Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Urgent Request
I know we have mentioned the young girl who has EXTREMELY high blood pressure and other issues. She is 16 years old. Her name is Thamara. PLEASE pray for her. Tomorrow we will send her for testing. Unfortunately, we can not accompany her to see the doctor or go to the hospital and it will be VERY expensive for them. But, this is potentially a life and death matter. In addition to prayer, please let us know if you would like to contribute financially for her care (no idea what it will cost, but any amount will help- if we raise enough, it will go to some others we have met this trip). Thank you!
Cassandra's blog
It has been an amazing trip so far. Even though this is my third time in Haiti, I keep learning more and more about the Haitian culture and the people that live here. Our group meshes together so well which is a great blessing. Today we split the group up a bit. The Malone students, Morgan, Crystal, and Redgi went to the maternity hospital. This left Anthony and I at the base with James to translate. After praying about what to do, Anthony and I decided to walk around the community and see where God led us. We stopped to see Fritznel and check on his hand. He was not at home, but we found him at his usual spot that he hangs with his friends. The spot he was hanging around was near a water spring so there were many people there doing laundry and some kids playing in the water. He showed us around and it was really neat to see. After the little tour, Fritznel poured out to me and Anthony. He explained how his life is full of clubbing and drinking and he wants to change. He believed that God brought us to him and he thanked God for the healing that was taking place in his hand. We asked him if he would like us to pray for him. He said yes and invited us to his house (I think he wanted to do it in private away from his friends). When we got to his house, we talked to him about how God can bring him through any situation as long as he is willing to make the changes he needs to make. We prayed together, thanking God for bringing us together and for bringing healing to his hand. We prayed for change to occur, alcohol addiction to be gone, and for Fritznel to have a hunger for God so that he can develop a deeper relationship with Him and be a light to his friends. After prayer, Fritznel seemed very happy and thankful. We are planning to give him a bible shortly so that he can further his learning about Jesus. Please pray for Fritznel.
After this, the group joined together and we went to the center to test blood pressure of the people in the community. We actually had a great turnout. I give props to Hannah, Lucas, and Jack for taking about 100 blood pressures today, and to Robin for giving about a dozen lessons on high blood pressure (many Haitians have high blood pressure due to the high salt content in their food). The rest of us worked on keeping the people in line and writing the blood pressures down for them. It went very well!
After this, we went back to the base to sort through some medicine for the clinic we are having tomorrow morning. We have the whole night to spend together relaxing and hanging out as a group. We will have a long day tomorrow running the clinic. Please pray for knowledge and wisdom for the nursing students and doctor tomorrow, boldness and compassion for the prayer team, that we will have all the medications that we need, and for the hearts of the people we are ministering to so that they will be open to prayer and hearing about Jesus. Thank you (Mesi!)
-Cassandra
After this, the group joined together and we went to the center to test blood pressure of the people in the community. We actually had a great turnout. I give props to Hannah, Lucas, and Jack for taking about 100 blood pressures today, and to Robin for giving about a dozen lessons on high blood pressure (many Haitians have high blood pressure due to the high salt content in their food). The rest of us worked on keeping the people in line and writing the blood pressures down for them. It went very well!
After this, we went back to the base to sort through some medicine for the clinic we are having tomorrow morning. We have the whole night to spend together relaxing and hanging out as a group. We will have a long day tomorrow running the clinic. Please pray for knowledge and wisdom for the nursing students and doctor tomorrow, boldness and compassion for the prayer team, that we will have all the medications that we need, and for the hearts of the people we are ministering to so that they will be open to prayer and hearing about Jesus. Thank you (Mesi!)
-Cassandra
Photos- Day 5
I am really "slacking" with photos on my phone (not taking many) but trust me....the team is taking plenty that they will share with you all when they get home. They are having a GREAT trip!! Today we will split into groups and go to different locations. Please pray for the political situation here since election results are to be released tonight so there may be some protests- who knows, but they have realized how safe and amazing our community is. Nothing to worry about- we just pray it doesnt interfere too much with our ministry plans. But honestly... if it does, then God is just redirecting us!!
Morgan- the baby whisperer strikes again at the General Hospital.
Hannah had a chance too.
When there is a lack of resources at the hospital and you need traction.... improvise!!
Lesson at the orphanage!
Photo of the crowd after the movie. THIRTY SIX people! Praise God.
Anthony gave his testimony and offered words of encouragement to the crowd. They were blessed (at least I know I was).
God is sooo obviously leading and directing this group. Keep those prayers and messages coming. Thanks!
Monday, January 2, 2017
Morgan's blog
Today was honestly the hardest day of the trip and probably the hardest day out of any of the other missions trips that I have been on. We visited the general hospital in Port-au-Prince. I thought that it would be a normal hospital visit. I was very wrong in my assumption. When we walked through the main hallway to get into the hospital, I felt that I was walking into a horror movie. The hall was dark with a green glow radiating off of it due to the ceiling. There was trash everywhere. Bugs were prevalent and there was 1 man walking very slowly towards us. It was extremely depressing. We walked into a room where there were a few people who had some bone fractures and we were able to speak with them, get their stories and pray with them. One boy had his leg amputated at the hip. He showed no emotion the entire time we talked to his caregiver. He looked depressed and hopeless. We also talked to another woman who was there with her grandson. He had been kidnapped 3 months prior to his accident. He tried to escape and hopped onto a taptap or a truck and was then pushed off because they found out that he could not pay. He had burns everywhere and his left leg was broken at the ankle and in the mid thigh.
After we were done in the orthopedic ward, we made our way to pediatrics. Again, very sad. There were four babies. Three of them were under six months. Two of them looked like they were premature and they were not doing very well. One of the two looked maybe a month old at the very most. It was so hard to tell age because they were so small either because they were premature or because they were so malnourished. The third child under six months appeared healthy at first glance, but had a breathing issue. The fourth child in the room was an eighteen month old girl who appeared to have brain damage and possibly seizures almost constantly. I just wanted to pick her up and love on her but I thought it was best not to because I did not know he ins and outs of her condition. The best that we could do was just surround her, love her, touch her hair and pray that God put His healing hand on this beautiful girl. The mother of the baby who had the breathing issue came to me and just handed her baby to me. She explained to Crystal that she could see that I loved babies and looked like I should be holding one. I’m going to tell you that God knows exactly what we need at every moment of every day, and I needed to look down at a beautiful child in my arms and just rock, coo and love him. Some of the parents around their children approached us asking help to buy their babies medication because, in Haiti, the care is free but the medication and tests must be bought by family before they are applied. Once we got out of the room, Crystal said that we would be taking care of two of the children’s medication. One of the children, the girl with the seizures, would be receiving medication to help control them. It was so heartwarming to know that we were an instrument used by God to perform His work at the hospital.
After we left the hospital, we went to spend some time with the orphans. It was hard to transition into such a depressing atmosphere where you are so weighed down by the sight of disease, blood and hopelessness to seeing beautiful girls surrounding you, asking to braid your hair or to take your phone and camera to take some pictures. We did it and I think we did the best that we could have done with our mental state. An hour before we left, I taught a lesson taken from Matthew 19:14. It talked about how Jesus said “let the little children come to me” and how Jesus loves how open, curious and innocent children are and how he wants us, His children, to come to Him willingly because he loves the whole world, red and yellow, black and white. We also gave them a coloring sheet and a necklace with the colors from the “Jesus loves the Little Children” song. They seemed to enjoy it and were so contented coloring and sharing crayons trying to get each part of their page just right. It was so refreshing to see their energy.
In the evening we had a blast at movie night. James was a bit afraid that no one would come, so he sent out a man with a megaphone to bring people to the center to watch Johnny English. It totally worked! We told the community that the movie would start at 6 expecting them to show up at 7 because they all run on Haitian time. We were so surprised when we had about 15 people at 6:10. We started the movie at 6:15. None of us understood the movie because we showed it in French, but it was so much fun listening to all of them laugh and have a good time. I also got to hold James’ son, Nathan, which was also a huge blessing because it finally calmed me down after such a heart wrenching day. At the end of the night, we counted 36 people that came to the movie. At the very end, Anthony got up and told some of his amazing testimony and then sort of became an evangelist through James. To be honest, they could be the best evangelistic team ever. Their energy was electric.
Though we all went through emotional ups and downs, we made it through to the end of the day, and we can’t wait to get back out into the community tomorrow to continue whatever God has planned for us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we go through the rest of our week.
After we were done in the orthopedic ward, we made our way to pediatrics. Again, very sad. There were four babies. Three of them were under six months. Two of them looked like they were premature and they were not doing very well. One of the two looked maybe a month old at the very most. It was so hard to tell age because they were so small either because they were premature or because they were so malnourished. The third child under six months appeared healthy at first glance, but had a breathing issue. The fourth child in the room was an eighteen month old girl who appeared to have brain damage and possibly seizures almost constantly. I just wanted to pick her up and love on her but I thought it was best not to because I did not know he ins and outs of her condition. The best that we could do was just surround her, love her, touch her hair and pray that God put His healing hand on this beautiful girl. The mother of the baby who had the breathing issue came to me and just handed her baby to me. She explained to Crystal that she could see that I loved babies and looked like I should be holding one. I’m going to tell you that God knows exactly what we need at every moment of every day, and I needed to look down at a beautiful child in my arms and just rock, coo and love him. Some of the parents around their children approached us asking help to buy their babies medication because, in Haiti, the care is free but the medication and tests must be bought by family before they are applied. Once we got out of the room, Crystal said that we would be taking care of two of the children’s medication. One of the children, the girl with the seizures, would be receiving medication to help control them. It was so heartwarming to know that we were an instrument used by God to perform His work at the hospital.
After we left the hospital, we went to spend some time with the orphans. It was hard to transition into such a depressing atmosphere where you are so weighed down by the sight of disease, blood and hopelessness to seeing beautiful girls surrounding you, asking to braid your hair or to take your phone and camera to take some pictures. We did it and I think we did the best that we could have done with our mental state. An hour before we left, I taught a lesson taken from Matthew 19:14. It talked about how Jesus said “let the little children come to me” and how Jesus loves how open, curious and innocent children are and how he wants us, His children, to come to Him willingly because he loves the whole world, red and yellow, black and white. We also gave them a coloring sheet and a necklace with the colors from the “Jesus loves the Little Children” song. They seemed to enjoy it and were so contented coloring and sharing crayons trying to get each part of their page just right. It was so refreshing to see their energy.
In the evening we had a blast at movie night. James was a bit afraid that no one would come, so he sent out a man with a megaphone to bring people to the center to watch Johnny English. It totally worked! We told the community that the movie would start at 6 expecting them to show up at 7 because they all run on Haitian time. We were so surprised when we had about 15 people at 6:10. We started the movie at 6:15. None of us understood the movie because we showed it in French, but it was so much fun listening to all of them laugh and have a good time. I also got to hold James’ son, Nathan, which was also a huge blessing because it finally calmed me down after such a heart wrenching day. At the end of the night, we counted 36 people that came to the movie. At the very end, Anthony got up and told some of his amazing testimony and then sort of became an evangelist through James. To be honest, they could be the best evangelistic team ever. Their energy was electric.
Though we all went through emotional ups and downs, we made it through to the end of the day, and we can’t wait to get back out into the community tomorrow to continue whatever God has planned for us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we go through the rest of our week.
Photos- Day 4
I am so sorry, but I have very few photos from the beach and rest of the day yesterday. I used my bigger camera and the files are too large to upload because Hatian internet is too slow. But, here are a few that the team (pretty much Anthony) shared.
Everyone tried some fresh cooked conch at the beach. Some liked it- some not so much.
Anthony and Cassandra took a boat ride.
Making friends at the overlook... (here you can see all over the city)
Cassandra playing hand games at the overlook. She was also AMAZING at soccer with the kids there.
Lucas taking "selfies" at the orphanage!
Anthony playing soccer with the orphans.
Today we will head to the city to the general hospital and then back to the orphanage in the afternoon and then back for dinner and to show a movie at the Center tonight. Whew!!!!!
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Blog from Lucas
1/1
Today we went to the beach. I slept in until 8:30 and had breakfast of bread, mangoes, boiled eggs, and pineapple. She made homemade orange juice that tastes a lot different than normal stuff in the states (SO much better). We sat around and talked for awhile and Crystal explained some more stories about life in Haiti. She talked about how charity can be toxic and that their organization works very hard to give sustainable income for families, not just handouts. She said that it's frustrating when they've worked very hard and are on the brink of completing a project like that and another group comes in and just gives it to them instead and ruins their project. The people are just reliant on the handouts until that new group leaves. Then back to square one. Basically, handouts perpetuate the problem, they don't actually fix anything, making ministry a very difficult thing.
After the morning, we went to the beach. The ride there took an hour. We drove through many cities where we saw poverty that was very bad. No running water, houses made out of tarps, which many of which said "USAID" on it because of the earthquake handouts. The drive there was rough on some of the roads that were unpaved and bumpy but others were flat and straight meaning Reggie could absolutely fly. In a bus. Full of 10 people. Yikes. I noticed on the journey that nearly 90% of the people who drove motos drove the boxer moto. It was a cheap 125cc that people could afford and buy parts for it. No helmets are ever worn either. Most people would fit 4 people on them too.
The beach was gorgeous. It was a thin beach but it was long and right at the edge of the mountainside. I could see right through the water too. There were people trying to sell things along the beach that were slightly obnoxious but Crystal explained that they were trying to make a living. We bartered and I got a machete for $12. The people on the beach were very nice to us and seemed like they wanted to take care of us almost. Definitely expected it to taste like mangos or something. On our way back we were able to study on the bus some but it was too distracting. I was watching the poverty stricken villages pass by and I had too many ideas of how to help running through the my head. I love it down here and I absolutely can't to graduate and think of ways to come back and help as a registered nurse.
-Lucas Roshong
Photos - Day 3
Here are a FEW... I should have more when the group gets up and shares them with me. - Crystal
Time for a dressing change!
Praying for Fritznel. Please pray for him too.
Practicing English with some of our students.
Malone group
Cassandra and her good friend Anthony
Soccer "pick-up game" with some kids.
Lucas and Hannah walking back.
Blood pressure in the community.
This is Thamara- the young girl who is so sick. Please pray for for her too.
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