Haiti day 4 - the hardest work day

Pray for Brandon! He, Angela and Alice are chapperoning the youth camp this week! Tomorrow is his birthday...so I hope they're having fun!!! Pray for safety and for young minds and hearts to be molded :)

His absense does allow me some extra time to get things done, though! :) I realized when gathering my journal and everything to write this, that Tuesday in Haiti was such a difficult day, I only had 4 pictures from the school and none at the worksite! We worked so hard, and were so busy getting to know our wonderful helpers, that I forgot to bring out the camera! But there is good news in day 4, so even without actual footage from Tuesday, there are still stories to be told.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Today was difficult, but incredible. I can't believe we've only been here 3 days...but at the same time, I'm sad that we only have 2 full days left! I am going to miss the friends we've made and the hard work we have been doing. It will be interesting to see if we will make the same kind of connections when we travel to Africa as we have here. We have all loved this beautiful country and the people who serve here.

This morning adn work day was much like yesterday. While we were at the school, we met a man named Deacon Demitri. He makes and sells beautiful wood carvings. We found out that his family barely survived the earthquake. They lived in a duplex, and the family on the otherside of the wall was killed, while his family was spared. One of his daughters was greatly injured, but was healed after some time on a Mercy Ship. We also found out that his home was one of the first worksites PPM ever had in Haiti. Needless to say, he is a strong man of faith with great joy and gratitude, and loves the people from PPM

We arrived at Mario's house and greeted the family. After a few  words of encouragement and blessing from their pastor we began to move our first set of 100 blocks up the mountain. Due to our small numbers, it still took us 5 trips up the hill using our assembly line. Steevens, a young man from the neighborhood who helped us all day yesterday and today (again for reasons unknown to us), was in incredible pain. He had a very bad tooth ache and had to sit out a couple of turns. We all told him that he needed to rest, and gave him lots of water and some Ibeuprophin to ease the pain. I am so ready for my faith to be strengthened. My God is a God of healing... and I am so weak in faith that I couldn't bring myself to touch his precious, hurting face and give God an opportunity to show himself to Steevens. We still loved on him and cared for him, and of course prayed for him...but I know that God gives us power to do more for people than give them medicine sometimes. I continue to pray for Steevens, but also for the rest of us..that we will be open to the Spirit of God and will listen when he wants to use us for His Glory. I know I will experience much of this in Africa during our training and I am excited and terrified to see how mighty God truly is, and what incredible power and mercy He has for his people.

We got to know a very special person today. Wilda is 24 and has an 18 month old son named Junior. On Monday, we saw her peeking around corners, and watching us work. But today, she started talking to Cassie and ended up asking her where she went to church, she told Cassie that she had never been invited but wanted to go to church with her on Sunday. She also told Cassie that she had never accepted Christ.  We are all praying for Wilda, and can't wait to spend more time with her tomorrow.

We shared many things tonight in worship. Almando asked us to share someone we met that we wont forget and something we learned that we wont forget.  I shared that I would not forget the neighbors and members of Mario's family, especially Mario himself. For their hard work, for the kids/teenagers who helped us for no reason, and Phito and Odne who worked harder than all of us and encouraged us with their beautiful smiles. I shared that I would not forget what it means to care for others before yourself and that I will work to always think of another before me. We all shared and then got together to pray for those we've met and for eachother.

The breeze was so wonderful tonight. The dust was pushed out of the air and you could see so many stars. The power had gone out (generator...happened a few times) so it was pitch black. We all sat on the rof in the dark, taking in all the beauty of the night, and enjoyed spending some quiet time with eachother. I got to talk to Phito about his life, and we talked and laughed about how I had been singing wrong creole words (Like mixing up the word for LORD and REMEMBER...so i was singing Praise ye remember....hahah) and he shared with me how much he loves learning english.  He taught me more animals (Kabwit - Goat ; Chavel - horse ; bef - cow ; papillion - butterfly ; zandolit - lizard )

After a while, it was just Neil, Marisol and I out on the roof (from our group) and we stayed and watched the moon rise over the mountain. A sunrise is beautiful... but a moonrise is just breathtakeing. After soaking in the gloriousness of the stars, the moon and the cool breeze, we gathered ourselves and went to bed - Tomorrow is the last day in Gressier and we want to make sure we get everything done we possibly can.

Haiti - Day 3 - First 'work day'

the view from our project location in Gressier

Monday, June 4th, 2012:

Wow. I feel like I say that every time... but each day is so different and amazing!

Today started off with peanut butter and jelly (although there was no jelly left by the time I made my way to breakfast! I've gotta get up earlier!) We went to a school first. It was neat and organized and the children were so smart and precious. We started with 'Simon Di' or Simon says, led by Marisol Ortiz. She did the entire game in french, which the children understood perfectly! It was amazing to see the excitement on the kids faces that they could understand her without an interpreter. (Everyone in Haiti speaks Creole (their own form of language based on french) but schools teach French and most Hymns are in French!)


After the game, we did the skit for Paul and Silas. I read while Phito translated and the kids loved watching everyone act out the scenes! We even had a few tiny prisoners join us in the 'jail'! We sang a few songs, they loved 'Praise ye the lord' which is a stand up sit down song we do at most VBS here in the states, but we also sang a couple songs in Creole! They knew 'When the roll is called up yonder' and 'I'll fly away'. It was so much fun to sing with them in their language, and you could tell the kids (and even the teachers) were getting a kick out of us trying to speak creole. They also sang a song for us and we ended with a great time of prayer and blessing.


We moved on from there to the project work site. A home in the mountainous region of Gressier that had collapsed during the earthquake. 4 family members were in the house when it fell, but the tin roof did not collapse and ended up saving their lives. We learned later in the day that after the house had collapsed, sister Mario (the mother of the family) began to sweep the church every day as her offering and prayer to God because she said she knew he would give them a new home. She told us that when we came her prayer had been answered and that God had accepted her offering to His church and brought Praying Pelican Missions to deliver the gift of her new home. TOO cool.


When we arrived at the house (after walking straight uphill on a narrow path for at least 5 minutes) we saw sister Mario trying to 'clean up' the rubble that was left of her house. She was pulling grass and weeds from the broken rocks that used to be the foundations and walls of her home. I asked her, "Mwen ka ede ou?" which means, 'Can I help you?' as the cinder blocks had not yet been delivered for us to carry up the mountain. She smiled and said 'no no' but with gratitude and humility allowed us to help her pluck the weeds and grass from the the stones that, I can only imagine, mean such a great deal to her and her family. During the act of pulling these weeds from the rocks, Brandon was reminded of the parable of the sower that Jesus explained to his disciples (Matthew 13:1-23). This was an excellent focus for the task at hand, and reminded us that our faith should not be easily uprooted, like this grass that has grown among these rocks. I told Brandon that he should share that tonight at worship if we were given an opportunity. Cassie had asked our group to lead worship on Wednesday, so he thought he might just save it and do it then.


We labored on the weeds for a while and with broken creole, we mingled and attempted to get to know sister Mario's family and neighbors. We began separating the broken blocks and stones into piles (small or large) until our next job was ready. Bring on the sledgehammers! A man showed up and had sledgehammers! He was the foreman for demolition and we were his workers! There were still a few broken walls that were standing and these had to be knocked down in order for new walls to be built. Apparently he didn't want to share the hammers, and was trying to do most of the hard work on his own, but a couple of us started using rocks to break up the columns and walls and his heart was softened and he shared his tools and taught us how to work efficiently. (Isn't it neat to see God teach?) We knocked down the broken fragments of the Mario family's cinder block walls and carted them off into piles as well.


WE SAW A TARANTULA!!!!! Thankfully, I wasn't that close to the surprising find, and Mr. Mario stepped on it a few moments later, but we actually saw it! It wasn't as scary as I thought but I wasn't the one who found it hiding in my cinder block either! It looked more like a mouse than a spider, it was so big and hairy! I am so glad that I was able to witness this... as I know God is helping to prepare me for Africa and showing me little by little that I can handle these creatures and reminding me that they are His creation - and fear is not an option!



After lunch, the cinder blocks arrived... we had to carry them via assembly line about 100 yards straight uphill and winding around a mountain path. There were 10 of us, but luckily Phito (our brother and interpreter) joined in as did sister Mario's son, Manou. So the 12 of us moved 100 blocks, but it took us 5 assembly lines to get up to the house... so we passed each block 5 different times. OUCH! So it was like passing 500 cinder blocks uphill, with the heat, and in the sun!Craziness! About halfway up, a young boy (about 14) named Bernie joined our line and for no other reason but to help and maybe practice a little of the english he knew. I gave him one of my gloves and thanked him for helping us. He enjoyed asking little questions in english like "what is your name" and "where does your father live". His smile is beautiful and contagious and his spirit is sweet. We were so glad to have met Bernie and hope we will see him again tomorrow.


We returned back to Cote Plage in Carrefour to some wonderfully cold showers and some much needed rest before dinner and worship. (I actually ate and enjoyed dinner today because I didn't take the Doxycycline!) After dinner, Cassie asked our group if we could lead worship and possibly a devotion. We sang God of Wonders, Amazing Love, and Give us Clean Hands. Brandon was able to share his thought from earlier in the day about the weeds and rocks for the evening devotion and was able to tell the other groups about our experience of the day. (Isn't it cool how God gave us the opportunity to share that, when we weren't sure we'd have the chance?) It was an incredible time of worship and we ended up singing all night after the meeting.

Now it's time to get some sleep, because Cassie wants us to move 200 blocks tomorrow! I'm already sore from today (Praise ye the lord at the school killed my quads! who needs P90X? Just be on the Hallelu side and don't use a chair! haha) Lord, help our bodies heal and our spirits be willing, I pray our attitudes don't reflect the pain in our backs and arms, and that you will help us finish the task for the day so that we do not put the project behind. Thank you for an incredible day today, Amen.

Haiti - Day 2 - Worship and Playtime

Good Morning! I'm trying to get back in the habit of being up and about at 7-7:30 because there is so much to do and, clearly, I've been falling behind on some of my duties! :) I will have the whole week of the Haiti trip blogged and photos uploaded to Facebook before next week... even with a visit to the baby in there! haha. (if you haven't seen pictures... check out the last blog! I'm an Aunt of 2!!! )

Our church had VBS last week, and as wonderful as it was, I got sick--well a few of us got sick in the preschool department. I thought it was funny that I spent a week with Haitian orphans and children and came back fit as a fiddle, but one week with American preschoolers did me in! :) But, in all seriousness, it was a WONDERFUL week at VBS and I learned so much from the kids and from our time sharing songs and bible stories with them. So grateful that we have time to be a part of important things like this before we leave for Africa! God uses each little thing as a teaching moment for us and we are soaking it all in!

Kathryn is doing great! We get some updates from her on occasion. If you haven't read her blog here is a link: A Servant Life  .  She will be in Haiti for 6 more weeks, and I know God is doing some amazing things through her and the rest of the Praying Pelican team and volunteers serving in Haiti and elsewhere this summer. Continue to pray for health and for beautiful experiences that can shape her life and the lives of those she encounters. We love you Kathryn!! 

Day 2 - Sunday  - June 3, 2012

We all slept pretty well last night. I woke up a lot, worried my fan batteries would run out or that I had been attacked by mosquitoes, but all was well. One of the groups had to be at church at 6am, so we were up at 5am with them...but we still love them.. haha. I got up and read and let Kathryn lay on my mattress for a while so she could stretch out from her ENO hammock position. At about 6:30 every one was getting up and starting to get ready. Brandon and the guys were already dressed and had eaten by the time I got out there to get some bread and peanut butter. The mornings in Haiti are beautiful and the guys were soaking it in on the roof listening to the church service going on next to us that had been at it since 6am and was still going strong! (not to mention there were people flooding out of the doors and sitting outside listening!)

We attended a church in Gressier, where we will be working this week. Cassie, Almondo, and Phito's family attend this church. We actually got to see Cassie and Almondo's house for a quick potty break. She told us that Almondo built most of it! It was wonderful and had a beautiful little garden in the back yard! Just up the mountain was the church, we arrived as Sunday School was ending (all in the same room, even the kids - who were most impressive paying attention the entire time for all 3 hours of the following service!) The church itself was in construction, but where the windows and doors were missing, God replaced them with the most spectacular view and a much needed breeze. It reminded me of Nichole Nordeman's song "Gratitude" in the 2nd verse where she says "A starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead". While they had a roof, it was a breathtaking experience worshiping the Creator in view of His creation.

The Service lasted about 3 hours and it got pretty hot as the morning progressed, but we didn't even look at our watches. Each moment was so Spirit-filled that the hours passed like minutes. How contrary to how we 'do church' (which is the wrong way to think of it...but true). We schedule out our songs and sermons to be sure that we don't go over 45 minutes or our congregations will start getting antsy and probably hop churches if they have to sit there for more than an hour. We as Christians have GOT to get used to praising God with ALL we have, EVERY moment of the day  and ENJOYING it... otherwise, you may want to re-evaluate your eternity, because that is what you will spend it doing if you reach the Pearly Gates. No football, no TV, and no JOBS --- Just singing and praising the Creator of the Universe. It was eye-opening, to say the least. They sang at least 10 different hymns, singing EACH verse and repeating most of them twice. (We grumble when we have to sing all 5 verses and usually end up cutting some out, am I wrong?) There was an amazing point in the service where we literally said "Alleluia" for at least 10 minutes straight. Not changing tone, no music in the background, no showy interludes - just Alleluia. Each time the word left the lips of the church it was sweeter somehow, it was more reverent, it was bleeding with repentance and gratitude and with Love for a God who is ALIVE and who hears us when we praise Him. Just Alleluia. If that wasn't powerful enough, for 3 minutes we 'let our hands praise Him' and in silence we reached up to the sky and channelled our hearts through our fingertips - the emotion in the room was tangible as we reached as high as we could.

The songs were interspersed with beautiful moments of prayer. One of the most unforgettable moments was when the minister asked everyone to pray simultaneously. Each person bowed their head and OUT LOUD began to pour their hearts out to the Father. I prayed as well, but I couldn't help but be in awe of the faithfulness around me. I peeked... and what I saw stays with me and I pray it never leaves. The faces of God's people, unashamedly calling on Him, confessing to Him, asking of Him, thanking Him, and with such fervor. The voices mingled and rose and, I can imagine, were a sweet melody of honesty to our Lord. It sure convicts a 25 year old Christian of 17 years who is still shaky about leading prayer or talking about her faith. If I can't be strong and courageous when speaking to my Heavenly Father... how can I not be terrified when facing the enemy? What beautiful conviction and a challenge to me just from seeing the deep faith of our brothers and sisters. If I could thank them for anything, it would be just that.

It was also communion Sunday. Before uncovering the bread and the wine, the pastor took at least 20 minutes to talk to his church about the importance of the act of taking communion, as well as the severity of partaking of the bread and the wine while still having unconfessed and unrepented sin in your life, or while serving anything in your life more than God and His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. He reminded us all that to come to the Lord's table, your heart must be true, must be clean, and must be broken. Because God is the one who cleanses us, who heals our brokenness, and who replaces the darkness of our hearts with light and truth. I evaluated myself and repented of my doubt and lack of faith, for questioning aspects of my life that I know He is in control of, for my attitude and for my lack of sincerity every other time I have eaten the bread and tasted the wine. It was not a just a tradition with little, stale squares of bread and grape juice where we sit in silence with our mouths dry waiting for the Pastor to say, drink this, so we can rinse the taste of fake bread out of our mouths (maybe I'm just talking about me, but I doubt it). The wine and the bread had a very deep meaning and caused me to look inward and see just how incredible Jesus' sacrifice of His body was, and how meaningful His blood was - it served as the new blood covenant between God and His creation, making the way for us to be redeemed from the clutches of sin and bought us back from the possession of the serpent. What have I been thinking about every other time? How can we not see the seriousness of this act of worship? I am so grateful to have been a part of this service!

We got to talk to Cassie on the way back from church about her life and path to becoming a full-time missionary in Haiti. It was extremely helpful and insightful, and reassured us that we don't have to have all the answers, we don't have to be 'brave' and we don't have to know what we're doing... We just have to give our lives to God and let him work through us - because anything we do pales in comparison to the work of the Spirit of God. Thank God! :)  Lunch and then we head to the orphanage from 2-4!

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SO the orphanage was amazing... It started off with an inspiring encounter with the director, Sister Mona. She spoke wonderful english and was so joyful and loving. She told us that she had mentioned to her sister earlier that morning that she wished she could get some flip flops for the kids - and out of the 4 suitcases we brought to Haiti, the one we were bringing to donate to the orphanage was FULL of flipflops (among other things). When we told her that we had brought her at least 50 pairs, she just laugh and with wonderment said "I didn't even pray for that, I just said it to my sister! Isn't God so great! When we live in faith, God can take care of us without even asking Him." Brandon also remembered her saying that she lives a life of complete faith in God for provision, for everything, because it was so much easier to live that way - not having to worry or be burdened. She prayed over us and thanked us for coming, but we all knew that we were the ones who had been blessed by the servant spirit of God's chosen, Ms. Mona.


We were then thrust into a 2 hour play session - Angela was swarmed by overjoyed children as she brought out the stickers and frisbees. She threw me some and you would have thought we were passing out gold! They piled on us, sticking out their hands and saying 'you! Ban Mwen!' meaning, you...give me! We played on the swings, took about a hundred pictures, frisbeed, basketballed, soccered, and see sawed until we couldn't stand up any longer. They were just beautiful, happy children. Aside from them wanting our water, watches, cameras, and rings, they were completely content just hanging on us


and hugging us and playing with us. God's children are found in every country, in every city, in every village and tribe, and in each orphanage. It was liberating to just love them, for the short time we were there, to play with all our might, and to hug with all our hearts. It is no wonder Jesus loved the little children, and as followers of Jesus, it is sure hard not to.  We will continue to pray for Sister Mona and the wonderful work she is doing in the community and in the lives of the children there. We will also pray for the children, that they will continue to live in the way of the Lord after leaving GSO.

For more information on the Good Shepherd Orphanage & School Foundation please visit www.gsohaiti.org. They have many sponsorship programs and ways to give and list a full overview of what they do - which is A LOT. If you're looking for a way to give, consider this in prayer, as Sister Mona is certainly a wonderful steward of this facility and the children in the orphanage as well as in the surrounding neighborhood.





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We got home about 5:30, exhuasted but in a state of  joy. We showered and had some time to rest before dinner and worship. Brandon and I took our malaria medicine and that's where things got hairy... We both ended up throwing up, (remember how I felt sick on Saturday?) Apparently the number 1 side effect of Doxycycline is vomiting - yuck. SO in lieu of feeling sick every day and not being able to eat anything - we decided that faith in God was stronger than any medicine and certainly stronger than any mosquitos! (Thanks be to God that none of us saw more than 2 the entire time we were there!!!) We will be looking into other options and considering what to do when we go to Africa. We didn't have a problem taking the medicine before the trip, but while in Haiti, and out in the sun, the effects got the best of us. One girl took hers at night and didn't feel any of the nausea, but the day she forgot and took it in the morning she threw up... so we can always try to take it at night! we just don't want the sick feeling to get in the way of God's ministry - but we know he can take care of us with the medicine (maybe taking away the vomiting!) or without it (protecting our bodies from malaria in order for us to continue to serve him totally). Our God is an Awesome God... if we have faith in Him, there is nothing that is impossible!

We shared our experiences of the day in worship and enjoyed an evening of singing praises on the roof once again...it was a beautiful end to an incredible day.

Lord, please keep us safe tomorrow so that we may be most effective in working for your kingdom. Keep our attitudes focused on you and your love. Thank you for the understanding of what was making us sick and protect Brandon and I as we try to make the best decision and quit taking the medicine while we are here. Lord, give us strength, courage, and patience. We love you. Thank you for your Son and for giving us the opportunity to serve.  Amen.

(For ALL the many pictures of the kids and the rest of the pics from day 1 and 2 visit the facebook album here: haiti 2012 )

I'm an aunt...of TWO!

SO sorry I haven't updated in a week! Didn't mean to leave you hanging...but THIS happened:

Addison Wells Taulbee - 6.14.12

I am now an Aunt of 2! She is just TOO beautiful... here are some more bragging photos of my sweet little nieces!

me and the sweetest little girls!

Big sister Jordan and Addison

Momma, Jordan and Baby Addison!

It has been a wonderful weekend! I am so thankful to our creator for our new little Addison, and for a healthy sister! They are both home and doing well, and Grandma Marcy is there to help. So blessed!

I will do our Haiti day 2 update later tonight :) Thank you all for being patient!

Sally

Haiti - Day 1 - First glimpse

Wow, what a week! It is nice to be home and to be able to rest, but it is so bittersweet. 

We miss our new brothers and sisters and we even miss the heat (I've been cold since I've been back!) But most of all, we miss all the hard work - - - God's work. 

Thank goodness we have plenty to do right here until the next journey!

Haiti is an amazingly beautiful country, with beautiful people and hearts to match. We will never forget our time there and hope to see our friends again in the future. Thank you all for praying us through this trip, we could feel God's protection and strength all around us as we worked throughout the week.  We will give you an over view, day by day, of our week. Most of this is coming straight from a journal I kept while in Haiti. Enjoy!

Day 1 - Saturday 6/2/2012

Today was wonderful, stressful, exhausting, and exciting all at the same time. Maybe it was waking up so early (1:30 AM), being on 2 planes, in 3 airports, worried that anything I ate could ruin the rest of the day,  or maybe it was the realization of my complete lack of ability.
Praise God that I am not required to be able or worthy to do His work - because I would fail every time.  I try to make this feeling allow me to focus on God more, to rely on him, to trust him and obey, because it is easy to feel so depressed - like you can't possibly handle any of the tasks at hand, or that you're completely powerless.  I have thought many times today "I don't know if I could do this everyday, long term, different places/climates/food all the time. Is my heart strong enough? Is my faith deep enough? Do I know what I'm doing?" and the resounding answer is "NO!" none of the above... but my God is more than strong enough to make up for all of my shortcomings. All he needs is a willing and obedient heart - That I can do.

Today started early, 4 AM call time to be at the church and ready to go. Neil was the first one there, and Brandon and I were 2nd! (Yay for not being late!) The next car to pull up was such a surprise and blessing. John and Jackie Fry (whose life is a miracle and testimony itself) came to pray with us and see us off! This is what the church is for! Jackie's faithfulness and presence continue to awe and inspire me to deepen my own relationship with God. (Which is exactly why I prayed for complete restoration and healing after the accident. I, among many, have SO much to learn from this strong woman of God! Praise Him that she is doing so well!!!)

We arrived at the airport early and Rachel switched with me so I could sit next to Brandon on the plane to Miami. I am so glad she did because we were able to meet Lindsay. She is a beautiful 23 year old girl who went to Shiloh High School and graduated the year after me (in my same school district)! She is in law school at UGA and wants to become a diplomat and eventually an ambassador. She is fluent in Spanish and is teaching herself french! Her grandparents were actually born and lived in Haiti and moved to the USA where her parents grew up and raised her and her family. She has never been to Haiti before. She was on her way to an internship in the Dominican Republic. She wanted to visit Haiti while she was in the DR, but her mentors told her it wasn't a good idea, her family being Haitian, and the issues with border control between the two countries. We talked a lot about missions, and about faith. She said she appreciated how Brandon and I spoke to her about our faith and our call to missions. I pray that she will find her heart for God again, that she will not let the negative opinions about 'church' dictate her future. If she got nothing else from our discussion, I pray the Holy Spirit reminded her that she is responsible for her own relationship with our Heavenly Father and that she is so useful to the Kingdom. She has a heart full of passion and love and desires to help people. I pray, Lord, that you will keep Lindsay safe during her 10 week stay in the DR and that you lead her down your path and that she may listen to your voice. Thank you for letting us meet Lindsay.

We had a layover in Miami and were able to get something to eat. I was scared to eat anything big, as I knew in about 4 hours the heat would be overwhelming. I ended up eating Wendy's french fries and Brandon got some pizza. (of course he's never worried about anything like that!)

When we got on the plane from Miami to Haiti, I was alone on my little row all the way up until the last 2 people I saw boarding the plane. I was thinking, aw man! So close! But WHAT a blessing and joy, and I am so thankful I was seated next to 2 wonderful people. Casey and Naomi Gustafson. They are from Iowa City, Iowa and attend Faith Baptist Church with their 4 children. They were also headed to Haiti for mission work. Casey is very tall and is built like a super hero and Naomi is very delicate and naturally beautiful (come to find out she is/was a ballerina!). Talking to them throughout the 2 hour flight was rewarding in many ways. Naomi's parents were and are still full time missionaries in Africa! She was born in Bolivia and grew up all over Africa. She had wonderful stories and assured me that growing up as a missionaries' kid was the most amazing upbringing. (so encouraging). Her parents do a lot of work in Northern Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as South Africa. I hope to meet them in our journey there. We talked much about our faith and beliefs and encouraged one another in living a life of doing God's work. I pray for the Gustafsons; for health and safety while in Haiti. That their church continues to fall in love with missions and that Naomi and Casey will be integral in helping their faith family reach the people of the world with the Gospel. Thank you, Lord for a new brother and sister.

Okay. They weren't kidding... it is HOT!!! But it is also beautiful and sometimes breezy! The drive through Port-Au-Prince was breath taking and heart breaking at the same time. Behind flowering trees were rows and rows of tin roofs and tarps, and there is garbage everywhere. But all you have to do is raise your eyes just a little to see the majesty of God's handiwork in this land. The mountains here are green with trees and spotted with homes and villages. This constant backdrop allows you to see this country for the beauty God intended for it. And when you see the smiling faces of the Haitian people, you see it again.  These are His children, also. They are also made in His image. And they are in need.
I am amazed by the local Christians we have seen so far. Raising their voices loudly to the heavens and dressing in suits and ties with shiny shoes through burning, hot, dusty roads lined with rubble and trash. The church we are staying at is 5,000 strong and packs out each service where worship can last over 3 hours. What a family. What a testimony to their countrymen. Lord, if there is anything we can do to help these people, allow our bodies to serve.

The food is wonderful! We got settled into our rooms and had our first Haitian meal: Rice and beans with red sauce, baked chicken and fried plantains with the most glorious fresh cherry juice. Even though I did end up feeling sick and not being able to eat much, I thoroughly enjoyed what I had! [side note---it was not the food that made me sick, but my malaria medicine! resume journal] I pray that I can acclimate to the heat/food/lack of normalcy and not be a hindrance to the mission. Lord give me strength. Protect our bodies and keep us able to do your work he with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

We are showered and bug sprayed, fans are blowing and we are ready to fall asleep on our air mattresses! Lord keep us as we slumber. May the rest provide us with excited and willing minds and hearts as we worship with your church tomorrow morning. Thank you for loving us and for the opportunity to serve you. AMEN.

Hope you enjoyed day 1 - Saturday/travel day! Sunday morning was amazing and we will talk about it on the next blog! View more pictures from day one on our Facebook album: Haiti 2012 Pics