1/26 Day 7

Gina:

Hello all, well it here it is our last night in Haiti.  We are happy to be heading home, but saddened to leave ours friends, our brothers and sisters. 

Sometime I can’t find the words to say what my heart really feels. This year things are different, the words to the following poem came to me, so I thought I would share them with you.

 

Hope Springs Eternal in Haiti

Hope springs eternal in Haiti from the school kids on the street,

To the taptap’s gospel beat .

Hope springs eternal in Haiti from the mountains high

To the ocean’s side.

Hope springs eternal in Haiti from the Bible’s search

To the funky white Haitian church.

Hope springs eternal in Haiti from the valleys and countryside

To the lakes, streams, and hitches running wide.

Hope springs eternal in Haiti

From the Hearts

The Arts, and

The Marks of grace left by Christ , until all peoples see his face again.

 

Hope, Hope in his face

Hope, Hope in his grace

Hope, Hope in his love

 

Hope springs eternal in Haiti,

When our team gels and fits like a glove.

Hope springs eternal in Haiti,

When we see Christ in a baby’s face.

Hope springs eternal when he uses our talents in this

New and exciting place.

 

Hope springs eternal in Haiti,

When God’s voice is calling.

Hope springs eternal in Haiti,

When God’s love is soaring,

                                 Is pouring,

                                 Is filling,

Our hearts with faith to return to Haiti again.

 

Peace & Blessings,
Joyful Spirit Haiti Team

1/24 Day 5

Ginger:  

Matthew 25:35-36  “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”

On our way to Balan, we stopped at VOH to pick up one of the Doctors at the clinic and there, we met Raymond. Raymond was two weeks old and was brought into the clinic by his neighbor, to get some formula and other necessities. Most of us had a chance to hold Raymond and even feed him. Raymond captured our hearts along with his new care taker; you see, Raymond’s mother had died the day before from a heart attack and now the neighbor was his new family.

As we drew closer to the village of Balan and passed the child playing with a handmade pull toy made from a string and an oil can, with wheels made from plastic bottle caps and a woman bathing in a stream of water while another was washing clothes in the same stream, we realized that this scripture was never going to be truer than today. Waiting inside their church were 105 children who mostly had never seen a “blanc” person before. Evens, our interpreter, greeted the children with songs and praise as each team member introduced themselves with, “our you ready to know me?” Gina read the story of Jacob’s Ladder to the children while Evens interpreted.  Pastor Dave lead the children in some music and much to his surprise, they knew a song he thought he was going to ‘teach’ them. He continued the message of Jacob’s Ladder and that “God makes his home in us”.  We divided the children up into two groups at this point, boys and girls and while the girls put together a Jacob’s Ladder craft, the boys went outside and played soccer, duck-duck goose and also played several different games with a parachute and then the groups switched.

After the activities, we gathered back in the church where the pastor blessed the peanut butter sandwiches that were to be handed out to the children; for most of the children, this would be their only food for the day and in some cases, a couple of days.

As we prepared to leave, the children lined up and were handed a gallon size zip lock bag full of some snacks and small toys.

On our return to VOH to drop off the doctor, some had an opportunity to participate in a soccer game with some of the children while others we able to talk to some of the older students, with the help of an interpreter of course.

Once back at Hope House, there were projects waiting to be finished and a delicious soup dinner with fresh fruit, salad and bread.

As we do every night, we reflected on the day and shared our thoughts and closed out in prayer and then had our nightly game of UNO before turning in.

Thank you to all who have continued to pray for our team and blessed us with all the donations, without you all, we could not be the hands and feet of our LORD so, we thank you and may God continue to bless you.

Peace & Blessings,
Joyful Spirit Haiti Team

1/23 Day 4

Mike:

Today was our earliest start yet! We were in the vans and on the way by 7am to head towards the Village of Hope School (VOH) compound. When we arrived, we were greeted by ‘The Parade of Cute,’ as our host Rob says. The 3-year-old, 4-year-old, and 5-year-old kindergarten classes greeted us and welcomed us with songs and games!

We then spent time with the 3^rd grade level students playing games with them yet more importantly we told the bible story of Daniel and the Lions Den and made a take home craft about the story. It was great fun to lead this craft with them.

We even got to have lunch with the students which was a delicious creole dish of fish and rice. It was quite amazing to learn that their lunch meals are fortified with Mana Packs from Feed My Starving Children! I have packed with Feed My Starving Children several times before and never thought I’d find myself eating what I’ve packed.

Our afternoon was spent connecting 44 newly refurbished computers for VOH’s brand new computer lab for their students. This lab will be such a great benefit for the students of VOH. There is a vision that this lab will be able to stimulate learning and growth far beyond the just the VOH students. We then hiked up to the highest point of the VOH property for some spectacular views of the Haitian countryside. A truly breathtaking view!

Our evenings have been times of fun and fellowship as we enjoy cold beverages and story telling around the dinner table. We then finish our evenings with devotions which for tonight was spent packing roughly 150 peanut butter sandwiches for our remote village VBS tomorrow!

Peace & Blessings,

Joyful Spirit Haiti Team