Journey of Faith Team - Day 1 by Annie Cornforth

Dream. Present. Calm. Anticipation. Timely. 

Just a few of our team's words of the day at the end of Day 1!

We spent the day acclimating to our home for the next week. We learned new things each other.  We spent time at the National Museum to learn about this beautiful country's history. We enjoyed fellowship. We reunited with our Haitian friends. We prepared for a busy day tomorrow of visiting children at three different orphanages. We rested.

"For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." ~Isaiah 41:13

I would like to take a moment to share a story about how God took hold of our hands and helped us to arrive in Haiti safe, sound and on time. We all arrived to LAX early and enjoyed smooth sailing through check-in and security. Close to our boarding time, we learned that our plane had an issue and would not be flying that night. I was blown away by the level of calmness and flexibility that shined through our team members. We ended up departing over two hours late threatening us to miss our connecting flight in Miami. God silenced our fears AND miraculously helped us to make our connecting flight... BY TWO MINUTES. Not only that, but our one checked back containing supplies and crafts for the children, made it onto the correct plane within minutes.

Starting out the trip like this only gives me an even bigger sense of anticipation for this upcoming week. How will He work through us? How will He work with within us? What will He reveal?

Stay tuned to find out...

Your Haiti Journey of Faith Team 2018

FBC Huntingdon, TN - Day Six - May 27, 2018

Sorrowful yet rejoicing. Empty yet full. Devastated yet hopeful. Having little yet having much. These are phrases that immediately come to mind when I think of our week in Haiti. Haiti is a place of overwhelming beauty, beautiful places and beautiful people. It is also a place of tremendous need and tremendous potential. This week our team has experienced all of these things at open road Tap-Tap speeds. We have fed sick children, and we have delivered life-giving water in a sea of poverty. We have seen the love and joy of children with special needs, and we have been an audience to an orphan choir worthy of a Grammy. We have stood at the mass graves where 150,000 to 200,000 of those who died in the 2010 earthquake are buried, and we have seen the progress of new schools, new jobs, and reunited families. Each day of this week we have been filled up, and we have been poured out.

As I think about these experiences, the words of Paul keep ringing in my ears, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9). God has been demonstrating these truths to our team this week. God is able to accomplish his purposes through weak and lowly vessels like us, and through our Haitian brothers and sisters as a demonstration of his power and glory. Jesus is still restoring and transforming lives and communities in Haiti. He is doing it through the day-to-day acts of disciples who faithfully share the good news and serve others selfless.

In this short week, we have seen a generation’s worth of work yet to be done. We know that there is an overwhelming task ahead. We also know that God’s resources are limitless, and so is his love for the people of Haiti.

Jacob

 

FBC Huntingdon, TN - Day Five - May 26, 2018

This was our last water truck day in Cite Soleil. When the truck comes into the neighborhood, the kiddos always run to the water truck when they see it coming, excited to receive love and attention. We actually didn’t have to carry as much water today because there were more people there who were helping. I (Diane) only had to carry a couple buckets today, so I ended up having a conversation with a young man named Eddy. He was interested in finding out what nationality I was.  When he figured out I was an American, I told him about Tennessee.  It is very interesting to see the reactions of the Haitians when they realize we are Americans because they expect us to be Haitian. I told them that our history is similar, as our ancestors also came over to this part the world on slave ships. He seemed pleased and surprised to see Americans who look like them. Even though we weren’t at the water truck stop very long, we learned a lot about how Haitians live.

We spent part of the afternoon at an orphanage for disabled children.  It was especially enjoyable for Diane because it reminded her of her classroom back in Tennessee.  They have big hearts; they are people just like us.  We did a “photo shoot” for each child, a sticker craft, played soccer (even on crutches), blew bubbles, drew with chalk, and sang songs for each other.  One little girl with a beautiful voice sang “Lord I Need You” to us in creole. The best part of the afternoon was the smiles on the children’s faces.  While the children’s bodies were crippled, their spirits were not.

All the people we saw today showed us examples of how the Haitians persevere in the face of adversity. Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.”  Philippian’s 3:14 –“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” While we were only in the lives of these people for a bit today, it was a blessing to share the love of Christ with them and we pray that all people and all nations will worship Him one day.

Diane and Jimmy

 

FBC Huntingdon, TN - Day Four - May 25, 2018

This morning we went to Church on the Rock. We asked if it was on a famous rock and we were told THE ROCK, JESUS. What an awesome experience! These Haitian people know how to worship. They meet Monday through Friday from 6-7 am before they begin their day. For one hour they walked around the large room, holding up their hands, praying to Jezi (Jesus) who they love. Walking sometimes turned into dancing, all in the name of worship. They showed me what true freedom to worship looks like. No one was the least bit concerned about what the other person was saying. They were so focused on their own personal worship.

Then we went and visited four elders. They are older people that Healing Haiti sponsors. I experienced my first foot-washing. I was not real sure about this at first, but I wanted to be a part of this act of kindness. I felt such a blessing when I looked up into the sweet woman’s face as Diane and I washed her feet and hands! She was so grateful, but not anymore than I was.  I came to Haiti to be a blessing, but I received one today.

Keep us in your prayers as we have another busy day tomorrow.

Allison

 

FBC Huntingdon, TN - Day Three - May 24, 2018

Today we started off our day at Papillion.  Papillion is an organization in Haiti that employs many Haitians to make jewelry and pottery.  Their purpose is to help mothers and fathers have a way to provide for their families, so they don’t have to give the children away to orphanages.  It was really neat to look around and shop. We also got to go to their café to get a smoothie.

Then we went to For His Glory Orphanage.  There were lots and lots of kids with lots and lots of energy!  We got to play with them, blow bubbles and take their photos to put in a frame that said “Jesus loves me”. We also got to sing with them and love on them a whole bunch.  

The last place we went to was Lapherre’s Orphanage. On the way to this orphanage, the traffic was awful.  So anyone who thinks they’ve been stuck in traffic, they really haven’t until you’ve been to Haiti. At this orphanage, all the children were so well-behaved.  They sat and talked to us.  We did the same craft with the photos and picture frames here too.   We painted fingernails, made paper airplane and played soccer. The kids sang so beautifully to us and we sang to them too.  Overall, this place has been my favorite place to spend time at.

Thanks everyone for following our blog.  We are excited for another day tomorrow!

Abby

FBC Huntingdon, TN - Day Two - May 23, 2018

Blog Day 2

 

Today was our first full day in Haiti. We started our day with breakfast and fellowship, and Ann read us some verses from Mother Theresa’s book about Jesus saying “Let the children come to me.” It was supposed to get us ready for all the children that would approach us, but you can’t really prepare for something like that. At our first stop in Cité Soleil, there were already so many people waiting for the water truck when we got there. Mothers, teens, and naked children were all running around, grabbing buckets and yelling “Hey you!” to get our attention (I can’t tell you how many times we heard those words today). We carried water to their houses and held and loved on all the children we could.

We went to the Healing Haiti farm and sat through even more thick traffic, so we had a little bit of a mental break before our second stop. This stop was much more extreme. There was way more people, children especially. At one point I had one little girl in my arms and about four others hanging on to my shirt and pulling me in all different directions, all saying “Hey you! Hey you!” One young boy named Jeff stuck around me the whole time, leading me around and helping me carry around buckets of water.  It broke my heart to see all of these children wanting love and attention, and not being able to tell them I would hold them next, because of the language barrier. When we finally left the neighborhood, I had to hug Jeff and tell him goodbye, and he followed me all the way to the truck and waved as we drove away.

Tonight we shared our words of the day, and mine was just “wow.” It was hard to comprehend all the poverty I was seeing and realize everything we take for granted every single day (i.e. running water, electricity, clean clothes and even shoes.). These people have to sit and wait for a truck every week just to get their water, and we sit in pools for hours on end and don’t even think about it. Clay and Laura’s words were “chaos” and “peace,” respectively, and those were two very important feelings I experienced all day long. To see everything going on by the trucks was overwhelming, but I was also at peace knowing God was there with us, working through us for these people. We decided our theme song for the week is “This is Amazing Grace” by Phil Wickham because that’s exactly what we see every minute in this beautiful, but broken country: God’s amazing grace and unfailing love.

Please keep us in your prayers as we go through the rest of our week!

With love,

Emily

 

FBC Huntingdon, TN - Day One - May 22, 2018

We finally made it to Haiti and enjoyed our first day here!!  We have had an eventful 2 days traveling   First, our bags got checked at the gate and sent all the way to Haiti, but we had to spend the night in the hotel in Miami without them.  So we all slept in and wore the same clothes for 2 days.  Then Angela got a phone call in the airport from Abby and Cayley saying they had somehow managed to get themselves stuck back on the other side of security…without a passport.  It was a tense few minutes…but it all worked out.   Once arriving in Haiti, we spent some time delayed in traffic and experienced 2 minor fender benders on the way home.  But apparently that’s just another day in Haiti.

After resting and settling in to our guesthouse, we spent the afternoon at The Home for Sick and Dying Babies.  We fed babies, changed diapers, rocked and held babies, played with toddlers, and showed love any and every way we could.   At our team time tonight we each gave a word to describe our day…Over-whelming, Hectic, Eye-Opening, Humbled, Relieved, Grateful, Love, Inspiring, Different, Open, Insufficient, Complete.  

Today was a day of new things for all of us, a day of different experiences, a day of hard things and beautiful things.  We learned that “Love is a fruit in season all the time”.  Jesus tells us in John 13:35 that we will be known by how well we love.   Tomorrow we will be spreading more love and water…Pray for a restful night and endurance as we carry water to the people of Cite Soleil tomorrow.

Angela & Abby