Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015
I have some favorite places I like to worship: at Lord of Life with my church family, at LVR with our high school students, and at Christ the King in Merotte, Haiti with my other church family. The members of Christ the King are an amazing people--they love the Lord and have a strong desire to serve Him. Worshipping with them this morning was everything I thought it might be. They had 3 different groups of people singing praise, with one of those songs being sung in English. Absolutely beautiful. Our group also sang a song we had been working on all week. We sang "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"...in Creole...all 3 verses with a special chorus at the end. The people were so surprised! It was so fun to learn and super awesome to sing in worship with our friends. To God be the glory.
Don Arnott, Lord of Life's President, gave the message this morning. It was batter up with a grand slam! He absolutely knocked it out of the park! He talked about his family and how he now had a new family with the people of Haiti. He talked about how the love of Jesus connects us and propels us to love.
The goodbyes, as always, were tear-filled. Oh my, it is difficult to leave.
With one final group devotion and worship time tonight, we are turning our hearts toward home. The team will leave Haiti at 1pm to start the journey to Kansas City. Once they are safely dropped at the airport, I will head off with Dorlus to his home. I am excited about this phase of the journey and covet your prayers while I remain in Haiti for 9 more days. I hope to learn more about the culture, the country, and what God is doing in this place. I also hope to grow in my Creole skills. I am learning but have a long way to go.
Blessings!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Goat Heads, Live Chickens, Fresh Fruit and Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015
It is a gorgeous morning in Haiti! I'm once again enjoying the quiet and the calm of this time. God is so good, and such a great artist! I wish you could be here to enjoy it with us.
Most of our group went to the market near Merotte yesterday morning. We gave each shopping group a little bit of Haitian money (Gourdes) and said there would be prizes for the group that found the most unusual item and the best tasting item. From that challenge, we had a whole smoked fish, 2 goat heads, and a live chicken! After taking pictures with those items, we gave the goat heads and fish to our cooks (for them to have for themselves, not to prepare for us) and gave the live chicken to the church. They tied it up until it got used to the place. I'm not sure I totally belived them because they tied it up next to the kitchen. The group that bought him named him Tom, but I'm sure his name is actually Sunday Lunch. We shall see!
The group that didn't go to the market went to the church to get started on setting up for the Shoe Clinic. We were able to give many shoes away yesterday, and will also have the opportunity to do that again after church.
We cleaned up and packed up from the medical clinic. We were able to deliver a suitcase full of supplies for the hospital in Archaie, the city closest to Merotte. We have taken patients to this hospital before so we are somewhat familiar with it. When we pulled up to the hospital, we were surprised to see 2 Red Cross tents in the street where they were caring for patients. We learned that the hospital is under construction. They gave us a quick tour of the facility. When it is done, they will be set up to deliver babies, perform surgeries, and care for inpatients. We talked with them briefly about bringing patients to them in the future as well as donating our leftover supplies.
Today is our last full day in Haiti, but a great day to be sure. This is the day the Lord has made! We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
It is a gorgeous morning in Haiti! I'm once again enjoying the quiet and the calm of this time. God is so good, and such a great artist! I wish you could be here to enjoy it with us.
Most of our group went to the market near Merotte yesterday morning. We gave each shopping group a little bit of Haitian money (Gourdes) and said there would be prizes for the group that found the most unusual item and the best tasting item. From that challenge, we had a whole smoked fish, 2 goat heads, and a live chicken! After taking pictures with those items, we gave the goat heads and fish to our cooks (for them to have for themselves, not to prepare for us) and gave the live chicken to the church. They tied it up until it got used to the place. I'm not sure I totally belived them because they tied it up next to the kitchen. The group that bought him named him Tom, but I'm sure his name is actually Sunday Lunch. We shall see!
The group that didn't go to the market went to the church to get started on setting up for the Shoe Clinic. We were able to give many shoes away yesterday, and will also have the opportunity to do that again after church.
We cleaned up and packed up from the medical clinic. We were able to deliver a suitcase full of supplies for the hospital in Archaie, the city closest to Merotte. We have taken patients to this hospital before so we are somewhat familiar with it. When we pulled up to the hospital, we were surprised to see 2 Red Cross tents in the street where they were caring for patients. We learned that the hospital is under construction. They gave us a quick tour of the facility. When it is done, they will be set up to deliver babies, perform surgeries, and care for inpatients. We talked with them briefly about bringing patients to them in the future as well as donating our leftover supplies.
Today is our last full day in Haiti, but a great day to be sure. This is the day the Lord has made! We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Lord Heard Your Prayers
Friday, Jan. 16, 2015
Thank you for praying for us! The clinic was not any crazier yesterday than any other day. In fact, everyone who wanted to be seen by a Doctor was seen! Can you believe that? EVERYONE got in to the clinic! God is good!
I'm also so thankful for the 20 men and 21 women who were in the Bible studies this week. The women meet in a room next door to the men, and hearing the men sing is absolutely beautiful. They even called me over to their room to sing one song with them--very cool! Being in the room with those women was a blessing. Their attentiveness to the Word and the discussion around that Word was very encouraging. Mike and Jana Thomas hit it out of the park! I can't wait to see how the Holy Spirit continues to use the material they prepared, and I am excited to see this ministry continues to grow in the future.
I want to give you an update on Wilson. Through our partnership with Christ the King, Wilson has some start up money to begin his own business. He came to us with a business plan. He has a cooler and wants to sell drinks (sodas and bottled water). His plan is to set up next to his sister's food business. $50 is the money we gave him in order to do this. Jacques has him set up with some accountability for how the money is being used. Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray that people who are thirsty will find his stand and buy from him. Pray that this will be a way for them to eat and to help others as well.
Construction on the wall is almost complete. They should finish today. The Preschool/Kindergarten is complete! It is so exciting to see a finished building.
VBS knocked it out of the park! Such a great team! I am amazed at how they connected with the kids. The joy in the faces of the kids is hard to explain, but trust me when I say it is powerful. Last night one of our team members was saying that being on the VBS team was the best job. If needed elsewhere he would of course do that, but he thought the best job was getting to work with the kids. I love that God uses each of our strengths to do His work.
Today, we are off to the market, followed by an afternoon of helping Christ the King give away several hundred pairs of shoes! This is going to be fun!
Blessings on your day!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
Thank you for praying for us! The clinic was not any crazier yesterday than any other day. In fact, everyone who wanted to be seen by a Doctor was seen! Can you believe that? EVERYONE got in to the clinic! God is good!
I'm also so thankful for the 20 men and 21 women who were in the Bible studies this week. The women meet in a room next door to the men, and hearing the men sing is absolutely beautiful. They even called me over to their room to sing one song with them--very cool! Being in the room with those women was a blessing. Their attentiveness to the Word and the discussion around that Word was very encouraging. Mike and Jana Thomas hit it out of the park! I can't wait to see how the Holy Spirit continues to use the material they prepared, and I am excited to see this ministry continues to grow in the future.
I want to give you an update on Wilson. Through our partnership with Christ the King, Wilson has some start up money to begin his own business. He came to us with a business plan. He has a cooler and wants to sell drinks (sodas and bottled water). His plan is to set up next to his sister's food business. $50 is the money we gave him in order to do this. Jacques has him set up with some accountability for how the money is being used. Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray that people who are thirsty will find his stand and buy from him. Pray that this will be a way for them to eat and to help others as well.
Construction on the wall is almost complete. They should finish today. The Preschool/Kindergarten is complete! It is so exciting to see a finished building.
VBS knocked it out of the park! Such a great team! I am amazed at how they connected with the kids. The joy in the faces of the kids is hard to explain, but trust me when I say it is powerful. Last night one of our team members was saying that being on the VBS team was the best job. If needed elsewhere he would of course do that, but he thought the best job was getting to work with the kids. I love that God uses each of our strengths to do His work.
Today, we are off to the market, followed by an afternoon of helping Christ the King give away several hundred pairs of shoes! This is going to be fun!
Blessings on your day!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
Friday, January 16, 2015
God Works Miracles
Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 14-15, 2015
One of the things that is more than obvious in Haiti is that life is hard! People work hard in order to live. There is also no doubt that they believe and cling to our Heavenly Father who is good. On Wednesday I had the opportunity to talk to Wilson, a young man I've known for 13 years. He and his sister are now all alone. Their father died a few years ago, and this past May his mother died. When they have a little money, his sister makes food to sell on the street. When that business is successful, they eat. When it isn't going well, they don't eat. When I asked him when he had last eaten, it had been 2 or 3 days. He wasn't exactly sure of how long it had been. In that situation I would have the tendency to doubt the Lord so I talked with Wilson about that--if he was struggling with believing that God would provide a way. He explained that he understood what I was talking about and that it was very difficult, but that his trust in the Lord is strong. We are working with Jacques to develop a strategy for how Christ the King can be a light in their community to reach out to people like Wilson. Don Arnott and Mike Thomas are going to help Jacques, the leader at Christ the King, develop that strategy.
VBS is going extremely well! On Wednesday the lesson was on temptation. They used the Bible narrative of Jesus being tempted in the desert. Yesterday the team talked about miracles and the power of God to do all things, even the seemingly impossible. They used liquid Kool Aid drops to turn a bottle of water into wine. The kids were impressed! They also told about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and Peter walking on the water.
The medical team continues to amaze me. The health and hygiene classes have been a much-needed addition to the work we do here. We've seen a couple of really interesting things. Yesterday a woman came into the clinic that had been dealing with worms that were infested in her leg. No worries, we took lots of pictures. It will be a long road of getting this taken care of that will include surgery. We gave her some medicine that will hopefully kill all the worms so that the healing process can begin. Yesterday, a Mom came in with 2 kids because her 5-yr. old was lethargic and didn't have much of an appetite. They left their home at 4am, walked to our clinic and arrived sometime mid-morning. They finally got in around noon. As it turns out, her son wasn't sick, but he was malnourished. Sad doesn't even begin to describe it. Please be praying for that family and the many others we see.
The block was delivered yesterday and work on the wall continued! The gate is also in place, which was really great to see.
The kids are a joy! The team is well and working together like champs.
Today is the last day of the clinic so the desperation will be at a high today. At the end of each day we are able to say, to the people who don't get in, "Come back tomorrow." It is always difficult on our team when we can't say that. Please pray that God shows us who really needs to be seen by one of our providers. God will make a way!
Blessings on your day!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
One of the things that is more than obvious in Haiti is that life is hard! People work hard in order to live. There is also no doubt that they believe and cling to our Heavenly Father who is good. On Wednesday I had the opportunity to talk to Wilson, a young man I've known for 13 years. He and his sister are now all alone. Their father died a few years ago, and this past May his mother died. When they have a little money, his sister makes food to sell on the street. When that business is successful, they eat. When it isn't going well, they don't eat. When I asked him when he had last eaten, it had been 2 or 3 days. He wasn't exactly sure of how long it had been. In that situation I would have the tendency to doubt the Lord so I talked with Wilson about that--if he was struggling with believing that God would provide a way. He explained that he understood what I was talking about and that it was very difficult, but that his trust in the Lord is strong. We are working with Jacques to develop a strategy for how Christ the King can be a light in their community to reach out to people like Wilson. Don Arnott and Mike Thomas are going to help Jacques, the leader at Christ the King, develop that strategy.
VBS is going extremely well! On Wednesday the lesson was on temptation. They used the Bible narrative of Jesus being tempted in the desert. Yesterday the team talked about miracles and the power of God to do all things, even the seemingly impossible. They used liquid Kool Aid drops to turn a bottle of water into wine. The kids were impressed! They also told about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and Peter walking on the water.
The medical team continues to amaze me. The health and hygiene classes have been a much-needed addition to the work we do here. We've seen a couple of really interesting things. Yesterday a woman came into the clinic that had been dealing with worms that were infested in her leg. No worries, we took lots of pictures. It will be a long road of getting this taken care of that will include surgery. We gave her some medicine that will hopefully kill all the worms so that the healing process can begin. Yesterday, a Mom came in with 2 kids because her 5-yr. old was lethargic and didn't have much of an appetite. They left their home at 4am, walked to our clinic and arrived sometime mid-morning. They finally got in around noon. As it turns out, her son wasn't sick, but he was malnourished. Sad doesn't even begin to describe it. Please be praying for that family and the many others we see.
The block was delivered yesterday and work on the wall continued! The gate is also in place, which was really great to see.
The kids are a joy! The team is well and working together like champs.
Today is the last day of the clinic so the desperation will be at a high today. At the end of each day we are able to say, to the people who don't get in, "Come back tomorrow." It is always difficult on our team when we can't say that. Please pray that God shows us who really needs to be seen by one of our providers. God will make a way!
Blessings on your day!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 team Haiti
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Great Start
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
It was a great day! Not everything went according to plan, but it was still a pretty great day!
I had an opportunity to watch the VBS team in action. They told the story of Jesus' birth. It was funny. It was engaging. It was right on target. They sang with the children. They laughed with the children. Most importantly, they prayed over the children who wanted to trust Jesus as their Savior. I was one of the classrooms and had the privilege of praying over one of the young men who trusted Jesus for his salvation. As I began to pray, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I couldn't speak. As I tried to regain my composure though I could hear 9-year-old Jacob T. praying over the boy next to me. Talk about a cool moment! It was a blessing for sure.
It was a great day! Not everything went according to plan, but it was still a pretty great day!
I had an opportunity to watch the VBS team in action. They told the story of Jesus' birth. It was funny. It was engaging. It was right on target. They sang with the children. They laughed with the children. Most importantly, they prayed over the children who wanted to trust Jesus as their Savior. I was one of the classrooms and had the privilege of praying over one of the young men who trusted Jesus for his salvation. As I began to pray, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I couldn't speak. As I tried to regain my composure though I could hear 9-year-old Jacob T. praying over the boy next to me. Talk about a cool moment! It was a blessing for sure.
The construction team is making progress on the wall, and the painting of the Kindergarten building has begun. We are praying for the delivery of more block today. The company that makes the block had a machine break so they are behind schedule. They were able to deliver half, but now we are ready for more. It would be so great to have those available today. If not, our crew will help paint.
The medical clinic went really well. The crowd got a little intense at times, but for the most part that all went very smoothly. Adding a health/hygiene class has been a great addition. The people seem to be really blessed by that. Some of the files got filed before we could count how many patients we saw, but it doesn't really matter because we've been praying that God would bring to us the people who need to be seen.
I took pictures yesterday but can't seem to get them loaded on here today. I'll try again tomorrow. Right now it is time for french toast...Haitian style! YUMMY!
Blessings on your day! Thanks for your prayer support!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 Team Haiti
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
The Americans are Here!
So so so great to arrive in Haiti yesterday! We sailed through customs with just a few of our suitcases being checked, so we were grateful for that. We arrived at Christ the King, and once again the power of relationships is more than I can even put into words. As the buses turned down the road to the church, the smiles on the people's faces were incredible to see. Those of us who have been here before recognized them. The look in their eyes and the excitement on their faces indicated they were happy to see us. Reunions are sweet, and they once again had me anticipating the great reunions in Heaven when all of God's people will be reunited around the Lamb who sits on the throne.
When we arrived at Christ the King we got to work unpacking 600 shoes, school supplies (paper, pencils, erasers, notebooks, chalk, etc), all of the medicines, medical equipment, paint supplies, Bibles, clothes, etc. We had 34 suitcases all filled to 50 pounds--almost a ton of supplies. We set up the clinic, the pharmacy, VBS, health and dental so that when we arrive today we will be ready to go.
And we remember. It was 5 years ago yesterday--the day of our arrival--that thousands and thousands of people lost their lives in the earthquake. So many people affected by such a terrible event, and yet the trust in the Lord to heal, provide, and walk alongside them is evident.
Thanks so much for your prayer support. I'll write more each day. We have had trouble connecting to wifi so this blog may not be daily. No worries. We will do the best we can to keep you updated on our journey.
God is good!
Lisa :)
On behalf of 2015 Team Haiti
Friday, January 9, 2015
Packed and Ready...Almost!
Our team of 34 strong is packed and ready to go to Haiti. We leave Sunday, Jan. 11 at 6:30am. We have to be at the airport by 4:30am, which means I have to wake up at 2:30am so I can enjoy a long, hot shower before my 4 co-travelers to the airport meet at my house to load up and head out. I don't mind the early hour, though because that means we will be that much closer to being with our sister church, Christ the King in Merotte, Haiti.
It is such a joy, such a privilege, and such an honor to lead our team. Of the 34 on the trip, 27 Lord of Life members and 7 friends of Lord of Life. Of the 34 on the trip, exactly half have been with me to Haiti before. For those 17 the reunions with our brothers and sisters in Haiti will be sweet. For the other 17, oh my goodness, I can't wait to see them take it all in, meet new people--people who mean so much to me, and join the Haiti family.
I have no idea what God has in store for us on this trip, but I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.
Please be in prayer for us. I pray for things like safe travel and for things to go smoothly, but my greatest prayer is for God to do whatever it takes to draw each of us closer to Him--to looking more and more like a follower of Christ and less and less like the rest of the world.
I'll be posting daily updates starting Monday or Tuesday morning. Be on the lookout!
The team will be sharing about our time in Haiti at 8am and 10:45am on Sunday, Jan. 25 at Lord of Life. Hope many of you can be there to hear all about it!
On Behalf of 2015 Team Haiti,
Lisa :)
It is such a joy, such a privilege, and such an honor to lead our team. Of the 34 on the trip, 27 Lord of Life members and 7 friends of Lord of Life. Of the 34 on the trip, exactly half have been with me to Haiti before. For those 17 the reunions with our brothers and sisters in Haiti will be sweet. For the other 17, oh my goodness, I can't wait to see them take it all in, meet new people--people who mean so much to me, and join the Haiti family.
I have no idea what God has in store for us on this trip, but I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.
Please be in prayer for us. I pray for things like safe travel and for things to go smoothly, but my greatest prayer is for God to do whatever it takes to draw each of us closer to Him--to looking more and more like a follower of Christ and less and less like the rest of the world.
I'll be posting daily updates starting Monday or Tuesday morning. Be on the lookout!
The team will be sharing about our time in Haiti at 8am and 10:45am on Sunday, Jan. 25 at Lord of Life. Hope many of you can be there to hear all about it!
On Behalf of 2015 Team Haiti,
Lisa :)
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