How can I begin to describe a day like yesterday?  A day surrounded by a city made up of dirt-packed roads, garbage everywhere, children with visible signs of malnutrition and physical impairments that had never received medical care, people of all ages living in tin shanties with dirt floors, leaking roofs, no windows, no beds, no furniture and no sign of food to be eaten, many of them living 6-8 people in these dark one-room shacks, elderly people sitting inside dark homes or outside in the hot sun with nobody to look after them,  small children carrying buckets of water weighing more than themselves from our water trucks to their “homes,” countless children with no clothes at all, children playing in sewage-infested waters and walking barefoot over filth and garbage, small babies left crying and alone in darkness while their mothers were out getting water for their families, no bathrooms or running water, no hope for the future.

And yet, children running from all directions to greet us, children with huge smiles on their dirty faces begging for hugs, wanting to be held, tugging us from all sides, naked children finding joy in sitting under the water trucks drinking the water dribbling down the back of the truck or trying to catch it in small buckets, children wanting to tell us their names, ask us our names, play games with us, babies that were happily willing to be scooped up in our arms and stay for endless periods of time, children climbing into the newly-fetched buckets of water with delighted grins on their faces as they splash in the cold water, children joyfully following us through the garbage-filled streets, alleys and beaches gladly posing for pictures as we examined their lives and their homes, children who found happiness in a street, city, country that has so little to offer and so little hope for the future.

And amongst it all, there was a presence of God…

It can’t be described.  I couldn’t bear to be there, yet I couldn’t bear to leave—all in the same breath.  Words can never do justice to the experience.  Not even pictures can explain it.  Yet I share a few with you. 

Blessings,

Ann Brau

 

We were asked yesterday to choose one word to describe our day.  The first word that came to my mind was grit, probably because I was so dirty when asked to think of a word!  I had grit on my hands from turning cartwheels with the kids, grit between my fingers from holding naked children, grit on my shorts from holding children who ran through garbage and sewage with no shoes, grit on my face from dirt blowing from unpaved roads, grit in my nose from breathing smells that come from no access to sewage systems.  Not to mention the grit that it takes the people of Cite Soleil to survive from day to day.  It’s one thing to imagine what it would be like to live without water, but quite another thing to carry 50 pound buckets of water through narrow alleyways to shanties to lift that burden from a skinny child, pregnant woman, or elderly woman, and then turn around and do it all again and again.   

But then another word came to my mind as I was reflecting on the Gospel of John 15: “This is my one commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you…. You did not choose me but I chose you.”  This is the first time in my 42 years on earth that I have felt like I could quite literally be the hands of Christ in this world.  “For I was thirsty and you gave me water to drink.”  It was so simple and pure and good and true.  So I changed my word of the day to HANDS.  God used my hands to give water to the thirsty.  How incredible is that?  God used my hands to hold babies needing love.  God used my hands to play with children looking for validation.  God used my hands to lift heavy buckets onto women’s heads so they could cook, drink, bathe and feed their families.  God used my hands to hold a water hose and fill buckets.  God used my hands to move buckets into place and out of the way.  God used my hands to show his love.

It’s easy to smile in Cite Soleil because all the children are smiling at you.  In fact, I couldn’t stop smiling for the first half of the day.  And then we walked back to the furthest recesses of the slums.  Back to where the sewage and muck stagnates. Back where people perch on outhouse structures over the ocean to go to the bathroom and where other children swim nearby because they have nowhere else to swim.  Back where people have to struggle more than their neighbors just to carry a bucket of clean water.  Where sharp corroded sheet metal and rusty nails poke out around every corner.  Back where pigs root, and chickens squawk, and the barefoot kids wince because the ground is so treacherous with sharp shells and garbage.  And I couldn’t smile anymore.  My face wouldn’t move.  But all the kids around me were still smiling.  As Fr. Reiser said, I can’t walk away from misery and do nothing.

Peace,

Joyce Getchell

Serendiptious-"Come Upon or Found by Accident"

Our team is made up of a variety of goers: some first-timers, some
 who have been there a few times, and one who will be on his 40th
trip!


This will be my 5th trip.  My prayer, as it has been each trip,  is for God
to use me to be a light in a dark and desperate place.  I pray that the
people I meet don't see me, instead they feel the love of their Creator.
A serendipitous discovery has happened each time I've been in Haiti.
God has used the Haitian people to shine a light into dark areas of
 my heart: materialism and control.  These things distract me from
His Purposes and love.  The bonds of fear and materialism fade
away as I witness the passionate faith of the Haitian people as they
worship our Good Father.  It is amazing to hear Him honored,
praised and adored from those who have experienced abandonment,
 hunger, death, and destruction.  Humbling and inspiring.

My seven year old daughter asked me tonight, "Why doesn't God
just fix Haiti?"  God is fixing Haiti and He is using us to do it!
What I will share with her later, because I didn't think of it then,
is that not only is God using us to fix Haiti, God is using Haiti to
fix me!  I just LOVE how He works.  He is so GOOD!


Please join me in praying that God's love will be revealed
 in a new way in Haiti -  to the people we meet and for those
on our team, whether it's their 1st time or their 40th!


-Karen Moen

I can only pray that one will read this and it will touch their heart to listen to the words from a broken heart for the impoverished, less fortunate, the afflicted and the lost and do something. My hope is that one may possibly be open to hearing the nudge on a heart to serve God’s people and His people of Haiti. In America, we are the wealthiest country in the world materially. I believe this because I see so many put their trust in material things, in their jobs, in their money, in the activities that they do in order to surpass the time, to suppress the pain of the emptiness they feel from seeking material things. What we so often do not comprehend is that we will be supplied with everything we need through our Heavenly Father….I know this because I was deeply there and periodically fall back to that empty place.


It is America’s addiction…STUFF. If you think about this...it’s a temporary fix to an eternal situation. Your new house, new car, new outfit, new hair color and cut, new shoes, new purse, trip to a luxurious resort, etc. will never be able to fill the hole in your heart. It is only through Christ that one will be able to become whole hearted once and for all. Again, I know this because I have been there. Often I say…I have been through so much and many different and difficult experiences that I can only be here to hopefully help others learn what NOT to do because I know where it leads and if I can help someone steer clear of trial and learn from my mistakes…so be it. We are here to be used not to sit on the sidelines.

So as I am here in Haiti again, it is amazing to see what God is trying to reveal to me…but only here where I am away from all my stuff relying solely on God and completely centering my focus on Him. I cannot imagine how many people here in Haiti would take my life over theirs. But I wish I could take their life over mine in America. I would take walking 5 miles over a $30,000 car, I would take a tin shanty over a $500,000 let a lone a $100,000 house any day. It keeps me living the life God intended. It keeps me focused, centered, and saturated in Him. And in the end…it doesn’t matter what you have or had…it’s the condition of your heart and what you have done with the gifts you have been given.

Throughout my time in Haiti, God has shown me the many blessings I have here at my American home. I am a single mother who lives paycheck to paycheck. I struggle to put food on my daughter’s plate yet somehow God ALWAYS provides. I may not have a home I own nor a big house to host others or to look like I live better than everyone else but I have a house that I "get to" call home. I am privileged enough to have a roof over mine and my daughter's heads, the luxury of a car-nothing big or fancy, that I "get to" drive to my blessed job that I may live under the American standard but I am blessed to live a very abundant life compared to the rest of the world. I make over $20,000 a year so I am in the TOP 5% of the WORLD'S WEALTH. I have a job where I serve people who want to make the "outside look good” and the “inside feel good TEMPORARILY”. With what I have experienced in Haiti, I struggle with people spending money on "STUFF" that one really does not NEED to SURVIVE everyday. Yet I realize that God has placed me in this industry to be "THE VOICE OF THE POOR" to some of the world's wealthiest people yet some of the most lost people in the world. I say"lost" in means of searching for the significance of life, our God given purpose. I am sent by God to be the light in the darkness and I have been abundantly blessed by the God given opportunities to travel to Haiti and being able to bring my 13 yrs old daughter 3 times in one year. I may not have much but I have this calling on my heart from God and am choosing obedience. I have sacrificed my own personal pleasures to serve “the least of these” in Haiti. It is not about me…it is about serving others and loving others as Christ does.

I know that we all do not have this calling of "Haiti" but ask yourself through your life and everyday...What does God want from me today? What can I do in order to fulfill all His desires for me. Each person has been called to a purpose in life. Be still and allow the Lord to do His work in you and guide you where He has planned. You may not be equipped but God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. Trust me, I never thought that I could be a here but I am with my daughter in Haiti. I think she is more at home here than I am. She sure lets the Spirit move her. Kira has this way of picking out the ones that no one else sees. I thank God for her faith. She keeps me moving on days that I seem to slow down. Praising God for her today as always.

Kira and I were called to serve in Haiti, for one reason or another. I believe our journey does not stop when we return home, it only continues. America is OUR NEW MISSION FIELD. God gave us some of His children’s stories in Haiti to cherish and to share with others. I cannot help but ask myself…What have I done with the gifts that God have given me? The revelations, the stories, the pictures, the love? Have I shared them? I have met these people that God so perfectly placed in my path for a reason, He has given me a new lens, a new voice, a new opportunity to serve, and the many blessings I have received through going to Haiti. I come back home and have this firestorm in my hearts…now to figure out what to do with it, to keep it burning and from not burning out. I do not know where this week is going to lead me but I am praying that God will give me some revelations and to reveal the path that He has chosen for me...


All this I pray every one...Be Still and the Lord will fight for You...Let Him lead you, guide you and protect you. May we live in His name, in His ways, with His love...all for His Glory.

Alyn

I had the privilege of meeting Alyn Shannon about 4 years ago.  My friend, Margie Schroeder, invited me to a party showcasing Alyn’s beautiful jewlery.  Alyn was an amazing lady.  She lit up the room. Her jewelry pointed right to the throne of Christ. Pictured is the necklace I bought the night I met her….”Trust in the Lord with all of your heart” Proverbs 3:5.

Alyn’s words, her heart, and everything about her was pure beauty.  Alyn and I talked that night about Healing Haiti and we made a plan to introduce the ministry to our Sunday School kids at St. Michaels.  That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the children at St. Michaels and the kids in Haiti.  They never met in person, but Alyn and Jeff somehow were able to bridge the miles and help the children connect and see each other as friends loving and praying for one another.

Alyn went to be with the Lord about a year and a half ago after a battle with breast cancer.  I didn’t get to know Alyn well enough or long enough, but even the little I knew her, I was totally amazed by her LOVE.  Her love for the Lord, her love for Jeff, her love for the people of Haiti, really her love for us all.

And now, in 3 months, I have a chance to go to Haiti and see her dream and see the people she loved so dearly.  I am amazed at how God works so intimately in our lives.  Even though I know I won’t see Alyn there, I know I will feel her there.  When I look at pictures from Haiti, her spirit is in every smile I see.   Her beauty is in every inch of Grace Village and her warmth can just be felt by the Joy brought to Haiti through the ministry of Healing Haiti.  I feel so blessed to go on this mission trip.  I will be with my 2 oldest sons, 3 dear friends and their wonderful sons, and our trip leaders are my dear friend Margie Schroeder and the one and only Jeff Gacek.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store and I can’t wait to see all that Alyn loved so dearly.

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding.  In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”  Proverbs 3:5,6.  My prayer for the next 3 months is that our team will trust in the Lord and rely on Him and have our eyes open to the path He will take us on.

Marijo Ose
Healing Haiti Team Member

It is a place that has shaped who I am...

Haiti is home to the largest slum in the Western hemisphere, Cite Soliel. This poverty stricken country can be reached by a short 90 minute flight from Miami; however, while Americans lay out on the sandy beaches in Miami, beaches located on the same body of water are avoided by Haitians due to the excessive pollution. These are two separate worlds entirely, and yet they are separated by a mere 90 minutes. I wonder how is there a country in such proximity to the United States with unimaginable unemployment rates, an extremely low life expectancy, an unstable government, and undreamed of living conditions. Large amounts of the population of Haiti are without running water, something almost unheard of in most parts of the United States.

My interest in service and in others brought me to Haiti for Spring Break where I worked with a team of volunteers to assist with the delivery of fresh water, to give love and attention to children and to spread God’s word. On my second evening in Haiti on a visit to a tent city, I met a boy who had a great deal to teach me. 

Passing through the gates of the tent city, I was hit by the stench of urine and crowdedness.  I wanted to look away and yet I could not turn my eyes from the display of uneven rows of crowded homes made of tarps and sheets strung together over sticks. Timidly, I began walking, leaving the comfort of the gate, edging closer in a trance-like state. Weaving my way between rows of makeshift homes, I struggled to avoid the stream of unknown fluid cutting a path inches from my feet. Walking past the open tents, I was greeted with an astounding amount of joyfulness, never less than a smile.  I continued to walk through the tents saying hello, and then I saw him. 

A few tents from where I stood a boy sat in his wheelchair. His twisted legs dangled from the well-worn chair while he ate a tiny portion of rice. He shyly glanced up and our eyes met as an enormous smile spread across his face, and in that moment I became so dispirited. I dropped my gaze and turned my back as my face flushed and tears began to stream down my cheeks.  What, I wondered, did this crippled, poverty-stricken boy have to smile about?  His family’s home was half the size of my bedroom back home.  Where I had lush carpet he had cracked earth, where I had air conditioning he had sweltering heat, and yet where he wore his smile I wore nothing. I could not remember the last time I smiled with such a full body smile as he had just given me.  Slowly, I dried my tears and walked towards him. Once I reached him, I bent down to look him in the eye, and with an unsteady voice, I asked, “Ki jan ou rele? “ In the gentlest voice, as if sensing my uneasiness, he responded, “Ronaldo.” Though we could not communicate with words, I felt completely at ease just sitting by his side in the dirt, enjoying his company.

After nearly 15 minutes of communicating through simple gestures, and a brief introduction to his family, it was time for me to leave. As I got up, I turned to the boy and with increased confidence said, “Ke Bondye Beni’ou “(May God bless you).  His smile, which had been so painful minutes before, now filled me up.  I returned the smile from a deep place in my soul and reluctantly returned to my night’s lodgings.  

Once more I passed through the gates of the tent city and ventured onto the uneven road. As I walked home my mind was a whirlpool of thoughts. Sleep did not come easily that night.  I despaired about how incredibly materialistic our society had become, how incredibly materialistic I had become. Ronaldo, with his bright smile amid squalor, reminded me, in an intense way, that living fully has little to do with having the biggest house or the latest gadget.  Initially, I was torn apart by the boy’s smile because of how guilty it had made me feel, but over our time together, I came to see that we could share a beautiful human connection.  I was more open in all of my interactions with others after meeting Ronaldo.  I realized that I had a gift for making others feel comfortable. Furthermore, upon returning people praise me for spending time in Haiti.  This praise, which is something I would have gladly taken before my encounter with Ronaldo, embarrasses me as it is undeserved.  I have learned that each of us should be expected to do what we can to enhance the lives of others and to learn about ourselves and one another. Haiti is a place that has had an incredible inspiration to me, it is a place I have come to love, and it is a place that has shaped who I am.

Sammie Maixner

To be privileged enough...

Today I was blessed with the opportunity to bring twelve former restavek girls to Grace Village. A restavek is a child slave, the parents are unable to care for their child and sothey give them to someone else in the hopes that they will be cared for. What often happens is that they are treated as slaves. Unable to go to school, not allowed to eat what the family eats, and work from morning until night. These girls were beautiful. You could not see a trace of what they have been through in their eyes. Most of the girls have been there for 1-2 yrs and their rehabilitation is amazing. 

One girl that came with us was just accepted yesterday. She did not look at us very often and when she did it was out of the side of her eye. She kept her body very still and did not talk. My heart ached for her. One of the leaders told me that she had run away from the family she stayed with because she had finally had enough. She had been thrown down the stairs and was still feeling the injury in her leg.
Once we arrived at Grace Village we sang together and the girls wanted to perform for our orphans. It was so fun to watch them sing glory to God. After that we went outside to play on the playground. I looked over and the newer girl was standing to still and looking. I took her hand and brought her over. I asked one of our orphans if he would give up his swing for her, he quickly got down and offered her the seat. She got on and I pushed her for 5 minutes until she figured out how to pump her legs. I walked around and went to stand in the shade and watched her as her face lit up with the biggest smile I have ever seen. To be privileged enough to deliver such simple pleasures...ahhh. God is good.

Jennifer Hicks Imsland

Healing Haiti Team Leader