Packing Supplies

Tonight we are packing the supplies we will be taking to Haiti.  Supplies include children's medicines, tooth brushes and toothpaste, peanut butter, kids underwear, blankets and anything else we can fit into our check bags. 
One of my goals this trip is to sit down with Pastor Jeannot and create a list of the ongoing supply need the orphan project has so that with every team that goes down, we are keeping the orphan kids supplied with the most critical of supplies.
We head to the airport tomorrow evening for an overnight flight to Miami and then a connecting flight to Port au Prince first thing Friday morning.  Please pray for our safety.

Faith's June Haiti Team

As we make our final preparations for the upcoming trip that leaves in a couple of days, let me introduce you to our team:

Back row: Chris Conradson, Chuck Landgraf, Bob Schuchard, Pattie Schuchard, Ryan Stewart, Autumn Dreessen, Tami Gustafson, Hayden Camp, Lynn Jacquart, Desiree Chasco
Front row: Heather Haddox, Kennedi Conradson, Michelle Colby, Amanda Folmer

We will be leaving June 30 and returning on July 6.  Please pray for safe travels, good health, and great opportunities to serve those we are going down to be with and sharing the love of Jesus with all those we encounter.  Updates will be posted during the trip and photos will come after the trip.

Faith's response- God's provision

The original water source 1/4 mile away

As a first step in our partnership with Desire, The Global Orphan Project informed us that before anything else, the project needs a well.  When we visited back in March, I was struck by the fact that the caregivers have to walk a quarter mile to a ground well to draw water.  So Faith got busy raising funds for a new well to be drilled on the property of the orphan project.  As a church we participated in a 5K run that allowed people from Faith to raise support funds for the well.  The response was overwhelming- we needed to raise $6,000 for the well and instead raised almost $15,000! 

God's new source of fresh water!

In the months that has followed, Haiti is in the midst of their rainy season.  The situation with the rain has forced the open ground well to be closed because it is contaminated with cholera and is deadly.  Knowing that the well was the only source of water for the 60 orphan kids we sponsor, I was very concerned about how the kids will survive until the new well is drilled.  The rains have made it nearly impossible for vehicles to get back to the project- meaning the well is delayed until the road and weather improves.  Faith has sent funds to help repair the road.  So God has provided a spring where fresh water is coming out of the ground!  Talk about a miracle- close by the project water started coming right out the side of the dry river bank.  The community is currently getting their water from the new, God-given source! 

Our team leaves in two days to go to minister to the children of Desire, and no doubt, we will be ministered to by the kids, the caregivers and Pastor Jeannot and his family.  I am super excited to see all the changes occuring at the project including the building of homes for the kids, and maybe perhaps with the timing, the well will begin to be drilled!  Please pray for our team and continue to pray for the kids of Desire!

The March trip in a few minutes- courtesy of John Crane

I was going back over all the memories of the March trip as I prepare for the upcoming trip we leave for in just a couple of days and I remembered John putting together all the images he shot set to kids singing at Jumecourt.  For those of you who haven't seen it- here you go:
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=120421398034072

Highlights from the March trip to Desire

Click this: March Haiti Trip

Desire is the Place for Faith

As a follow up to my last post, I spent this last week speaking to the team that went with me to Haiti most recently and reporting to the leadership at Faith what happened on the most recent trip.  It is very clear that the Lord has confirmed His call on Faith to partner with Pastor Jeannot and the Desire project.  The very things that I prayed for in interacting with Pastor Jeannot was clearly answered beyond my expectations.  This is a very humble, faithful servant of the Lord as he shepherds two churches, two schools and 60 orphans at the Desire project.  I am excited to share more about Pastor Jeannot as we develop our partnership.

The next step is revealing our partnership to the rest of the congregation who have been patiently waiting for the PLACE in Haiti that we will be commited to for a long time.  I am excited to cast the vision of our partnership to our congregation so that they can see the who, how and what the Lord has called us up to.  I firmly believe the Lord is calling us to a difficult challenge and while the orphans and Pastor Jeannot is compelling, it will be difficult because of the location and the need- but certainly one that Faith can and will step up to.  For now then I would like to share some of the images from Desire:





From Google Earth- Desire is about 1/2 hour drive northeast of Gonaives.



Ben leading song time inside the church.

This is the church.

Looking down the property of Desire.  Kids live in tents.

One of the little ones of Desire.



Dinner time at Desire.





Pastor Jeannot with Penny.

The Journey of Faith with the Global Orphan Project in Haiti

One year ago Faith embarked on a journey to make a difference in the country of Haiti by saving infants, serving orphans, feeding and clothing children, putting kids through school, strengthening churches, developing leaders and sharing the gospel. We do this by partnering with local church-based, evangelistic ministries that are the very best at what they do. One of those partners is The Global Orphan Project. In March of 2010 we sent our first team to minister to the orphans who were displaced or newly orphaned as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that devastated the already poorest country in the western hemisphere. It became very clear after that trip that Faith would partner with The Global Orphan Project in serving the orphaned children of Haiti.

The next step in the process was for Global Orphan (GO) to identify a possible partner for Faith in a village project that is in need of a North American partner to help fund the ongoing care of the children in a project and to meet other needs as they arise such as funding new homes, schools, medical facilities, churches, water wells, latrines, etc. As a result of the first trip, we felt the Lord calling Faith to minister in a challenging environment in Haiti and that desire was communicated to GO. Working with Adrien Lewis, GO’s Community Director, a target for Faith was communicated and proposed to Faith in April of 2010. That project was a village in Port Salut at Haiti’s extreme southwestern tip. Plans for our next trip began with the intention to go to Port Salut, minister to children there and ask the Lord to confirm His call on Faith. By late May GO informed Faith that the trip had to be postponed because of an emergency situation- a staff member had been abducted and they were negotiating her release and it was not safe for us to be there. At the same time GO was having to redirect our trip from Port Salut. GO communicated with us that they were addressing a developing situation in Port Salut and the already struggling village was being assessed to discover if a focus on a school and feeding program might be the best fit for Port Salut. In essence the Lord was closing the door for Faith in Port Salut. We were thankful that the door closed before making the trip.

Gonaives in northern Haiti has always held a place in my heart because of its painful history. In October of 2009 Pastor Brad and I had flown over the city on our way to investigate ministry opportunities in northern Haiti. I pointed out the city as we flew over. In 2008 Gonaives, the 3rd largest city in Haiti was hit by two hurricanes. The city flooded and thousands of people lost their lives. The city is still digging out the settled silt from many homes. Flooding is the city’s greatest threat because it is surrounded by deforested mountains and hillsides and even the smallest amount of rain presents the threat of flooding. Gonaives has a very violent history in that it is usually the epicenter for every revolution or coup that takes place in Haiti. It is said that the city is run by gangs. The hurricanes of 2008 seemed to stem the tide of the gangs as many of them left.

The need in Gonaives is great for the orphan population and the Global Orphan Project presented the opportunity to partner in Gonaives. Logistically Gonaives is a challenge; the Lord seemed to place Gonaives in our sights and GO has a great need there. So once again, we began planning on seeing Gonaives and asking the Lord to confirm His call on Faith to Gonaives. Faith’s trip in August of 2010 allowed us to assess if Gonaives would be a good fit for us as a church. The trip was a success and my evaluation of it made Gonaives a great and challenging opportunity for Faith. I really felt the Lord calling us to do something hard. The need is great as we were able to see firsthand but we were encouraged by the opportunity Gonaives presented us. Upon our return from Gonaives, I met with Adrien to discuss specific partner opportunities in Gonaives. At that time, GO was in the middle of transitioning children from smaller, struggling projects to larger, well established projects. One of the projects we spent time at was Fayeton. Fayeton had 130 kids at the time of our visit. Fayeton also already has a partner- the Nebraska Global Orphan Project. GO proposed that Faith co-partner with Nebraska because Fayeton was receiving more children because of the transitions happening. Fayeton’s new number was 200 and so Faith could step in and partner at Fayeton. I contacted Nebraska Global Orphan leadership to talk through how this partnership might look moving into the future.

In October of 2010 Faith sent a third team to Haiti but this time the team spent time at what was known in early 2010 as the Orphan Transition Village. Since GO was working on the transition of kids in Gonaives, they felt a trip to Gonaives could disrupt the already fragile process they were in the midst of. The trip was another success and further giving us great confidence in the work that The Global Orphan Project was doing in Haiti.

At the beginning of 2011 Faith began planning a Spring Break trip to Gonaives to engage the children there and ask the Lord to confirm His call on us to Fayeton. Three days before we were to leave with the largest team Faith has sent to this point- 20 members, GO called to inform me that something had come up that they had to deal with at the Fayeton project. This meant that we would not be spending the majority of our time at Fayeton- in fact we would not visit at all because of a serious issue that came about the previous weekend. It appeared that the Lord was once again closing the door on a partner for Faith.

Adrien contacted me Wednesday, the day before we left to fill me in with some information and to firm up our adjusted plans to visit other projects in the Gonaives region. One specific project he was interested in us seeing and checking out is a project called Desire (pronounced dez-er-ay). Adrien was extremely excited for this new possibility because 4 months earlier as he was seeking a good partner fit for Faith, Desire came to mind. He did not share this with me at the time because Desire was one of those projects slated to transition children to the larger projects. Desire is located almost 30 minutes northeast of the city and is nestled in the foothills. Desire is a tough location- very primitive with no real road to get there, no electricity to speak of and no water except an open well a quarter mile away from the project.

Pastor Jeannot is the pastor of the project which includes a school and church as well as 60 children that live in tents- yes, tents. When informed that he would need to move his children into the city he refused because he felt strongly that those children should remain there in their current community. Pastor Jeannot held to his convictions so deeply that he said if he were to lose funding by not moving his children, he would find another way to provide for the 60 children. GO sent a couple staff members to sit down with Pastor Jeannot to listen to his heart for the children and the ministry up in the hills above Gonaives. Struck by this man’s heart, character, humbleness, faith and perseverance, GO decided that he was correct and GO would continue to support him any way they could. Pastor Jeannot not only leads a church, school and orphanage in Desire but he pastors a church and leads a school in Gonaives as well.

Adrien’s original idea of partnering Faith with Desire has come full circle and was back on the table. The Spring Break trip would go a long way to determine if Desire is the place that Faith will partner. Acts 16:6-10 came up as a correlating passage to Faith’s journey to find a place to partner in Haiti. The text says, “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

God closed the door on Faith to Port Salut, and then again to Fayeton. Is Desire Faith’s Macedonia? Is the man in the vision Pastor Jeannot asking Faith to come to Desire and help? We are praying, but the Lord has given us so many confirmations along the way. In my prayer time in the weeks leading up to the trip, I knew that I would be able to spend significant time with a pastor to hear his heart, his vision for reaching the lost with the gospel and his dreams for the orphan children under his care. I prayed for clear communication and a connection- the Lord provided all of that- with a different pastor I didn’t know I would meet until the day before we left for Haiti. The Lord is so good and faithful- and I love His surprises. It teaches me to pray continually for these things even though He may change it up and surprise you. It truly is in the Lord’s timing- Faith needs to stay faithful to the Lord’s leading and call to make a difference in the country of Haiti.

Heading Home

After a wonderful week in Haiti, our journey home begins shortly.  This team has been wonderful.  All the members served well.  They took the risk to come to Haiti to see what God would do through them, have their hearts broken by seeing the need and accepting the challenge to stay in the moment 24/7 and serve, love, hold, cry, play, pray, and worship while in Haiti.  We saw a lot, played a lot and were physically challenged.  God is at work in Haiti- and we saw that!  Now the team members return home with many stories to share and asking God- what's next?  There is much to do here, but our goal is to come alongside the Haitian church and partner with it so both may be mutually blessed.  There are many Haitian children in the Desire project that are living in tents.  Ever since our return to Port au Prince, we have thought about those children often and prayed for them.  Those children are on our hearts and we would love to share their story with you- can we challenge you to listen?

Back in Port au Prince

We arrived back in Port au Prince with the team already missing the kids from Desire.  Nothing cures the blues better than playing with the kids from the Orphan Transition Village.  Some of the members of our team has had the opportunity to get to know these kids from the previous trips we've made.  The trip has been incredible with wonderful interaction with kids.  Each project has been a unique experience making them all very different from each other.  But our hearts right now are still in Gonaives with the kids at the Desire project with Pastor Jeannot.  Join us in praying for the 60 plus kids who are living in tents currently that God would continue to protect them and keep them safe.

Sunday- A Great Day

Today was a great day worshipping with our Haitian brothers and sisters.  The Holy Spirit filled the house of worship this morning.  After church is Gonaives we went back to visit the Desire project.  The scene of our arrival has forever left an imprint on the heart and minds of our team.  Yesterday when we arrived, the kids were expecting us but had never had an American team visit them before.  It took a little while for them to get used to the site of 20 Americans.  Today we were greeted by cheering kids who rushed our bus when we entered the property.  The party was started and lasted until right before dusk.  God has allowed us to be a part of something truly amazing.  Pastor Jeannot is a man with an amazing faith and an incredible heart to serve and care for orphans in addition to pastoring 2 churches and running 2 schools.  We have had a real privilege to witness something special while serving Pastor Jeannot and his orphan children.

Day Two

Wow- is all I can say about today!  We visited two projects today and the interaction was great but the need we saw is great- particularly at the project called Desire which is pronounced desiree.  You will have to see the pictures and hear the stories from the team members.  The team was great at engaging the kids in the program we prepared.keep praying for the health and safety of the team.  We are looking forward to worshipping at church tomorrow and the return to Desire in the afternoon.

Great Day One

Today felt like a marathon because of lack of sleep at the airport in Florida.  We visited a project where there are currently 12 boys but we has quite a few kids from the neighborhood come join in the fun.  The team did a great job of jumping in and playing and loving on the kids.  Tomorrow will again be another full day as we visit two projects.  As a leader I get joy out of the wrestling with what God is showing each person and the "all in" attitude everyone embraces.  The team is a bunch of real troopers.

Arrival in Gonaives

Keeping this short but we just arrived in Gonaives and are getting settled before heading out for our first visit to Pastor Benoit.

Ready for Haiti!

We just arrived in Fort Lauderdale- our final stop before heading to Haiti in the morning.  We are staking out some space between baggage carousels in order to catch some zzzz's before our flight in the morning.  Team is bonding well.  We are very excited for the adventure of heading into Haiti.  Pray for the team- as we journey to Gonaives during the morning and make our first visit to a project in the afternoon.  I am praying that God "wrecks" our hearts as we reach out to love on kids.

Flexible

One of the things that I always stress in the preparation for a trip is flexibility.  No matter how prepared we get as a team for interaction with the orphan kids that we go to serve, things always change.  We make our plans but the Lord determines our steps.  Every trip is an adventure because things change on the fly- and this trip will be no exception.  Instead of going to the Fayeton village, we will instead be visiting 3 other projects in and around the city of Gonaives.  We are praying that one of the projects we visit will be the one the Lord has planned for us.  So with that, Gonaives, here we come!

Getting Ready for Haiti

In less than a week a team of 20 will be ministering to kids and staff at the Fayeton village just outside the city of Gonaives in northern Haiti.  14 members will be experiencing Haiti for the first time while 6 others have been to Haiti at least once before.  Preparation, funding, and team building has gone well.  Please pray for our health and safety.  Pray for my interaction with Pastor Woodman as we discuss the partnership between our two congregations and discover the steps the Lord wants us to take.  Haiti- here we come!

Spring Break Team

January of 2011 is coming to an end and we are in full swing for planning our trips to Haiti this year.  Our Spring Break team has been selected and we are beginning to bond as a unit having met two times so far.  Our team from Faith is a great mixture- 10 college students, 6 returning members, 14 who have never been before.  The gifting of this team is great and I am exciting to take this team to Gonaives in northern Haiti and begin building our partnership with the Fayeton project.  More to come as the team prepares...

We are praying for the country of Haiti in the wake of the election mess that exists- right now the run-off election is scheduled for March 20th- three days after we are scheduled to leave the country.  This could impact our trip- given the climate of the people of Haiti, our trip may be cutting it too close to the election raising concern for our safety.  Depending on the advice of Pastor Moise, we will plan accordingly.  Join me in praying for a peaceful process.

What's Next?

2010 has been an amazing year for me personally.  I have been challenged, stretched, broken, blessed and encouraged all along the way.  Haiti has become a huge thing for me- its people, its churches, its children, and most importantly, its orphans.  God has given our church an incredible vision to make a difference in the country- and the way He has allowed us to be a part of that is through our partnership with The Global Orphan Project.  If you have read the postings to this point, you understand how God has enabled our church to go to Haiti with The Global Orphan Project.  And now we are ready for the next step as a church and I am ready for my next step personally.

It has been proposed that we will partner with a project in Haiti's third largest city of Gonaives.  Fayeton is expanding due to some pressing needs that the children of Gonaives have.  In March of 2011 we will be sending a team to Fayeton to begin the process of building a deep, rich relationship with the local church, the mommas, the staff, and the kids.  I am excited for this opportunity- having been there earlier this year, the need is great and I am excited for the fruit that will come out of a relationship that will greatly bless our congregation as well.

I love The Global Orphan Project and the mission that they have around the world.  I recently re-read what they are all about, and as I read their purpose, my excitement for the work that God is doing was rekindled!

This is from the Global Orphan Project:
The GO Project embraces a culturally-relevant, community-based model, partnering with the local church to provide children with the Good News of Jesus Christ, a house momma, a safe place to live, two meals a day, an education, and access to medical care.  GO also recognizes economic development as a way to reduce the number of orphans in the world.  They launch local businesses that provide jobs, training, and help underwrite the costs of orphan care ministry.  Finally, due to a few donors that cover overhead costs, 100% of donations to the children go to provide care for the children.
The global orphan pandemic will rise or fall based on people responding to God's invitation to care for His kids.  This year more than 500 Americans have already traveled to Haiti with The Global Orphan Project to care for orphaned and abandoned children.  Thousands more have given to help.

Want to know more?  I would love to share personally our experience with The Global Orphan Project or you could check out their website at http://www.theglobalorphanproject.org/

Psalm 117

Christmas is now past and the time for relaxing and spending time with family seems to be slipping away so quickly.  A week from now we'll be back on the road heading back home.  As I sit in the living room of my brother and sister-in-law's home, I reflect back on an amazing year that God has allowed me to play a part in.  This morning I read and mediatated on Psalm 117 which says, "Praise the Lord, all nations!  Extol him, all peoples!  For great is his steadfast love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord!"

My heart can't help but pray for the nation of Haiti.  The recent elections seemingly has done nothing to bring a better future for the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  With a controversial run-off election slated for mid-January, it's hard to imagine a better outcome.  But as the psalmist says in Psalm 117- great is His steadfast love towards us- His faithfulness endures forever.  Maybe I can't change anything in Haiti; maybe even the Haitians can't change things in Haiti.  But the Lord can!  Thank God it's in His hands- we just need to trust Him.  So I will continue to pray that the Lord raises up His people to do His work in the country of Haiti- because they are there, and they need our prayers.

October Haiti GO Team

Check out this video slideshow from our most recent trip to Haiti:
October Haiti GO Team