Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Day 5- Leaving Desire

From Bob Schuchard:

Time to Leave Haiti

How much work does God do in your life in just one week?  Maybe in a 'typical' or 'ordinary' week, you might say "not much".  But I've come to realize that one week in Haiti... one week with the orphans at Desire... is far from 'typical' and is certainly never 'ordinary'.  These weeks seem to be some of the most fruitful times I've experienced God working in my life and in the lives of those around me.  

We just finished our last team meeting to debrief the day and the whole trip, appropriately, on the outdoor balcony at Jumecourt with the sounds of the orphans playing in the background.  It was so encouraging to hear what God accomplished this week in the lives of our team members!  In addition to ministering to, loving and sharing Jesus with the orphans, God built lasting relationships, convicted of sin, brought about true forgiveness and fostered amazing transparency within our team.  We will never be the same because of this trip and our relationships will be significantly deeper and forever changed as a result. We spent time tonight just praising God for both the opportunity and the blessing of spending this week at Desire, Haiti. 

Tomorrow we board the plane to head home to joyful reunions with family and friends. We appreciate your prayers for safe travel and that God would continue to help us process this week and His resulting intentions for us and our ministry in Haiti.  Please continue to pray for our precious little friends in Desire. 




Monday, February 4, 2013

Day 4- Last Day in Desire

From Bob Schuchard:

Last Day in Desire

Today was our last full day in Desire - and it was a very good day!  The English lessons in the morning were engaging for the kids.  Again, we were impressed with how much they have retained and continued to learn over the last year or so.  The younger kids know colors, animals, body parts and clothing.  The older kids are learning phrases and are actually starting to sound words out. We are grateful to God for being able to see the investment our teams have made over the last year starting to yield fruit in the lives of these young people!

In the afternoon, we had a great time of songs, a Bible story and games followed by a really fun time of interacting with the kids.  Many from our team got to interact with different kids today making paper airplanes and finger boxes, playing soccer, hopscotch and taking "photos".  It was a sweet time together, enjoying each other and just having fun - despite the lingering cloud of knowing that the trip is almost over.

Please pray for the children - that God would protect their hearts as we say goodbye tomorrow.  And for us as we leave and let go of these precious little ones, hopefully for just a little while. 






Day 3 in Desire

From Bob Schuchard:


Worship in Haiti

What an incredible day of worship today!  We were treated to a Haitian choir lifting harmonious voices in praise to the Lord in Pastor Jeannot's church in Gonaives.  Then we traveled to Desire to worship there.  Two groups of children sang beautifully.  And Pastor Jeannot's brother-in-law, a visiting pastor from Dominican Republic, preached on John 3:1-10.   Although the message was entirely in Haitian, the sincerity and spirit of the gospel was evident.  And the culmination was driving down from Desire tonight as the sun was setting, in a gentle rain, singing How Great Thou Art together in a van packed with Hatian and American believers in Christ.  Thank you Lord for such a tremendous blessing today!

The team is doing well and did a wonderful job engaging the kids today with Bible stories and games.  Please pray that our English teaching in school tomorrow (Monday) would be effective. 






Saturday, February 2, 2013

Day 2 in Desire

From Bob Schuchard:

Operation Timoun Delivered!

Today our team delivered 140 Operation Timoun care packages to Pastor Jeannot in Desire!  Pastor Jeannot was very glad to receive this first installment of the over 400 packages put together at Faith.  He is planning to put together an outreach program to the Desire community and use these packages to share the gospel and invite families to the church in Desire.  I wish everyone at Faith could see and feel the impact here in Desire of their generosity in providing these care packages.  Thank you!  And please pray that God would make this outreach an effective one in Desire!




Friday, February 1, 2013

Team Safely in Haiti

From Bob Schuchard:



After a long and exhilarating night and day of travel,  our tired but happy team is safely at the hotel in Gonaives, Haiti! 

The flights from Denver to Miami and on to Port au Prince went smoothly and our team was overjoyed to reunite with several dear members of the Global Orphan staff at the airport.  After a brief rest at GO headquarters in Port au Prince, we set off on the three hour drive to Goniaves. Because our team is smaller than past teams, one difference this time was that we travelled in a much smaller van that we all just barely squeezed into - along with all of our bags.  This gave the trip a "tap-tap" flavor (tap-tap being the brightly colored, overcrowded taxis all over Haiti).  It was an exciting ride, weaving in and out of traffic, passing numerous vehicles and all the while beeping the horn to let everyone know we were coming. 

The highlight of the day, however, was the short but sweet visit to Desire this evening.  We drove from Gonaives up to Desire in a gentle rain. Just as we arrived, the rain subsided and the kids came out, smiling and anxious to see who we were. There were lots of hugs and some tears as several reunions occurred and new acquaintances made. Over all of it for the travelers from Colorado was just a quiet, privileged and honored feeling to be with these dear little ones in their own environment.  Pastor Jeannot is doing well - it was a joy to see him again!

Please pray for our team's unity and effectiveness as we begin to minister in earnest to the orphans  tomorrow.