Welcome to Haiti

First of all, let me say that the team got home safely and off to the airport today with no troubles.  :)  Praise God for a good week after the first group left and a great time of ministry out in Chaveneau.  We were able to stay our last night in the Arris house but we were all really exhausted (especially me- this trip was really draining).

The sad news is that on the way driving home the truck started making this crazy "knocking" noise as I was driving up a long hill.  It overheated and the oil light came on.  So we pulled over and let it cool and added a quart of oil but it kept knocking the whole way home.  We called the owner and he said to keep driving it home- just take it easy.  Turns out one of the cylinders blew which means it was only firing on 5 of the 6 cylinders.  So... now the engine is being rebuilt right now.  BUT we had to pay for that which was $2500 sooooo now we do not have enough (again) to buy a vehicle.  Unless someone donates the money to fix the truck.  I spent a great deal of time praying and talking with the owner (a fellow missionary) and I know this is the right thing to do, but it still stinks to let go of a dream-- for now.  Just this morning we went to look at a Chevy Suburban which was perfect for what we will be doing and seemed like a great truck.  BUT I do not have enough for that now.  :'(  

Please pray- God is really trying to grow our ministry and teach us something- we just don't know what yet!

(Note:  As of 7/30/12 we got a $250 donation toward "greatest need"- another $2250 and we will have enough to buy the Suburban- looks like a good deal.  If you or someone you know would like to give toward that please go to our website on the "donate" page- there are directions there!  THANK YOU for your support of the ministry- in prayer, financial or encouraging e-mails and such. You really are a blessing for us!)

Another week of ministry

Having a great week- sorry we didn't post more, but my computer is giving me issues and I have only gotten online to see if there are emergency messages for any of the participants.  Last Monday we said goodbye to 1/2 of the team and I headed back out to Chaveneau.  The group out here has been awesome!  They have painted the new roof on the outhouse (so it doesn't rust) and the house roof too (for the host family), have repaired leaks in the water line and created a new area for the community to get their water.  This is a temporary fix until we can get the clean water building installed in November.  Pastor Cornet is praying about whether or not the church should agree to this system but it seems they are very excited about it.  They also held classes for the women of the community on women's health issues and showed the Jesus movie again.  The children have been memorizing verses to earn prizes and it's been going well.  It became quite the competition for some of them.  We also did a day trip to some local facilities (one of the couples on the trip would like to move to the area and wants to see some things available).  Overall, it's been good and people have been blessed.  I know I have for sure.

Tomorrow we will return to Carrefour and sleep overnight.  We plan to stop at the beach on the way and to visit another facility too.  Prayers for safety would be appreciated.  God bless.

-Crystal

Today...

.... we will go to the orphanage after church.  So excited to see the girls and hear how they are.  I have gotten a few texts from the ones who left and they are doing well back at home with family.

Here

We arrived in Carrefour (at least the first group) with no problems. Took me about 3 hours to drive to the half way point (should be 2 hrs. 15 min) but the truck worked well and we were happy to arrive at a private beach where we all feasted on lobster (the first for four of the team) and relax/swim in the ocean.  Then we traveled to the place we are staying since the Arris house was rented and had some great fellowship with the girls staying there.  God is amazing.

Heard from the group that stayed in Chaveneau that they finished the roof on the outhouse and did some other small stuff as well as swimming in the river with the children all afternoon.  Great relationship building.

Pray for us as we continue to deal with questions about the vehicle issue and what one God has for us to buy.  Also pray for some other issues we will not mention here, but God knows.  Just some misunderstandings with the language and the enemy trying to gain control and stir things up a bit.  Pray that truth will come to light and that he will not succeed but that in fact God will reign supreme and His will is done in all.  Amen!  :)  :)

Having a great time here. Many more photo's to share.-Auston

The Learning Experience

Lately the Lord has been really teaching me to be patient and to be able to reach to all generations of people, whether they are young or old.  I usually am very good at being patient with individuals but as I came to Haiti the Lord showed me how to be very patient for the first days as I learned how to talk and communicate with the natives.  I was very frustrated the first couple of days as I learned to be able to live in this foreign country, but as the Lord stretched me greatly I had to learn to do things his way and not mine.  It has been an awesome trip so far and can't wait until next week comes around.  I can't wait for what is in store for next week.
                          Logan Hertzler

great week

This week has been absolutely amazing and the group has had a great time of ministry.  We have been teaching lots of lessons, fixing a broken water pipe, putting a roof on the outhouse that was started last summer, treating many local medical issues, etc...  We are very tired so today was kind of a "chill day" but we still managed to make it to town (Chantal) to donate medical supplies to the clinic and get some small supplies as well as ice cold cola.  :)  Together the group taught about Daniel today and about obeying God in difficult circumstances.  The kids got to make a cool craft and eat cookies! They LOVED that. We also put up signs about the activities the group will do next week here at the church.  Since it is market day in town a LOT of people travel past the church land and will hopefully see the signs and come to the activities.   I will sign off and let Logan update.  God bless and THANKS again for the prayers!  :)  :)  -Crystal

Never Never Land

In the story of Peter Pan, a young lady named Wendy travels to a far off land. Wendy enjoys the exotic beauty and the fun lives that everyone there lives, but eventually she has to go home.

I'm here in Chaveneau and all I keep saying is, "I feel like I'm in paradise." I'm so happy and blessed to be in this wonderful place! The beauty of the people, scenery, culture, and energy here, takes my breath away!

Just yesterday we went to a small waterfall and enjoyed a, greatly needed, cool dip in the "pool." The hike was beautiful and very fun! My favorite part, by far, was laying on this huge rock, where all the water ran down, with a bunch of little kids playing games. It was beautiful. God's power astounded me at every turn!

The younger guys on the team and I didn't really have anything to do last night, so we got the chance to chill, and It was too much fun :)

God is working mightily in and through us and I'm very excited to share the stories of my wonderful adventure!

Now, just like Wendy, I will have to be going home soon. Regardless of the fact that I love my job, I love my friends, I love my family, I love my church, and I love the activities and life that I get to live in America, I don't want to come home. This place is too amazing and too close to my heart to leave. I know I need to come back, and there are parts of me excited to be back, but this place is AWESOME. You should come and see for yourselves :)
Thank you to all of those who supported me, to those of you who are praying for us. We have all been very well, very blessed, and very happy! God has been protecting us and guarding us throughout this whole trip and I'm excited for the next four and a half days that I'll be in this beautiful country!

Bondye beni ou!! (God bless you!)

Love,
Madison Laughlin

God's Presence Through His Creation!

Today has been so far a very productive day for the team! We got up and had our team time in the morning to decide the plan for the day, in the mean time, I was relieved to find out that the tarantula hanging out in the boy's room had been killed the night before.  It would have helped me sleep better if I would have known it.  Sorry, I know it sounds cruel, but you have to know I have a bad phobia for spiders.  We started then the morning by inviting the children to come to join us and learn about dental hygiene.  We started out with a small group but with time ended up having a big line of kids waiting for their toothbrush and paste. Carmen demonstrated how to brush teeth correctly, then had the kids practice with the rest of us in the team.  Madison read Proverbs 25:19 and applied it to our spiritual lives. We talked about how we have to invest in our spiritual lives everyday so our faith can grow and be healthy. If we don't rely completely on God, this can bring pain and suffering into our lives, just like a broken tooth.  After the lesson, we had lunch and then some of the people in the teach played baseball with the kids.  It was so fun to watch the kids have fun and learning a new game.As I was watching the kids play, I decided to sit by myself and started admiring this beautiful land.  The sky was clear blue, just so magnificent! I couldn't help but to start praying and rejoicing in God's presence.  I felt His peace and joy by contemplating His creation while listening to the children laugh, and play.  Then we headed out to the water falls with the children where we were blessed by the beautiful scenery, God's creation and the beautiful children playing and splashing water around us. Now we are back at the church and we are about to go inside the church and show a movie to the community about Jesus. Forgot to mention Steve, and Logan have been working on putting a roof on the bathroom area. It's so nice to see how each time each time contributes to making this place nicer!

I am thankful to God for all the blessings and lessons I have learned so far and the ones yet to come.  I am also thankful for the team: Jordan, Austin, Logan, Cheryl, Steve, Bob, Madison, Crystal and my good friend Carmen, my pastor's wife who decided to join me in this trip.  GOD IS AWESOME!
- Lili

Two Days in the Book

Hello everyone,

Two days complete in Chaveneau and everything is going great! We have been doing some programs with the kids here at the church. Today we went into the community on a prayer walk where we were able to talk, pray, and share the gospel with the people. We met many great people and had great conversations. We have found that many people here have the same reasons for not being able to accept Christ as savior. They say that they are not "ready" for Christ or need to get some things in order before they are ready. We had a couple conversations explaining that God is ready to take you as you are with open arms. We are loving spending time with the kids that hang around all day. We and the rest of the team are doing great. Thank you for all your prayers and support! We are very blessed!! :)

-Bob and Jordan

Repeat Performance

Hello from Chaveneau!

The old adage is true, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Meaning, we receive blessing from giving, far greater than we anticipate. Even after some major attitude adjustments, the Lord is gracious to me, a sinner, and allowing me to serve and grow here in Haiti. Will I someday live here in Haiti? Will I ever learn the language? Who will be my friend(s)? God knows it all... one day at a time.  -Cheryl

great trip!

Sorry I am the one updating again.  I am hoping I can get the team to sit long enough tonight to have them update too, but for now let me say that they are amazing and we are having a GREAT trip!  The translators are exhausted though cause they have been working a LOT.  Both guys are great and not minding the extra work since they are doing this for God as much as we are.  Praise Him for these Godly men He has sent to help us and help further His Kingdom.

Right now the team is split- some at church (singing worship songs right now- sounds so pretty) and others across the street watching a soccer game that is INTENSE from what I can see here.  So far we have done three lessons with the children, played games, gone on prayer walks, swam in the river, ate some amazing food, slept on the roof or in the school rooms, cleaned/sorted luggage, etc... The team is getting along well and having so much fun together- already making inside jokes.

Please pray for Pastor Cornet and his family as we received word today that his house completely burned today.  We don't know details but there are already photos on facebook.  SO SAD but praise God they all got out safely and were not affected by the smoke damage and all.  From what we hear they lost a lot of posessions- things they were JUST starting to accumulate since rebuilding after the eathquake.  WOW!  (Pastor Cornet is the head pastor we work with in Carrefour- the church in Chaveneau is a satelite  from his church)

arrived

Jordan and Bob got here yesterday at about 4 pm. (flight delayed) and did not get to the house until about 8 pm.  We ate some dinner and then immediately left for Chaveneau- arriving at 2 am.  CRAZY night but we are all here in Chaveneau and got to sleep about 3:30 am. Most of the group is trying to sleep but it is getting noisy already in the area.  Will update more as soon as possible.  Internet/power looks like it won't be a factor, but for now fatigue is!  :)  Keep up the prayers!  We feel them.  -

Team has arrived

Everyone is here safely except Jordan/Bob who will get here tomorrow morning.  Keep the prayers coming for the group-  right now they are working well together packing up supplies to take to Chaveneau and the orphanage.  :)  :)  We just ate a great dinner of chicken, rice/beans, pasta salad, fried potatoes, etc... YUM!

Truck is uncertain.  Please pray for it and for us!  :)

First update!

I got in to Haiti yesterday morning, ate at a national gas station, went over to the orphanage for 3o mins, i got to see Samanda, Sophia, Bettina, Kettia, Ketlene, Melinda, My love, and a lot of girls from the new orphanage. It was quite awesome to see them, Ketlenne, Kettia, and I cried because we were so happy to see eachother. I really enjoyed meeting the pastor, as well. Then, on a 20min ride, (based by distiance of course) we waited 5 hours to get to the store. The deli mart was like a safeway, it really was pretty! (It was quite a difficult process to get there...) Then we went to see the man with our truck, of course we waited for an hour before church actually ended... He is a GREAT guy! Then we came home to the Arris house and enjoyed some time together. Opened a few gifts, partied with a few LED light-up balloons. Talk about AWESOME!!! Crystal and Redg' are picking up 6 of the 9 team members. Tonight we have a team meeting, then tomorrow we will be working at a school, picking up 2 from the airport, going to the hosptial, and heading off for Chaveneau. My dear friend, Ramces, will be joining us for the time in Chaveneau, I'm very excited! Its going to be great!! Its been so wonderful to really experiance Haiti and to learn from Crystal. So many details to work out, so little help from Haiti, especially the traffic... Its been great seeing everyone, except Ramces whom i will see very soon! I ate some awesome food last night, but im not too sure my tummy thought it was as awesome as my taste buds did... I'd like prayer for that.
I am safe, I am happy, I am on an adventure, I am thankful for your prayers, and I AM home!!!


Madison Laughlin

Sad day!

Well- I knew it was coming for a long time but I was still not prepared for it.  Today five of my favorite girls at the orphanage (I know you are not supposed to have favorites) left to go home with family.  Here's a photo of three of them (sisters).  They already called me and they are safely in their new home but BOY will I miss them when I go to the orphanage next (probably tomorrow).  I was to go there last night and sleep over with them one last time but that didn't work because there was some stuff that needed fixing on our new SUV before we can pick it up. Sooooo we were without a vehicle.  Anyway, I love you girls and the orphanage will not be the same without you but I am so glad you are getting to spend time with your family.  I pray God's blessings on you all and you know if you EVER need anything just let Redgi and I know!  :)

Back in Haiti!

and getting excited to see the team and get started on our trip next week!  :)  Since coming on Monday I have had some highs and lows....

Fruit for the orphanage in June (Redgi's photo he took when he went to drop off the fruit- each orphan got at least one banana and three mangoes and there was plenty left over.  The orphanage is sad for me cause I want to go see my girls who are leaving tomorrow but have no way to get there yet- can't wait to have the Nissan! )

Went to buy some metal/tin items for a fund raising auction.  This man was one of the artists- nice man.  

Went to see the third floor apartment/house for rent.  It's really nice but we still need a lot of money to be able to rent it!

Inside the house!  :)

Here's the inside of the Nissan Patrol we are buying.  It can hold 8 Americans (10 Haitians- hahaha) comfortably.  It is still getting some last minute things done to make it ready to go.  :)

The exterior of the Nissan Patrol!  :)  :)  Redgi is checking it out well for us.  He drove it and it's a good truck.

Back again!

Monday (July 9th) I will be heading back to Haiti.  I have a long list of things I need to accomplish as usual-- people to see, places to visit, things to deliver that I brought back for various Haitians, etc...  This trip we will be actively seeking a vehicle to purchase for Hearts United with Haiti to use for transporting teams and for our own personal use in Haiti.  Renting vehicles is SO expensive and we pray this will be a great solution to our endless frustration of not being able to justify spending $80-$100 per day plus gas to go somewhere or hiring our own personal tap tap at a rate of $50 per 1/2 day.

A team of nine comes in next weekend - they are from all over (Colorado, Indiana and Pennsylvania) and we will travel to Chaveneau where five will stay for a week and four for two weeks.  We hope to do some community education, prayer walks, light construction, Bible study, etc... with the people there.  It looks to be a GREAT trip already and everyone is so excited to come and serve.

Prayers for our team, Redgi and for myself would be much appreciated. There is lots to be done before and after the group is in Haiti.  Thank you as always  :)  :)  :)


** Follow the blog over the next few weeks and see what God is doing both in us and through us in Haiti!  Thanks!

Midrige

My last day in Haiti (last trip) I went to the hospital with Jean Bernard to get his stitches out.  While we were waiting for the doctor we saw this TINY little baby in a crib.  Her father was sitting at her bedside and he just looked SO SAD.  This is a ward where there are many children and parents.  He was flipping through a pile of receipts and it appeared that he was calculating what he had spent on that pile.  I was drawn to him and the baby so I asked James to go with me to talk to the man and pray with him.  I wanted to find out how old the baby was, what her name was and why she was in the hospital.  Her name was Midrige and she was 12 days old (this was June 2) and she had surgery for a bowel obstruction.  I asked if it was successful but the father didn't know-- it was too soon after surgery to know success.  He said the doctors were hopeful. 

Anyway, knowing that he was probably having to pay a LOT for her medical expenses and knowing I had some money left in my pocket from Jean Bernard's surgery I felt God clearly saying that we should give the money to this man toward her medical expenses.  It was certainly not a lot considering JB's surgery and related costs were about $1300 US but it was something to help this man out and more importantly to encourage him that God does love him and the baby and that He knows their need and will provide.  So, I pulled James aside and asked him to take the man outside and give him the money I had in my pocket.  He did and the man came back into that room with the biggest smile.  He looked younger, happier and he soon disappeared and then reappeared with a bag of medical supplies. I am sure he went right out and bought some things for Midrige.

I wish this story had a happy ending.  James has kept in touch with the father and when he called the other day he was told that little Midrige had passed away.  She is now with Jesus and her battle for her life here on earth is over.  BUT this man and his family were blessed to know that they have a God who loves them and who will send strangers (even white ones who don't speak Creole) to make sure they know they are not forgotten.  

I plan to try and visit this man when I go back to Haiti.  To hear his story from the past month I have been away and to share some photos with him of Midrige.  Please join me in praying for the St.Jour family and know that the money people donated for Jean Bernard did not just help him, but others as well.  God bless!  

When the father returned he had that bag (in the back) full of supplies. Praise God!  I only wish I had more money to give him that day.  :)  :)  THANK YOU for your support!