Sunday Funday

As some of you know today was our last full day in Haiti. Although all of us are sad to leave we ended up having an amazing day. Our morning started off with people watching the sunrise and others (us) sleeping in until the last minute. We had and amazing breakfast and great Haitian coffee to start our day. Afterwards we all prayed before we piled into the tap-tap, during the ride to Grace Church we played an intense game of Catch Phrase.

     It seemed like a very short ride and when we pulled into Grace Church we were immediately welcomed by big bright smiles from amazing kids and adults. Even though most of the sermon was in Creole, we could still feel the power of the preacher’s words. We have never seen kids praise God the way Grace Village kids did today; the elders were also jumping up and down praising God. Towards the end we had to leave to go the beach.

     As we got closer to the beach the view was absolutely breath taking. We could not help but run into the water WITHOUT sunscreen… Running into the cold water was such a relief after baking in the heat all week long.

     As our week came to an end we are very happy we had this opportunity to be God’s hands and feet. We would like to thank our amazing leaders for making this trip as fun as possible. We are also very thankful for the team we have.

Bon wit (Good night)

(Grace & Dacia)

     

Mesi Jezi pour L’eau!  - Thank you Jesus for water!

We woke up and had breakfast to start our morning. We were also blessed with bacon to eat, thanks to Haley’s kind heart who bought it at the Haitian grocery store earlier this week. Jaime shared a devotional with us to help fuel our hearts for the day ahead.  It was a good reminder to keep our main focus on the Lord throughout the rest of the time we are here, “I can brighten up the dullest of gray days; I can add sparkle to the routines of daily life.  Even the most confusing day opens up before you as you go step by step with Me. My presence goes with you wherever you go, providing light for your path.” – Sarah Young; Jesus Calling

After praying we loaded up on the tap tap and headed towards Cite Soleil.  It was our second water truck day for the week so we were excited to be able to give water and see the smiling faces of all the children.  Once again, before the tap tap stopped, we were greeted with the familiar shouts of kids lined up behind the truck yelling, “Hey you! Hey you!” As the door opened, the swarm of kids pulling at our shorts and shirts asking to be held was an indescribable feeling of love, because we were immediately accepted by people we’ve never met before. As half of us worked together to fill up buckets of water the other half of our team immersed ourselves in the language of Creole, trying to hold conversations amidst the joking, laughing, hugging, and embracing. We may have a language barrier, but the common language of love was easy to fixate. We also helped carry buckets of water and watched as the strong Haitian women were able to carry gallons of water on top of their heads.

Each time we had to wait for the water truck to fill up before we ventured out to the next Haitian neighborhood, our team spent the time together jubilantly singing, chatting, and growing closer together as a family. Some of our team even decided to cool off by taking a quick shower under the water truck spout. We originally only planned two stops for the day but after our teams chanting protest of, “one more stop, one more stop!” our drivers gratefully took us out one more time. Water truck day is always a day where pieces of our hearts are left all over the city each time we have to say goodbye and move on to the next stop.

After water truck, we got ready for dinner. This evening was distinctive, we got to go out for dinner at a pizza place called Pizza Amour, run by an American family who opened up a business after falling in love with Haiti. We were able to enjoy dinner with outdoor seating and a peaceful atmosphere. They had a small gift shop inside that we all got to explore. Val, our truck driver and friend, blessed us with his presence and joined us for dinner as well. We ordered five pizzas that our team happily devoured followed by root beer floats, key lime pie, and mocha frappes for dessert. We are all sad that the trip is coming to an end soon because we feel like we’ve gained a second family. We are hoping and praying that this bond continues to grow after the trip! Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support back home! See you all soon!

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up in eternal life.

Pdslm 63:1 O God, You are my God, I shall seek You earnestly; My Soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You.  In a dry weary land where there is no water

Love and Blessings,

Michelle & Lita

#blessed

Fantastic Friday!

It’s the Lisa’s here-again! Wow! What a day! We started off our visits at The Home For Sick and Dying Adults.  Soon after we arrived, the team split into guys and gals.  Benny and Rich, our amazing guys of the team, visited the men where they were massaging mad-men!  In all they were able to give 14 massages! So awesome!  The lovely ladies of the team divided into two groups to visit with the women.  We too gave massages, but we also got to paint lots of fingernails and toenails.  We all just enjoyed being in the presence of such strong yet such fragile men and women.   

Next stop was the Haitian History Museum.  It was very educational!  All the names of the Freedom Fighters were on a wall.  The guide explained what the names mean in English, let’s just say many were very demeaning.  The four founding fathers were buried in tombs inside the museum, there was an anchor displayed from the Santa Maria and a piece was taken out which was given to Charles Lindberg.  Many paintings depicting slavery and how harshly they were treated.  There was also a wall with pictures of all the leaders of Haiti’s history.  The Haitians optimism and pure happiness is remarkable.

The last visit of the day was to Laloo Orphanage.  The first line of business was doing a craft with the kiddos.  The craft-a paper fish.  It required lots of glue which the kids went crazy over. Nothing like having a bunch of kids and lots of glue!  Hilarious! Written out on the tail was Matthew 4:19. “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men” translated in Creole.

After the clean up, we headed out to play!  Lots of hair braiding, piggy back rides, an intense game of soccer, and basically just loving on these precious children of Haiti.

We wrapped up our evening with a quick swim at the hotel pool, a spaghetti dinner that the ladies prepared for us, birthday celebrations, devotions, salsa lessons and yard games!   It’s clear to see we make the most of every day! And now it’s time for us to go to bed!  

Bon wit (Good Night)

Lisa, Lisa and the Jesus Jam!!!:)

An Action Packed Thursday

It's LISA's here ...

This may have been our most action packed day yet.

Today we visited GRACE VILLAGE in Titanyen. We were fortunate enough to get to ride in the front of the tap tap on our drive up into the mountains. Maxim maneuvers the chaotic streets of Port Au Prince like a seasoned race car driver. He never missed a beat as we asked 100's of questions about Haiti, the culture and his personal life & walk with Jesus. Sitting in the front gave us yet another view of the beauty within Haiti.

GRACE VILLAGE is a family home style orphanage & school. Our tour taught us how they care for these beautiful children, reunite many of them with their families and have been recognized by the Haitian government for doing such an amazing job. This beautiful facility teaches 400+ students during the school year. It works off of the parable of the loaves & fishes. Seeing the innovative area where they raise 1200 Talapia at a time to feed their people was amazing.  Every aspect of this village has been thought through to have it teach the Haitian people how to utilize their resources and become more self sufficient and prosperous. It left us in awe.

After our tour we spent hours playing with the beautiful children of GV. We engaged them in all sorts of games and contests that kept everyone smiling and laughing. Duck Duck Goose was a quick hit, as well as Freeze Tag, and Ring Around the Rosie. Benny seems to draw the attention of the little boys. He quickly got them doing push ups and pull ups and somehow into arm wrestling contests. By the end of our visit EVERYONE was arm wrestling and doing pull ups. It was a great time.

Our tour of the almost finished FLEURI BOULANJE (Bakery & Pizzeria) was again so impressive. Job creation, stimulating the local economy and utilizing local resources are at the top of the their priorities!

From here we visited 3 participants in the ELDERCARE program. This was our favorite part of the day. Literally being the hands & feet of Christ was such a powerful experience. We brought them food, washed their hands & feet and massaged any of their aches & pains. We even got to paint finger & toenails. We sang with them and prayed over them. Again, so amazing.

On our way back, we stopped to visit the MASS GRAVES MEMORIAL. As we sat and listened to Jonas tell the story of the earthquake, it's devastation and the unimaginable difficulty of placing 300,000-400,000 bodies in this one place to be buried, our hearts ached for the people of this country.

Our dinner tonight was authentic Haitian food! YUM! So good. Then we played yard games with some of the staff, did a little gift shop shopping, and took a quick ride in to the grocery store to pick up some ICE CREAM! Wrapping up the night with TEAM DEVOTIONS, Jaime reminded us of the importance of PERSEVERANCE. So as we head off to bed, we look forward to what God has in store for us tomorrow!

THANK YOU for your prayers, love and support!  As we sign off we want to leave you with this verse from John 13:12-17
When he had finished washing their feet he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them.  "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.



Lisa & Lisa

Wednesday already?!

As I sat down to write, this song came on in the background and struck a deeper chord than usual. It's by Plumb and is called "Lord I'm Ready Now"...

Lord I'm ready now
All the walls are down
Time is running out
And I want to make this count

I ran away from you
I did what I wanted to
But I don't want to let you down
Lord I'm ready now

Today we split into two groups and visited Home for Sick & Dying Babies and Dare's Orphanage. I led the group that wanted to visit Home for Sick & Dying Babies and we spent a few hours there. We arrived in time to help with breakfast, and spent the remaining time holding, playing with, and loving on the children there. Many of these children have illness of varying degrees and are there to get well. Some have parents who visit daily and others do not. All want some form of loving interaction, whether it be sitting on a lap, playing with a toy, or just holding hands. I was blessed to hold and play with two little boys initially, and was later given a little girl to hold and love on. The Sister shared with me that she is very, very sick, and has no one visiting - all she gets is to lay in her crib all day - so I should hold her and encourage her. She was awake but not very alert, so we had little interaction - but I held her close and talked and sang to her. Later I asked Deb to pray over her and then it was time to go. Heartbreaking but very blessed to be able to just love on that little beauty.

Haley led the rest of the group to Dare's Orphanage, and through pictures we saw that they had an absolute blast. Dare's is a special needs orphanage with about 15 boys and girls of differing ages and abilities. They sang, played music, played with Legos and other toys, and shared lots of laughter and love.

We had a midday break, then went to the ApParent Project (www.apparentproject.org) for a tour and some shopping. Their mission is to provide jobs and prevent kids from being orphaned. Their organization is still quite young overall, and is absolutely exploding. Awesome people with great vision and passion. Check out their website!

Tomorrow we will visit Grace Village and the new bakery. We will also have an opportunity to visit three elders in the area, who are cared for through Healing Haiti's sponsorship program. It is such a privilege to spend time with these amazing men and women! Stay tuned :)

Love,
Jaime

Water Water Everywhere

After a long and exhausting day of travel yesterday, we arrived to the guesthouse around 8pm and settled in for the night. Today we spent our first full day in Haiti by making 3 water truck runs into Cite Soleil.

Water truck day always ends up being one of the highlights of the week. Repeat trip goers light up with excitement as we round the corner into Cite Soleil and know what is up ahead. The shouts of "hey you!!" become louder and louder as the following of children chasing the tap tap (our transportation truck) gets bigger and bigger. Stepping off of the tap tap we are immediately swarmed with little ones who want nothing more than to be held and loved. Those smiling faces are forever ingrained in our hearts and minds.

Before the truck was even stopped, the line began to form with people waiting to get their buckets filled. Waiting for what could be the only water they get all week. And as the 95+ degree sun and like 100% humidity beat down on us, the desperation for this water is obvious. We took turns manning the hose and shuffling buckets while others ran around and played with kiddos. We all left soaking wet, not quite sure how much of it was sweat or water.

Arriving back to the guest house, we restored ourselves by taking a trip up the road to the hotel pool. During our supper "word of the day" reflecting, Lisa Simon said hers was "water" and I could not agree more. We experienced water in many forms today. Life saving, hydrating, relaxing. And now as I write this blog we are loving the soundtrack of pouring rain and thunder rolling in outside. And I know the people of Haiti are more than grateful for this gift from God.

~ Haley

Final Day: Quenching Thirst

Saturday

Today was our second water truck day.  I cannot prepare myself for the smells, sounds, sights and feel of poverty.  Poverty is everywhere in Cite Soleil.  Look to the left, right, under your feet then right at the children.  Their eyes, they tell a story.  The dark brown eyes sometimes cloudy, red or even absent.  One cannot forget the eyes.

The thirst in Cite Soleil cannot be quenched, as the thirst is more than for water.  The thirst is for human touch, acknowledgement, a smile, hug, prayer or even laughter. The thirst is grand!  As missionaries, we do what we can.  We serve the Lord, we are his hands and feet.  He calls us to serve his children, our brothers and sisters. 

Today was bitter sweet.  It is sweet because we can deliver water, look into the eyes, pray and give our best for two water truck stops. Bitter because it is the last day we can try to quench the thirst that exists in Cite Soleil. Bitter because I cannot quench the thirst that continually exists in Haiti. The thirst is one only God can quench.

Kristine