Friday- Heading Out!

So, we've had an eventful day so far. Because of storms, our flight out of Austin was delayed several hours. Because of this, we weren't going to make our connection to Miami and weren't going to be able to fly in until tomorrow afternoon.  Well the small airline that takes us into Haiti only flies every other day, so if we didnt make it to Miami tonight, our whole trip would of had to be cancelled.

But, luckily we were able to get 9 seats on a flight to West Palm Beach. Not exactly Miami, but it's a whole lot closer than Dallas!

So, we are currently on the hour long drive to Miami and will fly out tomorrow morning!  This is definitely not the way we saw today happening, but The Lord has been faithful in taking care of even the smallest details for us!

We are so excited to see and experience Haiti.  Pray for us as we prepare for the final leg of our journey. Pray that our bags actually ARE waiting for us at the Miami airport. Pray that we get good rest and arrive at the girls' home safely.

Finishing Well

It is crazy to think that today was our last full day of work. It  is encouraging to see progress on the buildings. We have a team of about 10 haitian men working with us as well as the older boys from our home. They stuccoed the interior of the mission house and will move on to the final wall treatment tomorrow. We  helped clean, sift truckloads of sand, and bring them whatvever they needed to continue working. We also helped pour the final verticle beams and 3 of the longest horizontal beams. The work here is so different than back home. It truly takes every person to do this job. It is a beautiful picture of the church  as haitian and american, young and old work to complete a task that will be a blessing for years to come.

We continued to teach english with the school kids and teachers and they are loving it. We are seeeing confidence grow in our teachers and they are getting it. We are seeing smiles on their faces and building trust. By the end of the day we were able to laugh and rejoice in what God was doing. We look forward to tomorrow when we get to work with the boys in our boys home.

Part of our team was able to spend some time with our boys getting their shoe sizes, so that later  this summer we can bring them all a new pair of shoes. This may have seemed like a menial task, but it reminded us of the time when Jesus took on the role of a servant and washed his dicsiples feet. In order for our work and minstry to be productive we must serve at whatever level that is. If it is passing buckets, teaching english, helping people see clearly, or measuring feet, we must serve like Christ.

Pray for our final day of work.
Pray for our hearts as we say goodbye.
Pray for the transition time back to the states.

Hope

There is a young boy here name Mogley.  Mogley has a birth defect called club foot that has distorted the growth of his right leg while the rest of his body continues to grow normally.   He has taken on a great afffection for our team and spent the day hanging around our project sites.   Inspite of his physical limitations, Mogley is a smiling, mischevious, joyful little boy.  His eyes are full of hope and promise, not because of our presence this week, but because of the power of the love of Christ shown to him.

Mogley represents Haiti.  So often this beautiful country is crippled by the deficienceies that surround it - corrupt government, economic disadvantage, educational gaps, and spiritual depravity.  But over and over, the teams that come here with Hope for the Hungry see something different.  Like Mogley, the deficiencies are obvious but they do not define the future. Instead these teams see a ministry that is pushing back against the darkness with the light and hope of Christ.  These teams meet men, women, and children whose lives are full of promise and joy because of the difference made by Christ.

This trip has been no exception.  Our team has worked hard and made a significant impact; however, our conversations at the end of the day most often entail the stories of the Haitian people we meet whose lives are being changed by the Gospel.

Pray for energy and strength for our last full day of work

Seeing Progress

Today was a great day!  We began our work in Guibert this morning.  It is amazing to see the progress that is being made in this community.  Construction on the Mission House continues, as a part of our group joined in the work by sifting rock, carrying buckets of mortar, and pouring the vertical beams.  We also continued with our vision clinic,  helping many of the local school children see clearly as well as some of the teachers.  In the afternoon we started working with the teachers from Guibert on three English Language program. These teachers are an intelligent and hard working group that are thrilled with the opportunity to sharpen their skills.

One of the repeated highlights of the day was the interaction everyone had with the local community and the boys in our children's home.  The progress being made, not only academically, but most importantly spiritually is obvious in the hope and joy in the eyes of each of the children. The love we express and share is being recieved as a direct reflection of the Savior we serve.

Pray for our continued strength and perseverence to the task.
Pray for the teachers as they continue to learn and improve
Pray that God is continually glorified in all we do.

Memories in Marothierre

Today has been an amazing day. We ventured out to our first full day of work. We travelled to Marothierre which is about an hour drive and 40 minute walk. This is a different part of Haiti than we have ever seen. It is beautiful mountainous terrain and the people are just as beautiful. When we got to the church and school here we immediately got to work. Half of the team went and did a vbs for 250 kids in the school. They taught about god's promises. We sang many songs and did a craft that shared the gospel with them. It was an amazing experience and we were really able to reach these kids. The other half of the group set up a vision clinic. They were able to help teachers, students and others from the community. It was so amazing to see the look on their faces when they could finally see clearly. This simple task is going to help more than we will ever know. We then took a quick break for lunch and then came back with an English clinic. All of the teachers came in and we were able to go through several different materials and help them learn new ways to teach and learn. They loved it and didn't want to leave. After a while they eventually headed home and we gave all of them materials to help continue their education. It was a long day, we are exhausted but it was so good.

Pray for us as we head to Guibert tomorrow to work.

Pray for our English clinic.

Pray for our vision clinic.

Pray for our construction work as we begin to do some hard labor.

Pray for health as sickness has hit some in our group, they are doing better but not 100%.

The Sabbath and baby Jeff

Yesterday was an amazing day. We learned the true meaning of sabbath. This was our first time to drive up to the church and boys home. The views were amazing and the people's smiles were great. As we got to the church we took a short tour of the faculty and saw where we would be doing some of our work. We then got to meet the newest addition to the boys home, baby Jeff, who was going to be dedicated in church. We then made our way up to the sanctuary for worship. The people were beautiful and it was so great to worship with them. They sang their hearts out. Prayed with great conviction, and were the body of god. They dedicated   Baby Jeff and it was such a sweet moment. Danny preached, so we were able to actually understand something that was happening, and he did a great job. After church we got to meet more of the boys and hang out for a short while. We then came back to the house, unpacked and sorted supplies, and rested. Haitians truly take part in the sabbath, and it was a nice change of pace.

Tomorrow we head out to Marothierre, which is a village about 1-2 hours away. We will be doing a VBS, vision clinic, and English clinic. Pray for safe travels. Pray for our clinics. Pray for health. Pray for god to move.

March 16, 2013

After leaving Belton at 3am to begin our journey we are finally here in Haiti. We landed around 3pm and then journeyed through port Au prince on our way to the pastors house. The sights, sound, and smell really opened our eyes to the new things here. Pastor Jean Alix and his wife Mylene have opened their home to us and are spoiling us. We just had our first team meeting and are now about to crash from a log day of travel.

 Pray for us tomorrow as we venture out to the boys home and church. Pray as we meet and see new faces.

Pray as we worship in a new place in a new language.

Pray for Danny as he will be preaching tomorrow.

Your prayers mean so much to us here. Thank you.