Thursday, July 31, 2014

Mirebalais

Today we were country bound! We traveled on the bus about 2.5 hours each way to visit some of the girls who were once orphans at the Son of God orphanage in Mirebalais. Marie-Jolene, Jezla, and Darlene once lived in horrible conditions at the orphanage and were abused for many, many years. The orphanage has since been shut down, the man behind the abuse was sent to prison, and the orphans were either sent back to live with family (many of whom were kidnapped and sent to the orphanage) or sent to live at the Life is Wealth orphanage.
The three young ladies we set out to see today now live back with their family in the beautiful countryside. They all seem so happy to be back home and they loved our visit! Jezla is now pregnant and we brought her prenatal vitamins and were able to talk to her about her pregnancy and what to expect. (Well, nurse Libby and Crystal were able to tell her what to expect, the rest of us listened!).
The countryside is so gorgeous. It’s lush, sunny and beautiful! I love seeing all of the animals roaming around, but they make me miss my Pitbull Reilly. He would love Haiti and I could totally live here…if I had the correct ratio of shade trees to sunshine.
As we were leaving one of the girls picked a hibiscus flower for both Libby and myself. We wore them in our hair and felt super festive! Festive ladies!
Tomorrow we are going to the beach for a team beach day and I can’t wait! I am not exactly a warm weather gal so diving into a body of water tomorrow will be an absolute joy! Weeee!
X0x0x0x0 Colleen

Photos-Thurs.

Crystal and Jesula walking out to the bus. 
Lizzard on the house frame.

Visiting with the Martials in Morebalais

Libby and her new friend


Craziness today!!



Wednesday, July 30, 2014

More photos.....

Colleen taking someone's blood pressure. 

James with children we gave soccer balls to. 

Bob talking to the children at Life is Wealth about the necklaces he brought and about God's protection. 

The necklaces Bob's friend made to show God's love. 

Not quite how to wear the necklace, but..... Whatever makes her smile!! 




An Afternoon at Life is Wealth

Life is Wealth is the orphanage we have been visiting this week. It is filled with about 65 precious little girls aged 5-18 years. They really enjoy our visits and we really enjoy their company as they all have such funny personalities! They light up when we arrive and it is just makes our day to be able to love on them.
When we arrived they sang songs to us (which is so beautiful even if we can’t understand them ), then we all taught a bible lesson about the Armor of God. There were five parts, each of us read the section while James translated, and we dressed up Robinson with props to illustrate the story. Once the story was finished, Bob handed out beautiful cross necklaces made out of deer antler that his friend Pud from Ohio made. The children loved them!!!
After the lesson we all sat down and colored with them. They were so excited and focused on their coloring…they had never been so quiet before, haha! Colleen and I enjoyed the coloring as much as they did and we even were given some of their artwork, which was so sweet of them 
I am having such a great time here in Haiti and I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for us the last couple of days we are here. We have seen God so much already on this trip and met some amazing people as well.  I can’t wait to build more relationships and see what else God has for us to do!

-Kenzie

The Pediatric Ward

Haiti is such a beautiful country… it reminds me so much of St Vincent, where my sister served in the Peace Corps. The people are all so friendly and welcoming of our group which is so nice. Today we had a really eventful day filled with some of the cutest kids I have ever laid eyes on. We started the day visiting the pediatrics unit of the general hospital in Port au Prince. We brought diapers and wipes to give to the nurses to share amongst the babies and kiddos who are staying there.
In Haiti, the patient or patient’s family is responsible for all of the medicine and supplies needed for their stay/surgery/procedure. Most of the children who are in the hospital had at least one parent who stayed with them to advocate for their care. We were able to speak to many of the children and with our translator Reggie, we were able to find out more information about them and their ailments. There were several babies staying at the hospital who had been abandoned and had no one to sit by their bedside to snuggle them so Libby and I started our visit by holding them and loving on the babies who had no moms or dads. The first baby I snuggled fell asleep in my arms and was having baby dreams! It was so nice to be able to comfort him.
Another one of the abandoned babies seemed a little weary of Libby and I and burst into tears when we came over to him. Big crocodile baby tears  I decided to scoop him up anyway and he eventually settled down and snuggled up to me. I think all he really wanted was to feel safe and comforted. It was really hard to leave the hospital today. We all had a very emotional time there. So many of the children there are suffering from ailments that we in the United States would be able to remedy quickly and easily, so it was very hard to watch them be in pain. Today’s experience made me realize that I do, in fact, want to work in pediatrics once I become a Physician’s Assistant, and I would love to be able to bring my (official) medical knowledge back to Haiti one day
 x0x0x0 Colleen

The Moonshine Shack

It has been quite the adventure so far.  God has opened up so many different opportunities.  We have got to meet so many different people.  Yesterday in the morning we got to go on a prayer walk.  We met some really interesting people.  First we got to talk to an elderly man and met his two beautiful daughters, one was in the corner in punishment maybe 6 years old and the other was a 6 month old baby.  This man lived in a one room shack with a full size mattress and a shelf without much room for anything else.  We checked his blood pressure and prayed over his small family.  We ran into several other people and prayed with them and their families.  Some of these people had been infected with chickungunya.  We administered some medication and gave advice to ease the pain.  We stumbled across this family who were sitting under a tarp and the women appeared to be cooking something.  We found out that it was a moonshine shack. The women cooking offered us a shot we politely declined.  As we were sitting there a man approached and we talked with him for a long time.  He really got to me.  He was speaking to us about his country and how tired his people are.  He was saying that missionaries can go around and say “Jesus loves you” and “God is good”, but at the end of the day I’m still starving. It was really eye opening to me.
 It’s one thing to look at someone and tell them that Jesus loves them. It’s another thing to develop relationships with these people and help them meet their basic needs.  The man went on to say that even Jesus fed 5,000 before he preached.  People need to know that you are sincere that you aren’t just out here on some self-righteous trip trying to do your own good works.  I learn something new every time I am in Haiti.  I am always blessed by the people I run into far more than I feel I bless their lives.  
Getting to use my nursing skills has been so rewarding.  Finally realizing that yes I do know what I am doing and I can actually help people.  I get excited knowing that when I see someone sick or with a wound I can actually do something about it not just refer them to someone else to do it.
I’m sure that there are going to be so much more cool experiences ahead of us. God is good.
-Libby

Photos

Antoine... A man the group met on a prayer walk. 


Colleen with a baby at the pediatric ward of the hospital. 

Libby with an abandoned baby at the hospital.
Close up of the abandoned baby. 


Kenzie with the same little one. He got LOTS of love today!

Encouragement from Above

Wow!  Yesterday (Tuesday) was one of those God days I dream about and get super excited by.  Usually during the summer I only post photos, ministry updates that are not related to team activities or reports that just list what went on during the day- nothing personal.  But, today I feel I need to post and tell about some encouragement I received yesterday from God about the direction and future of Hearts United.

First of all, the group went out on a prayer walk in the morning and I stayed back.  When they returned they were talking and sharing about those they met as they walked the streets of our neighborhood but one story really touched me.  As the group was walking a man approached them and began talking to them about "what Haiti really needs".  He thought at first that the group was giving handouts and came to scold them, but when they got talking and to him he realized we were there to meet people and to encourage them, pray with them, etc.  The exciting thing for me was that the group reported that as they talked with this man about Haiti a group formed to listen to the conversation.  They said that the man said everything we believe in and promote among those who serve with us- that YES! there are physical needs in Haiti that should be addressed and that YES! Jesus did fill those needs as he lived and walked among the people, however, just giving someone a handout isn't the answer.  The beauty was that it was a Haitian explaining all of this and other Haitians were listening (even video taping what he was saying).  We can talk all we want but hearing it from a fellow Haitian will impact them.  So, the group was blessed to be able to give this man the forum he needed to talk to his fellow brothers/sisters.  We pray the message was understood and well received.

Also, I was able in the afternoon (before I knew all of the above story) to share with some students at the English class about our vision for the Training and Discipleship Center.  We take groups to practice English with them and one man asked "What is your vision for this school long term?"  I shared that we would like to not only use the facility as a place to offer classes like English, literacy (reading/writing), computer skills, etc, but that we would like to use it as a place where foreigners who come to Haiti can teach short classes to Haitians in various areas.  We have a vision for teachers having seminars for other teachers, nurses teaching nurses, plumbers teaching plumbing, and more.  We also would like to start Bible Studies, support groups and a discipleship program.  They loved the idea!  People were so excited to hear about those opportunities for the community- you could see it in their eyes and smiles.

Then, in the evening Pastor Robby came to visit and we had a great time of fellowship with the group and him.  He too shares in our vision for Haiti and our role as an organization as we move forward.  As the future becomes more and more clear we receive confirmation such as this which excites me (and the other leaders here).  We were never so convinced of God's plan for the future of Hearts United here in Haiti and look forward to watching as He brings it all together, then receives all the honor and glory for the work HE has done!  In the meantime we are humbled and blessed to be used by Him to help spread encouragement, healing, opportunities, and so much more here in Haiti.  -Crystal

Monday, July 28, 2014

Bob the Haitian Sensation

I woke up at about 5 am to the sound of barking dogs and roosters crowing. Even at 5 in the morning you can tell when it’s going to be a scorcher, but I will not complain about it because I came here to get out of my comfort zone and to work a full week for Jesus. What a privilege to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. If I have to have some inconveniences and patience testers along the way I will be content. When going to the orphanage today, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Even with 7 grandkids of my own I wasn’t sure how I would like these kids crowding around me. I loved the kids and it only took a few minutes to figure out why I’m here, God had a plan all along and just like all his plans you just have to be patient and see the results in Gods timing.
That’s kind of how this trip was for me from the start. God would give hints that I should come to Haiti but I doubted him. After so many times of God lining things up, I finally listened. As always he knew what he was doing. I’m also a big fan of the book of James, all you have to do is read it about 50 or more times like me and you’ll know whether to go on a mission trip If you have a chance. It also was a help to have a church that was supportive and a wonderful wife that says, “ If God’s pulling you there, you need to go”. I give all the glory to God.
-Bob

Photos

Here are a few photos from the orphanage today. I didnt get many on my phone but did get these two good ones. I have more on my camera. 


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Here

Libby and Colleen are both here safe and sound, have eaten and are chilling with the rest of the team. (Not too chilly-lol)

Church

We are in church today with a nice breeze blowing through the building.... VBS music used during "transition" times with the new roof over the whole front. God is moving in this place and it blesses  me (and so many others)!! Thank you to ALL who have been part of this summer so far-God IS using you still in Haiti. 


Saturday, July 26, 2014

Team here....

Kenzie and Bob are here safe and sound with their luggage. :) more later

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Ministry Needs...

People (especially those who have recently been on trips to Haiti with us) frequently ask us how they can support the ministry and what our greatest needs are.  Currently we have two that we would like to focus on....

1.  Support for Redgi/James.  These are our two Haitian missionaries who take care of much of the daily operations for Hearts United and the ministries we support in Haiti.  Both were receiving  monthly support of $200/month which was available due to a generous donation last summer.  This money, however has run out as of this month.  Currently there is not a way to continue this monthly support which these two men depend upon as income toward their living expenses.  James is getting married in December (the 20th) and is saving to rent a house for he/his wife.  Redgi is the primary financial support for his family which consists of his father and two brothers now that his mother has passed away.  He does get a stipend from our Board of Directors, a portion of the monthly sponsorship money from Life is Wealth donors and a small amount in monthly support from a church in Michigan, but that is in addition to what I am talking about.  BOTH Redgi and James could benefit from regular monthly sponsorship so they have a salary to depend upon when teams are not in town (both do get paid something to translate/coordinate when teams are in Haiti and they are working with teams).  We would like to replace this $200/month for each of them.  Would you like to help toward this monthly expense?

Redgi Alvarez (left) and James Desrosiers (right) are in need of regular sponsorship as missionaries with Hearts United...  Can you help?
2.  "Mommies" for Life is Wealth Orphanage.  We have met with a specialist and with Pastor Yves and he is willing to work with us to hire "mommies" and to put the children from the orphanage into groups (families).  These women would be trained to work with the children and would understand what it takes to love/care for children who are victims of abuse.  We are still working on the structure, however, it appears we will get about 5-7 women (depends upon funding) who would be responsible for a group of children (various ages).  Each family would be responsible to cook dinner one night for the entire group and take care of their own laundry, cleaning, etc...  They would be split by family into different areas of the building with community areas for play and socialization with the other families.  This will take a GREAT shift in thinking but this is the first time Pastor Yves is in agreement with this idea and willing to take steps needed to make it happen.  The preliminary stages are done.  Now we need to secure funding for the "mommies" and decide what needs to take place logistically to give each family their own living quarters.  We anticipate that each "mommy" would be paid between $200 and $250 per month plus given food and lodging.  If we get 7 "mommies" we would be talking about the need for $1400 to $1750 per month we need to raise.  There is no doubt the children will benefit from this program, but Pastor Yves doesn't have the ability to finance it.  We would like to offer the opportunity for people to sponsor a "mommy" just as they do an orphan- $50 per month x 5 people would pay for one "mommy" and would benefit 8-10 children.

** if you would like to help with either of these expenses you can go to our website (www.heartsunitedwithhaiti.org).  There you will find a "donate" page where you can designate a monthly automatic withdrawal through paypal or you can find more information on our "sponsorship" page.

STAFF RETREAT

Our hotel in Jacmel for the staff retreat- it was nice though it was Haiti!  (lol- no power due to generator issues, overpriced for what we got, etc... but it was time away together so it was fine)
We just returned from a four day "get away" in Jacmel where the five of us (Redgi, James, Ally, Jenny and I) got to relax, swim, read for pleasure, and pray/talk about the future direction of the organization.  It was great to get input from Jenny/Ally as they presented their observations and thoughts based upon the past month they have been here serving with us.  Both have been invaluable to the ministry this summer and both had some great thoughts and suggestions for us going forward.  It was nice to have confirmation on those things James, Redgi and I have felt for a long time.  Suggestions have now been made to our Board of Directors and we will see what God does in the next months/years through Hearts United.  A few things that have become more and more clear this summer are:

-Hearts United needs more staff- stateside (and possibly in Haiti) to handle specific parts of the ministry.  The main reason is that we are growing just too large to have a few people managing all the details any more. Another reason is that we need to train up leaders so that should anything happen to those essential few, the organization as a whole will continue onward with the mission that it has been called to and created for.  This means we will begin seeking individuals to manage certain areas of the ministry (ie:  short term missions coordinator;  fund raising/event planning/public relations coordinator;  etc...)  You can begin praying about how you may plug into one of these volunteer positions should you feel led to do so.

-Hearts United needs OUR OWN PROJECT(s).  Though the goal of the organization is to walk alongside Haitians in ministry they are already doing we all agree that we need to get moving on developing the Training and Discipleship Center to become that area where we can train up and encourage the future leaders in Haiti.  We agree that supporting the Haitians we do (LIW Orphanage, Rony's Foster Program, Pastor Robby's church) is in alignment with what we were called to Haiti and to start Hearts United for, however, we need to follow His direction with creating this center where we can train and equip HAITIANS to then go out and make a difference in their respective communities.  We are still praying for land and/or a location where this will be possible.

-Hearts United is growing and God is using us in mighty ways- both for the teams that come and for those we minister with here in Haiti.  This summer alone we have moved closer to the goal of helping Pastor Yves at LIW become less dependent upon foreign aide while helping the orphans heal and become the women (and men) God has intended them to be.  We have met with specialists and are working toward a "mommy" program there where the children will be divided up into family units and will be mentored by trained staff.  This should cut down on some of the negative behaviors we have seen in the past few years and should help the orphanage become more manageable for Pastor Yves and his wife.  Through this program the orphans will feel more secure and encouraged to grow in their relationships with others and with God in healthy/positive ways.  It will take an adjustment period but can ultimately be an extremely positive step for this orphanage and these children.  We spent a bit of time on the retreat praying about what God's plan is for this program and what our involvement should be.

Overall, we are so blessed to be His hands and feet here in Haiti and we truly desire to serve God in all we do and represent Him to the Haitian people and communities we serve.  We also desire for Him to use us to continue to impact short term teams and use their time in Haiti to encourage and train them for service wherever He calls them in the future.  It has been a blessed summer so far and we thank and praise Him for His faithfulness to us- individually and collectively as Hearts United WITH Haiti.

Blessed beyond belief-  Crystal

At the port in Jacmel- our evening out on the town (dinner at an italian/mexican restaurant)

another photo from our evening out


Bassin Bleu- we stopped here on our way back to the base after the staff retreat.

Another photo of Bassin Bleu- soooo pretty here

last glimpse of Jacmel (from the road into Bassin Bleu)-  what a pretty city it is!


Friday, July 18, 2014

Beach Day!!

For our final complete day in Haiti, we took the leaders of the church to the beach. The crystalline water was a beautiful sight, and the weather was amazing, due to the continuous breeze. Different vendors had been set up on the beach, so we walked around and got some shopping done. They were pushy and persuasive, but it was fun to barter for the best price. Groups of us took a trek up and down the beach, searching for coral and shells in the sand. They’re a lot more conspicuous here than at the beaches near home. While we were enjoying the warm water, we basically played a huge game of Monkey in the Middle, boys vs. girls style. The leaders of the church joined in, and it was tons of fun. Other than that, we just splashed around, floated, and had some nice relaxation time. On our way out, the church leaders had us try kinep. You had to bite of the top and suck on the fruit inside, then spit out the core. The beach was about 2 hours away and the drive back was somewhat miserable. We were all tired and famished. The rest of our afternoon has been spent sitting around debating about silly things that no one can win (mainly, it’s been Josh and Jeff). We are planning to head to a field for some soccer ministry as soon as we wrap this up. Most of us are ready to head home at this point. The trip has been an amazing, eye-opening, fun experience, but it’s also been long, and most of us are drained of energy. I, personally, (Miranda) have been missing my mom and my cat. Hi Chester! Well, we all can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow night, we miss you! 
~ Miranda and Lauren

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Thursday!!

Today we all went to the girl’s orphanage. It was fun visiting with the girls.  Some of the older girls braided the boy’s on our team’s hair.  It was funny to see the boys on our team with braids in their hair.  While we were there the orphans made a circle and chose different people on the team to dance in the middle of the circle.  The girls were laughing at some of us for dancing like typical Americans.  Some played games with us.  Zach C was pretty good at doing the hand games, like patty cake.  I wasn’t so great at some of the hand games. It was really cool to see the girls interact with all the youth.  At the end it was really hard to say good bye to them, because we know we won’t see them again for a long while. After visiting the girls, we went back to base and ate lunch. After lunch we headed to Pastor Robbie’s church for a meeting with him and his leaders.  We talked about our different cultures as far as the differences in the way we raise our children.  Since Pastor Robbie’s church is so young, he wanted us to help give them ideas on how best to connect with the children.  We gave him a lot of information about how we run our Sunday schools/Jr. church. So that way we can help fulfill Pastor Robbie’s vision for his church with the children. The whole meeting went well and the Haitians were ecstatic and excited about our ideas. We pray that they can use these ideas and grow their children’s ministry.  Pastor Robbie asked us to pray for his church, that they can grow into a wonderful ministry.  Tomorrow we are going to the beach in the morning with our team and others from the church. We are all very excited and cannot wait. Let’s hope the weather isn’t too hot tonight so we can all sleep like babies. Everyone is doing well and we miss all of you and want to thank everyone for the prayers.  May God Bless you,
Annette and Zach Christie

A recap of Wednesday!

Yesterday was a very relaxing day. We got to sleep in and rest up for the crazy night that we had ahead of us. After waking up and showering, we ate breakfast and did our devotions. We debriefed and talked about the day before and then we headed out the door. We arrived at Pastor Robby’s church and prepared ourselves for the 230 kids that were sent our way for VBS. All the children arrived bursting with energy and joy. A group of girls and boys grabbed me and pulled me into the games to participate and enjoy the fun with them.  We sang and laughed and sent them all to have a snack, play games, do a craft, and listen to a great bible story. It was an awesome night because Aubrey, Lexi, and I met Jonah and Valarie. Jonah was a 22 year old member of the church who is learning how to speak English and French at the same time, which I find nuts. Valarie is only 15 and she told us (through Jonah) that she had a dream of learning to talk fluent English and travel to the United States to speak about Gods love and dance. They taught us some vocab in Creole. The following is what I can remember: Head is Tet, Noses is Ne, Mouth is Bouche,  Leg is Pie (Pee-ay),  Come is Vinnie, Go away is Patouche, and Thank You is Mesi. You will be proud to know that I will for sure say them all when I come home. When we finished up VBS we went home to have a quick, yet delicious meal, and left again to go back to the church. We had a movie ready for the church family. The movie was Soul Surfer and we picked it because the movie is based off of a girl who had her faith tested. We are happy to say that everyone, including the children, loved the movie and could relate to it in one way or another. Even though we were tired and slightly grumpy, a few of us were chosen to tell our testimonies. Although some of us were nervous (not me), we put it into Gods hands. Miranda, Lauren, and I were done speaking and were very happy to notice that almost everyone had their attention glued to what we had to say. I felt blessed, and so did the rest of us, to share our testimonies and be able to know that they connected with some of the church members. Tired, sweaty, and ready for a good night’s rest, we all squeezed into the bus and arrived back to the base. Overall, it was a good day and I felt blessed to have the opportunity to be here and witness it myself. Shout out to Mom, Dad, Wyatt, Nadine, and Rich. I miss you guys (sort of) and will be ready to see you when it is time to come home, although I wish I could just live here. Love ya.
Zack
 (and Aubrey who typed and edited this for me)

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Tuesday!!

Well, today has been a totally different experience for me (especially for an unknown country boy from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania). Today was just another day in Haiti so far. Working in the construction site, VBS, and fellowship. But today has been a more of “different” day. Throughout the work day, Zach C. Rylan E. Zack H. Josh G. and I have been doing more fellowship with the children and workers today if anything. Two little Haitian children have been following us, and as we sat down talking to one another, those two little girls have been right there beside us laughing away. The older one was making hand gestures about how Josh, Rylan, and Zack were “strong” and or “big”, while she made hand gestures to Zach and I saying that we’re “skinny” and or “weak looking”. After a few laughs with them, they both looked at our hands and determined how “bad looking” our hands were. Due to the calices, scars, and scratches on them. The majority of the time then has been either playing “Tic Tac Boom” (Hot Potato), Soccer, or “Patty-Cake”. When time passed after those two little girls, when lunch was getting ready, a man pulled me aside and out of curiosity, asked me, “Would you like to learn to speak Creole ?”. So I said yes. After countless lessons on him teaching me Creole, I about had it. But I loved how close he treated me, even though I ain’t Haitian. Later as we got ready for VBS, there was a little boy none of us could stop laughing once we saw him. So as we did the intro Lexi H. handed him over to me, dead asleep, and made me hold him. Then throughout the whole VBS, I’ve been holding this little boy. Cute as a button, he did what little boys do best. Pass gas on my arm. As I was holding this little boy, I felt almost like a “safe” person for this child. Reason being as I was holding him, he never wanted to leave or have anything to do with the rest of the children. Almost looked like he was my son it looked like to me at least. Coming to a close, it makes me smile all the time, seeing all of those children singing in English praising Jesus, and seeing them get into the Bible lesson and taking some of it seriously when it comes to Jesus and the Bible. So that’s about it for me at least for today’s experience.

-Adam Weber.

Video

I am going to TRY to post a video for you all to enjoy....


Photos-

This team is having a blast and doing amazing too!  We have had three FANTASTIC groups this summer who love Jesus and showing Him and His love to the Haitian people with whom we minister.  God is using them in big ways here in Haiti and they are just the boost and energy we have needed as we get more and more fatigued from hosting each group.  As Jenny said yesterday, "It is days like this one that make you realize just why we are in Haiti this summer".  Thank you for ALL your prayers and encouragement- it truly is one body and you ARE a part of the ministry we have here in Haiti.  Enjoy a few more photos (we will try to upload a video too if we can)...

walking up to the overlook first day.... seems like forever ago!  

the chickens at Life is Wealth Orphanage on July 14th-  egg count:  about 8-10 per day (from 15 chickens)

construction team at Pastor Robby's church- they are working alongside the Haitian men/women

More hole digging to set the posts (then we will build up and get to work on the roof!)

Emily found a buddy and held him as he slept!  

Ali gave Pastor Robby a temporary tattoo

Jerry translated for the Bible lesson part of VBS

This is the craft station.... 

Many children for the opening but by the end we had more than doubled in size (started with about 75 and ended with about 160)

game station... (got in a circle and passed a beanie baby around- each child who can recite all 3 memory verses at the end of the week will get a beanie baby as a prize)

More of the craft station

This little guy was watching things.  The children were SOOOOO cute!

Closing program/songs

Looking back as we left (at the construction area). The men of the church were going to work into the night to keep things moving.  I can't wait to see how nice it looks when we go tomorrow.  It's kind of the Haitian version of a barn raising-many from the congregation are there to assist in some way or another.  
Highlights from the team:  -the women from the church assumed responsibility for the snack (crackers and juice);  -the joy/excitement from Pastor Robby as he saw all the children coming and coming (PRAISE:  He has asked the team to do a seminar on Thursday to teach some women from his church about how to work with children because he said, "I watch you all and I never saw someone treat the children as you do- can you teach us how to do that?"  WOW);  -watching the translators get excited/dance/sing with us and then, to hear their hearts and how they were touched by our interaction with the children.  

It feels like it has been a full week already and it is only the beginning of Day 3.  Keep praying for this group and the ministry God still has for us all.  -Crystal

(PS-   I just have to tease and say this:  WAY TO GO, LANCASTER COUNTY!  This is the third group to come to Haiti with us from my home town/area in Pennsylvania and they have all done a great job.)

Monday, July 14, 2014

What a great day!!

Today, the girls traveled to an orphanage and the guys helped a local church start to rebuild and stabilize their facility. Upon arrival at the orphanage the children had huge smiles and were so welcoming. They showed us around their home and the various things they do during the day. They loved the cameras and taking lots and lots of random pictures. We brought a craft of leather rings to do with them and they absolutely loved it! It was touching to see how happy and content they were with everything they had which wasn’t that much. We left them with smiles and lollipops and reassurance that we would return tomorrow. Later in the afternoon we started our VBS at the local church where the guys were working. We expected a “normal” VBS and not a lot of excitement due to the fact that no one here knew what VBS was. Boy were we wrong!! At the beginning about 20 children came early, we turned around and it started multiplying. There were then about 70 kids when we started the opening and by the end of the night there were 160 happy, excited children and that was with the gate closed! We were overwhelmed with joy and stress. The children loved the music even though it wasn’t in their language and by the end of the night ALL of them could recite the memory verse. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that a group of women from the church quickly put together a snack and hand squeezed juice for all 160 kids. We went with the mentality to serve them and in return felt they served us more. Overwhelmed and blessed at how kind and happy everyone was we are exhausted and excited for another day tomorrow with hopefully many more kids. Please pray that we don’t get too stressed and anxious about planning tomorrows evening VBS and we would put it all in God’s hands as he knows what’s best. A special shoutout to GPA, gram, paps, other gram, Uncle Bob/Dad, Brylan, Gav, and Isabella!! We are missing you guys like crazy and cannot wait to see you and hear about your (lonely) week! Love you all!
Lex and Aubs

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Sunday in Haiti!

This place is amazing.  When you first get here everyone seems rude and pushy almost judgmental by the way they look at you.  Kind of freaked me out a little when we stepped out of airport and found ourselves in front around one hundred people behind gates staring at us like cattle.  It was unnerving.  You could feel the hesitation from our group because none of us knew what to do. Thankfully Mrs. Funk (Crystal that is; I’ve always called her Mrs. Funk and she said I don’t have to stop.) called my name and we all walked as a group to her. Her first full phrase to us was “this is James, one our translators, follow him to the bus and stay to the side of the street. The vehicles will not stop for you and will most likely run you over.” Those words were not very comforting to the way we already felt. The fact that people wouldn’t stop for you and most likely run you over made the Haitian people sound rude and uncaring. As we drove through Port Au Prince we learned aren’t many rules for traffic. You drive, you pass when you can and honk your horn when you need to turn or make some other maneuver.  It was awesome! We need those rules in America. Anyways, we made to base safely and went through basic rules and layout of the house, we settled in and very soon ate some of the most amazing food we have ever had. It was so good! Our cooks are amazing! After dinner we had our first ministryish kind of thing. We took the bus half way up one of the coolest ever! And then hiked up the mountain to a church whose walls had collapsed in the earthquake but the pillars still stood. The view was so beautiful.  It was amazing. We could see the whole city and the amazingly blue sea at the bottom of the mountain and feel the breeze that always blows 24hrs. a day here in Haiti.  We were at the church to pray over the city and connect with some of the locals there simply by talking with them.  We did just that. And as we did we learned that the people we thought were hostile and judging were not. They return smiles and waves instantly.  They love talking with you, they love asking questions because many speak English and many teach each other English.  There were three brothers whose older brother had learned English and had taught his other brothers English as well and their grammar and pronunciation was better than most Americans who went through twelve years of English classes.  Even more so the children here are amazing. They will walk up to and ask you questions, say things in Creole you will not be able to understand and they always always smile and wave. They love smiles. They’re amazing people and I find them more pleasant than most Americans back home. So I was supposed to write about our church service this  morning and that was all Saturday… oops. Oh well, moving on to what I was told to do. We got to church in the middle of worship and it was hot and humid but everyone already there didn’t care. They were dancing and singing and having a great time.  The church itself was awesome because it was an open air church and so you would get this breeze as you sat or stood there.  We made a VBS promotion by explaining what we were doing and when. Then we sang “All Around the World” it was so fun because no one knew the words but they enjoyed our horrible harmony and crazy motions.  Pastor Robbie actually told us he enjoyed watching us dance like children. The service was three hours long but it was one of the coolest things I ever experienced and wish I could do it again.  I’m sure the rest of the team feels the same.  We got back to base and had lunch and have been spending time fellowshipping and napping and planning for VBS. Currently we’re just hanging out and waiting on dinner, the streets were quiet until a moment ago when Germany scored. You could hear the screaming from our neighbors and the rest of the street.  We’ve been told the streets will fill with screaming people if Argentina scores. It should be epic.  This room is hot because there is no breeze (yes I did just say breeze and not AC) so I will sign off and leave you with this one reassurance.  If you’re worrying about anything, stop. God’s presence is so strong.  Everything is going so smoothly; no one is sick, no one is injured nothing has gone wrong.  The airport went so smoothly it was awesome. We are in God’s hands and He is here with us. Your prayers are still needed but your worries are not. Never stop praying, please.
Rylan

Funeral details

People have been asking and the "pre-funeral" arrangements are Thursday night with the funeral Friday morning. Total cost was $1700 US. I do not know where the family stands financially with this (Redgi is away still) but I am sure they will use anything donated wisely. Thanks to ALL for your condolances- they mean so much. 

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Madame Josee

I am writing to say that tonight when we were at the overlook Redgi received a phone call from his brother that his mother passed away (about 5 pm.). She was a wonderful woman who loved the Lord with ALL her heart and served Him well.  Her testimony was a witness to MANY.  She will be missed so much and our hearts are breaking for her husband and sons.  We were blessed to visit and pray with her yesterday and knew that the end was getting close.  Please keep this family in your prayers.  (if anyone wants to help with funeral expenses we will accept checks made to Hearts United with Haiti PO Box 55 Morgantown, PA 19543 or you can donate from the website- www.heartsunitedwithhaiti.org on the "donate" page- please note what it is for)

Summer 2013

Photos- Team 3

Here are a few photos of the group at the "overlook" in Haiti- praying over the city....

the group hiked up to the overlook to pray for the Haitians and the trip/week ahead

Some of the guys looking out - this was an old church that fell in the earthquake.  

Josh (the leader of the group) brought his guitar and we had a time of worship together.... it was so cool!

on the bus (rear view mirror) on the way home from the airport