Trip Video (September 10-17, 2012)

Uneasy Heart

So we arrived back home on Tuesday, and there is a certain uneasiness stirring within my heart.  Question after question is pummeling my mind:

What is God trying to teach me?

Why does God compel me to go to Haiti?

Why does God call me to lead?

Are we helping Haiti?

Are we hurting Haiti?

What does change look like in Haiti?

Do Christians really care about Haiti?

Does my local church really care about Haiti?

Do I really care about Haiti?

Is there any hope for Haiti?

What does it mean to be the hands and feet of Jesus?

Am I doing this for God's glory or to pacify my own guilty conscience?

Many of these questions may come as a surprise.  They are difficult questions.  They're on my heart.  They're real.  But if we don't force ourselves to answer the tough questions we can and likely will become numb to the things we see in Haiti.

What I know is this - despite my questions, God calls me to go anyway.  He calls me to serve Him.  He gives me a heart to love.  He breaks my heart for the things that break His.  He speaks to me through beauty and darkness.  He answers prayers and works miracles.  He teaches me.  He loves me.

So I will continue to go.  I will continue to serve God who knew me before I was even born.  I will continue to share the love of Jesus in Haiti.  I will continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus (whatever that means!) until He tells me to stop.

So looking back, God has given me at least a few answers to the questions above:

1.  I love God and my desire is to serve God for His glory alone.

2.  I deeply care for and love the people of Haiti.

3.  My desire is to serve the people of Haiti for God's glory.

Yes - I am thankful for the uneasiness in my heart.  God is at work and I pray that I listen well.

Hello Grace Village!

On Thursday we spent the day at Grace Village, the orphanage built by Healing Haiti.  It was a beautiful day, and we were excited as we traveled towards the
village located on the hillside in the city of Titanyen, about 12-15 miles outside of Port-au-Prince (a 45 minute drive).  "There it is!" shouted our ever quiet Jessica.
The terra cotta wall surrounding Grace Village could be seen from afar.  After our tap tap climbed a steep winding rocky road a violet gated door was opened for
our entry.  A modern playground, and colorful terra cotta buildings with yellow and violet trim lay before us.  To us it seemed as if we'd entered Disney World.
There was separate housing for the girls and boys, the cafeteria/church (on Sunday mornings), and the pastorial home for the Ammermanns.

Pastor Rob and Jennifer, Ben and Morgan warmly invited us in for a quick history of how Grace Village came to be and the future direction.  The foundation for a
nursing station was present. A guest house will be added by the new year where Jessica and Kathy will reside. The aquaponic structure is ready for fish to arrive
this coming week.  Next to it is the school that will open October 1, the date all Haiti schools open. One steps down into the school as it follows the natural lay of
the hill.  The scene out the vented windows is the low lying mountains of Haiti.  Serenity!  Plans for a resident seniors home are in place.  A future church will also
be added outside of the village gates.  Currently about 400 attend Grace Village's services in a building which only holds 300. The future church will be built for a
targeted size of 800, but expected to grow to possibly 10,000.  These people love their Lord and worshipping Him.

Putting on the Armor of God

I was at the table with acrylic paint filled sponges galore, 6-8 children grabbing from plate to plate to get the exact shape and color of Christian symbols they
needed to stamp onto their t-shirt.  Then there was me amidst the chaos trying to maintain some sense of order stating, "Only 3-4 should be at this table.  You need
to wait until others finish!"  Of course it didn't help that I was speaking English and they were fluently chatting in Creole.   As I stepped to motion for another body
to move away I looked down.  There was a small quiet and ever so polite little girl standing with her Belt of Truth on and her sword tucked behind it looking ever
so eager and proud.   My heart melted, and I made room for her and yet another t-shirt at the already crowded table. 

We began this Thursday morning telling the children at Grace Village that they would be creating their armor of God, based upon Ephesians 6: 10-18.  I presented
with Wesley, the children's spirtual leader, who translated the Bible lesson to the 61 totally focused children.  They learned about the helmet of salvation, the
breastplate of righteousness (t-shirt), the toolbelt of truth, the sword of the spirit (word of God ) and the shield of faith (a self decorated frisbee).  The Bible reading
was read in English and Creole.  Children were divided into five random groups, the fifth being guitar music and singing. 

The sense of joy came as others told tales of watching the children play with their "armor," as I was still on t-shirt duty.  They could be seen running to the slides
with tool belts flapping in a warm breeze.  I believe a sword fight or two may have occurred in fun. I was told the children were just learning to work in stations. 
Kathy and Jessica, their full time supervisors, said it was the longest they had ever seen the entire group so focused.  My favorite story is one told by teammate,
Gloria, that as we left, three soliders stood guard at the gate, in full armor attire, and so proudly sent us off.  Our team theme was a hit, and I slept very well that
night!
                    Sandy Rogness - Healing Haiti

School

A foreword to this post:  This trip is so incredibly packed with experiences that it takes quite a bit of time and energy to process.  We are doing our best to keep everybody updated, but a number of our blog posts will probably come after the trip is over.  We are excited to share many things!

We visited a school in Port au Prince, one which pretty well embodies the paradigm of the local school system.  There were no students and very little staff present at this day.  The current school year has not yet begun.  The grade range is approximately K-8.  This is typical for many schools in the area.  Like many structures in the city, the construction is mostly concrete with a gated entry in a stone wall topped with razor wire that encloses the building with little space to spare.

Above is a picture taken in one of the classrooms.  There is no electricity or climate control; the rooms are lit by holes in the cement block walls, so the rooms are essentially directly exposed to weather.  The students sit at benches that are arranged in various ways so as to accommodate about 60 students per classroom.  The back row must be at least 40 feet from the chalkboard, and the front row within a couple feet.  You can see the rooms are very crowded.

As grim as that may seem as an educational environment, the students are very passionate about learning and are very proud to be able to afford school, because many children cannot afford the opportunity.  They freely work much harder than many American students, and seem to excel in this simplified environment that is devoid of many distractions that Americans may have grown accustomed to.

On the third floor, we were greeted by a chalkboard that had not been erased from the previous lesson.   I was ecstatic and surprised to find that the students were studying chemistry.  In the picture above, I was explaining a bit of the lesson to our team.  In this lesson, they were learning how to figure out how many liters of hydrogen are needed to convert a given amount of copper ore into pure copper metal.  Keep in mind that the students in this lesson were probably 6-8th graders.  Chemistry at this level is normally taught at 11th grade through freshman year in college.

The experience was amazing, seeing how students thrive in a very simplified learning environment.  The space is cramped and the staff is loaded with students well beyond the limits deemed acceptable in American schooling.  But the sheer desire of the students to learn overcomes these obstacles, and they study material far advanced for their grade level compared to the American system.

Welcoming Spirit

We spent Wednesday visiting two different orphanages.  The first was a home for sick and dying children.  The orphanage was not sad and depressing as the name might suggest, but rather it was beautiful, light and airy.  The orphange, which was heavily damaged in the earthquake, was recently rebuilt on the same ground.  It was a beautiful, two-story building with a courtyard and veranda where the kids' laundry was blowing in the warm, Haitian breeze.  Inside, it had cool tile floors, windows on all sides and sunshine pouring in the windows.  There were three great rooms - each with approximately 25-30 cribs.  The children reached out for us the minute we entered the room.  We were able to hold the children, sing with them, play with them, feed them and change them.  We brought donations for the children, including a suitcase full of new shoes.  I was able to see a group of little boys and girls fitted for shoes.  They were so proud of their new shoes.  We danced, and danced and sang and laughed.  I will not forget the children I met there. 

Next we traveled to Gertrude's, an orphanage with a mix of disabled, able-bodied and special needs children.  As we entered the gate, the children greeted us in the courtyard.  They were joyous and jubilant.  There was an old truck parked in the middle of the courtyard.  The children loved to race their many vehicles (handbikes and modified wheelchairs) around the truck in a circle.  We had fun piling several kids into each "vehicle" and racing fast.  We also sang with the children.  Most of them knew several worship songs in English including Jesus Loves Me, Glory to God and Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord.  One child in particular there stood out to me because he was fluent in English so it was easy to converse with him.  He also spoke fluent French and Creole of course.  It really took me by surprise.  He was very inquisitive.  He asked about "Minnesota" and if we were from "St. Paul?"  I told him I was from Minneapolis.  It astounded me that he was so smart and mature for his age.  He and the other children there captured my heart.

I ended the day thinking about how welcoming the Haitian people have been to us.  From the staff here at Healing Haiti, to the people of Cite Soleil, to the people on the street shouting "Hey You" (a friendly greeting here in Haiti) to the children at the orphanages, we have been blessed to take this journey, see this country and meet these beautiful people.  All Glory to God!    

Nicki McCain - Healing Haiti Team Member

Cite Soleil

Went into Cite Soleil with the team Tuesday, rode out in the “tap tap” our caged in vehicle.  When we met up with the water truck Gloria and I were allowed to ride in the front seat. It took a bit of squeezing and sucking in but we manage to fit in the small space.  Holding on tight the truck made it way to the first water stop.  The ride was “fun”  and very bumpy.  The roads here are rough, rocky, and eroded…well, except for a few short strips that were paved by wealthier residents.

When we finally reached our first water stop, Gloria and I spotted a small child we guessed probably around the age of 2.  The young child was jumping up for joy and clapping that we were finally here to deliver the water.  Teary eye Gloria and I couldn’t wait to get out of the truck.

 Each child here longs to be touched and held.  When we exited the truck we were immediately swarmed by small children touching, reaching and asking to be picked up. Later Gloria came up to me saying “I found her”, when I looked up she was holding that small little child we first saw.  I can’t even describe the emotion I felt. 

Delivering the water was shocking yet expected.  Cite soleil is filled with so much waste, and destruction.  A line was already formed of Haitian people with their buckets waiting to be filled.  We did out best to manage the line.  People were trying to budge and some successful others sent to the end of the line.  It was surprising to me that those waiting in line stood patiently without fighting for their turn to reach the front.  Each time the water truck runs dry there still stand a line of people with empty buckets who didn’t receive any water for the day.  At the end of the day we returned home filthy and tired.  

 

Travel Day: Safe Arrival!

I am pleased to report that our team has safely arrived in Haiti.  We are currently winding down from a long, adventurous, abundant day of travels.  We are at the Healing Haiti guesthouse in Port-au-Prince.  Tomorrow, we look forward to a moving experience delivering clean water to several locations in Cite Soleil.

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Our team at the Miami Airport during our layover

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Travel went quite smoothly.  We had about 30 minutes of shuffling donations between checked bags and carry-ons to get all of them within the 50 pound limit (it must have been low tide or something, because their scales were running higher than ours).

During the first flight, our pilot competently climbed over several 'small' thunderstorms over the Gulf of Mexico off the West Florida coast - I believe these were among the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.  We were humbled to receive generous donations from passengers on board the flight.

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During a Climb over a Thunderstorm over the Gulf

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The flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince was completely full.  Most of our carry-ons had to be surprise checked as we boarded.  The guitar I brought had been previously checked because there were already 5 guitars ahead of mine.  Having these items be checked was a bit more uncomfortable than one might assume based on the baggage return logistics at American Airports.  Arrival at the Port-au-Prince airport was a real eye-opener for me.  There are only four gates at one small terminal.  Upon arrival, you board a shuttle bus and are taken to a pole building and wait in a long line to get through customs.  In the same large space behind customs, all of the bags are piled onto a single carousel and some even heaped out onto the floor.  As people go through customs, they are free to grab bags and leave the airport.  Any fancy bags, and guitars in particular are therefore hot items.  It is an incredible frenzy to behold, and it took almost 45 minutes for us to locate all of our bags after getting off the shuttle - but we found all of them successfully.

People there speak a fast mix of French, English, and Creole.  I have been studying Creole during the past few months; a clerk came by immediately after I cleared customs and I was blessed with the ability to describe the guitar to him in Creole and he ran into the frenzy and brought it to me.  I pray that our whole team would be blessed with the ability to really connect with the people of Cite Soleil tomorrow,  through all forms of communication the Lord sees fit, so that the residents can truly feel the love of Christ as we serve them.  Thank you for your continued prayers!

Katie Arnold

I am a graduate of Nursing from Minnesota State University Mankato, December 2010. Currently I am working as a Registered Nurse at the Good Samaritan Society Ambassador located in New Hope.  I heard of Healing Haiti's mission trips through a friend and immediately wanted to be involved.  This will be the first time I will be out of the country as well as my first mission trip.   I am looking forward to serving God and helping people who are in  need.

Nikki and Mike McCain

We have been married for almost seven years.  We live in Richfield with our two wonderful children and our crazy dog.  Both Nikki & I are attorneys by profession.  I recently opened up my own law firm in St. Paul.  Nikki does contract work at a law firm in Minneapolis.  We joined Calvary in 2003 after graduating law school and moving from Boston to Minneapolis.  We have been blessed to be involved in several different ministries at Calvary.    

In January 2012, I went to Haiti for the first time on a mission trip through Healing Haiti lead by Brian and Anne.  The trip was life changing.  While in Haiti, I witnessed people living in desperate poverty, and yet many had an impenetrable faith in Jesus that I had never seen nor experienced before.  On this trip, I understood for the first time what it meant to be completely sufficient in Jesus Christ.  I am so excited for the opportunity to co-lead this trip with Brian and share this amazing experience with Nikki.  I pray that the trip will impact Nikki as much as it did me and help us to more fully surrender to God. 

“You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 5:14-16   

Cheryl Burmester

My name is Cheryl and I live in Rochester, MN, which has been my home for 44 years. My husband, Ruben, and I have three grown children Brian, Rhonda and Jessica. Brian and his wife Teresa have three children, Emma (13), Sam (10) and Jonathan (7). They also live in Rochester and I get to see them often and attend many soccer, hockey and baseball games! Rhonda and Chris’s children are Ben (10), Annabel (7) and Ruby (4) and they live in Plymouth, MN. We have made many trips to the Twin Cities to watch their activities and school programs as well! I am blessed to have 6 grandchildren that keep me very busy! Our youngest, Jessica, is volunteering and serving in Haiti at Grace Village for the next year.

I am going to Haiti to witness firsthand what God has called Jessie to do and see what she is so passionate about. I am looking forward to meeting all the children at Grace Village that she loves so dearly and helps to care for. Jessie has a blog http://healinghaiti-jessica.blogspot.com/~jessicaburmester . Please check it out she is a much better writer than I am!

I know this mission trip will be a life changing experience for me, as we witness the desperate poverty and suffering in Haiti. But it will also give me comfort to experience what Jessie is doing and see where she is living.

Sandy Rogness

This is my first trip to Haiti, my first mission trip. It’s been my first year of retirement from teaching after 22 years focused especially on how to help those with special needs in a classroom. It’s my 59th year of looking out for my impaired sister; 35 years as her legal guardian. It’s my 36th year of marriage, 34th year of being a mom to two sons, 6th year of being a grandmother to now three girls and a boy. It’s my 43rd year of being a volunteer in my church in many varied roles. It’s been 21 years since my husband and I helped our eldest son fight successfully through 8 years of chemotherapy for Leukemia. In all of those years I have never wondered what God had in store for me until this past year. Events just seemed to be placed in front of me and the strength of the Holy Spirit was with me. Yet now, it’s been almost a year of trying this and that wondering how the Lord thinks I should serve best. I knew Jessica B. kept visiting Haiti, and I had followed her blogs. I told her mom, "You should go!" Then six months ago, her mom, Cheryl, said, "Well, I’m going. Are you?" Here I am, anxiously waiting to greet God’s people of Haiti. Oddly enough, all of those other experiences and skills seem to have melted away, and I feel like a newborn asking God to make me a servant in the best way possible.

Cathy LeVahn

I live in Lino Lakes and have two grown children, John (29) and Amy (28).  I’ve worked in Human Resource Management for over 20 years, a majority of that time in the medical device industry.  My ‘holy discontent’ drives my passion to serve the poorest of the poor.  I went on my first mission trip to Nicaragua in 2010.  In January of 2012 I was put in the path of Healing Haiti and was blessed with the wonderful opportunity to become their Aquaponics Advocate (raising fish in a recirculating system to grow vegetables hydroponically).  In April I made my first trip to Haiti to view the future aquaponics site at Grace Village.  Construction of the aquaponics system is now complete so I will be spending an additional week at Grace Village to get the system up and running and provide training to those who will partner with me to ensure sustainability.  I am also Healing Haiti’s Sponsorship Coordinator, a new and exciting role that I am excited to dig into.

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”
― Mother Teresa

Dick and Gloria McNeill

We have been married for 45 years,  have three children and 12 grandchildren. We live in Plymouth in the summer and then have a condo in Clearwater, Florida where we live for the majority of the year. We have supported a number of missionaries and short term mission trips for many years. Gloria has been going to the inner city of Chicago to work at an inner city church for the last 13 years. Two years ago we decided we needed to actually go on a mission trip out of the country. So for the last two years we have gone on mission trips to Peru where we taught English to approximately 500 Peruvian children. We also taught them about the love of Jesus.

We look forward to going to Haiti with our son Brian. We have read some of the blogs in the past and know it will be a very meaningful and impactful trip. We look forward to demonstrating God’s love for all people regardless of circumstances. We are looking forward to spending time with the children at the orphanage.

Ken Tritch

I was confirmed at Calvary in 1997, though just in the past two years have I become an active follower of Christ. I am currently working on my PhD in chemistry. My reaches into science have been foundational to the growth of my faith, an outcome that I was neither seeking nor expecting when going into science. Music and designing and building guitar electronics is my biggest hobby. I frequently play electric guitar and other instruments at the Journey Community worship service. Upon becoming active at Calvary, I felt immediately called into serving the local community through several of the many channels available through church, in addition to stepping outside of the box during everyday life around the twin cities area. Roughly one year ago, that calling expanded to the international scale when I felt drawn to participate in a Healing Haiti trip during a presentation at Calvary. I was unable to go last January due to a school conflict, and I have been looking forward to the trip coming up this September since that time. I had never booked an airplane flight before this trip, nor have I left the country by more than a few miles into Manitoba, nor been on a mission trip. I am looking forward to this opportunity to serve the people of Haiti with music, embrace, and loving energy. I also look forward to having my heart broken in a way that will forever transform my perspective on living and giving for the benefit of many, both abroad and back home, both needy and wealthy.    

Trip Video

Truth - Verite

"The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians.

The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left.

This is the truth. I have the freedom to believe it. The freedom, the opportunity to do something about it. The truth is that He loves these children just as much as He loves me and now that I know, I am responsible." -Katie J. Davis, Kisses from Katie

Orevwa et Mesi Anpil (Goodbye and Thank you very much)!

Our week in Haiti has come to an end. Our hearts today are filled with gratitude. We were protected from sickness, injury (except for a few blisters), mechancial failures that would have prevented us from doing what we came to do, and natural disasters. We were blessed with a team of 15 people that were flexible, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and dedicated. The Haitian people have been gracious as they have allowed us a glimpse into their lives and culture. We came to help them in small ways by delivering clean water and playing with orphans, but we all recognize they were the ones who ministered to us. We've had the opportunity to observe a people with a steadfast faith in Christ. By American standards, they have nothing. Yet many of us found ourselves envious of what they do have - a life that is fully dependent on God. They do not worship their possessions or take comfort in the things of this world, but direct all of their worship and praise to the ONE who provides for their needs and gives them the strength they need to persevere despite their life circumstances. Thank you to the people of Haiti for teaching us much and to our God for his love for us in providing us this opportunity. And thank you to those who have followed our journey and prayed for us. We look forward to sharing more with you when we return.

One orphan from Haiti and one orphan from Minnesota

Today we took the children from Grace Village up the road an hour to a beautiful beach so that they could play in the water and have lots of fun! There was much splashing, laughing, singing, dogg-pattling, and playing soccer, etc. At departure time as the sun was beginning to set we took this great group photo of our entire team after an amazing day in so many ways.
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Quite soon after our arrival, Sandy noticed Isaac wasn't in the water but instead just sitting on the rocky beach gazing out and rather still. Sandy sat next to him and eventually he leaned in. With the help of an interpreter she learned that he had a headache. Bummer! All of his friends were expending so much excitement in and out of the water and he did not feel well enough to fully participate. So she held him, she held him, and she held him while providing some shade under her floppy sun hat (chapo). He just laid back against her. Very few words were spoken. She wrapped a wet bandana around his head and intermittantly massaged his temples and head softly in an attempt to relieve his discomfort. After some lunch, she held him some more and on the ride back in the tap-tap, Isaac sat on her lap and gazed ahead down the road back to his new home on a mountainside. He glanced back at her and smiled with his eyes.

Isaac doesn't have a mother and father in his current earthly family. He does live with 40 brothers and sisters in Haiti. Isaac also has many other people who love him but today he got some lengthy comforting touch time for his general wellbeing as a child of God.

Sandy no longer has her mother and father in her earthly life. Sandy lives by herself in Minnesota. Sandy does have a brother and sister and special extended family and many people who love her but today she got some lengthy comforting touch time for her general wellbeing as a child of God.

Simply put: In the body of Christ, we are never orphans completely on our own.

Sandy

Repeat??

We had a "repeat" day today. In the morning, we again delivered water to the people of Cite Soliel and in the afternon we visited the home of the sick and dying children. However, the day was not a "repeat" because the people we met and children we played with and comforted are all unique and special children of God. Each water stop had its own personality of the people living there. I especially appreciated how the older children would care for the younger children. I was having children blow bubbles as I was holding the wand. An older boy (12 maybe) came and started holding the wand and making sure everyone had a turn. No matter what country, children are children and love laughing, chasing bubbles and being loved.

I was very hesitant on Wednesday when we went to the home of sick and dying children. I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle what I would see emotionally. What I actually experienced on Tuesday and today was quite different from what I expected. It has been one of the highlights of my trip. The opportunity to play with these beautiful children, or to hold a sick child in your arms was such a rewarding experience. I didn't come away sad as I knew that their needs were being met by God. I also knew I was there doing what Christ wanted me to do being His hands and feet.

Stories

Today we heard many stories. As we visited the mass grave outside of Port-au-Prince for earthquake victims, as we visited Jude Jean Paul and his mother who so faithfully attends to him for his day-to-day special needs, as we toured Grace Village orphanage and met the thrilled new residents at their mountainside home -- vibrant in color, activity, and joy, and as we gathered as a team after supper to share our respective word-of-the-day, we learned bits and pieces of stories: of history, of provision, of vision, of legacy, and of reflection.

Today we were curious about untold stories. As we passed the soccer game where every player on both teams had lost a limb and was using a crutch to maneuver the field, as we glimpsed into the eyes of many onlookers on the side of the busy road from our bench seats in the back "cage" of the HH vehicle, as we massaged the limbs of some elders we briefly visited while singing for them and praying over them, and as some of us reflected on "being called" we wondered about the rest of the story: of resilience, of challenges and triumphs, of perseverance, and of finding purpose.

Today we reflected on how we are going to be able to share our stories of this journey. Will people back home be open to more than a one or two-word answer to "how was your trip"?

However the stories in our day unfold and whether we know all the details or not, we put our heads on our pillows tonight confident that God knows every aspect of our personal stories and wants to be intimately present in that story he has planned for us.

Sandy

We are His

Today was a memorable day. I met some amazing people. Jude Jean Paul is a young man who has cerebral palsy. His mother takes care of him in a house that is about 6 feet by 8 feet. In this space there was one twin-size bed, one chair, and a small dresser. Jude Jean Paul was in a wheel chair and did not speak. Our whole team (15 people) gathered around them and sang songs together. Some of us massaged Jude Jean Paul's feet and hands. I knelt on the floor and asked his mother if she would like her feet massaged. She said, "Oui" which means "Yes". I helped her take off her shoes. Tears rolled down her cheek and she said, "Bien, merci" which means, "Good, thank you". We exchanged smiles. What a beautiful woman. She has dedicated her whole life to taking care of her son.
We also visited 3 elders. They each lived in a small home (6' x 8'). A cement slab with sheets hanging for walls. No electricity, no toilet, no stove, no refrigerator. One might think they have nothing. But the opposite is true. They have everything. They have a Savior. They trust in God and have a faith like none I have ever seen. Their hands and feet have gone many places in life. We sat with them, sang with them, and prayed with them. One blind, elderly man said, "Merci, merci, merci, merci", which means "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you". He said it over and over until we left his home. The elders hearts were gracious.
At Grace Village, we were delighted by the children (about 40 orphans). Their smiles were the biggest I have ever seen! They sang with all of their heart to God. Thanking Him and praising Him. We made salvation bracelets together. Each colored bead symbolized our beliefs in God (green= God created the world, orange= praise God, red= Jesus loves us, white= Jesus died on the cross for our sins and has made us new, blue= God's promises are true, yellow= we will be in Heaven together). Most of the children made 2. They planned on giving the extra bracelet to a friend at school. We also sang some silly songs (including my kindergarten student's favorite...Tooti Ta). We all laughed and enjoyed one another. The children have joy!
I am reminded of Psalm 139 tonight. God knows each and every person I met today. He created each one of us. God knows when we rise and when we go to sleep. He knows our pain, our joys, our struggles, and our hope. He knows our every thought. This brings great comfort and peace. Today was a beautiful day. We are His!

Teamwork!

Today we spent time with children that were weak, abandoned, physically handicapped, or needy is some way. And it struck me that we're all needy in many ways. There was this particular boy - he looked about two and a half, but was probably actually about four. I went to touch his arm, intending to pick him up, but he pushed me away. He made it clear in several ways that he wanted to be left alone - as we all do sometimes when we really just want someone to keep trying so that we'll know how invested they are in us. Over the course of about 20 minutes, several women on our team and I tried to break through the tough exterior this child had already developed at the tender age of four. He wanted nothing to do with any of us and tried to convince us he was more interested in sucking on his fingers, but would occasionally glance over to see if one of us was still trying to entice him into interacting. Each of us tried a different strategy, but without sucess. Then along came my husband, wearing his floppy hat, and within seconds, there was interest from our new friend. The toddler played with the hat, then had a ball putting the hat on my husband's head - upside down, then peek-a-boo, then throwing a teething ring into the hat. Before too long there were high fives all around - even for those of us who had originally been pushed away. It took just the right approach to break through and make a difference - it took teamwork. And isn't that exactly what we are all called to in being the body of Christ? We have all been given different gifts, experiences, and resources. We may think our contribution certainly couldn't make a difference. But we'll never know the impact that could be made in this world unless we try - in ways that are as unique as each of us.

What do you take for granted?

Each night, sometime between 8 and 10 pm the power goes out until sometime in the morning between 6 and 9 am.  Apparently the Haitian electrical grid is powered down and if you require electricity, you either need to run a generator or fly a kite and hope for a lightning storm.  Thankfully we have the former here at the guest house, but it makes me stop and take note that a basic necessity, electricity, isn't something that is always available for people here in Haiti.  It definitely makes me take more notice of every light left on in an empty room, or a fan, or air conditioning, or hair dryers, or laptop computers... 

Thank You Jesus

Yesterday we delivered water to the people living in Cite Soleil, one of the largest slums in the Western hemisphere. I'm still trying to process what I saw. The images will be seared into my memory forever.


The stench of garbage, polluted water, and fecies. Children walking barefoot over chards of glass. Makeshift shanty homes of tin, cardboard, and plastic. Narrow, winding alleyways that seemingly go on for miles. People in need of water. People in need of food. People in need of hope.

We came to serve the people of Cite Soleil in the name of Jesus. We gave them fresh water. We gave them love, hugs, sweat, tears, and laughter. We stepped into their homes to serve them.

What did the people of Cite Soleil think about us? What were they trying to tell us? What were they seeing?


On our third water stop of the day, I picked up a little boy. He didn't speak English - but he leaned over to me and another team member and said, "Thank you Jesus."

The people of Cite Soleil knew who was serving them. It wasn't us. It was Jesus.

Thank you Jesus!

Joyful Hearts

What an amazing day! We delivered clean water in Cite Soleil. The people had so much hope and joy in their eyes. The children came over to us and wanted to sing and play. I sang Jesus Loves Me and many of them asked me to sing it over and over until they could sing it with me. They kept saying "chante" which means sing. The people have so much joy in their hearts. God is their provider. Their faith is so strong and the light of Christ shines through them. I was blessed today. My heart has been filled with joy . The chilren's laughter and their smiles brought much joy to my heart. Ke bondye beni' ou (may God bless you in Creole)!

hand (English )= men (Creole)

January 17, 2012

Today instead of using my hands to hit snooze on an alarm, spoon Special K w/chocolate pieces in my mouth, hold on to a handle on a transit bus, type at my computer while looking at dual screens all day, swipe my company access card and transit card, unlock the door to my abode, place the 2nd half of my lunch in the microwave for dinner, text intermittantly, and click on my TV remote control for way too much reality TV before setting an alarm to get up and do it over again....

I held hands to pray with my team, held on to the side of a 2,500-gallon water truck, held the hands OR the entire bodies of many, many children in Citi Soliel, held a jump rope, helped carry 5-gallon buckets of water into tin roofed homes that are the size of my kitchen (in a studio apt. no less), talked with my hands for people with beautiful smiles because I know little Creole (including many high-fives), clapped and hand-jived, moved buckets along a line ("respect the line"), tickled babies, lifted my hands with praise to the skies singing "Glory to God" on a shoreline of garbage, and wiped my wet brow in the 90-degree heat while being confident that this IS being the hands and feet of my Lord in a very small but meaningful ways.

Creator, grant me the insight to look for more small moments to make a difference in paragraph #1 above.

Humbly weary in a VERY good way at the end of our first full day here, Sandy

Safe and Sound



MSP crew....pre-coffee



Somehow we managed...with the bulk of the team meeting at MSP at 3:30am, Alli and myself making it in from DEN the day before, and Mike and Becky from PBI a few days before that, we all connected at MIA (which thankfully does not reflect anyone's status as of this evening's post-dinner count).  After decending through the clouds, and most of us seeing the Haitian landscape for the first time, I think we were all struck at the topography before us.  I certainly was not expecting mountains (sorry, but my middle school geography project was on Newfoundland and Nova Scotia), nor did I realize how desert-like it would be...but that is a story for another day.



Getting ready to board in MIA



Meeting up at MIA



I also did not expect the chaos at the Port-au-Prince airport.  Yet through the mass of bodies around the single luggage carousel, we were able to retrieve all of the bags (even the ones which had to be checked plane side despite the ample room onboard the plane).  It was amazing to see 20-something odd suitcases strewn about, each as intact as when they were packed.  Based on others' experiences, I was fully prepared to have to provide some sort of token to to the customs officials to make it out of customs with the balance of our items, but we managed not to endure any such silliness.  We are thankful for God's presence in our midst and granting us safe passage through what could have been a tremendously difficult situation.

We then proceeded to create a luggage train and made our way through the gauntlet of helpers, each more vociferous than the next.  Especially entertaining was the confrontation between our Haitian airport guide and a second, more aggressive helper...apparently the relatively few number of flights into PaP creates a rather competitive atmosphere between the luggage handlers.  At one point things seemed to slow down a bit as the two men shouted at each other as to whom was the leader of guiding our luggage train to the bus.

Getting ready for the luggage gauntlet

Is this one of ours?

 Thankfully calmer heads prevailed and we made it to the bus unharmed.  We then split up, 2/3rds in the bus and the rest in a pickup for a dusty ride to our accomodations.  After unloading, we celebrated our safe travels with delicious Haitian taco salad (basically taco meat, fixings, and tortilla chips, but so much better than Taco Bell) along with Prestige beer, Cokes, and limonade.  Our meal was completed with passing around a couple cartons of ice cream until they were no more (cause hey, no need to take up freezer space with ice cream).  We are grateful to God for his guiding hand in uniting us all to achieve His plan.  We are blessed to have made it with all of our gifts and packages for the Haitians, and can't wait to see what He has in store for us tomorrow. 



Giving thanks for a great day!



Into the Wilderness

God often calls his people into the wilderness. It's a common theme throughout the Bible. He calls his people away from the comfort and security of their communities and families into a place of danger and chaos. But despite the potential harm that lies in the wilderness, it is often a setting for intense and dramatic encounters with God that lead to spiritual transformation, awakening, and revival.

I believe God has called me into the wilderness. I understand that Haiti is not a desert wasteland like the typical wilderness environment described in the Bible. Quite the opposite, Haiti is populated with over 9 million of God's children. But the lens through which the Haitians have experienced life is far different than mine. As an American, I simply cannot fathom the level of poverty, hunger, tragedy, chaos, and heartbreak that the people of Haiti encounter on a daily basis. But God has called me into a destination of heartbreak. He has called me to ignore my fears, leave the security of my loving family, and serve a people that desperately need our love and support. In doing so, God has put me in a situation to completely rely on Him.

I am so thankful for God's call and I feel privileged to serve on this mission trip. Please pray that as our team serves the people of Haiti we encounter a dramatic "wilderness experience" with God. Pray for spiritual transformation in our lives and in the lives of those we serve. Finally, please pray that despite any language barrier, the people we serve could see and hear Jesus through all that we do in Haiti.

Thank you for your prayers!

Gifts

Alli and I spent this morning organizing and packing all of the donations we collected over the past few months. One of the things we found most interesting is the amount of packaging everything seems to come in these days.  We probably threw away five to ten pounds of superfluous wrappers, cardboard, shrink-wrap, etc. which would just wind up in the trash in Haiti.  We are thankful for recycling here in the U.S., perhaps someday we can convince manufacturers to save a bit on cost and not triple-wrap every single item.

As you can see from the pictures, we have quite the assortment of shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, lotion, and other essentials like toothbrushes, toothpaste, cotton balls, and more.  All of these donations were collected through business travelers at Alli's office, as well as through my travels for work and pleasure.  In fact, what is pictured is only about half of what we are bringing.  Collecting toiletries from hotels and donating them to charitable groups, such as Healing Haiti or Global Soap Project, has become part of my routine when on the road.  For some this may seem like a nuisance, but for us it is knowing that someone that may not have access to such "luxuries" will be able to avoid disease as well as have something so simple and essential that most of us take it for granted.

We are also fortunate to bring beautiful handmade dresses for the girls we meet at the orphanages.  My stepmother and her friend are amazing seamstresses, and provided us with about 25 dresses to bring along with us (pictured to the left).  She has sent close to 1,000 dresses through an organization called Little Dresses for Africa, all made from scrap fabric, pillowcases, and ribbon.  We are really excited to hand these out and we will try and get pictures of the dresses in action once in Haiti.  It is amazing how many people are willing to provide novel means of helping others, from toiletries to dresses, to the suitcases to carry all of the goods (which will be left in Haiti for someone to use as this becomes a primary means of moving one's household goods from place to place).

We pray that all of these gifts make it to Haiti with us, and we don't have any lost luggage or mishaps along the way.

Current Items Looking To Have Donated

For the children:

- 2 tubes of Anti-fungal cream - Grace Village
- 10 bottles (150 tabs each) childrens chewable vitamins with iron (no gummy vitamins, please)
- 2 lage bottles of Hand Sanitizer
- 2 packages of sanitary pads
- 1 container of formula, 1 box of single grain rice cereal, 1 package disposable diapers size 2

For the elderly:

Sustane Eye Drops - 30 bottles
Muscle Rub - 30 tubes
120 AA batteries (for talking Bibles)
10 packages Depend type incontinence products
30 bottles Tylenol
Antibacterial wipes - 30 containers
Butt paste - 15 tubes

Additional for the elderly:

Sardines
canned meat (not requiring a can opener)
bar soap
body lotion - large bottle
applesauce
power bars

30 compact mirrors
30 Master locks - quality ones

If you are able to contribute any of these items please leave a comment here or contact Anne or Brian McNeill or you can leave donations in the collection bins at Calvary's north or south entrances.