Final Night

Well our time in Haiti is rapidly coming to a conclusion and we had a hard time saying goodbye to the kids that we love so much. But we bring home many memories and stories of how God worked through us and how we are so blessed by it. Tonight's team meeting culminated with us sharing stones we gathered from Desire in reference to an earlier devotion on Joshua when the Israelites collected stones to remember what God had done for them in their journey crossing the Jordan. Each team member found a stone in Desire and had to find a verse that best describes what God has done through them individually and us as a team and us as a church ministering in Haiti. Awesome closing to a great week- I really love this team!

Day 4 in Desire

Today was a great day with the children. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that they are on a break from school so we had a fuller day with the kids. This morning we had our English sessions and this afternoon we concluded our Bible story about Jesus and His death and resurrection.

Once again Pastor Jeannot and his fantastic staff provided food for our team for the second time on this trip. This is a first time in our time in Desire. Their hospitality has been a huge blessing to our team. The way we serve each other in this partnership is great and it is so cool to see how God uses each of our churches to serve one another. In fact, our devotional study tonight was on the 'one another' verses we find throughout Scripture. I just love seeing how God works. Another cool God thing from Sunday was on Saturday night in our team devotion we read Psalm 96 in preparation for worship. The next morning the worship service opened with Psalm 96 in Creole. Just another example of how God weaves us together for His glory.

What Ministry in Desire looks like

Here are additional pictures from the last few days in Desire. The weather has been great- very mild and dry.

Day 3 in Desire

After a full morning of worship at both of Pastor Jeannot's churches, we went back up to Desire for an afternoon session that included telling of the passion week- the last week of Jesus' life here on earth; girl time where our team's girls hung out with the girls of Desire and painted nails and had a fashion show; and the boys split up for a monster game of soccer, jumping rope and playing with the parachute.

Our time with the orphan children has been great but our time together unpacking the day as a team has been fantastic. This team is growing closer together and are enjoying each other's company- especially on the bus. Singing and dancing has become a favorite on the bus as we journey back and forth between Gonaives and Desire. Very fun team!

Pictures of Day 3

Some of the action from Sunday in Desire.

Worship- Haitian style

This morning we had the privilege of worship at two churches in Gonaives and Desire. It is such a rich experience to spend time with our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ worshiping our awesome God. We may not understand the language but we still catch the passion and conviction. We can't sing in Creole but we know the tune and sing along in English or hum the melodies. Truly a highlight of ministry!

Devotional Time

My devotional time with The Lord has been focusing on trusting Him, even when it's hard to see what He's doing in the moment. It's having a long view knowing that God is using everything for good; trusting Him in the storm. On every trip to Haiti, I do wrestle with this because it seems that the country has so far to go to become a place where poverty is minimized and orphans having someone to care for them. But then it's a verse like this that reminds me that God is in control: ""See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. (Deuteronomy 32:39 ESV). It's easy get caught up in the enormity of it all in Haiti and yet, I have to be reminded that God called our church to come alongside and care for a few in Haiti. We care for 69 orphan children and the people who provide long term care for them- Pastor Jeannot, his family, the mamas and staff at the project. And when I take a step back and see what God has accomplished, not because of us, but because we were faithful to His leading, I find joy in His work and marvel at how far in two years The Lord has brought the Desire project. Praise God!

Day 2 in Desire

Some photo highlights from today.

Joy

It certainly is a privilege to be able to bring teams down to Haiti to minister to our orphan project and the people of the Desire community. I get a front row seat watching God work in the hearts of the team members as they soak in the experience of getting out of their comfort zone and serving The Lord with every bit of energy they have in them.

I see them struggle trying to understand why things are the way they are in Haiti. I watch their jaws drop as we navigate through the traffic with tight squeezes and the occasional near miss. I see eyes well up with tears as they witness small children walking on the street with very little to wear as it seems they are orphaned and have no one to care for them. I see tears flow from their eyes and the eyes of our orphan children when it's time to say goodbye at the end of a trip. And I see God actively challenging and stretching each team member as they struggle to make sure they capture what The Lord wanted them to catch through am experience like this.

God is good, all the time. Even when we can't make sense of things we see. There is peace knowing that God has all things under control. And there is joy when we realize the gift He has given us through an experience like this and the gift of His Son for our salvation.

On our way to Haiti/ First day in Haiti

Overnight flights have their advantages and disadvantages. It's nice because we make a connection and get to Haiti relatively quickly; it saves us from getting hotel rooms or trying sleep in the cold Florida airports. On the other hand, trying to get sleep on an overnight four hour flight is tough especially when sitting between two big guys. But that's all a part of the adventure!

As I am writing we are currently on our last leg to Haiti excited to see the Desire children this afternoon. We are praying for a great time connecting with the children and the people of Desire.

We now just finished our first day. Long but amazing. We arrived in the city of Gonaives by mid afternoon with rain on the second half of our journey. As trip leader I am always concerned about how weather and other factors might affect our plans. Praise God, the rain was really just a mist that began making way for a bit of the sun to shine. The brief time we had with the kids was great and God provided us with just what we needed. It is so good to be back in Haiti.

The team is good- just completely exhausted from our overnight flight that didn't provide much chance to get rest. Continue praying for their strength and health.

Spring Break Haiti Team

Faith is getting ready to send a team down to Haiti this week to our project in Desire.  We have a team of 17 people heading out on Thursday.  Nine of the team members are going to Haiti for the first time.  We are excited to see our orphan kids and renew friendships with the community children of Desire.  This past December the church had it's own version of an Operation Christmas Child-like campaign and we called it Operation Timoun (timoun is creole for child).  We had an overwhelming response- so much so that it is taking three teams to transport the over 420 bags that Faith responded with down to the village of Desire.  Pastor Jeannot last month was forming a team to deliver the packages to the community children of Desire with the gospel and an invitation to join him at the Desire church.

On this trip we are taking 200 OT bags as well as many supplies for the Desire children.

Please pray for our final preparations as we get ready to head out on Thursday.