Haiti - Reflections as we send home.

It has been an amazing seven days here in Haiti. Throughout the week, it was very humbling to see the hope and joy in the Haitians and the way the Lord has been working through them.  

When we arrived on Sunday, locals were gathered by the doorway as we walked out. After we moved through the crowd, we immediately met up with our translators and crammed into the tap-taps. It was about a 30-45 minute ride from the airport to the guest house. Driving through the streets of Haiti really opened my eyes to the struggles that Haiti has gone through since the earthquake as well as the hope that they still have. Pulling up to the guest house, we saw Pastor Moise's wife and daughter there ready to greet us. The overwhelming happiness and excitement that came from the Vaval family made us all so happy. 

Waking up Monday, we headed out early to go to the museum In Petionville. The knowledge that the Haitians have about the history of Haiti and the significance of its leaders and accomplishments is unexplainable. Every single thing in the museum is treasured deeply. While we were walking around the museum, we got to see two different groups of kids from school that had come to see the museum. Even though we didn't directly talk to them and only waved from a distance, it was so sweet to see how happy they were to wave back and exchange smiles. After the museum, we went to eat pizza at a place in Petionville. Once there, the two founders talked to us on how the pizza shop began. They explained that while they were in New York, they had pizza and really enjoyed it. They then continued to explain that because they really loved the pizza in New York, they wanted to bring it back to Haiti so the Haitians could have the same experience that they both did. It was really cool to be able to hear about the different things the Lord has called individuals to do and how much those two gentlemen care about their hometown and want the best for the people in Haiti. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we spent the day at the Source de la Grace orphanage with the children. When we arrived at the orphanage, the kids ran right up to us and gave the hugs that just melt your heart. From that moment on, the language barrier was no longer there and right then, I felt as if we were all one family. The kids walked us into the gates and right away asked us to sit down. The children absolutely love to take pictures and they sure do have many poses! It's so humbling to see them have no problem with sitting down right next to us, not being able to carry on a conversation, and for them to be so happy. I would definitely say that seeing them so content with the little that the have completely opens my eyes to the overflow of love from the Lord along with the overflowing of love from them. On Wednesday, we painted the beginnings of what would be a beautiful mural. Before we started, the wall was grey cinder blocks stacked up. We started by painting a base coat of white and then painted a beige color as the background. On Thursday, one of our translators PG, and his brother Wesley, got to the orphanage early to begin drawing the design part of the mural. Instead of going straight to painting, PG and hist brother drew the picture out with chalk. They then handed us some paint and brushes and as a team we finished the mural. Looking back at the wall before we painted it and seeing what it looks like once finished, amazing to see how a little paint on the wall can make such a difference in the feel of the place. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, we had the opportunity to spend time with the Source de la Grace youth group. On the first day of meeting with them, both them and us were pretty shy to begin with. We broke the ice with a game where we went around and said our name, age, and either a fun fact about ourselves or we had to do a dance move. Of course I couldn't think of a fun fact, so I had to dance (and also John was wanting us to). I am definitely not a dancer, so it was pretty interesting. For the rest of the time, it was just smiles and laughter. After the meeting on Thursday, we had ice cream and talked and played games. The excitement and joy that comes from the youth group is so contagious. On Saturday, we got to hang out with them for one last time. We met about two hours before the actual meeting to jump rope and hang out. Those two hours sure did go by really fast. Saying good-bye to them was rough, but it was hopeful knowing that we could still possibly talk to them through Facebook.

Today is Sunday, which means that today is the day where we head home. It is bittersweet leaving- I am going to really miss Haiti and the kids, but at the same time i am happy to see my family. It's been amazing seeing how the Lord provides for everyone and how his love for everyone is so evident. I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to come to Haiti this year, and I am hopeful that I will have many more.

~ Lindsay 

Day 6 in Haiti - Leaving Our New Friends

It is way past my bed time. These crazy church people have really been pushing the limits on the proper eight hours and fifteen minutes of rest that was basically the first thing that happened to be important in Genesis- just putting that out there. Today was Saturday, which in the world of running, where I spend most of my time, means the hard day where you pour out every ounce you have left. Saturdays are big tipping temporal points in which anything can happen. I really feel that as a team we showed the last of our hard work and preparation that got us here. 

This morning we woke up to the sound of children playing outside on the streets. This is different than it has been from most of the week because they do not get out of  school until the middle of June. Breakfast was a different type of cereal that turns your milk a very unsettling pink. The milk that was left looked like something you would see in an elementary school cafeteria. Since we already finished the mural, we didn't have much to do in the morning. Lauren and Kalyn planned out their testimonies to tell the youth group at Source de la Grace about metaphorical rebirth. The beautiful and talented Anjian choreographed her own dance that was absolutely amazing. The coolest part was watching her come up with it from scratch (with a little song help from Lindsay, of course). It was amazing to see the beauty of God in her grace filled expression of love.

PG arrived mid morning with his art. It was also stinking amazing and creative. He had fabulous stone carvings as well as paintings. Unfortunately, he did not have any wooden machetes like I purchased the day before at the beach which I honestly felt everyone was very jealous of.

Sandro arrived after lunch and we went to the orphanage. It was a lot more chaotic than it had been. Banllee, the munchkin I had been spending most of my time with immediately embraced me. You could feel the anticipation; the kids as well as us wanted to juice out every possible second we could have. There was once again a dance party on the front porch. It was really great to see the joy of the house mamas when they were watching. They were filled with just as much excitement as the kids. 

Leaving was rough. As the kids started to realize what was happening, most of them started crying, which made most of our team cry. Banllee was in complete denial. She started playing soccer with me as soon as Liz announced that we were leaving. It was so hard to see them and wonder how many times they had been left. I just pray that the joy of us being there outweighs any of the pain suffered by us leaving.

We went to go hang out with Kristie's youth group after that. We played jump rope with a real rope- very new and very difficult. It was strange to jump into so much joy after seeing so much hurt. The service was beautiful. Lauren and Kalyn were fantastic. The older kids were still emotional, but a lot more hopeful. They hugged everyone and asked for their Facebook. They were so sweet. I think leaving the Vavals and the translators tomorrow will be the hardest part. 

During our devotional this evening we talked about what we wanted to take from Haiti and what we wanted to leave behind. While I'm sad to leave this beautiful and wonderful country, I'm excited to apply the things I have learned and let the Lord work through me at home. 

Ironically, with the theme of rebirth, Delany Jane Borden joined this world yesterday (Friday)! 

-Mac 

Day 5 in Haiti - Beauty

Wow, what a treat to be on the beaches in Haiti! It's an overwhelming beauty that I've truly come to appreciate the second time being here. We went a whole 24+ hours without any electricity, so today was a rough, sweaty morning. We ate a breakfast consisting of cereal, and did our morning devotional. This morning we discussed the full beauty of Haiti, and how it's important to not just limit ourselves to just the poverty here in Port Au Prince. Haiti has so much to offer, and I think we constantly forget that. We drove a whopping 3 1/2 hours to the beach, even though it was only supposed to take 2...(we may have forgotten our translators by accident). Well, not knowing that the usual resort we go to would be closed due to renovations, we had to improvise and go to a different resort. Little did we know that this one would be bombarded with American missionaries serving in Haiti. We were fortunate to have a huge trampoline jumpy blow-up thingie tin the ocean that was included with the resort, so we kicked off the not as cool missionaries from the other churches and proceeded to play on them. Kalyn and I, (the former professional tumblers) did flips off the bouncing thing and taught all the girls how to do back flips off of it. Yes, Mrs. Amie, Lindsay did one too so you should be proud ;) 

Walking back to the tap-taps, we encountered many Haitian vendors. They were extremely proud and excited to share with us the beautiful, unique gifts and souvenirs that were handmade by them. Although they can be persistent, it's humbling to know how proud they are of their possessions because it's a big part of what they have left. After we finished looking and purchasing those items, we gathered in our tap-taps and headed back home. On the way back, we stopped by the memorial for the earthquake victims who had lost their lives. Over 200,000 bodies were buried in loving memory of the tragic event on January 12, 2010. It was such a convicting time because it really opened my eyes of what this beautiful country really went through, yet they still have so much love and hope for Haiti.

We eventually got back to the guest house and ate sandwiches and chips for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. After that, we did our night-time devotional. We shared our favorite memories and where we saw God today. We then were encouraged to talk about how God can work through our struggles that we vulnerably talked about on the second night. It was really sweet to see how God can make such love and beauty out of hard times. He always has a special plan, and I'm really staring to see that. If you couldn't already tell, we had such a blessed day spent on the beach and at the memorial, and I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

I love you mom and dad! miss y'all a lot. -Abby

Day 5 - The Beauty of Haiti

Wow, what a treat to be on the beaches in Haiti! It's an overwhelming beauty that I've truly come to appreciate the second time being here. We went a whole 24+ hours without any electricity, so today was a rough, sweaty morning. We ate a breakfast consisting of cereal, and did our morning devotional. This morning we discussed the full beauty of Haiti, and how it's important to not just limit ourselves to just the poverty here in Port Au Prince. Haiti has so much to offer, and I think we constantly forget that. We drove a whopping 3 1/2 hours to the beach, even though it was only supposed to take 2...(we may have forgotten our translators by accident). Well, not knowing that the usual resort we go to would be closed due to renovations, we had to improvise and go to a different resort. Little did we know that this one would be bombarded with American missionaries serving in Haiti. We were fortunate to have a huge trampoline jumpy blow-up thingie tin the ocean that was included with the resort, so we kicked off the not as cool missionaries from the other churches and proceeded to play on them. Kalyn and I, (the former professional tumblers) did flips off the bouncing thing and taught all the girls how to do back flips off of it. Yes, Mrs. Amie, Lindsay did one too so you should be proud ;) 

Walking back to the tap-taps, we encountered many Haitian vendors. They were extremely proud and excited to share with us the beautiful, unique gifts and souvenirs that were handmade by them. Although they can be persistent, it's humbling to know how proud they are of their possessions because it's a big part of what they have left. After we finished looking and purchasing those items, we gathered in our tap-taps and headed back home. On the way back, we stopped by the memorial for the earthquake victims who had lost their lives. Over 200,000 bodies were buried in loving memory of the tragic event on January 12, 2010. It was such a convicting time because it really opened my eyes of what this beautiful country really went through, yet they still have so much love and hope for Haiti.

We eventually got back to the guest house and ate sandwiches and chips for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. After that, we did our night-time devotional. We shared our favorite memories and where we saw God today. We then were encouraged to talk about how God can work through our struggles that we vulnerably talked about on the second night. It was really sweet to see how God can make such love and beauty out of hard times. He always has a special plan, and I'm really staring to see that. If you couldn't already tell, we had such a blessed day spent on the beach and at the memorial, and I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

I love you mom and dad! miss y'all a lot. -Abby

Day 4 in Haiti - God Sightings

One of the most beautiful things in the world is when two people connect who are born into two different cultures and have a major language barrier. At that exact moment there is nothing wrong with the world. It is such a sweet innocent moment that sadly, not everyone can experience. The moment of perfection. As the days are going by, we as a group have been talking about how we see God during the day. Almost every single time we say "I saw God through the youth" or "I saw God through the way the church worships". Today for me personally,  I saw God through this little girl named Doni. She made me see how to love in a different way. She showed me that despite the language barrier and the countless "I have no clue what your saying " faces, she shows me and many of our group so much. It's crazy really, how you can't understand them but their love is so passionate that they teach you things without words. For me, that's God and I've never experienced such a compassionate love then what these orphans have showed me.

-Whitley 

This morning I woke up feeling overheated and sweaty.  That's nothing new. I mean, this is Haiti after all.  However, these past few days it hasn't really bothered me at all.  I usually cannot stand being outside in weather warmer than eighty degrees but after only a few days I hardly notice anymore.  It's true that the Lord provides what you need.  That's really something this trip has reinforced.  Normally when we see or hear about the level of poverty here in Haiti we feel pity, or shock, or some other form of displeasure.  As a people, we americans want to fix things, to make them better but one thing that you realize very quickly that they don't want fixing and they certainly don't need it.  On a surface level there is more poverty than I ever have seen but these people are rich in a completely different way.  The children from the orphanage are the most affectionate and accepting people I have ever known.  The orphans have very few material possessions but are happy because they have what they need.  They have love and they have intense faith in the Lord.  When I got here I was intimidated.  Here I was in a developing country, trying to follow the Lord and I had no idea what I was doing.  But every time I start to feel inadequate or overwhelmed Samentha or another one of the children grabs my hand, one of our group members says something that makes me laugh and relax, or I remember some bible verse I read a long time ago that completely relates to my current situation.  Things are so different here (and not for better or for worse) and yet some of the most important things are the same. If you ask for Him help (whether it be with having what it takes to not mess up a carefully chalked-out mural, creating lasting relationships with the Haitian people, making it to the top of a particularly steep hill in a tap-tap, or getting to know the Lord on an entirely new level) he will help you.  It may not be pretty, speedy, easy, or at all what you expected but He will provide what is necessary.  That's something I have really come to understand on this trip and felt I needed to share.

-Bradie (See mom! I told you I would blog!) 

Day 3 In Haiti - Hope Filled Eyes

Hey, sorry this is a morning post we were a little tired after a long day yesterday! Let me tell you about me day. We woke up and had a normal Haiti morning ate breakfast, made sandwiches, and made some preparations for that days craft before the boys heading over to the hardware store to get some paint and the girls heading over to the orphanage.

Once we made it to the orphanage the girls had to wait for the kids to get out of school before we could visit them. Once the kids got out of school and got out of their uniforms and into their normal cloths we headed over to their play area, where I found the girl that I had particularly bonded with, Sophonie, whom they also call "Muet", which means mute, because though she can understand Creole well when she tries to speak it comes out as jibble jabble. As the day continued on and I continued to get to know Sophonie more the more I realized the great joy she had from the Lord and it completely amazed me! She has more hope and joy than I could ever imagine having, you can see it in her eyes and how she conducts herself with the biggest smile I have ever seen! 

As I went into the church service later that day I retained that beautiful picture of her gigantic smile and hope filled eyes and as I stood before the Lord worshiping him with my Haitian family I saw a vision of Jesus with his arms around the orphans and at that moment I gained the  hope and joy that Sophonie has, the joy that just a few hours later I could have never imagined having. How great is our God!

By Emily Green

Day 2 in Haiti Sweet Reunions and New Beginnings

I heard the soft music of my alarm fade in as I blinked awake. Another day to wake up at 7:45 to a world I had only dreamed about visiting forever. 

The morning consisted of breakfast, devotional, and sandwich making before we headed out to deli mart and the Source de la Grace church. 

The whole time I could not help but think, why am I so relaxed in this developing country? Why, after all of the unsafe things that fill this world has the Lord chosen here for me to find an overwhelming peace? I may never know, but as the day rolled on and I found myself in the Orphanage of Source de la Grace I saw peace overcome many people, including the orphans and the mission team.

At first when we walked up to the orphanage I saw the way that so many of the children attacked the returning people from our group with hugs and kisses galore! I was jealous of all the love between them, and I wanted a piece of it! Haha! But I felt a voice telling me to 'hold back'. So, regretfully I trudged over to the stairs away from the group of great reunion to fulfill what the Lord had to me to do. Immediately I knew when why I had been called to walk over to the quiet corner near the stairs when I turned around to see three young girls starring intently into my eyes, they were the shy ones, and I liked them. 

It didn't take but 5 minutes of me standing awkwardly by the three shy girls, and trying to communicate with them without a translator for 2 of the girls to walk away. But the third slowly strolled up to me and leaned her tiny body on mine and took my arm over her shoulder like a bird protecting its chick with a wing. I was surprised and inspired by this girl. I asked her her name with a bit of improvisational sign language and learned the brave young soul was 'Cencia' (that's me trying to write creole). Cencia quietly followed me around the rest of the time at the orphanage and we bonded over an unusual understanding of each other's worlds. 

I saw a vast beauty of God in Cencia's eyes. When she looked up into mine, I could undeniably see the hope she had for her future. God's doing some crazy things in that girl's heart. She is a teacher of peace, and today she taught me in a new way that no matter your circumstance, anyone can find peace in their hearts by trusting God with your future. 

I carried the picture of her hopeful eyes in my mind as our group attended the first ever youth group at Source de la Grace. The gathering of the youth from two completely different back grounds was very interesting, but with the help of our wonderful translator we all communicated greatly with each other and shared our hearts equally. 

Overall, I found today that regardless of the situation you are put in, whether it's awkward, quiet, or joyful, love is always given from human to human when the Lord is near. 

To close, I will quote a line said by Emily Green from our discussion time tonight, "It's a beautiful thing to never have to say Amen, knowing that your conversation with the Lord is ever constant." 

A Hot Day 1 in Haiti

Ladies and gentlemen, we made it. Through a few hours of weird and rather random delays, as well as many hours of way-to-crammed flying, we arrived in good ole Port-au- Prince, Haiti. We landed with relative ease and passed through customs without a problem, and I'm happy to report that all of us are safe and well, except for abby of course......just kidding mrs Freund. 

Once we landed it was a very fast moving and rather breathtaking ride in a tap-tap (which could make for an entire blog in themselves) to the guest house, a beautiful home that doubles as a church under Pastor Moise Vaval, who visited Riverside in 2014. We were greeted by friendly faces and cheerful moods, and the team had a pretty positive feeling headed into Monday...... that is until the heat hit.

The gentlemen (being myself, Josh, Logan, and John) have been staying in a room that is known as "the devil's armpit" - Logan Mcdaniel. In other words, it is a very hot room and we sweated through the couple hours of sleep we managed. We awoke to find the ladies nearly as tired as we were, but it was soon replaced by nervous excitement for the days events, after all the goal of the day was to get a sense of the city as well as get to know our translators. Throughout the day i can safely say both of these goals were accomplished to there full extent. To share a total God thing with you all, me and Josh were prayed over before we left on the trip and one of the things that was spoken over us is that we would make good connections with the local leaders. Both me and Josh automaticladly connected with PG, Sandro, and Jonas. We made many memories in the first day, but the best one is when our Tap-Tap gave out, so all 20 of us piled into the other, now make no mistake, this is normal for Haitians, but for Americans it was a wee bit um....snug, lets just say we got to know each other REAL WELL. The better part was when the Tap-Tap was STRUGGLING to make it up the massive hill to Moise's. About half way up I looked at PG and said "We gonna make it?" he responded confidently "I think so." Sandro just laughed. But through an act of God we made it to the top. 

So as a last report all is well here in Haiti, and i would love some extra prayer as we are going to the orphanage for the first time tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed, Love you mom!

- Ryan Heare