Haiti Day 8

(I so told everyone I would post this on Monday but I had a lot of stuff come up so plans got changed....so, here is the final entry)

"Today was a day that I will always remember. While we were happy to headed back home to our families, everything inside of me screamed, 'Don't go! You're nowhere near done yet!' But I felt God telling me that while my time was done in Haiti for this trip, that I needed to take what I learned and bring it back home to South Carolina. I prayed as I got ready and then on the bus to the airport that God would continue to work through MOH and make continue to advance God's kingdom in this amazing country.

A lot of people told me before I came that Haiti was, 'devastated, broken, savage, dirty....etc, etc, etc.' Well, all I have to say to that is this...'broken but beautiful!' This country was brought to it's knees by the earthquake and God is bringing them back from it and doing it His way and by no other way...man, that inspires me to even think that! God is doing big things, and I hope that He allows me to return to Haiti and keep working with MOH"

Haiti Day 7

(Quick note, I will be posting the final entry on Monday August 16th as the next two days will be filled with way too much stuff for me to sit down and fully type out the final entry...thanks for reading guys!)

"Today served as an effective 'send-off' for our trip to Haiti. We got to spend the day with all the other teams at a beach called 'Wahoo Bay'. It's amazing how a country where things are so broken and full of despair, that a beach with that much beauty exists for everyone. I thought the waterfall was awesome, but this beach knocked it out the park. Heck, I think Myrtle Beach combined with all the spots in Florida I've seen couldn't come close to this! Water as clear as glass, and it was so needed

One of the highlights, minus an awesome lunch, was going snorkeling for an hour a bay about ten minutes away. Here comes the kicker....only $5! How crazy is that?! In America snorkeling for even 10 minutes is more than that. But in Haiti, you can go snorkeling for an hour, get the mask, snorkel, and flippers (sad, no flippers for me as I have huge feet) for that five dollars! I loved getting the chance to swim around in such clear water and just enjoy the reef and be amazed at God's creation. The cool part was letting Matt Keely go. He wanted to so bad but had spent a lot of his money on trinkets and didn't have enough. But, I couldn't go and then let him not go, so I did what I felt was needed, I spotted him. I think it was worth it!"

Haiti Day 6

"After such a whirlwind day yesterday, I was curious as to what God was going to have us do today. But, it seemed like things were taken back a notch. We worked through a city, cleaning up trash on the street. Our guide/interpreter, "Wiki", actually told the Haitians in the street (in Creole of course) 'look, white people are coming to pick up your trash!' I guess that's meant to be a jab of sorts at them for putting their trash down and not caring really. But one thing I noticed was that a lot of the trash was little packages that said 'bon dlo'. After asking Wiki what they meant he told me it meant 'good water.' It's sad they were reduced to having to get clean water from a small little pouch and that was it for a lot of people we saw....breaks my heart when I have water from at least 6 different sources in my house to drink and it's all clean

After our trash run, we went to a church and painted the inside of a school that they had built for under privileged kids. I could see it a mile away, but with our team and paint...bad things normally happen. I decided to paint with the Harvest crew so that way I could avoid getting paint on me. I luckily walked away primarily unscathed but it was definetely a fun experience. The cool part was hanging out with the kids during breaks and just getting to play with them and see them smile. I've learned that a smile can be universal...something no matter the language can show that you care and can make things all right. Well, that and tickling a child you catch! God is showing me that maybe showing more compassion and being open isn't so bad as I once thought"

Haiti Day 5

"Today was a day of firsts and a day full of beautiful compassion. Not too long after eating breakfast Jeremy (one of the interns) came up to us and asked if our team and one of the others wanted to go on 'an adventure' to a bay and check out some old boats. We obviously agreed, since honestly, who wouldn't turn down an adventure like that? We drove to this bay and were able to check out these two boats. One was being used as a way to create scrap parts and the other where the crew was stationed. It was awesome to just sit there in the bay and let everything just soak in. It was also cool to speak with the captain of the boat and hear about his life experiences. The really cool part was listening to him tell us in fluent Spanish how he studied Spanish in Cuba so he could become a captain in the Caribbean.

And here comes another first, and also the compassion. Today we went to a village in Cabaret, maybe twenty minutes away from our compound. We were only told we would go on a "River Walk" and then go to an orphanage. Little did I know that a little girl was there, ready to change the way I see the world around me. All along the River Walk I kept praying in my head that God would let me just shine His light in some way to the children I was going to meet in that orphanage.

Once we got to the orphanage, I was greeted by Mandy, one of the members of another team (from Miami, FLA) and she basically handed off a small little girl to me and told me, 'hold her, here's her stuffed kitty, and here's her other toys!' Those who know me know that I'm good with kids...just older ones. But holding this little girl, maybe a little over a year old, the world slowed down. After holding her for mere moments I started to feel like I was almost overheating. Even one of our team members told me later I looked like I was dehydrating.

Turns out, the little girl was just running a fever and was burning up so much that her heat was transferring to me and making me sweat like nothing else. But I kept a grip on her and finally she went to sleep in my arms. I can't tell you how beautiful it was to see this girl asleep on my chest, just holding on and finally feeling safe with me. I never wanted to let her go, but sadly I had to once we left. I never got her name, but I know the hole she has left in my heart for the rest of my days on this Earth"

Haiti Day 4

"It seems to me that during this trip that God loves to push my limits, and then show me that how His pushing me is working to bring Him glory. One example is while laying down more of the sidewalk today, and starting to feel the heat pressing down on us. We would break, but the kids from School of Hope would come over and talk with us, and it would make everything worth it. It's awesome to see how thankful everyone is for us putting such a simple thing as a sidewalk in.

One of the coolest parts of Haiti so far was going to a big waterfall in the mountains. The area surrounding it was full of people, and it really didn't give away the usual allure that one would think of with a waterfall, but when we saw it, it was awesome! It was a welcome idea to just let the water rush over us and relax in God's creation

I've said it before, but worship with the Haitian church is an awesome experience. We had a short worship session with them tonight, and I couldn't help but be overcome by the people that showed. It wasn't as packed as Sunday, but there were still a lot of people there to experience it. I loved hearing different songs that I've known in English being sung in Creole and I pick it up because of the instrumental leads and such. But it was awesome to worship God with them, since the language barrier wasn't too bad. The best part is that we were worshiping the exact same God as them. How cool is that?

Quick side note, after the service we went to check and see if the mixer team had laid concrete down where we had built the "bays" for it. Coolest part, was seeing little kids running down the sidewalk playing and laughing. Man, it's worth it seeing their faces and playing on it

PS: I cried.....again"

Haiti Day 3

"Today was the start of our 'on site construction projects'. We helped lay down cement for a sidewalk at the Mission of Hope compound. Now, this sounds easy, but it's really not. A lot of work went into this, especially with laying down all of the foundation in exact ways so that we could make sure to not be off on our mark at all. But John took charge and was able to coordinate our team efficiently. It's a blessing to have someone who can be a 'supervisor' on our team to help us with this project!

After working on the project and lunch, we went to a small village for a short 'vbs'. Frankly, all our team did was hang out with kids. And for me, that was enough. Sam had an eye opening experience where a child explained to him that his whole family was dead and he was all alone. That rocked me to my core. Many days growing up I wondered what it would be like to not have a family, but this boy was not having to wonder. I'm glad that God has blessed me with a family that loves me. The broken people in this country aren't ready to stop praising God though. It's starting to not hurt so much, but it's still breaking my heart to see this people worship God amidst all they've been through

After hearing Brad Johnson's testimony, I felt both empowered and convicted. MOH's idea for Haiti is a lot like Crossroads. Both of us use a "every man woman and child" approach, and our logos are eerily similar. I even joked to Sam, 'Did John Mark design stuff for MOH without telling us?!'. (He obviously did not catch said joke) The coolest part of the night was after the meeting and team games I got to talk with Matt K about some thing that had been going on around the team. It was awesome to be able to step in as a leader and to offer some experience to him. I felt like I was almost at home doing this. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for our team this week!"

Haiti Day 2

"Today we got up early! But, I had an odd feeling that God was about to show everyone on our team some things during the church service. Waking up at 5 am just to sit around for an hour and a half was a bit aggravating though. After we took a tour of the compound, we went to church with around 600 people, including all the teams and Haitians. I thought I had been to large church services, but this was huge! I enjoyed learning the lyrics but when the worship leader started speaking creole I got lost all over. But, he switched into English and welcomed all of the teams and to hear how excited the Haitians were to have us was amazing. I can't convey the feeling of being welcomed so much by the people of this country.

Being part of the worship team at church, I usually would look at the tech aspects of things and get so wrapped up in them. I started to do so in Haiti but then realized that they had an unbridled form of worship in that they worshiped Him with all they had and had no worries for possessions. I was taken away by the way they sang "Mighty to Save." Now, we've heard this song more times than anything. But, to hear the words "He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave" about knocked me on my butt. It wasn't the words, but how these people who are in a country so broken sang this song with so much conviction and really meant it. It was all I could do to not fall down and just cry from it all. By the way, I did cry, but not too much. I'm ready to hit the ground running here, so that way I can help to advance God's kingdom in Haiti. Because my God conquered the grave"

Haiti Day 1

I will be posting the journals I kept during my trip to Haiti on my blog for those who wish to enjoy them. These will be exactly what I wrote, down to the letter actually. Hope everyone enjoys them

Day 1

"I have no clue why, but I was signing "Walking in Memphis" right before we flew over Haiti. But once on the ground, nothing but fear blanketed me. I was overcome by fear, doubt, and anxiety, and almost a desire to turn around and run back to our plane. The hustle and bustle of customs was enough to make everything seem bigger than I could handle. But, God grabbed me and almost shook me reminded me that He was in control and had put me in this country for a reason. It was like He took my hand and told me in almost forceful tone, 'I put you here to advance my kingdom, I got this!'. Now, do I think God really said this? No, but it sure felt like it. Once we left the airport, it really hit me what we had landed into. Seeing multiple buildings that had been destroyed or were not repaired hurt me. But, then we saw some of the 'tent cities.' To imagine the heat from just sitting around but to see how these people lived just broke me from the start. But God continued to show me that He was there as we got to Mission of Hope and got acclimated. After taking some time before bed to read my bible I was comforted in reading Matthew 25:40, my focus verse for the week"