Final blog for this group

          Today we visited Papillon boutique.  Papillon is a boutique that employs over 240 Haitian men and women.  These men and women are taught skills such as sewing, bead making, jewelry making, screen printing and pottery.  The items they make are sold in the boutique and the money they earn allows them to provide for their families!  The children of these men and women go to daycare free of charge until they are three and then they transition into school.  It is amazing to see these men and women creating these beautiful products!  While there, we had an opportunity to sit in their Clay Café and tap into their free WiFi!  It gave us a chance to send some messages to our families!
          As we wrap up our trip and prepare to leave Haiti tomorrow, we are all going to have a lot to process as we head home.  We have seen God show up in many ways since we began our trip!  He paved the way for a smooth flight here and a very fast and smooth exit from the Haitian airport, he brought around 25 women to our retreat, he gave us the ability to connect and serve these beautiful women and he even allowed us to witness one sweet lady give her life to Christ!  I know all our hearts have been touched by God’s goodness to us and the women of Carrefour!
        We had a very special visit tonight from David.  David is one of Crystals translators.  David’s baby boy, Jake, was born a month ago and we were happy to get the opportunity to pray for him, his wife and his sweet baby!
         As we have served here together, God has formed a very special bond among us women and I know we are all very thankful and feel very blessed to have spent this last week together!  We have all been challenged personally to continue to put our faith and trust fully in the God who knows and loves each one of us! 
        I know I speak for everyone when I say that this has been a very special trip and we cannot wait to share our stories with everyone at home!  We are looking forward to seeing our families but we will each be taking a piece of Haiti home with us!

Mel, for all the Princess Ninja Warriors!  (Mel, Paula, Tess, Annette, Crystal and Stephana)

Annette's 2nd blog

Hello Everyone,
        Everyone here is doing well.  The woman’s retreat was an awesome thing to see.  The Holy Spirit was with us as we worked through the retreat and pampering the woman every day after was so much fun. 
        Today was our beach day.  We got up early and went to church at Pastor Robbie’s church.  I love going to church in Haiti.  To see the Haitian’s worship and pray is amazing, they have such spirit and faith.  They put the worship words up on the overhead, in Creole and in English and they also sing in both languages.  Crystal explained that Pastor Robbie wants them to do both, so if someone speaking English comes to the church they will feel comfortable in his church.  Unfortunately he wasn’t there, but his wife, Madame Pastor was there and she did remember me. 
        After church we sat down with Betty the worship leader, who also did the worship for our woman’s retreat, to hear her pros and cons of the woman’s retreat.  She said that she can’t really think of anything bad, just a couple of little things……maybe next time we could get some younger woman, maybe invite even more woman and invite woman who don’t know Jesus.
        So after church, we got ready and went to the beach!  On the way Stephana and Tess gave their testimony and we prayed for both of them when they were done.  All of these woman that I am here with are amazing and I love them all!  What a Blessing this trip is!  God is good!
        We had the perfect beach day, it was sunny and the water was warm.  Melody and Paula took a canoe ride – pictures will come later!  We all got to try conch, which is a little animal that lives in a sea shell.  They pull it out of the ocean, throw it on a fire, after it is cooked, they pull it out of the shell, dip it in hot sauce and serve.  I enjoyed it, it is a little hot and chewy, but I really liked it.
         It poured on the way home, but God blessed us with a beautiful day of just sharing each others company.  I can’t believe that we only have one more full day it Haiti.  I will be sorry to go, but I will be happy to see everyone.  Many blessings to all of you praying for us.
In Christ,
Annette

Mel's blog

Hello everyone!
       We are all doing well, despite the Haitian heat, lack of electricity and little coffee!!  We had a thunderstorm last evening which did provide a bit of a breeze for a little bit.  Between the heat, the storm, the dogs barking and the neighbors music, I did not sleep very much last evening.  However, Mr. Alvarez came to the rescue and brewed enough coffee in his little perculator pot for Marti and I to share.  We do very much appreciate Mr. Alvarez!! (the groundskeeper)
       Today was our third and last day of our Women’s Retreat.  In today’s session the women were asked to share their personal testimony.  We were praying specifically for women who would be willing to share.  Plan B was for us to share our testimony if none of them would.  God was working in the lives of these women and we had TEN women come up and share testimony!!  They shared struggles from their past, things that had happened to them, things they had regrets over and even ways that they had seen God show up in their lives.  We had one woman who started her testimony by saying she was not a Christian but had experienced God.  Marti allowed her to tell her story and then asked her if she would like to know Jesus.  Her response was YES!  Marti led her in prayer and she accepted Christ into her life!  It was a very moving and powerful moment! 
       One of the things we were praying for was for the women to make connections among each other.  We noticed right away as they were entering the community building today that they were talking and laughing much more among themselves,  Paula asked how many had made a new friend and all the hands went up!  What an answer to prayer!  We also saw real trust and a sense of community among the ladies as testimony was shared.  It was easy to see they were relating to each other and feeling compassion for each other.  We are very excited for the women of this community and are continuing to pray for them to continue to seek each other out and continue to build relationships among themselves.
       Since yesterday was Marti’s birthday , they surprised her with a gift today.  Imagine her surprise when she opened the gift to find two brand new pair of underwear! :)  The ladies were so proud and happy to give her a gift!
       We continued with our pampering treatment and I believe all the ladies felt loved and relaxed when they left.
        After dinner tonight Annette and Crystal did dishes so we could pamper Madam Damus  and MaMa Madam Damus. (the cooks) We gave them the full treatment of massage, pedicure, facial and paraffin hand wax.  We hope they felt loved!  We also treated both Nahomie and Nadege to the same special treatment.  However, we did use peel off facial masks for them and we had enjoyed their expressions as they peeled their faces off!  It was a very fun and relaxing evening here at the base with lots of jokes and laughter!
        With love from Haiti,
               Mel

Paula's blog

       Today was the second day we held the Come to the Well Retreat at the community center. It was also a special day as we celebrated Marti’s 60th birthday, surprising her with the Haitian women singing ‘Happy Birthday’ for her and afterward they all came up to hug and kiss her. It was a beautiful display of love and blessing. We continued the surprise later in the day with Haitian birthday cake, whistles, beads, and glow bracelets. A special lady deserves special treatment.
        In session two I shared more about the woman who came to the well to meet Jesus, and that many of us are like her, hiding our true selves from others. As Marti shared more of her story, the walls surrounding these dear woman started to fall. But I could sense their apprehension as I pulled names out of the bowl to pair them up to share with one another. Many of them did not know each other, but I assured them that we could trust God with every detail of our lives, even this. It was a beautiful sight to see them stroll out of the building hand in hand, and arm in arm. They sat in pairs around the community center, sharing whatever they wanted to. We could see tears, physical touch, and deep care for one another in their faces.
        When they came back, we invited them to spend some time hearing from God and writing or drawing in their journals. After this our worship leader, Betty, led us in singing “What a friend we have in Jesus,” which brought me to tears. He indeed is a wonderful friend. My hope and prayer is that each woman that attended would know this truth. What a blessing it was to me to experience the beauty of their glorious worship to our great God. It was a little taste of heaven on earth.
        After lunch we set up stations to pamper ten more of the women with massage, facials, pedicures, and paraffin hand wax treatments. I believe our desire to make them feel like princesses was met. Many of them could not stop smiling as they enjoyed one station after another.
In the afternoon we went out on prayer walks, half of the team up the mountain and half to the community well area. I really wanted to go to the well to experience that. It was fascinating to see hundreds of people out in the middle of the afternoon using the same source of water, some bathing, some doing laundry, and some washing dishes. We were able to talk to a number of them. One thirteen year old girl seemed to follow us closely for awhile and we finally asked her about herself and if we could pray for her. She said yes and we asked if there was anything specific we could pray for. She said that evil had tried to kill her, but she survived. We asked if she knew Jesus and she said yes, so we laid hands on her and declared that she was safe in His arms, that she was loved, adored, and protected by the One who made her.
        This is why we came to Haiti…to know the One who made us and make Him known.

Prayer request from Crystal

Hello!  I can't tell you how exciting this group/trip has been for me personally.  Our heart as a ministry for the people on the mountain near our mission base has been broken many, many times as we walk among them, talk to them, hear their stories/struggles, and pray with them over the years. My heart personally is that the WOMEN in the community will come to realize (if they don't already) how amazing they are and how much God loves them.  Those women can impact the lives of their children, their neighbors, and their families more than any amount of time we can spend walking and talking among them.  So, it was with great excitement and anticipation that I prayed and waited for this week here at the Community Center. 

For those of you who do not know, Marti is a public speaker who has an organization in the USA called One Step Ministries.  She uses her story and the redemption she has found through Christ to encourage others to do the same.  We all have a story.  We all have struggles.  But, God is there through them all and He is waiting to heal us from any and all guilt/shame/etc. in our past.  The enemy loves to use those things to keep us from being effective for the Kingdom and it is only through the freedom that Christ can give that we are able to reach out and share His story, His love, His forgiveness with others. 

Yesterday, Marti was able to share that message with a select 30 women who God sent as ambassadors from that community.  We put out the invitation.  We walked on the mountain and talked to people.  James called many and asked them to come.  But GOD sent those He wanted to be there. 

Please join us in prayer as we continue to minister to these women.  Especially Marti who is facilitating the journey we are all on these few days. 

We are under attack from the enemy for sure.  We have had power only for about 30 minutes in the past 3 days and that was NOT at night.  No power means no fans, no cold water to drink (the water is tepid and hard to drink), no chance to pump bath/toilet water to the roof (hence the need to really conserve), no way to charge devices, no ability to use some of the items planned for pampering the women (ie:  the paraffin wax dip for hands).  Pray the team will get rest.  Pray they will stay healthy.  Pray they will not be discouraged. 

Mostly, pray for the women who are attending these seminars.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will work in them and that they will be released from whatever bondage they have been under from the enemy.  Pray that they will know their true worth in Him.  Pray that they will accept that as truth.  Pray that He will use them to begin a change on this mountain.  Pray.  Pray.  Pray.   

Thank you!  YOU are as much a part of this team as those who are physically here.  God bless you for your part in bringing us before the throne.    -Crystal

Annette's Blog-

Hello All,

        We are all doing well. We had a big thunderstorm last night and with not having power we were blessed to have all the wind from the storm to keep us a bit cooler.  Today was the first day of the woman’s retreat over in the community center.  So, we started the day out praying for all the woman that would be coming to have open hearts and minds, for Marti to have strength to tell her story, and mostly for the Holy Spirit to show up.  I can’t even begin to tell you about the day that we had!  We had about 22 to 23 Haitian women come.   Betty, the worship leader at Pastor Robbie’s church, lead the worship and it was beautiful the way they all sang together without any music in Creole.  As Marti told her story, our translator Stephana translated the story to the Haitian women.  The woman seemed moved by Marti’s story, some of them crying, some of them with goose  bumps and at some points they would say, “Amen”.  After words, some of the woman asked to be prayed over and some of the woman said that they were blessed to be hearing Marti’s story. 
       The woman were given lunch, then 10 woman were invited to stay for some pampering from us. Melody was giving facials, Paula was doing back massages, Tess was doing foot soak/massage and I was doing nail polish on their feet and/or hands.  We asked most of the woman if they wanted us to pray for them after their pampering.  Marti and I were able to pray with about 4 of them and it was awesome.
           I was told to have your face, nails and feet done in Haiti is a big deal and the woman all enjoyed it very much.  One woman commented that she felt like a princess.  They were all giving us kisses on the cheek as they left.  It felt really good to do it for them and let them know that they are loved.  The most exciting part is that most all the woman said that they would be coming back tomorrow for the second day of the retreat.  I can’t wait to see how God moves in some of the woman tomorrow.  I will be praying again for Marti and the Haitian woman tonight. 
        We want everyone to know that we are so blessed to have all of you praying for us.  I am so blessed to have Trinity Church and my family supporting me.  May God bless you all.
In Christ,
Annette 

Blog from Tess

 Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018
        Today was our first full day in Haiti, as we spent all day yesterday traveling.  Our morning started with a delicious breakfast by Madam Damus.  She served us hard boiled eggs, homemade bread, fresh mango and keylime juice.  The team then met with Crystal & Stephana to talk about our plans for the retreat that will take place over the next 3 days.  We walked to the community center and decided how to set up the room for the teaching and pampering times.  Once back to our base we filled the gift bags (cloth bags donated by MCC) that will be handed out to the ladies on the final day of the retreat (Saturday). 
        After lunch (chicken, rice and beans, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and pikliz) we all took a nap (since the first night was not very restful for most of us) and then we took a walk up the mountain to the lookout point and to meet some women that we wanted to invite to the retreat.  While praying for a sweet, older woman, a crowd of children had gathered around us on the steep hillside.  Crystal noticed one boy in the crowd whose eyes were blood shoot… the whites of his eyes were completely red.  When our translator, Jonny, asked a woman what had happened to him, we were told that his mother had taken a cord and wrapped it around his neck to choke him.  This had happened days before and the boy looked fearful when Jonny questioned him if he felt safe in his home.  It was one of the hardest things that I have ever seen… this young boy was about the age of my oldest grandson.  I was fearful for him, but had no clue how to help.  Marti and I laid hands on him and prayed for him while surrounded my more than a dozen other children.  Marti prayed for healing and that the whites of his eyes would be restored. She also proclaimed that God has a purpose for his life that he would grow to be a godly man and live his life for the Lord. I had to excuse myself from the team when we returned to the base and just sit in the bathroom and cry for awhile.  The sight of this young boy will stay with me and I will continue to pray for his situation.  I also pray if God allows it, that we would have time later this week to go back up that mountain to check on him again.  Please join us in prayer for Fednor and for his mother.
        Thank you all for your continued prayers on our behalf.  We ask that our first day of the women’s retreat goes smoothly tomorrow and that God would bring the women who need to hear Marti’s story of God’s healing power and redemption.