Our final day of VBS!

Hey everyone, it’s Moriah here! ‘The days have been long while the week has gone way too fast!” –Taylor. I have been able to touch up on a lot of my French while talking to the kids because French is similar to creole. Every school we visit they have the sweetest kids. Watching them play with the little things like balloons, bubbles and a soccer ball brings me so much joy. Today we went to Saint Marc and I instantly made friends with this little boy named Alevio. Every time I would see him across the room he’d smile and wave. I was a group leader today and the Alevio helped me out so much and would never leave my side. When you would walk by the kids they would just want to touch and love on you. Even when I couldn’t understand what they were saying they would just start singing, sometimes teaching me their songs. I just enjoy everything about Haiti, like seeing where the mountains touch the ocean and all the beautiful people. I am so thankful for all the translators and their personalities. Although we’re all very thankful for Dorie and everything she has done for us with Creole. I miss my family and friends back home! Please keep us in your prayers!

-Love Moriah

            Last night we went to a church service at Saint Marc, which was indescribable, and then today we headed back there for camp. During the church service last night, two little girls sat on Lisa’s and my laps, and today I got the opportunity to see them again, which was super cool! They totally recognized me, ran up and gave me a giant hug. Their smiles were priceless.  The view from the balcony on the church was so beautiful. You could see the ocean and mountains, along with the rest of the town of Saint Marc. Today during camp I was a group leader and I had the sweetest little boys and girls in my group. At the game station, I got hit in the head with a beach ball, and they all ran over and kissed it and made sure I was okay. Later in the day, my shoe was untied and one of the little girls ran over and started to tie it for me with the biggest smile on her face. It is so amazing how genuine and loving the kids are. God has been working major miracles this week, and He will always continue to do so. See you in a couple days! 

-Taylor

Hello from the DR Crew!!

Just a quick post after a long day of travel - The 8 of us who headed to the DR today made it safe and sound.  We were greeted with a delicious Dominican meal and have a lovely breeze as we prepare for tomorrow and get settled in to our home for the next few days.  Prayers for our time with the kids at our camp would be great.  We already love it here and can't wait for all that is ahead!
-Tracy, Jeanette, Marla, Suzanne, Drake, Nathan, Lisa, and Elizabeth

Thursday!

Hello friends, family, and everyone else! This is Drake checking in with y’all. The trip has been great so far. We have had several good chances at fellowship with the kids and also with our translators. This trip has been especially neat because at every school a Haitian kid or leader has remembered me, even my name. I also got to spend time with Carter and Jean Auguste yesterday; they were our translators for trips in the past.  Today has been my favorite day so far, I had the opportunity to share what the cross means with the students.  Tomorrow some of us leave for the Dominican Republic and I am super excited to see everyone I met last year. I am missing everyone back home! Please continue to pray that we are safe and God uses us. Love you all!

- Drake

The 4-day teacher seminar ended today, and we were all blessed with the opportunity to work with the Haitian teachers this week.  Our prayer is that the teachers here are able to take all the information we gave them and find ways to apply it in their classroom.  We worshipped together each morning and ended the seminar reflecting on our role as educators.  God has called us all to love others and that includes the students that enter our classrooms each day.  In order for us to truly love them, we must know God because God is love.  Our prayer for our Haitian teachers is that they will continue to seek God and grow in His love, so they can fulfill the calling that God has placed on their life.  It was our honor to be a part of their lives this week.

- Tracy

PS: Incase you all are wondering... YES, we are sweating our faces off. However, we visited Saint Marc church tonight and they gave us ice cream afterwards. YAY!

Pictures from Wednesday!

New friends at Dupin!

Julia and Erin learning how to be Haitians!

Nathan with his sponsor student

We had fun playing soccer with some locals tonight!

Karen teaching at the Teacher Seminar!

Our second day in Haiti!

Day two in beautiful Haiti.  Everything has been running smoothly.  After eating spicy scrambled eggs (yummy!) for breakfast, five of us headed for the teacher’s school to teach our 5 seminar sessions.  I had a great time with my classes today.  We were studying probability and doing some “hands-on” experiments. Each teacher was given a penny and they had to flip it 50 times and record their results.  What fun they had! It was a very big learning experience for them.  I encouraged them to begin doing these kinds of activities in their own classrooms.  That is something they seldom do because they have never seen it demonstrated.  It was very fulfilling to give them tools to use to improve the education here in Haiti.  God has been with us each step of the way.  It has been so nice to meet new people, connect with some from previous years, and also watch how God is using the young people that are with us.  What a great group they are.  We have had some very good devotions at night, along with a little rain.  I am looking forward to the rest of the week to see what all God has planned. 

-- Sharon

Hi all, this is Claudia! Beautiful isn’t enough to describe this trip so far. We have gone to two of the schools so far and they both have been wonderful, from racing the kids to the other side of the courtyard, to singing to our Abba at the top of our lungs! Also, I met the sweetest little girl today in Degeance: my sponsor girl. God made our first meeting perfect! After the team hiked up to the school, we gazed upon the main classroom and saw three children standing there on the outside. I noticed the little girl standing in between the two boys kind of looked similar to the picture of my sponsor girl. But immediately I began to doubt that it was her because of there being a lot of little girls at the school. I talked to some of the team and someone told me to go ask her what her name is. I proceeded to ask her and she said the name that I was looking for: Dashna! I was shocked and overjoyed all at the same time. She was my buddy for the rest of the camp, and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful meeting with my beautiful girl! Also, I met one of my best friends one year ago today! So to celebrate we listened to our song, Fierce by Jesus Culture. God is so good, all the time! Isaiah 55:9 Love you all!

-- Claudia

Our first official day!

Today was our first official day in Haiti! Some of us went to Chardene while others went to the teacher seminar. I was one of the folks who went to Chardene. When we first got there we had a pretty low attendance but after we started several more kids showed up. They said it took them longer to get up because of the cold from the rain last night. Meanwhile our team was dripping with sweat haha! Once the kids got there we had a great day! I was in charge of the science station and had an experiment where we used vinegar and baking soda to inflate a balloon. I also made a couple of makeshift baking soda volcanoes. We played games with the balloons with our extra time. The kids’ favorite was “don’t let the balloon touch the ground.” I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter how old, balloons give people joy. Fun fact: the word for balloon in Creole is "blag" which also means "joke."

After we were done with our stations everyone assembled and we sang “Papa Abraham” which is just the best. I love singing “Papa Abraham” with the Chardene students! Then the kids were dismissed for lunch and we ate lunch then painted chalkboards in the classrooms.  A quote to describe today is, “Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

See you all on the flip!

-- Dorie

We have a record number of Haitian teachers this year for the Teachers’ Seminar, which means each of the five American teachers had approximately 40 students in each of the five sessions.  The Haitian teachers are always welcoming and eager to learn. I planned my lessons on waves in order to address a question that was posed last year about earthquakes by one of the Haitian teachers.  Incidentally, the teacher who posed the question, named Manly, happens to be my translator!   Since I was teaching on waves, I taught each class how to “Do the Wave.”  Starting at one side of the room with 1, 2, 3, Go!  As this translates to un, deux, trois, “Ale!” (pronounced “Allay,”)  some classes added  Alleluia!  So that’s the word I would use to describe this experience…Alleluia!  God, You are wonderful, amazing, marvelous, miraculous, surprising, and incredible and I count it is a privilege to worship with the believers here in Haiti.

-- Jeanette

The team has arrived!

Hey everyone from back home!

We wanted to let you know that we made it safe & sound! The time of traveling down & time in the airport went very smoothly; thank you for praying for us. We had a bit of an adventure on the way to the Mission Center; those of us who were riding in the cattle truck got a free shower when it decided to start raining! Once we arrived at the Mission Center, it continued to thunderstorm and pour rain for the rest of the evening. We had to do some re-arranging of the beds to avoid getting wet, but now we're nice & cozy and getting rested up for a big week ahead!

Please continue to pray for our team and for the people that we come in contact with both in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic! We're already looking forward to sharing with you about the ways that we will be seeing God move throughout the week! :)