Day 4: There is no one like Jesus

Psalms 29:1

“Honor the Lord, you sons of God; honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness.”

  This morning our team woke up extra early to go to church. This was another special day on our journey here with God in Haiti. The church was full of people pouring out their hearts to Jesus. He said to come to Him with thanksgiving in our hearts and that is exactly what we saw and felt. Brothers and sisters in Christ were praying, singing, and dancing unto Him. The pastor was on His knees praying. We were captivated by the Presence of God. After seeing a lot of pain, poverty, struggles, and other hard things, we were filled with hope seeing all of our Haitian brothers and sisters giving praise to God in the midst of it all. Our Holy God has shown Himself mightily in their lives. We are in awe of who Jesus is. There is no one like our God.

  After church and breakfast with our new family, we went to visit a memorial dedicated to the victims of the earthquake that happened in 2010. It is called Mass Graves. When the earthquake happened, Haitians did not know what to do. They ran into buildings thinking that would protect them not knowing it would put them in more harm. Buildings fell on top of people and many Haitians died that day. All of the bodies were brought to this memorial site and buried. They have made it beautiful on top and once every year meet together there. A memorial service is held for the lives that were lost. After the earthquake a lot of Haitians lived in tents because they lost their houses. God showed us the resilience of these people.

  Grace village started through Healing Haiti is making a big difference in the community. Grace village is a place that takes in children and gives them education.They also have a library and technology room for the children. One of the cheapest medical clinics around is in Grace Village. They also offer dental services. They built a restaurant to help Haitians learn job skills. This restaurant helps the community out and supplies an income to many Haitian workers. It gives them joy and a sense of pride to be able to provide for their families and their children’s education all on their own. We learned about the restaurant and got to taste the yummy food. Grace Village also ministers to the elders nearby.

  We took lunch to some of the elderly men and women. Some of us were pushed out of their comfort zone and were surprised that they were able to do what they were uncomfortable with. We washed and put lotion on the feet, legs, arms, and backs of the elderly. Jesus first demonstrated this humbling experience in John 13:1-17. We painted the nails of the elder women and young girls. The elders had smiles and joy radiating from them. We were able to dance with one of the elder men. He loved it and so did we! Seeing their joy gave us hope because even though they have weak bodies and tough situations they still smile and praise Jesus. We blessed them but they also blessed us.

  God is extravagant in all He does. He goes above and beyond. Today we/ve seen things that only Jesus can do. There is no one like Jesus. What other God speaks back to us, lavishes us with love, provides above and beyond all we ask and need? What other God leaves His throne and washes our feet? There is no other God, there is only one- Jesus.

~ <3 ~ Michaela

Day 3 - - - God is among us.

 Today, we experienced God in new ways, yet again. He revealed Himself very real to us. We started off the day having breakfast as a family- because even though we did not know everyone in the beginning that is what we are now.

God is among us.

 God is amazing in so many ways. Sometimes, we overuse that word for things that are not actually amazing. However God really is AMAZING. He orchestrates our lives together so uniquely and perfectly that it truly amazes us. He precisely placed a team that fits so great together on the same trip. He knew who would be here together in Haiti before we even knew ourselves. We are full of thanksgiving for all that He is showing us. He is letting us be His eyes, ears, hands, feet and heart on a whole new level that some may never ever experience. His is giving us motivation and allowing us to motivate each other.

God is among us.

 We went to teen challenge and had the opportunity to speak with young men and women that are battling with addiction. People battle the same kinds of things all over the world. We are not so different after all. They are there because they decided they did not want to live that way anymore. They are learning about the love and freedom and forgiveness of Jesus. Some students at teen challenge shared their stories with us. Some of the things they shared were very hard for them to speak about but the Lord gave them courage. They were once consumed by addiction but now are comsumned with the love of God. The Lord manifested in such a real way. It was like He physically reached out and touched us. During our meeting, a flower flew into the window directly in front of and was handed to a young woman who needed to be reminded that God loves her and cares deeply about her story. It was like He sent that flower to just the right spot to speak that she is beautiful and precious in His sight. Some of our team members shared their testimonies as well. The redemption stories that were poured out were splashes of encouragement to the others who heard them.

God is among us.

The last part of our day was especially special. We visited an orphanage that is only for special needs children.Each one of the children there hold a special place in God’s heart. Seeing the joy on their faces despite their differences gave joy to us. The joy of the Lord was present there. We sang worship songs with them,  prayed together, fed them snacks, colored, played soccer and with play dough. We held and danced with the children, pushed around the ones in wheelchairs, and gave out hugs and smiles. We were both a blessing to them and them to us.

God is among us.

Jesus spoke in Matthew 25:31-46 saying when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite a stranger in, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and in prison we are doing it unto Him. So we are to treat every person as if it was Christ Himself.

GOD IS AMONG US.

It was a refreshing day to be able to see all that God is doing in the lives of the men, women, and children in Haiti that we were blessed to meet today. Be encouraged that whatever you are going through - - - God is among you.

~ <3 ~ Michaela

Day 2- Contrast

Contrast

For day 2 our team experienced contrasting activities. In the morning our team went to two different companies that are enhancing and advancing the skills of the people and economy of Haiti. The first business, Peace Cycle, is a place dedicated to reducing the waste of plastic left on the streets by recycling the plastic and making beautiful wallets, purses, totes, and more! This business is also dedicated to enhancing the skills of Haitians who choose to work there. These skills fall along the lines of building a business, self efficiency, and English. The second business, Papillon, is a business dedicated to giving people a job with great benefits, such as an on-site daycare. This business makes many items like bracelets, necklaces, ornaments, and dolls, just to name a few. These businesses are important because they are empowering people. They empower them to not only provide for their family financially, but also spiritually.

The second half of the day was an afternoon spent at the home for sick and dying babies. The team held crying babies, fed small children, and played in the playground with many kiddos. This home was a hard visit for our team. It was a contrast from the hopeful businesses that the team visited earlier in the day. We felt confused but also joy. We felt helpless but also useful. We felt broken but we also felt love.

In our feelings of helplessness, confusion, and brokenness, it’s difficult to see God in those moments. Why do we feel conflicting emotions? Why is it when we see a child, ill and crying, we see love? Why do we see joy when a child is desiring any kind of loving contact? Why did we feel helpless as we soothed cries, dried tears, and filled empty bellies? It’s hard to say why we feel conflicted. It’s difficult to identify why our brains process the way they do. But it’s also easy to understand where God is in the midst of our conflicting thoughts.

When life comes at us we feel so hopeless at times. It’s easy to forget that Christ is walking through our valleys with us. It’s not until the end of our trials that we see our usefulness. Our valley is someone else’s encouragement.

Some may look at the sacrifice of Christ and see a broken man but really, it is agape love.

Some may look at Christ and see a story that doesn’t make sense. It’s confusing. There is a God that gave his only son, for us, sinners. But what it really is, is pure joy. Joy unspeakable.

There is so much contrast in life. That contrast is so important. It’s vital to see the difficult to appreciate the mountain tops. Sometimes we have to feel helpless to be useful. We have to be confused and not understand sometimes to feel the joys in life. And sometimes we have to be broken to love.

Day 1- New

New.

Today our team followed a truck full of water to Cite Soleil and made three different stops. On those stops, many people lined up with buckets, and pails, and pans to gather water to take back to their home. A few of our team members kept order to the line, and filled buckets up with water from the water truck, while others held babies and children from the ages of a few months to 9 or 10 years old. Some kiddos loved to play handshake games or play with our hair because it looked a little different from what they were used to. Others from the team helped children and women carry their buckets of water to their home.

Our team also had the opportunity to learn about Healing Haiti, and how they empower the country of Haiti and are helping without hurting those they are affecting.  Healing Haiti has a farm near Cite Soleil where they grow many foods such as coconuts, avocados, eggplants, and mangos and our team was guided through the farm and were able to see the plants and irrigation system and at the end of the tour, were able to sample fresh watermelon and coconut, and lime from the trees.

A word that has stuck in my head today is new. When I think of the word new, I think of something shiny or expensive. New things are exciting, but often, they lose their luster after a while.

Today was new for most of our team. It was new getting to see the beautiful country of Haiti. It was new to have smiling, curious, loving, and joyful children cling to legs, and arms, and backs, and necks, and any other part of a body we didn’t know could support a small child. It was new hearing conversations in Creole surrounding us and seeing the chaotic yet smooth masses of people driving down busy streets. It was new for half of the team to see the pure innocent eyes of a child tell you “ou belle” (beautiful), or for a child offering their last material item to you because you were talking with them and complimenting them and telling them it was beautiful. New things, like seeing what pure, infectious joy is; there were many new things to see.

But for the other half of the team, these things that were experienced were not new. They have been experienced before. As stated above, new things lose their luster, but this is the amazing thing about God. For me, this wasn’t new, but it was even more exciting than the first time I experienced it. It wasn’t new, yet new things were learned and experienced. Even when we think we know, or we think something is old, God is still moving. He is still showing. He makes beautiful things, even in the things that are no longer new.

For the people of Haiti we encountered, it was not new to them. Healing Haiti has the water truck in Cite Soleil daily. This is something that families experience often, however they showed a new joy, a new excitement. They hugged new hugs, and played new games, and they loved with a new love. They loved a pure love, a love like Jesus. This love is new and overwhelming because it comes without reservation and expectations. Today let’s choose to love with a new love. Let’s choose a love with no bounds. A love without any burdens. Let’s choose a love like Jesus!

Church, Orphanages, and Papillion

August 17th 2018-Friday

Some of us rise early and enjoy coffee on the rooftop and get to see the sunrise. We can hear the tent church services that begin around 5 am. Today, we attended that church and prayed with the Haitians. Despite the language barrier we worshiped together. As is usual, many smiling faces pulled us into their singing and dancing. It was quite the aerobic workout hand in hand as we danced in the aisles. There was a large feeling of community. 

We walked home treading the stony streets and hills. Traffic was considerable congested with beeping to let us know they were coming. In heavy traffic there is a lot of honking.

Phaunis and Alta (our cooks) again prepared a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and French toast, oatmeal, and fresh local fruit (watermelon, papaya, mango, bananas, avocado) AND fresh squeezed juices.

As soon as the tap-tap was loaded we were off to Croatian Relief, an orphanage that was started by three nuns from Croatia. We found the facility to be well run with friendly staff, well mannered children who were well clothed. The Team led by Ashley, told the story of Daniel and the Lions Den with improvising from various members of the group to provide the King Daniel, and Lions. Many games were played with the children including soccer, basketball, and crafts.

From there we adventured to Papillon, a for-profit combination production  site, cafe and retail shop. Papillon was started by a woman from the United States, Shelly Jane. She came to Haiti to adopt a child and due to many regulations on doing so, she decided to start an industry where by families had employment and were able to earn enough to keep their children. Papillion (which means “butterfly”) is both a job creation and orphan prevention measure. Papillon can be accessed online at Papillon.com. All items are handmade and include clay wear, jewelry, dolls, linens, clothing, cards, etc. Papillon was started with four employees and now employs over 200. Child care and schooling is available to employees at no charge. We were also treated to a tour of their manufacturing unit.

The currency in Haiti is the Goud. There are about 64 Goudes to a dollar. Items are fairly cheap by U.S standards but unattainable to many Haitians. Some items are expensive; a gallon of ice cream was 20 bucks.

Our last stop today divided our team in half. Some attended an orphanage called Gertrude’s. My half was able to feed and love babies at another orphanage. Some were sick and dying others were bright eyed beautiful children- all hungry and ready for interaction.

The day was full, hot, and humid. Our showers were a blessing - cold but still a blessing. We came home to a spaghetti dinner already on the table, best we’ve ever eaten.

Music - the Universal Language

Day 3: Tour of Fleri Farm, Cite Soleil Water Stops (2), For His Glory Orphanage 

God spoke to us through the power of music many times today.  Our tap-tap was a rockin’ this morning with silly camp songs - There Are No Bananas, Tarzan, Baby Shark, etc.  Then Emmanuel (one of the Healing Haiti staff who spent the day with us) taught us the Creole versions of Glory to God and How Great Is Our God. While most of us know minuscule amounts of Creole and some of us claim to have no musical talent, somehow the tap-tap sounded incredible :-) 

During the first water stop, a little boy sitting on a team members’ lap started humming Ring Around the Rosie. Soon, other Haitian kids crowded nearby sitting among us started humming and singing in Creole.  Many young eyes got wide and smiles came over tiny faces as we joined in singing in English. In a moment, grins covered the American faces as well and more kids who overheard the singing came running to join in.  The next obvious step was to stand up, form a circle and play - right here in the middle of a dirty street with garbage floating in filthy water on both sides, here in the poorest slum in the Western Hemisphere.  So, a handful of Americans and dozens of Haitian kids sang ,held hands, went round and round and fell down  - over and over again.  A simple tune brought two worlds together to share big smiles, much laughter and great joy! 

In the afternoon, music filled For His Glory Orphanage.  The team shared/lead many silly sing-along-with-movements kid songs.  The kids (ranging in age from 2-17) mostly just laughed at us as sang about bananas in the sky, chomped link a shark family, and acted out a goofy Tarzan and Jane song. But some joined in even upstaged us!  After we acted out the Noah Story, Emmanuel played guitar and led us in worship songs.  The minimal practice we had this morning learning the Creole versions of 2 songs came in handy but didn’t take us very far :-)  The kiddos showed us up big time - they knew all the songs in both Creole and English.  Sitting among the kids on tiny benches with many of the smaller kiddos in our laps, we filled the grassy, shady courtyard with music. How Great is Our God.... Glory to God.... I can think of no better way to praise our God and no better words to sing and no better brothers/sisters to spend the afternoon with.  

Special Needs - Blessed to Serve

Day 2 August 15, 2018

Today was a long day, but it was extremely humbling, rewarding and educational.

Early in the morning at around 6 am there was a group of about six people that planned to go to a church service. They took the tap tap to the Mass only to find out that there wasn’t service until 8:30 am because of the Feast of the Assumption, so they prayed with a sister for 15 min and then walked back to the Healing Haiti guesthouse. 

Eventually the time came around for breakfast at 8 am. We ate an egg scramble, French toast, avocados and mangoes. It was delicious! We left at around 9:30am to go to our first location called the Missionaries of the Poor. There we met Brother Simom, a brother with the mission here in Haiti. He talked about his life’s story and about the Mission. He is originally from Kenya.  The founder of the Missionaries of the Poor came from China and moved to Jamaica. This is where he witnessed 154 people die and felt God’s calling to serve the  poorest of poor and the sick. The Haiti site was originally run by Food for the Poor then it was given to the Missionaries of the Poor. There are many Brothers around the world, about 500 of them, and twelve locations of the Mission in Jamaica, Haiti, Philippines and Uganda. We spent the morning bathing, nurturing , playing and loving these beautiful children that live at the Mission.  All of the kids had both mental and physical disabilities; it was evident the staff did their best to care for them but as with many situations in Haiti, resources are limited.

From there we traveled to an open metal market where we admired and purchased beautiful works of metal art by local artists. Our last stop for the day was another special needs orphanage. We brought several wooden cars and markers for the children to use. There were also colorful noise makers which were definitely a hit. Many of the kids loved coloring the wooden cars and the masks. There was an impromptu sing along with the noise makers that involved some 90s rap, Frosty the Snowman and the theme song to the Brady Bunch. All kids were in great spirits. 
One little girl was very particular about the colors that she chose. While another boy found it funny to fling cars and see how far they landed. Lastly, we were greeted by a small boy in a wheelchair that looked at each one of us as we arrived and slowly pointed his index finger and motioned us over. The smile on his face was able to get every single volunteer to come over and say hello. 

It was a smaller group of kids the second time due to it being summer but the joy filled the hall way in which we played. As we left, each volunteer felt the kindness and joy that each child bestowed upon us.  We ended the day in prayer and we are thankful for everything God has given us and everything we were able to give back.