A Day of Journey: KCC Mission Team

Good evening to our followers.  We appreciate your support and interest in our journey. Our day began very early for all of us:  our team of eight from Kennebec Community Church (KCC) in Maine and Charlie from Minnesota.  We are a mix of first timers, second timers and veterans to mission work in Haiti.  It has been an exhausting day of travel, yet our bonds as a team have begun to form through our flights, time on the ground, and through dinner tonight.  We are settling into our accommodations in Port-au-Prince, a safe and colorful compound from which we will work from.  We look forwarding to posting more but our bodies need rest and replenishment.  God is keeping us safe, providing us shelter and sustenance, and reaching all of our hearts in ways that I certainly cannot truly appreciate yet.  Let me close with our words of the day for our team:  we each will choose a word each day as a way to debrief and connect.  In random order:

• Humbled
• Reunited
• Emotional
• Excitement
• Powerful
• Confidence
• Tiring
• Sticky
• Fellowship

Looking forward to our work tomorrow: "Water truck day".  Details tomorrow as this first timer plans to jump in fully and get "his feet wet".  We love and miss our families.  We know that without you, we could not be doing what we are for god.  May God Bless and good night.   Mike Gee

Dear Friends! 

Sarah writing today - thank you for following our blog all week.  I am profoundly grateful for the team God provided for me and Craig this week as leaders.  We asked for them to be all in, to stretch and to give everything they had in Haiti… and they did!  As a multiple time goer to Haiti, each time I go to Haiti I experience it afresh, and God always has something new to teach me.  This week he gently reminded me that no matter how much I plan, coordinate, or anticipate what might go wrong, I will never be fully in charge. (ha. And I never was in the first place…) And if you ever need reminding of this fact, Haiti is the place to teach it to you.

This year, I was blessed by the best co-leader, my amazing and patient husband, Craig.  He was a “leader in training” but really, he taught me so much and is probably more qualified than me to lead a trip internationally because he has been traveling the world for 23 years for his “real job.”  His dedication to the team, and his complementary style of leadership to mine, were a huge asset to everyone, but especially me.  And even if I resisted his gentle care taking of me (yep, again, God trying to teach me I’m not in charge) I am slowly learning that I can’t do it all. (but don’t tell him that! : )

Haiti has become part of what I do, traveling there to mission trips at least once a year, but this trip I continue to be reminded that Haiti is becoming a bigger and bigger part of who I am.  And God keeps making more and more room in my heart for his people there, and equipping me even when I think I am unable or unwilling to do what he’s calling me to do at that moment.

You heard straight from the heart of my team this week how God worked in their lives. And we always try to stay focused on what God is doing in us just as much as what God is doing in the Haitian lives we touch. 

At lunch in Atlanta today, we did a highlight reel, each person telling me what topped their list of memorable moments during our 7 days of serving these beautiful, humble, God-fearing, perseverant, hopeful people.  They blessed us.  And they changed us. I hope they keep Haiti in their heart, and continue to let it affect their everyday lives. 

My prayer is that you will be touched by their moments, enough to consider for yourself how you might reach into the life of another to bless them – wherever in the world you might be – and in return reap the reward of that moment changing who you are as well.

Haiti Team Beckman Mission 2016 Highlight Reel:

David: At our second water truck day, we turned onto the street of a stop we call Na Boule, and the moment our tap tap rounded the corner a cacophony of voices began chanting “Hey You, Hey You, Hey You, Hey You” in a joyful unison as they ran after the truck trying to climb on the back and ride along with us to the stop where we would deliver water.  The well over 40 voices were some of the most beautiful we’ve ever heard in our lives.  “Hey you” is a term of endearment for us “Americans” at the water stops in Cite Soleil, and was their way of welcoming us with not just open arms but also hearts filled with anticipation of the love we would share with these kids. (This moment was definitely the number one moment for many of us on the team)

Katie: Spending time at the Home for Sick and Dying Adults helping the women care for themselves when they couldn’t do it alone. 

Jamie: Watching my daughter realize her true calling and comprehend God’s plan for her life. 

 Craig: After a failed attempt to go the wound clinic, we got a second bonus session with the babies at the Hospital.  Caitlin, Tyler and I were the only helpers at that time.  I ended up in a room with 25 hungry babies and one feeder – me.   The first little one was not really excited to eat so it was a battle. The second little guy wanted to eat as much as I would give him and fast.  And he watched me the whole time.  I knew I was needed in that moment.

 Tyler: Teaching and practicing English with the kids at Dare’s.

 Mo: When a cute little baby clung to me at Home for Sick and Dying Babies.

Chris: At our very first water stop the first boy I held stayed with me the whole stop. When we went back for a second day, the same boy came running up to me again and grabbed onto me, and then he followed our truck to the second stop and found me again!

 Dani: At Home for Sick and Dying Babies I held a “drama queen” of a little girl, and she reminded me of myself… which made me smile, since I could totally relate!  I loved that little girl with a sassy attitude that would cry every time I tried to put her down. 

Bri:  When the kids saw me step in the dirty water and they took me over to their clean water and washed off me feet. Their concern for me was so precious.

Ryan: When the tiny kids with no clothes on were helping me lift up the water hose even though they could barely reach it!

Caitlin:   For a while now I have felt the call to do God’s work.  I knew I wanted to be in the mission field somehow.  But for the first time in Haiti I felt like I belonged, and I knew in my heart that God is calling me to be a missionary!

Sarah:  Watching my team do things they never knew they could do, and growing in their faith before my very eyes!

Madi: Really connecting with kids at the water truck stops and seeing Haiti from a different vantage point the second time around!

Thank you for faithfully following our trip, for your donations, your prayers, your support in prayer and deed, your sewing, and your love for our team.  If you ever want to go to Haiti, I have several people who will give it a glowing endorsement…myself included! 

All the glory goes to God!  Glwa Pou Bondye.

Sarah, Craig and Team

Hello all!

The last day in Haiti was truly a day of reflection for all of us, I think. We began the day with church at Port-au-Prince Fellowship, where a lot of long-term missionaries attend church. I think that experience gave the whole team a taste of what truly living in Haiti long term is like for these missionaries. They are not protected by translators all day or locked in a compound with guard dogs. These people are living here, amongst the poverty and crime. We were also able to see how these people are able to praise God throughout all their struggles and trials because they are alive. I think that’s the most important thing I learned from church this morning is learning to praise during the trials, not just when things are going well for us, but when we think we can’t find any reason to praise him.

All in all, today was a day of lasts, a day of goodbyes, to our translators and the missionaries from Healing Haiti, a day of remembering the week and all we did, a day of remembering to remember Haiti. I think when we all leave this place, we need to remember to remember and remember to forget. Remember the people here and their love for one another and their communities. Remember everything we learned this week about each other and, more importantly, ourselves. Remember to be changed and live differently when we get home. Remember to love everyone, not just the people of Haiti, but the people all around us every day. Remember to love, to serve, to say hello, to smile, and to be the hands of feet of God. We also need to remember to forget. Forget ourselves and our selfish needs. Forget what we previously thought of our lives. Forget complaining when we are so incredibly blessed as Americans. Forget ever living the same lives as we lead before.

Haiti will forever be in our hearts and our minds and hopefully, change all of us for the better.

Dani 

For the last year, I have not slept well.  My job has been very stressful – the decisions and problems of the day would not go away in the night.  Last night, here in Haiti, I slept for 10 hours straight!  And it felt really really good.  We forget the healing of sleep.

So I am pondering why I sleep so well in Haiti on a Healing Haiti mission trip.  Not somewhere one would assume provides good sleep. 

The word I believe explains this conundrum is – peace.  I am at peace in Haiti.  But why? This country was struggling mightily before a devastating earthquake hit the capital city and left more than a million homeless and hundreds of thousands dead.  The people of Haiti have fought back and are recovering a little more each day.  However, there is a long road ahead and there are still many heart-breaking issues.

I am at peace because I have spent every day working for; praying for; and thinking of - others.  Usually others in desperate need.  Some at hospitals for the Sick and Dying, others without family, others without water.  There is immense power, purpose and satisfaction in focusing on others.  This is not the message we see and hear every day in America.  We are told so often the world should be about us NOT others.  They tell us we will find contentment in us and our stuff and more stuff.  But I found again the opposite is true.  Giving and helping provide much more contentment.  Sarah says it best – “It’s not about you”.

This week I slept well because I found peace.  I found it by caring for others.  I encourage you to do the same sometime soon.  Maybe for a day maybe for a week and maybe even for a life time.    

God Bless!

Craig

Hi everyone!

So today we did water truck again today which was super fun because I got to hold the kids and just play with all the kids. But something happen today to me that had kind of stuck with me and I find this completely amazing. So I was holding a little girl today and she had asked me to dance with her, so while I was dancing with her a little boy came to me and took me to her older brothers. On my way over there I was crossing a part in the street that had a small stream of water. I’m almost certain that it had human feces in it. But on my way to the boys I accidentally walked through it because I didn’t see it over the girl I was holding. (Now this is the part that was amazing to me) the little girl I was holding saw that I had walked through the water, so she quickly took me over to her mom who had just gotten her water from the truck. She had started to drink the water and wash herself with it. Once I got over to this little girl’s mom, she pointed at my foot and looked up at her mom. When her mom saw it she pointed at her bucket, telling me to take some. When I hesitated the little girl and her mom started getting handfuls of their water and pouring it down my leg and cleaning off my shoes and feet. Before I knew what was really going on, I had 4 or 5 little kids and the one little girls mom all just pouring all of the water on my feet. This really just amazed me because these people barley knew me but yet they cared about me so much that they used their own water that they worked hard for to clean off some dirty water on my shoes. It was just awesome to me.

See you soon,

Bri

This trip has truly changed my perspective on the verse where Christ says that He is a spring of living water that will never run dry. This morning as we were in Cite Soleil with the water truck, I helped hold the huge hose that dispenses the water, and I was able to look around at all the different containers that people were using to take their water home: paint buckets, margarine tubs, mop buckets, baby baths, gasoline cans, disposable plastic cups, and, in one little girl’s case, even a small plastic bag. These people were desperate to get their share of water, even resorting to pushing each other out of the way or stealing others’ portion. They were afraid that there wouldn’t be enough water to fulfill their needs - to wash their children and themselves, to cook their food, to clean their clothes. But Christ never stops pouring His grace, His love, and His compassion into our lives. He never runs dry; He never gets exasperated with our need for Him. In fact, He welcomes that need with open arms and an unimaginably full heart.

Katie 

Greetings again! (Hi Dad, Cody and young adults miss you much)

Today we were given the question of “What is God trying to teach you?” which is one of Healing Haiti’s big focuses. As I was thinking I was pointed to a number of things by God which we all shared in our circle time.

1) Being that this trip-it’s not about me. I tend to make trips about me saying “oh I am going to Healing Haiti” and “I am bringing water to these families” but in reality it’s not me at all, it is the Lord’s work. I am simply a vessel (Mo’s word of the day) to these people who need it the most. I need to stop thinking that I am this great person for coming here and helping these women at this Home for Sick and Dying Adults but that I am here simply because it is God’s will and that I am to be showing him and sending glory to him instead of taking the credit like I’m some saint.

2)He is showing me where I belong. Ever since I was little I was always hearing about these amazing gifts that people had and I have always just wondered what my gift is, cus apparently everyone is supposed to have one, what gift could I possibly have when these amazing people have these amazing gifts. Now I tend to second guess myself, and I would always see missions’ videos and get so choked up, almost crying, and think it was just so cool when I was little (and whenever I saw it after), but I blew it off like everyone gets choked up at those. But this missions trip I felt a huge tug on my heart and I was like “maybe idk I’ll just check it out” and I’ve come here and the tug as gotten so much bigger and I just don’t want to leave. I want to stay here and do this stuff every day. I finally found my gift I think.

I hope everyone is doing well and having a good summer! See you soon

Love, Caitlin Shell

Hello Friends,

Today we visited the Sisters of Charity’s Home for Sick and Dying Adults. The girls were sent to 4 rooms with about 10 sick women per room. We massaged the women with lotion, painted and clipped their nails and tried to pour out as much love as we could to them. It was hard, it pushed me very far out of my comfort zone. The sights were heartbreaking and it was very hard not to burst into tears.  However, the thought I kept in my mind was that life there was hard and the gift of touch and love would mean the world to these women.

Some women were more sick than others but the look on all of their faces was the same, despair. We had the gift of loving them and giving them joy. I learned a great lesson today about giving my all and being a vessel. When we leave those women are still sick, still dying, still stuck in that hot hospital every day. If I gave my all for two hours, got rid of my “comfort zone” and gave them everything I could, even if that meant doing things I didn’t want to, I could make their day. I also learned that I am only a vessel to show God’s love, I am His servant and He deserves the credit.

I am so thankful to have had this amazing opportunity today. God pushed me and it paid off.

-Much Love, Mo

Today we were able to see all the amazing things God is doing in Haiti. Being able to serve and love on these people is such an indescribable feeling. We visited some of the elders today and were able to bring them food, water and clean them up a little by washing their feet and singing songs to them. Just to see how joyful and loving they were really touched me and to see how they focus on God and praise Him through all the pain and suffering was simply amazing. I absolutely love the people of Haiti.

Chris

Today I was pondering the meaning of the word “grace” and marveling at how grace-filled the people of Haiti are. There are many iterations of the word “grace,” and the Haitian people embody all of them.

They are graceful: the women carrying massive buckets of water on their heads while holding their precious children on their hips, the vibrant colors that cover their homes and businesses, the gorgeous way they intone the word “Bonjoo.”

They are gracious: the selfless willingness of our two translators to share their stories about the day the devastating earthquake destroyed their homes, the two lovely women that cook us breakfast every morning and how patient they are with me when I do something wrong, the way the children we encounter shyly hold our hands as we walk down the streets together.

Most of all, they believe in the infinite grace of God. We visited three precious women that participate in Healing Haiti’s elder program. They receive a hot meal, clean water, and medical support. But the thing they are all most grateful for is the grace of God. The sweet 91-year-old woman we visited first, asked for prayer for her constant pain, but when we sang “Glory to God” with her in Creole, she sang along with her soft, quavering voice. While we washed her feet, our second elder told us that her family was suffering from a terrible fever. When we prayed with her, her beautiful, calm face reflected how much she believed in God’s grace and power to heal her family. Our final elder truly blew us all away with her faith in God’s grace. Instead of sitting, she bustled around to almost everyone in our group and told us that “GOD IS GOOD!” (She has the makings of an outstanding preacher!) Her faith and joy, in the midst of poverty, loss, and tragedy, is inspiring beyond the scope of words.

This country truly has captured my heart.

Katie

Greetings friends and family,

The Lord has been doing a mighty work in me and my team in Haiti. I have been on mission trips to Ecuador for the last two years, in which I did a huge amount of physical for a Christ Centered organization called Elohim. Going into this trip, I thought that this trip to Haiti would be incredibly easy compared to my Ecuador trips. Boy, was I wrong. This trip has been emotionally, physically, and spiritually taxing on me, but in a very positive way. It has been a huge lesson for me in how little I actually know in comparison to what the Lord knows. Which brings me to the main lesson I believe the Lord has shown me through this trip. The Lord is such a patient teacher with me. Just when I think I have something down 100%, He “pulls the rug” out from underneath me, so to speak, to teach me a lesson. Often times when I think I have something down, I begin to get prideful. Haiti has taught me to be dependent on the Lord for this reason, to avoid pride. There is always something else to learn. I thought I had mission trips down, but man, has the Lord shown me how wrong I was. But that’s what is beautiful about grace. Even in my wrongness, the Lord’s righteousness is made perfect. I will always have something to learn, no matter what, and Haiti has truly shown me this. I am so thankful for what He has done, and what He will do on this trip. ¡Gloria a Dios! Or has the Haitians would say: Glwa pou Bonedye.

Thanks for reading my chaos of thoughts

 Ryan Taylor

Greetings! Now I’m no English teacher (like Katie) so we’ll see how this goes!

              On Tuesday when we went with the water truck it was completely different from today.  Today was emotionally taxing verses the physical taxing which we saw on water truck day. Now physical stuff is easy-peasy for me, I can easily push past the physical pain and just focus on the fact that I won’t feel it forever. But I’ve always struggled with the emotional aspect of life where I get very over emotional. Today we visited the elders and each one had so little that I was just thinking “wow how do they do this”.  They only had little huts, and I mean sticks holding blankets up under which they would lay down on blankets on top of cardboard where the cardboard was the cousin from the hard dirt covered ground. And those blankets and cardboard were most of what they had. When we walked up to each I just saw their face light up and they were so happy that we were there. Clelie even told us that we (Healing Haiti) were her family, and treated her like family and she was just so grateful to us for coming after she lost all her other family members. It was all so emotional I just held back tears.

              When we showed up I’m not completely sure one of the women knew what was going on because she couldn’t see that well, but our translator explained who we were and it was obvious that she had arthritis by how she moved, he then asked if we could sing for her. She said yes and a couple lyrics into “Glwa Pou Bonedye” she was doing a small jig in her bed. I got to wash the hands and feet of the second elder and she told us everyone she lived with (five people) had fallen ill and when we asked her how we could pray for her she just said that they would all get better.

Now all these ladies have are the places they sleep, some friends, and the food/water Healing Haiti brings them. But yet each one mentioned how god is good and when we asked for prayer requests no one asked for more things, more food/water, a better home/life, not even that the lord would bring them a family. All they asked was that their pain be taken away, that their house members be healed, or that what has been stolen would be restored. They were just so grateful for what they had they never let it get them down. They accepted what they had and made it work. Not once were they ungrateful or anything of the sort. They really showed me what its like to actually have nothing and how I should be more grateful for what I have because they probably think I was the richest girl alive if they saw my room, and I don’t even deserve how the lord has blessed me. The people how actually deserve everything that I have: these three women.

              The reason these women are living like this is not just that they have no money, but because of the earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010. My team and I got to visit the mass grave memorial (which is not quite finished) where they had to bring many of the bodies found after the earthquake. As many as 300,000 Haitians were buried there during this time and when we visited our interpreters graciously shared their stories with us. Their stories touched my heart on such a huge level. I will not share their stories out of respect for them but lemme tell ya, it’s a dusey. Haiti has grown together and stood hand and hand to help each other though this, which is such a foreign concept for our country (not in a bad way) in that they would share their income with their house members. This country has touched my heart with their amazing spirit and I will forever be changed.

              Much love,

              Caitlin Shell