Day 1- Friday, May 13, 2011
Today was a full day of flying. I was sick most of the time and tried to just focus on getting better. I flew from Little Rock to Dallas to Miami where I finally met my team. We flew a little over 2 hours to Haiti and I was immediately in shock at the way Haiti looks. I am rooming with three girls (Lauren, Heidi, and Jeni) and we all can't get over how poverty looks here in Port Au Prince. Driving to our guest house was tear jerking. God has blessed me more than I deserve. I am so unworthy and deserve nothing, but God wants to give me everything because He loves me so much. At the airport, men would beg to carry your bags just for a dollar tip. They would carry your bag (once they ripped it out of your hands) and then expect a tip when you didn't even ask for their help in the first place. My heart broke seeing those men do almost anything to earn a buck, yet I go and spend $4 at Starbucks without even thinking twice.
It is extremely hot here. I am laying on my bunk, under a mosquito net, using my ipod as a flash light, and sweating so bad. I asked Lauren to read Matthew 6 to me because that is all that has been popping into my head after seeing what I saw coming into Haiti. People in the U.S. think donating money is enough, but if they saw first hand what the world really looks like and how a family has to live like they do over here, then people would not think twice about doing more.
Tomorrow is our first day at the orphanage. I'm anxious and can't wait to see what God has in store. He is way too good to me- I have to share His love with others.
Journey 117 Team (left to right, top to bottom)-
Amber, Callie, Jeni, Me, Lauren, Luke, Jeff, Sondra, Heidi, Amber, Lori, and Tania
Journey 117 Team (left to right, top to bottom)-
Flying into Port Au Prince, HaitiDay 2- Saturday, May 14, 2011 (Inauguration Day for Haiti President)
JEREMIAH 29:11
It is incredibly hot here. It is almost 10:00 pm and it is 90 degrees in our room. We rigged up our fans to try and get more air flow but its barely working!
We woke up at 7:00 am and got ready for the day. We ate breakfast and did devotional. God has placed the most amazing people together for this trip. Each person is so unique and so different. God knows what He is doing. We are all able to use our talents together on this trip to glorify God- it leaves me speechless. After breakfast, we went and picked up a man named Tom who helped start the Healing Haiti foundation (www.healinghaiti.org). He has such a sweet spirit and is always so happy. Tom took us to an orphanage his brother and sister in law started called Grace Village. It is a place that will help orphaned children live a life full of significance. Tom rode with us to the orphanage that we stayed at all day. His friend, FanFan, came along too- he is such a character!
When we got to the orphanage, about 30 sweet babies anxiously awaited us. They sang songs about Jesus and prayed for us right when we got there. It was so moving to see Gods spirit inside those children. We played sports, jump rope, arts and crafts, and more with the kids for about 5 hours. Lori made a great point about the pros and cons of orphanages. All those kids strive for is love and care. Christ has called us just to do that. It has deeply moved me to know I am doing what God has called us to do. there is an unexplainable peace about it all.
We got back to the guest house (after a horrible car ride- which I will never, or try not to, complain about the roads back home again) around 4:00 pm, relaxed, and ate dinner around 5:00 pm. Tomorrow is church, visiting and praying with families, and building water filters. I'm excited to see what tomorrow holds for all of us!
Grace Village
At one of the first orphanages we went to.THINGS TO BRING ON NEXT MISSION TRIP:
-Flashlight (its gets dark early)
-Portable TP (you never know when you'll be peeing in a bucket)
-More clothes (you go through so many pairs of clothes when you sweat as much as I did)
-Trash bag for dirty clothes (so your duffel bag won't be stinking when you travel back home)
-Woolite (just in case you get super desperate and have to hand wash your clothes)
-Face wash (soap isn't good enough)
-More snacks (beans and rice just don't cut it)
-Tiny fan (trust me when I say it's ridiculously hot in Haiti)
-Propel packets (add a little taste to your agua)
-Wrist watch (not knowing the time is disturbing to me)
-Mirror (you never know when a place you stay at doesn't have one)
-Medicine (midol, nyquil, anything.....getting sick is no fun)
Day 3- Sunday, May 15, 2011
-Flashlight (its gets dark early)
-Portable TP (you never know when you'll be peeing in a bucket)
-More clothes (you go through so many pairs of clothes when you sweat as much as I did)
-Trash bag for dirty clothes (so your duffel bag won't be stinking when you travel back home)
-Woolite (just in case you get super desperate and have to hand wash your clothes)
-Face wash (soap isn't good enough)
-More snacks (beans and rice just don't cut it)
-Tiny fan (trust me when I say it's ridiculously hot in Haiti)
-Propel packets (add a little taste to your agua)
-Wrist watch (not knowing the time is disturbing to me)
-Mirror (you never know when a place you stay at doesn't have one)
-Medicine (midol, nyquil, anything.....getting sick is no fun)
Day 3- Sunday, May 15, 2011
LUKE 14:7-11 (Be humble), PSALM 23, PSALM 33
I can officially say that I have used the bathroom in a bucket. Not a pleasant experience, but at least I can say I did it. I learned a couple of new terms today- chicken buddy and haitian happiness. Chicken buddy is what they call "goose bumps" because it looks like the skin of a chicken when you pluck their feathers.....yuck, I know. Haitian happiness refers to using the bathroom, because with all this beans and rice, you never know when you're going to be able to go!
It's 8:20 pm and I am just not getting relaxed to be able to journal. I had such an amazing day. This day, like everyday, was a huge gift from God. We woke up at 6:30 am and got ready for church. After we ate breakfast, Ron (World Orphans director in Haiti and our translator) and our driver, Jon, picked us up for church which was about 15-20 minutes away. We pulled up to a beaten down hole in the wall place where a handful of adults and children were praising and worshiping God. It was that moment that I saw how huge Christ really is. To see people from a totally different culture worshiping in a different language and yet still praising the same God we praise was absolutely amazing. I didn't understand most of anything, but you could feel Gods presence in that place.
After church, we met with the pastor of the church and had a little meeting to know more about the organizations that deal with orphans through the church. Ron had to translate the whole time so it started to get somewhat tiring, plus the heat did not help out either. But once again, I found myself really knowing what it is like to be deeply and truly thankful for what God has blessed me with.
After our meeting we went and visited families that have orphans staying with them. We were the first ministry group to come visit the church and community which was a huge deal to everyone. The pastor told us they had always been promised help and visits but no one ever showed up. He said they has to "see it to believe it" which they had ended up truly believing after seeing us- what an awesome thing to be apart of! God is so good!
We walked all around that community and visited about 4-5 families. I can't even begin to describe the things I saw and even smelt. These helpless people lost a ton of stuff in the earthquake and are still in dire need of help. Every time we walked up to where the families lived, which was a tent or a small tin house, they rushed the kids inside to look their "sundays best" and hid all their dirtiness that they could. Lori made a point that aren't we all the exact same way before Christ? We try to cover up our "dirtiness" and put on our best for God when He accepts us just the way we are.
One family we met was struggling so bad for money that they didn't even eat on weekends. It was about 3 adult females and 4 children. They lost they man of the family in the earthquake and were struggling to find money to pay rent. Every 5 years they have to pay just $250 to live in their home and they can barely find the money for that, yet we spend that much on a designer purse. Incredible how God convicts us of the way we spend our money. I pray God never lets me forget that. We decided to try and get something started so we can raise money for this family and maybe more to start their own little business of selling things in the market down the street.
I started to feel numb to it all- like I had no emotions. I saw this one baby, no older than a year, with a massive hernia in his stomach and couldn't even cry over it because I was filled with so much confusion. I know God has a plan/purpose for everything, but why am I so blessed with so much and yet these people have absolutely nothing. I pray God answers this for me in time and provides me the wisdom and knowledge to understand and know what to do with what He has given me.
Around 4:00 pm we got back to the guest house and cleaned up for dinner. I can now say I have washed my hair haitian style (in the same bucket of water we hand washed our clothes in) with three other girls. God is providing such fun experiences and memories for me!
I was exhausted tonight and kind of put out with myself and the way I had been feeling. I almost felt like today wasn't very moving or any miracles took place because we weren't doing anything but talking and visiting families. After devotional tonight, Lori told us we had a surprise waiting for us on our bed. The best surprise I have ever received! Our families had written us letters of encouragement and boy did I get emotional! God knew exactly what He was doing on this because the words from everyone was exactly what I needed to hear on this very day.
Here is a little preview of some sweet, caring words from my sweet, precious boyfriend:
"I am so proud of you for going out on this limb and trusting God to provide and protect you on this trip, even when you were nervous about what to expect. You have stretched yourself out of your comfort zone and I know that God is blessing you tremendously for all you have done."
God knows my heart, why do I ever doubt Him? Thank you, Lord, for loving me.
Heidi, Lauren, and me headed to church Sunday morning.
Us girls washing our hair, haitian style!
I can officially say that I have used the bathroom in a bucket. Not a pleasant experience, but at least I can say I did it. I learned a couple of new terms today- chicken buddy and haitian happiness. Chicken buddy is what they call "goose bumps" because it looks like the skin of a chicken when you pluck their feathers.....yuck, I know. Haitian happiness refers to using the bathroom, because with all this beans and rice, you never know when you're going to be able to go!
It's 8:20 pm and I am just not getting relaxed to be able to journal. I had such an amazing day. This day, like everyday, was a huge gift from God. We woke up at 6:30 am and got ready for church. After we ate breakfast, Ron (World Orphans director in Haiti and our translator) and our driver, Jon, picked us up for church which was about 15-20 minutes away. We pulled up to a beaten down hole in the wall place where a handful of adults and children were praising and worshiping God. It was that moment that I saw how huge Christ really is. To see people from a totally different culture worshiping in a different language and yet still praising the same God we praise was absolutely amazing. I didn't understand most of anything, but you could feel Gods presence in that place.
After church, we met with the pastor of the church and had a little meeting to know more about the organizations that deal with orphans through the church. Ron had to translate the whole time so it started to get somewhat tiring, plus the heat did not help out either. But once again, I found myself really knowing what it is like to be deeply and truly thankful for what God has blessed me with.
After our meeting we went and visited families that have orphans staying with them. We were the first ministry group to come visit the church and community which was a huge deal to everyone. The pastor told us they had always been promised help and visits but no one ever showed up. He said they has to "see it to believe it" which they had ended up truly believing after seeing us- what an awesome thing to be apart of! God is so good!
We walked all around that community and visited about 4-5 families. I can't even begin to describe the things I saw and even smelt. These helpless people lost a ton of stuff in the earthquake and are still in dire need of help. Every time we walked up to where the families lived, which was a tent or a small tin house, they rushed the kids inside to look their "sundays best" and hid all their dirtiness that they could. Lori made a point that aren't we all the exact same way before Christ? We try to cover up our "dirtiness" and put on our best for God when He accepts us just the way we are.
One family we met was struggling so bad for money that they didn't even eat on weekends. It was about 3 adult females and 4 children. They lost they man of the family in the earthquake and were struggling to find money to pay rent. Every 5 years they have to pay just $250 to live in their home and they can barely find the money for that, yet we spend that much on a designer purse. Incredible how God convicts us of the way we spend our money. I pray God never lets me forget that. We decided to try and get something started so we can raise money for this family and maybe more to start their own little business of selling things in the market down the street.
I started to feel numb to it all- like I had no emotions. I saw this one baby, no older than a year, with a massive hernia in his stomach and couldn't even cry over it because I was filled with so much confusion. I know God has a plan/purpose for everything, but why am I so blessed with so much and yet these people have absolutely nothing. I pray God answers this for me in time and provides me the wisdom and knowledge to understand and know what to do with what He has given me.
Around 4:00 pm we got back to the guest house and cleaned up for dinner. I can now say I have washed my hair haitian style (in the same bucket of water we hand washed our clothes in) with three other girls. God is providing such fun experiences and memories for me!
I was exhausted tonight and kind of put out with myself and the way I had been feeling. I almost felt like today wasn't very moving or any miracles took place because we weren't doing anything but talking and visiting families. After devotional tonight, Lori told us we had a surprise waiting for us on our bed. The best surprise I have ever received! Our families had written us letters of encouragement and boy did I get emotional! God knew exactly what He was doing on this because the words from everyone was exactly what I needed to hear on this very day.
Here is a little preview of some sweet, caring words from my sweet, precious boyfriend:
"I am so proud of you for going out on this limb and trusting God to provide and protect you on this trip, even when you were nervous about what to expect. You have stretched yourself out of your comfort zone and I know that God is blessing you tremendously for all you have done."
God knows my heart, why do I ever doubt Him? Thank you, Lord, for loving me.
Heidi, Lauren, and me headed to church Sunday morning.
Us girls washing our hair, haitian style!
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