Glory to God Forever

Today was Day 3 of serving: Water Truck Day! This morning, our entire team boarded the tap tap and followed a truck full of up to 10,000 gallons of water into City Soleil. We made three different stops on the streets. At each one, all of the kids would come running at the tap tap and surround it before we even stopped. Some were clothed and some were naked. Lots of them had bloated bellies, and some had red hair, both of which are signs of malnourishment. The one thing that was the same about each and every kid that I saw as we drove up  was their expressions of pure joy. As we got out of the tap tap, they crowded us with their hands up, some even fighting over us, wanting to be held and loved. While we were getting out, people of all ages, from little kids to elders, lined up behind the water truck with buckets waiting to be filled. It was overwhelming yet incredible to be amongst all of the kids who were constantly grabbing at you for attention and people aggressively racing into the line, all shouting in Creole. It was chaos that so clearly revealed to me what joy really looks like. Not the joy you get from buying new things or winning a big game or holidays. These people had a much stronger and truer joy than that, one that comes from having a basic need like water fulfilled when you've been deprived of it. One that comes from having someone simply hold you because you don't get that love and affection from your family. Despite having nothing, these people offered so much love. An eleven year old boy came up to me with his little three year old brother and points to him, then tells me "porte". In English, it means to carry. He wanted me to hold and love his brother instead of himself. I picked up his brother and both of them smiled so big, and the eleven year old said "chante". This is where my two years of high school French came in handy and I was able to translate that to "sing". The night before, we had learned a song in Creole that goes "Glwa Pou Bondye Pou Tou Jou", meaning "Glory to God Forever". When I started to sing it for him, he and a couple other boys nearby join in, and we together we stood in the middle of the poorest slum in the western hemisphere singing "Glory to God forever". These children have nothing but God, and they worship Him and praise Him because He is their hope. This moment just really stuck with me, and I still can't get it out of my head. These kids worship God when they have nothing, and sometimes it seems like I'm too busy with the things that God has blessed me with to even stop and thank him for it. The people in City Soleil are such an inspiration for me, because they are full of joy and praise for God when they are some of the poorest people in the whole world. At the end of the day, I felt like they showed me more love than I could've ever shown them. They would come up to me and jump on me, braiding my flyaway hairs and teaching me how to play clapping games, then singing to me and giggling over my bright white skin. In the limits that such extreme poverty put on them, they were giving me everything - their gifts, their talents, their time, and their love. They showed me what pure joy and love looks like and inspired me with it. The poverty is ugly and unfair and these people don't deserve it, yet God is using it to teach me more about Him. He is showing me His love in these people, and I feel so honored and humbled because of it.

Beautifully Broken

Day 2 in Haiti and this group of mothers and daughters are beginning to have our eyes truly opened. Today half of our team went to Gertrude's, an orphanage for both healthy and special needs children. While they have ~45 children there we were asked if we could focus on doing therapy for a few of the high needs children that were there. What an amazing gift for us! We loved loving on these children through massage, stretching and exercise, as well as singing and playing music with them. The girls were so impressive- 16 and 17 year olds caring for these kids as if they have been doing it their entire lives. They are so natural with them! For the mothers here, watching our daughters love on and have their hearts broken over these kids is such a beautiful and amazing thing. And hearts were breaking. As awesome as it is that there is an orphanage that takes these children in and provides for them, it was tough to see the deep needs that are still there. There were very few staff to so many children- although the staff we worked with were wonderful with these kids- the needs of the kids are great. There were many dirty diapers and kids in need of a bath. But all these kiddos really want from us is love and attention. And love them we did. And are still doing even from a distance. I cannot get the image of the little guy I was working with today out of my head- or forget the feel of him in my arms. He was 14 years old, but only the size of a 4year old. He didn't speak but he had wisdom in his eyes. He has no motor control but has more strength then I will ever known. My time with him was beautiful. I was able to use some of the therapy gifts God has given me to use on him. And he slowly melted. And so did I. Our time way too quickly came to an end. I had to carry him back to his bed and say goodbye. My heart continues to break as I think of him lying there. He did not have a wheel chair that he could lie back in and watch the activity of the other kids in the courtyard. He, along with a few others just had to lay in bed- pretty much the entire day we learned from the staff. Unless they go to therapy. The last therapy date was 5 days ago.
There is such a struggle inside me and inside many of the others on this group right now. Our hearts are completely breaking- in ways I didn't even know they could break. And anger. Over the unfairness of it all. The poverty here is so great. Yet we have so much There is such a divide between the have and the have nots. Even in our own towns. It is too much to make sense of. In my quiet God reminded me how much he loves each and every one of these kids, and how much he loves me. And to trust him.  We were reminded today of a verse in Isaiah chapter 55: As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We are learning to trust in Him in all of this and just be obedient each day. He has plans for us.
 And today, he used this young boy to break my heart. He is using our time here to break all of our hearts. So that he can reshape them to be more like Jesus.
 In the afternoon our entire group went to the Apparent Project- an amazing organization!
What an inspiration. To see what God has done with a couple whose hearts were broken over Haiti. Years ago they wanted to adopt a child from Haiti, only to realize he had parents here that loved him but didn't have enough money to provide for him. They were frustrated as they found out how common this is here, and decided to do something about it. They are dealing with this issue at it's core by supplying jobs for moms and dads, so they can in turn provide for their families. They even have free day care for the employees children and are starting a school for them in September! This is such an incredible organization that is teaching people how to make items such as jewelry, clothing etc.  We were able to tour the entire facility and meet some of the people making the jewelry, hammered metal, pottery and clothing. Our leader Margie was even wearing a skirt she bought from the Apparent project a few years ago when she was here and you should have seen the smile on the seamstress' face when she saw it! She likely made that skirt years ago. How fun! We were then able to do some shopping with a purpose in their gift shop- where all of the proceeds go back to the community.
Today was such a gift and we can't wait until tomorrow.
Glwa Pou Bondye!
(Glory to God!)

Amie Rybacki

Day 2 (Wednesday) - "Surrender"

Today, our team was temporarily partite. One group went to the home of sick and dying children, another group to Gertrude's orphanage home.  I was privileged to be part of the group to visit the home of sick and dying children today. What an astonishing experience! Such an enlightening day!

Talk about being completely and utterly emotionally stretched! First off, I found that children all over the world are the same. They are generally happy, loving and forgiving souls. Walking through the door, I see smiling faces and some with arms up.  1 little boy waddled up to me and tugged my skirt. Looking down, I see big brown eyes, a smile to match those eyes and drools on his chin. What a site to welcome me! Just as soon as he's in my arms, his head drops to my shoulder. That unconditional love I instantly feel coming from him. And here, I thought it was my job to pour the love into these children today, and maybe will receive a smile or two back. Right away... I knew it was going to be a fun filled day.

I am playing with this little boy and his apparent nemesis (they kept trying to pinch each other's arms), finding out that I am receiving more  joy out of these 2 boys than I could possibly give, I spot a little girl sitting by herself on her little plastic chair. She looks lack luster and lethargic. At this time, the boys are playing nicely with each other, so I go to pick up the little girl. She's not doing too well. She refuses to drink water, or milk, or the porridge they have prepared for her. My heart is instantly broken. No sick child should be alone. Without someone to love them up and give them comfort. Hold them and let them know they are loved. Unfortunately, she isn't the only one. Plenty other sick boys and girls needing a shoulder to rest their heads on, or lap to sit on. Parents may come from hours away to drop them off.  Some do not return to reclaim them.  So, I give my shoulders and laps as much as I can to as many boys and girls who need them.

Fun filled day? Far from.  I instantly feel so hopeless, so despondent, so inadequate. The world I came from, where I am in control of most things, where I have a solution to most everything, suddenly disappeared.  My way and skills of planning in order to control the outcome of our family's days, weeks, months, are no match to face what is in front of me at the moment. I can't make this sick girl eat, or drink.  I can't even make her smile.  She is content in my arms, and nothing else, but in my mind, being held doesn't physically heal her.  Not when lack of nutrition is what brought her here to begin with.  I can't sit next to her crib tonight, making sure she has her medicine, something nutritious to eat, liquid to drink, sing her a song to ease her pain, and mostly to ensure her she is not alone. That she is loved until she falls asleep for the night. I have 2 hours to do something good, and I barely touched the surface.

So... the big lesson of the day for me is to "SURRENDER".  I surrender to the power that be, for the events I cannot control. I surrender to the idea that someone with much larger and more comforting arms are holding these boys and girls in His arms, and that these sweet innocent children will be taken care of one way or another either in this world, or in the next.  Surrender... is not just another word in my vocabulary. It is a whole new word that I now have real understanding in.

In the meantime, today, I have completely turned the love bucket in my heart inside out.  I have given it all, and I am going back to the guest house to refill that love bucket so I can give it all away again tomorrow, on our water truck day!

Posted by Farida.

Day 1! (Tuesday)

We started out today pumped and ready to go! Today was a split day, so half our team went to Home for Sick and Dying Babies and the other half went to Dari's Orphanage for the Disabled. I went to Dari's which was such an amazing experience. My last trip, we didn't have enough time to visit any orphanages for the disabled so I was super pumped this morning. Sleep wise we were all up early, probably from the excitement, heat, or just adjusting in general to Haiti. By the way, it's really hot here. Temperature wise it's not so much, but it's the humidity that kills you. So we hopped on our tap-tap with frozen water bottles and tied up sleeves. We said goodbye to half our team who left for babies while we drove on to Dari's. The first word that comes to mind now when I think of Dari's is loud. One girl in particular expressed herself in screaming at the top her lungs. She had a great laugh though. Some of the disabilities there included paralysis, visually impaired and other forms of disabilities. I think one of the harder things to see was how a child who looked seven was actually a twelve year old. I helped carry around a sweet girl with the biggest smile who seemed older than me. Her name was Nalta and she was paralyzed waist down. Towards the end of Dari's we got some of their wheelchairs out and brought them around the small courtyard. We also brought tons of musical instruments which started a full half-hour of loud worship led by Franzie, a 20 year old blind man who loves to clap. After Dari's we had a small break before we joined with the rest of our team. In the afternoon we went to Lapharre Orphanage. All of us kids created a good shepherd outline with activities and snacks for the kids. The activities went well, we only lost two pairs of scissors. Overall the kids were excited and the majority were patiently waiting their turns. After our good shepherd activities, we grabbed the parachute and jump ropes to play with the kids. Somehow we ended the day with arm wresting competitions before leaving back to the guest house. Overall, I feel that we were all stretched in some ways, giving us a good idea about how the rest of the week is going to be!

Posted by Abby Schroeder

First Day Serving

Today was our first day serving in Haiti and we went to the home of sick and dying babies. Not knowing what to expect it ended up being such an inspirational experience. Crib after crib these babies were laying there or crying just wanting to be loved and held, which is exactly what we did. The first baby that I was drawn to was a little girl who looked about three months old, when really I found out she was eight months old. Every time I'd lay this baby down she would cry and cry longing to just be held a little longer. Another young girl who was four had just been received in two days before we arrived it was heart wrenching because she sat by the door crying for her "mama." This was really eye opening because she didn't if or when they would ever come back. There were a few babies receiving IV's for malnutrition which showed us the seriousness of the situations in Haiti. This was such an amazing experience and it was so hard to leave there without wanting to take them with you. God is sure doing amazing things in that environment because the love is so strong and evident.
- Emily Leibke

WE MADE IT!!

We made it to Haiti!  Our travel day to Haiti taught us what it means to be patient and flexible! Who would have thought that our travel day here would be the same day that Delta has a major power outage canceling and delaying hundreds of flights around the world??  Our team was awesome, however, staying positive, praying continually and never losing hope that we would make it!!  We are all exhausted but took time tonight to thank God for His faithfulness in bringing our entire team here safely.  We can't wait to see what He has for us this week.  Thank you for all your prayers today!  God Bless!


posted by Mindy Heine

Our last day of service :(

Today was our last day of service. Knowing that our week of service is coming to an end, wanting to do more and more for the people of Haiti everyday and make the most of our time here brought a mutual feeling of a heavy heart as we headed into Cite Soleil to do water truck one last time.

Water Truck days consist of completely immersing ourselves in the community of Cite Soleil. Because Cite Soleil is one of the poorest slums in the world, there is a desire for clean water. This is where Healing Haiti comes in. Delivering an amount of water that is comparable to a semi truck almost everyday. While driving through the area the smell of burning garbage, the variety of sounds coming from the people getting their water, as well as the visuals of naked children, the area that they live in, and the desperation to get buckets filled with water can be overwhelming at times. But hearing "hey you!" from the children chasing after the water truck and "merci" (thank you) after helping a woman carry a bucket to her house make it all worth while. The two stops went faster than we hoped for, but these stops could never be long enough.

When we got back to the guest house, we washed up and headed to the local supermarket. It was a great grocery store with plenty of options of produce, breads, treats and drinks. It was very comparable to Cub Foods! We were excited to purchase the Haitian version of our favorite products, for example: Peanut Butter, Ice Cream, Fried Plantains, Coffee and other cookie treats. We are excited to bring some (if there is any leftover) home to our families.

Dinner was different tonight because we went out to Pizza Amoure and invited Brunet (our Tap-Tap driver) and his wife and son with us. Pizza Amoure is a missionary ran pizza place with a wide variety of wood fire pizza, including: Alfredo, Meatza, Pepperoni, House Special and they even had gluten free pizza, on corn tortillas of course! There was beautiful outside dining with hanging lights and candle center pieces that were simple and elegant. It was a much needed fun and relaxing night for everyone.

Now for a night of the team's favorite game, Farkle and gearing up for church and the beach tomorrow!

Oreuvwa for now!

Amanda and Syd!