Tuesday

Jake- expression

Raegan- communication 

Lola- family

Tracy- hands and feet

Jen- clean

Buck- humble

Ashlynn- helpless 

Trinity- broken

Ben- broken

Annette- parent

Corrina- cherish

Kim- hope

Shannon- complete

Woodridge Day One: Travel Day

Word of the Day

Raegan- grateful 

Corrina- joyful

Ashylnn- new beginnings

Tracy- opportunity

Annette- enough

Trinity- awakening

Jake- heavy

Ben- excited

Lolita- connection

Shannon- familiar

Kim- anticipation

Buck- mini miracles

Jen- time

Serenity Village Community Church - Sunday 01/21/18

Today was an absolutely beautiful day here in Haiti! The worship, the sunshine, the bonding, the salty ocean water, the laughter - they were all gifts from God that made today so special!

Our day began with praise and worship at Grace Village Church! Even though we couldn’t understand every word that we sang or heard, the Holy Spirit moved us and spoke to us. It was truly amazing, just like our God. Our next stop was to Wahoo Bay Beach! This was a time of joy for all of us. It provided us a chance to wrap up this amazing and emotional week with a little R and R. We had the opportunity to ride jet skis, go snorkeling, jump on a water trampoline, swim, tan, and just simply take in all of the amazing scenery that God painted by hand. This was a time of reflection, alongside joy and relaxation. Our last stop of the night was at the Elite Hotel, where we cheered on the Vikings! Sadly, that didn’t end how we wanted it to, but we know that God’s plans are greater than our own wants and expectations.  

As we think back to everything that we’ve done this week, we can’t help but smile. This week has truly been amazing in all aspects. God has blessed and stretched each one of us in so many ways, and for that, we are eternally grateful.

Blessings & Hugs,

Emma and Jordan

Serenity Village Community Church - Saturday 01/20/2018

Today was another great day serving  💦 water💧 in Cité Soleil. This is an extremely impoverished and densely populated commune located in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. Our team made five stops on this trip, three earlier this week, and two more today! That's 3,500 gallons delivered each stop for a total of 17,500 gallons of water we delivered!!!

Our third stop today was Fleri Farms. The first Fleri Farms site is a 28-acre plot located in the Menelas and northern Cité Soleil neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, about 2 miles north of our daily water truck deliveries and the Hope Church campus. At Fleri Farms, Healing Haiti’s mission will be enacted profoundly: Leveraging resources to elevate and unify Haitian families so that the cycle of poverty is broken and the fabric of these communities is strengthened.

At the farm, one of the staff cut open some coconuts for us to drink the milk and then eat the fruit! Pretty amazing what Healing Haiti has in store for this country!

As we returned a little earlier than most days, we were able to go to the neighboring hotel and take a quick swim before dinner. It is our second to last dinner together before heading back to Minnesota. We are all so touched by this journey. This team is pretty spectacular. God is good and working through us this week, that's for sure.

The days leading up to the trip were exciting. Our group had very diverse personalities and different levels of experience in the mission field. God used each of our strengths and weaknesses to support one another. As a group we all had one thing in common on our mind that we wanted to receive from this trip. We wanted to see Jesus. As our week slowly comes to an end we can reflect back on what God accomplished through us and how he changed our hearts. Tonight as we came together and reflected on the day it became so clear that we achieved what we set out for. Even though this part of the world may seem so dark sometimes it is impossible to deny the presence of Jesus here in this place! We see him in the faces of the widows and the orphans that have absolutely nothing but still radiate with overflowing joy. We see him in each other offer relentless support and unconditional love to any of the Haitian people we encounter. We see his hand at work with the endless possibilities Healing Haiti has to better and serve the amazing country. 

Blessings & Love,
Justin & Becci

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

Serenity Village Community Church - Thursday 01/18/18

Montfort School for the Deaf

This morning came quickly and not unexpected. We all knew that today was going to be a challenge. But we also knew that there would be some decompression time. Breakfast is always amazing.

Stop 1: Haiti Teen Challenge
The ride to the Boys Teen Challenge was typical, crazy and seemingly bumpy. We rode in the blue tap-tap! Boys Teen Challenge was an unexpected surprise and had super rewards. As we toured the facility and observed two class sessions, one of the group members suggested asking if we could share our related story with the group. They gave the ok and Erik and Tim knocked it out of the park. The boys were then moved to share their stories. They were raw and true and filled with hope for a future.

Stop 2: The Metal Market
It was a hoot! Raechell helped barter with a vendor so I got a good deal on 5 items! That was fun!

Stop 3: Montfort School for the Deaf
The orphanage/school was difficult. The entire team jumped in and played with about 40-50 kids. We all had to use the universal body language (i.e. smile) to communicate. We used white boards to write, but many wrote in Creole (some in English) which was a challenge for me and others. However, we had a super time! The gifts of love and kindness that we received far exceed the gifts of love we gave. These Haitian children have nothing, but have more, in some ways, than we do. We are blessed to have this time with them and thank God for this opportunity to serve.

Stop 4: Healing Haiti Guest House Dinner & Team Time
We all had some decompressing back at the guest house and it was special tonight. Clearly the emotional former days we've spent in Haiti has taken it's toll on our emotional core. There were tears tonight, laughter tonight, love tonight and prayer tonight. This team is amazing!!!!!

Love,
Bill

Serenity Village Community Church - Wednesday 01/17/18

Water Truck Day - Before (right) & After (left)! Note we don't look that dirty "after" as there was a water party at the water filling station, so first round of dirt washed off!



Today was packed and we're spent! We made three successful trips to Cite Soleil with the water truck; thank God! We also visited Hope church/school in Cite Soleil.

To learn more about Hope Church: http://donate.healinghaiti.org/projects/support-hope-church-cite-soliel
To sponsor a child: http://donate.healinghaiti.org/sponsorships?sponsorship_type=school-children

We delivered 10,500 gallons of water today! In short, one of two themes for the day is "when in doubt smile" - as it is the universal language.  We worked in tandem with women and children by carrying 5 gallon water buckets to their homes. We communicated with hand gestures, body language and most importantly a smile. The women and children were receptive and appreciative of our presence. Another theme for the day is "community" because we were given little instruction about Water Truck Day however we worked like a well oiled machine. Specifically, all hands were on deck: we played with children, carried buckets of water, held the hose on the water truck and prayed with people. Since we were all "present in the moment", God worked through us all day.

Let's talk about emotions... they are/were all over the place! We saw and felt so much excitement, joy and love from the Haitians while delivering water. Alternatively, we were somewhat saddened by the poverty and their daily fight for survival - we will never understand it. However, their joy and strength ultimately gave us strength to do what God intended us to do today. We cannot wait to deliver water again!

Mary & Raechell