We started off the day heading towards the top of the mountain, which was very relaxing and fun to spend time with the team on the tap-tap. Once we reached the top we stopped at the overlook, what beautiful view. After we gazed in amazement of this beautiful country and took pictures; we began shopping. The persistency of the shop vendors made it incredibly difficult to say no, some of us were great at bargaining while others were not. Scott was an amazing bargainer considering he got 8 items for 12 dollars at the top of the mountain. After we were at the mountain we went to the grocery store which was a very fun experience for a lot of the people on our team. While we were there, a lot of our team was surprised for the fact that it was so different from the rest of Haiti. It looked like a store from the US. There was even some General Mills items in the store which was a very fun thing to see just for the fact that most of us were from Minnesota. The next and final stop was the orphanage Lalau, while it was very chaotic it's always great to connect with the kids. Sometimes it is hard to connect with the older kids but a few of our team members shared that an older girl was content with doing her homework on a Saturday. Overall it was cool to see the other parts of Haiti and as always it was wonderful to be with the kids. Time after time there are tons of lessons that we learn from Haiti specifically the kids. They continually show love, care, and joy in the way that they live and play despite their unfair circumstances. Thank you for all your continual blessings and prayers along this journey, we are excited for a final bonding day with our team.
-Avery Whitbeck and Caden Boike

A powerful day....

We woke up early to go to tent church, not technically a tent, more like an airplane hangar!  The music was very loud, the speakers blasting the amazing worship music.  We could literally feel the beat!  This service was not a typical church service we were used to back home.  The people were walking around praising God  throughout the entire service.  We could feel the Holy Spirit's presence all around us.  A very powerful service....

After the service we walked back to the guest house and got ready to drive up to Titanyen, the home of Grace Village.  We drove in the more comfortable tap-tap (with seats!).  When we arrived at Grace Village, we took a tour of the grounds.  My highlight was getting to see the school classrooms and practicing math with one of the kids on the chalkboard (which is way different than what we have in my classroom back home!).  After the tour, we went down to Fleri Restaurant and Bakery to get a tour of the new job creation initiative.  We then traveled into town to visit the elders, which was another very powerful experience.  We got down on our knees and washed feet, painted toes and nails, gave a massage, and sang worship music to these special people.  We also delivered a hot meal to them.  It was very powerful and felt like we were truly God's servants.
-Noah

Unanticipated Explorations

My word today was "sickness" because 7 of our 17 fell sick today. Therefore we had to be flexible. We were going to go to the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies, but we are not allowed there on Thursdays. We decided that we would go to the museum of Haiti history. Our tour guide was very knowledgable. We learned a ton about the history of this beautiful country. After that we drove back to the guest house, we checked on the sick and we had lunch. We decided to go to the Fluri Farms. It is a farm that was bought by Healing Haiti to help Haitians gain employment, and to divert Haiti back to one of their biggest industries in agriculture. At Fluri Farms, they grow mangoes, bananas, coconuts, limes, and cherries. All the food was delicious. Although this day was stressful in someways, we persevered through all these challenges, but we know that this was all part of God's plan, and we hope that He believes in us, and lets us be His hands and feet here in Haiti.
-Logan

Water Truck Day

My word of the day was "potem" it means 'hold me' in Creole . All the little children wanting to   be held walk around with their hands up saying "potem" They are incredibly poor, but all the children want is to be loved. When we are there they don't have a care in the world, all they want is to be held, and played with. This fun day was also very educational, we learned a ton about Hope Church and all that it entails, we learned about the kindergarten that keeps growing, and how everyone is allowed to come no matter what district they live in. The kids there are very sweet, and very cute, to get your attention they yell "Hey you!" They also love to play hand games. Both of our stops were really fun, it was an amazing day!

My word of the day today was “heartbreaking". I knew this trip would be emotional, but that God would fill my heart up with so many amazing experiences. Today we visited Gertrudes in the morning,  a home for special needs children, and in the afternoon we visited the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies.  Both heartbreaking, yet amazing experiences.  We have been told to allow God to work through us in whatever way He feels necessary and everyone in our group did just that.  Parents and children jumped right in to love up these kiddos. Our morning was filled with playing, blowing bubbles, touching, massaging, holding some of them, playing on the playground that is provided, and throwing balls.  The smiles and joy seen in their faces is how I believe God has worked through us.  

The afternoon was spent at the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies.  There was not an empty crib in the place.  We were able to feed these children, hold them, maybe two at a time, they just wanted love. Some fell asleep in our arms others held us tight not wanting to be let go and many just looked around.  The room was never quite, there was always someone crying out to be picked up, but when a smile spread across their face, it was all worth it.

In between our morning and afternoon we stopped at Aparent Project.  This was started by a couple who were adopting a child and realized the parents of these children could not afford to raise them, therefore, placing them in an orphanage.  They began to think of a way that these Haitian parents could be empowered to make money for themselves and to support their children.  They make many things from jewelry, to t-shirts, to recycled bags and the list goes on.  It is amazing to see the work that is put into the product you will buy at the end.  A way to empower these people and empower Haiti!

~Angela

Our journey begins....

Our journey begins....bright and early at 4 am our entire team (minus 2-whom we met in Miami!) met at the airport in MN.  We all got through security and made it through to our connection in Miami to meet up with Emily and Matthew!  All 17 of us then made the adventure to Haiti.  The long-anticipated adventure that each one of us has been preparing ourselves for both mentally and spiritually, as a team and as individuals.  It's so exciting to see what God has in store for us, what He has prepared for us in advance.  We are all so blessed to have been able to make this journey with our parents and kids team, so grateful for all that He has shown us and will show us this week.  We are ready to serve and be a shining light to all we encounter in Haiti.  After arriving at the guesthouse and  meeting the missionaries, we sorted through all our luggage to prepare our donations, had a fantastic supper (shepherd's pie, biscuits, and salad!), and headed to the pool to cool off from the Haiti heat!  Back to the guesthouse for team devotions, and off to bed early to begin our first day serving in the field tomorrow!  We pray that God would be ever present in all we say and do, and pray for a fantastic week of team building relationships!  God bless all of our families back home (we love you!!).

Kennebec Community Church - June 3rd 2017

Children, children, everywhere! God has blessed Haiti with so many beautiful little ones, and what a joy it is to spend the day holding and sharing the love of God with them. Today we went to La Loo, an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince. Unfortunately, the needs in Haiti are so vast that it feels like we are not doing enough. However, we need to remember that God makes much of little. Like with the bread and fish that He multiplied to feed 5,000 plus men! All we need to do is follow Gods call and allow him to work a miracle. God is the only one capable of controlling that child's fate. We need to trust His plan and serve Him with a whole heart. Though it may feel like we are not doing much. Know we are making a difference in each and every child's life that we touch, hold, and play with. God is smiling in heaven when we are loving His children.

We also were blessed to be able to visit the General Hospital here, and visit the pediatrics section of the hospital. We went in, talked with the sick kids and their families, asked for prayer requests, and prayed with them. It was so powerful to do all this in the mighty name of Jesus. Thankful to be able to come to God with all of our requests, even for our fellow brothers & sisters here in Christ in Haiti.

Our words of the day were: Soften, receptive, able, contrast, power, heartbreak, comfort, spoiled, warrior, joy, struggle, proud, and ordained.

~ Danika & Stephanie