Grace Village -- First Fruits

It is such a blessing for us to be part of the beautiful things that Healing Haiti is doing through regular, everyday people who are being completely swept up in the simple beauty of loving our neighbor {Mark 12:30-31} and caring for the orphans and widows {James 1:27}

Grace Village - Opening Day from Julie Salzmann on Vimeo.

Sandy Leppanen

Sandy here! I’ve always had a passion for travel and experiencing other cultures since I was very young. I’ve had the opportunity to visit all 50 USA states and several countries. While it’s always exciting to go on trips to see new places and have new adventures I find that journeys with a mission (stateside or to other countries) are SO eye-opening and rewarding and, above-all, life-changing. When we step out in faith and answer the call to be an instrument of God and when we make ourselves available to be the hands & feet of Jesus to others we discover a lot, REALIZE more, and are enriched in great measure. While some destinations like Haiti reveal many severe differences to my current day-to-day world, I’m always blown away by the similarities of being a human vessel – all created in the likeness of the Creator –placed on this earth to live, love, laugh, cry, rejoice, mourn, succeed, fail, … and the infinite list of other human conditions.

As our Calvary team is immersed in the devastation we’ve seen in the media about Haiti –particularly after the earthquake – I look forward to sharing smiles & hugs and experiencing first-hand all that I have heard about the zeal and resilience and abundance of joy of the Haitian people amidst that blatant backdrop of severe poverty. We are “One in the Spirit”.

Lord, thank you for the gifts and talents of my Calvary team members. Use us and keep us strong to SHARE the love of a comforting and healing God on this humbling journey.

“So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (in any language) Romans 12:5 (NAS)

Mike McCain

I have been a member of Calvary since 2003.  I have a beautiful wife, Nikki, and two amazing children, Bennett and Natalie.  Since the moment I heard about this mission trip, God has been tugging at my heart.  Although I have wanted to serve in the past - year after year I came up with countless excuses (e.g., finances, kids, work etc.) why I couldn't possibly go on a mission trip.  But God clearly calls us to live life with a servant's heart.  We are called to serve in radical obedience to Him.  So now I go - with no excuses!  I am extremely excited to be a part of this group traveling to Haiti.  My hope and prayer is to serve "the least of these" and bring glory and honor to God.    

Carolyn Sina

My name is Carolyn and I currently live in St. Louis Park with my husband Jim and youngest son Jacob, who is a sophomore in high school. My oldest son is currently attending college in Mankato, majoring in media arts communication.

I was looking for additional ways to serve God and give back. I joined the J-team (helping the Journey worship service run smoothly) this fall and I have met many caring and wonderful people from this opportunity.

I listened to the presentation from Anne and Brian McNeill about their most recent trip to Haiti. I felt the tug on my heart to go to Haiti and give back to others. This is an opportunity to help others who don’t have a permanent place to live. This is an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. He will guide me in the direction of where I can be the most helpful. This is an opportunity to reinforce the idea of how precious life is to all of us. Take nothing for granted.

Dan Daehlin

I am a member of Calvary Lutheran Church, Golden Valley, MN. I reside in NW Wisconsin where my wife, Penny, and I retired. We live in the woods in a log cabin.

I have had a desire to go to Haiti since the earthquake to help rebuild. I was looking at Habitat for Humanity to go, but at that time they cancelled because of the political unrest. When I read in the "Calls" about this opportunity, I called and signed up. I hope to find a way to go back in the not distant future to help in construction for a time.

Anne and Brian McNeill

We have been blessed by so much in our life; our marriage, four wonderful children, an awesome family and church family. Our lives have been changed by the opportunities we have had to travel to Haiti numerous times over the last couple years. Our hearts have been broken by what we have seen and filled by a deeper and stronger passion for serving God's children.

It is an honor for us to have the opportunity to bring this team from Calvary. We are so excited to share with and serve along side new and old friends and have felt God's hand moving in incredible ways in putting this team together. Our hearts are filled with joy just thinking about re-connecting with the people in Haiti that we have come to love and at the same time having the privilege of seeing God working in the hearts of this passionate and obedient group.

As Healing Haiti's co-founder Jeff Gacek loves to say...All Glory to God!

Pam and Marv Rathlisberger

We have been married almost 25 years. We have three children– Matt (senior at Minnesota State Mankato), Andy ( sophomore at University of Wisconsin – Stout) and Jenna (sophomore in high school). Church and our faith have played an important part in both of our lives since childhood. Our children have had the opportunity to go on a mission trip, but Haiti will be the first mission trip for both of us.

God planted a seed in Marv’s heart for the Haiti mission trip a couple of years ago. We were involved in Calvary’s first food pack out through the Kid’s Against Hunger organization in January of 2010 that was to aid the devastation in Haiti after the earthquake. This had a huge impact on Marv to see the 1,000,000 meals Calvary packed for Haiti and God’s perfect timing (the pack out which was designated for Haiti was scheduled long before the earthquake happened). When we saw the information video for Healing Haiti at church this fall, God instantly put a longing in both of our hearts to be part of this mission. Pam especially felt the pull to help in the orphanages since God has placed such a love for children in her heart. We knew that God was calling us for this specific trip. We know this mission will be a life changing experience and we can’t wait to see what God has planned for us.

Phil and Sharon Lindau

Phil and I have spent the last 20 or so years raising a family and being very involved in our local church. Having newly achieved the status of empty-nesters, we have been praying about how we might serve God in new and different ways and how God might be challenging us to look at life differently. This trip is an opportunity for us to minister together in a part of the world we frankly can't imagine from our mid-western perspective. We are trusting that God is going to use us to minister in Haiti and use Haiti to do something in us that only He can imagine!

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory. Eph 3:20

Kathy Aslakson

My name is Kathy and I feel that God has placed the people of Haiti on my heart. In November of 2009, I went to Haiti on a missions experience and have longed to return to Haiti to serve and love the people. I am excited to see how God will shape me from this experience. I am passionate about teaching children and currently teach kindergarten in Princeton, MN. In Haiti, I plan to use my teaching skills to teach the children about God. I believe that Jesus loves the little children and that God will use me to shower His love upon them.

Mike and Becky Hofstad

We both long for adventure and enjoy all sorts of outdoor activities.  We live in Golden Valley and every once in awhile get the itch to travel far away to see new things.  We’ve been married for just two years and have been enjoying our new life together.  Since we’ve known each other, we’ve been to Guatemala twice to work on building projects.  We enjoy seeing the world, having our perspective broadened, and experiencing other cultures. 

Beginning last summer we were looking for another mission trip to go on.  Of the options we were considering nothing was feeling quite right.  Then in the fall we heard about the team going to Haiti from our church.  The more we found out the more we knew we were supposed to be going along in January!  We thought it would be a great opportunity to serve alongside fellow Calvary members and to get to know firsthand what life was like in Haiti.  We both felt God prompting us to go even though we know we will witness desperate poverty and much suffering.  We also hope to experience how God’s grace thrives in all corners of the world and in all circumstances.

Mark and Alli Seeber

We are both Midwesterners (which means we eat lots of beef and corn, have strong backs and charming good-looks) and were raised in Christian homes (Martin Luther style).  Our hearts were connected in God’s love while at Valparaiso University, and we’ve been married ever since graduation.  We lived in Minnesota and Switzerland previously, and currently live in Colorado.  Our free time is spent traveling, cooking, skiing in the Mountains, and sitting on the dock at the Lake.

We believe that as God blesses us in our lives, that we too should look for ways to share those gifts and help others in need of God’s love.  Haiti is a place that has been in both of our hearts for many years, but following the earthquake we both felt a push at our back to actively engage in the future of the Haitians.  We have experienced the highs and lows that life offers, but our privilege as Americans has perhaps narrowed our view of what it truly means to be without.  Healing Haiti is an opportunity for us to recalibrate our eyes, ears, hands, and hearts to the true gifts that the Lord provides to all of His people.