Reflection

Today is our last full day in Haiti. A day of worship at Grace Church in Titanyen and travel up the mountain to shop and support local artisans. A day full of colors and beauty. And for some, a bit of melancholy as we prepare to return to home. I just had a conversation with one of our first-timers who expressed that she is not at all ready to leave. I remember those feelings well. :) It's a little easier for me now on the last day, as I know I'm coming back and when. It's fun to talk with others and hear their plans for future trips and more involvement with this organization. God is great! 

Yesterday we rented a bus and took the kids from Grace Village to the beach for fun in the sun. We had the bus and taptap packed to the gills with 30+ people! We spent a couple of hours splashing around and enjoying the water. Great opportunity for fun and fellowship, and a bit of relaxation as well. Some of you may be wondering how it could be relaxing with that many kids... Everyone played so well together and just had fun. And promptly passed out on the ride back to Grace Village. :) 

After we parted ways with the kiddos, it was back to the Guest House for a bit of regrouping and then off to team dinner at Pizza Amour. So. Good. This is a small pizza place operated by a family of missionaries living in the area. Nice, relaxing night with great food and conversation, and pizzas made on the grill. Yum. 

This has been a powerful week and so great for me to experience through new eyes. So much individual and team growth, and so many hearts broken for God's children. I am excited to see this work continue here and at home, and witness so many beautiful servant hearts growing. 

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support! Such an important part of our journey. We could not do this without you. Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we wrap up the week and prepare to return. Lots of love! 

~Jaime

Gratifying

August 29th

Today started out amazing!! We started the day bright and early at 5:45 by attending tent church. It is an unbelievable church that started out in a tent after the earthquake destroyed it and was transformed into this ginormous church that could possibly hold 10,000 people. It was beautiful or bel as they say in Creole. As we pulled up you could hear the voices of Haitian people lifting up in praises. The voices were so intriguing I couldn't wait to get off the Tap-Tap. When we walked in the people were all praising to The Lord with their hands in the air and grace in their hearts. Even though it was mostly in Haitian, the Holy Spirit grabbed us and lead us to the word. It was truly amazing. Just being able to listen to the words of Creole and have time with God was all we needed to fire us up for a day of serving our Savior. Here was part of todays Jesus Calling:

"The most effective way to resist evil is to draw near Me. When you need to take action, I will guide you clearly through My Spirit and My Word. The world is so complex and overstimulating that you can easily lose your sense of direction. Doing countless unnecessary activities will dissipate your energy. When you spend time with Me, I restore your sense of direction. As you look to Me for guidance, I enable you to do less but accomplish more." 

For the rest of the day we did another half day of the water truck; which I think I can speak for all of us when I say, it was AWESOME!! All the people were so grateful for the water and the children were as cute as ever. Being able to give clean water and spread God's love is so gratifying and to be able to witness Gods glory is nothing I can explain. 

Next we were able to go meet the transition children up at Grace Village. Some of you may know them from donating church clothes and soccer jerseys back in July. These kids have the biggest smiles and the brightest eyes you will ever see. They all have the purest hearts and a longing passion for God, in which, they all in some way want to share with their Haitian people. One boy reminded me so much of one of my brothers back at home. The compassion for others, his respectful demeanor, and the craving for The Lord. After getting to know them we were able to go outside and play basketball, soccer, and jump out of the way of skate boards.  It was a blast to see them smiling and having such a great time with their peers and now their new family. God is so amazing and I can't believe I am here to be able to witness his greatness. I will forever be grateful. During group we decided we are not going to leave our missions here in Haiti, but bring back what we have learned here and continue Gods greatness to the fullest. 

Love Always, 

 Carly 

Road Less Traveled

Many of us may have heard the saying "taking the road less traveled." This could mean a lot of different things to different people whether it is applied to the journey of your career growth, stepping out of the box with your personality, or checking out a secret tourist spot. Today, we took the road less traveled to Titanyan, a growing city in Haiti. 

This morning, I woke up with the intention of catching the sunrise while wondering where the day would bring me on this journey. I thought to myself, how fortunate am I to take the road less traveled to serve the mission call that God had on my life. We were all so excited jumping on the tap tap truck because we were heading to Grace Village in Titanyan. On the hour long drive heading out of the main city, we were able to soak up the sites, the homes, the markets, the people, the ocean along the way. Even in the summer heat, we had so much to smile about, all squeezed together anxiously waiting to reach our destination. 

As we stopped to pick up some water in Titanyan, we peered out of the truck to catch glimpses of the beauty that Grace Village exuded from the mountain top. What can I say except that this place symbolically stood for hope over the Haitian people of Titanyan. Our first visit was the Grace Village Church as we bore witness to the children's ministry and worship. We then toured the rest of Grace Village walking through the hallways of the school, feeding center, health clinic, aquaponics, bread ovens, homes and more. This place has so much promise and growth as the vision of expansion was explained to us. 

We then traveled into the heart of the community to visit the elders who are sponsored by generous people through and with the Healing Haiti organization. What an experience this was for me and for all of us as they carried great wisdom. What is this piece of wisdom I speak of? Simply this. In so few words, they communicated their joy, gratitude, and love for God and for others. Often times we feel the need to say something in the presence of others. Sometimes, we just need to let our spirits speak as we shared laughter, smiles, and hugs. What a blessing it was to serve and deliver them water that we purchased earlier in Titanyan, to offer them a care package and something to eat, to polish fingers and toe nails in the brightest of colors, and to massage their hands and feet. 

Jesus often took the road less traveled and taught others that to be a great master and disciple meant to serve others. In order to lead, we must follow. The Lord's presence was undoubtedly with us today. We were disciples following Jesus, serving as He would have served. There is no greater blessing than to do what we see our Lord doing, following in the image of Christ. Everywhere we traveled, we worshiped in song with the Haitian people to this familiar tune "Glwa Pou Bondye" or "Glory to God." Truly, all glory is to God on this blessed road.

Shae (Hawaii resident)

Simple

Today was a busy day. We split the team in the morning and afternoon for different activities that don't allow for full teams to attend all at once - 

This morning most of the team joined me at the Home for Sick & Dying Babies, where we arrived just in time to finish serving breakfast and love on some babies. We spread out, grabbed bowls of cereal, and went to work. After breakfast, we were able to just visit and love on babies. Took turns holding, hugging, and just being with these beautiful babes. No complications. No insurmountable tasks, just spending time and giving love. 

Tyler took the rest of the group to Gertrude's, where several beautiful and gifted babes of varying ages and abilities reside. Rumor has it they had a lot of fun on the swings, basketball court, and just hanging out. :) And had a similar, simple theme - just spend time, love, play, be. 

We came back together over the lunch hour to visit The ApParent Project - http://www.apparentproject.org - for a bit of souvenir shopping. This is such a great organization that is creating so many jobs and has seen amazing growth in its four years of existence. Almost everything used in the jewelry, bags, etc. is repurposed. There is now a fully functioning daycare onsite, so parents can bring their children to work and not have to worry about finding assistance. Such a great place. Check out their website :) 

This afternoon we split again for the wound clinic and Juno's orphanage. The wound clinic is operated through the Sisters at Home for Sick & Dying Babies and allows for four volunteers to attend. I went today with three of our teammates to assist in treating those who came for help. We put aprons on, took medical kits, and went to work treating wounds as best we could. Such a humbling experience. So much pain and yet gratitude in the eyes of those we worked with. Humbling and beautiful to see so much being done with so little. And a reality check for me to be thankful and not take for granted what we have access to at home. 

The rest of the group went to Juno's orphanage for fun and fellowship. They made rhythm instruments with toilet paper rolls, dry rice and beans, and duct tape. Had a few jam sessions and lots of fun. It was exciting to hear those on the team who'd been here in February talk about the changes in the kids and those they were able to reconnect with. 

Many spoke today of how simple it really is - just love the person in front of you.  Whether here or at home. That's what God asks. Just love. Don't overcomplicate it, don't overthink it. Don't get in the way of your connection with God and what He asks of you. I loved how one team member phrased it - something along the lines of "At home I feel like I have it all figured out, and then I come here and realize I don't know anything" - she further explained how, as adults, we tend to complicate so many things. Be childlike. Keep it simple. So often we judge, overthink, anticipate, make ourselves anxious, and get in the way... When all we need to do is be open to whomever God puts in front of us, and love them. 

Full, emotional, beautiful day... 

Goodnight :) 
~Jaime 

Familiar

A few thoughts from yesterday (delayed due to technical difficulties ;) ...) 

It is so amazing to me how much this is HOME. Such comfort and peace as we arrived. So happy to see Brunet, Phonis, Hilaire. Excited to see Emmanuel tomorrow and wish him a happy birthday. And eager to get out for water truck. I am so blessed and fortunate to be here again and am looking forward to brand new experience as a leader bringing others out. God is amazing. And I am ever so thankful. 

And on to today ... :) Water Truck ... 
Crashed early last night after a long day of travel. Up at 0530 to get coffee going. Caught my first Haitian sunrise as well. So beautiful. God's beauty is everywhere. I was reading more of Bob Goff's Love Does last night before sleeping. He wrote about wanting to hear God speak to him, and expecting it to be audible, as it is with our day to day speech when interacting with others. He realized he may never hear God the way he wants to, because God is not human. Why would he speak like humans do? He is limitless. He is in everything, and makes Himself seen, heard, felt in all things. That was evident this morning in the sunrise. Beautiful colors, peace, quiet. I didn't hear a specific voice, but God was speaking loud and clear. 

Today was water truck day. 3 stops in Cite Soleil and lots of opportunity to help and love on kids. At our first stop after the water line died down, we walked out toward the ocean to talk a bit and learn more about the area. Excited to hear that it's full steam ahead on the church and school that will be built there. Approval has been granted and construction starts next month. We prayed over the site with kids in tow. I had two little girls on my left, both holding on to my arm and hand while we prayed. So sweet to see them praying with us, heads bowed, peaceful. 

My word of the day was “familiar”. Faces, places, activities. And yet it’s a completely new experience for me this time as one of the leaders of this team. So interesting to experience Haiti through the eyes of new goers. Including leaders, there are 16 on this team, 10 of whom are newbies. All are fired up and ready to serve. I’m so proud of this team and how everyone has come together. I’ll echo Tyler’s words by saying it seemed like a bunch of pros out there today. No one afraid to jump in and assist. Everyone fully engaged. Loving on kids. Hauling water buckets. Manning the water line. And it all starts with love. So much given by friends and families in the way of prayers and financial support to get everyone here. So much given to each other and to everyone encountered along the way. I’m excited to see what God has in store for this amazing team for the rest of this week and beyond! 
~Jaime

Haiti bound in T-minus 48 hours!

And away we go!