A Day Of Impact

Today was different then all of the other days. We were on a mission and going from 8 am till 6 pm. You could see we were down for business as we were all dressed in our Impact for Jesus t-shirts. The day started off by visiting the tent city orphanage. We were amazed by the conditions of their home compared to all of the other orphanages we have visited in the last couple of days. The area was surrounded by a broken chicken fence tangled with bard wire. But was no use to keeping out the children from outside. Connections were made right away as the kids were very loving and considerate. It was interesting to see how happy the kids were by the smallest of gifts and how thankful they were for our company. We had to leave on short notice but we were coming back later to feed them.

Not far from the tent city orphanage, we drove up to the base of a mountain to visit a tent city where we planned to draw, play soccer, and create various sets of crafts with the people. The food was a little late but the time spent with the kids was very eye opening. Will, Patrick, and Austin traveled up the hill to a rocky dirt road to play a small game of street soccer with some of the local boys. Four big stones made up the goals and while the sidelines were weeds and rocks on the sides of the road. Maria, Martha, Diane, Emily, Kristen, and Courtney spent their time inside the church playing with kids while their mothers and other children had some free time to express themselves through the various crafts we brought. Although some were peed on, thrown up on, and pooped on, the glow in the children’s eyes brought smiles upon our faces. You could hear the large crowd that was continuously building, becoming more anxious as time passed with no food.  

When the food finally came, an unexplained energy from God swept upon the exhausted group as we rushed the food off the truck and into the church. It took team work and cooperation to pass out the tons of food but in the end everyone was fed and satisfied. We started with the youngest and their mothers and worked our way through everyone. There were some situations that became a bit heated as some fought over plates but were in the end all fed with a plate of rice, beans, carrots, and chopped sausage. When the food was gone, it was time to head back the tent city orphanage where we would feed them and eventually take them to what will be their newly rented home.

The feeding at the orphanage was much more chaotic then the previous feeding because there was no fenced structure to keep out the tent city kids so feeding the orphanage kids before the other children was very difficult because at points we could not tell who was from the orphanage and who was from the neighborhood. In the end, we fed everyone we could until the food ran out. Pastor Bob said we served over 500 meals between the two locations. The kids enjoyed the meal and were very grateful and loving to us. After that we traveled to their new home. There was a huge difference between their old home and their new home. Between their old beaten down tent to their newer, fenced, painted, and open spaced home the children were raving with excitement.

It was a huge relief to finally be back at the New Life orphanage. Food and water tasted better than it has ever tasted before.  Even though it was a long and tiring day, we had a special impact on hundreds of people all throughout Haiti. It was hard to say goodbye tonight as it was our last night of devotions with the kids. We had a special going away bonfire with marshmallows, gram crackers, and chocolate for s’mores . At the end of the night, we had a touching group talk with New Life’s founder Miriam. She told us more about how we could help here in Haiti and the sponsorship of the kids here at New Life.  It is now time to pack to get ready for our flight back to the states! Thank you for all of you support throughout our trip and your contributions. This had been a life changing experience for a lot of us and we couldn’t have done it without your love, prayers, and support.                                                                              

Submitted by short  term missionaries: Courtney Keefer and Patrick Kaindl

Haiti -just another day

Another amazing day, a mix of emotions and a mix of sites. Started the day working on bunk beds, now all of the boards are ready for painting. Had to go to the store for more supplies, and another half a day trip. This time we had few more stops to make. Rene, Renee and I ventured out together. Went over to a supermarket for supplies for the guest house. Stopped at MSC (local Home Depot), but after purchasing a toilet, we did not get the 2x4's, they were out. So off we went through rough (very rough) streets of Port-au-Prince over to a lumber yard (well it's a hole in the wall store that does have 2X4's) over close by Marie's. Since we were in the area, we did stop at Grace Orphanage. Rest of the Wheatland Salem Church team was there at the same time visiting. A short stay was very emotional. Pictures with Rene's wife and little Patty, hugs and kisses with Fabienne and rest of the girs. Marie was very nice, showed us a room that was done very nice as a sawing room for the girls (wow, what a great idea to get the girls involved in sawing!). God is great!
After a very short stay, back to the lumber yard and back to New Life.
The Sport team (WSC Team) got all of the kids at the New Life Home together and gave out medals to the kids for their participation in the Sports Camp (I can assure you that all of the kids were very proud to wear that medal, way to go Diane). An evening devotional closed the day for me. I am proud to say that the boys were able to set up all of the sound equipment on their own (it couldn't be the teacher.....Nope it couldn't be)
As I read all of the blogs that are posted, I am pleased with the way all of the writers use their words (the quality of writing is really outstanding). And yet, words can't describe the emotional roller coaster that describes Haiti. It is a place that you fall in love with very easy, partly because of the kids that steal your heart, partly because of the great people that live here and partly because of our own guilt. Guilt that tells us that back home we have such an aboundence of "stuff" that does not have anything to do with God's work. Stuff that other 90% of people in the world do not see and do not care about. Gods work is all about giving your heart to others in need. So if you as a reader would like to experience true Gods work, just open your heart and start caring about others. Rather you do this in Haiti or back home, there are so many opportunities that you miss every day. Just open your heart, God's work is there for you to experience!

　
Mr.Bill

On the Move in Haiti

If you’ve been reading this blog over the last week, I hope you have appreciated the myriad of perspectives. Just as each day and each writer have been different so too are the experiences. The Haiti mission team is made up of 14 individuals ranging from 15 to 55 years old with varying degrees of mission experience. However, the majority have had no experience in Haiti – the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Today, we started early by getting picked up by our friends from Village of Hope / Lazarus Project. The travel was different than any of the other days because we traveled around Haiti in the back of an open air truck. This is the best way to see Haiti because standing in the back of a truck allows one to see over the 8 foot high cinderblock walls that line almost every street. We traveled from our Haiti home base to the Village of Hope, a school at the foot of the mountains near the Dominican Republic border. The institution was formed some twenty years ago to serve the rural population of Haiti by offering excellent faith based education. Unfortunately, the school was out for the summer so we didn’t get to meet the 640 students who make up all 13 grades of students. We did get to walk the impressive compound as well as see the progress of the new medical clinic. The clinic is being built to serve the community in large part because of the funds provided from Wheatland Salem Church, Impact for Jesus and the Village of Hope. It’s really an impressive structure in that it is being built to both California earthquake and Florida hurricane standards. The project really is a sign that Haiti has begun to change for the better.

After our visit, we returned to Port Au Prince to do a little work at another Village of Hope partnership project called Little Children of Jesus (LCJ). The project is one of the best handicap homes in the country. They currently have over 98 residents. The folks living at LCJ are all severely physically and/or mentally challenged. It was quite overwhelming to spend time with the residents. Handshakes and hugs were all we could really offer but the lingering emotions were almost overpowering. Have you ever hugged a child whose own culture thinks of them as a burden or a piece of living furniture? It takes your breath away and touches something deep down in ones soul. I will never forget leaving the facility wishing we could have stayed longer, done a craft or played a little indoor soccer in the recreation room. We will be back though and next time we will do it all. As the visit ended, we felt compelled to pray for our host (a second career missionary from Canada).  She thanked us for caring enough to think of asking God to bless her with strength, wisdom and perseverance.

We then traveled to our host’s mission station. As our host prepared the cold cuts for lunch, the team gathered in the courtyard so as not to be overheard and made the decision to give some of the $2000 dollars raised for those in need to the Village of Hope. We presented the money to our host who was genuinely surprised at our generosity. It was a pleasure to hand her the funds. After the presentation, we moved down the street to visit Grace House of Hope. An orphanage we have been associated with for over 8 years. It’s an all girls orphanage with a great history. Sister Marie was gracious about the gifts of food and the time spent with the girls. The team was once again on the emotional rollercoaster. It’s really hard to look into a child’s eyes and see their longing for love and attention all the while knowing this might be the only hug they get from an adult for a week.  

The day finished with an open air ride back to our Haiti home base at New Life Children’s Home. We ate some dinner, played some late night soccer, belted out a few praise songs with the orphans and finished with a session of laughing around the picnic table outside our mission huts.  We serve an awesome God and tomorrow we get to do it again!

Pastor Coach Bob (said with a Creole orphan accent)

Downtown Port Au Prince with the WSC Mission team

Well, it’s a miracle that we actually slept last night since there was a fury of events.  For the boys, Dave was met with an Army of fire ants in his bed.  Lesson #15 for the week, ‘Never, repeat Never, leave open food on your bed!’  Lesson #16 quickly followed with, ‘100%deet kills everything!’  On the girl’s side, Courtney had a fury visitor or the rodent type of persuasion.  Apparently, mosquito nets repel more than we expected.

Today we needed all the energy we could muster since we were visiting 3 places; Cohena Orphanage, Port Au Prince and the Metal Works village which were all interesting.

First came Cohena where we were greeted by 45 happy children who looked very bored.  They are not going to school right now and it was very clear that there was NOTHING to do.  We started by handing out hand-made goodie bags that where put together with love by Kristin, Martha and Maria a few days ago.  I think that’s where Kristin learned Lesson #12- 100% deet actually takes the color out of anything it comes into contact with your skins.  In her case, a plastic goodie bag with blue polka dots. She was very fashionable with blue dots on her leg for the rest of the day. The children also loved the bags and were very grateful.  Next, Renee delivered some sponsor gifts to some children who just beamed!  The Butler’s boy, Lunard has picked up some soccer moves since last year!  Of course, he’s an honorary Butler! The Campbell family’s sponsored girl is so beautiful!  All the kids there look very healthy!  After the kids had some fun chewing gum and blowing bubbles, we moved on to passing out dresses to the girls, which were made with love by Lisa from Wheatland Salem Church.  They looked so sweet!  The boys were soon dressed in Chicago Fire shirts and playing keep away in two groups in the small orphanage.  They are great at making do with what they have. It was tough to leave, especially for John who was held tightly by one child and left with a cry soaked shoulder! 

Next was fighting the traffic to make out way to Port Au Prince.  Nas, our driver was very skilled for driving in Haiti which Austin says makes driving in downtown Chicago seem like a breeze!  Diane had a few heart attack moments along the way which made Renee and Bob chuckle. The scenery was much more disturbing than the traffic.  The group was awestruck by the amount of devastation and poverty that exists there.  We have been a bit sheltered staying at New Life Children’s Orphanage by the wonderful accommodations and it was a bit of culture shock to leave.  The veterans of Haiti missions did notice some signs of rebuilding.  Pastor Bob actually recalled a particular building which was just starting his last trip and is now complete and looks really good!  There were many more trucks than usually and we even saw some construction equipment.  God is so good. We did have a slight reprieve with Lunch at the Emporia which was very much improved and expanded from last year’s trip.  I (Diane) almost thought I was at the mall until the food came and it was pizza, Haitian style, and side orders of questionable chicken nuggets. Aren’t all chicken nuggets a mystery though? 

Finally, after we were re-energized, we were off to a long, long ride to the Metal Works shop. The group was amazed at how talented these men were to create such amazing things from pounded out trash barrels using only a nail and hammer.  We were all amazed once again with the driving of Nas and Rene’ who managed to get us across town in Haiti traffic in less than an hour.  We admit that some of his ‘short cuts’ were a bit scary.  The adults were amazed with the youth’s bargaining skills.  They started as very shy about the whole matter on the bus but after the first,’ score’ by Patrick for a gecko, the competition was ON.  We are finding that several days of soccer has made them quite competitive!  The winner for the day, with the best bargain was Martha, who got a kids around the world that was originally priced at $20 and she walked away paying only $8.  The shopping was put to an end by the mounting traffic and Bob bringing in the troops. 

When we returned, it took only about 10 minutes before the youth were out on the field to join the kids in playing soccer, what else. The dinner bell didn’t even stop them.  A short rest then devotions with the kids at 7 sharp (Haitian time).  Austin was really a trooper since he didn’t turn down his new buddies Jeremy and Louis for a shoulder rides even though they are still bright red from our beach trip.  Now that’s sacrifice!

Today’s post was brought to you by Austin and Diane.

4th of July

Just like another day in Haiti. While Wheatland Salem Church group joined other missionarries and New Life kids on a trip to a beach, I was shopping for lumber and electrical supplies. Nothing has changed, is a most of the day process. Although prices at a local supply store seem very reasnable from my stand point, they are very expensive from a Haitian prospective. Now you can imagine a smal pick up truck (it did have a double cab), 6 guys (temps in mid 90's and very humid) and 50 pieces of 12' lumber sticking streight up from the back of the pick up driving through washed out streets. Overloaded by any standard, but a normal site in Haiti. But as always, somehow it got done.
Before everybody returned from the beach I had a chance to assemble my sound equipment rack that houses controllers for 4 wireless microphones that were donnated by Wheatland Salem Church. We were able to use the mics during the Divotional in the evening. Pastor was praising God for the gift, since back in January he made a drawing of a system that He was praying for. The only missing componenets are the two speakes that are coming on the School Bus and the system will be exacly as he drew up. What a Joy and Blessing to listen to the kids sing in english. They know so many songs, it absolutely amzing.
Rene and Frenzy were on the job all day as well working on several projects. It looks like Franzy's foot is finly getting better, he had a pair of bots on yesterday. It was so great to see both of their smiling faces again!
Today is a work day for all. I will be starting on the 3 sets of bunk beds.

Bill