Grace Village/Brick Ovens

Today we fired up the brick fired ovens at Grace and made pizza with Vania, Emmanuel and the kids.  It was an amazing day!  Here are a few photos.

Grace Village/Elder Care

On Thursday we toured Grace Village, the grounds for Healing Haiti’s orphanage, school, medical clinic, aqua phonics and future commercial bakery.  We found a few moments to play with the school children while they were at recess, so much fun!

In the afternoon, we went into Titayen to visit a few of the elderly that are served regularly by Healing Haiti.  When we went to a certain person’s home, all of the neighbors and sometimes family came around to watch.  We massaged the elder’s shoulders, arms and legs while singing songs of praise in both Kreyol and English.

Every day at our large group time, we share words of the day for each person.  Here are are words for Thursday:

Precious

Relaxed

Reminder

Humbled

Vision

Hope

Worship

Bear-witness

Comfort

Eternity

By Amanda and Greg Buell

As we were getting ready this morning, plans changed suddenly, we were going to do water trucks.  Our first stop was the filling station, which was a short drive from the guesthouse.  While our truck got in the queue for filling, the tap tap was parked in the middle of the station.  There was a lot of action around us: other trucks being filled, mechanics fixing broken trucks, cows wandering, goods being sold, work on motorcycles and a few just using it as through traffic. 

After the truck was filled, we headed to District 17.  There was a different feeling in Cite Soleil than in the other places we had been in Port Au Prince.  The shacks were very close together, there was less solid concrete structure, and more tin roofs, tarps and sticks.  Children were the first to see that we were coming, they ran up to the tap tap and the moment we stepped out, they jumped all over us!  It was a like a joyous reunion.  Others came up with buckets and the line formed.  A few of us played with children while the others ran the water hose line.  This stop is used to Healing Haiti coming in, they are currently building a church on a 20-foot pile of garbage.  Sounds crazy, but they put in the footings already, digging down into the pile of garbage so the church will be built on solid foundation.  We walked out to the site with some neighborhood children to sing and dance. 

We went back to the filling station, this took a little longer, there was more traffic at the station.  Our next stop was another district a little deeper into Cite Soleil.  People here were also used to Healing Haiti coming, but there was a longer line for water and more children.  Some highlights included: children playing in the water under the truck, a dwarf elderly woman kissing us and blessing us, people of all ages bathing in the water, children singing and dancing.  While Greg was running the hose with one hand, a little child came up and grabbed his other hand.  One striking thing was that the block we were on was one district, the next district just down the street looked different – it was a different color (more brown and grey) and there was definitely a human climate difference between the two districts.  Women and children from the next district came down to the truck and we were allowed to go just into that district to help deliver water.  There was graciousness all around.

Back to the filling station for a third fill.  This district was near the ocean, the children noticed us first, waving and running after the tap tap.  There was an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation for the water truck to arrive.  People were lined up the moment we arrived.  This stop was the most focused on the delivery of water, though the children still clung, our team was deliberate about getting the water out and making sure there was little waste.  While we were moving buckets down the line to be filled, one woman gave me (Amanda) her baby while she got her buckets filled.  The baby started crying so I held him with one hand and moved buckets with another.  When the woman was done, she came back for her baby.  Other highlights on this stop were: organized chaos, a high need for water, motorcycle pushing through the crowd right next to the water truck, and walking out to the pier to see the ocean.  When we walked out, many children and others walked with us.  There were people working on making fishing nets and men out fishing.  Women were cleaning fish and there were just a lot of people milling around.  The boats were beautiful, the people were beautiful.  We hope they saw Christ in us and in the water we delivered.

Cite Soleil - Photo Blog

Blogging by Becci

Good Morning friends!  Sorry for no blog last night, wifi issues!!

Yesterday the team went to Home for the Sick and Dying.  This home is very emotionally challenging.  Yesterday was also food distribution day and when we pulled up there were lines and lines of people waiting to pick up food.  We served 750 families and they received about 50 pounds of food to serve them for the month.

It is impossible to describe the emotions we all felt from holding these very sick children.  It is so amazing that the universal sign language when a child holds their arms you know they just want to be held.  There were many diapers changed, many children held, and a few tears shed when we arrived and when we left.

We made a quick stop at Apparent Project where parents learn to make beads out of cereal boxes. This supports families in the communities.  We bought a few souvenirs to support the community.

The last stop was Gertrude's Orphanage where there are 45 children that live there of which half are severely disabled.  We played with the kids and gave the staff a break.  It was fun wheeling the kids around the courtyard and making them laugh!!!

Today we are off to serve water to Cite Soleil!  More pictures and words tonight!



"It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love, or how you love, it matters only that you love."  ~John Lennon <3

We landed safely in Haiti and are doing well!!  Today, we had an opportunity to check out the guesthouse and get acclimated to the environment.  Our schedule has changed slightly and we will be serving at the Home for Sick and Dying Children and Gertrude's Orphanage tomorrow.  Please pray for our team as we give our hearts to God and these amazing people!!

Check in throughout the week as we will be blogging daily about our journey!!

Humble Hearts

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:1-11

Over the past couple of months our team has been preparing for our mission trip to Haiti.  We have focused on this particular passage throughout our time together.  This passage blows me away.  It attacks the heart.  It centers our focus.  It commands a love that is counter-cultural.  It demands us to view life through a different lens.  My prayer for this team is that our hearts are humbled and our desires are centered on serving and glorifying God.  I pray that this team will serve with unrestrained love and affection.  Father, fill our hearts with your love and let that love pour out, overflowing to each and every person that you place in our path.  

Please keep each and every member of our team in your prayers:

Gregory Buell
Amanda Buell
Shylo Eckstrom
Becci Powers-Johnson
Jaime Kastner
Philip Ellerbroek
Megan Ward
Stephen O'Connor
Michelle O'Connor
Cristina Reedstrom
Kristin Seibold
Mike McCain