Coming Home

We are up early this morning to begin our journey home.  It is tough to say goodbye.  It has been another wonderful trip with so many highs, challenging lows and evidence of God doing incredible things in the midst of so much pain and poverty.  This team is a special team because in so many ways they were pioneering new territory for our future of ministry in Desire.  God is stretching each one of us as we pray for what His will is for each of us.
Now we pray for a safe trip so that we can return to our families tonight and share the wonderful stories.

Our Final Day in Gonaives and Desire

Today was our last full day as we prepare to go back towards Port au Prince tomorrow.  We started the day with visiting an American missionary who owns and runs an orphan home in Gonaives.  Jan just received 5 new children this past week and the kids came only with the clothes they were wearing and just a little more.  Our adventure was to go to the market and split up to find clothes for the new children.  Jan said it was an answer to her prayer that we were available to help buy clothes for the kids where for two people and five children the task would be very difficult.
For the afternoon we went up to Desire after the kids finished with school.  This was to be our last visit for this trip.  The community kids were invited to join in and we fed all the kids who joined us for the afternoon.  Pastor Jeannot will feed the kids after we leave as well so that they look to the church as the provider and not the Americans.  It was a blessing to see so many children at the project yesterday and today.  While our church is committed to caring for the 63 kids at the project, we also have a heart for meeting the needs of the community- spiritually, physically, and through education and self sufficiency.  We love the model of The Global Orphan Project where the local church is at the center of the project because the church is the hope of the world.

Market in Gonaives

This morning we had an opportunity to serve an American missionary who recently received orphans just 5 days ago.  The kids arrived at the home with just a small sack of some clothes.  Our task?  To go shopping in the market to get clothes for the children.  We split up into 5 teams, each with a translator and a child or two to head out for clothes.  It was an answer to prayer that we were able to help.

A Couple Moments

Sunday in Haiti

I love spending Sundays in Haiti because I get to worship God in a different country with a people so passionate about God.  At home I have the comfort of a cushy seat, where the temperature is controlled so that it is just right.  In Haiti, we worship in cement buildings where you pray for a small breeze to enter the building and give you relief from the sweat pouring down your face, or in a stick-framed structure wrapped in tarps where the slightest amount of rain would make communication difficult because of the noise of raindrops pounding on the tarps.
But its not about the building, is it?  Its not even about us.  It's all about God.   Just to be able to join my Haitian brothers and sisters in worship warms my heart.  Whenever I take my Sunday worship for granted, I remind myself that God wants me to worship Him wherever I am.  And I count it a privilege to be here on this Sunday.
After worship, our team continued with the activities of telling a Bible story, making crafts and teaching English.  The English program we are piloting on the trip has exceeded my expectations.  I am very pleased with the overall response and the passion that the students have demonstrated.  After English activities were over, all of them were practicing their newly learned phrases on all of the Americans.  Praise God for answering another prayer about direction.
Overall today was another great day and we are preparing for our final day with the kids tomorrow afternoon after school is finished.We are expecting up to 200 kids to show up and join us for a final day of activities.

Simply Love On Kids?

As our team debriefed tonight we had a lot of great discussion from the high and low points of the day and the challenge of communication because language barriers to what it means to come on a short term trip and simply love on kids.  That phrase doesn't necessarily sound like a compelling reason to come to Haiti- unless you have come before.  Once you come, you get it.  The power of showing love to those children who don't know what its like to have a mom or dad has incredible power in the life of a child and the life of a team member.  You get it when you see the surroundings and the circumstances that the people of Haiti find themselves caught in- an endless cycle of poverty and disaster relief that only helps (for a few who may not need it) for the short term but never having the intention of helping for the long term.  Simply coming to love on kids is the first step that many team members take before they come to the realization that that is only a small part of a bigger picture- and they become sold out for doing so much more.  They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.  And so starts the process of seeking the Lord for carrying on the vision to make a difference in the lives of 63 children and partnering with a local church.
God has called Faith E-Free to do hard things- to care for orphans through a local church partnership.  The local church desires to have help in building up its leadership and at the same time, raise 63 orphan children who want to have a thriving relationship with Jesus Christ and we as a church step up to that call.
Is it really about loving on kids?  Yes, but it is also so, so much more...

Frames and English

Today was our first full day at the Desire project with the 63 kids we sponsor.  One of our ideas for introducing our kids to the congregation was for the kids to demonstrate their artistic ability by painting photo frames that we brought with us and bring back their masterpieces to share with our congregation.  After getting instructions, the kids went to work on the unfinished pine frames.  Things went very smoothly although some creative boys were trying to keep the unused paint in cups for use later not realizing that it would dry up quickly.  Mission accomplished and the frames are packed in the boxes awaiting a return to Fort Collins.
Today was also the day for us to launch a pilot English program for the Desire kids.  Over the past few visits to Desire our teams have noticed that when we arrive the younger children run to us immediately and the older kids hang back not wanting to compete for attention.  We decided that we would focus an activity to engage them and try teaching some basic English through introductions and weaving the story of creation into the lessons.  Our team did a fantastic job with the English and Pastor Jeannot was filled with joy by what he saw.  I was too.  English has been on my heart for the Haitian kids because in Haiti, if you can speak English, you have 10 times better chance at getting a job than if you don't speak English.  As we look into what is one of the best ways that Faith can pour into the lives and future of these kids, English has been one of those ways.  By piloting an English program, we have discovered how this might be implemented as an ongoing focus of our ministry to the Desire kids.
God truly had His hand on this day as we continued to learn the children's names and grow closer with them through demonstrating the love of Jesus.
Reflecting back to our second day on our first trip this past March, I remember Pastor Jeannot saying to me, "Listen to that..." as we heard laughter and sounds of happy children, "Today is a very good day."  I would say that today was also a very good day with the Lord smiling down on His children because at Desire, God is moving in big ways.

Marathon Day on Day 1

After nearly 40 hours of almost no sleep for the Haiti team, we finished our marathon day by sharing dinner together and our first day debrief capturing the best things that happened today as we made our way up to Desire this afternoon.  The team was a group of real troopers as we endured a night in the Miami airport finding a corner on the fourth floor by an auditorium where it was quiet and relatively dark.  Trying to sleep on a hard floor with the air conditioning cranking kept even the most tired members of the team from getting any real sleep.
After finally arriving in Haiti a little later than scheduled, we began the three plus hour bus ride to northern Haiti to the city of Gonaives.  After checking into the hotel we gathered ourselves for the 45 minute ride of 12 or so miles to the Desire project.  Once again the arrival was almost magical as the kids scurried to run to the bus to meet us.
I had prepared individual photos of each child with names and birthdate so that we could begin learning the children's names and matching them with their faces.  I even surprised myself with how many names I remembered.  And to see the huge smiles when I said their names earned me a big "Oui" when I got it right.
Spending time with Pastor Jeannot after dinner to begin dialog and discussion about leadership was great- and an answer to prayer with the way he responded to our desire to partner church to church and have both our churches become all that God has in mind.
Tomorrow we have a heavy agenda to have kids paint frames that will come back to the U.S. and bless our church family, and the older kids will participate in our English activities pilot program.
This is just the beginning...  expecting God to show up in a mighty way!

A Fall Trip to Desire

It's been a while since I have posted.  In fact, we are getting ready to send another team down to Haiti in just a couple of days.  The team this time is comprised of a lot of experienced team members who have made at least one trip to Haiti in the past year.  For most of the team however, it will be their first visit to Desire.
Our agenda for this trip is to engage the older children with some English activities as a test run for possible future teams to spend significant time teaching English.

But first and foremost, our goal is to love on the kids with the love of Jesus.  We also will be pouring more into Pastor Jeannot and beginning a discipleship time to encourage him and help him strengthen his leadership of his local church.

So here we go... for another adventure.  It never gets old for me.