Wow! It’s already time to post our last blog. Wednesday we
had a small group with the youth and focused on why we pray and how they are
the light in Jacmel. The small group was very cool because we really got to
know all of the youth on a more intimate level.
Yesterday was our last day with the kids and to end the week we
performed a skit to a song by Lifehouse called “Everything.” The skit begins
with God bringing a girl to life and showing her his love and beauty. Soon
after spending time with God she becomes distracted by things such as
boyfriends, greed, addiction, negative body image, and shame. At the climax of
the song she decides to fight back against all that has caused her to fall in
an effort to reach the safe-haven of the Lords arms. The skit ends with the
Lord rescuing her from all of the bad things that were trying to keep her from
him. The point of the skit was to show the youth at the church that on the path
of growth, darkness is there and they will surely struggle, but Jesus can and
WILL always come to rescue them!
Today
is Friday. Kerry, our guide and connection to WHI, has been showing us around
Port-Au-Prince. We’ve been to The View, which is this incredible spot up in the
mountains where we can see all of Port-Au-Prince. We also went to the Baptist
mission which was established here in Haiti in the 1940’s by the first Baptist
missionaries to come to Haiti. They’ve since built a school, a church, a
hospital, and a place to train locals on how to work with the land and other
trades. There is a big difference between Jacmel and Port-Au-Prince. Jacmel is
a small town where everyone is, for the most part, living in the same level of
poverty as their neighbors. Here in Port-Au-Prince there are government
buildings and homes with foundations right across the street from tent cities; communities
of tents built to house homeless people after the earthquakes. Don’t be mistaken, there are tent cities in
Jacmel, but the stark differences of housing and income levels that exist in
Port-Au-Prince certainly aren’t as prevalent in Jacmel.
The
time we’ve had here is invaluable. This trip has certainly made a lasting
impact on our hearts. The people, sounds, smells, and images of Haiti will
never be forgotten.
12Stone just sent me their first Haiti
team of 2012 and I am SO excited! I’ve pretty much used the last 7 months as a
way to prepare for this week and the following two.
Saturday we picked them up from the
airport, safe and sound, and made the drive out to Jacmel. It took us quite
awhile as traffic was absolutely HORRIBLE… but, we made it.
Today, we ate a wonderful breakfast
and then walked through the doors of a very joyful church. Wayne got to share a
message to the congregation. Pastors here love having guest speakers. After
that, we said goodbye to the church and went back to the hotel to rest for a
few hours. After all, the beach requires a lot of energy ;) We ate spicy
fish on the beach, swam, played soccer, and even got some beach volleyball in
with the locals.
Everyone is in good spirits and good
health. Please pray for us as we begin our first day of ministry
tomorrow.
3.13.2012
From
the team
Day 1
“I Sing Because I’m Happy”
Our first day
in Haiti was a great experience. We all found out what it means to be on
“Haitian time”. Going to church in the morning was an eye-opening experience.
We heard the girls sing a beautiful song with words “I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free”. After some time of worship the pastor asked Wayne to
give a sermon. Wayne did a wonderful job of bringing the reason why we are here
and the reason how 12 Stone got its name together in a great sermon. After
church we went to the beach and had some local cuisine and some fun time in the
water. We drove home for a wonderful dinner that the hotel prepared for us and
some time to talk about what we learned.
Ryan
I learned
many things throughout the days that we have been here. The children are eager
to learn but a little shy about sharing their faith with others. The group has
had some great ideas for skits and situations that help them. The envangibands
and cubes have worked well and they have retained a good amount of the
knowledge but the true challenge is getting them to share it with the other
people. I think that if we could find a bridge between them and those who they
consider “the bad boys” or the one they are told not to associate we could
really help the community grow in followers. I’m excited to see how they
grow during this week.
Danielle
It’s been
neat experiencing the culture and getting a feel for the type of community that
exists in Jacmel, Haiti. It’s certainly a beautiful place but what really makes
Jacmel beautiful are the people that live here. When there are traffic jams
strangers stop to help strangers, when we were playing n the beach a girl came
and played with my hair. The people here, from what I’ve seen, are kind people.
We’re
staying at a hotel; the women on staff here are really nice and the rooftop
where we have our daily debriefs has the most incredible view with mountains on
one side of the hotel and palm trees on the other. Last night, however, I ran
across something that I’m not too fond of. A special friend was waiting for me
in my bed after debrief, a very large, very fast tan/brown spider had taken up
residence on top of my blanket! Blondine squished it for me but needless to say
it was challenging falling asleep and staying asleep last night know what
crawls around in the dark here! Things like this along with mile high palm
trees, mountains that flow straight into the ocean, and colorful buildings
amidst burning trash, pollution, the demolition left behind form the
earthquake, and people who are impoverished by their lack of freedom and
compassion from years of a corrupt government create such an enchanting,
strange place.
It’s
cool to see what God has been doing in these people before we arrived, how he’s
impacting them now, and what he will do with Haiti after our team is gone.
Please pray for not only the spiritual well being of Haiti but the political
well being of Haiti as well. There are huge changes that need to be made and
challenges to be overcome in this country... much, much bigger than anything
any group or mission team could ever be capable of fixing or helping. But God
is capable and when the people of Haiti learn to seek him whole heartedly then
they will certainly find him. He is redeemer and rescuer and I pray that he
would continue to reveal himself in this way to the people of Haiti.
Wayne
A smile
translates to smile no matter what the language, no matter what the country, no
matter what the color of your skin. It’s the universal communication
vehicle that always works. The wonderful people of Haiti are certainly no
exception to this rule. This is a wonderful reminder to us that we
are all God’s children. Something perhaps many of us forget all too often
back home in the States. So if I were to send one message back to you
reading this blog, it would be to pray that God remind us, daily if
necessary, when we lose sight of the family we all belong too – His
family.
Will
This is not
the Caribbean you see on tv. When I first arrived in Haiti, I quickly saw why
most Cruise ships do not port in Haiti. Even though Haiti may not seem great at
first, I saw the inner beauty of this country through their people. The people
of Haiti are very helpful to others and are hard workers. I can see through
coming here that God has a plan for this island and even though things might
not be great right now progress is being made every day. Our leader Kerry told
us you have to pay to go to school here and it is expensive. However this year
the new president of Haiti paid for 903,000 children to go to school this year.
That shows that the country is making progress for the future and how God is
doing work in Haiti.
Derek
The one
thing that has stuck out to me the most is the kindness and sincerity of the
Haitian people. From common courtesy, to genuine happiness to see you, the
people of this country have welcomed up with open arms. We are focusing on
teaching the students how to evangelize, and the speed in which they absorb the
information is remarkable. We did our initial message to them on Monday and
today they were able to get up in front of their peers and recite it all back
to us! Very encouraged with the progress so far, and can’t wait to see what the
rest of the week brings!
Chrissy
I absolutely
adore Haiti! All of the people are very genuine and friendly. The food is
delicious and the scenery is beautiful. Everywhere you go in Haiti there is
always a community oriented feel to the people and place. The youth that we are
working with are sweet and very understanding to the sharing of the gospel. It
is so joyous to see the look of understanding on these kids’ faces. I am
enjoying every moment I am spending with the youth. I thank my Heavenly Father
and 12stone for giving me this opportunity to share my knowledge of the faith
and to love these children! J
Prayer requests
Pray for God
to work through us to help the youth of Haiti to better understand how to
spread the Gospel – this is the next generation of Haiti.
Blondine
Home! This is
the first thing that I can think of when I think about being in Haiti.
Even though this is my first trip to Haiti, I feel completely at home.
Being of Haitian descent I knew for sure that I wouldn’t struggle too much with
the language aspect, but I was somewhat afraid that I would be uncomfortable
interacting with other people. God has broken me of those fears, and has
replaced anxiety with peace and joy! I honestly can say that I love the
interaction I get to have with all of the youths, and all of the different
people I encounter. It’s as if the 20 years that I have been living on
this earth as a Haitian-American has prepared me for this moment. I am just
beginning to grasp that God cares so much about the little details of our
lives, and foreknew that this week would occur. I am enjoying being home!
Prayer requests
Please pray that
God will begin to transform the youth so that they aren’t satisfied with just
knowing about God, but will constantly seek Him and Truth. In addition, That
God will begin to birth a desire in them to want to share the Gospel joyfully
and unashamedly!
On the first day, we saw him waiting outside the gate of the school. He wasn't in a uniform because he wasn't a student- just another kid in the community. The team started picking up trash in the school yard. He quietly crept into the school yard and started helping. The team gave him a pair of gloves. At the end of the day, he didn't return the gloves... he said his goodbyes and left. One more pair of gloves lost, or so they thought.
When the team got to the school on the second day, there he stood, outside of the gate. His gloves were on and he was ready to work. That second day was a stepping stone. Orlando was no longer a kid from the community who came to volunteer; Orlando was a part of the team.
Orlando eating with Matt, Jim, and Lou in the workshop
Halfway through the day, the team started to paint the school, which meant Orlando started to paint the school too. The only clothes he had worn in weeks were covered in paint, he didn't care.... he just kept painting... and painting... and painting...
Each day, we would come to the school and Orlando would be patiently waiting outside the gates. He'd work with us all day long, only stopping to eat or to get more volunteers. He bonded with each member of the team so well. It was clear that leaving at the end of the week wouldn't just be hard for the team, but for Orlando too.
On the last day, the team had a celebration for the kids at the school. Unfortunately, Orlando had to wait outside... after all, he didn't go to school. The team decided to take a chance at changing that small detail. They pulled the principal to the side and told him what all Orlando had done. Every room that had a new paint job, Orlando helped paint. The exterior of the school, Orlando helped patch and paint. The trees, Orlando helped plant. He worked harder on that school than any other child there. Because of all of his hard work, the principal agreed to let him go to school for the rest of the year- for free.
For the last 2 weeks, Sarah, Rachael, and I have hosted two consecutive teams from Hamburg, New York.
The first team spent 2 days in Metivier, cleaning up the classrooms and school yard.
The second team came to do construction.
Here's what the school looked like before and after the Hamburg Wesleyan teams...
Before
After: with a new door and a new paint job
__________
Before: the biggest classroom in the school
After
__________
Before: The view of the school from the recess area
After: A brand new paint job
__________
The 2nd team with all of the school children
The Hamburg teams boosted the morale of the school in just a matter of two weeks. Working side by side with many Haitians from the community, the team members not only made an impact on the school itself, but on each person they came in contact with. It was great to see each of their hearts be touched by complete strangers, too. Well done, Hamburg. I pray that God continues to use each of you in wonderful ways. Don't forget the things He showed you in Haiti and the people He introduced you to. May those things and those people be a story you share with others, a story that leads to God's glory. Thanks for all your hard work. You are missed dearly.
