Tuesday Day 2, We gathered before breakfast. There were greetings and discussion. Some about who had a cable to charge the camera, others about their Christian journey and many topics. All in all, a nice time of fellowship among old and new friends. After breakfast, we went to see several places that are making a very positive impact on lives in Haiti. The first was Papillon. Which means butterfly in French. They make pottery mugs and bowls from local clay. Also, jewelry of various types made from clay, glass and cardboard beads. They currently employ about three hundred people, all Haitian. Now, instead of begging or occasional day labor and wondering how to buy food tomorrow they have full time employment and a steady income. Next, we went to a small company, started bu a lady from Florida who sold her home and moved to Haiti to do something to contribute to the Haitian recovery. This company makes sandals from old vehicle tires. They cut the shape from the sidewall of the tire. The leather and glue used to create the upper portion is all locally made in Haiti. So, this company is not only changing the lives of their employees, they are helping the environment and the Haitian economy as well. We went through several small artisan shops that made very beautiful hammered metal objects. However, don't get the impression we spent the whole day shopping. Having helped the local economy as much as we could at the previous stops we turned our attention to a school for the deaf and an orphanage. When we arrived at the school we saw construction of two large new buildings well under way. The children were just finishing classes and heading for the playground. We had brought along a few new soccer balls which we gave them. These were a big hit and some impromptu games of soccer began, In a few minutes I noticed that a few of the boys remissioned one of the soccer balls into a basketball and had a 4 on 4 game going. While we were at the school for the deaf we toured their grounds where we saw contained areas where they were raising rabbits and chickens as well as some areas of fruit trees. Next, we went to an orphanage where we plaied with the children. We brought collering books and crayons and other toys. As we were walking in, one littel boy came and took my hand. We walked arund a bit and then he got some crayons and paper and took me over to his desk. He wrote something in creole and then pointed to himself. Then, he pointed to me and the paper, So, I wrote my name and pointed to myself. I am not sure about the motivation of the next thing he did. If he was showing me what he learned or was teaching me creole. He wrote the number 5 followed by cursive writing in creole. Then the number 6 and more creole. After each writing he pointed to the number and then the writing. When he had finished several of these he smiled and then drew lines to the left of each number and pointed to them. It looked like fill in the blanks so I printed the English word for each number and said the word in English. One of our group was taking pictures. That was the biggest hit of all. Many of the children came and pointed to themselves with big smiles. They wanted their picture taken and then, of course, wanted to see the picture. These moments, wit the children were the highlight of the day for us. Ii know I was sad when it was finely time for us to leave. After some time to rest and get refreshed, the team gathered to discuss the day and reflect on what we had seen. On the hope and encouragement because of progress in rebuilding, on the sadness of the fact that there was still such a long way to go. And, the thankfulness we felt because God has allowed us to be part of this ministry to help Haiti recover.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Day 2~ Tuesday, October 24th
Day 1~ Monday, October 23
Day 1 - Monday morning started rather early. The limo`s came for us about 3:00 am with planes taking off around 6:00 am. The flights were good even though Atlanta had heavy rain. The team from around the country converged in Atlanta and, after some greetings and hugs for friends from last year, we all walked to the food court for a quick lunch. The team, fourteen people, is comprised of people ranging from first timers to those who have been on seven or eight trips. The flight from Atlanta to Port-au-Prince was jam packed. We noticed several members of other mission organizations on the flight with us. Once we landed, immigration and customs was moving rather quickly and we experienced far less problems than on previous years. After we got settled in our rooms we had a short team meeting. We needed to review the rules, some for our safety and others for other reasons. There was a period of introductions where we talked about who we are and why we continue to come on Healing Haiti mission trips. For many, it appeared to be that the first experience was such a blessing that they are compelled to continue. We held hands around the supper table as one of the team gave thanks to God for the fellowship, the blessing of the trip experience and the food on the table. After supper many hands made short work of cleaning and washing the dishes. It's a great start to our trip.
Friday, October 20, 2017
DAY 5: PEACE CYCLE, WATER DELIVERY, APPARENT PROJECT
A BEAUTIFUL EXCHANGE
Today started with a second day of tent church for a few of us. It moves us to tears to see believers completely abandoned to Jesus. They may be poor in things but rich in faith. It is a beautiful sight to see.
After breakfast, we stopped at Peace Cycle to tour a water bag recycle company. Haitians go through 5 million water bags in a day and Peace Cycle reuses these plastic bags to make wallets, pencil bags, hats, aprons, costars, and lots of purses/hand bags.
We then made our way to the 3 hands sculpture where we stopped to pray and give food to a blind beggar. We came to find out that he did have Jesus in his heart. He asked for prayer to have his sight restored, rides to get to church, and finances. Since it was in a busy round-a-bout we drew a crowd as we laid hands on him to pray for his healing. He thanked us and said we were an answer to prayer. This was indeed a beautiful exchange as we were all moved with compassion and love for this man. We shared with him that God still sees him and he is never forgotten. This statement was also moving for our team as well as we will never forget this experience and the way God was present in that moment.
Next stop was another Water Truck visit to Cite Soleil. With a few members sick some were worried about having less hands to help, but with the grace of God it felt like an easier day than our previous water truck day. Many were able to reconnect with Haitians they connected with on Wednesday or previous trips. It was a great reminder of God's great community. Some of the team ventured down alleys into their homes to deliver water and they were very happy and blessed that we were just with them. The Haitians just wanted to give back with whatever they had. When one member of the team got hurt the Haitian ladies took care of her by doing her hair and were just glad to be in her presence.
We ended the day with an anticipated shopping trip to apparentproject.org. Help support this great organization who are providing rehabilitation to the families in Haiti by creating jobs.
Glwa Pou Bondye (Glory to God)
~Beth, Tara, Ann, and Ariel
Today started with a second day of tent church for a few of us. It moves us to tears to see believers completely abandoned to Jesus. They may be poor in things but rich in faith. It is a beautiful sight to see.
After breakfast, we stopped at Peace Cycle to tour a water bag recycle company. Haitians go through 5 million water bags in a day and Peace Cycle reuses these plastic bags to make wallets, pencil bags, hats, aprons, costars, and lots of purses/hand bags.
We then made our way to the 3 hands sculpture where we stopped to pray and give food to a blind beggar. We came to find out that he did have Jesus in his heart. He asked for prayer to have his sight restored, rides to get to church, and finances. Since it was in a busy round-a-bout we drew a crowd as we laid hands on him to pray for his healing. He thanked us and said we were an answer to prayer. This was indeed a beautiful exchange as we were all moved with compassion and love for this man. We shared with him that God still sees him and he is never forgotten. This statement was also moving for our team as well as we will never forget this experience and the way God was present in that moment.
Next stop was another Water Truck visit to Cite Soleil. With a few members sick some were worried about having less hands to help, but with the grace of God it felt like an easier day than our previous water truck day. Many were able to reconnect with Haitians they connected with on Wednesday or previous trips. It was a great reminder of God's great community. Some of the team ventured down alleys into their homes to deliver water and they were very happy and blessed that we were just with them. The Haitians just wanted to give back with whatever they had. When one member of the team got hurt the Haitian ladies took care of her by doing her hair and were just glad to be in her presence.
We ended the day with an anticipated shopping trip to apparentproject.org. Help support this great organization who are providing rehabilitation to the families in Haiti by creating jobs.
Glwa Pou Bondye (Glory to God)
~Beth, Tara, Ann, and Ariel
DAY 4: MASS GRAVES, GRACE VILLAGE FAMILY ORPHANAGE, ELDER VISITS IN TITANYEN
Hi Aleah and Abby coming to you live from Delmas Haiti. Yesterday we visited our sponsored elders. It was a very eye opening experience, especially for Aleah because it was her first time. Seeing the elders homes was interesting because its very different from back home. One was made out of just tarp for the walls, and some wood pillars for support. Although they had so little they greeted us with such respect and there biggest smile. One of the biggest smiles that I remember was two elder sisters that both had knee pain, so we let them keep muscle cream to help with the pain. They were so grateful for something so simple. It made me think how something so small could make such a big impact on someone, and the saying "Its the little things in life that count" applies not only to the sisters but to us as well. When visiting elders we also played around with some neighborhood kids. We brought bubbles, jump ropes, balloons, and nail polish. we not only put a smile on the kids face but the elders were laughing and having a fun time too. From washing the elders feet to giving them massages and praying over them. Overall it experience and something that I will never forget.
~Sincerely Aleah and Abby
~Sincerely Aleah and Abby
DAY 3: ELDER SCHOOL, WATER DELIVERY, HAITIAN INITIATIVE FEEDING AND SOCCER PROGRAM
Good Morning From Haiti!
We are sharing the Healing Haiti housing with Father Talbot and his group. We started our day by sharing a Catholic service with his group at Mother Teresa's. It was a short service and a short walk home. Whether the Church Tent service or Mother Teresa's I so enjoy the early morning walks back. You get to see the city wake up, hear the roosters crowing, goats scrambling for food, parents scrambling their kids off to school. And, to see these young kids in such immaculate uniforms the older kids holding the hands of the younger, motorcycles with 2-3 kids riding just trying to get to school......
After a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fresh avocado and fresh squeezed passion fruit we headed out to the Elder School in the heart of City Soliel. So many kids of all grades packed into such a small space - but they make it work. Going to school is a privilege. Most of the prayer requests from elders is to somehow find the money to get their kids and grandkids to school.......it is their gateway out of poverty. So if you are reading this, you can sponsor a child for about 40$ a month.
Water truck day (there are three stops). Every emotion can be felt on a day like this. Pure unadulterated joy, sadness, pain, love, anger.....but the greatest of these is love - it is not ironic - its written in the bible. All the other emotions cannot be diminished because its true. You will feel the pain of carrying a five gallon water bucket with the tips of your fingers or carrying it with a wire handle without the comforts of a grip, and it hurts. You don't just carry one bucket and rest, if we carried one, we carried 20 or more. Your neck and back hurt. My word of the day was "Can't" (which contains the word Can). Just when I thought I can't take another bucket or walk another step, God provided the strength and endurance. Not only are we carrying these bucket, but we balance ourselves out with a child on our hip. They want to be held and loved as much as we want to hold and love them. You feel anger that it feels as though these people have been forsaken, you will feel sadness for the children (slave children) and the sheer poverty. Despite that, what outweighs all of the negative emotions and what you will see is the smiles and laughter amongst the people and children. So happy to see us, to be held, to feel hope and to feel loved. Our sadness is ours - they are a happy people.
Two last thoughts on water truck day. At the first water stop, I was handed a naked toddler. I rocked this child and it slept in my arm for the greater part of half hour or more. With all the chaos of a water stop, this child slept. It reminds me of the verse "come to Me all who are weary, and I will give you rest." We as God's disciples were able to do His work of providing rest for a weary child. How amazing is that? It felt wonderful. And just think how happy God is when He provides us the rest we need. What a great provider - thank you Jesus!
My last thought was of an elderly lady that I had seen last year. She stood by a wall with all her water buckets. I was immediately drawn to her and felt the need to help her carry her water. She did not want help at first, but I knew she was there for me as much I was there for her. I did end up helping her carry her buckets, but about 2 minutes into my walk with her, I started to sob. Here was an elderly lady, carrying water twice a day 6 times a week. She is not retired down south, she has no pension plan or Medicare....she is just surviving into her golden years. She set the bucket down, held my cheeks and kisses each of them. She is consoling me. How backward is that? I knew what I was going home to. I had so much and she had so little. I couldn't reconcile this in my head, but here I was being held and comforted by this lady.......That was last year and she was never really far from my mind, in fact I still have her picture on my phone. This year, when I got to water stop #2, I desperately looked for her amongst the sea of faces and chaos. I knew about where she lived, and found a young family living there. My heart sank, thinking maybe she passed away. Thank you Jesus for letting me know her, if even for a few minutes. When we got to water stop #3, I carried a water bucket for a young girl and then I made my way back to the water truck. I looked up and I saw her standing in her doorway. My heart leapt with joy. I knew her face, I knew her. I ran up to her and explained in broken French that I helped her last year and she hugged me hard. What is this connection? I am not sure. I've known her all of a couple minutes for two water stops over a 1 year period. All I know is that I love her!
Our last stop of the day was the Haitian Initiative and Feeding Program. This is a chance for kids to go to school, play soccer and have a place to get some food - Thank you Feed My Starving Children. In order to stay in this program, kids must maintain good grades in school. You may see some of the kids who do come to Minnesota to play in the Soccer Tournaments at Schwan's center.
In one year, I have seen great progress....Thank you Jesus for everything!
~Micki
We are sharing the Healing Haiti housing with Father Talbot and his group. We started our day by sharing a Catholic service with his group at Mother Teresa's. It was a short service and a short walk home. Whether the Church Tent service or Mother Teresa's I so enjoy the early morning walks back. You get to see the city wake up, hear the roosters crowing, goats scrambling for food, parents scrambling their kids off to school. And, to see these young kids in such immaculate uniforms the older kids holding the hands of the younger, motorcycles with 2-3 kids riding just trying to get to school......
After a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fresh avocado and fresh squeezed passion fruit we headed out to the Elder School in the heart of City Soliel. So many kids of all grades packed into such a small space - but they make it work. Going to school is a privilege. Most of the prayer requests from elders is to somehow find the money to get their kids and grandkids to school.......it is their gateway out of poverty. So if you are reading this, you can sponsor a child for about 40$ a month.
Water truck day (there are three stops). Every emotion can be felt on a day like this. Pure unadulterated joy, sadness, pain, love, anger.....but the greatest of these is love - it is not ironic - its written in the bible. All the other emotions cannot be diminished because its true. You will feel the pain of carrying a five gallon water bucket with the tips of your fingers or carrying it with a wire handle without the comforts of a grip, and it hurts. You don't just carry one bucket and rest, if we carried one, we carried 20 or more. Your neck and back hurt. My word of the day was "Can't" (which contains the word Can). Just when I thought I can't take another bucket or walk another step, God provided the strength and endurance. Not only are we carrying these bucket, but we balance ourselves out with a child on our hip. They want to be held and loved as much as we want to hold and love them. You feel anger that it feels as though these people have been forsaken, you will feel sadness for the children (slave children) and the sheer poverty. Despite that, what outweighs all of the negative emotions and what you will see is the smiles and laughter amongst the people and children. So happy to see us, to be held, to feel hope and to feel loved. Our sadness is ours - they are a happy people.
Two last thoughts on water truck day. At the first water stop, I was handed a naked toddler. I rocked this child and it slept in my arm for the greater part of half hour or more. With all the chaos of a water stop, this child slept. It reminds me of the verse "come to Me all who are weary, and I will give you rest." We as God's disciples were able to do His work of providing rest for a weary child. How amazing is that? It felt wonderful. And just think how happy God is when He provides us the rest we need. What a great provider - thank you Jesus!
My last thought was of an elderly lady that I had seen last year. She stood by a wall with all her water buckets. I was immediately drawn to her and felt the need to help her carry her water. She did not want help at first, but I knew she was there for me as much I was there for her. I did end up helping her carry her buckets, but about 2 minutes into my walk with her, I started to sob. Here was an elderly lady, carrying water twice a day 6 times a week. She is not retired down south, she has no pension plan or Medicare....she is just surviving into her golden years. She set the bucket down, held my cheeks and kisses each of them. She is consoling me. How backward is that? I knew what I was going home to. I had so much and she had so little. I couldn't reconcile this in my head, but here I was being held and comforted by this lady.......That was last year and she was never really far from my mind, in fact I still have her picture on my phone. This year, when I got to water stop #2, I desperately looked for her amongst the sea of faces and chaos. I knew about where she lived, and found a young family living there. My heart sank, thinking maybe she passed away. Thank you Jesus for letting me know her, if even for a few minutes. When we got to water stop #3, I carried a water bucket for a young girl and then I made my way back to the water truck. I looked up and I saw her standing in her doorway. My heart leapt with joy. I knew her face, I knew her. I ran up to her and explained in broken French that I helped her last year and she hugged me hard. What is this connection? I am not sure. I've known her all of a couple minutes for two water stops over a 1 year period. All I know is that I love her!
Our last stop of the day was the Haitian Initiative and Feeding Program. This is a chance for kids to go to school, play soccer and have a place to get some food - Thank you Feed My Starving Children. In order to stay in this program, kids must maintain good grades in school. You may see some of the kids who do come to Minnesota to play in the Soccer Tournaments at Schwan's center.
In one year, I have seen great progress....Thank you Jesus for everything!
~Micki
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
DAY 2: SWEET HOME ORPHANAGE/SCHOOL & GERTRUDE'S SPECIAL NEEDS ORPHANAGE
This morning we had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal - courtesy of our amazing Hatian Ladies Madam Keslet and Benrlande and a couple of team volunteers. They were magnificent. After breakfast we loaded up the tap-tap to head to Sweet Home, an orphanage founded after the earthquake in 2010. During our few hours there we spent time holding infants and coloring, tickling, and painting the nails of the older children. Before we left we got a tour of the compound from one of the staff, Alex. We got to see the classrooms, bedrooms, and cafeteria with the children tagging along the whole time. We also were shown a building that was started two years ago meant to be an expansion, able to house 50 new children. Unfortunately, construction of the building was halted due to financial complications, Alex was adamant in his requests for prayer.
After the tour we headed back to the guesthouse for lunch before our afternoon adventures. On the way to Gertrude's orphanage, our next stop, we stopped at Fleri farms for a quick tour. We got to see different types of fruit trees and taste coconuts straight off the trees. Then, we left for Gertrude's, this orphanage was created with the intention to serve children with physical and mental disabilities. The children there had so much joy, our visit eventually evolved into a dance party with the children learning new dance moves like the disco. Our visit also involved drawing with chalk, swinging, and wheelchair races around the bus. When we got back to the guesthouse for the evening we had dinner then went to cool down at the pool before our evening team meeting where we saw a slideshow of pictures from the day.
~Kendra & Jazzy
After the tour we headed back to the guesthouse for lunch before our afternoon adventures. On the way to Gertrude's orphanage, our next stop, we stopped at Fleri farms for a quick tour. We got to see different types of fruit trees and taste coconuts straight off the trees. Then, we left for Gertrude's, this orphanage was created with the intention to serve children with physical and mental disabilities. The children there had so much joy, our visit eventually evolved into a dance party with the children learning new dance moves like the disco. Our visit also involved drawing with chalk, swinging, and wheelchair races around the bus. When we got back to the guesthouse for the evening we had dinner then went to cool down at the pool before our evening team meeting where we saw a slideshow of pictures from the day.
~Kendra & Jazzy
Monday, October 16, 2017
The Bridge Team - Day 6
Today was the last day of a week I can only describe as one of the most humbling, emotional, scary, sad weeks of my life. Yet it was also one of the most refreshing, encouraging, soul searching, loving, amazing weeks of my life. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, and that is a great way to describe today. We rose to a amazing breakfast where we all ate until we were satisfied; some of the group had traditional Haitian meals for the second day in a row. After eating we loaded on the tap tap and headed to tent church where we had went a few days earlier for a early morning service.
We worshipped God with fellow Haitian believers, and we all observed that the people at this church came intentionally seeking God and to sing praise and adoration to Jesus Christ who has done so much for them, which was humbling for me because I often don't walk into church with the right spirit seeking to give God what he deserves, which is all the praise of my soul out of gratitude for the gift he has given me. Church was a blessing we all needed and it was a great start to the day.
We left church and went back to the guest house and got ready to go up the mountain for some relaxation and shopping at the market. The trip up the mountain was about a one hour trip and when we got there to the top we were eager to get out and look for some of the items many of us already knew what we wanted. The group got out of the tap tap, and Erika asked if we would rather shop first or eat. Most of us wanted to eat so our driver led us down a staircase to a restaurant on balcony that overlooked the entire city. The view was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen and a reminder of how amazing our God is that he created this beautiful place. The restaurant was so nice that you could easily forget that you were in Haiti and that just down the mountain is home to some of the most horrific living conditions on this planet. We enjoyed our food, and many of us tried foods we had never eaten before. Some of us got up and went shopping while we were waiting on the food to come out.
When we were all finished we all loaded up on the tap tap and headed down the mountain which turned into one of the most entertaining tap tap rides that we had experienced all week. Several of the girls started singing and dancing to some of their favorite songs which everyone had plenty of laughs over. All in all it was a great day to end a amazing week that I do not want to end.
This week we have laughed, cried, and prayed together more times than you can imagine while serving in this country that is one of the hardest places in this world to understand.When you see the horrible things many of the Haitian people have to live through. Sometimes the only thing you can think is "WHY?"When I started this week I did not know why God called me to Haiti with this trip but as He always does He showed me in many powerful ways why I am here. This week we have served many beautiful people here in Haiti and that is one reason for sure, but it wasn't the only one. I also had the honor to serve next to and make meaningful relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ that were part of this team and I truly love each and every one of them. I have learned so much from each of them. GOD has been so good to us this week, and I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity.
TOMMY.
We worshipped God with fellow Haitian believers, and we all observed that the people at this church came intentionally seeking God and to sing praise and adoration to Jesus Christ who has done so much for them, which was humbling for me because I often don't walk into church with the right spirit seeking to give God what he deserves, which is all the praise of my soul out of gratitude for the gift he has given me. Church was a blessing we all needed and it was a great start to the day.
We left church and went back to the guest house and got ready to go up the mountain for some relaxation and shopping at the market. The trip up the mountain was about a one hour trip and when we got there to the top we were eager to get out and look for some of the items many of us already knew what we wanted. The group got out of the tap tap, and Erika asked if we would rather shop first or eat. Most of us wanted to eat so our driver led us down a staircase to a restaurant on balcony that overlooked the entire city. The view was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen and a reminder of how amazing our God is that he created this beautiful place. The restaurant was so nice that you could easily forget that you were in Haiti and that just down the mountain is home to some of the most horrific living conditions on this planet. We enjoyed our food, and many of us tried foods we had never eaten before. Some of us got up and went shopping while we were waiting on the food to come out.
When we were all finished we all loaded up on the tap tap and headed down the mountain which turned into one of the most entertaining tap tap rides that we had experienced all week. Several of the girls started singing and dancing to some of their favorite songs which everyone had plenty of laughs over. All in all it was a great day to end a amazing week that I do not want to end.
This week we have laughed, cried, and prayed together more times than you can imagine while serving in this country that is one of the hardest places in this world to understand.When you see the horrible things many of the Haitian people have to live through. Sometimes the only thing you can think is "WHY?"When I started this week I did not know why God called me to Haiti with this trip but as He always does He showed me in many powerful ways why I am here. This week we have served many beautiful people here in Haiti and that is one reason for sure, but it wasn't the only one. I also had the honor to serve next to and make meaningful relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ that were part of this team and I truly love each and every one of them. I have learned so much from each of them. GOD has been so good to us this week, and I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity.
TOMMY.
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