tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24615304843900787772024-03-12T15:03:29.233-07:00Healing Haiti Team 2Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.comBlogger421125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-12735432395734048122021-06-15T17:47:00.003-07:002021-06-15T17:47:49.860-07:00Elder Care Team (part 2)Well, we are calling this tiny team the Elder Care Team part 2. The original plan was a parent/child trip for this week, which also included the team leader and a team member from our elder care trip at the end of April. The kids were rescheduled due to the possibility of unrest and difficult travel due to road blocks, etc. <div><br /><div>So, we began to make this trip elder-focused and planned for many follow-ups from our April/May trip. </div><div>After hearing last night that we would likely not be able to travel to Titanyen due to road blocks, it was reported that the roads were passable, and we (quickly) gathered our needed supplies and headed to the tap tap. We rode alongside Grace and Hope Clinic staff members who were reporting for their work day. </div><div>In our preparations since the April/May elder trip, we had asked our team (which shrank from EIGHT to TWO) to post an Amazon Wish List and Target Registry, which garnered many donations from our generous supporters. Those supplies (which were elder-care focused) were packed up onto the tap tap with us. We experienced no delays in our transport to Grace Village, and were immediately able to re-stock some much needed supplies into the Elder Care storage area, including items for basic needs (soap, towels, bed sheets, shampoo, tooth brushes and tooth paste, etc.). Some of these items have been difficulty to obtain in-country due to economic crisis as well as difficulty with safe passage to /from markets & stores.</div><div><br /></div><div>During our day, we were able to check-in on some of the elders, including Pierre and Lauremise. These two, happy as always, reported that yes, they have been using their canes that they received in May. The canes have been helpful in negotiating their steep entry-way and the difficult terrain in Titanyen. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also had a brief visit with Aloude, who is sponsored by Alleluia Lutheran Church in St. Michael, MN (Marni's church). She enjoyed the visit, and shared with us some of the difficulties she had experienced recently including the loss of family members. We also met her son, who was seriously injured several years ago in an accident and were able to share a time of prayer with them. Aloude helps to support other elders in the program by doing laundry and cleaning tasks for those who are unable, and therefore works very hard. We followed-up with her on her Plantar Fascitis issues that were assessed in May, including discussing proper footwear (since she walks ALL OVER Titanyen) and other things she could do to work on stretching out her sore leg and foot. Her home appears to be very solid and in good condition.</div><div><br /></div><div>We checked in with Camisane, who has recently moved into a new home. We found her working in her booth in the market, selling charcoal. She was very excited for us to see her new place, and of course made sure that we all had chairs and a place to sit during our brief visit. Her move was prompted by need for a larger space for her and her 7 grandchildren that live with her!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Also during our day, we had informational meetings with both Jean (at the guest house) and Emmanuel and Brunet (while in Titanyen) regarding "big picture" elder care topics. </div><div><br /></div><div>Emmanuel and Brunet were originally both translators/drivers for both Marni's and Joy's first trips, and we both expressed how great it has been to see these men develop into important leadership roles. </div><div><br /></div><div>We'll be back tomorrow with more updates on our elders! </div><div>Thanks for reading, </div><div>Joy (and Marni).</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNjzWGYKr5-eLSEi2jc423PUMYe-BpkmCtzULu8tBvdo9wMjLKh5OLrDlwRWJD5k7RKxjpmzBpIGNBIkjhMDip35Rv3SEtAMrLRRNgVc92CqGsnHgx1B8jQXG944UkPpKEKHrtoW8uwWE/s2048/IMG_9095.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNjzWGYKr5-eLSEi2jc423PUMYe-BpkmCtzULu8tBvdo9wMjLKh5OLrDlwRWJD5k7RKxjpmzBpIGNBIkjhMDip35Rv3SEtAMrLRRNgVc92CqGsnHgx1B8jQXG944UkPpKEKHrtoW8uwWE/s320/IMG_9095.HEIC" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pierre and Lauremise's entry way steps. They were fixed after our 2018 Elder Care Trip. Previously this was a very steep hill that could get very muddy.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7kX6YQzcaQPgRZwbx4sJ_xovGHP0W1tV4uILqC6h0DaQHYPUgO5P3ouKHBkFDko5AIxbZGOSmjidpRhWUYOeT6sqPfroCBCjUfu5fsaK1yQURW3eiBXKNrSnNwS5hhRGhdre8q5Guujo/s2048/IMG_9100.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7kX6YQzcaQPgRZwbx4sJ_xovGHP0W1tV4uILqC6h0DaQHYPUgO5P3ouKHBkFDko5AIxbZGOSmjidpRhWUYOeT6sqPfroCBCjUfu5fsaK1yQURW3eiBXKNrSnNwS5hhRGhdre8q5Guujo/s320/IMG_9100.HEIC" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aloude and family</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn66Eo-VO23pSb405tQj7KvwN2Cadxt1e-hzu_VmwI28e6yIhHNlJ73i0_JNBPwiKWcY6kxL-pLZWLtp-ZVD6BlDAU07GZ68v2Atdb69LWMYx48lp6J5tnVQqtzFnftYeAyG0osL-bxaQ/s2048/IMG_9101.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn66Eo-VO23pSb405tQj7KvwN2Cadxt1e-hzu_VmwI28e6yIhHNlJ73i0_JNBPwiKWcY6kxL-pLZWLtp-ZVD6BlDAU07GZ68v2Atdb69LWMYx48lp6J5tnVQqtzFnftYeAyG0osL-bxaQ/s320/IMG_9101.HEIC" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camisane's new home, including a sun shade she received at an Elder Christmas Party.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-28798213226119030972021-04-25T19:34:00.006-07:002021-04-26T17:24:41.052-07:00Our Purpose Perhaps?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLkvBROe0OSCZAGxsfrFy5RZYOsXDmmO0NSvKC3l7td9Hk153ZivmWEKImM1iRU4oAA7z-6cVUhx6hTOJehXPIYpAB-4auPqY856aiiPbKVUcySpa8qp9R0Cg2YdOt7ioICqHWAVBTi4/s4160/DSCN1393.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLkvBROe0OSCZAGxsfrFy5RZYOsXDmmO0NSvKC3l7td9Hk153ZivmWEKImM1iRU4oAA7z-6cVUhx6hTOJehXPIYpAB-4auPqY856aiiPbKVUcySpa8qp9R0Cg2YdOt7ioICqHWAVBTi4/s320/DSCN1393.JPG" /></a></div><br /> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">Our Purpose Perhaps?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">After five days of serving throughout Haiti, Day 6 is designed to be a day of rest and reflection – much like what the Bible instructs us to do on the Sabbath. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">We started off our Sunday morning at <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">Rendezvous</span> church -a favorite stop for most goers. The music was incredible as always, followed by a fantastic message relating the story of Daniel to that of our current events in Haiti and America. No problem is too big for God to fix as long as we believe wholeheartedly that He is our Lord and Savior and that he died on the cross for our sins.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">Following church service we rode in the tap-tap up the mountain to support the local art vendors next to the Observatory restaurant. The expansive view over the capital city of Port-au-Prince and Cite Soleil was absolutely gorgeous. It was so fun to stand on the side of the mountain, pointing out familiar locations and landmarks while reminiscing about all of the stops that we experienced throughout this special city this past week.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">We then took a dip in the pool at a hotel just around the corner. Scheduling time to decompress is so important to teams and individuals alike. The laughter generated from hilarious memories over the past week was priceless. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">We finished off the day with some intense corn hole(bags) matches, Shepard's Pie for supper, revealed our prayer partners, and shared <span style="font-size: 11pt;">our final "word of the day" for the week.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">This day of reflection also brings a couple of questions to mind. What draws us to serve in Haiti? Why do we feel a distinct closeness to God and revitalized Faith after a week of serving the Haitian people? I believe the answer lays in the verse Matthew 19:21: Jesus said to him, <i>“If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">If for only a week, we do exactly what we are called to do in Matthew 19:21. We leave our families, our jobs, our communities, and our responsibilities to love on His people here, and God rewards us with the ultimate feeling of closeness and unity with Him. What more could we possibly ask for?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">Thank you Haiti for welcoming us with a whole heart and teaching us more about love, kindness, selflessness, and hope than we could have ever share with you.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">May God Bless and protect these beautiful Haitian souls.</p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-size: small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">Randy</p></span>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-68562015547929745242021-04-24T20:49:00.001-07:002021-04-24T20:49:57.462-07:00Curious MindsCurious Minds - Serving Day #5<div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aZtD4jSOqZboGlzrVTiAb3AaqTZOA3LFYK98XxNEztYd8OFt0Ufqm8ZEfj2yqx9En8kNcmG_jtZw8AzWmhrNYMnNVsMogoHtXAF3hd8H5fKs02m4a60HKuWEKLSmlUPnPixeaWkDe0M/s4160/DSCN1359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aZtD4jSOqZboGlzrVTiAb3AaqTZOA3LFYK98XxNEztYd8OFt0Ufqm8ZEfj2yqx9En8kNcmG_jtZw8AzWmhrNYMnNVsMogoHtXAF3hd8H5fKs02m4a60HKuWEKLSmlUPnPixeaWkDe0M/s320/DSCN1359.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Wow. It's hard to summarize just how incredible this trip has been the last 5 days. Leading up to our trip the team had only met via Zoom, so it was a pleasant surprise how natural our team connected within the first few hours of being together. Since that point, it feels like we've become a family: bantering back and forth, laughing until we're in tears (possibly due to a lack of sleep), helping and encouraging each other out without question, and the list goes on and on. Today at dinner, while talking about our favorite moments of the trip, we kept coming back to just how wonderful it has been to have such a close-knit group.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today (Saturday), we started off the day with a long, but beautiful ride in the Tap Tap to a town called Cabaret - a smaller town past Titanyen (where Grace Village is located). We got the opportunity to spend our morning with a local community playing games, connecting with the locals, loving on the kiddos, and a few of us even got our hair braided :) Honestly, we didn't know what to expect with this visit as no team members had ever done this activity on previous trips. We were overwhelmingly surprised by how much we loved visiting this community. A couple of amazing takeaways: the kids were extremely helpful and supportive of one another (making sure everyone had a snack, one girl gave a younger boy her own pair of shoes to wear, and a sister continually cared for her upset, toddler brother). The other thing was just how inquisitive and curious these kids were. At one point during a session of frisbee throwing, a few girls were learning different frisbee throwing techniques from Dennis by changing their hand position to match his. Lastly, a young woman gave us a heartfelt goodbye by gifting us with a few fresh Mango's - something I have never experienced in Haiti before. To cap off this portion of the day, we took a short walk through some farming land and neighborhoods to eventually arrive at a beautiful peninsula overlooking the turquoise waters of Port-au-Prince Bay. </div><div><br /></div><div>Next Stop: The Haiti Deaf Academy. It's hard to put into words just how extraordinary this place was. Meredith and Keith (the local directors of HDA) gave us a tour of the compound and the history of how they came to Haiti and have served the deaf community for the last 4 years. In Haiti, deaf kids and adults are actually considered a burden to society (many times called "bebe" (baby in Creole) because they can't hear). We titled this blog "curious minds" because the kids of HDA wanted to know everything about our lives. We spent a good chunk of time answering the plethora of questions they threw at us (with Meredith graciously signing and translating). They asked a variety of questions that in our normal day-to-day lives may seem mundane to us, but to them they were the most intriguing - things like "where do you work? How many kids do you have? How many times have you been to Haiti?" They rattled off question after question - curious, attentive, and wide-eyed. Their responses to our questions were also hilarious (like praying for Marina to have patience "waiting" for her future boyfriend :)). It was an experience like no other.</div><div><br /></div><div>We ended the day back at the guesthouse chatting, laughing, and sharing our unique perspectives on the day. We feel eternally grateful to have experienced the beautiful country of Haiti and all it has to offer. </div><div><br /></div><div>- Ellie and Marina</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8ezP9RvD3x2DSb6tWUlh7nIqdL-Tglh0FJIUtaHpHWR8FIgNFsQ2QcRI0mIVFsZHR_u7ncrgszHKc65UW6tUdebJXFf-weMFUL0ma0B9CU9mTwP5qebgoqyscHk5GbSsxWJ_0MoyOBc/s4160/DSCN1220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8ezP9RvD3x2DSb6tWUlh7nIqdL-Tglh0FJIUtaHpHWR8FIgNFsQ2QcRI0mIVFsZHR_u7ncrgszHKc65UW6tUdebJXFf-weMFUL0ma0B9CU9mTwP5qebgoqyscHk5GbSsxWJ_0MoyOBc/s320/DSCN1220.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXw-dimwinWxS9OCiJuFJouUFqVBSMFALS3i3U6QrrSObzkSI4rmzSfx1GbIFYRVFBmglulJVgdnar6Heav88HmD91bIOsx9ga7a3G68SD8DSsFSEH4BbkS0lYl4bZXZrxFS8cPAP17Y8/s4608/P1000588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXw-dimwinWxS9OCiJuFJouUFqVBSMFALS3i3U6QrrSObzkSI4rmzSfx1GbIFYRVFBmglulJVgdnar6Heav88HmD91bIOsx9ga7a3G68SD8DSsFSEH4BbkS0lYl4bZXZrxFS8cPAP17Y8/s320/P1000588.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69XF9qYN3a_8uWXW_yXUQg44untnYtxdZmD3YJhWq-b8a1BCa1cyVcS3iQpiQkDmbCCgHwCXINsDDHyfsVsn6r3rl20UMJgGpuIT2OKD9sEEaCGU6sKkaqO96K_1m9zLbllXrNgoU2dM/s4608/P1000539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69XF9qYN3a_8uWXW_yXUQg44untnYtxdZmD3YJhWq-b8a1BCa1cyVcS3iQpiQkDmbCCgHwCXINsDDHyfsVsn6r3rl20UMJgGpuIT2OKD9sEEaCGU6sKkaqO96K_1m9zLbllXrNgoU2dM/s320/P1000539.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mPD-FyiMa8kvj1VOLc_nItJau5SR-Jf3ct27jcTFlSHpdReLZwg3EnOpGmYjc1Ifp2VVcVE87Gvbs6Ub2Hlc3mQTlCiq9QzHbrf9f7NK6AVKdmDCqLGW7C6xHmfl6a5_POSf1q8y6pY/s4608/P1000737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mPD-FyiMa8kvj1VOLc_nItJau5SR-Jf3ct27jcTFlSHpdReLZwg3EnOpGmYjc1Ifp2VVcVE87Gvbs6Ub2Hlc3mQTlCiq9QzHbrf9f7NK6AVKdmDCqLGW7C6xHmfl6a5_POSf1q8y6pY/s320/P1000737.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-11953659082422908222021-04-24T03:58:00.002-07:002021-04-24T04:00:22.986-07:00Moment of Gratitude<p> Pre-dawn moment of gratitude.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFxwLONweTSS-jGvRdFRbFjH7rgi_EatAEXwXZM4UG30isgLYSCLqL_7UVtC2UCs8fTLs4iIQWqJndODxOjDQCxY6KE6BrzyGamNKT0Y5EZEMlLlvykw_lsNVBz7tRY38BpZCK-zFJqg/s640/predawn.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFxwLONweTSS-jGvRdFRbFjH7rgi_EatAEXwXZM4UG30isgLYSCLqL_7UVtC2UCs8fTLs4iIQWqJndODxOjDQCxY6KE6BrzyGamNKT0Y5EZEMlLlvykw_lsNVBz7tRY38BpZCK-zFJqg/w492-h369/predawn.jpg" width="492" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-41162702526998005222021-04-23T19:17:00.003-07:002021-04-23T19:20:10.057-07:00Day 4: Give Yourself Away<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtaUqCBTQJcQJ5610GKb47uHj_TuT6-ag9HutdYzCkoguBzoOfggCRut6ujdyoQ0qMyPTIuBhi1vWTnZ6OS9CnBygkNA38T0FXJTxy0aXVQJTwuuFdlmxysHDpKfGqNoO1WDek9uwJPwg/s960/177336859_514422143266158_118055288953015952_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtaUqCBTQJcQJ5610GKb47uHj_TuT6-ag9HutdYzCkoguBzoOfggCRut6ujdyoQ0qMyPTIuBhi1vWTnZ6OS9CnBygkNA38T0FXJTxy0aXVQJTwuuFdlmxysHDpKfGqNoO1WDek9uwJPwg/s320/177336859_514422143266158_118055288953015952_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBmLlGRu_zZx3MPvC8UGOoUgj8MTfX8bqkal2pcaafeAG0zTlcbno9yPhgyGLMQ5k9U_xhfI76AKX92aQe_-SLZTQ4A5oPcwvHjGQPztSkMHa1cYNBVzYnYDbOah8O2vP7xt6l0c0wLQ/s4160/DSCN1051.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBmLlGRu_zZx3MPvC8UGOoUgj8MTfX8bqkal2pcaafeAG0zTlcbno9yPhgyGLMQ5k9U_xhfI76AKX92aQe_-SLZTQ4A5oPcwvHjGQPztSkMHa1cYNBVzYnYDbOah8O2vP7xt6l0c0wLQ/s320/DSCN1051.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our day began early with a 6:00 AM service at the Church of the Rock, a local Haitian church. The spirit of God was ebullient, the music was inspiring, the message was powerful, and it was delivered in both Creole and English. The theme that resonated with me as we served this week was “give yourself away.” An important commitment as we live our lives, and an embodiment our team has been living in Haiti.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-284da029-7fff-c07e-4343-f49cbb57a20c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After another delicious breakfast cooked by the bél (beautiful in Haitian Creole) women at the guest house, we headed to Titanyen to tour Grace Village, a school, clinic and orphanage operated by Healing Haiti. What an amazing place with the spirit of God serving families in the area. It was a special opportunity for our team because two of our goers, Dennis and Lori were able to meet the child they sponsor. It was special to see them interact, learn about each other and create a forever bond.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our next blessing from God was the opportunity to serve four of the elders in the area. We were fortunate to be able to visit their homes and give ourselves to them as we took meals and drinks, washed their feet and hands and helped to soften their skin with soothing lotion. Marina painted toenails of those that wanted that special touch. Dennis and Katie played guitar and we sang songs with them before praying for their requested needs. It was heartwarming and we all talked about how blessed we are to have the opportunity to serve these beautiful, resilient elders.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next, we headed to the Fleri Bakery and Restaurant. Fleri is part of Healing Haiti and focuses on creating job opportunities and sustainability for Haitians. They make delicious artisan bread, sweet treats and pizza. The bakery currently employs 25 people, sources much of the raw goods locally and then sells to many local businesses. It’s a powerful model for sustainability and they continue to refine the model as they listen to input from the local community they serve. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Touring the bakery was incredible…the sights, the processes and the smells… so of course we had to eat in the restaurant! The restaurant has become an important gathering place in the community that caters to families, weddings, holiday gatherings and more. We enjoyed pizza, pasta, plantains, French fries and delicious beverages. The food is out of sight.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We ended the day driving up the hill to a beautiful overlook where we could see an expanse of the island and the sea. It was the perfect way to end another day serving in Haiti where we were once again blessed by God to give ourselves away.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scott</span></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-42048985852442680932021-04-21T20:23:00.001-07:002021-04-21T21:00:10.750-07:00Serving Day #2<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpszeYiK0AOTpD28JGzJUY0itg5Qz2kRWgIUd3Z-7TksUn0TCJUYnt9BDl5AALtmXoMBs95WOw1F3xN1YWJsb0cTNcgDgBV_WF19JnkhJBo5QPqkc-I9yerm6uRpZmIrXpzLqyVr7IxNc/s4160/DSCN1001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpszeYiK0AOTpD28JGzJUY0itg5Qz2kRWgIUd3Z-7TksUn0TCJUYnt9BDl5AALtmXoMBs95WOw1F3xN1YWJsb0cTNcgDgBV_WF19JnkhJBo5QPqkc-I9yerm6uRpZmIrXpzLqyVr7IxNc/s320/DSCN1001.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zJnnSxBKbgpv0jGzZkz93Nh64mqUCzvHU5gUUKU_2wQaBTt0Wnu8hyL6PD93-J2vAfHtURXesB3fuH0uvRzHCV2i0pGkNRPz5YvSAsJj33e4z6leZSl20gsKjFPKXPQLm3rqEyXuuJY/s4160/DSCN0915.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zJnnSxBKbgpv0jGzZkz93Nh64mqUCzvHU5gUUKU_2wQaBTt0Wnu8hyL6PD93-J2vAfHtURXesB3fuH0uvRzHCV2i0pGkNRPz5YvSAsJj33e4z6leZSl20gsKjFPKXPQLm3rqEyXuuJY/s320/DSCN0915.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileO0OrFtMWmAvW_7U4XvbPISBeEph3-i4HykK4g01bRzD8tW9X8pgQq5Swbk9YUhCcA9eXVfBYj9JZx2848AlHdUfP-r2lZ8GvH2kVZTBnV2jF6-YxHH_1cZ7anwIC__IZYmATv-yjkc/s4160/DSCN0853.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileO0OrFtMWmAvW_7U4XvbPISBeEph3-i4HykK4g01bRzD8tW9X8pgQq5Swbk9YUhCcA9eXVfBYj9JZx2848AlHdUfP-r2lZ8GvH2kVZTBnV2jF6-YxHH_1cZ7anwIC__IZYmATv-yjkc/s320/DSCN0853.JPG" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;"><i>Greetings family and friends…</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Our second day of serving began this morning assisting the
ladies at Hope School/Church doing the laundry Haitian style for the Elders.<i> <span style="line-height: 107%;">The
Elders are the older, grandparent type people.</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span>We had five
tubs of water…the first tub worked the initial dirt, the second worked the
soap, finishing up with the last three tubs of rinsing out the soap producing
clean clothes and linens. The ladies, <i><span style="line-height: 107%;">(the Haitian experts),</span> coached us
in doing this by HAND!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">This was
a GREAT work out!!!</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>I was
able to make a special connection with one of the Haitians who tried so very
hard to teach me the correct way to scrub and as Ellie (one of the team
leaders), would say, how to “squish, squish, squish”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shared some great laughter while learning
from our new friends.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">While we were there this morning one of our team members, Scott,
met up with one of his sponsored kids who attends Hope School. It was a tender
moment as they got to know one another through an interpreter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">We then spent time with the elders from Citi Soleil in Hope
Church. We had about 40 elders in our group today. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We colored pictures together, sang together,
and basically spent time together. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>The
singing was from their hearts and spirit filled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though we could not understand all of
the words, it touched us as they praised our God with their song.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">After a late lunch we went to the Home for Sick and Dying
Children. They have a nursery, a 2 to 4-year old section, and a 4 years and
older children’s clinic. The children there are severely sick and need all the
loving touch they can get. We had the opportunity to visit the 25 kids in the 2
to 4 year old group. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent ninety
minutes feeding, changing diapers, holding, walking with those who could walk, and
sharing our love and God’s love with them. It was hard for all of us to walk
away when our time was up. <i>It </i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>was hard for them as well as we heard the sad
cries as we left the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were
happy that they were well cared for and very loved there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;"><i>Dinner was at a new restaurant in town that is owned by one
of our Haitian staff drivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a
wonderful meal of fried chicken, plantains, and fries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nice to be out in the community and
supporting Max.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">After dinner we played football (soccer) with the 8 to 10 kids
in the street just outside the Healing Haiti compound. <span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>The boys were so
gracious to let us play “keep away” with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(They are really good!!) We were also able to see another leader, Randy,
bust out a few of his soccer moves and impressed us all!</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;"><i>We then had our daily singing, word of the day and just
generally sharing with each other…we have really come together as a team and
they are all a true blessing to both Dennis and me.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">It was a beautiful day in which we could share God’s love
with the wonderful people of Haiti.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i>As always,
I wish all of you could experience this trip with us. Thank you all for your
love, support and prayers.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;"><i>Blessings,</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Dennis & <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Lori</span></i><span style="font-family: Freestyle Script; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-64468616106782939202021-04-20T19:13:00.000-07:002021-04-20T19:13:27.063-07:00<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey you.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2515cbd0-7fff-5acf-4aef-b182e8d076d6"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three words. Three words that come to mind as I think of this day are grateful, exhausting, and joy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grateful. Grateful I was able to spend the day with my amazing team on water truck day. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as I walked out of the Tap Tap children came flooding around. Yelling HEY YOU. Children climbed up my body, held my hand, and made sure my hair was out of my face. The pure excitement and love the children had for us as we walked around was amazing to experience. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Exhausting. Exhausting in the most amazing way possible. Exhausted from carrying buckets of water to families’ houses, but at the same time it was pure happiness to know they now have fresh water. As the women lined up behind the water bucket waiting for their buckets to be filled, the atmosphere buzzed with happiness and chaos. Happiness of the children laughing and clinging on for attention. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joy. Joy of seeing children and families being able to get the source of fresh water. Joy of children climbing and seeking attention. Joy of seeing the beautiful faces of the children in school learning. The joy of all the children patiently waiting for every child to receive their food before eating. Joy of observing my teammates do this amazing work. Joy of learning more about the Healing Haiti organization. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morgan</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzurfEm2u5zbGPcYyah9se1qNjoFTFhDs1yB9HxDX-hG05EWDYElCH17ghQsTdBICNXb2HhlYHB8Vq08izfz3kxR0DKL1293l90a0kbLqA-x3o810Hnnw_PMAUzCUBn2qKtF3uCgrb5o/s4160/DSCN0498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzurfEm2u5zbGPcYyah9se1qNjoFTFhDs1yB9HxDX-hG05EWDYElCH17ghQsTdBICNXb2HhlYHB8Vq08izfz3kxR0DKL1293l90a0kbLqA-x3o810Hnnw_PMAUzCUBn2qKtF3uCgrb5o/s320/DSCN0498.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW7ivZsibG16oU42Cpotj3h5BrHM2siDHaYL-EnO53RxBEkTSZr-W79fU9z1qDJvKAlDjFWUVmGTf7B__nmwBv2mhMGAfwzvFg4HgmV2omJmx6FZL38Z483iEkI4fJzTG-2wyEDmcAgQ/s4160/DSCN0517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW7ivZsibG16oU42Cpotj3h5BrHM2siDHaYL-EnO53RxBEkTSZr-W79fU9z1qDJvKAlDjFWUVmGTf7B__nmwBv2mhMGAfwzvFg4HgmV2omJmx6FZL38Z483iEkI4fJzTG-2wyEDmcAgQ/s320/DSCN0517.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5Gvrfnf9JU0t3iEFTAJxqJLSuzOjrUxRV3NGlkpqkeJlFLemWMBFy7_InnFgg2YYZ8k5CtAYaUZ1QAM4D_TZUT9UXCEGtxKv5nKf3swZpbDpt9kx60WV1HK3wmxrgQ6dKZbjDC9-uw8/s4608/P1000161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5Gvrfnf9JU0t3iEFTAJxqJLSuzOjrUxRV3NGlkpqkeJlFLemWMBFy7_InnFgg2YYZ8k5CtAYaUZ1QAM4D_TZUT9UXCEGtxKv5nKf3swZpbDpt9kx60WV1HK3wmxrgQ6dKZbjDC9-uw8/s320/P1000161.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-58867696561671253172021-03-23T08:52:00.001-07:002021-03-23T08:52:46.826-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 7 (Recover)<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Evolution of Humanitarian Aid</span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">As we embark on our way back to The States, I reflect on how the model of Humanitarian Efforts have changed. It was exactly eight years ago this week that I made my first trip to Haiti. We brought with us 600 lbs of donated clothes, as was common back then after the devastating earthquake. We thought we were helping; but we may have been hurting. Two years later, the local textile factory closed, hundreds of Haitians lost their jobs. Were we taking jobs away from the locals?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Today, the Humanitarian model is much different; it is to CREATE jobs. You know the saying "...teach a man to fish..." Healing Haiti has only 3.5 American FTEs and employs 250+ Haitians who are teachers, drivers, chefs, housekeepers, nurses, restaurant servers, grounds keepers, maintenance men, street ambassadors, farmers, Mommas and Pappas in the orphanages, etc. We help build Haitian owned for-profit self-sustaining businesses.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The model of orphanages has changed as well. It used to look like separate dorms for girls and boys, a dining hall, and a building for showers. Now, orphans live in a house with a staff Mother and Father. They learn how to be a family, how to connect, care for one another, share in chores, eat together as family; they will someday be Mothers and Fathers themselves. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A study performed asked the same question to two groups of people: "what is POVERTY? To most of us, poverty is people without water, cloths, and food. To those impoverished, their answer is to be SEEN. WOW! How many times do we pass a beggar on the street corner and look away? Sometimes they just want a smile; to be seen. Consider giving a smile of acknowledgement the next time you see someone struggling. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Within a few hours, I will be sucked into my regular life; it is a privileged life, I cannot complain. But a piece of my heart is with the young restaveks (google it!) whom we help deliver water in 5 gallon buckets, the elderly in the mountains that we deliver meals, and deaf children whom are outcasts. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Also, I'll be asked: "How was Haiti?" Some just want the short answer "Heartbreaking and beautiful all in the same moment." Some want the elevator pitch, which you just read. And others want to lean in and hear the stories. Reach out to anyone on this team for those. Blessings.</span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Y95b640E1cpaSgoqql9ct4zJNhfX7u-Sa5_0z5YQQoAgjII_hDHzS-3Mp6whbMCVmWJH3f-X1D6ky7QexJatjOAHCvYt-kmr7YCLtbyxUZyyOPZs7iAqzSQLBFtxQclybI9MuUMQ2Rc/s2048/47BC449A-7A43-4D86-820C-D7FF1F6ECE87.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Y95b640E1cpaSgoqql9ct4zJNhfX7u-Sa5_0z5YQQoAgjII_hDHzS-3Mp6whbMCVmWJH3f-X1D6ky7QexJatjOAHCvYt-kmr7YCLtbyxUZyyOPZs7iAqzSQLBFtxQclybI9MuUMQ2Rc/s320/47BC449A-7A43-4D86-820C-D7FF1F6ECE87.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-86558476082529037862021-03-21T04:43:00.000-07:002021-03-21T04:43:20.896-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 6 (Grace Church and Haiti Deaf Acsademy)<p> Today started off just like every other day. We ate eggs, pancakes, oatmeal, and fruit. Once we were ready we went to start our day</p><p>We tried something new, we went to Grace Church and made crafts and colored pictures with the kids there. They ran around from person to person showing off their picture or wall art. That was followed by an amazing message, "if people are beautiful, the world is beautiful". To see how proud they were of their work they were, and how much they loved to praise Jesus was amazing.</p><p>Next we went to Haiti Deaf Academy (HDA) where joy and excitement was bursting! The children were eager to ask us questions about faith, family, work, school, etc. We took out all of the art supplies and toys from yesterday and had a playdate while others got their hair braided. Towards the end they started re-enacting their favorite bible stories, and it was AMAZING!</p><p>While wrapping up the amazing time we had, a thunderstorm hit, and we got to dance and shower in the rain. Today might have started just like every other day, but in the end it was amazing!</p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-22736842247941934452021-03-20T06:35:00.001-07:002021-03-20T06:35:27.179-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 5<p>The rooster is crowing. We wake every morning to his enthusiasm for the day. The smells of food cooking, coffee brewing, and (campfire, it always smells of something burning everywhere here...) fill the guest house and the friendly chatter of the lovely guest house staff. It's really a lovely way to start the day. LIGHT!</p><p>This morning, after a delicious breakfast, we piled into the the Tap-tap to head to Cite Soleil. With full bellies and full hearts we made the trip to Cite Soleil as a group of 15 friends. Studies show that it only takes a few days in Haiti on a mission trip to become friends ;) COMMUNITY!</p><p>We arrived right on time to Hope Village as the kids were having recess! Everyone instantly became a kid again and joined the fun. Some of us played jump rope, some did sidewalk chalk with our eager, smiling playmates. There were balls flying through the air and shouts and LAUGHTER, so much laughter. Many of us gathered to play the parachute game with a huge, round, nylon parachute. As we lifted, the littles came zipping in giggling and chattering...the parachute would waft down on them and that was equally thrilling for them if the giggles and shrieks of joy were any indication! ENERGY!</p><p>Next up was laundry. Everybody loaded up the tap tap with quarters and Tide and headed to the LaundroMat.....nahhhhh, just kiddin! The elder ladies showed us how to laundry their way, of course with the tools and resources available to them. Clean water is limited so it is all done in a few large basins, minimalist and efficient. There is a soap bar and a special way of scrubbing and squishing. There is a method and process. It's surprisingly hard to get right! Sitting on the concrete in the blazing sun, those ladies showed us how it's done with patience and good humor. I wonder if their backs are sore right now, like mine? Do their hands hurt too? HUMILITY.</p><p>Once we got the chores done, it was time to head to the water truck stop. Pile in the tap-tap, load up on sunscreen and water. Mop the sweat from your brow. Clear your mind for the next experience. We arrive to curious and excited faces, so many people already gathered with water buckets. Children zipping around but always aware of each other and us; they are "polite", respectful. The occasional motorcycle that comes right through the crowd beeping as the people part the way. There is a musical quality to the combined sounds of voices, the pump generator, water splashing, the "Hey you, Hey you's". It is hot, there is no shade. We pile out and get right at whatever it is we are drawn to do. Watch. Fill buckets. Haul buckets. Pick up littles who eagerly present themselves. Hold a hand, or two or four. We have talented photographers on this team who are stealthily capturing amazing moments and simple moments and profound images from perspectives and novel vantage points. Time flies when you are just being present. Scratch that- time is irrelevant when you are truly engaged. We get the signal it's time to go after being there only a few minutes, or that's what it felt like. We were there for almost 2 hours. PRESENCE.</p><p>To wrap up an exhilarating and to be honest, exhausting day, we showered and went to Max's Pica Pollo restaurant for dinner. A shower after a day like that is truly glorious! The little restaurant behind the door was surprisingly cool, and very welcoming and smartly decorated with twinkle lights. With a brightly painted wall on one side and bamboo, open air walls in front, and upbeat Haitian music playing, you feel festive and eager to re-engage in this kind of group activity that has been so missing from our experience over the last year. We happily chatted and recounted the days events as we await our chicken or spaghetti dinners. Max prepared the whole meal behind an iron door in a space that was not more than 5x5feet. He had the most proud an happy smile on his face. I know that feeling too, being happy to have people in my kitchen. The food was dee-lish! The fellowship was natural and fun. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. CONTENTMENT. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwzjPkU73a_AVu-7tO5rqf_RXEc3kgjp7xSDOMqPKJsUDzfI8w1ECQbGorYDKSk-ZO8UUDxt-rXhG5U5zonrtDRCHWmxOHf9w7ls6sgFwAAt9iLUfrpGTxOM_FNpBck6s97TnFdp09Jo/s2048/_DSC5420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwzjPkU73a_AVu-7tO5rqf_RXEc3kgjp7xSDOMqPKJsUDzfI8w1ECQbGorYDKSk-ZO8UUDxt-rXhG5U5zonrtDRCHWmxOHf9w7ls6sgFwAAt9iLUfrpGTxOM_FNpBck6s97TnFdp09Jo/s320/_DSC5420.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxlIG9YHRjoG6lMeD1Ae2Xa3tH_ZYCqJGh9D-fUWnWVL1F7SNWhBHk7_R8CuTn99MyITJLyvKY0y1wWqkWbOiVF92_kph_TO37BWdjTn4sCpGWKd3NbZPUHyuxPN1zzbRA7Mwkx1QV9M/s2048/_DSC5723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1352" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxlIG9YHRjoG6lMeD1Ae2Xa3tH_ZYCqJGh9D-fUWnWVL1F7SNWhBHk7_R8CuTn99MyITJLyvKY0y1wWqkWbOiVF92_kph_TO37BWdjTn4sCpGWKd3NbZPUHyuxPN1zzbRA7Mwkx1QV9M/s320/_DSC5723.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXg-OocsUXi3G8zjHgdVl7sw2P8f_5OqwhbN1StjkV5aFaaEaJeEuPR8nH6eo-wGEiL3jFgBNACu7Q3cYa5RQPLMOWQm59twrsKZCo1yr9MRxPUK_Exqv0Xxtd8yzGlrdhhYd4ClVtfws/s2048/_DSC6502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXg-OocsUXi3G8zjHgdVl7sw2P8f_5OqwhbN1StjkV5aFaaEaJeEuPR8nH6eo-wGEiL3jFgBNACu7Q3cYa5RQPLMOWQm59twrsKZCo1yr9MRxPUK_Exqv0Xxtd8yzGlrdhhYd4ClVtfws/s320/_DSC6502.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGPeI_Z_pu3FSjyggkfvyqSdHedvW3GWnhlU-Ipu3UkG11LQXOSz0AZX6P5W6_ZtGWORQR3uGC1-MKqPbmR2O1ml7Y28JtspcbV1Qhki0_CmYDpyICjBCr_uRRrF33Oyt8KvyTMTMWm0/s2048/_DSC6556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGPeI_Z_pu3FSjyggkfvyqSdHedvW3GWnhlU-Ipu3UkG11LQXOSz0AZX6P5W6_ZtGWORQR3uGC1-MKqPbmR2O1ml7Y28JtspcbV1Qhki0_CmYDpyICjBCr_uRRrF33Oyt8KvyTMTMWm0/s320/_DSC6556.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yvEstDuEAVxldQ83J5Rh0VL7Aanlm-VrgfmvsGTD9Ush6kAKT0ZssTdOo95qA3_5lLm1ATg7Wo3oiYiqgR9i9cBfgPGZAuXHS5xpY28xQ_Ueop-84P0Dq7EKfGAbm440VzYL5FBuUiQ/s2048/_DSC6725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yvEstDuEAVxldQ83J5Rh0VL7Aanlm-VrgfmvsGTD9Ush6kAKT0ZssTdOo95qA3_5lLm1ATg7Wo3oiYiqgR9i9cBfgPGZAuXHS5xpY28xQ_Ueop-84P0Dq7EKfGAbm440VzYL5FBuUiQ/s320/_DSC6725.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-19752018586585240662021-03-18T20:47:00.000-07:002021-03-18T20:47:04.444-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 4 (Grace Village, Elders and Fleri)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl0Cw3EiS0mGG58seW8p5TozITme_jqWG4fGwFIEizYMDjtDJxuvl-LlcWlti1NKLW9hE1cbiNq0J3_XQ5Add56psNLTYvkO7jlRNKXolhxSuTveAry1ngKq36D6aitf96MfGqP2mePo/s2048/_DSC5334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl0Cw3EiS0mGG58seW8p5TozITme_jqWG4fGwFIEizYMDjtDJxuvl-LlcWlti1NKLW9hE1cbiNq0J3_XQ5Add56psNLTYvkO7jlRNKXolhxSuTveAry1ngKq36D6aitf96MfGqP2mePo/s320/_DSC5334.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Have you had a moment where you realized that what everyone wants and needs in a moment is the care and attention of someone who sincerely sees you?</p><p>We spent time today in the amazing grounds of Grace Village and then with four of the elders that Healing Haiti cares for. Whether it was the children moving from school room to the cafeteria in their joyful and playful manners with their brightly colored uniforms, or listening to the stories of lives well and hard lived of our elders, the impact on the team was tremendous. To sit in wonder as a woman with years and wisdom expressed how the teams presence in her home was a gift from God was a strange turn. It was turn from feeling like we had started there to serve her and yet walked away like she was the one delivering grace and love to us.</p><p>Mr. Rogers out it best when he said "treat the person right in front of you like they are the most important person in the whole world."</p><p>What if.....what if we each spent our days, busy as they are, trying our best to live that mantra. Treating every person, at work, at home, at the store, like for that quick minute they were the most important person in the world? What might change? What pain might lessen? What confidence might be bestowed? What conflicts might be averted?</p><p>Not easily done, but perhaps massively impactful. And, nothing was ever promised to be easy. </p><p>A friend once asked, "why do you always take the hard road?" I replied, "what makes you think I see two roads?"</p><p>Do better by each other. Kids, elders, everyone. Treat each other like the other is the most important in the world for that minute in time and see what happens!</p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-90766696540758998462021-03-18T05:01:00.000-07:002021-03-18T05:01:19.974-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 3 (In house)<p>An Unexpected Day! </p><p>We all awoke with excitement and expectant hearts. We had a full day planned - Another day to hold and love on the 'bell' Haitian people. We plan in our hearts the course, but the Lord established our steps today. Unexpected situations turned into unexpected blessings. </p><p>Stories of who we are defined by God. Your story - My Story - God's stories! We paused to listen to God's stories within the 2 teams! Community shared between two teams turned into Unity that only could happen because God established our steps today. </p><p>We experienced and shared in the cultures of Haiti right within the walls of the Guest House of Port au Prince. I think they thought they were only sharing their secrets of Haitian cooking and cleaning, but again Communities coming together turned into blessings. They have a Joy, Passion and Love for life that is so evident in their beautiful eyes and smiles and SO willing to share with us. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJDwix0bRrYNj2XnFFKmm9JdrccXM7B8yk0GmMcF6G_y25lbcN-j6Fymj7tAQs37fV6yj93gmQ3MageML0sxcch8NtCpJuHAeFTQcwHC2h5RDXrbKg-FNut0n_PorOus8grH43kkIXPc/s2048/_DSC4680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJDwix0bRrYNj2XnFFKmm9JdrccXM7B8yk0GmMcF6G_y25lbcN-j6Fymj7tAQs37fV6yj93gmQ3MageML0sxcch8NtCpJuHAeFTQcwHC2h5RDXrbKg-FNut0n_PorOus8grH43kkIXPc/s320/_DSC4680.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg1Wlp5QQ6EBJt16rn_IsfQO55UJQYNy288NcQpggKW7241ATg1RTd16iaEC9SIK_VPfyVhmACpooEVRPSlqLTI1fZMp8RlZaXq3lItPuZsz8NtyHGoez8-NFF0Bd0WYnomskGkRJaZ0/s2048/_DSC4527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg1Wlp5QQ6EBJt16rn_IsfQO55UJQYNy288NcQpggKW7241ATg1RTd16iaEC9SIK_VPfyVhmACpooEVRPSlqLTI1fZMp8RlZaXq3lItPuZsz8NtyHGoez8-NFF0Bd0WYnomskGkRJaZ0/s320/_DSC4527.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fqx2nG1_zDeJlohKDunKHh3vYFOtOfdbGMkAFkJWYkfkfx-rIkEOM9W-nr5CmPzeJYazBeEkZy6CRN1X6for9-TMtCSnFDAAlUXGNFUGSiFOhb6U4IvvPjZBhvUERutcyaOemq-FTdg/s2048/_DSC4458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fqx2nG1_zDeJlohKDunKHh3vYFOtOfdbGMkAFkJWYkfkfx-rIkEOM9W-nr5CmPzeJYazBeEkZy6CRN1X6for9-TMtCSnFDAAlUXGNFUGSiFOhb6U4IvvPjZBhvUERutcyaOemq-FTdg/s320/_DSC4458.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4zL-tiUan2ZfcVFjIW6DM5lar4b-GG90-7IJB13txC5YnS27cNbD9vhKgyRbLcoazsZK2rAoczXZH6wibbuWUDiJd8PPP32ufTlIu-MQY2Wkz_l751LEldW6P3G4bZyCDhFKFaDEnDs/s2048/_DSC4326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4zL-tiUan2ZfcVFjIW6DM5lar4b-GG90-7IJB13txC5YnS27cNbD9vhKgyRbLcoazsZK2rAoczXZH6wibbuWUDiJd8PPP32ufTlIu-MQY2Wkz_l751LEldW6P3G4bZyCDhFKFaDEnDs/s320/_DSC4326.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1bmhLaKhkvTBvdV5vz3KeuL2lrCqZLXgSTSTzOO8xcX1qWB06JDdOvISg7WwfpO6oKzhKuW_9IRL9Wzccoqbpqz5m01d_9zEgEI3KorWoS68MJoUZZ18Hu7F3oO_kPqetHgCBNnShN0s/s2048/_DSC4281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1bmhLaKhkvTBvdV5vz3KeuL2lrCqZLXgSTSTzOO8xcX1qWB06JDdOvISg7WwfpO6oKzhKuW_9IRL9Wzccoqbpqz5m01d_9zEgEI3KorWoS68MJoUZZ18Hu7F3oO_kPqetHgCBNnShN0s/s320/_DSC4281.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The night was ended by the Guest House staff in preparing a Haitian Feast at one table for both teams!! </p><p>What an amazing AWE some filled unexpected day! Our hearts are full - can they get any fuller! </p><p>It was a good day to have a good day!</p><p> </p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-68241203928184101752021-03-17T06:38:00.001-07:002021-03-17T06:38:24.720-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 1 (Travel)<p> Uncertainty and Excitement! </p><p>Our team is a mix of primarily Minnesota folks and an Illinois goer. Experienced team members who've been to Haiti anywhere from one time to more than 20! With the times being what they are in the pandemic world, our flights were fairly smooth until we hit Ft. Lauderdale. The reporting needs for Covid testing to fly into and out of the country left us late arriving into Port-Au-Prince which made for a very long day We left arrived to meet the team at 0600 at MSP and didn't arrive into Port-Au-Prince until about 7pm. Just enough time to get slightly unpacked and settle into the guesthouse after a quick team meeting. </p><p>So much to look forward to in the week and we can't wait to walk alongside the people of Haiti and to see the amazing in-country staff of Healing Haiti.</p><p><br /></p>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-62161434572239031882021-03-17T06:33:00.000-07:002021-03-17T06:33:19.628-07:00Stoebner Team - Day 2<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grateful, Mommas, Belief, Laughter…these are only a few of the words that our team used to describe or summed-up in one word what today meant while they experienced our first full day on a Healing Haiti team. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d8c83bdb-7fff-2781-b1cd-02c17f149f95"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My best friend invited me on this trip and although I had always wanted to go to Haiti on a mission trip, I had said no in the past a couple times when asked. Why did I say no, I’m not sure, but maybe it was that I just had not felt called at the time to go or my life seemed to have more important things going on, so I thought. Nevertheless, as I prepared to pack for Haiti, I sat down and prayed asking for God to help me understand why. Why now, when we are still in the midst of a pandemic and people are afraid and travel is tight, complex and you just never know what might happen with expectations of tests, flight changes and countries potentially closing and so on. As I continued to pack, I had an overwhelming sense, and the word “Watch” came over me. My bestie, (the one who invited me) and I prayed for God to open our eyes to why now, what does he want us to see and learn while we are there.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our first day was filled. We started our first full day with a beautiful sun rise over the city of concrete buildings and a mountain in the background. We all jumped in and grabbed our seat in the “Tap, Tap”. That is what they call the trucks we all travel in, all chatting as we made our way to our first day of serving and learning. Today was Water Truck Day! Sounds fun right? As I sat in the Tap Tap, the chatter became white noise that was distant, and my eyes were focused on what was around us as we traveled into City Soleil. The world around me just changed. The beautiful, flowered trees faded away, the concrete ground we drove on turned into a floor mixed of refuse, soot, water and things that looked like it was degraded food and clothing. The smell was of something I can’t describe, but definitely a scent of smoked plastic and rubber and maybe even spice. The grounds were covered in small creek beds of green water and litter. Amongst several concrete buildings were many make shift homes created on top of mountains of litter we might call their rolling hills and out of them came beautiful ivy that gave them some greenery. It was profound, but what was more wondrous was the smiles and waving of hands as littles came running out and yelling the words “Hey you!” That is their way of saying Hello! The excitement of their little faces grabbed a hold of my heart instantly and I could not wait to jump out of the truck and wrap my arms around them. But there was more. We continued to make our way into the city and the faces on the people there of the community were serious and yet, amongst them I also saw smiles simply come alive as they saw our truck filled with many green shirts coming. It was if their smiles screamed “their back!” My Body is full of emotions, and as I write this, I hold back the tears. We all jumped out of the truck and toured the first village named Hope Village, we then made our way into the city where we provided water. Healing Haiti has started an amazing program at Hope Village. Hope Village provides teaching to small children as well as medical needs. Then they showed us the beginnings of an innovation program from a partner that is from our side of town in Wisconsin. This caught my eye and heart and I have been praying to God why.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all headed to the water truck, and instantly between the entire team, we all took our spots. From loving on kids, carrying and directing the water hose, pulling and pushing on buckets to ensure they were in line to get water to carrying water buckets to people’s homes,, we did it all as a unified community. The sense of care, serving and loving on kids was an experience I can’t even begin to describe. I took a moment to pause, and look around and watch, what God showed me was incredible. I immediately saw pain, hurt, starvation, despair… and yet, in the same panoramic view I saw joy, community, care, hope and best of all a tremendous amount of Agape Love. I instantly got goosebumps all over, (I call these Holy Goosebumps). I knew I was supposed to be here. I’m still learning why.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we made our way through our three stops, serving, loving and spreading hope to so many, I realized that we too were being changed, being given hope, love and community. The hugs from children, the smiles from their mommas and watching my teammates, seeing that they were all in love as well as watching and learning also, I knew my life was about to change. I got a sense that today, I would start it as the person I knew I was, but at the end of today, I can tell you I am a different person. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These people I came to serve, love on and provide care for, are my sisters, my brothers and in God’s eyes, we are all one community. We are a unity, all in pain, all broken, all still learning and in the midst of our lives, we have blessings, joy, peace, and hope. God is gracious, he loves us unconditionally and sometimes he takes us to places to help us see just how deep, how wide and how strong that love is.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My word today is “Wonder”. A feeling of amazement and admiring all that God showed me today. Nothing I have ever seen…sure, but there was so much more than what was on the surface. It was the depths of what God showed me that broke my heart, but also gave me so much more than anything back home has given me. Today I learned that although I have eyes that can see, have I really seen what I should see? What have I missed all these years? Do I really watch for opportunities to provide love, hope or something more? Our sisters and brothers here taught me that my brothers and sisters back in the states need love, need us to lean in and listen, talk, touch and laugh with them. We are all one body and we get so caught up in “our” own lives, and if we simply just pause and watch for moments of wonder, we will continue to grow, transform and be all that we were always meant to be. This is day 1. What will God continue to show me? I'm really not sure, but I’m going to focus on one day at a time, watching, learning and my goal at the end of this trip is to learn why and how to apply it in my life…after. Tonight, I rest, tomorrow is a new day. Am I ready for tomorrow? Probably not, since I don’t know what it will show me, but what I do know is that I am not alone, and together “we” will step into tomorrow already blessed in it. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNE7B4vIB8VeexP5K8-qxQPSmVuhn4iCwIY3HEVAlk7g1K2yIEhvVjLFGoT6k9SQLknv-5OAwVSyOf42aFIr3pEIHCRk_u_GzI0WMmxSMvSFhVeCBkPBPGHozK9mKFfldfgcXo6_KQw3c/s640/blog+-+1+of+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNE7B4vIB8VeexP5K8-qxQPSmVuhn4iCwIY3HEVAlk7g1K2yIEhvVjLFGoT6k9SQLknv-5OAwVSyOf42aFIr3pEIHCRk_u_GzI0WMmxSMvSFhVeCBkPBPGHozK9mKFfldfgcXo6_KQw3c/s320/blog+-+1+of+6.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2sqS9_DWsvwj9cuXqiv6mEQooW4GuaTMJbhusOt_aMpvavcNxmLVWwzjKOgzSWuJBuQXATSJTtBlCXT5msAic3JYwTuy_BJVkqd6bLOWX5y70BQapPjxpD6-RdveAfjcxMZYW_EuJoc/s640/blog+-+2+of+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2sqS9_DWsvwj9cuXqiv6mEQooW4GuaTMJbhusOt_aMpvavcNxmLVWwzjKOgzSWuJBuQXATSJTtBlCXT5msAic3JYwTuy_BJVkqd6bLOWX5y70BQapPjxpD6-RdveAfjcxMZYW_EuJoc/s320/blog+-+2+of+6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxKkrmolydLz3Zw2jGCgn3XqUk9AOt5tS6hDUoq_dgyP9vXIGBCIdLSigvcqy-r1I9JVPIwPn9Y47r9fBy7VrmvKa3mDu8XT0aaXOId38G7ur6FNfGDOGKMGWcBEp16CNPI-DXtQYgA7k/s640/blog+-+3+of+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxKkrmolydLz3Zw2jGCgn3XqUk9AOt5tS6hDUoq_dgyP9vXIGBCIdLSigvcqy-r1I9JVPIwPn9Y47r9fBy7VrmvKa3mDu8XT0aaXOId38G7ur6FNfGDOGKMGWcBEp16CNPI-DXtQYgA7k/s320/blog+-+3+of+6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2-oVQiTkIQsdHLcXVMBQegmIorsv9ijKkSiVk_TDUHnAzDZYZutgFBY_tw31fF3LILPQOZxMqp0LcbMXKgVEoJhIion6PSF57967qyDJybqNNp7r1CJEvPsq1ra40-lVbV7mOvTk_zM/s640/blog+-+4+of+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2-oVQiTkIQsdHLcXVMBQegmIorsv9ijKkSiVk_TDUHnAzDZYZutgFBY_tw31fF3LILPQOZxMqp0LcbMXKgVEoJhIion6PSF57967qyDJybqNNp7r1CJEvPsq1ra40-lVbV7mOvTk_zM/s320/blog+-+4+of+6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kHmc1OaTxjPcvdmURNMtaAdLzm94WZF6nDK9eS3C9be56GvRhsbnsP8qi2y0pDopmt7N0PEhTiToSwIEqP0UQa1a4IVKPzz1OquY4lQYBdM5lhGWxbqgHVbQ3bnZKGdlOCHvWp6EK2w/s640/blog+-+5+of+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kHmc1OaTxjPcvdmURNMtaAdLzm94WZF6nDK9eS3C9be56GvRhsbnsP8qi2y0pDopmt7N0PEhTiToSwIEqP0UQa1a4IVKPzz1OquY4lQYBdM5lhGWxbqgHVbQ3bnZKGdlOCHvWp6EK2w/s320/blog+-+5+of+6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyjgQYZb0RiE7cJVZmaWxpAJvTnHNgHXYFd85qAuV-awUBHn-R2bh2J83sL2uCM4lG8uLpit_nwfGQezN-VCmlFeLIhSHV5mk4GSkGfAXp47eCc99eAxpubKpSMVdu4Kv8QVg422W7uM/s640/blog+-+6+of+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyjgQYZb0RiE7cJVZmaWxpAJvTnHNgHXYFd85qAuV-awUBHn-R2bh2J83sL2uCM4lG8uLpit_nwfGQezN-VCmlFeLIhSHV5mk4GSkGfAXp47eCc99eAxpubKpSMVdu4Kv8QVg422W7uM/s320/blog+-+6+of+6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /></span>Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-44627458415498848552020-02-29T20:00:00.002-08:002020-02-29T20:00:39.010-08:00Vanguard Healing Haiti Day 4We had lost our internet for a couple days so was not able to blog, but that does not mean we were not serving and enjoying every day. Day 2, was our water truck day in Cite Soleil. With our broken hearts we assisted with many heavy buckets of water for many in Cite Soleil. With each truck and bucket, it was more apparent of our need to serve these beautiful people and their community. As many children and women were carrying fresh water for their family, they quickly welcomed our help with the water or playing with their young children while they transported the water to their homes, many smiles and hugs were given to us. These buckets were very heavy and quickly tired our muscles but not our spirits. It was hard to see these difference living conditions but made the need to serve the people of Cite Soleil so much more important. As if the passion from any staff member was not motivating enough, but the smiles, hugs and chants of "Alicia" let's you know you are following the Lord and making a difference for these deserving people. <br />
We then toured Fleri farms and met another amazing team member Kenny. He quickly had us all enthused with his farming, future plans of mango salsa, future jobs, enriching the community with delicious food and jobs. <br />
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On our third day, we started the day with a church serve with Pastor Gary at Church on the Rock. It was so uplifting and spiritual that had filled many of us with hope, love and the Lord. Shortly after church then we head to Titanyen to tour Grace Village. Our jaws hit the ground with all that Healing Haiti is doing there. The medical clinic was buzzing with patients with medical needs, classes were full of happy, beautiful children at the school and the family orphanage that gives these children mothers and fathers and assists in family re-placement. There was so much in one village happening that all you could do is smile and be happy for this community. Plus a little play time with the children at their recess was beneficial also. <br />
We then headed to some elder visits that was impactful to us and them. We enjoyed listening to their stories about them and their families while we washed their harder to reach extremities. It was pleasant to sing and pray with them. <br />
We ended with a tour of Fleri that not only wowed us with the bakery and production but the restaurant definitely filled us full of yummy pizza and treats. We ate like royalty while enjoying the environment, service and scenery. A meal we will not forget and will tell others to experience also. <br />
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Day four saw our return to the mountains, but not the "purple mountain majesty" that we are used to seeing. Instead, we enjoyed the beauty of the lush, verdant mountains of Haiti, and our hearts were filled by the love and generosity of the Haitian people. We spent the day in the village of Kenscoff and in the company of the community leaders.<br />
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The leaders spoke with us about their desire for local children to have opportunities within their own community; opportunities for education and for a fulfilling adult life there someday. Currently, they have what we might consider a kids club. We spent several hours playing with the children. Temporary tattoos were very popular as well as chalk, football, soccer, and styling hair. Then we had a wonderful time of singing and dancing together before it was time to say goodbye.<br />
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Next we were able to visit an elderly gentleman in the community. The community leaders accompanied us on our visit. When asked if he had any advice for young people about faith, the advice he gave struck me as similar to this verse in Ecclesiastes, "Remember your creator in the days of your youth." It was a joy to be able to visit with him.<br />
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In the afternoon, the community leaders took us hiking. We hiked into a narrow valley that would have been a riverbed in the rainy season. We were able to see where the villagers go to get water. This time of year it is a trickle of water from a rocky crevice. They use a pipe to channel the bit of water into buckets. They use this water to drink, wash clothes, and water livestock and crops. It was heart wrenching to think of how much of the day women and children must spend waiting in line to slowly fill buckets. In the rainy season, they fill buckets in the river. We stopped a little above the stream and the leaders treated us to Haitian corn cooked over a fire. It was an honor to have these leaders serve us with warm hearts. They blessed us though they have little. Their generous spirit is something I will long remember. On the way back to the guest house our hearts were filled even more by the Haitian guides that have been accompanying us sharing Haitian street food with us. It was a beautiful day.<br />
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Mandy and Kristi<br />
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Kaeleigh playing with Grace Academy kids during recess.<br />
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Fleri Bakery and Restaurant was incredible and has created many jobs for the community.<br />
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Our guide Smith asking Dorothy to sing "Glwa Pou Bondye" to the kids club in Kenscoff.<br />
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Smith and the children teaching us a new game.<br />
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On a hike to find the main water source for this small community in the mountainous Haitian countryside.<br />
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This photo does not capture the amazing beauty of the Haitian mountains. We reached 3,600 feet at our highest!<br />
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The sweet girls of Kenscoff playing and braiding hair with Kalyn and Mandy.<br />
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Discussing the Maternal Health Program with the Director and Clinic Manager of Hope Clinic.<br />
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The boys at Grace Academy were hanging out with Lukas during recess.<br />
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Kristi waving to a sweet class of Kindergartners at Grace Academy.<br />
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Smith and the Community Leaders of Kenscoff grilled fresh corn for us during a break in our hike.<br />
<img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=LOADED&custom1=www.blogger.com&custom2=%2Fblogger.g&t=1583028614837" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=BEFORE_OPTOUT_REQ&t=1583028614837" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=FINISHED&custom1=www.blogger.com&t=1583028614839" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=OPTOUT_RESPONSE_OK&t=1583028615277" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=cd1d2&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=MNTZ_INJECT&t=1583028615282" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=90f06&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=MNTZ_INJECT&t=1583028615283" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=90f06&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=MNTZ_LOADED&t=1583028616115" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" /><img src="https://tribedone.org/metric/?mid=cd1d2&wid=51824&sid=&tid=8396&rid=MNTZ_LOADED&t=1583028616529" style="display: none; height: 0; visibility: hidden; width: 0;" />Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-22895073761605776682020-02-26T18:01:00.000-08:002020-02-26T18:01:43.692-08:00Vanguard Healing Haiti Day One"Hayyew - HAYYEW!" And so began our journey in Haiti with greetings, high fives, hugs, and deep bellied laughs. Over and over today, people of all ages spilled out of their homes and shops to greet us, bellowing "hey you!" with such familiarity it seemed more like a homecoming than a trip to a foreign country. The warmth of the locals was equal to the heat of the noon high sun. The fuchsia and yellow and tangerine walls of the humble buildings were consistent with the vibrant colors of the flowers and other flora peaking over crumbling walls and climbing abandoned fences. <div>
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We started with a tour of Hope Clinic. This medical and dental clinic is run by locals who care for an otherwise ostracized population deep in the heart of the poorest slum in the Western Hemisphere. And yet, there was so much dignity in the organization and operation that it was evident how this clinic heals so much more than physical ailments. Afterward, lunch with The Elders of the community had much the same feeling; an older population considered vulnerable by their peers, and yet the maps of wrinkles on their faces told stories of unappreciated strength. And watching the neighborhood children flock to the known and loved group leaders revealed such admiration and trust it was palpable. This afternoon we concluded with time at the Home for Sick and Dying Children, a playtime so contrasted by antagonizing sorrow and pregnant with hope there are no words. Today was so, so much more than the sum of its parts. We head to bed with overwhelming feelings of gratitude and appreciation for this day, these leaders, and the work Healing Haiti is doing.</div>
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- Megan</div>
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Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-62903941877721428742020-01-25T19:10:00.000-08:002020-01-25T19:10:47.377-08:00Wahoo Beach DayWahoo Beach Day!<br />
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Today was our fellowship day and we were more than ready to relax and have some fun together! After a wonderful breakfast, we headed out for the long trek to Wahoo Bay Beach Club & Resort in Arcahaie, Haiti.<br />
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We were able to make a pitstop at the Haiti Deaf Academy to visit and hear their story from Keith and Meredith. Haiti Deaf Academy has up to 50 deaf children who travel and stay in dormitories so they can attend school specifically for the deaf. Most of these children came into the program knowing NO sign language and in addition to learning how to sign, they are also able to teach their families how to communicate better with them. The children were so excited to sign their names and talk with us! We were able to visit, ask questions, and take some photos with them for about 20 minutes before we continued on our way.<br />
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Everyone was elated to reach Wahoo Beach and see how beautiful the sand and the ocean were! The resort was very quiet and didn't have many visitors/customers due to the recent political unrest in the country. Healing Haiti teams hadn't been to Wahoo since September, so they were very happy to have us as visitors. Everyone enjoyed the beach....from swimming in the ocean with the beautiful mountain views to jet-skiing and snorkeling! We did some shopping and talked a lot with the vendors who have missed having customers. We also did some awesome bonding and just laughing together!<br />
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On the way home, we played some Catch Phrase and Tap-Tap surfing (who can stay standing the longest without holding on). It helped keep our minds off the busy traffic jam! We enjoyed our last wonderful dinner and group time together and had a lot of laughs and tears. This has been an amazing team and we know we will miss everyone. Everyone is sad to leave and we are really crossing our fingers for a return trip together down the road! Tyson and I are so glad we were able to finally make this trip happen and we are so grateful for this team!<br />
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Sara & Tyson<br />
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<br />Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-51744668367644239532020-01-24T18:45:00.001-08:002020-01-24T19:08:14.560-08:00KenscoffToday was our fourth full day in Haiti, and our last day serving. We started off by going up the mountains and visiting elders. We visited 3 elders and we helped them by massaging their feet, hands, and back. We also gave them a few snacks. They were very very appreciative of what we did for them. Some elders had younger children and we were able to help them as well. One child we saw looked very malnourished including yellow hair and eyes. He looked two years old but was actually four due to malnourishment. After we finished visiting with the elders, we walked back to the tap tap {truck} and had a few snacks before moving on to our next mission.<br />
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Our next adventure was the children! We walked to this area that they use as their community church. We talked for awhile as the kids started arriving. After they all arrived, we hung out with the kids and did things such as painting nails, face painting, playing catch, and dancing. After awhile, we had the kids sit down and we gathered together. We re-enacted a skit of Noah's Arc. We all had our own part to play and the kids and adults enjoyed it. We sang songs as they sang back to us. We also taught them a new song and dance called "Baby Shark". Then they sang "Jesus Loves Me" in Creole. After we taught them "Baby Shark", they taught us this game called "Todo Buquee" where we all stand in a circle and clapped and sang. The game was super fun because we got to dance in the circle one by one. After everyone calmed down a bit, we handed out snacks and drinks to the children. After we handed out things we had to say goodbye. We gave them one last hug and went on our way. We all got back in the tap tap and it was about an hour and a half drive back, but about half way we stopped at a grocery store and grabbed some things like cookies, drinks, and candy. Then we drove all the way back home and we were super tired. Most of us changed into our swimsuits and went to the pool which is about a five minute walk. We hung there till dark then traveled home. Once we got home, we ate dinner and had group time where we talked about our plan for tomorrow and prayed all as one. We are all relaxing now and are ready for a fun day at the beach tomorrow.<br />
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~Hannah and Anika :)<br />
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<br />Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-16095649984673415112020-01-24T04:39:00.004-08:002020-01-24T17:30:32.058-08:00Thursday - Elders, Grace Village, Rosies and FleriWe awoke this morning finding that there had been a beautiful, soaking rain. If you've ever been to Haiti, or even heard anyone talk about Haiti, you may of heard that you need some flexibility! Today was a fine example of that flexibility that was required--a couple of times over.<br />
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We were originally scheduled to go up into a village higher in the mountains that had been described as "lush." We were encouraged to bring a long-sleeve shirt because it's cooler there, especially with the recent rain. </div>
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It was decided while we were eating breakfast that today was not going to be a good day for us to go to this village because of the rain. So, alternate plans were made (we switched Friday's plan for Thursday), and we headed from the guest house up to Titanyen. We made plans to see four elders in the village that are sponsored in the Healing Haiti Elder Care Program. Our team leader advised us on the brief bio of each of the elders we would see. Our Haitian interpreter secured a meal, water and a drink for each of the elders we would see, then we went up into the village. </div>
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At the home of the first elder, Lindor, we were welcomed by his smiling face. He told us that he was happy because his friends had come to visit. Our group, including our teens and pre-teens, served this elder with foot washing, neck massage, worship music and even a shave and mustache trim! We prayed with him before we left. We then left his home and headed across the street where we visited with a young mom and her very plump baby! The baby boy was loved on and passed from kid to kid for some snuggles. A cousin of this young mom was also blessed by our young ladies when they painted her fingernails and toenails. Again, we prayed with this family prior to departing, and hugs abounded!</div>
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Our next stop required a bit of flexibility when a neighbor told our interpreter that our next two ladies were not home. We dropped off one of the meals with a neighbor/family member, then proceeded to a different elders home. There, each of our team members were greeted into the property with a kiss on the cheek! She received some love from our group in the form of foot washing, neck massage, and music. </div>
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After our visits with the elders and their families, we proceeded up to Grace Village, where we toured the school. Lots of school children joined our group by holding onto the hands of our team members. We heard the story of how the orphanage and school developed to also include church and a program for job-creation.</div>
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Our next stop was quite a thrill for our participants, with a stop at Rosie's Boutique where we were able to get ICE CREAM! We also were able to shop for some Haitian souvenirs including t-shirts, hand-made cards, journals and ornaments. After Rosie's, we hopped back into the tap-tap and headed back into Titanyen for our final destination of the day.</div>
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We arrived to Fleri and were given a tour of the bakery and advised how the bakery has grown over the past few years, Not only in how they increased their bread production, but also how many Haitians they have been able to employ! After our tour of the bakery and restaurant, we ordered pizza and appetizers for all. Now, I'm sure when you think of Haiti, you might not think of pizza, but let me tell you, this is some delicious pizza! Our team agreed that this is not only good for Haiti, but may get top billing over some of our favorite pizzas back home!!</div>
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After pizza, the kids enjoyed some games in the courtyard including giant Jenga and cornhole. We all returned to the guest house with full bellies and happy memories. One of our young people wanted to make sure you all knew that he had fun spending time with the kids and the elders today! </div>
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We look forward to serving tomorrow as well, whether that be plans to go up the mountain or whatever else we may get up to! </div>
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Thank you for your continued prayers for the kids on this trip, as well as the moms (who have had some very proud-mama moments on this trip!).<br />
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Joy<br />
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Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-59450631263285096292019-10-29T13:02:00.001-07:002019-10-29T13:02:07.955-07:00Healing Haiti Day 2Its day two now, and I am pumped. We wake up ready to get our day going, get dressed, brush our teeth, sit together and go over what we plan on doing today. Were going downtown, to see the children. Well look at that, that sounds fun. After we have an idea of what we are going to do for the day, we have our morning devotional. Mrs. Angela started us off with Proverbs 28 and 29. In which she talked about love. Love for one another and not judging. She then shared a story, which led to the following, Love is not Fear. This reminded me of the scripture 1 John 4:18 (NIV)<br />
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."<br />
Right here, in this scripture it says to cast it out. Cast out all fear, for that is not what love is. Love does not worry, nor boast, nor sin. So when you do something, like participate in Healing Haiti and you are fearful, you are more likely to miss out the gift God has for you, because you cant overlook the fear that is standing in front of you. Once you fill yourself with the Love of God, you can See and Feel and Breathe, everything as if it was your first. And that is exactly how I viewed everything today. We arrived at the building, and the children were so happy to see us. When I went to help the younger kids, they were so excited to touch my hand. They wanted to smell me, hug me and just a glance or smile that you gave them, it looked like it made their day. We gave them Play-Doh and they were so happy. They wanted every piece they could, we told them too share and most of them did. Then we gave them a task, make something to do and show us. Some girls made baskets and some boys made snakes and fish and boats. It was very special to see. Some did start getting a little rough over who could have a certain color of Play-Doh but they calmed down. Some girls sung for us and we taught them some English. We tried to get them to sing "This little light of Mine" but they were so happy to see us. They started to jump all over us, Playing with everyone on the team. We shared some laughs as we noticed some people were making funny faces, not going to mention any names but<br />
John was the one. Oops, did I say his name? Well, it's too late now, right? They loved my hair, and the girls and very few boys started to braid my hair and tangle it all up. My hair has been through worse but it was nice to see them happy. A lot of the kids were trying to leave with us, pulling us back. We had to leave, but they understood. As we were leaving, a little girl was so happy she ran up to me and hugged me, meanwhile the other girls and boys were either pulling them off of me or helping them try to pull me in. It was very eye-opening to see how the kids are being taught or even how they do things. They smile with the very little they are given and treasure that moment, and you can see that.<br />
The Following Photos include what we did today :<br />
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<br />Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-69755012749763316052019-10-29T12:13:00.000-07:002019-10-29T12:13:27.410-07:00Team Intentional Day 1Let's start with the night before, I was told many things about going onto this trip, much more for the rest of the team. It's our first time on a missions trip with the Healing Haiti corporation, of course we are wondering about how the trip was going to go on. What the building was going to look like and what type of mission work was going to go on. As we were getting ready to leave to go to Haiti, My family and I prayed. We prayed the usual and unusual, like traveling mercies and no discord coming over us as we get ready to do the Lord's work but there was a more serious and in depth tone in what we were saying. I mean, its not everyday a family member leaves the country. My church left Massachusetts around 5:30 am to get to the first flight. From the Boston airport to the next, then all of a sudden, I'm being told to fasten ,your seat belts because we are arriving at Haiti. You may want to know what happened in between that time, well I wish I could tell you. Most of the ride and flight, I was slumped. I would wake up when the flight attendants would offer free food, and i watched a movie. Actually, the movie was Fast and Furious 6, it was free so I got excited. Any time I would look outside I could see how beautiful the Earth I live on was. The makeup of the land was just gorgeous. If you could look through a little kids eyes, its like seeing a room full of candy and ice cream. Exactly like that. Amazing. Yummy. Leaving you for wanting more. In between one of my flights, we met up with another member of out team, John. And he sure is a funny one. He's loud and upfront but very kind. I was excited at the airport because when I saw Steak & Shake I was one lucky girl. Unfortunately, they only accepted card, but John offered to pay for me and I declined because I had a card to use. That opened my eyes to how generous people still are nowadays. As we got to Haiti, not only was the airplane empty, but so was the Haitian Airport. the people at the airport and outside were very welcoming, kind and eager to help us get situated. That's when we got on the vehicle and went off to our compound which was a lot bigger than expected. The house was very nice, two floors with a huge balcony. A big kitchen with a big dinning table which can hold about 14 people. Everyone at the compound was welcoming and generous. we came to a hot meal and the bedrooms were big as well. 2 bunk beds per room, and an A/C unit. Ah, this made me feel so comfortable. I went to the bathroom and very good impressions, on everything. I took a shower and called it a night.Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-87441942072182010432019-10-13T21:33:00.000-07:002019-10-13T21:33:07.288-07:00The Bridge Day 7- My Jericho<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">My Jericho<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjsInQozwyPBgw-VYs-nxlwTHhz9f8jGdkxzpcWYe9TU-LPmiJIgYxqYSCkQ-0YyjrQHQj-dYKN6GyFKaSomJMhFsWbCQFq7eKxY1n5Fl6IsL8wCxu-kXjKNXzYuTWwCjJlLPgG1AhRU/s1600/fullsizeoutput_281a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjsInQozwyPBgw-VYs-nxlwTHhz9f8jGdkxzpcWYe9TU-LPmiJIgYxqYSCkQ-0YyjrQHQj-dYKN6GyFKaSomJMhFsWbCQFq7eKxY1n5Fl6IsL8wCxu-kXjKNXzYuTWwCjJlLPgG1AhRU/s640/fullsizeoutput_281a.jpeg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Before I came on this trip to Haiti, I was never an open person. In fact, I considered myself to be extremely introverted. Just like Jericho, my walls were tall, thick, and heavily guarded. Throughout my life, I’ve had trouble feeling accepted and trusting towards the people around me. I’ve always yearned for the feeling of complete friendship with people, but have never known how to go about it. However, this country has changed my perspective on how I can feel like enough, and how I can have an open and honest conversation without feeling judgment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">I met a little boy at the home for the sick and dying children earlier this week that wanted nothing more than to be held and loved, regardless of his circumstance. He wrecked my heart in the best way possible. I realized that day that if he can open himself up to complete strangers, completely ready to accept love, I should give myself the chance to do the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">This team came in very open, so they didn’t make it very hard to connect with them. Throughout this week, my team has encouraged me, loved me, and helped me process my emotions (even the ones I don’t like). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">The people of Haiti, and the mission team I came here with were exactly like the song of Joshua: their instantaneous acceptance for not only me, but also one another, slowly chipped and cracked every wall of doubt I had. Because of this trip, I am so much stronger in my faith than before. I am ready to go home and continue to let the love that was shown to me this week shine into my life, because all of my walls have tumbled down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">-Annonymous</span></div>
Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-16246182449359009042019-10-12T22:37:00.001-07:002019-10-12T22:37:50.629-07:00The Bridge Day 6- Adoption: My Perspective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I suppose I am writing because I want everyone – especially my parents who adopted me- to truly understand the emotions that I experienced and how I feel about being adopted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is my third trip to Haiti, and each time people ask me “are you Haitian”? I tell them I am Haitian and American. I was ten years old when I first came to the states, and I continued to have a relationship with my birth family. I struggled with balancing two sets of parents. I didn’t really face the fact that I had two sets of parents until I was in my late teens. I especially struggled with the idea of how my adoptive parents could unconditionally love a child whom they’ve never met and brought from a different country to be their own. As I began to feel more and more like their child, I started to really hate the fact that I was referring to them as my adopted white parents when I would talk to my birth parents. It wasn’t because my birth parents were making me feel that I should refer to them that way, but inside myself I felt torn. I knew that my adoptive parents were so much more and meant so much more to me, even more than they realized. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I remember when I came to the states, because of my upbringing in Haiti, I was scared of evil spirits (which are common in Haitian culture), namely the evil spirit dyab. I was afraid it would come to get me. I remember my adoptive mom, Natalie, being so brave in that moment. She was patient and willing to listen to a crazy voodoo story that I strongly believed was real. I remember my mom telling me that God was bigger than the dyab that I had known about in Haiti. This continued to happen night after night, and she never left my side. She stood by me through all of it. I admired the strength that my mom showed even when I was afraid. I knew that I was safe with her. That safety continued into my older years. In Haitian culture, moms show strength with their children. My American mom has Haitian strength within her, and I think that is why I feel so at home with her. God knew what He was doing when he brought us together. My mother carries herself, teaches and raises her children in Christ. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At times, I can be difficult to love. My mom shows me the unconditional, unwavering love that God shows us everyday, despite my flaws. She loves me even harder through those times. Because of what my mom has done for me, I want parents who may consider adoption – or even someone who just wants to understand adoption, to understand what it feels like as an adopted child. I have seen other children who live in orphanages and I see the sadness and understand the feeling of missing something in their lives that they often feel. Although my Haitian parents made the choice to allow me to have a better life here in the states, I still felt a sense of loneliness when I was left at the orphanage. I wanted to be in a family. Every child wants to be in a family with people who love them- whether it is their birth family, or a family who adopts them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just as God sets eternity in every human heart, I believe he also puts the desire of a family in a child’s heart. Although we live in a fallen world, God is merciful and kind and he allows lonely children to experience a taste of what His original plan for a family should look like – and they long for parents come into their lives to fill that hole. He also calls some people to love children whom they did not give birth to, and then gives them a love for the children He is placing in their lives. God is a God of rescue missions, and I believe that He calls parents to adopt children to live out that rescue mission here on earth by rescuing them just as He rescued us. It’s a reflection of His love for us. My mom showed this reflection of God’s love to me. She rescued me – she’s the hero in my story. And for that, I am eternally grateful. I pray, and believe that one day He will also call me to adopt children and love them as my own. I hope if He is calling you to adopt, that you will remember fear is not from God and you will not be afraid to do what He is asking of you. </div>
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Jezi bay tout timoun yo famni! (Jesus gives all the children families!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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~Eliana Manoucheka McBee<o:p></o:p></div>
Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-59820280931469822222019-10-10T21:24:00.002-07:002019-10-10T21:24:29.714-07:00The Bridge Day 4- New Hope<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcuw_AzDfkJFDt9q8QFbBi2abMfrjaBYHwq94e5gr74JObYEUFONDva-DGtP5DmCzweKbrXO01n-MfApyxWOksJXl5aS2b2VViI3jaa1mYpDvuKZaUKyUfdmj_kZTtZ024AsOi8ypkCs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2635.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcuw_AzDfkJFDt9q8QFbBi2abMfrjaBYHwq94e5gr74JObYEUFONDva-DGtP5DmCzweKbrXO01n-MfApyxWOksJXl5aS2b2VViI3jaa1mYpDvuKZaUKyUfdmj_kZTtZ024AsOi8ypkCs/s320/fullsizeoutput_2635.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">We started off our day today by going to New Hope Activity Center, in a neighborhood that one of the Healing Haiti staff is from, to play with the children there. Smith originally told us there would only be around 60 children, but this was not the case. As we arrived into a seemingly small building, a flood of sweet smiling faces began greeting us by shaking our hands. The initial amount of children in the building seemed perfect, we brought enough balls, jump ropes, and bubbles to keep them pleased. However, more and more children began showing up, until eventually the courtyard was packed wall to wall. We were swarmed with kind smiles and warm hugs from children we had never seen in our lives. They didn’t care what we looked like or who we might be, they just took us in as we were and loved on us until our hearts were full. One might assume this would be an overwhelming experience, and while they wouldn’t be wrong, it was incredible to be in that courtyard, watching as it flooded each second with the beautiful Haitian children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">We weren’t quite sure what exactly we were going to do with nearly 200 kids, but we managed to do so much. They were truly fascinated with the colors and textures of our hair as well as the color of our skin. For a majority of the time, we sat as the girls styled our hair and closely examined our hands. As they pulled at our hair and made their best efforts to comb out the tangles with their fingers, we sat patiently, even though it was a bit painful at times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xt1RzloJVsVybNC1bMTUZ9aULEZusIezvrMvO2YQTtUH78663Mjo47EEv8lAlNEzbH6MNXEIe0dAFPE96uG5GIbEdoHnkiGBgekvxueYsi2DKaJIYcXFbvpg8HcZ6bGwjq5phRzxc4M/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2630.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheL3CPpuYvlT23fpLd5y0f3KlQwfassXzlBa-LW8oaa0erynIdrLr8cVuKtqvEEJ_yFp7U-dzRNWuiCpQ2pnmapE9WSiR9c_fC7Hc0bxEnGDtjpi_ziWsmcrHQa3vMhB5zcnHlIBb_UBQ/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2652.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheL3CPpuYvlT23fpLd5y0f3KlQwfassXzlBa-LW8oaa0erynIdrLr8cVuKtqvEEJ_yFp7U-dzRNWuiCpQ2pnmapE9WSiR9c_fC7Hc0bxEnGDtjpi_ziWsmcrHQa3vMhB5zcnHlIBb_UBQ/s200/fullsizeoutput_2652.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xt1RzloJVsVybNC1bMTUZ9aULEZusIezvrMvO2YQTtUH78663Mjo47EEv8lAlNEzbH6MNXEIe0dAFPE96uG5GIbEdoHnkiGBgekvxueYsi2DKaJIYcXFbvpg8HcZ6bGwjq5phRzxc4M/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2630.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xt1RzloJVsVybNC1bMTUZ9aULEZusIezvrMvO2YQTtUH78663Mjo47EEv8lAlNEzbH6MNXEIe0dAFPE96uG5GIbEdoHnkiGBgekvxueYsi2DKaJIYcXFbvpg8HcZ6bGwjq5phRzxc4M/s200/fullsizeoutput_2630.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwuckZkYRpsJrS3V8FZldwQYXVUmFNLERobU2glXxqmqvhuftDEnEU0KvBhLZY-bwO9VPcaWIH2lGUX_aQjXwQ3DA6fetwV4FjdqrIXw7ZdItUEj43fCsUTnIiZJYXLLJ2KNyuKtnOD-E/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2654.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwuckZkYRpsJrS3V8FZldwQYXVUmFNLERobU2glXxqmqvhuftDEnEU0KvBhLZY-bwO9VPcaWIH2lGUX_aQjXwQ3DA6fetwV4FjdqrIXw7ZdItUEj43fCsUTnIiZJYXLLJ2KNyuKtnOD-E/s200/fullsizeoutput_2654.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKJs1da5EOIufc3rSRN7zq1AWWOwHSCnEztLBLc9ahE4OMKSbPl6vunbhNnA-jiqwUmGEh4QfKFsGXtLK9_2TBLfu7MA9LxH0k059Nye6Vri3k2lwChRE4vYmQvhdC62cBPzy42ZhrH0/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2651.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKJs1da5EOIufc3rSRN7zq1AWWOwHSCnEztLBLc9ahE4OMKSbPl6vunbhNnA-jiqwUmGEh4QfKFsGXtLK9_2TBLfu7MA9LxH0k059Nye6Vri3k2lwChRE4vYmQvhdC62cBPzy42ZhrH0/s200/fullsizeoutput_2651.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">The children here have found so many ways to bless us just in the days we’ve been here. We have both fallen for so many kids while being here, and we both hope to remember all of them when we return to the states.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">-Meghan Runyon and Abigail Wille<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2461530484390078777.post-2023152440679334052019-10-09T20:27:00.004-07:002019-10-09T20:27:44.373-07:00The Bridge Day 3- With Every Heartbeat <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
In a place known as the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies, the sound of a baby’s heartbeat kept my spirit alive today. </div>
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When we walked into the nursery, the only sound was a child crying in his crib. No diaper. No one to give him attention. No hope in his eyes. But, he had a heartbeat. Steven had a heartbeat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Steven, was carefully lifted out of his crib, cradled and soothed. It didn’t last long. But his heartbeat did. He was passed around from one loving person to the next in an attempt to calm him until he was placed onto my chest. I guess God knew we both needed to be held and our hearts needed calmed today. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our hearts needed to beat together, it seemed. As the temperature rose and the sun grew stronger on the black, rubber matted playground; our connection grew with it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwDXUN2lcHn1ISEMnYCOXuhdMq0M2zuo7cb87LYXMVwhfBb9gcKygPAAxwpt7M-TAscVhSH6ry4p7ZaOYH3NQDiPaPEwEeC5TbyECci8sC2DzeCg8qdWIspnMRuCgB1TAvNafTw16MQvs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_22e2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwDXUN2lcHn1ISEMnYCOXuhdMq0M2zuo7cb87LYXMVwhfBb9gcKygPAAxwpt7M-TAscVhSH6ry4p7ZaOYH3NQDiPaPEwEeC5TbyECci8sC2DzeCg8qdWIspnMRuCgB1TAvNafTw16MQvs/s200/fullsizeoutput_22e2.jpeg" width="133" /></a>We found a patio, free of children and parents and cries and the chaos of the entryway. There was nothing but the concrete patio and benches, and a beautiful large shade tree in the middle. Our hearts beat together. Just a few steps away from the doors of the hospital, Steven showed his first bit of joyous emotion. I couldn’t help but smile. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We played with an empty soda bottle, the only toy we needed. We enjoyed each other’s company in solitude for just a few moments. He ate lunch, we wandered the playground again, and then he slept. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Knowing our time together was drawing near, I soaked up the last few heartbeats of Steven’s that I could. I held him close as he grasped my arms in his sleep. Back in the entrance of the hospital with about 15 people around, still the only thing I could hear was the tiny heartbeat of the beautiful child in my arms. Hoping that the sound of mine brought him just as much comfort and serenity as I was feeling. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">Does the heart beat just to break? It’s a muscle, right? So without tearing and breaking it cannot grow bigger and stronger. But how can something so small do something so big? How can someone so small do something so big? God held that that child’s heart today through me, and my heart through Steven. Thank you Steven, for the reminder that God knows our every heartbeat. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">~Jessica Varner</span></div>
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Healing Haiti Mission Team http://www.blogger.com/profile/17571596535114809705noreply@blogger.com0