Good Evening!
Week 4 team members arrived safely today. Yippie!
The last two days we've been busy, busy, busy.

Sewing Team: Yesterday the sewing team packed up a couple of sewing machines and traveled to Lahatte, where the ladies worked on their market bags. Today the Lanzac ladies returned to the Mission Possible Center for their final sewing lesson. They finished their market bags and potholders. They also brought their quilts that they finished a couple of weeks ago for pictures. The team threw a party to celebrate the ladies accomplishments. Each lady received a certificate, Liane danced. The ladies were very touched form the generosity of all. Tears were shed as they parted ways.


Construction Team: On Thursday part of the team traveled to the Mission Possible school in Lahatte to complete small projects, such as mending gutters, painting doors, and repairing a cistern. The rest of the team stayed back at the Center and painted, started assembly of student desks, stained bookshelves, and fabricated more steel. Today part of team stayed at the Center and finished the assembly of over 30 student desks with the the help of many different Haitians at many different times. The team finished up lots of odds and ends. The rest of the construction team traveled to the Mission Possible school in Dupin and installed new teacher cabinets.


Medical Team: On Thursday the team traveled to the Mission Possible school in Saint Marc and performed over 115 student physicals and visions screenings. Today part of the team ventured to Depin, which involved a 1/2 mile hike up a mountain. Once the team arrived at the Mission Possible school they performed over 65 student physicals. The other members traveled to our school named IPCA to teach CPR to the teachers.



Rene, Bev, David Mi., Jean, Bob & Jackie, Marcia and Dennis, Lynn & Liane all got to meet their sponsor children for a brief period of time this afternoon. One highlight was that Jeff and Heather's sponsor child returned and worked alongside them for another day.

Good Evening!
Below is a summary of what we accomplished today:

Construction Team:  The team continued welding and painting frames for student and teacher desks. The team finally saw the fruits of their labor when the desks were assembled with the help of the Haitian workers.

Sewing Team: The group of Lanzac women returned to work on completing their market bags and
pot holders. The women are so proud of their progress. The Haitian young ladies are enthralled with our Mission Team young ladies, especially braiding their hair and helping them practice their Creole.


Medical Team:  The team traveled to Degeance. They had to hike the last 1/2 mile because there is no dirt road for the truck to travel on, only a narrow walking trail. The team conducted over 115 student physicals and vision screenings. Ever year there is a medical case that reminds us of why we do this work. The little boy in the picture below is a student at Degeance. The Doctor and Nurses working in the clinic today were very concerned for this little boy. He was dehydrated, clammy, and lethargic. Instantly they started pushing fluids and eventually was able to get him to eat. Gradually he started to improve. It reminds us of the importance of the feeding program that Mission Possible provides with sponsorship. Most of the children's only meal is at school.

Greetings from Haiti!
Today was a great day. Once again the temp was in the mid 90's with extremely high humidity (nothing new for Haiti). Hopefully our family and friends back in the US are enjoying warmer weather too, at least above freezing!

Once again we broke into 3 teams today:

Construction Team: After a backlog, the staining and painting team finally caught up on all the staining and painting of desktops, backs, seats, and teacher storage cabinets.....for now! The painting and staining team also learned a little Creole in the process. The remaining members of the construction team showed Haitian men how to weld with the help of an interpreter.

Sewing Team:   The sewing team traveled to the Mission Possible school in La Hatte. It was a dusty trip, they climbed up a curvy, narrow dirt road in an open air cattle truck. Once they arrived the team taught a class of 32 ladies, who walked from neighboring villages. The school in La Hatte doesn't have electricity, so the ladies worked on their market bags,  which they will use to carry grocery from the market.

Medical Team: The medical team also traveled to La Hatte and administered physicals and vision checks on over 60 students that attend the Mission Possible school. The team treated a variety of issues ranging from anemia, ear infections, to fungal skin and scalp issues.

 As promised in this morning's post - here are pics of the entire Mission Team. Can you spot your family member or friend?

During week 3 Mission Possible is hosting 6 married couples!

The Macho Men

The Ladies "attacking" the camera

Morning,
A few lucky people may have been able to see last night's blog post. Unfortunately, it was accidentally deleted this morning:-(
Later tonight we will be posting again detailing today's work. Our goal is to get a picture of every week 3 team member posted tonight. Have a great day!

Once again the team split for Sunday worship; some members went to Chardene and the others returned to St Marc church to hear the last of a series of 3 sermons on Galatians by Lynn.  Jody gave all at St. Marc a special time of worship as she played Amazing Grace with her flute.

We said goodbye to the week 2 team and we praise God for the safe arrival of week 3.  Tonight they will rest up and tomorrow we will begin week 3 of service.

Few more pictures

 

Jody and  Bev teaching sewing at LaHatt.  Liane is passing the baton. 

Carly loves working with the construction team, and is eating all kinds of new foods.

Wes is a great teacher, working on one of the 42 teachers desk.  He's not very good at Skip Bo.  They had a bit of a journey getting here, but God provided.  I hear his has two beautiful girls.  Your Daddy will be home soon.

We will continue to update you regarding how our team is doing.  We would appreciate your prayers.  Several going in and out!  Sad this team will be leaving, but excited about our new friends joining us soon.

Good night and God Bless our Families and Friends.

Hello to the Mission Possible Staff, you would be proud of our Leader Ship Team!!!!  They are hosting us well.

Dr's and hernias....ask Dr. Jeff (title by Josh)

Saun experiences love at first sight, meeting her sweet little sponsor child.  

This girl got a great "29" birthday present, working construction with her sponsor child, Mardochee.  Heather and Jeff have sponsored Mardochee for the past 5 years.

Check out the beautiful new steps done by construction crew of Chris, Travis and some Haitian helpers;  Harry , Michael, Joseph and Desnae.

Praising the Lord for another productive day!  More desks being constructed,  sewing projects being completed in La Hatte with the patient instruction and guidance from Bev and Jody,  community medical team seeing over 100 patients at St.  Marc,  Lynn and Liane teaching marriage and family seminar to Mission Possible Church women, and the first ever blood pressure clinic for the pastors and wives done by Dr. Jeff , Christian and Pam.

Feb. 18th/2015

Another great day!

Lucky is our first Haitian Welder, thanks to Stan the Man

Dr. Jeff getting to meet his sponsored child.

This is always a highlight for all of us.

Eight new cement floors for St. Mark's School.  Thanks to Chris, Travis and Jacob.

Each team member has been such a blessing.

Mahlon and Winn teaching our friends to use the table saw.  Scary!!!!!  

Pam flushing ears out with a water pic.....

Quickly need to send this blog, about done with the Internet.   Love our families.

Shout outs

Josh—Heidi, Wilson, Abe, and Annie, I miss you all. Boys, don’t fight and listen to your mom.

Mahlon—Babe, hope you’re not froze to death. The weather here is great and I didn’t get injured today. Thank God.

Jon—Missing you and the kids. See you soon. Don’t forget about our date in a couple of weeks. Love you

Saun—Hi Chuckie! Hope you are staying warm. We are enjoying the beautiful sunsets. Love you!

Bev—I’m doing well! We’ve had great weather! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Travis—Hi Mom! I love you!

Jody—I love and miss you Brian, Wendy & Adam & Brian! Thanks for the prayers everyone! Margie & family, you are in my prayers. Love you all!

Tammy—Kent, Love you. Sad you aren’t here to fall asleep listening to the waves and seeing the beautiful sunsets…Next year! J

Jean—Hey g! It was great hearing your voice the other night. Thanks courage to change class for your prayers.

Jeff & Heather—Hi Kids and Grandkids. Miss you all. We are doing great. Cindy Schneck, Jeff wants fig Newtons. Haha

Christian—Hello from Haiti. Dad misses and loves you, and thinks about you often. Love you, Jamie and see you soon.

Jeff E.—Today went great. Thanks for everyone’s prayer. Leah and the boys, I miss you and love you a lot.

Carly—Hello to everyone in Minnesota. Things are wonderful here and I thank you for all the prayers.

Jeff L.—Hello to my beautiful wife. J

Liane & Lynn—Hi to the Thompson kids! We are doing great; keeping busy and sweating. J Love you all and tell Cora we live by the ocean.

Bob L.—To my awesome wife, kids & grandkids. I love all of you so much!

Jacob—Wassup to my lovely letter writer and my favorite sister. Also my bros and old folks.

Wes—Hi Ladies. I am enjoying my time in Haiti but I am missing you. Thanks for praying.

Pam & Mark—Ayden, Truett, Ellis, Wyatt, Bo & Lena…Nana & Papa love you so much!

  We had the first Youth Conference among the Mission Possible churches today. We challenged the 120 high school youth with 1 Timothy 4:12 to be examples in their character and behavior. Thirty-four sewing ladies at Lanzac finished their quilts today.  What a joy to see their satisfaction with their finished projects! The medical team saw about 120 patients from the Chardene area. Elaine prayed with each patient after they were seen by Dr. Jeff. It was thrilling to see that four of them became brothers/sisters in Christ. What an amazing day! Some construction workers resurfaced the cement floor at St. Mark’s. Some workers reinforced rafters in the MPCA cafeteria. The remaining construction workers stayed at the Mission Center to continue working on the school desks and cabinets.  

Sunday a day of rest and that is what we did today….most of us. Liane gets little rest (and those that work beside her ie. Heather, Carly, and Monita) as they make sure we eat well this afternoon and always.  Mahlon and Heather went this afternoon to greet our 9 new team members at the airport.  All is ready for them here at the Mission Center to rest since most will have been up for 24 hours.

This morning the team split to go to 2 different churches.  One half went to St Marc Church as Lynn continued to preach on Galatian.  The other half went to Degence where the team worshiped in the building that our construction team reinforced the rafters yesterday.  The new desks were filled with Believers in Christ worshiping our one and only true God.  I attended that serve and was blessed by the worship through song.  I am humbled by the Haitians that make such attempts to communicate with us in English. I hope to be as dilegent in learning Creole as they are at English.  Working side by side has encouraged more of that exchange in teaching each other.

The team arrived safe and tired.  All supplies were quickly unpacked and distributed to their appropriate locations.  We had a great dinner, were given briefings on tomorrow, and some time for some rounds of Skipbo. 

As this week begins pray for the medical team and those they will serve this week at the clinics.  Your continued prayers for the construction team and their Haitian apprentices for safety and clarity of directions despite the language barrier.

Josh says “HI, I made it”

Greetings to our friends and family! We have enjoyed a relaxing evening after another busy day. The big news of the day was the guys carrying a big load of desks, teacher desks, and cabinets up to Degence. Nine of our guys plus several Haitian helpers carried it all and they said it was 10 miles uphill both ways.....at least it felt that way! We will include some pictures of the finished products....they look good! The local people were also helpful and watched with interest and anticipation. The children now have more desks to sit in and the teachers have a desk and a cabinet to use in their classroom. The  guys also reinforced the rafters in the church/school which was a major project. Hauling the 14' boards up there on Friday was no small project but it was great to see that work get done.

Let's see.....what else would you like to know?? Washing clothes was in order today as most of us are running out of clothes. I stand amazed at the effort our Haitian ladies put out in order to make sure we get sheets and towels done for our next group......most of which is done in big tubs on the ground. Today one of the ladies spoke up to tell me that her name is Eliane ....just like my name Liane but with an "E" in front. She smiled and gave me a hug and we shared that sweet moment together.

Green Jean painted desk frames all day and was a bit covered with paint at the end of the day. I spent some time trying to communicate with Manita, my Haitian sister in the kitchen. We laugh pretty hard as we try to make our thoughts and plans known to each other. We have a Creole language book here and I use it often as the language barrier is the most frustrating issue to deal with. In the sewing class, the kitchen and the couples seminar, as well as in the shop,

the lack of direct communication hinders us and slows us down. But, we are learning!

We heard tonight that your weather is cold and snowy....sorry to hear that. We were pretty hot and sunny here today. Love to all and thanks for praying for us. Blessings to you all and keep the prayers coming.

Liane

We started our day singing happy birthday to Win.  He is a faithful servant of God and we are delighted he and his wife Elaine chose to celebrate his birthday with us in Haiti.

Well for some of our team it is their last day with us.  Jen, Whitney, Cindy, Sandi, Steve, and Linda will soon be enjoying a hot shower and the food of their choice in the states.  They have served faithfully this week and we who are left behind will greatly miss them. 

The Mission Center was a hub of activity today.  In the sewing class the highlight was when a few ladies were able to use the sewing machine.  Cindy received a quick Creole lesson in how to say “slow down”.  The construction team was working like a machine.  While the finishers sang songs of praise the desk tops, seats, and desk storage cabinets were getting a coating of finish.  Win and Mahlon’s carpentry team was making a mountain behind the shop with the cabinets for the desks.  Jon and Stan are a great welding team and worked nonstop to continually feed desk frames and chair frames to the crew to grind so Jean and a couple of the Haitian brothers could get a coat of paint on them to prevent rusting.  Jeff H. makes sure we have what we need form the shop.   There was a lot being built this week but nothing tops the working relationships that were built.  

Greetings to all!

We had another very productive day here in Haiti.  The medical team of Pam, Heather, Jen, Whitney, Steve, Cindy and Elaine went to St. Marc school.  117 students, preschool through 9th grade were seen.  Linda and Jeff Laing, Liane, and Carly went to LaHatte to start up the sewing project with the women there.  Jeff had a great time sewing too!  Ha ha!  Actually...he spent a lot of time interacting with the children.  We have attached a fun picture in this blog of him with a couple of them.  One of the amazing things about the sewing class today, was we had just enough sewing kits for the women attending the class.  God is truly providing!

There were several continuing to work on the student desks and cabinets today.  Progress is going very well!  It is so exciting to see the Haitians as they are hard workers and becoming more efficient in their new skills.

Lynn and Liane continued with another marriage class today.  They both are very encouraged as the couples are interacting well together.

We are now sitting here this evening enjoying the wonderful popcorn that Jacob makes so well!  The weather has been cooler than usual all this week, but feels great.  It has been another wonderful day of serving Christ by serving others today.  We thank you all so much for your continued prayer for this ministry.  Your partnership with daily prayer means more than you know.



 

We are so excited that the pictures posted so here are a few things we have been doing.

We are testing our picture posting.

Tuesday February 10, 2015

It was another great day. The ladies on the medical team headed to Chardene to finish up the rest of the children’s vision checks, physicals, and treatments. They completed 12 different grades today! Back on the Mission Center the construction crew continued to work hand and hand with their Haitian brothers in Christ to build desks and cabinets in between the down pours of rain. It is very unusual to have this much rain in Haiti this time of the year. The local people say, if you come and the rain comes, you are people of God. The Canadian crew members made it safely to our mission center today! We praise God for this! Your prayers are being felt.

Bonswa! (Good Evening),

God is so good. Mission Possible has been diligent about training Haitian men and women to lead the next generation in Haiti-both scholastically, and especially spiritually. What we are witnessing this very week is another such blessing.  

The medical teams are flourishing with exhaustive preparation and remarkable data entry. This information is invaluable. Pam's groups are seeing the majority of students that are enrolled at each school. Today the medical team went to Degeance and examined 88 preschool through grade 6 - just girls! Pam was joined by Jean (Hi Gordon), Carly, Jennifer, Sandy, and Whitney (Whitney's sister Kelly shares a birthday today with Whitney's new sponsor child!) It is encouraging to see our group light up when telling stories about the children they were blessed to see.

The sewing team had another huge day at the Mission Center, There were 35 women working on their projects today under Liane's tutelage. Assisting were Elaine, Linda, and Cindy. The excitement from those projects is contagious. These women are so proud of what they are learning and accomplishing.

The construction projects have been truly groundbreaking this year. The mission groups have been accustomed to coming down and doing project after project without too much thought about long-term hand-offs. This has changed! Starting this year, we have been directed to start teaching certain school and church leaders how to do what we do. We are teaching wood working, welding, grinding, painting, staining....it has been such a blessing! Mark has been supported by Heather, Jeff H., Steve, Jon, Jacob, Mahlon, Winn, Chris, Stan, Wes, and Jeff L. The Hatian group we have the privilege of working with includes; Josep, Jean (Jon), Dolne', Maurice, Joseph, Zuckerlange, Raymond, Lifaite, Wilma, Lebston, Michael, and Marc.

The final blessing to mention is the marriage class taught by Lynn and Liane. It is titled; Foundations of Stable and Happy Homes. It is heartwarming to see many of the familiar faces we interact with through the years sitting with their spouse and honoring them by being a part of something bigger and better than themselves. 

Please keep praying for the many needs in Haiti. To be a small part of God's big plan is a privilege. There are many issues going on here that aren't in the news. Relationships are being formed. This is such a special time. God bless you all. 

PS: We have been having some difficulty with loading pictures so we have created a flickr account to share some pictures: www.flickr.com/groups/2757685@N25/pool/

February 10, 2015

MP team Mon. Feb. 9, 2015

What a glorious start of our week!  A team went to Chardene to provide physicals to the girls of the school. Just under 200 hundred girls were given eye screenings, physical check ups, ear washing-as needed, and the same with medications.  We are so excited that Jennifer is with us and setting up a data base for all the medical stats.  Lynn, Jean, Cindy, Heather Whitney, Carly, Pam, Sandy, and Jen, along with the five Haitian interpreters, were grateful for how smoothly the process was.

The ladies from Lanzac for sewing class are back.  Thirty four in attendance, some from last year have returned and brought friends.  Laine, Elaine, and Linda from our team were delighted to witness the ladies as they helped each other on their quilt projects and enjoy their time together.  

History was made yesterday as some of the Haitian leaders of the Mission Possible schools as well as pastors joined forces with the men of our construction crew to  begin the building of desks.  After a wonderful time of song and prayer the men from our team began instructing the leaders in the use of power tools such has a drill press, chop saw, and grinders. Mahlon took the opportunity to show what not to do when working with power tools at his own expense.  He is fine and has now provided us with a story to tell about this year's trip.  While Wyn, and Mahlon focused on the classroom cabinets Steve, Jacob, Jon, Mark, Jeff H., and Jeff L. successfully communicated the desk making process despite not being able to speak Creole. God blessed them with a enriching first day together. 

Please pray for our team members traveling from Canada that are to join us on Tuesday, safety for our construction crew (put and extra one in for Mahlon), and for God to continue to bless the growing relationships. 

Some photos of our trip can be found at the following link:

www.flickr.com/groups/2757685@N25/

MP team: Mon. Feb. 9, 2015

What a glorious start of our week!  A team went to Chardon to provide physicals to the girls of the school.  Just under 200 hundred girls were given eye screenings, physical check ups, ear washing as needed and the same with medication.  We are so excited that Jen is with us and setting up a data base for all the medical stats.  Lynn, Jean, Cindy, Heather Whitney, Carly, Pam, Sandi, and Jen along with the 5 Haitian interpreters were grateful for how smoothly the process ran.

The ladies from Lanzac for sewing class are back.  Thirty four in attendance, some from last year have returned and brought friends.  Laine, Elaine, and Linda from our team were delighted to witness the ladies as they helped each other on their quilt projects and enjoy their time together.  

History was made yesterday as some of the Haitian leaders of the Mission Possible schools as well as pastors joined forces with the men of our construction crew to  begin the building of desks.  After a wonderful time of song and prayer the men from our team began instructing the leaders in the use of power tools such has a drill press, chop saw, and grinders. Mahlon took the opportunity to show what not to do when working with power tools at his own expense.  He is fine and has now provided us with a story to tell about this year's trip.  While Wyn, and Mahlon focused on the classroom cabinets Steve, Jacob, Jon, Mark, Jeff H., and Jeff L. successfully communicated the desk making process despite not being able to speak Creole. God blessed them with a enriching first day together. 

Please pray for our team members traveling from Canada that are to join us on Tuesday, safety for our construction crew (put and extra one in for Mahlon), and for God to continue to bless the growing working relationships. 

       

Haiti February 2015

Saturday February 7, 2015
We made it! The airport travel went very smoothly and as planned, no complaints and no lost luggage! The two hour trip from the airport to the mission center also went smoothly, and it was enlightening to see the Haitian culture. Most of us are enjoying the lack of snow, although the humidity may be ruining some of our hairs dos. We are all very thankful for the safe travel and will enjoy our night of rest!


Sunday February 8, 2015
 We all got an early start to the day and expierenced a Hatian Church service in St. Marc. One of our own, Lynn preached the message on Galations chapter one and two. After the service we enjoyed fellowship with the local people. The congregation graciously provided us with cold Coke and Pepsi after church, which was very much appreciated. Today is a day of preperation for the week ahead. We have prepared sewing kits and organized preparations for tomorrow's physicals and construction that will be going on. Everyone is feeling great and we are all looking forward to the week ahead.

Please pray for us that we are able to serve with all of God's intention and fill all the needs for this week, and that our hearts can be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading.