Today we went to visit Grace Village and 5 of the elderly. When we were at GV we played some sports with the kids and afterwards we were given a tour of GV. On the tour, we saw all of the new facilities, and we got to see how they produce their food and get water.  We also saw the fish that they harvest and eat. In each one of the fish tanks there were 300 talapia fish. They also had a school there that had 303 kids from grades k-9.
          
            After GV we went to visit the elderly and one disabled man.  The first  elderly we visited was Edmund. He is mostly blind, but he still has a lot of joy that he gets from God. On our second stop we saw Izna, who has a bad back and eye problems. Healing Haiti gave a mattress to Izna, but about a month later it was stolen at gunpoint.  We rubbed lotion on her skin and sang two worships songs in Haitian.  Our third stop brought us to Jude, who is a disabled 21 year old. His mom does a good job at supporting him and getting him food and water.  At our last stop we went to see Marie, she is sponsored by some of the kids in our group. Marie is the oldest in the elderly program, she is approximately 104 years old. She is very lively, loves to talk, and loves the Lord.  At each of their homes we had time to visit with them, sing to them and pray over them.  The best part of our day was being able to see the elderly have so much joy even though they live in awful conditions. 

Written by: Charlie and Logan

Today we went to visit Grace Village and 5 of the elderly. When we were at GV we played some sports with the kids and afterwards we were given a tour of GV. On the tour, we saw all of the new facilities, and we got to see how they produce their food and get water.  We also saw the fish that they harvest and eat. In each one of the fish tanks there were 300 talapia fish. They also had a school there that had 303 kids from grades k-9.

           

            After GV we went to visit the elderly and one disabled man.  The first  elderly we visited was Edmund. He is mostly blind, but he still has a lot of joy that he gets from God. On our second stop we saw Izna, who has a bad back and eye problems. Healing Haiti gave a mattress to Izna, but about a month later it was stolen at gunpoint.  We rubbed lotion on her skin and sang two worships songs in Haitian.  Our third stop brought us to Jude, who is a disabled 21 year old. His mom does a good job at supporting him and getting him food and water.  At our last stop we went to see Marie, she is sponsored by some of the kids in our group. Marie is the oldest in the elderly program, she is approximately 104 years old. She is very lively, loves to talk, and loves the Lord.  At each of their homes we had time to visit with them, sing to them and pray over them.  The best part of our day was being able to see the elderly have so much joy even though they live in awful conditions.  

Written by: Charlie and Logan

            Today was physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting.  However the Lord gave us grace to press on.  It was our team`s water truck day. We traveled to different parts of Cite Soliel in the tap-tap (our transportation). When we got to the stops, we were bombarded by children. All the kids loved to be held and were excited to see us. As soon as we started distributing the water, the kids started pouring water on every member of our team.  It was great to see such joy in the children even though they had so little.  There was not any team member that held back from the task at hand. God gave us grace to show His love through all of us, and in turn we were blessed by the Haitians.

 Written by: Braedyn and Rachel

Today we started by going to a beautiful pool to do "pool therapy" with children from Gertrudes Orphanage.  Gertrudes Orphanage is a home for disabled children.  One of the children, Gabrielle, (if I understand right) hadn't been in the water like that before.  She clung, I mean clung, to me.  Picture legs wrapped around my waist, hands around my neck, and face buried in the side of my neck.  And then every once in a while she would laugh and it would make me laugh right along with her.  She eventually went to Trey and bear hugged him for awhile, and then other members of our team.  By the end of our time, she was able to splash a little and feel comfortable enough to be turned around and held.  What a gift to share this time with her!  There were about 6 other children that we were able to work with in the water and then afterwards we brought them back to Gertrudes.  I am amazed by the smiles on the children's faces- even when they have to be fed, can't walk, and can't speak.  My heart was full when we left them at Gertrudes.  Our afternoon was filled with holding babies at the Children's Home.  It is hard to put into words the suffering that we saw and the inadequacy I feel to help them.  What a gift to hold these sweet babies and sing songs in their ear.  I feel grateful for all that God has given me and for the gift of touch from these little ones.  There were many other sights, sounds, and experiences.  It's hard to even process through all that we have seen and yet we see just a hint at the whole picture.  Thank you to everyone reading this and supporting our team!

Written by: Michlyn

 

Travel day is always a long day of sitting, mixed with some nervous anticipation, but excitement and laughter have followed this team from Minneapolis to the guest house. It's great having such a youthful energetic team. I can't wait to see how God chooses to work in and through this group as we work as His hands and feet this week. 

Thank you in advance for your prayers of strength, protection and open willing hearts. May the excitement and laughter last another 6 days. :)

          Today was a day filled with travel and excitement.  First, everyone in our group had to get to the airport by 4 AM! We all looked and felt exhausted.

     As we boarded the plane it felt like we had finally made it to the trip! We were actually going to Haiti! After a stop in Miami, the plane eventually landed in Haiti. As we were beginning our descent, almost all of us looked out the window in wonder and awe at the amazing features that stood out before us. Vast mountains and blue sea were everywhere! It was beautiful. Then as we got closer to land, we began to see some of the destruction that Haiti has encountered. We saw tent houses and shacks that people were calling their homes. After we landed, we took a bumpy drive over to our guest house. At the guesthouse, you could look over the porch and you could see a group of boys playing soccer! We had lots of fun talking with them even though we didn't have the chance to go play with them. Right at the end of the night, we had a short worship service so that we could praise God for allowing us the chance to travel to Haiti! It was a long and tiring day, but it got us excited for what lies ahead.


Written by Trey Newman