Hello all!
To begin, I am so blessed that I have stayed healthy thus far on the trip. One of my biggest fears coming here was getting sick and not being able to participate in everything going on. Praise Jesus that I am healthy and feeling great!
Today we spent the day at the orphanage. We began the day by grouping the kids up and teaching a lesson on creation. Katie and I taught the girls ages 8-11. Although it was difficult because of the language barriers, our translator did an amazing job helping us out. The girls were pretty shy at first but opened up pretty quickly.
Although I have only been here one day, I know this will not be my only visit to Haiti. It was so amazing today watching and interacting with the girls. It was a nice change of pace to see kids being entertained by simply playing with a piece of string and a button, kicking around a ball, or braiding each others hair. Being able to simply hug and hold these girls was an amazing feeling that I will never forget. They enjoyed singing to me and laughing at my dance moves :)
We will be going to the orphanage again tomorrow and I can't wait to learn more about them.
Jack- Say hello to Marley for me. :) I miss and love you. Hope everything is going well!
Shout out to Mama Sue. We love you.
Emily
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Hi to my Family!!!!
Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying Michigan weather because it is ridiculously hot here. We just ate dinner in the "birdcage" and there was absolutely no breeze, so beware when we all come home with super stinky laundry;)
Yesterday was a busy day of people-watching. We had some bus issues when we arrived in Port Au Prince so we spent a couple hours sitting in the shade people watching and talking outside. Then the bus finally came to get us and we were heading back to the base. I felt something on my foot and just assumed that it was sweat dripping, but when I looked down I saw an enormous, disgusting cockroach hanging out on my foot. I freaked out and the wonderful little Steven Stidham came to my rescue and squashed him. So gross. And then last night we saw 2 geckos running around the base. I will take geckos over cockroaches any day.
It has been such a blessing being able to come down and spend time loving on the kids at the orphanage again. It was so great to see some familiar faces. I spent time today reconnecting with sweet Elena, Manulita, Antoinesse, Mique and had the opportunity to meet some new girls. The boys did a great job starting the chicken coops today. They worked really hard in some extremely hot conditions, but everyone seems to be happy and healthy.
Keep praying for us!
Aaron and kiddos- I love you and miss you so, so much! I showed some of the kids pictures of you all today. Wish you were here:)
Love,
Katie
Yesterday was a busy day of people-watching. We had some bus issues when we arrived in Port Au Prince so we spent a couple hours sitting in the shade people watching and talking outside. Then the bus finally came to get us and we were heading back to the base. I felt something on my foot and just assumed that it was sweat dripping, but when I looked down I saw an enormous, disgusting cockroach hanging out on my foot. I freaked out and the wonderful little Steven Stidham came to my rescue and squashed him. So gross. And then last night we saw 2 geckos running around the base. I will take geckos over cockroaches any day.
It has been such a blessing being able to come down and spend time loving on the kids at the orphanage again. It was so great to see some familiar faces. I spent time today reconnecting with sweet Elena, Manulita, Antoinesse, Mique and had the opportunity to meet some new girls. The boys did a great job starting the chicken coops today. They worked really hard in some extremely hot conditions, but everyone seems to be happy and healthy.
Keep praying for us!
Aaron and kiddos- I love you and miss you so, so much! I showed some of the kids pictures of you all today. Wish you were here:)
Love,
Katie
Day of Arrival
The team arrived yesterday (Wed.) with no trouble except on our end but they handled it like champions!!! We (staff) went out to start the bus 10 minutes before we needed to leave for the airport but it wouldn't start because the batteries were dead. One was cracked and even melted on one edge so it must have been an issue that was coming already. We worked for over an hour trying to jump the batteries and other solutions but no luck SOOOOO we had to call Peterson to get us a rental bus to pick up the team. :) Redgi drove James, Ally, Jenny and myself to the airport to meet the team that was at that point already out of the airport and waiting for us in a shady park area. We got to sit with them another hour until Peterson and the bus arrived to take the team to the base. What a crazy first impression of Haiti for some of them. Praise God though that we have friends at the airport to call, Peterson has connections to get us a bus to rent and we had some extra funds available to buy three brand new batteries (almost $600 US- $195 each). Redgi got the new batteries installed in the bus last night and it should be ready to go today. Everyone got a good night's rest but it was HOT..... God bless and thanks for the prayers/encouragement. By the way - I got a new Haitian phone number which is (509) 4350-3329 for emergency.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
First Night
Good evening from Haiti,
Thankfully we had a wonderful day for travel. No delays, no lost luggage, so for a start of a week long trip its going very well. Just a few things that stand out in my mind are, the driving situation down here is absolute mayhem. You go where you want and however you want. The driver we had did a great job getting us safely from the airport to the base. Next would be the amount of motorcycles. Not just person travel but more for a taxi service. At the base you hear them go by almost every thirty seconds. This place is very much alive for being 7:30 p.m. I have a feeling that every one here is looking for a good nights rest after being awake since 3:00 a.m. Tomorrow we go to the orphanage and meet the children. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the team in this coming week.
To my wife Jenna, I miss you and love you. I hope that you had a good day today and that the kids are behaving themselves. I pray that this week goes smoothly for you. There is a slight breeze so its not unbearable. I cannot wait to see you again and tell you about this interesting place.
God be with you all,
Bryan Sanders
Thankfully we had a wonderful day for travel. No delays, no lost luggage, so for a start of a week long trip its going very well. Just a few things that stand out in my mind are, the driving situation down here is absolute mayhem. You go where you want and however you want. The driver we had did a great job getting us safely from the airport to the base. Next would be the amount of motorcycles. Not just person travel but more for a taxi service. At the base you hear them go by almost every thirty seconds. This place is very much alive for being 7:30 p.m. I have a feeling that every one here is looking for a good nights rest after being awake since 3:00 a.m. Tomorrow we go to the orphanage and meet the children. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the team in this coming week.
To my wife Jenna, I miss you and love you. I hope that you had a good day today and that the kids are behaving themselves. I pray that this week goes smoothly for you. There is a slight breeze so its not unbearable. I cannot wait to see you again and tell you about this interesting place.
God be with you all,
Bryan Sanders
They're here!!!
The team has finally arrived!! They are all settling in and unpacking their generous donations!! We are getting ready to have dinner and orientation! Someone from the team will update later on tonight with more info about their journey!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
FINALLY an update!
So... my internet plan is horrible. I use a different "provider" than the rest of the staff so updating has been very difficult. We have spent the past three days getting things organized and ready for the teams this summer. The staff is seeing "the other side of missions" as we talked about yesterday. We are also spending a lot of time talking about the upcoming groups and meeting with our ministry partners (and others). James has been at the base helping us get little errands finished. Redgi has been gone most of the time- returning the Mercedes (not a good choice after all- praise God for showing us that), picking up the Jeep (yes, we bought a Jeep Liberty- maybe just for the summer, maybe forever- time will tell) and doing all the necessary paperwork to take care of that, etc... We literally have not seen him except to sleep here the past two days. We probably won't see him all day today either because...............
THE BUS IS READY TO PICK UP!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes! Today Peterson will get Redgi this morning (in about an hour) and they will drive to meet Toussaint to get the bus and bring it to Redgi's house. He has a welder there who will (we hope) be able to help him install the seats and then he will bring it here to the base later in the evening- Just in time for the team coming tomorrow! This is such an answer to prayer and we are super excited about it. Two weeks to the day since arriving in Haiti (off the boat) we should have it in our possession.
If you are worrying about any of us, we are fine. Currently we are living on mangos, avacado and ramen noodles during the day but there is a nice restaurant to go to at night that has air conditioning and great/safe food. Both staff have internet plans that they purchased for their phones so they are able to keep in touch with home. This is important since they will be here for seven weeks each. We are all healthy (just tired) and getting ready to see all God has prepared for each of us over the summer. No chikungunya so far. :) :)
Some photos of the Jeep- 2003 Liberty (4 x 4). It is nice and only has 36,000 miles on it! Owned by a man in Petionville.
THE BUS IS READY TO PICK UP!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes! Today Peterson will get Redgi this morning (in about an hour) and they will drive to meet Toussaint to get the bus and bring it to Redgi's house. He has a welder there who will (we hope) be able to help him install the seats and then he will bring it here to the base later in the evening- Just in time for the team coming tomorrow! This is such an answer to prayer and we are super excited about it. Two weeks to the day since arriving in Haiti (off the boat) we should have it in our possession.
If you are worrying about any of us, we are fine. Currently we are living on mangos, avacado and ramen noodles during the day but there is a nice restaurant to go to at night that has air conditioning and great/safe food. Both staff have internet plans that they purchased for their phones so they are able to keep in touch with home. This is important since they will be here for seven weeks each. We are all healthy (just tired) and getting ready to see all God has prepared for each of us over the summer. No chikungunya so far. :) :)
Some photos of the Jeep- 2003 Liberty (4 x 4). It is nice and only has 36,000 miles on it! Owned by a man in Petionville.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Friday, June 20th update... First of all, if her parents are reading this- ALLY IS HERE! :) She finally arrived (after many delays due to storms in Miami) at about 7:30 last night and we stayed up until midnight talking cause we were all so excited! Jenny arrives tomorrow after a night in Miami (again, cause of the storms but also because her flight from Washington, DC to Miami was delayed too)....
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. James, Redgi and I put two bunk beds and a futon (the other futon will have to wait until we have a little more space) and unpacked MUCH of the stuff from the bus. It is starting to look like a base again but there is still plenty to unpack and organize before the team comes next week.
Redgi also had to drive to the city to meet up with one of Toussaint's men to give him another copy of his passport to try and get the bus, the license plate, the insurance, etc... Toussaint says MAYBE Saturday we will be able to pick it up. WOO HOO!
I had a meeting with a Social Worker (American) who is going to do an evaluation next week at Life is Wealth and then help us develop a plan for hiring and training staff/"house mothers" for the children This is VERY exciting news! Please cover this in prayer. As we were meeting, Redgi was getting the Mercedes SUV to borrow for the weekend to see if we want to buy it. The man is really working with us and has given us a good price, but it has lots of "little fixes" it needs (they do not have to be done to use it- just to make it more marketable later) and we hope to decide over the weekend if we should buy it or not for the summer at least (use it, then re-sell it and ship something better from the USA)
We also got to see Madame Josee who is very weak, in horrible pain still, and is completely bed-ridden now. Pray with us that her pain is eased by the medicine I brought. It is difficult for Redgi to be here and know he is missing these last days with her, but it is just as difficult to sit there and watch it happen. He is torn and our hearts are breaking for him.
Here are a few photos from yesterday unloading the bus.... God bless and thanks for the prayers. HE does hear you- we can feel it.
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. James, Redgi and I put two bunk beds and a futon (the other futon will have to wait until we have a little more space) and unpacked MUCH of the stuff from the bus. It is starting to look like a base again but there is still plenty to unpack and organize before the team comes next week.
Redgi also had to drive to the city to meet up with one of Toussaint's men to give him another copy of his passport to try and get the bus, the license plate, the insurance, etc... Toussaint says MAYBE Saturday we will be able to pick it up. WOO HOO!
I had a meeting with a Social Worker (American) who is going to do an evaluation next week at Life is Wealth and then help us develop a plan for hiring and training staff/"house mothers" for the children This is VERY exciting news! Please cover this in prayer. As we were meeting, Redgi was getting the Mercedes SUV to borrow for the weekend to see if we want to buy it. The man is really working with us and has given us a good price, but it has lots of "little fixes" it needs (they do not have to be done to use it- just to make it more marketable later) and we hope to decide over the weekend if we should buy it or not for the summer at least (use it, then re-sell it and ship something better from the USA)
We also got to see Madame Josee who is very weak, in horrible pain still, and is completely bed-ridden now. Pray with us that her pain is eased by the medicine I brought. It is difficult for Redgi to be here and know he is missing these last days with her, but it is just as difficult to sit there and watch it happen. He is torn and our hearts are breaking for him.
Here are a few photos from yesterday unloading the bus.... God bless and thanks for the prayers. HE does hear you- we can feel it.
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