The eagle has landed.

The team arrived safe and sound to our home away from home in Port au Prince! Fortunately our many bags did too! We were welcomed with friendly faces, a cozy ride in the tap tap and a lovely dinner! The team each shared a word representative of the day's feelings and we enjoyed listening and taking in the individual experiences.

 Hope, joy, anxious, people, comfortable, providence and tears were among the words shared.

We look forward to awaking to a new day and new experiences as many of us will see for the first time Haiti in the daylight.

Pictures to follow, stay tuned!  What is a tap tap? You shall find out tomorrow 😋
Ke Bondye Beni'ou "His hands, His feet, His work, His love!"

Today's words brought to you by Jenny on behalf of our team!

Anne & Brian McNeill

We find so much joy and purpose in bringing people to Haiti, helping them develop a deeper understanding of serving one another both near and far.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Tony Lambertz

 

This will be my third time to Haiti and I am very excited to go back and experience more of what God has in store for me and the team. Why do I keep going back? Because it is too easy to live this comfortable life where you don't have to worry about where water or next meal is going to come from and this is a great place to make me realize just how fortunate and blessed I am. It still amazes me each time walking thru one of the poorest parts of the world and yet nearly every person you meet still has a smile on their face and all you can do is be thankful for the little or much you have in health, having a job, etc. There is nothing quite like Haiti and that is why I'm going back!

Melanie DeJong

Hey there! My name is Melanie and this is my first trip to Haiti! I'd always hoped to travel and serve in Haiti, but had no idea when that time would come- I'm excited that the time is now! As a graduate of Bethel University, I had the wonderful opportunity to study and serve in Guatemala for 4 months where I naively thought I was going solely to help the people there. In reality, God had so much more planned for me. The joy and deep faith of the people, in spite of the extreme poverty, broke my heart and convicted me of the need to care about every single one of God’s people, hence the reason I was drawn to this trip to Haiti. I honestly don’t think I can even comprehend or begin to imagine what the Lord has in store for our team. I have no idea how, or where He will begin to teach. However, I am expecting the Lord to continue to break my heart and excited to see how He reveals Himself in even more ways through the Haitian people. 

Kallie Thoreson

My name is Kallie, and this trip is my first mission trip.  I was a senior in high school when the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010.  My heart broke for the people there, and I knew right away that I wanted to help.  I headed a fundraiser at my school, but I had no idea that six years later I would have the opportunity to travel to Haiti to serve the people there.  I am so grateful for this opportunity and am excited to see how God will work through our team as we serve His people!

Raeann Mysliwiec

My name is Raeann. I have been in the Mortgage industry for 25+ years. I have a loving family and friends. My life is full with activities most every day from running, biking, skiing, softball, broomball, hiking, camping, hiking, and volleyball. I have jumped out of planes and off of cliffs. I love to travel and have visited many countries. This is my 2nd Haiti missionary trip. I did not think I could be blessed with such an opportunity to go again and share it with my mother. I have a wonderful family and am surrounded by fantastic friends. I also work as an Office Manager and a Firefighter/EMT. I feel blessed in all ways.

Betty Mysliwiec

I am Betty. I am 81 years old. I love to travel, work (which I have retired but still put in many hours on a part time basis), attend and volunteer at church, help people, and do what I can for my fellow man. I have a wonderful family, 5 children that have been taking care of me, or should I say still taking care of them? A daughter in law and a son in law, 6 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. I have 2 new knees and they are working pretty great. I am looking forward to Haiti. It will be a new experience, I don’t know what to expect, but it will be a learning experience. It has been prayers and blessing that has made it God’s will to have me on this wonderful journey.  

Bob Miles

I am widowed and have three children and seven grandchildren (who call me Bubba).  The grandchildren all live out of state and I visit them often so that I can play with them and spoil them (ages 12 years down to 4 months).  I am retired from the Postal Service after 36 years.  I attend New Hope Evangelical Free Church in New Hope where I have been for about 18 years.

This will be my second trip to Haiti, and I have been to the Ukraine on a medical missionary trip with my wife as well.  Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and the whole world is our neighbor (Matt 22:39).  Jesus also told us that whatever you do to the least of my children you do unto me (Matt 25:40).  I am only trying to obey my Lord and Savior.  I have dear friends of my wife and myself who have adopted twin girls from Haiti.  Unfortunately my wife never got the opportunity to meet them.  They are beautiful girls who call me Uncle Awesome and I adore them to pieces.  That situation has fueled my desire to offer what meager substance and assistance I can to the people of Haiti.  I very much look forward to this trip with fellow Jesus lovers to be a light in the darkness to the Haitian people.

Kevin Shearer

In June 2009 I was up late watching a show one night because I couldn't sleep. The show was called 'Life to the Max' the host of the show is Mike Max. Mike features people and stories from around Minnesota and the world. In one story his camera crew was following a group of people that worked at Life Touch who were on a missions trip to Haiti. During the segment one person on the missions trip said "when we do our trips to Haiti we can help a lot of people but we can't help them all". At that point, God spoke to me and said "Kevin you need to do something" and that was to adopt again, this time from Haiti. I told my wife the next day and she said to me "don't pull leg, are you serious" then she went on to say "I have been praying about this for a while now". I told her I was serious but I only wanted to adopt one child and her response was "whatever God has in store" then I told her again "only one child". The next day we contacted our adoption agent and she said she was ready to start paperwork. At work the next week God spoke to me again, He said "get two children from Haiti" then I called my wife right away and told her 'two children". Within a day or two we had a list of several boys and girls mixes as well as twins. Our response to our Adoption agent was, "we cannot choose" then she said that Dr Bernard who runs the orphanage has read our profile and picked out the twin girls as the best match for us. So right at that moment we knew our answer and within minutes we had a picture of the most beautiful twins girls you had ever seen, they were around 20 months old. Then two months later Jan. 10th 2010 the Port-au-Prince earthquake rocked Haiti and we didn't even know if our girls were alive. We heard from our adoption agent the next day that they were alive but the orphanage was destroyed. Within a couple days Dr Bernard knew the kids would not survive so he went to the US Embassy to get the kids who were matched out of Haiti for health reasons. Then on Jan. 20th 2010(my wife's birthday) we received a call to come to Miami because your daughters are flying there on the 21st. After many doctor visits and other health concerns our precious girls have now been home over 6 years and are doing very well, we sure are thankful to God for His marvelous gift. 

I want to travel to Haiti to be a blessing to the Haitian people with who I feel I have a special bond as we live it every day in our home. One day in the near future I will return with my whole family so the twins can experience where they came from.

Sandy Rogness

Trip #4 for me.  It’s the calmest I’ve felt in returning.  I get asked, “What do you do there?” as I begin gathering items to bring to Haiti. Well, I leave behind watching this morning’s cartoons with my grandchildren after a special over nighter, worrying about my independent father with dementia and his needs for each day,  his dog that my husband and I walk twice a day even in this cold, concern for my only sibling’s needs as she recovers from oral surgery a week prior to our moving her to a different group home, as well as wondering about subbing for 7th and 8th graders this coming week. What a joyous opportunity ahead to be reminded that God is in charge.  He places before me people who sing and dance “God is so good, He’s so good to me” when they seem to have so little.  My faith in our Lord is renewed and increases as time will be shared with a team that goes with genuine humble Christian hearts to see how we can be of service to God’s needing people of Haiti.

Julie Carlson

This is my first mission trip to Haiti, and I am ready and anxious to experience all that Haiti has to offer.

My name is Julie Carlson, and my husband Boe and I have 4 wonderful children named Charlie (9), Clara (8), Henry (6), and Hazel (4).  We enjoy spending time together as a family and especially love being outside together.  We are beyond blessed with our life and are grateful for all that God has provided.  This mission trip is a chance for me to give back to others by serving the people of Haiti.

I am fortunate to go on this mission trip with my husband Boe and am looking forward to sharing this experience with him.  We are grateful that Grandma and Grandpa will be at home with our kids for the week! Thanks, Mom and Dad!!