In His Arms: Our Last Day in Haiti

From Hayden:

Today we made the difficult trip back to Port Au Prince.  It was difficult because we were leaving the kids and the time we have had the last four days.  It was an adventure getting up to Desire after a large rain last night made us get stuck once.  The time with the kids was great, but it was hard to leave them.  Tomorrow we fly back to home, but we know we will be coming back changed for the better as God has worked in us.  

Tonight we shared the verse from Matthew 25, "And the King will answer them, Truly I say unto you, whatever you did to the least of these my brothers, you did unto me."  While we came to serve, we have all been impacted by these beautiful people.

In His Arms: Last Day in Desire

From Hayden:

This was a group picture taken before we left. There were a lot of tears. Now the long journey back home. 

In His Arms: Sunrise on the Rooftop

From Hayden:

For the last morning in Gonaives, my daughter and I went up on the rooftop to watch the sun rise. This is looking to the north at some nice views. 

In His Arms: Last Full Measure

From Hayden:

Today was our last full day in Desire.  We changed our plans a bit so that we can visit a friend tonight.  We stayed up there for an extended time rather than making two trips.  We shared the story about David and Goliath, read to the kids and just played with and loved on them.  They enjoyed the jump ropes and frisbees we brought, as well as coloring sheets.  Our team really emptied their tanks and gave it their all to love these kids.  I asked our translator, Volcy, what do the kids enjoy most about us coming down.  He said, they just love you spending time with them and holding them.  Enough said.

In His Arms: What Did We Eat?

From Hayden:

One of the things I look forward to on our trips is the food.  It is an unwritten rule, that when in Haiti, eat as the Haitians do (although I think they go a little easier on us "blancs").  Well, one of those delicacies is goat.  It is one my favorite dishes and is so tender. Well last night she tried it!  And, I must say she finished her meal before me.

Another favorite is spaghetti for breakfast!  I don't know how they make it, but is Bon ampiel!

In His Arms: One World, One Language

From Hayden:

One of the greatest challenges we have on our journeys to Haiti is the language barrier.  While we can learn a little Creole just to be polite, it ends about the time we figure out names.  But, the one thing that is universal in any language is a smile.  It transcends cultures and barriers and opens up a world of possibilities.  When we show that one person that we genuinely care about him or her, they begin to open up.  And while we may might not be able to understand the words each of us speaks, in that moment we have touched each other's life.  

In His Arms: Sunday in Desire

From Hayden:

I stayed  back today with my daughter since we both weren't feeling well.  Today the team had the chance to worship in Gonaives and Desire today as well as have lunch and spend time with the kids.  They had a full day and their biggest "highs" were spending time in church and hanging out with the kids.  They had a bit of adventure coming back as Pastor Jeannot's truck broke down.  But like all good resourceful Haitians, our driver was able to put it back together for him

quickly!  In all, it was a good day for the team and tomorrow we have a full day with two times at Desire and going to visit Jan Thompson's home and learn about her work with orphans here in Gonaives.

In His Arms: Are You Rich?

From Hayden:

Last night in our debrief, the question was asked:  "What does it mean to be rich?  And, are you rich?" Our team is working the through this question and sees the answer in the God's word when it says: 

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,  that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations." Psalm 67:1-2 ESV

Watching our team wrestle with seeing how much we have been blessed with in comparison to what we see here is an awesome experience.  In the end, it is about being rich in faith and content with blessings.  

In His Arms: A New Trick

From Hayden:

Today we spent two times at Desire. One of the things that we did this time is to have one of our team members perform some magic with the kids. The kids and adults were enthralled with Phil and his talent. At one point, we thought we might lose all the kids sitting on the rest of us to Phil's show! In all, it was a really good day. We loved on the kids, practiced English, played games, and shared the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho. Our team did really well with engaging kids and letting them hang all over them. Tomorrow, we go to worship the kids and community at Desire. 

In His Arms: First Day in Haiti

From Hayden:

Despite traveling a lot in the last 12 hours, we are thankful that we made connections and had a safe journey.  It was so encouraging to see the improvements to the airport and, most importantly, our orphanage in Desire.  Since I was last here 15 months ago, homes for the boys and girls have been built, new offices, security fence and gates, kitchen and other improvements.  It is amazing to see the transformation of this place by God's hand.

While the improvements are big encouragers, the best part of today was watching our team members new to Haiti  and listening to how excited they are to be in the place and with these kids.  When we pulled in to the orphanage, kids were clambering over each other to cling to our team. It was great to see the familiar faces and how much they have grown.  Our team did really well with just loving on and hanging with the kids.  Watching our young team

members engage with the kids was a real encouragement too.  In all, it was a great day and we are all going to rest well tonight.

In His Arms: Took this picture yesterday. The well is working ...

Here is the latest from Hayden in Haiti:

In His Arms: Took this picture yesterday. The well is working ...: Took this picture yesterday. The well is working again and is a great source of encouragement to Desire!

In His Arms: In Haiti!

In His Arms: In Haiti!: We just arrived in Gonaives!  Getting checked in and hope to get up to the orphanage soon. It is definitely hot here!

In His Arms: Tropical Storm Chantal dissipates

Here is the latest from Hayden:

In His Arms: Tropical Storm Chantal dissipates: Well, we had our first big trial as we have waited to see how Tropical Storm Chantal would impact our trip.  After watching and praying, we ...

In His Arms: A new journey

A team from the church is heading to Haiti this week and I will be reposting Hayden Camp's blog posts:

In His Arms: A new journey: This week, I will be traveling back to Haiti on a short mission trip with my church, Faith E Free.  This will be my fifth trip to this beaut...

Getting Ready to Come Home

Well today marks our last day in Haiti as we get ready to fly out this afternoon.  It's been a great trip with the first ever student mission team.  This group of students have really given completely of themselves to the task at hand.  Last night as we shared our highs and lows, the most common low was of course leaving the children of Desire.  At the same time, it was also encouraging to our team because they know that even if they never return to Haiti, our goodbyes were temporary in the sense that one day we will see each other in the presence of our Lord.

The team also felt the highs of acceptance from the children after spending the last several days with the kids.  The Desire children were very emotional as we were saying our goodbyes- which to the team was validation of their love and work for the children.

Please pray for us as we begin our journey home to rejoin our families.  And thank you for praying for us all this past week!

Connections

On every trip with every team we always celebrate the moments when connections happen.  For some teams it's a break through in communication by mutually sharing each others' language; for some it's been when the Haitian children grasp English for the first time and use it in a complete sentence; still another time is when the children show us who their siblings are because they see whole families coming to serve.  All these connections are major victories in building relationships with the children and people from the community.

Today I saw another one if those connections.  I'll back up because it actually started last night.  A handful of our students are a part of the Rocky high school music program and earlier this spring they performed a Haitian song in the Creole language.  It was fantastic.  This same group shared it with our translator Volcy (who is himself quite gifted musically) last night at dinner.  Volcy recorded it on his iPod.  This morning after being a bit frustrated by the challenge of teaching music on instruments, the team decided to teach the kids this song that they had learned and performed.  I think the children were first surprised that these Americans were singing in Creole and then had fun learning the song with the help of Volcy as he translated.

Then I saw a couple of other things happen.  The mamas who provide full time care for the kids came in and I noticed that they knew this song and were singing along.  Pastor Jeannot came in after the kids had been working on it and his jaw dropped when he noticed that it was our team members teaching and singing in Creole.  Finally, the older girls who are sometimes hard to get close to pulled a couple of the girls who were teaching over to their homes and began singing again.

I can't stress enough that these little breakthroughs are actually earth-shaking in the formation of relationships.  Our teams put a lot of time in preparation only to feel like things didn't go well or they didn't go as planned.  Yet by being flexible and open to God's work, moments like these come along and make all the work seem worth it.

Pray for the team as some members are struggling with not feeling well.  And especially tomorrow as we say goodbye to our Desire children.

Hanging with God

My report today is a little different because I didn't get to go to church to worship.  We've had a few team members battling some stomach issues and while everyone is doing better, some of them needed to hang out at the hotel to recover.  I stayed back for them in case they needed anything.  It's important to me that those who are here for the first time to really take in every cultural experience so I got to spend some great quiet times with God today.  Man, I did not know how badly I needed that!  I was blessed today by taking in the extra time to read and pray.

I was also reminded how nice it is to have a place in Haiti that allows us to stay safe and comfortably so that we can do our "job" ministering to the children of Desire.  That's why I am including some photos of my day.  Although as I am typing this the power has gone out for a record amount of times since I've been here.  But that too is reminder of the things that we so easily take for granted.

The team is doing great as a unit and our discussions are great- I love it when people discover why God has called them to a trip like this.  Many team members are already looking ahead to Tuesday when we say goodbye.  It's hard not to think about how hard it will be.  So we can sure use your prayers for that time as it approaches.

I want to say thanks to Carol, Ken and Steve for all their hard work and leadership!  It's been a blast to spend time with this leadership team.

Photos from Saturday

Here are some more highlights from Saturday.

A Full Day in Desire

Today was a full day of ministry in Desire with the orphans and community children.  The team held a first ever music workshop in the morning and discovered the concept of staying flexible when it doesn't quite go as planned.  They did great.  This afternoon included putting handprints on a sheet- see the pictures.  The team is doing awesome.

Arrival in Desire

It's been a long day for our team after an overnight flight from Denver to Miami and then a quick connection to Port au Prince Haiti.  Many of us barely got any sleep on the flight to Miami, followed by a two hour flight to Haiti, and then we had a three hour bus ride to the city of Gonaives where we are staying at our hotel.  After checking in, the team mustered up reserve energy to jump back on the bus to go meet the kids in Desire.  And was it worth the long journey?  Absolutely!  Many team members met new friends as many of the younger children jumped into the arms of team members.  And some of the team members rekindled friendships that began a year ago and earlier this year.

I am amazed at how much the project property in Desire has transformed in the past two years and most dramatically this past year.  It is amazing to see God provide for these children and Pastor Jeannot in ways that have at times been unexpected.

Tomorrow we have a full day planned with music in the morning- teaching guitar and ukulele and working at forming a choir; and an afternoon filled with art workshops and games.  Please continue praying for the team.  We are a bit weary and a couple of team members are struggling with motion sickness from the bus ride (and for those of you who have come to Haiti and experienced our bus rides, you can sympathize).  

I will have photos tomorrow.