St. Marc

It's Saturday and we have been in St. Marc now for one day. It is absolutely beautiful here. The location of the base is 20 feet from the waterfront. Although the shoreline is completely covered in trash, that doesn't take away from the fact it is the Caribbean Sea, the water is aqua blue, and it is absolutely beautiful here. The location of the base is also perfect. It is right underneath the mountain with all the houses. This week when we go out, i will snap shots of where i am staying at here and post them :) The past month, in the DR and in Port-Au-Prince, we have not have the opportunity to leave the base, without getting babysat. And yesterday, our FIRST day in St. Marc, they send us out in groups of 3 on a 3 hour scavenger hunt of the city of St. Marc. It was wonderful. Finally getting to get out in the city on our own was such a blessing. We will be working in the brothels with the prostitutes and also be working in the prison ministry here. This base has been working with the prostitutes in the brothels for a while now, and a few girls have recently got saved. But they don't know what to do now, because they only get paid every other month or so, and they feel they can't leave their jobs cuz they dont know completely how to trust in God yet. We are so honored to get to be a part of this ministry and get to witness and show God's love to these women and girls. Keep our team in your prayers as we are here for 17 days in St. Marc. God is going to be doing some amazing things. Thank you all for everything!

Here are a few pictures from my last week in Port-Au-Prince. The sunset is the sunset we got our last night in that city. The feet picture is how dirty my feet get, every day here in Haiti. The line is the kids in line for the food distribution, the babys are baby johnny and baby kevin and the rest are kids from the tent city :)

St. Marc

July 30th, 2010

Time is flying by! We are already in St. Marc, and the two hour bus ride there has never made me so car sick in my life. The three weeks in Port-Au-Prince flew by faster than I can think about, but it was an experience of a lifetime. We were staying at an orphanage the entire time while in Port-Au-Prince, so over the three weeks we were there, I built such strong friendships with all of the children that were there. I made sure to go see them every morning, every afternoon, and every evening. The two babies that are there, baby Johnny and baby Kevin, are the two cutest Haitian babies in the world. I became so attached to them, and them with me. It was such a privilege to be able to spend the time I got to with them and show them love every day. This past week, we spent our time at a tent city called “City Soleil”. It is one of the poorest tent cities in Haiti, even before the earthquake. They also don’t have a water source to get any water from, so they have to walk such a far distance to get any type of water for anything: drinking, cooking, showering etc. The kids that are there either don’t have clothes and go around naked, or they wear the same clothes, all the time. Having nothing doesn’t matter to them though, at all. Out of all the tent cities we went to and all of the children we got to be with, this tent city was the most joyful, excited children I have seen in Haiti. They screamed every morning they saw our truck coming up, chasing us till our we were parked. Gettnig to spend time with them every day this week was such a blessing. Yesterday we were there from 9am till 6pm. We had a teaching in the morning for the adults, had soccer tournaments all afternoon, had a food distribution in the later afternoon for the children, and then had tent city worship that evening. Ending the night with an incredible sunset from God. While being in Haiti, God has been completely transforming my heart. He is forming into the heart He originally designed it to be: selfless, loving, caring, respectful, and soft. Thinking I was going to Haiti to change it, Haiti completely changed me. It is so hard being here, seeing the poverty, the destruction, and the chaos, but it is also such an honor and a blessing to get to serve here and spent two months of my life here. Every time we go out in the city, it still breaks my heart every day. I don’t think a person could really ever get “used to” the poverty and destruction that Haiti currently has. My heart aches driving down the streets in Haiti, seeing every single Haitian doing anything and everything they can just to survive another day. Haitians have little “booths” I guess I could call them that anything they have they put out to sell along the whole street. It really makes you think how lucky and blessed we are to have an entire closet full of clothes, an amazing house (even if you don’t think it is, it is, trust me), water and food available to us basically whenever we want, and the luxery of going to the movies, out to dinner, and on family vacations. These are things Haitians will never see, in their whole life. Being in Port-Au-Prince we got to do a lot of ministry time, doing teachings every morning, and having over thirty people come to Christ. With all the voodoo here too, many people got eveil spirits to leave from them. It was such a testimony to be a part of I everyday.

Haiti is such an amazing and beautiful country. I am actually writing this blog while in the bus driving to St. Marc. Getting to see the scenery and just the mountains and the Carribean Sea, is absolutely breathtaking. God created this country so wonderfully and so beautifully. I will post a few pictures when I can of our time in City Soliel an the sunset. Keep our team in your prayers as we got to St. Marc today, and will be there for 2 ½ weeks, then back to the DR for one month then home! Thank you for everything!

More Pictures From Tent CIty This Past Week

Cutest girl I've seen in Haiti so far :)

Precious Girl.
Friends.

What a JOYFUL little girl :)

Tent CIty Transformation

This past week, we did a "mini DTS" (discipleship training school) at another tent city. This week actually went by very well. By the second day, we had over 10 people coming up to us each day, asking for prayer, and many of them asking to accept Jesus Christ into their heart. Seeing their passion to learn about Christ, their childlike faith, and their eagerness to get prayer and not be thinking about what other people were thinking about them, blew my mind. Adults.. living in a destroyed nation and city, where most people thinking there is absolutely no hope here.. hope was all around this tent city. There were also around 20-30 kids that would join us, wanting to play every morning and afternoon, which we had a blast doing. We brought jump ropes, bubbles, toy sets, and other fun things to bless them with and to play with them. The children here in Haiti, and especially the children that basically only have the clothes on their backs.. are such joyful, loving, and fun kids to be around. I would say a lot more happier than the children in American who have an entire wardrobe of clothes and every toy they could ask for. These children have joy in them, and it shows every day in their eyes and their actions. They love on us, and love to be with us. They all call us "Hey You!". So we call them that back :) This week was what we were waiting for on outreach.. getting to these lives changed, hearts opened, and people accepting Christ into their hearts. What a blessing it was to be able to be a part of these peoples life changing moment in their hearts. Here are a few pictures from this week's tent city. Enjoy :-)

Today, we went to another tent city, and got the privilege to once again, share the gospel. It was such an amazing morning. Dani taught on hearing, trusting, and obeying God's voice. After the teaching, over 10 adults came up and asked for prayer, and even a few young guys accepted Christ. It was such an amazing experience to be a part of. During the service, God really put "Willy" (the guy in the pictures) on my heart to pray for him and to just show him God's love. The entire time during the service his eyes were glues to the preaching, with a smile on his face the entire time. It was such a witness just to be able to watch his love and passion for Jesus through his face and his actions. It brought tears to my eyes seeing his love and passion for Jesus, it was amazing. After the service, he came up and asked for prayer. He also had his Bible with it, going through it, and i notice how ripped apart, torn up, and how badly it was falling apart. God told me right then and there that I was going to get him a new Bible. I had no idea though, because I literally have no money to my name here, but I trusted in God that He would provide a way. Right when we got back on base, my leader Cyrielle told me she found a Bible for me to give him, and I am so excited to give it to him tomorrow! God is good.

Worship with the kids

Tonight we had another night of worship with all of the children with the orphanage. It is the most incredible experience to be in the middle of a worship time with a hundred children. They are so passionate about Jesus. They love being able to worship Him so much. I went up to the front and sat with two handicap children, one who is mentally retarded and the other who is not able to walk. The one who is handicap was the loudest one in the entire room, and he was dancing so much he almost hell out of his wheelchair. The joy from the children filled the whole room with God's love. It is crazy here, and I love it. There is another boy that I sat with some of the time who his entire leg got amputated after the earthquake, so he has a fake leg on, but it is too big for him, so it is extremely difficult for him to walk. I offered to carry him back to the orphanage, and he was so thankful for that help. It is so amazing to be a daily part of these childrens lives. I love it here more than anything. God, thank you for everything. Even though it is hot, no A/C, no bed, a horrible shower, and one of the poorest cities in the world, God is still good :-)

Tent City Kids :)

Here are a few photos of me and some kids that we play with at the tent cities we do ministry at. They are all so wonderful, precious, and extremely beautiful. The joy and light in their lives are absolutely incredible. It is such an honor to get to spend time with them everyday. Enjoy the photos!

Tent Cities

I just wanted to write a quick blog, to truly explain to you what it is like in a tent city. Before the earthquake, there were not tent cities because most every one had some type of a house (to America, not a house, but to Haiti is is). Ever since the earthquake, thousands and thousands have lost their homes, their belongings, and their families. Many of them have lost hope, but their are also whose hope have increased. Seeing all the commercials and ads on TV about Haiti broke my heart ever since the earthquake, but the news and tv didn't even give you a GLIMPSE of what it is truly like here. It is in distraught, devastation, extreme poverty, chaos, and anger. Their is hope in this city and country, but there are also people who don't have hope. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in a country and city like this. It breaks my heart to just be here and I have only been here one week. We are here in Port-Au-Prince for another 2 weeks, so we will be ministering in 2 more tent cities. Yesterday, me and one of the guys on my outreach team, Jorn, met with a Haitian man and he took us on an entire tour of the tent city... Seeing first hand and upclose actually HOW these people live completely ripped me apart. No one in America i think will truly understand until they actually come to Haiti for themselves. I took a few pictures, but I also recorded a video I will be working on today, to really give you an upclose glimpse of how so many Haitians live. A family of 8 actually invited us into their "home" (one room "tent" for 8 people) and showed us how they live, everyday. Most of them do not have jobs, and the heat here in this city and in their tents is almost unbearable. The hardly have enough food to feed everyone, children and women come first. Alot of the children do not have clothes or shoes, and they are always dirty. The entire tent city shares a line of outside outhouses for their bathrooms. The words I say, the pictures I show, or the videos I put together will really only give you a smal glimpse of this city and the conditions. All I am asking if that you truly keep this country and the people here deeply and truly in your prayers. The nation is in such deep need of help and of God. Here are a few pictures... God bless you.

The last 3 pictures are of a little girl who I guess didn't know how to smile? I tried showing her myself with my fingers.. then she copied me, then I got some pretty cute pictures ;)

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