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
