Annette's Blog

Hi All,
I first want to let you all know that everyone is healthy and I feel that we are really bonding well as a team.  God has done some amazing things this week.  Haiti is a beautiful country and the people are all so friendly.  Tonight we had a worship and prayer service planned at the community center, so this morning some of the group went up the mountain to play soccer and the rest of us went out on a prayer walk in the community to invite everyone to our event at the center.  When we go on prayer walks I always feel as though I am out of my comfort zone, but the response that we received from the community was amazing.  Everyone that we stopped to talk to actually took the time to talk to us.  A few people weren’t interested but they did listen to what we had to say.  Some of the team members said that they felt revived after doing the prayer walk.
People were a little slow in coming so we decided to bring the CD player out and sing a VBS song out on the street to attract more people.  I actually thought it was fun but some of our team felt out of their comfort zone.  We did some worship songs and we had people give their testimony.  Crystal’s friend Gary had volunteered to give his testimony first.  How amazing is that?  Dustin, Jonathan and Julie all gave their testimonies, and it was awesome.  I am so proud of all of them.  They were confident and their stories just flowed from them.  I really felt like the Holy Spirit was working in all of them as they told their stories. Gary shared with me that he thought all of their stories were beautiful.  We had a children’s service for the smaller children, which went very well. After the testimonies Josh gave a powerful service about how we and the Haitian people are alike.  We are all just looking for love, peace and joy.  And that can be found in Jesus. It was awesome.  At the end of the service James talked to the people about what they would like to see at the center and the English classes that will be coming up,  After that we had a couple of men from the community come up to the front and thank us for having the service and asking them what they thought. They said that is shows that we care about the community and we want the community to succeed together.           I pray that we were able to bring some attention to the center and that the community lets everyone know how best to use the center. Tomorrow is beach day!
     
       Love to all of you, Annette.

Photos- Day 5

We don't have many photos from today to share right now, but will post more later. 

There is a puppy downstairs at the mission base so the team introduced her to Sassy and Sparky. She is really cute and may find her way into a suitcase on Sunday. 

Emily's hair post braids. 

Becky & Molly played with the cook's son. 

Team time

Josh leading worship each night. 

Josh (and his friends) writing on the blog. 

Dustin's Blog

           We went up to an overlook on the mountain. It was by far the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The breeze out of the sun beaming directly on us with how cold it felt was like God touching all of us while we looked at something so amazing he created. Just looking down from the mountain was truly breathtaking. Going on our prayer walk and seeing how many of the people we talked to were Christians was so amazing to hear. Although when I actually had to pray over two people, I started and froze, it was a bit out of my comfort zone. Seeing how and where God has worked this week was unforgettable, everybody here is so incredibly grateful.

With CHRIST’S LOVE,
Dustin

Josh's blog

          Thursday was our first day of community outreach & ministry. After a fantastic conclusion to VBS at “Life is Wealth” orphanage on Wednesday, we embarked on an entirely different sort of ministry. We started our morning by climbing to the ‘overlook’ (in the ……community) – taking time to enjoy the incredible breeze & view, reflect, pray and worship. It was an incredible view! And it was such a refreshing breeze! But….what was God asking us to do? Where was God asking us to focus our efforts? Who was God calling us to talk to? We sought answers, and then eagerly went to work; trusting that God would lead & direct us. Talk about getting outside of our comfort zones!
We divided into groups & set out to prayer walk around …(community)… Each group had unique and amazing experiences! God is soooo good! I was in awe of how many people Crystal knew and how many connections she had in the community. It was a blessing to be able to meet them, see how they were doing since the last time Crystal connected with them, and to pray with them. It’s incredible how people from such vastly different cultures can connect through prayer. I also saw a lot of Haitians getting a good laugh at the size of my beard, haha.
Our team is doing incredible things and I’m in awe of how far they’re willing to be stretched! It’s such a joy to partner with Hearts United With Haiti….to take a small part in their larger ongoing work. Praise God!

Josh & the gang (I’m reppin’ them Jakob, Jordyn & Johanna!!)

Photos- Day 4

Aksidan!!!!  (she spilled water- she wanted me to take a photo cause we all tease each other when we spill) 

Leading songs (Becky)

Song leading

Johny with Angie

Stacey- what a gift she has been!! 

Molly helping at crafts

Game time again

The children ready for VBS

James trying cotton candy! 

The orphans with their gift bags

Serving food

Each child got a HUGE plate of food. 

Back at the mission base for the night for our own dinner. 

A Poem from Stacey

Sweat

          Drips

               Falling down our backs

                       

                            Stinging our eyes

                                                 

                                      Melting

   Melting our hearts

           As we grow to know people

  Melting our hearts

          As we experience their joy

   Melting our hearts

        As we learn from the people of Haiti

                                                                              

                                                                                          

Zach's Blog

What a beautiful day today! Today we sadly had the last day of Vacation Bible School, and we also got to celebrate all of the orphans’ birthdays! We had 5 stations for the birthday party; which were a temporary tattoo station, games/sports, cotton candy, crazy pictures and at the last station they got to pick their own clothing. It was very funny to watch the orphans try cotton candy for the first time. After the stations we got to treat the orphans to a huge meal and some birthday cake. It was so uplifting watching how happy the orphans were, going through their presents and eating their food. It’s so amazing how happy they can be with so little compared to what we have. I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for us this week!

Zachary Christie