Serenity Village Community Church - Friday 01/19/2018

Today we went to Titanyen, a village north of Port-au-Prince, sparsely populated town, and considered one of the poorest rural villages in Haiti. The definition of Titanyen is "less than nothing", that is until Healing Haiti decided to build Grace Village in Titanyen which consists of Children's Homes, Grace School, Grace Clinic, Grace Church, and Fleuri Bakery and Restaurant.

Mass Graves Memorial

Today we stood over the graves of over 200,000 Haitians that died in the 2010 Earthquake. Our driver's brother stayed home from school that day. Had he gone to school, he too would have died. God works in mysterious ways. The Haitian government built a huge burial grounds to those that died as a result of the earthquake. The bodies were brought to the burial site in dump trucks. They had no other means to transport them. The government also allowed people access to bury their family members if they died later as a result of the catastrophe as another 300,000 Haitians were injured in the earthquake and many died of those injuries. There is a very visible grave where the remains of a catholic priest were laid to rest. The past few years the government built a very nice memorial which in 2010 was simply a mound with a rock and an engraved sign that stood over the mass grave.

Elder Visits

The elder visits was the single most powerful mission event for me (Bill). We were invited into the homes of three Titanyen village matriarchs. They were so sweet and humble and loved on us to. We washed their feet, calves and arms. Then massaged their feet and hands with lotion. Some received nail polish. When asked what we could pray for them, each of the elders stated to pray for someone else other then theirselves, it was beautiful.

Grace Village

This is an amazing place. They have extremely high standards for schooling. They grow their own vegetables and operate a restaurant and bakery as well. Their intent with the restaurant and bakery, just like the school, is to develop young citizens that fit into the Haitian society and that their skill set is favorable to the needs of the current economy.

All in all it was another wonderful day. The imprint in my mind of the three matriarchs will last forever. They were beautiful and spiritual women who seemed to love life and their families. We are on our way home in a couple days. We feel good and not so good about that.

Love, Bill