Our Purpose Perhaps?

 Our Purpose Perhaps?

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.  

We started off our Sunday morning at Rendezvous 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.

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.

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. 

We finished off the day with some intense corn hole(bags) matches, Shepard's Pie for supper, revealed our prayer partners, and shared our final "word of the day" for the week.

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, “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.”

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?

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.

May God Bless and protect these beautiful Haitian souls.

Randy

Curious Minds

Curious Minds - Serving Day #5

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

- Ellie and Marina

Moment of Gratitude

 Pre-dawn moment of gratitude.

Day 4: Give Yourself Away

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Scott

Serving Day #2

 

Greetings family and friends…

Our second day of serving began this morning assisting the ladies at Hope School/Church doing the laundry Haitian style for the Elders. The Elders are the older, grandparent type people. 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, (the Haitian experts), coached us in doing this by HAND!  This was a GREAT work out!!!  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”.  We shared some great laughter while learning from our new friends.

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. 

We then spent time with the elders from Citi Soleil in Hope Church. We had about 40 elders in our group today.  We colored pictures together, sang together, and basically spent time together.   The singing was from their hearts and spirit filled.  Even though we could not understand all of the words, it touched us as they praised our God with their song.

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.  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. It was hard for them as well as we heard the sad cries as we left the building.  We were happy that they were well cared for and very loved there. 

Dinner was at a new restaurant in town that is owned by one of our Haitian staff drivers.  We had a wonderful meal of fried chicken, plantains, and fries.  It was nice to be out in the community and supporting Max. 

After dinner we played football (soccer) with the 8 to 10 kids in the street just outside the Healing Haiti compound. The boys were so gracious to let us play “keep away” with them.  (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!

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.

It was a beautiful day in which we could share God’s love with the wonderful people of Haiti.  As always, I wish all of you could experience this trip with us. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers.

Blessings,

Dennis &  Lori

 Hey you.

Three words. Three words that come to mind as I think of this day are grateful, exhausting, and joy.

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. 

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. 

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. 

Morgan

Stoebner Team - Day 7 (Recover)

 Evolution of Humanitarian Aid

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?

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.