A Great Trip

We've been back a few days and all of us are reflecting on the trip and adjusting back to our lives here in northern Colorado.  In the coming days I will be posting pictures and thoughts as I do some introspective thinking about this most recent trip.  Some of the things that stand out to me initially are being able to share the Haiti experience with my oldest daughter Kennedi and watch her as a team member on this trip and the culmination of baptizing her in the Carribbean on our way back to Port au Prince.  Another stand out was seeing the kids three months after visiting for the first time and seeing how much has changed at Desire- both in the physical well-being of the kids and the improvements being made at the project by the Global Orphan Project who is working on getting kids out of the tents and into permanent homes on the site.  God sure blessed us on the trip and I pray that we were a blessing to Pastor Jeannot, his family and all the kids at Desire.

Pastor Jeannot and the kids of Desire

Last full day in Haiti

Today is the last full day before we head back home tomorrow.  This morning we were a little sad to leave Gonaives and Pastor Jeannot but encouraged greatly by our time there.  On the way back to Port au Prince, we stopped along the coast and witnessed two baptisms- Kennedi Conradson and Autumn Dreessen.  It was an honor for me to perform the baptisms and a special bonding moment between me and my daughter.
After a quick (relatively) tour through Port au Prince, we arrived back at Jumecourt- Global Orphan's headquarters.  Some of us have built relationships with many of the kids here at the site of our first and third mission trips last year.
Tonight we end with our final Haiti team meeting where memories are recalled and team members share what God has been showing them on this trip- this team has bonded extremely well and as a trip leader, I love to see the fruit of our time together played out during this trip.
Please pray for our safe travel as we begin our journey home beginning at noon tomorrow.

Last Day at Desire

Today started with a visit to Jan Thompson's orphan home called Christopher's Hope.  The kids performed several songs for us- another incredible blessing to this team.  A new experience for me was meeting two of the children who have special needs- one was a deaf boy who in spite of his disability had incredible energy and a warm heart that made us laugh.  The other boy- Marvins has AIDS.  Both of his parents presumably died from the disease. All of the other kids are earthquake orphans.  We were happy to spend a little bit of time with them this morning.
In the afternoon we went up to Desire which would be our last time together with those kids.  The Bible story included a gospel presentation done by Ryan- who afterwards was called a little Billy Graham :)
Much of the afternoon was spent writing down names so we can remember to pray for the kids by name.  Kennedi had kids write their names on her shirt with a Sharpie which then kids wanted to write their names on her skin and stamp her arms- all because they could see it on her skin as compared to their own.
Another highlight was taking most of the team down to the miracle source of water that is sustaining the kids and those in the community.  The spring reminds me of Jesus' description on living water that when you drink- you will never thirst again.  A fitting picture of the Lord providing living water for the orphans.  We took off from Desire a bit sad but completely filled with blessings from the children.  And I can say our team was a blessing to them as well.
There is much more to process from this trip and I plan on going deeper with recalling the experience over the next week and will include my thought and prayers from this experience in later posts.
Tomorrow we head back to Port au Prince with a stop off at a beach where two members of our team will be baptized- Kennedi and Autumn.  I am excited for them!

Going Deep in Desire

We had another awesome day at Desire.  Yesterday we left early because of an approaching storm.  Today we saw why it was good we left when we did- the river we have to cross to get to the project was swollen with more water than I have ever seen.  So, late this afternoon another storm was closing in and we headed back for the hotel 30 minutes away.
Today we had the opportunity to share two Bible stories and two crafts- another first for our Faith teams.  We feel like we need to take advantage of our time with them and the kids respond well.
We also presented each child with a blanket.  The blankets were a mission project for the kids who attended our Kidz Day Camp in June.  I was able to share with the kids of Desire that there are kids back home from where I come from that are praying for them that God would bless them and protect them.  I also asked the kids to pray for our kids who live in Colorado.
Tomorrow we visit an American missionary's orphan home before we go back to Desire in the afternoon.  The afternoon will be our last time with the Desire kids until the next team comes down.  Please pray for the kids and our team because I know it is going to be tough to say goodbye to those precious kids.

Connecting with the Desire kids

After a wonderful time of worship at Desire filled with special music by the kids, communion and a baby dedication, our team jumped into action with the kids.  After some play time, the goal was to make some musical instruments to be used during our worship time.  The kids made paper plate noise makers to be used to make a joyful noise to the Lord.  Heather, Autumn and the rest of the team led music by singing songs in Haitian Creole- a first for a team from Faith.
Our time was cut short because of an approaching rain storm and we left to make sure the bus didn't get stuck.  So our plan is to head back to Desire after things dry up a bit from the rain we are getting now.
A highlight for me was to walk to the location of the miracle water spring that is providing water to the community since the well has been closed due to contamination.  It is a slow trickle but it is sustaining life for those who live here.

Made it to Haiti

This morning we arrived on time to Haiti and then began our journey to Gonaives where we are staying each night while here.  But before we could begin the 3 1/2 hour drive two tires on our bus needed to be replaced.  This gave us little extra time at Jumecourt catching up with some of our friends there.  Traveling through quite a bit of rain, we arrived in Gonaives late afternoon.  After getting checked into our hotel, we visited two projects in the city and played with the kids there.
The team did very well giving it all their energy despite getting very little sleep on our overnight flight to Miami.
Tomorrow we worship with Pastor Jeannot at his church in Desire.  After church we will begin our programming with the kids of Desire including music, Bible story, craft and games.
I am excited about this team and what I have already seen from this great group of servants.

2nd Attempt

With no phone calls from the airline, and everything seemingly okay, we are heading down the airport this evening at about 7 p.m.  Our overnight flight gets us into Miami before 6 a.m. with a connecting flight on to Port au Prince at 6:45 a.m.  Pray for the flight to go smoothly so we make our connection with no troubles.  I was able to adjust our trip so that we stay an extra day making up for the lost day.  We will now be returning on July 7th next week.  We are praying for good weather since rain is in the forecast throughout the weekend and the road to Desire is under repairs- so hopefully it holds out and we can carry on with our ministry plans.

We're excited to see the kids of Desire.

Keep us in your prayers.  Next update should be from Haiti...