January 28 - February 26, 2011 - Haiti Teams

Friday, January 28, 2011

We made it safe with our luggage. The airlines miss placed a Canton team bag, but it was found just before we took off from Miami. Our January 28th group is made up 15 people from Manitoba, Canada, 10 from Canton, Ohio and 4 from Pandora/Cory Rawson, Ohio. The truck was loaded to its max with bags and men. The women enjoyed the new van, dust free and AC. Part of the men’s 1 ½ hour ride included singing hymns in the back of the truck while driving through the Haitian countryside. What a great start!

Be praying for us. This is God’s work and Satan will oppose it. Thank you for being an extended part of this group.

In Christ, Mark

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Today we started with a great breakfast, organizing the food, supplies, we brought, and did inventory of tools and supplies on hand. Mark Macke, our leader showed us projects to be done and we divided into teams doing plumbing, electrical, and prep work.

Highlight of the day was a tour of MPCA with Herve Pierre, Mission Possible Haitian Director. This is the largest MP school. On that property an agricultural project (Moringa Trees) that was started 1 1/2 years ago was seen that will provide nutrition to Mission Possible students.

Older Moringa trees with large trunks were cut down with a machete to a final level of about 5 feet above the ground to make these trees more manageable.

All the team is well and working well together.

Thanks for the prayers

For Christ's sake in Haiti
Vince

Thank you for praying for us. Last night was a long night for the ones sorting through and storing the food. We have two people who have owned or worked in the restaurant business, what a blessing. Today, Saturday, January 29, 2011, we sorted through material and anything that came over in a bag. Also, everyone took a small tour of the Mission Possible grounds as we explained each job on the grounds. Then we divided into work groups by skills or type of work they wanted to do and the work began. Each group took ownership of their responsibility for a very productive start. After lunch we went to MPCA, a Mission Possible school, for a tour of the grounds and to look for parts and tools. Part of our group work on the “Moringa Tree Project” at the school, again a productive and informative 2^nd half of the work day. Tonight’s sharing was from those in a 3^rd world country for the first time. It was very good. Temp. is perfect and the work is rewarding.

During our evening meeting, a young man, Adam, shared with us his experience of Haiti so far.  Just before he left for this trip a good friend of his died.  Today, Adam personally connected with an 11 year old Haitian boy.  He reminded Adam of his friend, and he was moved to tears.  He explained how hearing of Haiti’s conditions was difficult; seeing and smelling and experiencing some of the conditions was gripping; but he wasn’t properly moved with compassion and love until he made that deeper, personal connection.  Pray that all of us, both here and everyone back home, will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, have true compassion; the heart of Christ.   

Keep praying, In Christ, Mark

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Thank you all for your prayers.  We began the Lord’s Day with a short walk to the closest MP school, Lanzac.  Each of MP’s schools now has a church on location and so we were privileged to join the local church at Lanzac.  As we arrived, Sunday school was still in session.  We drew a bit of attention as we slowly made our way to the front of the packed church.  Each Sunday school class, including all ages, was to stand and quote the passage of Scripture they had been working on that previous week.  The kids rhythmically and confidently shared their verses, and the adults, though with less gusto, made it through theirs as well.  Even though we could not understand what was being said, it was encouraging to hear the Word of God being hidden in the hearts of His people.  The church service included a lot of strong singing and constant prayers.  To say the least, most were engaged and active in worshipping the Lord.  Pastor Dorcean (age 25, married to Edna, with two beautiful children) shared a message from Matthew 7:7-11: ask and you will receive, knock and it will be opened, seek and you will find.  You could see and hear his conviction, confidence, and love.  All of us were blessed to join our brothers and sisters in Haiti in worship. I kept hearing from our team members how they were deeply moved by the Haitian church service.

The rest of the day was filled with good meals, resting, and hearing Herve’s testimony and mission.  For those of us who do not know, Herve (air-vay) is the leader of MP Haiti.  We wish all of you could meet him.  Oh, also, this afternoon we were able to witness Herve baptize some believers from St. Mark.  The setting was wonderful, new believers being brought into a strong Haitian family of God by being baptized in the ocean waters of the gulf.  Praise God.

Thank you again, your prayers are essential.

Tyler

Monday, January 31, 2011

We have just finished our first full day of work projects.  Though most are tired, I can hear the porch alive with card games, some guitar playing and occasional singing out in the cabana, oh, and the waves of the ocean crashing just outside our gate.  We are very thankful for what the Lord has done today.  We broke up into several teams: plumbing, which spent the day trouble shooting a three story maze of pvc (complete with dead rats); masonry, team 1 sweeping many five gallon bucks of dry mortar off the Bible School floor and team 2 forming up and pouring a footer for a guard house; screens, many first timers doing what looked liked experienced work on replacing all the screens at the mission center; organization, going through all the things short term mission trippers, like us, leave behind; electrical, hanging our feed wire for the Bible school and finding where all the conduits mysteriously run through the new building; kitchen, world class work, really.  Our prayer has been that even though we know all of this work is worthless if the love of Christ is not shown and shared, we are thankful to contribute to the cause of Christ down here in Haiti.  We are here to support the Haitian leaders who are teaching, preaching, leading, training, discipling, etc.  “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Matt. 24:35.

There are many stories from the group we could now tell, but this one sticks out today.  I (Tyler) had to go find some supplies in a nearby storage building behind one of MP’s school (MPCA).  I took along two of the guys from Akron (a group of 10 men), Lee and Wes.  We made it to the school safely, which is a feat in and of itself, and found our tools.  So we decided to tour the school a bit, since class was actually in session today.  Both Wes and Lee loved seeing the kids.  They kept saying, “they are just like my kids…they are just like my kids” and just smiled.  Not much, event wise, happened, but I could see the Lord at work.  Simple story; massive impact. 

We need your prayers.  God bless you all.

Tyler

What a great day of work and fellowship as Canadian & US brothers and sisters worked side by side on a variety of projects. It was like a busy beehive at the Mission Center with teams working on the roof with repairs and painting, doing footers for a new guard house, electrical being installed at the Bible School/Library, major and minor plumbing, medical supplies being organized, and 100 Moringa seedlings being prepared for planting on Wednesday. What a great team spirit and blessing to work along folks that love the Lord, have or are developing a burden for Haiti, and know how to work and are willing to do anything they are asked to do.

Tomorrow is more of the same with the addition of training for a long day of going to LaHatte on Wednesday. PLEASE PRAY especially for that day. We will have a group of 27 divided into 4 teams. There is no water there and we are carrying in three hundred 700 cc bottles of water. Future teams in the next weeks we are hoping to take water and also for the seedlings.

The entire team is well. Thanks for praying

For Christ's sake in Haiti
Vince

From - February 4, 2011

Many have asked that I send a brief update of my recent mission trip to Haiti.

It was an amazing trip, and one that will take some time to fully digest. 

We did construction, consulted on food and water supplies, and helped the mission plan for future teams from the US.  We also were a part of planting 100 Moringa trees in the poorest city in the mountains.  Amazing.

A few Observations: 

1. The Haitian people maintain a wonderful spirit that prevails in spite of their huge challenges.
2. The island is the most extreme chaos and poverty that you will ever see.
3. One town that we visited has not had a water supply since the earthquake over a year ago, and must walk 2 hours to get water.
4. The people have almost no worldly possessions.
5. The children are absolutely beautiful, and captured our hearts immediately.
6. Small mission organizations, like the one we went to are much better than government aid, or large organizations.
7. The church provides much hope to the people, and is constantly working to feed and water the poor.
8. The missionaries are overwhelmed by the need, but are doing amazing work. 
9. The poorest American lives like a king compared to 99% of the people of Haiti.
10. Every American is so blessed to live in our country, and we can never know how blessed we really are. 

I could go on and on.....

Please contact me if you would like to know more, or if you would like to arrange a group to help these amazing people.  (It is only a 2 hour flight from Miami)

Dave Petno

Saturday, February 5, 2011

It is now Day 9 in Haiti.  The Canton, OH team just left this morning and our group of 8 people from St. John Mennonite Church (Pandora, OH) just arrived tonight.  We had a very long day of travel, as we left the church at 1:45 am to head to Detroit.  Our flight left on time around 6 am and we had a long layover in Miami.  We had a slight delay but arrived to Port au Prince safely.  The airport was small, but the people in customs were very friendly and spoke English pretty well.  A familiar American face, Mark Macke, was there to greet us and get us to the mission center safely.  Once we left the terminal, which was rather chaotic, we had about a 2 hour ride truck ride back to the mission center.  There were about 15 people on this truck, including some of the group from Canada. This truck was caged in to protect us.  At one point during the ride a Haitian man tried to get on the back of the truck and we had to tell him no.  We saw some pretty interesting things as we traveled to the mission center.  It was getting dark, so we couldn’t see everything.  The roads were paved, but bumpy.  We saw a lot of tent cities, where there were hundreds of tents lined up along side of the road.  We also saw many people walking along the road at night, including small children.  The smell of things being burned was overwhelming at times.  There were also people lined up along the road that were selling all sorts of things.

It is so great to finally be here in Haiti, as so many of us have been anticipating this trip for some time now.  We thank God for his traveling mercies and are looking forward to what He has in store for us over the upcoming week.  We just found that we have to leave for church at 6:30 am tomorrow and the service is 3 hours long…a rude awakening for us Americans who like our sleep!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Kate Basinger

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Bonjour! We started off the day early in order to worship in a church in St. Marc, which is about an hour away from Lanzac. It was a little glimpse of what Heaven will be like with worship in Creole and English. We didn’t understand everything the Haitians were saying or singing, but we were all there praising God together. I think we could have stayed there all day just listening to those people sing! Just imagine what that will be like someday when we are all in the presence of our Savior! Pastor Herve asked the people, from the St. Marc church, to grab one of us from the U.S. and Canadian team to pray for us and our family. Pastor Herve also reminded us that God is faithful no matter what circumstance or situation we are in. Tyler preached on running the race and laying aside the sin and weights that slow us down and prevent us from growing in Christ

(I Corinthians 12:1-2). Lauren, Tyler and Drew led us in “Oh How He Loves Us”. After worship, we were given a little tour of the city of St. Marc and then back to the mission center for some rest and relaxation. The team will be working on the Bible school and some of the women will be going into the Chardene school to talk about purity. It is sure to be a great week for all of us.

Well, we are off to get a good nights rest!

Scott and Drew

"Beeep beep beeeep beep beep" "Cocka-doodle-doo!!!!!!!!"
"Woof woof grrr ark ark ark woof!!!"
"What time is it??"
"5:20am"
"What time do we leave for church?"
"6:30am"
"*Yawn": Ok"

This is Sheila, and this is a true story.

We did indeed leave for church at 6:30 this morning, which for you Canadians is 5:30 am :) After a hearty breakfast of our favorite oatmeal that has just about every kind of berry and nut in it minus 50 but nonetheless really super delicious we all piled into our trusty cattle wagon and set off to St Marc for yet another phenomenal church service that leaves your heart blessed and your ears ringing, and if you're me, you might just start tearing up at the sound of Haitians singing, as it is seriously my new favorite sound in the world, and really tugs at my heart strings. They sing so loud they put a concert at the MTS center to the test. As you can hear them from a mile away. They really do put their hearts and soul into it and they really do not give a rat’s hairless tail as to what anybody may think of them. A lesson we have yet to learn. It is truly amazing, and if you don't have it on already, you really do need to put going to a Haiti church service on your bucket list. I have decided that I will fly back to Haiti every Saturday night just to be in church here Sunday morning.... ok so I'll add that to my "If I ever win the lottery this is what I'd do" list.

After church we had a hearty lunch and then some retired for their maddashlope and the rest of us promptly hit the beach for a day of soaking up enough sunshine to get our full intake of Vitamin D to last us through the rest of winter. Many of us are now sporting the awesome Red LOBSTER look.

The weather has been phenomenal, hot but bearable with a beautiful ocean breeze to keep our personal thermostats at just the right temperature.
We never tire of watching the sunset over the ocean as we sit down for supper.
We never tire of hearing the waves 24/7
We will miss this.

We are starting to get used to our new team, which consists of some pretty interesting and fun people.

We are getting used to the over-sized and crazed critters that call Haiti home, as we have now become comfortable with sharing the shower with lizards, and the giant green leaf looking grasshopper butterfly thing does not produce screams from me, but thanks so much for putting it on my shoulder Andrew. I have also perfected my 'Gecko dance' as it is a series of very complicated foot action as a gecko runs between your feet as you walk along almost as if nothing happened. The key word in that sentence is almost. Thankfully I had a shirt in my hand that I promptly put over my mouth as I freaked out greatly.

Did I mention that I spent all afternoon on the beach?

Coconuts and mangoes fall randomly off the trees here all the time. Apparently people have died from coconuts falling on their heads. I don't know if that is fact or fiction. A couple local Haitians showed us how to crack open the coconuts and that was our snack on the beach, and almonds. Yummo!

Did I mention that we spent most of the day on the beach? Well we did, and next week Sunday when we are the brownest faces in church, know that a week ago, we were at the beach.

I personally am not ready to go home, I would be quite ok if the airport would close down on Friday. However not everybody here shares my opinion.

Random Facts:
- Eldon swims to Cuba and back daily. We have made it clear to him that we will be unable to save him if something happens seeing as he swims so far out into the ocean that we can barely see him. Pray for his safety.
- Adam can impersonate a beached whale TOO WELL.
- Alyssa falls off chairs in slow motion in the middle of lunch. I asked if I could laugh at her. She said yes so we all laughed boisterously at her.
- Juanita wanders aimlessly when she is out of the kitchen and gets Pepsi-wasted constantly.
- Jared is heartbroken that one of his arms is more tanned then the other. Seriously heartbroken. Spider bites are also on his whine list.
- Phillip didn't want to play Dutch Blitz with us. We don't understand this.
- Chris doesn't play well with others, and is sick of looking at concrete.
- Daryl is now known as Der-RELLE.
- Aimee refuses to help in the kitchen in the morning because it interrupts her sleep-in, and as of yet has not had a good hair day here (or so she says).
- Christy has re-discovered her childaphobia -aka she still does not like children.
- Steve has 3 kids. He is also known as Teflon Steve around these parts and is a very emotional writer.
- Uncle Stan (as he is known by all) cannot read the song lyrics in the dark. We also pronounce Stan like the Americans now: Staayaann. (We will all come back with American accents just a heads up.)
- Jolene has inherited 13 new kids as she is our team mom, and I give her personal thanks for all the massages and putting lotion on my burned back.
- When Andrew is not "pupping pupcorn" he is shrieking like a girl because of The Leaf BUGS, and can tweak a welder for a week and feel like he's accomplished something. (That did not come out of my mouth Andrew)
- Chase and Tyler from Ohio have become honorary Canadians as they now say "eh" as well as any Canadian. However Tyler still keeps his snacks in the American bag...we still have some work to do, and Chase calls the bathroom "Restroom"...yup we still have some work to do. But nonetheless, we've welcomed them into our Canadian family.
- Pam (our team leader) can now speak with a Native American, a German, and a Menno accent, but still insists on saying she's gonna go "WARsh" the dishes.

Did I mention that I was on the beach looking out at sparkling turquoise blue waters all afternoon?

We start work again tomorrow.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The work team continues to work hard on many projects.  The block laying for the guard house is halfway finished.  Ed says it was a good day and the old men are doing well!  A lot of wiring was accomplished in the Bible School.  Sieves were constructed to go along with the Moringa project.  Rust was scraped from steel tubing that will later be used as bars on the windows of the Bible School.  Needless to say people were dirty, tired and stinky after this day!  A group of us went to the school in Chardene.  This was the beginning of the three week woman’s health clinic.  We spoke to 250 students and also members of the community for four hours.  We talked with the students about abstinence and God’s design for saving sex for marriage.  There were many questions about sexually transmitted diseases.  One boy asked “do people in America know about this? Why did it take this long for us to find out?”  There is no doubt this has been a God orchestrated seminar.  We challenged the students at the end of our time to make a commitment to purity.  Many came to front of the class as a promise to save sex for marriage.  We prayed with them and then gave them a white wristband as a reminder of their promise. More projects and another school tomorrow.  Keep praying!

God is faithful,

Lisa     

Tuesday, February 8, 2001

I'm sitting here in the dining area at Mission Possible, surrounded by the sounds of the ocean waves crashing onto the shore, wind blowing in the palm trees, boisterous laughter from people playing ruckus card games, and an interesting conversation about a 90 year old woman...The smell of the salt water and sweaty people and popcorn...

Hard to believe how quickly our time in Haiti has gone by, and I've enjoyed each day here. At the same time, I'm also looking forward to getting back to my "normal" routine at home.

This week, a new group of Americans have come for the week. The main focus for this week, besides the maintenance and construction at the Mission Possible compound, is for several teachers to go into the schools to teach about STD's, abstinence, etc. Yesterday, Jolene and I got to make the trek to Chardene School with the American teachers, and our job was to entertain the younger students. That was a BLAST! We brought along a parachute, several balls, a skipping rope, and some bubbles. And the kids went NUTS :-)

Today, most of us stayed at the compound to work on various projects, such as painting, electrical stuff, etc. Tomorrow, we are visiting several more schools, and hopefully finishing some projects. We'll see what actually gets done :-)

While I have this opportunity, I have to mention just how awesome it has been to be in Haiti with such a wonderful group of people! Each day is filled with laughter and conversation and crazy stories. Of course, team work isn't complete without the usual annoyances and little clashes, but thankfully we've been getting along really well thus far. An answered prayer, for sure!

Anyways, before I start gettin' all emotional and whatnot, I'd better say good night from Haiti!! Only 3 more cold showers left until Miami, which is only one day away from HOME!

Oh my goodness! It just started to rain! Pretty cool! Maybe that'll take care of the humidity tomorrow!

And before I ramble any more, GOOD NIGHT FROM HAITI! Sleep tight! Make sure the bed bugs, mosquitoes, noseeums, and other random bugs don't bite you...oh wait, what are those insanely itchy red bumps on my arm....

Posted by Mennville Haiti missions trip team!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

One group of people went back to LaHatte today, and another group went to Degeance. No one seems to know how to spell that word, so it could be Dejeance... Anyhoo... The people who went to LaHatte had the main purpose of fixing the cistern so that when the rainy season comes along, the people there will be able to store water. The cistern is their main source of water during the dry season, and because it had been broken until now, they have been without that water for a whole year, meaning they had to walk 2 miles to a clean water source. Andrew had had a frustrating day having broken the water pump before a group of very expectant children. However, he made up for his frustrations by finding a spider "with biceps" and chasing after Chris with it.

Foot races with the children were also part of the day. We have established that Darryl is about as fast as a slug at absolute zero... One child had even given him a head start and the kid still beat him.

The cistern did eventually get fixed.

This week is education week, as some know. The teachers here are giving purity and STD talks to the older children and members of the communities. Jared was approached this morning by one teacher and asked very "seriously" if he would give THE TALK to the boys. He stutteringly agreed maybe if they gave him something to read. We're all proud of him for not outright saying no; however, he was greatly relieved to find out they were only jerking his chain.

As for the group I was in... We stayed at the mission center. Do to the lack of happenings after the two groups left, I'm ashamed to admit I went back to bed... 3 times. Each time I crawled off my bunk, I felt lazier and lazier. Thankfully, Sheila and I did manage to get down to serious business; watching Jolene work. Aimee came and joined us a few times. She and Juanita were working in the kitchen. They had a severely harsh day... to make tea, or not to make tea..? To cook certain leftovers, or to make new leftovers? Very harsh. As a group, we decided we were not being very good missionaries. After lunch, we lived a little better to the reason we were here. Between Jolene and I we managed to flood a corner of the compound with our sweat. We, Jolene, Sheila, Jared and I brushed and painted window grates in direct-ish sun.

The rest of the day was filled with a very dead/fried-looking group, several hyper folks, several meaning me, and the neutral. The best part of the evening, in my opinion, was the sound of our voices singing In Christ Alone during our evening worship. Ruth also gave us her testimony and answered our questions about MP and other aspects of Haiti and the DR. She was very informative.

Posted by Mennville Haiti missions trip team!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Well, there are many stories to tell, many experiences to recant, and friendships forged.  The long and short of it is that we are getting ready to partake of our final sleep here in Haiti.  It is, as is usually the case in these situations, bittersweet.  We have met people that we won't forget, and for very different reasons.  People such as the American teams that have become our family, working and also playing together.  The locals we saw day in and day out, faithfully cleaning up after us, keeping us safe at nights, and working on the "stucco" of the school we were helping to finish.  There are so many things to write here, and many, I am sure would help to curb your curiosity.  But that isn't what this blog will be about. 

This is a goodbye blog to those we are leaving behind, those returning to their own homes, and those who live everyday here, keeping diligent efforts to change the lives here.  This is also a blog of reflection.  We have seen God work so much, we have learned so much, and have felt so much.  We got the floors and electrical done in the school.  It is not everything, but it is encouraging to see the completions of some of the things we have been working on for 2 weeks.  A blog of hope.  We see the horrific reality that most of the people here live, but this trip has opened our eyes to the hope that is steadily growing, and gaining momentum. 

And finally this is a blog of anticipation.  We are coming home.  We ran the race, finished strong, and are anxious to be reunited with those "left behind".  As we start our pilgrimage back home tomorrow, we ask you to pray for our safety, and protection as we travel.  We are almost there.

On behalf of all of us here from out there, good night and until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

-adam

Friday, February 11, 2011

We have arrived safely in Haiti and as I’m writing I can hear the sound of the ocean waves just about 100 yards from our windows.  This is a far cry from the cold early morning we faced in Detroit.  Our trip here was basically uneventful, outside of the fact that certain members of our group got to travel first class all of the way.  We will try not to hold it against Heather, Jon, Steve and Bob for receiving such royal treatment.  The Haiti airport was an experience in organized chaos but all of our bags arrived intact and we didn’t face much opposition from the authorities.  We connected quickly with our team leaders and got on the road for the 2 hour ride.  Port Au Prince remains very damaged and the people and traffic were everywhere.  Thanks to our drivers we could watch out the windows of the van and cattle truck to take in this country.  The mountains, the lack of trees, the rocky soil, and the towns we traveled through held our attention.  Mike Kinsinger could have handed out tickets right and left for traffic violations …..3 and 4 people riding on a motorcycle, people riding on top of buses, cars and people cutting in on each other but we have excellent drivers and it was fascinating to see the people.  The tent cities were heartbreaking to see and it was a bit overwhelming to ponder what we could do to make any kind of difference in the lives of the people of Haiti.  There is so much need and yet so much uniqueness to understand.  We arrived at the compound and unpacked the 34 bags we checked way back in Detroit. Dinner was already made and it was good to see Win and Ed, Tyler, Chase, Pam and Mark.  Actually Tyler and Chase came to Port Au Prince so we had already had their helping hands on the trip in.  The work here continues to progress at a great pace and I think the team last week was a huge blessing.  Tomorrow we will be up early and start to organize into our various projects.  We will report on them as the week progresses.  We write with grateful heart to all of those who helped all of us get here.  Continue to pray that God will do a mighty work in our hearts and a mighty work through our hands.  We seek to know and serve our brothers and sisters in this country that has endured so much.  Blessings to you all!

Liane…….. for all of the Haiti team

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Water is running to the cistern.  Guys (those from Jan 28 to Feb 4 team) you were the pioneers of this, especially Steve,  you told us what supplies to take with us.

The guys worked hard and there was water.  I can't tell you how sweet the sound of the water running into the cistern was, none of us could talk.  We had some water running down our faces. So blessed to be a part of this task God has put before us.

Mark (Macke) shared that is why Jesus is called the living water.  We need him to
survive.

The teaching that took place was huge, they have never heard about STD's. (Women's Health Clinic performed)

This week the treatment follows the teaching.  Also the moringa seminar will
take place at LaHatte.  One hundred sifters were made last week to process Moringa leaves to make powder.

All the construction jobs are progressing quite well.

Love Mark and Pam

It is bedtime and we are all settling down for the night, but we wanted to send our updates and ask for some expert advice.  We all started the day with an orientation and a tour of the mission center so we could see all of the projects that are happening.  It is impressive.  I am also amazed at the various talents that are represented among the members of our team.  After the tour we all went our separate ways and got busy.  Metal work, cement work, insulation, electrical work, painting, installing screen, food inventory, sorting and organizing the storage area, and medical prep were some of the areas of our work today.  Jon and Steve went into St. Marc to a metal yard to look for some supplies and saw some interesting sights including a guard carrying a large gun and a young woman with a baby who wanted them to give them money…..Very hard to see.  The day was warm but the breeze off the ocean helped a lot.  We had a few showers off and on but work continued in all areas.  Chelsea and I worked in the kitchen where we have a Haitian woman who come daily to help out.  She is wonderful and does a great job.  Everything is so clean when she is helping.  She does not speak English so we had fun trying to communicate with one another.  She lives in the mountains and walks down everyday to her job helping us, leaving her 5 children in the care of the older ones.  We are grateful for the help and she is greatly helped by the job.

Tomorrow we will have a day of rest and worship Haitian style.  We are walking to Lanzac to go to morning worship and in the evening Lynn is speaking at the church in St. Marc.  The worship services here can last up to 3 hours so we will see a lot tomorrow.  We are excited to be a part of worshipping with these beautiful people.  It makes me think of the scene before God’s throne in Revelation where every tongue and tribe and people and nation will fall before the Throne and say worthy is the Lamb to receive praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength.  Have a wonderful day at church worshipping and think of us and the body of Christ worldwide. 

Blessings to you all,

Liane  and the Haiti team

Sunday, February 13, 2001

Birthday greetings were sung and given to Win Grismore and Chase Cupples today as they celebrated their 74 and 24 years (I’ll let you guess which is which) – 50 years apart in age but have been close working side by side on projects for the last two weeks.  Happy Birthday guys!

We haven’t stopped since landing and probably won’t until we take off to head back.  Today was church here in Lanzac where we joined the local believers to sing and worship the Savior who we proclaim.  I had the privilege of sharing from God’s Word with the group.  The service lasted less than three hours and they said I stopped too soon. The afternoon was spent in a lot of relaxation and preparation for the coming week.  Seems like there is plenty to be discussed and decided.  Tonight we loaded the truck and went to St. Marc for evening service there.  We watched a video on the power of God to work through prayer in transforming areas through revival.  Then I had the privilege again of speaking and this time at the St. Marc church.

Tomorrow some will head to Chardene school for a health clinic, some will work on cement to get prepared for tile laying, some will work on preparation for the handrail that will head up the stairs on the Bible school, others will work on electrifying the Bible school, some will work on insulation and ceiling tiles, and we will all seek to humbly serve the Lord our God as we serve his people. 

What a wonderful chance to see the body of Christ in operation.  Different skills are complimented by different personalities to work together to accomplish a great deal.  Still a lot to be accomplished and a few days to do it in so tomorrow will be a good, full day. 

Today we had Herve share with us.  As we listened to his testimony there was no doubt of God’s calling on his life.  We all enjoyed hearing how God has used him and his vision for reaching Haiti for Christ.  His testimony reflected the manifestation of the grace of God in saving and keeping him for His purposes.  Mission Possible is blessed to have this man casting a vision of discipleship and mentoring to bring about lasting change one life at a time.  Hopefully he will come someday and speak from the pulpit at St. John as our guest. 

If you enjoy news about some of the grounds you might enjoy knowing there are almond trees growing on the grounds.  Many coconut palms, mango trees, banana trees, and papaya trees are throughout the property as well.  The surroundings on the compound allow for a good environment when the work is done and times of refreshing are needed. 

Thank you for praying for us.  The team of people God brought together is amazing.  God has brought Ruth Sam here from the Dominican to provide for needed help in translation in the health clinics.  Hope you had a good Sunday. 

Mark has chosen Luke 21:33 as our theme verse and it is hanging on the wall – “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.” 

Good night.  May we all see the way the Lord is blessing and the evidence of His grace.

Lynn Thompson for the Haiti Team

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Greetings from Haiti!  We have had two wonderful days here serving the Lord.  On Monday, we began our clinics. We traveled to Chardene and between Shirley, Pam, and I we saw around 200 people.  Beside the school children, we also treated small babies and the elderly.  We all witnessed some really heart breaking situations.  One of the most dramatic was a 60 year old woman with extremely advanced breast cancer.  She was in so much pain.     She is a believer and it is such a relief to know that some day soon she will be with her Lord and will no longer suffer.  We take our health care so much for granted.  We certainly saw the benefit of the education program that took place last week.  Many of the children wore their white bracelets.  There were many that came for care because they were concerned about having a sexually transmitted disease.  And, as we found out, many did.

Today we traveled to the most challenging clinic so far.  We went to Dupin.  We traveled as far as we could by truck and then had to walk UP the mountain, carrying all of our equipment with us.  Psalm 121  I look up to the mountains – does my help come from there?  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!  And did our strength ever come from the LORD!!  We were so thankful for Chase and Bud for their willingness to carry our heavy medical bins.  They had their work cut out for them.  The clinic was very good.  The school only had kids up thru 6^th grade so we only worked until around 1:00pm.  Most of the people we saw were the school age kids and some adults/parents.  We did have to refer a 12 year old girl to the hospital/clinic to be evaluated for an irregular heart beat and shortness of breath.  Chase kept busy with keeping the flow of students going.  He also got a lot of experience checking urine specimens for UTI’s. Bud prayed for each child/person that was treated today.   We treated 117 people today.

When we returned from Dupin, we found the rest of the team working very hard on their projects.  Heather and Amanda were finishing the painting on the 3^rd floor room.  Bob, Jackie, Lynn, Jon, Tyler, Mark and Steve all worked on the Bible School.  It is amazing how much work they have accomplished today.   Jeff and Greg Gillam were working in MPCA at the Vocational school, finishing a ceiling on the second floor.  Greg and Jeff had many sweet little Haitian children enthusiastically approach about what they were doing.  Nearly all the children would approach them in English, rather than French, to show off how well they could speak English.   There were many cut little brown and green lizards inside and outside the school building, watching their work, and keeping them company. Nancy and Leann kept busy in the kitchen.    We have had the best meals while here thanks to Leann and Chelse. Winn and Ed continue to work on the guard house.

Tomorrow, we will split up and work at 2 different clinics.  Shirley will go to Degeance and Pam and I will be going to LaHatte.  We will be taking water to the families in LaHatte and will also be doing a seminar on the Moringa plant.  They will also be instructing the families on growing, harvesting and processing the plant for use with its good nutritious value.

Looking forward to what God has planned for us tomorrow.

Juleen

Friday, February 18, 2011

Last night was the closing time for this team as many of us prepare to leave today and new teams come today and tomorrow.  The amount that has been accomplished is amazing.  We went to the Bible School last night for part of our closing devotions and there were lights and the floor had tile and when we walked up the stairs there was a wonderful handrail to hold.  All of these things have been accomplished in the last week.  Pam and Mark report that three weeks ago the building was much different.  Each team has contributed and now it looks possible that by the end of next week the building will be very close to being usable – Praise the Lord.  As we stood in the upper floor of the Bible School we prayed that God would use this building to raise many generations of Haitian leaders who would love Christ and love His Word and would have a continuing desire to see God raise up the next generation of Haitian leaders for the church. 

The departure time is difficult.  Emotions for all of us are running high.  Yesterday there were around 250 people seen at the medical clinic at the MPCA school.  These were students and their families. Shirley Cole, Juleen Walters, Ruth Sam and Pam Macke offered medical assistance as others (Heather, Amanda, Nancy, Liane, Chelsea) worked in the background doing tasks and meeting needs.  At the same time Mike, Jon, Mark, Tyler, Chase, Jackie, Bob, Bud, Win, Ed labored away at the compound finishing many projects.  Jeff was with us at MPCA doing some special projects at the Vocational School.  It is hard to paint the picture and difficult to include all the names but everyone was busy the whole day using whatever skills they had or they were learning and faithfully serving the Lord by helping His church. 

As we left MCPA school around 5:30 I ran into a young man and began a conversation.  He stated, “Christ is my life!” in answer to my question to him about where he was with Christ.  Two other young men were with him and one stated, “I want to be a pastor!.”  After a day of praying for many individuals with many sets of needs and some who did not seem to have interest in the things of the Lord – God sent these young men to encourage all our hearts that He is reaching young men and women for His purpose.

As I leave today the most evident thing to write about would be the cultural things that make us very different but there are many things we hold in common.  Those are the biblical truths.  People live in darkness because they do not recognize Christ as the light and the life of the world.  We refuse Christ because we love darkness instead of light.  We choose our own ways because we do not want to recognize God and place ourselves under the authority of the living God and forsake our own ways.  The evidences of these truths are different but the same in both nations.  We as followers of Christ are called to share this good news with our neighbors and our families.  God will use this good news about Christ to restore lives and people and nations.  That is our ultimate burden but we offer other very practical service to this world as we go – striving to show Christ through word and deed.  The national leadership of the church who work with Mission Possible continues to give me an admiration for how God has led Mission Possible to work in Haiti and to admire the wisdom of those national leaders – pray for Herve and Moise and their families. 

Pray for the teams coming over the next two days.  Some of us will leave spouses here for another week of service.  Pray for Pam and Mark as they see a great assistant, Tyler, leave Haiti and they enter their final week.  My God give the endurance they need.  They have offered great leadership!  Pray for the Haitian leaders – may the church stay faithful.    

Thank you for praying for us – how evident those prayers have been.  May our hearts be filled with gratefulness to God for salvation and a desire to continue to serve in whatever role God calls us to.  How great is our God!

Blessings in Christ,

Lynn

Our new group, Candice, Amy, Anne, Jacob, Melanie, and Gary have arrived safe and sound. The newbie’s have had their tour of the compound and are getting acclimated. They all say hello to family and friends back home.

Week three work team left this morning for home.  They are going to be missed.  Last night we gathered for one last time of prayer and praise together.  It was a special time together as we walked through the new bible school they have been working on and prayed for the future students and staff.  It was rewarding to see the building is about 80% completed and they “should be flushing toilets” by the end of the week.  It has been incredible to watch the stucco finish being completed and window guards go on, railings go up on the steps, and tile has been laid on the upper floor. The roof for the guard house will go on soon and will be completed by the end of this week.

This week we hope to paint a couple roofs at the schools in Degeance and MPCA.  There will be a girls hygiene clinic being taught at 6 of the schools, along with some OB teaching, pregnancy prevention, prenatal health and training for successful deliveries.  Pray for our workers and our nurses and teachers, they will be busy.

God has been so good to us. 

Love and Miss you all,

Heather

Saturday, February 19, 2011

All of us here at the mission center have very much appreciated your prayers these last few days! We now have a full house with three other groups who safely joined us today, from Canada, New York and Indiana. It will be an awesome next few days getting to know each and everyone and how the Lord has called them to be here. As we type this, we are enjoying the music talent provided by a few from New York. Today has pretty much been a prep day for us Women’s Health crew- putting the OB pad kits together for a final time by adding the calendars and ibuprofen and the delivery kits as well. Those included all necessary items for a delivery here in Haiti- some baby blankets, 2 diapers, a string and razor to cut the cord, gloves, soap and a trash bag to hopefully provide a cleaner area to birth. We had great conversations and enjoyed some “down” time before the week God has planed for us begins. Our bigger project of the day was to organize the clinic room. We went through all the medications, gauze, etc and discarded what was expired, compiled and organized everything into Tupperware labeled boxes. Some of the items will be again organized into the new pharmacy to be completed this week and others will go to the clinic. The hard working crew was busy all day long painting the window guards a beautiful shade of ivory. It looks great! They have 27 to paint 2 coats. The railing is complete and ready to paint. The rafters on the guard house were completed, and ready for paint and tin. The tile is all laid and is 80% grouted. There were a few naps by the ocean after lunch ;), but no names will be mentioned- they deserved it.

We had our own mini clinic today as we treated 2 patients, including Pam herself. She got stung by a wasp/bee looking insect and had a local inflammatory reaction, we thought for a few hours we would have to amputate below the elbow. Then we could rename her Pam the one armed Mama. Just kidding she has a reaction to stings in general. Since 5 nurses equal one doctor here in Haiti at the mission center, we prescribed her with the perfect healing medication.

We have had wonderful filling meals and have been blessed with Liane and her kitchen organizing and cooking skills. She was busy baking 6 loafs of homemade bread along side of the meals themselves. She has been very innovative and using whatever is available and careful not to waste anything here our last week. Her Haitian helper Monita went to market today for a few items and came back carrying 6 dozen eggs in her arms along with bananas, tomatoes, onions and 5lbs flour on top of her head in a basket.

We are preparing our worship time for tomorrow in Lanzac. Dorsian (our first patient at the clinic today) will be preaching. We have lots of talent from New York. We have 2 guitarists, and we are already enjoying their music. Our sharing during church will include worship songs and sign language to “Love in Any Language”. It’s amazing to see the talent God has brought together here tonight! Praise HIM! 

Hugs and Kisses. We love you soooo much-Ethan, Eli, Corrin, Taelor, Andrew, Maelee, Addi, AJ, Aleah, Alyssa, Kayla, Addison, Aubrey, and Tobey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continue to pray as we educate these students, that we may show through our actions that there is Hope in Christ. And pray for protection.

SHINE JESUS SHINE!

Candice, Melanie, Jacob, Amy, Anne, and Gary

Sunday, February 20, 2011

We had a beautiful day here in Haiti spent relaxing and worshiping God and planning for the busy week ahead.  We walked to the Church in Lanzac and worshiped Haitian style. The service was amazing.  Some of us were a bit apprehensive about spending 2 to 3 hours in Church service, but listening to their singing and style of worship made the Church feel alive with the Spirit. It was amazing to see how much hope and faith these people have given the amount of poverty, pain and suffering in the country.

We gave the Haitians a gift of our voices by singing them a few songs in English, as one Haitian was videoing us with his cell phone. We were able to recognize some of the worship songs and were able to sing along in English- “I Surrender All” and “Come As You Are To Worship”.  They were having Sunday school going on as we were walking into service with many verses recited from memory! After the service ended there were several young men who wanted to speak English, so a few stayed back to talk with them. They later joined us for a swim in the ocean. The service concluded back at the mission center with a baptism service by Herve and Dorcian, where 7 Haitians committed their lives publicly. This was amazing! They sang the same song over and over until all were baptized.

The remainder of the day was relaxing in preparation for tomorrow! Many of us swam in the ocean and walked the beach, and played cards, laid in the hammocks and took naps. This is I’m sure all in preparation for our long week ahead.

It’s been difficult for us to not be in touch with anyone, but after hearing Pastor Herve’s testimony, we understand the importance.

Continue to Pray,

Jake, Melanie and Candice

Monday, February 21, 2011

WOW!! God is definitely present today! Everyone got to serve the Lord today in many different ways, either using their talents/ skills or just plain serving with a gracious heart. Most importantly we had two wonderful Canadian ladies in the kitchen keeping our meals ready and communicating with Monita, our Haitian helper. The painters were very productive today, as the upper level of the bible school windows are completely finished!! Also the primer is on the railing, ready for paint tomorrow. As reported the other day all the tile was laid, that was a misunderstanding. All the tile upstairs is laid and grouted as of today. The bottom level is quickly being tiled, as the lobby room and part of the entry hall is laid. The framework over the entryway is being created and welded. The inverter instillation, which could have been a 2 day job, is nearly completed in just a day’s work. As there were many skilled people that God has graciously brought here to serve and step up, freed up Mark to make this happen. Jacob had a great cultural experience today, as he was able to travel to St Marc with Pastor Herve and 2 other Haitians to pick up several items needed for construction. He reported that it was a huge experience, that the lumber yard and supply stores were nothing even close to Menards. We had a technical guru from Indiana that God sent to us to get Ethernet working in the Bible school classroom.  It’s amazing to see who God will send to do his work. Pam, Melanie, Amy, Anne, Candice and 3 others went to the school of Chardene and taught young women about their menstrual cycles, hygiene (front to back) and labor and delivery. We had fun with the education. Lots of laughing, hands on and some skits. These kids are just like our own. Ornery and so lovable. They had lots of good questions. The kids love cameras and seeing themselves in the pics. They love our “blond hair” and also love to practice English. We had a group of high school girls going over all of our body parts. We would say it in English and they would repeat it, then they would say it in Creole and we would repeat. We sang some halleluiah songs since it is the same word. Very awesome.

One thing to pray for that we experienced today was a voodoo parade that came past the school. This is very real here. Please pray for the spiritual warfare going on in this country. God is working here, in a very big way, which was evident during our worship time.

Thanks for all your continued prayers. Give the kids all hugs and kisses from their moms and dads missing them so much!!!!!!

Love in Christ,

Candice and Melanie

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Huge day here.  We managed to have all of our work projects going on at the bible school today.  It looked like a big pile of spaghetti out front with all of the power cords and air hoses tangled up.  There was more painting of the metal work by Heather, Liane and their crew.  Tiling continued on the first floor by Chase and Bob.  Doors were set on the second floor by Jacob and Gary.  Trusses for the front entrance were installed featuring the comedy routine of Sparky and the Blind Man (Steve and Jon).  Light fixtures were installed.  Mark worked on the wiring for the Bible school’s new inverter system.  Pam stayed on deck and manned the commode (really, she’s alright).  Our nurses went out hiking today to Dupin to share more about OB and feminine hygiene with the women there. 

The painting crew had an unexpected helper today.  One of the Haitian guys who has been working daily sifting sand decided that he’d had enough of that job and wanted to join Heather’s paint crew.  Heather has made it very clear that paint should only be applied to the metal bars.  Apparently he missed that information in the translation.  He hopped up grabbed a paint brush and paint can and began slapping a generous coat of paint on the windows bars and also the new stucco wall.  Heather forgot all of her Creole and was trying desperately to get this man to paint something else, anything else.  Finally Pastor Herve intervened before Heather finally had a heart attack.  His intentions were good and appreciated.

Everyone is healthy, and tired by the end of the day.  We have had some really great worship times in the evening.  We thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to remember us as we finish the week strong.

See you all soon,

Heather and Gary

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

God is at work!!!!    Today as usual, teams headed in multiple directions.  Heather, Anne and Candice hiked to Degance.  Pam, Bob, Gary, Liane, Melanie, Jake and Amy adventured through rough roads in a dry riverbed to LaHatte.  Mark, John, Chase and Steve labored away at the compound trying to complete things at the Bible School where Herve will hold his discipling school.

At Degance we had a very wonderful day.  The women and children listened very intently to what we were saying and kept saying "what you are saying is true".  They were smiling and very happy to be there and learn how Perfect GOD has made them.  It was very humbling to be there and witness their spirit of love and peace.  The more we learn about their culture, the more we understand what they want and need to know.  The children were so joyful and lively.  They played with the parachute and soccer ball.  They danced and sang with us, played hand clapping games, and acted like normal ornery children.  It was a blast:-)  Matthew 18:3-4 says "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."  GOD is truly showing us his presence here in Haiti and humbling each of us.  Praise GOD for that!

LaHatte is one of the schools that was affected the most by the earthquake.  It had structural damage to one of the school buildings, cistern, and well pump.  This community has been without the water supplied by the well for over a year.  Today the pump was fixed and working!  One of the guys from Indiana braised the cast fitting yesterday since the new one that came from the US was too small.  We had the pump and pipe all put together at the compound, took it apart this morning for transportation.  When we arrived at LaHatte, we removed the pump head only to learn that the male threaded end we had was 1 1/4" when we needed one that was 1 1/2".  We did find the old PVC 1 1/2" threaded fitting in the storage room, but there were only 2 threads left.  With the help of God we cleaned up the two threads, added 3 inches onto the PVC pipe so the foot valve was lying on the bottom of the cistern to take the weight off the threaded connection and it HELD!  Thank the LORD!  We also had to make some adjustments to the threaded rod as we raised it up the 3 inches.  We reassembled the pump head, primed it and WATER!  It took us about 3 hours from start to finish so it was no small task.

Melanie and Amy were able to educate on the personal hygiene and OB kits for women. We had great questions from the community of pregnant women and felt that we were able to give them the answers they were looking for.  Most of these women will have their babies at home, and sometimes all alone. We think that we learned just as much from them as they did from us, it was a great cultural experience.

Once again today, we made sure to tell the girls that God loves them and that they do not deserve to be mistreated in anyway, and to save yourself for that perfect man. And that the perfect man will be found in church with Jesus in his heart!

The Moringa tree was presented in a nutritional seminar.  This is a plant that grows like an herb and can be cut, dried and sprinkled over food or pressed into a sauce similar to a mushy pesto. 3 heaping teaspoons has enough nutritional value to feed a child for 1 full day.  God has created all things good.  Why should a plant like that surprise us?  What a perfect example of His provision. 12 children have the trees planted at their homes and will be responsible for the care of them.

When we returned from the schools a lot of work was being done, we are trying to finish many projects at once.  People have been painting, painting and painting. The flooring is almost completed with the 3 porches and one room downstairs remaining to be tiled and grouted. Several doors and door jams have been hung upstairs. They are also having trouble with a few pieces of tile upstairs that aren't wanting to stick. The roof over the front porch has been started, and should be finished tomorrow. Pray for the work that needs coordinated to finish the jobs completely. We have many projects wrapping up and it’s hard to do finishing work all at once. Things are now done and ready to be painted, and paint is running low. The guard house is completely finished.

We miss and love our families so much and will be ready to come home when the work is finished. Hugs and Kisses to our kids, and thank you to our husbands and wives who have our kids in their loving care.

Love you all,

Week 4 Haiti team.

Friday, February 25, 2011

We have spent a long busy day trying to tie up all the loose ends before we leave.   The medical team went to MPCA twice today and talked to the largest number of students they have seen this week.  They returned this evening to continue organizing the supply room. (It contains medical and school supplies).  Others were organizing all the tools and equipment.  Some of the guys were still grouting the tile floors, hung doors, did some last minute painting, Garky got a hair cut (pet name Candice used for Mark when she was little). The pump for the third floor apartment is now supplying water, the second story bathroom in the bible school is finished.  The guard house is complete; the roof on the front entrance of the bible school is totally done. Sparky and the blind man did a great job on it. (AKA Jon and Steve.)  We had the privilege of dedicating the work that has been done throughout this week. We were able to do this in the upstairs classrooms of the Bible school, with new bright lights.

It is now 12:10 am and there is still lots of activity going on.  Pam has decided to stay up all night and play.  The coffee pot is on and she is still busy delegating tasks to the some of the faithful, or maybe naïve.  Just kidding, the group seems to be enjoying our last few hours together here in the kitchen area. 

It’s a little hard knowing that we are leaving tomorrow, but at the same time very joyful that we were able to serve the Lord this week. At this moment the ocean waves are crashing and great fellowship is heard around the tables as euchre tournaments continue. The weather is great- 70 degrees. It’s a little discouraging knowing that we are coming back to SNOW!!

Please pray for safe travels as we have an overnight stop in Miami tomorrow, where Pam is getting her steak dinner and salad, then on to Detroit Saturday. It has been an awesome blessing to have such great leaders this week! Pam and Mark have no idea how many have been changed and touched by their leadership.  We love and appreciate them more than we could possibly say. 

See you all soon. 

Candice, Melanie, and Heather