Haiti Mission Trip: Day 4

Tuesday

 

This is the part where I get a little confused about what happened on which day because I got behind on my journaling in Haiti. So, team, help me out if I've left something out or mixed something up!

 

We were up early and had toast and eggs for breakfast while doing our devotionals. We learned that the children at this orphanage were rescued from another orphanage where they were mistreated. Their previous situation caused them all to get very behind in school. The kids went to church for lessons in the mornings to help them catch up, so we had some time to work before they returned. We had several painting projects to get to work on.

 

 

 

We were able to get several buildings almost completely painted.

 We took a lunch break and enjoyed rice and beans and fried chicken. After, we were able to split the kids up into two groups for some lessons. Katie is a fabulous artist and she was able to head up one group with beautiful fleur-de-lis paintings.

 

 

 

 

Leslie was in charge of teaching first aid and CPR to the other group. All of the kids and some of the adults were able to learn CPR and practice on dummies. We were even able to leave a dummy there with them to use in the future!

 

 

 

Mrs. Michelle receiving some first aid- haha!

 

It began raining really hard towards the end of our sessions, so we retreated inside when we were done and took the opportunity to relax. We rested and enjoyed reading our missionary books that Josh brought for us during the trip.

Once the rain stopped we were able to go on a ride in one of the vans to see more of Grand Goave. We got to see some of the market and residential areas, and we ended up in a beautiful spot with a view of the mountains and the ocean. We were even able to get out and take pictures!

 

 

 

When we got back it was time for dinner, which was very tasty roast.

Leslie and I noticed some of the ladies and Emmanuel playing Mancala. They called the game Kay (house) and played a little differently than we did. They let us watch and taught us the rules then Leslie played a round against Emmanuel. Leslie apparently needed some help, and the ladies grabbed the stones before he could make his move several times to help him out. We all laughed when it made Emmanuel mad that they were helping Leslie to win. All of the people at the orphanage were so kind, and we had a lot of fun with them!  

Haiti Mission Trip: Day 3

Monday

 

On Monday we woke up in time to get ready and do our devotionals before breakfast at 7:30. This would be our morning routine for the rest of the week. We had pancakes and fresh mango & pineapple for breakfast. We were all able to start on projects after breakfast. Some of our team did work around the compound putting up monkey bars for the kids and staining chairs.

 

 

 

 

A few of us also worked to inventory and organize the clothes, shoes, toys and tools we were able to bring with us (shout out to FBC Natchitoches for all of that!). The things we brought went into their store and the kids are able to buy them with points they earn for good behavior.

 

 

 We were also asked to bring supplies to put together bags for the kids to bring to the elderly so that they could practice sharing the gospel and serving. We had the kids help us put the bags together, and they seemed to enjoy looking at everything they would get to give.  

 

 

 

 

We had a little bit of time around the compound before lunch. Some of the girls tried washing clothes, which was a lot of hard work! They made a squeaking sound with the soap that I don't think anyone was quite able to get the hang of.

 

 
 

 

 We had some time to play outside and to play cards!

 

Emmanuel insisted that everyone cheated at Uno... except for him, of course!

 

For lunch we had BBQ chicken and rice with red sauce- delicious! After lunch most of the boys went back to work and the girls had the opportunity to give pedicures and manicures to the ladies who cook, wash clothes, and do other “house mom” duties for Hands and Feet.

 

We Washed their feet with soap and scrubbed their nails with toothbrushes. Someone even dug up a real brush and a pumice stone! They loved it! Some just sat and smiled looking at their nails when we finished.

We asked each one how we could pray for them when they were finished. They all had immediate responses, and once they saw us praying, several ladies asked to be prayed for as soon as we finished their nails! Several ladies asked us to pray for their spiritual walks and others had prayers for friends or family members, or even for the one doing the praying! They were all so unselfish and humble.

 After this we hung out with the kids some until dinner time. They were interested in our manicures and pedicures and some painted each other’s nails... Even the boys!

  

For dinner we had sloppy joes. They were a little different from our version, but they were very good. After dinner we played an American vs. Haitians soccer game at the insistence of the kids. They beat us terribly, but we had a great time! The game was going so badly we started picking up the ball and running with it. It turned into more of a hilarious rugby game than soccer! We all did lots of laughing and running around until we all eventually got tired. We sat around and talked on the field until time for our nightly meeting.

 

 I know there are more soccer pictures somewhere, I'll have to find them!

Once again, pictures were taken by the wonderful Mrs. Tanya!

Haiti Mission Trip: Day 2

Sunday:

We woke up around 5:30 to get ready for church. Once we were ready we ate fruit and toast while doing our daily devotionals. It was a special day because eighteen boys and girls and two men were being baptized in the ocean before church! We loaded up in trucks and made the short trip to the ocean.

 

There was some singing that we didn’t understand, and then the people were baptized three at a time in the ocean.

 After all of the baptisms the men stood in the water and prayed together.

 It was my first experience seeing so many people baptized at once and seeing people baptized in the ocean! It was a really neat experience, but sort of strange to have a baptism where people were enjoying the beach and bathing in the water not too far away!

 After the baptisms we headed on to the church. We were there about an hour before church started, so we sat and had time to talk until then. This time the service was in Creole, so we didn’t understand much of it.

 There were several different groups that sang and we knew a few of the songs. Even so, it was difficult to remember the words that I thought I knew so well when they were singing in a different language! 

 

 We were able to enjoy communion with the rest of the church with bread and real wine. The whole service lasted nearly three hours, and in our exhaustion most of us may have dozed a bit during some of the prayers- oops!

After church we went back to the compound for lunch. We had fried chicken, delicious Haitian slaw, and seriously the best French fries I've ever had!

Half of the kids left for camp, but we were able to go back to the ocean with the rest of the kids after lunch.

 The ocean was very calm and we swam and played. The kids really opened up to us at the beach and it was neat to see the walls fall down. They loved being pulled around in the water, being thrown, and chicken fighting.

 

After the beach we went back to the compound to clean up and play until dinner. Some of our girls got to help cook! Since there weren’t as many kids we were able to eat a yummy pasta at their tables with them. We played some more after dinner and were exhausted by bedtime from a long day!

 

 

(By the way, most of these beautiful photos were taken by Mrs. Tanya!)

Haiti Mission Trip: Day 1

Saturday:

When we arrived in Grand Goave we went straight to the compound. It had high walls which were either topped with broken bottles or with razor wire all around. There was also a guard who stood at the door to keep up with which kids went out and where they were going.  When we got there all 31 kids (ages 10ish-17) were there. Half would leave on Sunday to go to camp in Jacmel.

compound walls and some of the ladies

 We expected the kids to be very excited to see us, since we were so excited to see them. But our greeting really wasn’t very warm. Who can blame them with a new group coming in every week over the summer? Several kids helped us to get our luggage to our rooms. The girls and the guys each had a place to stay with 4 bunk beds, a toilet, a sink, and a shower. We were so thankful to see a toilet and a shower there (but flushing TP was a no-no!) because we were prepared for, well, other things. The language barrier was difficult at first. Most of the kids understood some English, but some would not try to use it to speak to us. We settled in and played some with the kids and chatted with the missionaries that work at H&F.

Here's a little picture tour of the compound!

bedroom

 

where we met and ate our meals



playground, rock wall, and the well/water tower

soccer field

 

our favorite place to sit and talk

missionary house on the left, kids' showers on the right

kids' bathrooms

basketball court

kitchen

monkey bars the guys installed between the boys' rooms

 We ate spaghetti for dinner and it was very good! The Haitian sauce is a little oilier than American spaghetti sauce and it had onions in it.

After dinner we were playing with the kids when we were told we were leaving for church in fifteen minutes! They canceled the English-speaking service on Sunday because of a conference going on, but they had one on Saturday night. The church was close by, but we rode in the truck anyway. We fit ten adults and one child in the back of the pickup- all sitting! The church building is temporary and is made of wood posts and a tin roof. To enclose the building they used lots of beautiful curtains. It really gave the building a neat feel. Haitian people seem to have a gift to turn plain things into beautiful things. The service was mostly in English with a Haitian translator. They sang some songs we knew and we were still able to sing along when they sang in Creole!

outside the church

 

 After church we met with our team for a bit before time to get ready for bed. Not long after we got to our rooms it started to rain. It was super loud on our tin roofs, and we couldn’t even talk to one another over the sound! We were all exhausted after a long day of traveling and exploring, so we were ready to get to bed anyway.