Today was Saturday, the day before the Sabbath, and our final day of serving in Haiti.

We are ready to rest.

It never gets easier to enter into Cite Soleil for a water truck day; the smell of garbage and urine is overpowering as the children in dirty, torn clothing climb our bodies, desperate for affection. Mud cakes to the bottoms of keens and we walk through the labyrinth of mud and steel, delivering buckets of water to one-room houses that have nothing inside them, and yet are a precious home to someone. It hurts the heart to confront such severe lacking and consider our own excess.

We are worn out today, but through divine intervention, we're able to keep up with holding multiple children at once and carrying buckets of water to where they need to be. It's chaotic, it's wet, it's joyful, it's intimate, it's so very hot, and it's familiar. We know we can do this today because we've this before. We know how critical is for this community to receive water and how priceless it is to make people feel loved.

Two water truck stops and a playdate with the children later, we are sunburned, dehydrated, and exhausted. But it's good. We did what we came to do, and we did it well. We say heartfelt goodbyes to Cite Soleil and those that we have come to love (missing you already, Alex) and board for the next adventure.

We disembark at Fleri farm, a lush garden of fruit trees that is a mere 1.5 miles away from the barren desolation of Cite Soleil. The contrast is a striking, yet hopeful reminder that roses can and do grow in concrete. Our tour guide, Kenny, is the only American on this Haitian run-farm. He walks us through the impressive cultivation of plants that are able to provide both jobs and food to the Haitains. It's still hot, we've gone from mildly sunburned to bright red, but we're grateful to see another example of how the Creator is providing for His people.

We are beginning the process of preparing to re-enter the United States. Tonight, it looks like salsa dancing at the Elite Hotel. Tomorrow, it will be laying on a private beach. In every moment, it looks like an internal conversation with the Creator about what He wants us to bring home and how He wants us to reach the least of these in our own neighborhoods and communities. This is a difficult question to wrestle with, especially when we consider how very different our American life looks compared to Haiti, but when has following Him ever been easy? This is a welcome challenge, and we pray it is one that we will see through to the end.

But for now, we will dance, and sing, and laugh with joy in the Lord for all that he has done.
Our work is finished, and the Sabbath is here; we will rest.

Peaceful. Dignity. Palms Up. Moved. Colorful. Grateful. Touched. Thankful. Dedication. Peace. Different. Powerful. Praise. Broken. Challenging. Beautiful. Flourish.
We have been doing word of the day here in Haiti and the above words are what our team came up with for today's adventures. We started bright and early, well, not bright (before sunrise), but early, by heading to a local church at 6 am. It was a pleasure to see how the locals praise God in their own unique way. Eagle Brook should watch out, we have some wild ideas coming back ya'll ;) But seriously, it was truly fabulous to see how we were welcomed in to their space with open arms and how they paved a path for us to join in on their worship.
After church we headed back to the guest house on foot (a journey of its own) to grab a quick breakfast and then left for Titanyen. Haiti is hot, Titanyen is hotter :) We toured the lovely Grace Village and saw God at work through the staff, the students, and the surrounding community. They have a wonderful facility set up with a very innovative design that truly allows the students to focus on their education - which is a true key to success here in Haiti.
After Grace Village we went and visited 4 different Elders whom we were were able to care for today. What we thought would be a blessing for the elders proved to be a true blessing for each member of our team in a unique way. We prayed for them, they prayed for us, we sang to them, washed feet, painted toe nails, gave massages, rubbed lotion on legs, hands and arms, shaved beards, and most importantly, we were present for them and provided physical touch. We were able to visit each elder at their own home, which also proved to be a great opportunity for us to experience authentic Haitian life. Amazing is an understatement for this experience.
After visiting with the Elders we stopped at Rosie's, a local boutique for a some quick food, and shopping, then headed over to Fleri Bakery and Pizza for supper. This organization employees 30 locals who make no joke, the BEST pizza and bakery items :) Fleri Bakery buys their ingredients locally which in turn boosts the local economy. This is also key in Haiti as it creates more jobs. I think most of us had to waddle out of their at the end of our meal as we were all stuffed!
Thanks for reading this far and staying with us on our journey. We are sad it is soon to end but we are still eager and have ready hearts for the remainder of the days. Thanks for your continued prayers and support for us on this adventure - we love you all!

Day 3 EBC Anoka

Day 3 for our EBC Anoka (mostly) team!

We started the day going to Peace Cycle, where the amazing owner/founder (Rose from Indiana) explained to our group the process of taking small plastic drinking bags from the streets and making them into useful products! Peace Cycle exists to help give Haitians employment, dignity and an amazing sense of community. I picked up some cool new checkers board for my kids and a square zipper pouch!

We then went to Teach Haiti which is a school with about 250 kids. We got to play during recess hopscotch, jump rope, soccer, basketball, and drawing on dry erase boards. They have a little boutique where merchandise is sold to support the children's education as well.

Our third stop of the day was the grocery store called Giant. Its very similar to grocery stores at home, with air conditioning (felt amazing) except they are slightly smaller and have less inventory on the shelves. I picked up some Mt. Dew, Pringles and Pop Tarts- the essentials of course;)

Our fourth stop for the day was at Papillion, which employs around 150 Haitians that make a wide variety of products (all the things that are at the market at Feed My Starving Children are from Papillion)! Papillion started with one woman (from Washington state) who came to Haiti to adopt a child, but soon realized that the child's mother actually wanted be reunited with the child, but because of a lack of income, she had no finances to support her child. So Papillion focuses on job creation to help with orphan prevention. I also need to mention that they have a great Clay Cafe upstairs, with super yummy pizza and sweet drinks!

Our last stop for the day was at La Phare, which is a smaller orphanage. We pulled out our tote of toys again- sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, soccer balls, a parachute and dry erase boards. It was so fun to see kids smiling and laughing with us! We marched in a circle, holding hands and singing playful, Haitian songs.

Its been two years since I have last been to Haiti. I am so inspired and awestruck at the progress of roads and buildings since my last visit. Things in Haiti change slowly, but its still progress and its beautiful!

"Hey you!" was my word of the day today.  We heard this all day long from all the children who greeted us all day in Cite Soleit.  After a delicious breakfast at the guest house, we loaded up the tap tap (a covered, screened type pick up truck) and headed out to meet the water truck.  First we stopped at Hope School and saw all the children in all their classrooms with their teachers.  The school serves over 300 children.  The joy, laughter, and smiles  and "hey you's" were amazing. It was unbelievable to me that the Hope Complex was built on a former garbage land fill.  They dug down through 40 feet of garbage, then another 40 feet to build on top to create this complex.  First, the school was built several years ago, then a Medical Clinic, Dental office, lab and pharmacy were added & has been operating for 6 weeks now.  For people who have been here several times, it was evident that incredible progress has been made through Healing Haiti.

Then the water truck arrived and for this first timer, it was an overwhelming experience.  Kids were running, arms up, wanting to be picked up.  We scooped up so many children, held them, played with them and smiled with them while buckets after buckets were lined up and filled.  Everyone had a job to do and we took turns holding the hose, directing the water, lining up buckets and various size containers, carrying the buckets and playing with the kids while they bathed, danced and played.  Even though I don't speak French or Creole, the language of water, love, God, hope, faith, holding, helping and healing was universal.  I truly felt like we were the hands and feet of Jesus all day. 

We met the water trucks at 3 separate water truck stops and each stop was unique.  In between we took a walk through the city and walked down the alley ways and saw where families lived.  A stop at the ocean turned into a an impromptu song and dance led by our driver, glorifying God.  We also stopped at the pier and saw people catching fish. The mountains, the ocean breeze, the rubble, the dichotomy of all that is beautiful and heartbreaking were all evident.   

After coming back to the guest house, one of our devotions we talked about being was "stretched" and I truly felt stretched today - mind, body, spirit, beyond my comfort zone - but I am thankful for this experience today.  I saw God in the world today and how I can be of service to Him and others.  It was an amazing day and I cannot wait until tomorrow!

Christina

Haiti Arrival

Hello to all of our family and friends. We're here after a long day of smooth, and safe travels. We are excited for tomorrow; water truck day. We get to serve by bringing water to Cite Soleit, a part of Port au Prince where they have no plumbing or running water. We will be sure to blog after our first full and exciting day in Haiti. We love you all and wish you a great night from Haiti.

Day 6 - Orphanages Visits

Today, as our last day of serving, we visited two orphanages. We were going to do water truck, but things didn't work out. The first orphange we went to was called Dios. It was an orphanage for special needs children, and we met about twenty kids. The whole time we were there, they were jump roping and playing music. Travis and the kids made a band with his guitar, egg shakers, and a triangle. The kids were also insisting that we jump rope while they moved the rope as fast as possible. Marcus even jump roped with a rope going high speed and very high off the ground. The best jump rope holder was a young boy in a wheelchair named Morris. After playing with the kids at Dios we went to our final orhphanage called La Pherres. Here we played soccer, keep-away, and lots of other activities with the kids. This time Travis played his guitar and he and a group of people sang worship songs. They were great singers and harmonizied beautifully to each song. Before we left, we were treated to two dances the little girls had prepared for us. It was very special. After our final orphanage visits we went swimming and had a relay race. It was a special day and a great last day of serving.

Day 5 - Elder Visits/Grace Village

Today we set out on the 45 minute drive to Grace village. On the way, we were able to listen to music that Cole had brought, making the long drive more enjoyable. When we made it to Grace Village, we started with a tour of the grounds. We started at the feeding center and from there, went to the dorm rooms and finally to the technology room. From the small tour we had, we were able to see the change God made in the small village. From there we left to visit the local elders of Titanyen. We made three stops, first of which was the house of Adre, an elderly man who was bedbound. When we arrived we made our way to his house where he was laying in bed. We started by washing his feet. He was longing for prayer for his children and for continued health. After that, we went off to the second house. We met Marieloude who was very grateful for our visit. Schneider prayed for her and she was so grateful that she teared up. The final stop was at the house of an elder named Mericia. She was so thankful for us coing to visit and serve, and she hugged us all with a joyful heart. As we bathed her feet, she was beaming with a smile. When we left the last elder we would visit that day, we were filled with hope and joy. Our final activity was a stop at Fleri, in Haitian meaning flourish. We were able to go on a tour of the factory where they made bread and other bakery items. After the tour, we were then able to order and eat pizza made on site. We had a good time and were able to get to know our group more. We then drove the long drive back to the guest house, did devotions, and played night games.