Asper/Loween Team - Day 6 - God Be With Us

Today was a beautiful day of giving, nice weather and camaraderie amongst the team.  We started out the day with a great breakfast and then left for an orphanage called “Dios” which means God.  Dios is a special needs orphanage.  We didn’t quite know what to expect by going there.  We were blessed when we got there.  Dios is a 27 bed orphanage ranging from a 5 month old on up.  God was in the face of each kid.  We did an activity with them of making papillon or in other words butterflies from a coffee filters and pipe cleaners.  Most of the kids drew on them, some needed assistance.  After the butterfly activity we brought out soccer balls, bubbles and a coloring book.  We could hear high pitched squeals coming from the children.  Some of the Healing Haiti teammates played soccer. Some of the Healing Haiti teammates colored with the kids.  And, some of the Healing Haiti teammates blew bubbles.  The children were very sweet and cooperative.  As the activities were in progress one of the teammates played guitar and sang songs.  My personal favorite was a special needs child who really didn’t seem able to participate in much rocked to the music and held my fingers as the music was playing.  We left after the activities.  The kids hugged us good bye with at least a couple of kids very sad to see us go.  

Off to Haiti Baptist Mission

After leaving Dios we headed to Haiti Baptist Mission.  Haiti Baptist Mission Consists of a tiny zoo.  Some of the animals were an Alligator, an Iguana, A Peacock etc., there was a Noah's Ark shaped playground.  One of the only playgrounds that I've seen in Haiti.  There was a hospital where we gave out care packages and smiles.   After visiting the hospital we went shopping at their store.  There was a picture that I believe outlined our day at the store:  Love is an action verb.  We also had a snack at their restaurant.   The traffic both ways was horrendous.  There was some kind of demonstration/election thing going on.  The teammates were very patient during the 2 hour long traffic ordeal.  

We ended the day with team meeting and shared a word for the day.  My words for the day are awesome and gratitude.   We are so blessed.     Kim

Asper/Loween Day 5 - Gratitude

What a beautiful day we had today in Haiti.  The best word to describe today is gratitude.  We started the morning off with another visit to Church on the Rock.  The service today was done in English and in Creole.  Shortly after we arrived, the time of worship began.  We were surrounded by voices singing praise songs in both Creole and English.  Hands and hearts were lifted to God in thanksgiving for all He does for us, all He has done for us, and all He will do for us.  The best description for worship in Haiti is leaving everything at the door and truly surrendering to Christ.  The presence of God was felt several times today.  The Holy Spirit was moving!  People were pacing and hands were lifted worshipping.  I want to challenge those of you stateside to truly surrender to God as you attend worship on Sunday.  Give Him all you have!  Don’t hold anything back.  Thank Him for everything – food, sun, clouds, flowers, friends, and families…..absolutely everything.  Everything we have comes from Him!  Give Him praise for all.  Surrender to Him and allow His Spirit to work in and around you.

After Church on the Rock, we came back to the guesthouse and ate breakfast and prepared for the day.  I am so thankful for the amazing Haitian staff that cooks and cleans for us.  Breakfast each morning is a feast!  They work hard and give of their time to not only cook, but also to develop relationships with us.  They teach us creole and we teach them English.  We smile and laugh together. 

Next, we headed back into Cite Soleil for our ½ day of water truck.  I was blessed beyond measure today by the smiles of the Haitians whom I carried water for as well as the children when we interacted with them.  It was such a blessing to be reminded of the necessity of putting an effort into what God gives us.  Blessings do show up, but many times, we have to have open hearts to receive and have willing hands and feet to do what He asks.  We were blessed by seeing children be children.  They played soccer on the street with an empty metal can that had been filled with tomato.  We, as a team, worked side by side the Haitian children and adults to help them get their water buckets closer to their houses.  Have you ever noticed how many times it seems you are blessed when you bless?  It is similar to when you give love, you receive so much more love in return.  While I was carrying buckets down the street to our stopping point (sometimes even on my own head), I noticed a baby sitting on an elderly man’s lap.  I finally stopped and asked him in Creole if the baby was his grandson.  He smiled and said yes.  I smiled at the baby and looked into his eyes and then went back to carrying buckets.  A few trips later, the momma was standing in the doorway with the baby.  She came to me, grabbed me, and handed me her baby boy.  He couldn’t have been much more than 6 months old.  I stood right there and held this precious baby for several minutes.  Whenever his momma would speak, he would cry.  I turned him to see his momma and he would settle back down.  It was such a blessing for that grandfather to find his daughter and tell her about me and allow me the opportunity to love on him.  Blessings abounded today in Cite Soleil.  The stories above are just a couple of examples.  Many more happened today. 

After water truck, we headed back to the guest house to regroup for a few moments.  We then headed to Papillion (The Apparent Project) and saw what they are doing for the people of Haiti.  It was such a blessing to hear the story of this organization.  Many women are now able to care for their children by being employed here.  The biggest blessing is the fact that there is a daycare on site to care for the little ones while the mommas and papas are working.  The smiles on the faces of the men and women we saw working during the tour gave many of us hope.  Such a blessing to see many different organizations working together as well.

We ended our day with some amazing pizza at Pizza Amore.  This was a wonderful time of enjoying each other’s company over a meal away from the guesthouse.  Laughter.  Such a blessing!  The week gets heavy with all that we see.  However, tonight, we were all able to joke and laugh – a lot!  I know that my stomach muscles hurt from so much laughter.  This laughter carried through to our team devotion tonight.  We are blessed to see how far our group has come from being individuals to now working as a team!  We are so much closer tonight.  We were able to truly share our hearts and encourage and support each other.  The real blessing is that this all happened in less than a week!   

God is so good!  To all of us!  Look at your day and see how many blessings you can count!  Our list is super long tonight.  How long is yours?  Write your blessings out and watch Satan be pushed back!  So grateful! 

Blessings to all of you,

Austin and Stephanie

Asper/Loween Team - Day 4 - Grace Village and Elders Visits

 

Today we had the privilege of visiting Grace Village. This community  is about 40 minutes outside of the capital city in a little village named Titanyen. Grace Village was opened back in 2012 by Healing Haiti as an orphanage and school. As the years have gone on and the numbers of children have increased, they realized that an orphanage set up was not helping these children. In turn they built 4 homes to model a foster care setting where the children live with a mama and pappy. Just like an ordinary family! Each house has anywhere between 9 and 13 children and are thriving! Grace Village has around 46 children that live there and over 400 that come to school there everyday. They graduated their first class earlier this year and dropped off one of the graduates at med school a couple months ago. God is doing great things for these children!

Grace Village has a one stop shop health clinic. Two days a week are dedicated to sonograms for expectant mothers. Before this clinic, mothers never saw their babies before they were born. Now they get that opportunity! 

 

 

Grace Village also started Fleri (which means to flourish) bakery/restaurant. We had an opportunity to tour the building and watch employees making baked goods. The facility is clean and beautiful with brand new appliances. Once we were done with a brief tour, we were able to purchase freshly baked cookies that were amazing! They hope to be fully open and operational by the end of December.

 

The second part of our day was spent visiting 4 elders that are in Healing Haiti’s elder care program. At each visit, we washed their feet then placed lotion on their hands and feet.  During that time, we gathered around and worshiped in song.  We then asked what they wanted us to pray for. I am amazed that the humbleness of each individual. Most of them asked us to pray for someone or something other than themselves.  Each person thanked the team and said that God has blessed them by us coming to visit.  



 

 

 

On the way back to the guest house we stopped at the mass graves where loved ones were buried after the devastating earthquake of 2010. There are more than 300,000 people buried there and it is sacred grounds. Our driver told us his story of that horrific day. His descriptions were so clear. He said it took him years to talk about it but knows that God helped him to move forward.

This day was filled with wonder for all of the team. God showed us a beautiful world that is much bigger than little ole Minnesota. God is doing great things here in Haiti and we can’t wait to see what the rest  of the week has in store for us.  Marci, Shelby and the whole team!

Asper/Loween Day 3 - Hands

Today was our 2nd full day of service in Haiti.  This morning started out by attending Church on the Rock. This is an incredible experience of seeing hands lifted to God in worship.  Shortly after we arrived, we were greeted by an older Haitian woman with a handshake and huge smile.  The hearts and minds of individuals are focused 100% on worship to God.  The Holy Spirit is present in the building and the word of God is preached.  I was in awe of the hearts praising God despite their circumstances.  Hands lifted in surrender to God.  Truly an amazing experience that touched my heart once again.

After Church on the Rock, we came back to the guesthouse and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast.  After breakfast we split into 2 groups and visited a couple different places.  I had the privilege of visiting Dare's special needs orphanage.  What an amazing opportunity to use my hands to serve children in need.  The need of the children ranged from blindness to being "bedfast" to being wheelchair bound.  At this orphanage, we held children and loved on them, played with wooden train tracks, and sang.  While holding the children, many times the smile would come and go.  When the smile appeared, I used my hands to gently tickle the children.  Many times we were laughing so hard within a few seconds.  The joy felt through laughter was incredible.  Many times, once laughter would start, the hands would connect which in turn would connect hearts.  It is incredible to see how serving God with our hands leads to so many more connections - physical, emotional, and spiritual.

After Dare's orphanage, we had a small break at home before heading to LaPahre's orphanage.  When we arrived at the orphanage, I noticed several familiar faces from my first trip a few months ago.  We gathered the children and did a butterfly craft.  The children used their hands and absolutely enjoyed the craft.  They were smiling and asking all of us to help them by using our hands.  Once again hands connecting hearts.  After the craft, we sang music and did childhood songs and dances.  The children laughed and giggled and even sang us a special song.  The last several minutes of our visit, we played with jump ropes and soccer balls.  The joy that these 2 simple material things brought to the children was priceless.

Today, I was blessed by the connections made through hands....Hands held one in another, hands joining together to work towards a common purpose, hands of different cultures lifted high in praise to God, and hands used to express care and love through a simple squeeze.  I will never forget the emotional, physical, and spiritual connections made today through hands connecting and serving.  Thank you Jesus for another blessed day in Haiti.   Blessings, Stephanie

"but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14

Greetings from Haiti,

Today I had the privilege to visit the hospital for sick and dying children as well as travel with Marcia into the city center for a wound clinic. As we entered the hospital we saw rows and rows of white metal cribs filled with babies ranging from a couple of months to about 2 years old.  They reached up as we entered and some even cried out for us to choose them to be held.  It took my breath away, I was completely overwhelmed. Most of us grabbed a baby (or 2) and loved them up. It was moving beyond words. I was brought to tears many times. We also helped by changing their cloth diapers and crib bedding, and also fed them lunch before we left.  One boy caught my attention at first sight. He was withdrawn sitting in the corner of his crib with a downward glance.  I was determined to get him to smile! After some time of singing to him I put my hand in his crib he slowly drifted his onto mine. I eventually picked him up by the end of our visit, I got way more than I bargained for, I got a giggle, fish lips, and so many smiles. I will forever remember this little boy his precious eyes, kind smile, and unforgettable laugh.

Team members that served at Sick and Dying Children

Later in the evening Marcia and I went downtown for the wound clinic. It was very organized and again I was blown away.  For all of the medical people following, there were ulcers ranging the entire spectrum in stage and size. We took off their bandages, cleansed the wound and redressed it. One gentleman came in with severe gangrene (bones missing, and others completely exposed), he has been turned away from the hospital for amputation several times. Since I was unable to communicate with them, I found myself praying over them as I changed their dressings. God is at work in Haiti and within our team. Stretching and molding us in ways beyond our expectations.   ~Andrea

Bonjou from Haiti,
It's an end to another full day here in Haiti, and all I can say is "Jesus loves the little children". This morning we broke off into two groups. My group went to a home for children with special needs. Most of the children I could see what their impairment was, some were not obvious.  It did not matter what caused these children to be here, because they are in a place where they can be loved and cared for. With little twisted arms, legs and heads that could not hold themselves up, we played, tickled,  laughed and loved ,and exhausted ourselves. HAITI!  Phyllis

Asper/Loween Team - Day 2 - Water Truck & More

Today was water delivery day!  We loaded into the tap-tap and made our way across town to Cite Soliel, which translates to “City of the Sun”.  Yes, we felt the sun - it was hot!  And as we took turns holding a large hose to fill the many, many buckets, it felt good when a bit of that water splashed on you :)  I’ve learned what it feels like to be a bit of a celebrity.  As soon as our tap-tap pulled into a neighborhood, there were kids waiting for us at the door.  The “hey you’s” never got old.  Smiling with arms outstretched, they wanted to be picked up, hugged and snuggled.  They don’t want you to put them down, but duty called and we would carry a child in one arm and a bucket in the other to distribute the water to their homes.  

My word of the day today is “Uncomfort zone”.  There were many situations that I faced that made my heart break for the people that I met.    Marla

We had approval for me (Cheryl) to meet with the two boys I sponsor through Compassion International.  So I met with them, their dads and their Compassion project people at the nearby Elite Hotel.  What a joy to get to meet them face to face after sponsoring and writing for a number of years.  Though they had never been in a swimming pool before, they had a good time splashing around and throwing a ball back and forth.  The boys who are 10 and 12 enjoyed kicking a soccer ball between them as it is both their favorite sport.  It was a day that neither the boys or I will forget!  Cheryl

Asper/Loweeen Team - Day 1 - We're Here!

We made it!  We had team members from Minnesota, Iowa, and Florida and we all met in Port-au-Prince. We were thrilled to see the tap tap and meet our amazing staff that greeted us with welcoming smiles.  After a comforting meal, we all need to rest so we are ready for water truck day tomorrow.