Hosanna! Student Ministries Haiti Team Blog - Day 5

AJ - Howdy-do from Haiti!

Today was pretty jammed packed, perhaps more so than the other days. Some of us started the day with a church service at 6 in the morning. Others started their day with a nutritious breakfast provided by our Haitian staff. We boarded the Tap Tap and rode to Papillon Enterprises, a self-producing gift shop. We were treated to smoothies and a tour of their production system. Y’all can look forward to some local Haitian knick knacks when we get home; as we all spent time and money in their hand made souvenirs shop. We spent some more time at the guest house before the team parted ways; half of us went to a Home for the Sick and Dying children, and the other half went to [For His Glory Orphanage*] (<which I will be expanding on now.) We put together our third and final Jericho skit (which the children were very enthusiastic about) and the kids played a game including panty hose and solo cups. (It’s hard to explain.) After this we spent a considerable amount of time playing with the kids, having a blast, and sharing moments. That’s all for my part of the day.

Karenna - The rest of the group went to a home for sick and dying children, as AJ said which was truly an amazing place. We arrived at the home which is run by nuns and there were three rooms full of kids. One of the rooms had babies and infants as well as another room where we could be with the children and then upstairs was a room for toddlers and a little bit older kids. Most of us stayed downstairs with the babies and infants and split between the two rooms. We got to feed the children, hold them, and just give them love.  It was definitely a heart breaking experience but also a very blessed one. A lot of the children you could tell were really sick and some were just happy and filled with joy. The Holy Spirit really pierced a lot of our hearts today at this place and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that we were all truly grateful for. We then all ended the night off with some amazing pasta made by our cooks that was devoured pretty quickly. After that our team really connected and went deeper into our conversations with each other and with God. I can say for everyone that this trip so far has touched our hearts more than we could of imagined and our faith just keeps growing deeper and deeper as each day goes on.

Comments from Blogger:
AJ:What’s up Veningas I miss you guys a ton give Fletcher some pats from me see you soon
Karenna: we love and miss you all!! and mom and dad I'm okay don't worry :)

Hosanna! Student Ministries Haiti Team Blog - Day 4

Hi family and friends back home!

The fourth day in Haiti was a blast and we can’t wait to tell you all about it when we return, but here’s a little preview ;) It started off visiting a bakery called Fleri Bakery and Restaurant. This is a place created by Healing Haiti to give local Haitians steady jobs. It’s so important to keep the economy going with job creation and you can see how much it impacts the people here. Next we visited Grace Village, another place started by Healing Haiti. Grace Village is a huge “campus” that contains dorms, a church, family style houses, transition dorms, a clinic, a farm, an innovation lab, a feeding center, and so much more. Here orphaned children can learn life skills through each other and their resources. We led the first ever session in the innovation lab with some of the Grace Village children. They played educational games on iPads, made iMovies, and coded a little robot called the SpheroBall to make a canvas painting. These kids are so incredibly smart and taught us so much we didn’t know already about technology. The goal of this innovation lab is to explore and learn hobbies or talents through technology and you can tell the kids will go far with this opportunity. Grace Village values love and family so they set up 6 houses where kids live with a mom and other children. The families eat meals together, do chores, and other activities around campus. Older children are taught skills to use outside in the real world and some even start working at Fleri Bakery. After the tour we started to visit some of the elderly people Healing Haiti sponsors. We visited 5 elders, all different personalities but full of life and joy. We washed their feet, rubbed lotion on their arms and backs, and gave them massages. Along with us we brought them a warm meal and cold drink for them to enjoy. The elders loved singing along to popular worship songs with us and before we left we were lucky enough to pray for each of them and their worries. We finished off the day with an amazing traditional Haitian meal and some impactful devotion time with our team. The Holy Spirit moved so many of our hearts today and we are so lucky to be given this opportunity to be in Haiti.

Comments from Blogger of the Day:

Kylie: Miss you all back home so much! Can’t wait to see you soon!!! :)

Hosanna! Student Ministries Haiti Team Blog - Day 3

Our third day in Haiti was full of happy smiles from some amazing Haitian kids. We visited two orphanages where we got to share the story of “The Battle of Jericho” with the kids. We played a funny game with solo cups, panty hose, and a tennis ball. The kids would put the panty hose on their head with the tennis ball inside and they would try to knock over the cups. It was so funny to watch and all the kids loved it. After the story we helped the kids make their own “trumpets” with paper and stickers. After all the excitement of the story we had play time with the kids. We played basketball, soccer, jump rope, blew bubbles, and colored. There is a language barrier but we communicate through laughs, smiles, and actions. The first orphanage we went to was called “Croation relief”. There were about 20 kids ages ranging from toddler to teenagers. The second orphanage was called “LePharre”. this one was a lot smaller with only about 10 kids. We had an awesome spirit filled moment at this orphanage. We started singing the song “10,000 reasons” in creole and english. It was really awesome when a couple girls in the orphanage knew the song in english. In just an hour, wonderful bonds that we will never forget were created with these wonderful children. It was a tearful goodbye for a few of the team members and a few of the kids. The Lord filled our hearts with so much joy and it was a privilege to be able to share that love with the children today.

Comment from blogger of the day:
Callie: Hi fam I love you all! Miss you and see ya soon!! :)

Hosanna! Student Ministries Haiti Team - Day 2

Leader Note: Hello Family and Friends! We've been experiencing an internet outage for the past two days, but it just started working again! Hopefully everything works smoothly for the rest of the week, but if you don't see a post from us - don't worry, it's likely another internet outage! Kara is sending an email through Managed Missions to parents right now, so keep an eye out for that too. Things have gone very well so far, so check out the below blog post from two of the students. Another student will be writing a day 3 blog post later tonight, so we will try to get that posted ASAP. - Erik & Kara

Good evening family and friends,

Day two in Haiti was a success. The duration of our day consisted of visiting fleri farm (a farm funded by hosanna ministries), Hope church in cite Soliel, and delivering a clean water source to various spots in the city. Throughout our tour of fleri farm which is 24 acres we were introduced to a variety of fruits produced resulting in a job increase for Haitian staff along with an economy boost. These fruits were: avocado, mango, lime, coconut and learning the difference in looks between plantains and bananas. Hope church is a true blessing from God it was built on a pile of trash and now thrives teaching kids the word of God and gives them an education with food in the stomachs. The team got to interact with the kids by letting them braid our hair as well as playing universal games like patty cake not letting a language barrier get in the way of having a good time with them. Healing Haiti is the only group of people that go into cite Soliel to help the growing number of families by deliver clean water to their homes. The overall city experience was both eye opening for people emotionally and psychically. The news casts and articles shown in the US of the city of Haiti were accurate but yet did not begin to express the pure love and joy the people of Haiti hold. They were grateful we were there too help them. From the first naked child to the many sick with disease Haiti touched our team today in a way words cannot describe.

Comments from Bloggers of the day:
Rachel: Shout out to my Madre Fajja and Mads! Love ya family<3
Reanna: Love you Mom and Dad see you soon!

Final Team Blog - Nokken Parent Child Trip 2018

Blog for Sunday, July 1^st

Sunday – a day of rest.   For the team, a bittersweet mix of much-needed time for relaxation; with an understanding that our serving time with the orphanages and Cite Soleil water stops is done.   We had some surprises today – a late change resulted in missing our church service, and another stop was unsuccessful due to the timing impact.    But, this team didn’t miss a beat and still had a wonderful day.  Wahoo Beach provides an amazing reminder of the beauty and possibility of Haiti.   White sand, beautiful water, green hills partially covered in mist, and plenty to do (jetskis, snorkeling, trampolines, freshwater pool, etc.).    Great times, and the travel there and back was shortened by good company and a lot of laughter, along with SIGNS game of course.

The last 24 hours brings to mind an overarching thought (courtesy of Scott):   the human condition is common.    We had a great time “salsa dancing” (quotations used to denote the fact that Jean is really the only one truly salsa dancing) and visiting the Elite hotel.  A wedding party was at the hotel as well.   Eating, dancing, enjoying each other’s company, and celebrating the love of a new marriage.    Today, we saw families relaxing at the beach: kids playing, parents scolding, people laughing.   Earlier in the week, we saw the pure joy in young eyes from simple pleasures, kids seeking comfort and rest sleeping in laps, sport competition (mostly futbol), pain, the struggles of advanced age balanced by grace and strong spirits.    In many ways, this is what Jesus nailed better than anyone before or since: how to perfect the human condition throughout life, no matter what it brings.  

What a great week for this team – so many different people coming together and forming permanent bonds.   Thank you to everyone whose hard work makes this possible – the nearly 200 Haitian employees of Healing Haiti, the long-term missionaries serving so faithfully here, and our wonderful team leaders!   

Mike

    

Another Day gone!

Another day gone in Haiti! It was a long day today, starting the day at around 5:30, where we attended the sunrise mass at Church on the Rock. We walked home and ate breakfast, before a 45-minute ride to Grace Village. We took a tour of a bakery and restaurant called Fleri. Then we went up the hill to play and love the kids. We took a tour of the Grace village Orphanage. The next thing we did was visit the elders. We visited three homes, and met Edmund, Volcy and Elitane, and Maricia Victor. We washed their feet, prayed with them about their needs, gave them massages, and sang songs. After that we ate dinner at Fleri and enjoyed cold drinks and pizza while playing bags. When we left Fleri, we went to a memorial called mass graves, a place where bodies were placed after the earthquake in January 12, 2010. Some 300,000 unidentified bodies were laying under our feet where we were standing. Once we got home, we played soccer with the neighborhood boys. Finally, we had team time and reviewed the pictures.

Ryan and Isaiah

Team # 2 Nokken Parent/Child Day # 3 (posted a day late)

Hey Everybody,

Today is Lydia and Natalie’s day to blog, so we’re going to use teamwork and share our perspectives as one. We started off the day with a delicious breakfast, thanks to our wonderful staff. We got ready for the day and headed off to LaPhare. This orphanage was full of joyful children and lots of fun. We spent most of our time painting little girl’s nails. What we discovered was that the girls especially liked the silver glittery nail polish. Not on their nails but spread on the top of their hands. That little bit of glitter worked wonders for us. At the end, everyone gathered together and sang songs. The children sang beautifully, it was such a moving experience. We then drove to Papillon and got a tour of the workshop, ate delicious food, and shopped ‘til we dropped. Then it was back to the guesthouse to regroup and get ready for the afternoon. Half of us went to the Home for the Sick and Dying, while the other half went to an orphanage called For His Glory. Lydia and I went to For His Glory. We pulled up and the kids were overwhelmingly welcoming. We painted the girl’s nails, the crowd of them was never ending! We officially became professional nail painters today. After the crowd died down, our half of the group put on a skit about David and Goliath. Lydia and I were the sheep. The interpreter did a fantastic job; the kids were engaged and loved it. Then as a thank you, some of the children sang to us. The first girl who came up had an amazing voice. We all were in awe as we watched her sing without any music, not even a guitar, it was amazing! A few other girls came up and performed for us, all were so fun to watch. Then out of nowhere, one of our leaders named Smith, said, “next up to sing is you young lady,” and pointed to me (Natalie). Now, I belt it out in the shower and in the car, but in public it’s a different story. Saying I was speechless is an understatement. I had a little boy on my lap and Smith took him off of me and pulled me up. Lydia volunteered to sing with me, and I was extremely grateful for her in that moment. I knew I had met a best friend for life. We sang 10,000 Reasons with the soundtrack playing in the background. It wasn’t until later that I found out Lydia told Smith to pick me instead of her, and then felt guilty so she sang with me hahahaha. However, I’m extremely thankful Lydia and Smith pushed me out of my comfort zone because I wouldn’t have done it without them. After we were done, Natalie led the group in a closing prayer, thanking the Lord for all of the unbreakable bonds made today. We headed back to the guesthouse and hung out with the neighborhood boys, watched them play soccer, and blew bubbles with the little girls. Overall, today was, as Scott said, “imperfectly perfect in its own way.” That’s it from us for the night.

Xoxo,

Natalie and Lydia