Day 4 - Alleluia Youth Team - Shopping!!

Hello Friends!

Today was a pretty laid back day. The trip is officially halfway over :(  After a pancake breakfast we went to the Delmas 31 artisan group market. We had to bargain with the artisans for their items. It was pretty hot, but we stayed a while and bought a lot of stuff.

Then we went to the Croatian Orphanage. When we walked in, all the kids sang a song in Creole to us! We performed our VBS skit for them and sang the Hippopotamus Song. Wet tg played our partner animal game, and the kids had a blast. We all just hung out for about an hour playing soccer and basketball. There were some kids playing with frisbees too. A few kids had some chalk or bubbles. Emily got a "sad face out of ten" for her flower chalk drawing, and Tori got 2/10. Some kids played with a rainbow parachute too. After a while we tried a craft and made animal visors. 

We went to a boutique/cafe called Papillon. We bought some more Haitian market items. Abby finally got her Creole tea cup/mug! After shopping we got some tropical smoothies. We took an "ice cream" picture for Pastor Jackie because you can't have a youth trip without an ice cream stop and smoothies are the closest thing to ice cream that we will get in Haiti. Emily finally got her chicken nuggets she wanted too!

The traffic today was pretty long, so our conversations were pretty interesting. We created the official TapTap Evacuation Guide in the case of a tropical storm or if we tipped over. We took a pit stop at a grocery store and bought some goodies. We came home to a hot authentic Haitian meal. We had fried chicken with rice and beans. After dinner, some of us went to the pool to cool off after the long hot day outside. Then we came back for team time. We're all super excited for our water truck day tomorrow!

Orevwa!

Emily and Abby

Alleluia Youth Team - Day 3 - KIDS KIDS KIDS!!!

Bonswa Zanmi yo, (Good Evening Friends)

     This morning some of us got up bright and early (Abby, Madi, Hailey and Kari) and cooked breakfast and made sandwiches for our team and the kids we served today.
     After breakfast we loaded the Tap Tap with all of our goods and headed to Le Phara's Orphanage to do a mini vacation bible school day. There we performed a skit based on the creation story, made play-dough, did a animal craft, watched animal capsules grow, danced with the kids and provided them a sandwich for lunch! Below we have attached some pictures of this fun experience.

     Once we returned to the guest house we all changed into our nice clothes to head to the house of sick and dying babies and children. When we arrived the sisters directed us to the toddler room. As soon as we entered the room each of the team members instantly found a child to love on as we were waiting for their dinner to be cooled down. We all got the opportunity to love on many children while we fed and interacted with them. This was an experience that touched all of our hearts and gave us a new perspective.
     Dinner was ready for us when we got to the guest house and we enjoyed our lasagna with a Hatian kick! After our meal we cooled down at the pool up the street, before we came back to the house to end our night.
Jezi renmen ou (Jesus loves you),

Abbi and Hailey

Alleluia Youth Team - Day 2 - Water Truck Day

Hello!

Day #2 of the Alleluia Youth Haiti Mission trip was a success! We started our day with an amazing breakfast cooked by some of the Healing Haiti staff. We then lathered up in sunscreen and bug spray for our day of distributing water. Here is a before picture of our day:

We had three stops on our water truck day with two tours in between our stops. Our first stop was outside Hope Church and was an eye-opening experience for us. We held children, filled water buckets, and helped the Haitian people carry then back to their homes. More pictures to be shared when we arrive home! After Stop #1, we had a tour of Hope Church and Hope School. These as well as Hope Clinic are established and ran by Healing Haiti. During our tour we got to visit the Innovation lab; which is a place that children can learn how to think critically, be creative, and problem solve on technology/resources provided to them in the lab. Like today, they were teaching them the importance of brushing their teeth! We then walked to Stop #2 and distributed water to another part of Citi Soleil. We held more children and continued the process of helping the Haitian people carry their water. On our second break we visited Fleri Farm and toured their fields. They grow hot peppers, coconuts, egg plant, sugar cane, papayas, lime trees, bananas, okra, cassava, and a few other things. We learned about the struggles of growing crops in the Haiti weather. At the end of the tour, we got to drink coconut water and eat the meat from the coconut. We then went to Stop #3 which was by the pier. It was the most chaotic stop of them all. Their was lots more kids and lots more water to distribute. After the water was distributed we went down to the pier and took this wonderful picture with some of our new zanmi's (friends). Here is that picture:

After the pier, we loaded back into the Tap Tap and traveled back to the guest house. Here is our after picture:

We finished our day with some showers, a wonderful meal, pray partner time, and group time. We also planned our VBS day for tomorrow, which I am sure you will hear about in tomorrows blog post. Overall, it was a day we will never forget. We can not wait to share more with you when we return home.

Thank you so much for the support you have shown our group! Bondye Beni ou (God bless you)!

Orevwa (Goodbye),

Madi and Tori :)

Alleluia Youth Team - Day 1 - Arrived!

We made it! After a long, exhausting day of travel, we were greeted by our Haitian brothers and sisters and enjoyed a delicious meal of Haitian tacos.  It is very hot, but we are loving every minute and looking forward to what God has in store for our team this week.  This team is awesome!

Service Impact Team 8.5 - Day 6 - Water Truck Day #2 & Dios

Service Impact Team 8.5 - Day 6 - Water Truck Day #2 & Dios

Today was our last day in the field in Haiti serving! This week has flown by and we can't believe our time in Haiti is already wrapping up. Today we had our second water truck day in the morning, and this afternoon we served at "Dios", an orphanage for disabled children.

Our second water truck day went much more smoothly than the first earlier this week. Our team knew exactly what we needed to do, and everyone was more comfortable. The first water truck day is always overwhelming, and you often ask yourself "do I hate this or love this?" but by the second one it's become your favorite part of the trip. We only made one stop because of visiting the orphanage in the afternoon, but we were all blessed by that one stop we made. District 26 is right by the pier, so our team took a walk out there after we were done delivering the water. It was inredible to see the contrast between the looking out at the Caribbean and then Cite Soleil being directly behind you.  If you were to take a photo looking out at the ocean, you would never know that the poorest slum in our hemisphere was on the other side of the camera.

In the afternoon our team visited Dios, an orphanage for disabled children. What a special time! The kids had the brightest smiles and their joy was contagious. We all enjoyed playing with them and loving on them. One little boy stole all our hearts, Moses. He was wheelchair bound, but that didn't stop him from playing with our team and playing Austin's guitar. As soon as the guitar was pulled out, his face lit up and he wanted to play. It was a very sweet moment that I'm sure we all will remember.

We ended the day with rooftop worship with other Healing Haiti team, reflecting on all He has done in and through us in Haiti this week. We all can't believe that our week of serving is done! This week has truly flown by! God has moved in amazing ways this trip, both in our own lives and in those we have touched and served.

Our "word of the day" from our team:

• Comfortable - Kristen
• Home - Marlee
• Wanted - Kayla
• No - Suz
• Inspired - Marcus
• Redeem - Manny
• Healing - Mark
• Unexpected - Abbey
• Child-like - Alexa
• Adapt - Donnie
• Contrast - Danika
• Smile - Austin

-Danika

Service Impact Team 8.5 - Day 5 - Elders & Grace Village

Service Impact Team 8.5 - Day 5 - Elders & Grace Village

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" ~Matthew 18:20

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you" ~John 13:14-15

These are the two verses that I think of while reflecting on yesterday. Yesterday, our team went to Titanyen to serve the Elders in Healing Haiti's Elder Program, as well as spending time with the kids at Grace Village. Healing Haiti sponsors Elders in the Titanyen community, and they are provided with meals, water, and medical care - with short-term missions teams visiting them weekly and serving them. Our team served 3 elders yesterday, and it was a powerful experience for all. We could definitely feel the Spirit of the Lord there with us! We laid hands and prayed over each elder, and one thing that struck us was the last Elder we prayed over. She told us her prayer requests and as we prayed, tears rolled down her face from her encounter with Jesus - She was touched by the Spirit of God. A humbling experience to truly be the hands & feet of Jesus to these sweet people of Haiti. As one of our team members said yesterday, "as I washed their feet, I reminded myself that I was washing the feet of Jesus".

After serving the Elders, we went to Grace Village, which is also in Titanyen. Grace Village was started by Healing Haiti, and serves as a school for over 150 local children, a medical clinic, and a family-style orphanage. We enjoyed our time there loving on the kids and playing with them. It may seem really simple, us going and loving on the kids, but one of the most basic needs for the kids here in Haiti is TOUCH - and they don't get it often, if much at all in most cases. They crave to be loved, embraced, and played with. We're all thankful we can meet so many basic needs here in Haiti, all while sharing and living out the Gospel to the people of Haiti.

Today we're going to be doing water truck in the morning, and serving in an orphanage for disabled children this afternoon. Please pray for our team today!

Our teams "word of the day":

• Joyful - Kristen
• Overwhelmed - Austin
• Amazement - Mark
• Restoration - Alexa
• Move - Suz
• Pray - Danika
• Insecurity - Marcus
• Proud - Manny
• Proof - Kayla
• Breakthrough - Marlee
• Teamwork - Donnie
• Passion - Abbey

-Danika

Service Impact Team 8.5 - Day 4 - Water Truck Day #1

Service Impact Team 8.5 - Day 4 - Water Truck Day #1

Yesterday was our first water truck day in Cite Soleil! It was an overwhelming, emotional and powerful day for our whole team. All of us besides two have done a water truck day before, so many of us knew what we were in for - But, you never can really be prepared for Cite Soleil. It will wreck you every time, make you reflect on the everyday things we take advantage of, and break your heart but give you joy all at the same time.

We headed out on the tap-tap to go and fill up the water truck, which was eye-opening once we were at the water station. So many water trucks, so much water, yet it takes so much to get it to the Haitians in need. So many people don't have access to one of the most basic human needs: WATER. Yesterday, we delivered approximately 16,000 gallons of clean water! We made two stops in Cite Soleil, the first being in district 17 and the second being in the district "nap boule". The first stop was more calm, low key, and less chaotic. The second stop was the exact opposite, and it was hard to see the people being so aggressive over clean water. When we do a water truck day, we typically have 3-4 people manning the hose and moving buckets as quickly as possible out of the way for the next ones to be filled. The remainder of our team spends time loving on the sweet kids and helping people carry water buckets to their homes.

We arrived back at the guest house, all physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Water truck day is by far one of the best days, but also one of the most emotional and heartbreaking days too. Every night our team gathers to spend time together worshiping, praying, enjoying fellowship, and sharing our testimonies with one another. Last night time got away from us, as we all were enjoying one another's company so much and the time with the Lord. We spent over 3 hours worhshiping together - It was incredibly powerful and was the perfect end to our first water truck day.

We have water truck day #2 this Saturday, so please be in prayer for our team as we prepare to do it all over again! We are all thankful for God calling us on this trip, and love the family our team has become. Glwa pou Bondye!

Our "word of the day" for water truck day:

• Wow - Kristen
• In sync - Kayla
• Awesome - Marlee
• Generous - Suz
• Defy - Austin
• Growth - Abbey
• Light - Danika
• Progression - Marcus
• Disappointment - Donnie
• Overwhelmed - Alexa
• Persistence - Mark
• Unlikely - Manny

-Danika