of 6 kids. The average wage is $4.52 per day. The unemployment rate is 40%. It is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. It tugs at one's heart to see these kids at the orphanage who just want attention and love. We will see much worse conditions tomorrow when we go deliver drinking water to the poorest slum in Haiti. We are all praying and preparing ourselves emotionally for tomorrow.

What is needed to help heal Haiti while planting the seed for Christ? A lot of things and many of us (you) have gifts and talents that can make a difference in a place like Haiti. While reading this you might want to know 'what may I give of myself to help'? Well there are the more traditional answers and while all great, we need to search within our hearts by exploring beyond our comfort zones to identify how we can take action to fulfill our purpose for Him.

The poor must be fed and given water to ultimately drink His water of life. If a child is hungry, how can they be intent to hear His word. We need to educate them so they can break the generational chain of poverty....I'll leave it here for you to ponder. More importantly, you've got to go serve, somewhere, and break outside of your comfort zone to know your purpose. Rick Warren wrote "The Purpose Driven Life" and the first sentence in the book says "It's not about you!" It's about serving others. How are you going to serve (to the best of your God given talents)?

We'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for reading this.

Phil

Ray's Team - JOF Day 1

Hello readers!

We successfully made it to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti; thankfully our airport travels went smoothly.Well, other than a slight incident with some granola bars at security...

Once we arrived at the airport, we immediately noticed how far a smile and hug can go and that language barriers have nothing on us and the love of Jesus. At the house, we all spent some time bonding and resting after a long night and day of traveling. The guest house that we are staying in is surrounded by lush trees and lots of dogs! We just had some delicious dinner made for us by a few lovely ladies, a little devotional time, and are now going to get some sleep before starting service tomorrow! Tomorrow we will be visiting an orphanage and doing VBS with the children; we are so excited!

We thank you for your prayers thus far. We are so grateful that we all arrived safely and again, are so excited for our week to begin! We ask for continued prayers. We pray for open minds and open hearts this week. We pray for flexibility and willingness to go wherever God leads us and to do whatever He asks of us. We pray that we honor and represent the pure grace and love of Jesus Christ with kind souls and happy hearts. We pray that the Holy Spirit moves through us and helps the Haitians wherever possible, and that we are present so that we too can see whatever it is that the Lord wants to show us, through our works and through interactions with the Haitians. Lastly, we pray that ALL GLORY go to GOD and for the understanding that we are so privileged that God has chosen us to do His work.

Stay tuned for posts from our team members as we reflect on our days here in Haiti! We are expecting to have some powerful days ahead of us!

Chloe Basmajian
Haiti JOF team 2017

Closing Ceremonies Aug 6

CLOSING CEREMONIES, AUGUST 6, 2017

At the end of the week our leaders give each student a word as a gift to end our trip. This year each family of students gave their leader a word. Each student received a bracelet that said “Give, Serve, Honor.” 

BRICE’S FAMILY: 

Graham - Eager

I have seen you eager to learn, eager to grow. Eager to step back. Eager to have new experiences. I think about someone who is willing and open and makes themselves available to do it and go through whatever needs to be done and seen. I hope you continue that eagerness.

Josh H - Perseverance

I see you persevere this week. You were sick for a day but you still went for it. You kept saying, I’m doing ok even if you weren’t. You kept being positive and doing the 8 minute abs and going through the hard things and looking forward to the reward. 

Braeden - Genuine 

It was so quick to realize that when you talk to Braeden or interact with you people leave knowing who you are and what you stand for. You are so willing to go, this is what I think. Whether it is what people might want to hear or not. Your genuineness highlights an important strength, being genuine is really strong. You create an environment where people want to be genuine too. 

Annika S - Captain 

I think about a captain of a team. Someone who leads others well, makes others better. I have seen you changing the environment and atmosphere wherever you went. You create excitement, and care about the entire team feeling comfortable. When people hang out with you you set them up for success and they feel better being around you. 

Abbie - X Ray Vision

If you think of what an X Ray represents it is when you do this thing that you don’t have the ability to see with your naked eye and you need an X Ray to see what’s going on. You have the ability to see what is really going on. You see the small and overlooked things. Throughout the trip I have seen you say little things and you understand the impact of those small things. You are able to see things in your friends they might not be able to see. Our family is what it is because of you. 

Noelle - Freedom

When I think about you on this trip I think about how free you have been in serving and loving other people. I have seen so much growth. In worship you just go for it. I see this new found freedom to be who they are. In your freedom you give people freedom to be who they are. Your love with God, it’s showing. Freedom radiates in joy and acceptance and in being loving. You have a heart for your team and for the Haitians. 

Brice - Contagious 

You walk into the room and your laughter and your love and your joy fills the room and spreads so quickly. In your conversations you are so intentional and you know what everyone needs and you know what to say. 

ANN’S FAMILY: 

Shayla - Hug 

She hugged me probably three times a day. She is open, she is affectionate. She is loving. Even though she was sick for a few days when she was serving she embraced every experience. I love how you wanted to give me a hug all the time. 

Tori - River

A constant flow. With areas of depth, large areas of depth. What I love about you is how responsible you are. We were in the tap tap and we shut the door and she said, you need to lock that. She knows the details and what needs to be done. She has tenderness when she would share her heart. It was wonderful to get to know you this week. 

Maya - Glue

I have a special place in my heart for Maya because she is in my small group. The word for you is glue. The way you connect friendships, all the people around you. The word I have for you is gracious. You are gracious with your eye contact, your hugs, how loving you are. You are such a special part of our group and always have something meaningful to share.

Joanna - Bridge

She is a bridge to Jesus, a bridge to truth. A bridge also carries a lot of weight — she carries the weight of her friendships and their burdens. She can give friends sound advice and be such a great friend. 

Daphne - Creation 

I think you are beautiful, creative and intricate. To me, every day for Daphne is a re-birth. She is constantly deciding what she is going to create: whether she is going to paint or draw. In small group she is always very honest and funny and she has a unique viewpoint. I love being in Haiti with Daphne.

Ann - Mom

We chose this word because a mother loves completely with their heart, is always giving (including candy all the time). She is always there for us and teaches us about Jesus and is everything you need in life. That is what you have been for us and we love you so so so much. 

LEA’S FAMILY: 

Katie - Strength

You’ve probably heard for your whole life that you are really sweet and that is true. You are so sweet to be around and so easy to be with and you have this gentle spirit. 

But when we were thinking about you the word we wanted to give you is strength. You have this inner strength. You have a strength of character. You know what you believe through and through and you’ve shown a lot of strength. You have said yes to every opportunity. 

Larissa - Brave

That maybe is never a word you would choose for yourself but that is why we need to tell you. Every single day you tackled a new lie or fear and just went for it. That is the stuff of life that actually takes courage and you just did it. Every challenge you set for yourself you just did it. Your generosity is also really brave. Being so giving without asking for anything else back is vulnerable and brave. 

Lauren - Encourager

You are an encourager. On one level, you just say things to people about how you believe in them and what you see in them even when they don’t see it in themselves. 

On another level encourage means to give courage and you do that. Even when you get feisty or worked up … when you get angry about the right things you carry people with you on a mission toward things that matter. I’ve watched you spur our team into good things. You are awesome. 

Emmy - Friend

You are a soldier to lean on. You are a breath of fresh air. Every stranger that encounters Emmy has a friend. You are so loving. I could just sit next to you and listen to your commentary. You have this camaraderie with people. You are loyal and so true to the people that you hold dear and we are honored to be in that group of people. 

Lizzy - Exemplary

The reason we gave you this word Lizzy is because as leaders if we saw all of our high school girls grow up and go to college and be like you are in the way you follow after God and the woman you are that would be a huge win. You are exemplary. You are never a person who has to preach or impose your view but you have given wisdom in ways you might not even know. I hope everyone has taken you in. You are beautiful and honest. You are exemplary. 

Lea - Prophet

It was so fun picking your word. First we started talking about different attributes you have: kindness, you are God’s mouth piece speaking truth, you are always present, you are always there for people. We chose the word prophet because you speak truth and God is working through you and the Holy Spirit is so in you. 

AUSTIN’S FAMILY:

Emma - Pursue 

We noticed this week that you are so intentional with everything you did. The conversations you had, the questions you asked and the things you did. You served with your time, you volunteered to do things and that doesn’t happen by accident you have to pursue that. 

Annika C - Fighter

Something that came up for all of us was how you perceiver through circumstances and when you aren’t feeling well you are back at it. I noticed for you fighting to know the truth and fighting to know God. You want to know the truth and you are fighting for it. 

Bella - Treasure

One, you are for sure a treasure to us and our community. You add so much and we love you.

Two, you are always seeking to find treasure. One thing that stuck out is the way you mentioned the single moments you had with people, or the one thing you noticed or sharing the gifts you received from God. 

One of the coolest things about you is that you don’t just want that treasure for yourself but you want other people to find that treasure too. 

Rob - Leader

I love this word I think it fits you so well this week. We have gotten to see you set aside your own agenda so that other people could experience Haiti super well. You have risen up in our community as someone I hope others become like. You lead in humility and servant heartedness. I love to see you lead the pack into moments of awkwardness — like when everyone was feeling strange about washing feet you weren’t afraid to dive in. You also weren’t afraid to step out or decrease so someone else can have an experience. 

Josh M - Yes (and Amen) 

This week in so many different ways we have seen you say yes to different experiences and different ministry opportunities whole heartedly. We have seen you say yes to worship and praying for our community. We’ve seen you say yes when asked if Jesus can heal you. We’ve seen you say yes to Jesus.

All the leaders when we thought about this thought that this week was a starting point for you. 

We want to see you continue to say yes to Jesus promises, yes to where he wants to bring you.

And say Amen, which means I agree. We want you to say yes to Jesus’ promise and I agree to those promises for your life and your future. 

Austin - Pursuer

When we were choosing your word we also thought about passionate, connector and deep. A pursuer has to start with a desire. It is such a privilege to have your desire for God to be so present to us. A pursuer is also driven. We have seen you point out where you see things from God that you want to share or things from God that we express to you and you tailor our time together so that we can learn in a deeper way. And you just connect with people along the way. We feel blessed and special to have that connection with you and just be real with you. 

Drew - From the Students - Hypster / From the Leaders - Spirit

You kept the morale high. You were delightful to be around and have on this trip. You led us spiritually, raised the temperature in devotionals and during times of worship. 

Word of the Day August 6

WORD OF THE DAY, AUGUST 6, 2017

Each day we debrief our experiences by each picking a word of the day and describing why we picked that word. 

Lizzy - Breathe

We were sitting with lawn chairs in the ocean and waves were coming in and I was thinking with each wave it is like the ocean is breathing. It was really calming and peaceful. 

Joanna - Praises

Because I was able to worship with the Haitians. It was fun to notice some of the tunes even though the words were different.

Noelle - People

Today we met a lot of people who were at the beach. We met some UN soldiers from Brazil who were relaxing at the beach. I really like to meet new people. They spoke Portuguese and it was kind of similar to Spanish so we were able to communicate a bit.

Abbie - Language

This morning I realized we can praise God in whatever language because it doesn’t matter. I was a little frustrated that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. At the beach I realized that I could have a whole conversation with these Brazilian soldiers even though their was a language barrier but our shared understanding of Spanish allowed for our conversation. 

Annika S - Connection

I felt like I really connected with those Brazilian soldiers we met. Also on the tap tap we passed another tap tap of Americans and we yelled at each other and felt an instant connection. 

Emmy - Refreshment

The ocean was a perfect way to end this trip and it refreshed me and made me feel so good.

Shayla - Memories

I have so many good memories on this trip and made lots of unique bonds. 

Braeden - Loud

This morning at church I know that I couldn’t understand them and then at certain points I couldn’t hear any words because it was so loud. It was so cool to see everyone worshipping. 

Josh H - Intensity

The worship leader was just going off. He was screaming and the music was super loud but really cool. Also Robbie and I had some intense spike ball matches today.

Josh M - Fun

This whole day was fun, the trip was really fun. It was fun to hang out with people and make new relationships. 

Annika C - Snorkle

Going snorkeling was the highlight of my day.

Lea - Wonder

Oh my gosh I found a happy place for Lea snorkeling. This trip was harder for me, I had to choose very single day to embrace the day with a wonder and a belief that I could have a new experience or see new things. God invited me to choose wonder every day. 

Emma - Unlimited 

At the church I loved looking around and seeing people going all at it worshipping. The worship leader was having a great time. I didn’t know the lyrics so I just started praying and I said, “God I love how you don’t set limits.” 

Tori - Closure

I spent a lot of time thinking about these last two trips to Haiti. They have been different but equally amazing. I love the relationships I built last year and the new ones this year. I thought, this could be my last time in Haiti. It was bitter sweet. This is a beautiful country and I am glad I could have that experience.

Robbie - Stars

When we were hanging out on the balcony I would look up at a single star and think that star is millions of light years away and one of hundreds of billions in the galaxy and I saw a metal market sign that quoted Psalm 119 and said God spoke the stars into creation and knows them by name. It is amazing to think that in the vastness God knows us all. 

Daphne - Beauty

Earlier this week I shared that I thought of Haiti as a dump or a slum but this trip I realized Haiti is such a beautiful place. Going snorkeling was really cool, it was cool to see Haiti below water. I think Haiti is so beautiful. 

Maya - Reflect

Today was a really chill day to look back at everything we’ve done, the bonds we’ve made and what God has done among us. I am really proud of us and glad we could all experience this but also sad it is ending. 

Graham - Accomplished

I feel I’ve accomplished my first week in Haiti, writing 25 journals and accomplished making a lot of new friendships. 

Bella - Cherish

In the midst of the fun and the busyness I would stop and look around and think, wow God cherishes each and one of these people on my team so much and now I cherish them so much now that I know them better.

Brice - Voices 

I loved hearing the voices in church. Their voices penetrate. You can hear the pain and the desperation for God. You can hear the meaning of what they are saying. So when they say, God you are the only one for me they aren’t just singing it to sing it. 

Lauren - Different

I am a very different person from who I was when I left here last year. Also there were a lot of things that were different about this day then other days. The experience that I had this year was different compared to last year but both were equally impactful. 

Katie - Impact

I spent a lot of time reflecting on the trip and the impact we made, the water we filled and the kids we held. I started thinking about all the organizations we worked through and the positive impact they are making. 

Larissa - Mother 

Over this last week I have made so many connections with a lot of people, with most of you. I found myself today doing whatever I could do today to make sure you were happy and healthy and make sure you had everything you needed. I wanted to make you happy and just be there for you. I was rubbing Emma’s back on the tap tap ride home. I made the tap tap clean. I love you all so much. 

Ann - Mountains

I just love being in the ocean and I got to be on the fishing boat and put my feet in the warm clear blue water. Seeing the coral reefs and the mountains and enjoying God’s creation. 

Austin - Keepsake 

We’ve all had the opportunity to develop relationships. This week more than any other I have developed relationships with people who live here which is cool. But what I get to bring back is the relationships, stories and friendships that we have which I think is really cool. 

Drew - Leaders

I am so thankful for Ann and Brice and Austin and Lea. We had amazing leaders on our trip. 

Hey guys!! I'm just say I'm alive and well, well now I am. :) I was sick for a while but now I'm feeling better then ever!  I'm looking forward to the beach tomorrow and connecting more with my team members, miss my family and doggy, love you all.

-Shayla

Today and Thursday I met another Daphne. So it's now Daphne times three. One of the days I met a Daphne was on our water truck day(Thursday) during our second stop. She was this sweet little girl who was wearing a pink dress that was dulled by dirt. She had a few holes in the dress and I don't recall her hair being braided. I believe it was around chin length, and possibly shorter. Katie was holding her little sister, and Daphne was hiding behind her legs smiling. I thought it was so strange meeting another person with my name, and wondered if she had thought the same. Maybe she was thinking that is was weird, or maybe cool. Maybe she was scared, but excited to meet someone that had the same name. After we ran out of water for the stop, I said Au Revoir(Good Bye in French), Daphne. It was really strange saying that. I've never said goodbye to someone of the same name before. It was almost like I was saying good bye to myself.

Today, I met another Daphne at an orphanage. She had a white shirt on and Knee length shorts. She had short hair that was probably an inch and a half long. When her friends learned that I had the same name as her, they dragged her over to me while she was laughing while trying to get away. I was really confused at first, but then I realized that we had the same name. It seemed like Daphne was really confused and weirded out by my name being Daphne. It was weird for both of us; meeting another Daphne. We both laughed about it and then she ran off because she must have thought it was super strange. 

Meeting two other Daphnes was so weird, but so cool for me. I've never met anyone with the same name as me until I came to Haiti. What if one of the reasons why I was supposed to come was so I could meet the two other Daphnes who were living in Haiti. After meeting them, I was talking to Emma on the Tap Tap. Emma mentioned something about meeting other people with the same name as her, and how we could have been born in there situation and life instead of our own. So it made me think. What if I had been born in Haiti, instead of North Carolina and raised in Minnesota. From the Daphnes I met, there would've been a 2/3 chance that I would've been born in Haiti as an orphan who either didn't have parents, or had parents that had to give me up because of the little money they had or as a child who was struggling to survive and having to depend on a water truck that comes every day or so, just to give me a bucket of water. I feel so lucky to have been the person that got the 1/3 chance of living in The United States. 

God could have chosen to have had me living in Haiti, but he chose to have me born in The United States. He has a plan for everyone and he has to have a good plan for me if I was lucky enough to be born in a country that is full of opportunities. I can do so much here and I feel like God wanted me here for a reason, even though I have yet to find it. I also know that God put the other Daphnes that I met in Haiti for a reason, and I know and will be praying that they will have long and amazing lives and will follow whatever plan God has in store for them.

-Daphne

Wow. What an amazing week of serving and loving on others in the name of Jesus. Today was a little bit different day for me than most days. In the past week, almost everyday for me has been serving, loving on others, laughing, carrying buckets, always doing something. Take yesterday, where my emotions were all over the place with everything we did - sadness at the Mass Graves, stunned by the fact that they didn't event know what to do in the situation of an earthquake that they ran into buildings, and finally overflowing joy due to all that Grace Village is doing to provide jobs, love, family, care, and protection to the community. In short, my week has been full of a wide range of emotions and activities. However, today was different. Several times today I found myself simply stepping back and just watching what was going on in front of me. At one point I stepped back to watch 40 children singing This is the Day to all of us, at another point I stepped back to watch children and students tossing balloons full of color around in the air - smiles on their face and over abounding joy in their hearts, and at another point I stepped back to see all of my friends building relationships with children despite the language barrier. It was amazing today to just take a few moments to step back and see all that God is doing in the lives of those children and in the lives and hearts of my Woodridge Community. Today God showed me how refreshing it is to sometimes take that step back to see the bigger picture. Too often we get caught up in day to day life, approaching deadlines, growing to-do lists, whatever it may be. However, sometimes when we do that, when we fill our lives up with endless tasks, we often forget to step back and see where God is working in our days. Every day here during our family time we do a reflection prayer, where our family leaders guide us through our days, telling us to think about each different part of the day, the moods we were in, who we connected with, where we saw life and love throughout the day, where God was moving. There were so many times this week that I did that and saw God in the smallest of moments - things that I missed when it was happening right in front of me, but being able to step back and look at the bigger picture allowed me to see all that God was doing, even in the little things. When we take time to see God move, He doesn't let us down. He shows us what He is doing, the miracles He is performing, redemption and endless love that He is bringing back to a broken world full of sin and death, organizations like Healing Haiti bringing light and life into a beautiful country. Overall, when we take time to ask God what He is showing us, He does. He is always waiting to show us the beauty that He has for us. Whether we are anxiously waiting to see Him move or anxiously approaching deadlines to come, He is aways working and waiting to show us all He has in store. 

- Abbie VandenEinde

Word of the Day for August 5

WORD OF THE DAY, AUGUST 5, 2017

Each day we debrief our experiences by each picking a word of the day and describing why we picked that word. 

Drew - Reverberate

Today it rained so we had to do our team time inside instead of outside. This same thing happened on Saturday last year. Both nights the sound of our voices worshipping passionately together reverberated around the room. 

Emmy - Connections

Today during my family time I heard God telling me, “every day this week I am going to give you one person to connect with.” When I looked back that has really been true. I have connected deeply with one person each day. 

Daphne - Daphne 

This trip I have met two other Daphne’s. One on Thursday and one at the orphanage today. Thinking about the lives of those Daphne’s has made me feel so blessed for the life that I have. The other Daphne’s had so much gratitude and joy. At home I think I am unthankful for a lot of the stuff I have. 

Joanna - Boogaloo

I played a game with the girls at the orphanage we visited and at first they looked at my like I was crazy but then all of us were having fun together.

Robby - Farm

It was fun to eat the coconuts. It made me think of the garden of eden, a man made river ran through it with trees hanging over. And it was cool to think that the restaurant that we ate at yesterday had food coming from this farm. 

Lizzy - Enjoy

I thoroughly enjoyed today. A lot of good moments today: playing soccer, riding in the front of the tap-tap and talking to Annika S and the farm was really cool.

Braeden - Happiness

This whole week at some point every day I have experienced at least one small moment of sadness but not today. It was all happiness.

Josh M - Pain 

I hurt myself trying to head a soccer ball past the goalie (Rob). I hit my shin on the curb and my leg hurts. 

Josh H - Humility

My spike ball team lost for the first time. And I got scored on six or seven times as the goalie at the orphanage, two through the legs.

Shayla - Peace or Joy

I found myself in peace. I had time to reflect on everything I’ve done this week. The trip was worth while even though I was sick. I was simply in awe, I loved every minute of it. 

Larissa - Wait

At the metal market people would come up to me at the metal market and ask me to come up to the store and then would tell me that they would wait, one said, “I will always wait for you.” It made me think that God will always wait for me, and for us. He is ready and waiting and loving whenever we are ready to take steps with him. 

Annika S - Share

I shared a lot of things with people today. I shared a lot of joy with our team and the children. I shared a handshake with one of the orphans. Emma shared her food with me and I shared a lot of great conversations.

Noelle - Swing

I got to go on the swings with a 15 year old boy at the orphanage. Even though I could not really talk to him I still felt connected just swinging together. 

Maya - Fulfilled 

At this orphanage today the kids didn’t seem to need our love as badly and it made me happy to think that they are being loved by God and each other. 

Buying stuff at the metal market made me happy to fill their pockets. 

Lea - Rememeber

The image that sticks out in my mind is the mama who welcomed all of us at the orphanage. I walked by her several times as she was washing clothes. I was thinking, there are 45 kids who live here and this is her life washing clothes. I have talked to so many Haitians who say, please just remember me. I want to remember her washing clothes in a bucket. I want to remember that her life matters and pray for her because she is my sister. 

Tori - Watching 

These kids weren’t jumping up into our arms today. There were lots of moments of sitting and watching. Cool moments, fun moments, funny moments, sweet moments. I loved watching the rest of my team instead of just having my own experience. 

Abbie - Eyes

I found myself sitting back and taking it all in instead of being in the middle of it. Like when the kids sang to us when we first arrived or when we first blew up the balloons — all the beautiful colors and the smiles. 

Emma - Understanding 

In the time where I am trying to figure out what God is telling me and what God wants me to do is to be present. When I went to bed this morning and woke up I have been praying that I will be present. When we got to the orphanage God reminded me that being present is about God’s plan and not my plan. I was reminded of words from one of my speech coaches who said “be where your feet are.” In a spiritual sense, being present looks like being where your feet are. I looked down on my feet and got pulled into a game of duck, duck grey duck. 

Graham - Talent

Watching those kids I could see that they were so talented at soccer. God blesses us all with talents and one of theirs is playing soccer. It was awesome to see that.

Katie - Smile

When I first got to the orphanage I started playing with this one little girl. She tried to talk to me and I couldn’t talk back so I would smile and then she would smile back on me.

Bella - Trusting

I got to see a lot of people put their trust in me today. A little girl at the orphanage sit with me and let me braid her hair. When we left she gave me a hug and said thank you. Then at the metal market we were in one shop looking at turtles and the guy bagged it up and told me to hold onto it and think about it and said, “I trust you.” I trust you’ll bring it back. 

Lauren - Chase

There was this little girl at the orphanage who was sitting next to me and Abbie started tickling her, then I started tickling her. She stood up and refused to sit down. So then I started to chase her. She was really fast. Also, all the people at the metal markets chase after you. They really want your business. Also during worship I realized that I am always chasing after something and I never take a minute to be and think about what God is trying to tell me. 

Annika C - Braids

Getting my hair braided by the orphan girls was my favorite part of the day. It was fun to have my hair braided and it was cool to see how happy the girls were after they did it. 

Brice - Relationships 

I feel like today I thought a lot about my relationships that I have with people in my life. And my relationship with God on the tap-tap during idle times I met with God and I felt like God was showing me highlights of our relationship and the journey that we’ve been on. Also the many conversations I’ve had with some of you today were awesome. 

Ann - Fun

I felt like even though we didn’t speak the same language we totally understood each other today at the orphanage. I really enjoyed the kids we played with today and all the games we dreamed up in our heads.

Austin - Protected

There is not a moment when we are in Haiti that we are not protected. We are protected here, in Citi Soleil and today I was reminded of the first time I was in Haiti and I delivered a bucket through a dark alley. If I had gone alone I would have been totally lost but one of our translators was with us and I knew it would be ok. 

Today when we went to get the soccer ball one of the translators and I walked along a big wall. Our translator put his hand out and told me to wait to make sure it was ok for me to come with. It reminded me that we are being protected and looked out for. Because of those guys we can be present. And with God, because God is with us we get to do great things for the kingdom. 

Word of the Day for August 4th

Josh H. - Recovery- It is so remarkable how haiti has recovered from the earthquake just 7 years ago. 

Lea - Proud - So proud of the team for laying themselves down to love and serve the elderly

Joanna- Hard- It was a hard day of serving, but also hard to leave the elders once we were there

Daphne- Yes- It’s really hard to believe that God is always saying “yes” to us, but He is always saying “yes, I love you”. We just don't know how His yes is going to look. 

Emmy- Unexpected- At the third elder visit, I was affected by her story and it moved me to unexpected tears. 

Josh M. - emotional- Finding out that one of the elders had just lost her husband and son made me feel so sad for her. 

Annika C.- Free- returning to see Jude Jean Paul this year was different than when I saw him last year. But this time when I saw him I felt confident that someday he will be free from his sick body. 

Tori- Optimistic- The woman who had just lost her family went around and hugged each one of us and was so sweet and optimistic. I remembered that no matter what you go through there is always something to be thankful for. 

Lizzy- Breeze- Every time I felt down or just overwhelmed with the heat, God sent a breeze to comfort me and keep me going. 

Larissa- Desire - I prayed that God would give me a moment to stop being inhibited by my insecurity and be free and enjoy a moment. And He have that to me. God will fulfill every desire we have. 

Lauren - Blessed- The rain in Haiti is such a blessing. I feel blessed when it rains here. Also, when we visited Jude Jean Paul, i knew that our job was just simply to bless him. 

Maya- Hope- Today at grace village I saw how God is transforming haiti through his love. 

Bella- Fearless- 1. The elders fearlessly receive love from us. 2. At grace village I met a boy who had a fearless desire to try new things and ask deep questions. 

Ann- Amen- I just love watching our students serve and seeing how much they get it and served with such heart. 

Braeden- Touch- Today I massaged more people(the elderly) than I ever have in my life- and it was awesome. I was emotionally and mentally touched by them too. 

Austin- Close Up-  We get to be close-up with each other and with the Haitians here, without the things that normally separate humans. 

Graham- Shoutout- Shoutout to grace village for everything that they do.

Robby- Annikaka- I introduced our friend annika as Annikaka to kindergarten boys and they thought it was so funny. 

Annika- Beauty- I saw so much of God’s beauty today. today was joyful even though we saw hard things. 

Abbie- Emotions- I had a wide range of emotions today- sorrow over the earthquake, and joy with the elders, and hopeful at grace village. 

Katie- Appreciated- One of the elders we saw was waiting for us to arrive because she was so excited, and if felt great to serve her. 

Noelle- Faith- so many of the kids at Grace and the elders have been through so much, yet they still have such a strong faith. 

Emma- Look- I identified this rock that was porous and dry, and when I looked closer i saw that there was a flower growing out of it. God reminded me that new things can grow out of the driest of places. 

Brice- Deposit- Every week when the elders are visited, they are given a deposit of love. Over time these add up, and bloom into awesome things.