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

1/25 Day 6

Jeff:

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit Little Children of Jesus (LCJ).  At this facility campus we were able to spend time with the Brothers (who are from Africa serving in Haiti) who are caring for the disabled children.  To put things in perspective, locals have told us that Haiti may be one of the most rejected countries in the world and the children who are left at the door steps of LCJ are rejected by the local Haitians.  But the Jesus says in the Bible “what you have done to the least of these you have done to me.”  It was amazing to see how happy these children are even among such challenging conditions and to see how the staff are doing such a fantastic job with the limited resources.  My prayer is for these children to continue to be loved and cared for by the Brothers and others who are able to serve here. 

Breakfast and lunch meals are simple, fruit, granola bars and peanut butter sandwiches.  Dinner was a local meal prepared for us by local employees who come to the Hope House.  They prepared meatballs and local rice pilof (beats, onions, seasoning, rice) with a salad, local bread and a dessert with carrots and jello?  It was delicious and I am so pleased how well we are eating.
  

We finished the day with group devotions and playing Uno/cards.  The devotions were special as we shared how we felt about being present at LCJ today.  Each of us have different feelings and comfort levels being around disabled children.  It was a blessing to see Caleb, who shared he is not comfortable being around these kind of things, playing with the kids and doing exercises and stretches with the children who have contractures and need positioning in order to prevent skin breakdown.  It was enlightening to also hear others share how deep and moved we are from being around these precious children of God, they are important and being a part of caring for them, even for a day, is part of God’s plan.  Good night and be blessed.

Peace & Blessings,

Joyful Spirit Haiti Team

1/22 – Day 3:

Lynn:

A little change of plans for today. We were going to be headed to the Little Children of Jesus Orphanage today, but they were having a medical team come in for assessments and healthcare, and we would have been a distraction for all of the kids! So, we decided to make today our Hope House work day instead and it has been a flurry of activity. As soon as lunch was over, the painting began. The guest houses are now a bright and colorful yellow and aqua. A new bathroom vanity has been built and installed, screen doors replaced, screens themselves replaced throughout the kitchen and common space. So much has been accomplished and it really looks quite great. Several of the local Village of Hope employees were also working today and it has been a joy to work along side them and get to know them as well.

It was nice being able to love on Rob and Trish and showing some love to Hope House.  It is so nice being a part of this team as we have been working so well together and having a great time.  We are gelling nicely together and really creating many great memories to last a lifetime!  After the day of work, we had a very good dinner which consisted of Haitian chicken, djon djon rice, milton squash, salad and some fresh mangos.  Yum Yum!!  After dinner, I was surprised with a homemade card and a Haitian cake to celebrate my birthday!  This was such a surprise and much appreciated!  Thank you to all of you!  It sure made my day.  We wrapped up the day playing many games of Uno.  Off to bed we went since we have an early start to the day so that we can see all the children at Village of Hope!  What a great day that will be!!!  Good night all!  Thank you for the prayers while we are here!  Its been another great experience!!!

Peace & Love,

Joyful Spirit Haiti Team

 

You can also check out some great photos of our team from the Village of Hope Facebook Page!

 Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/Village-of-Hope-Haiti-814928685280131/

 

1/21 – Day 2:

Pastor Dave:

Its our first full day and first overnight here at the Hope House Compound. It has been incredible thus far to observe and drink in all the that Haiti has to offer. For this first timer to Haiti, there wasn’t much in the least that was familiar once we touched down in the Port au Prince airport. But familiarity isn’t the experience I was hoping to have. There is a rhythm and a flow to life here that works and makes sense from traffic to commerce to social life.

Being that our first full day in Haiti is a Sunday, we all went to church. For myself, it was a unique experience just being a parishioner and not a worship leader! Unlike years past, we went to Port au Prince Fellowship, which is an English-speaking congregation for worship service. There was wide variety of people present from Haitians, to other American live-in missionaries. And wouldn’t you know it, there is much that you all would be familiar with from the Joyful Spirit worship experience. All of the music was lead by a wonderful praise band. Much music was sung jubilantly, and a living Word was heard by all.

After worship Rob & Trish (our in-country mission administrators and wonderful hosts) took us to one of their favorite restaurants for lunch. Now this lunch spot is one of the places they frequent for when they are wanting a bit of an ‘American Fix.’ The restaurant is located in a complex that houses the majority of temporary in-country government workers. To their credit, it was delicious!

After lunch we came back to Hope House and got started on some of the work projects around the compound. Some of my This Old House viewing come into good practice! I changed out the three drains in each of the kitchen sinks.

Our day rounded out with dinner, fellowship, devotions and even a euchre game or two. And now, time for rest and sleep to be ready again for tomorrow!

Peace & Love,
Joyful Spirit Haiti Team

1/20 – Day 1:

Steve:

Our first day. The airport experience was better than expected. Under an hour, from the Immigration to the “finding Bags, to very helpful Porters. We were loaded and ready to go.

Along the way I noticed a lot of improvements to roads and housing. It has looked better than I was fearful of. Has my years of coming to Haiti actually helped?

So far – so good. Waiting for tomorrows journeys through the landscape.

Peace & Love,
Joyful Spirit Haiti Team