We finished VBS this afternoon. Today we had 240 and it was a much more manageable group. The Lord was with us. The team did a great job.

Tonight we begin to pack up and we head to Port-au-Prince in the morning.

We all are reflecting on our time here and will process for the weeks to come how the Lord moved in each of our lives.

I'm sure many of us will call family and friends when we hit US soil. Oh, many are planning already what they are going to eat first when they arrive in Atlanta. Several just was something with ice. :)

Trace

I have had an amazing time being here. The children smile all the time and they brighten your day. I really enjoyed going to church yesterday. Even though I didn't know what they were saying, it was still cool to think that God does know what they are saying. It was fun to praise God with them and to see how much joy they have with so little. God has really helped me to see how much I have and how little they have. I am so blessed. I have really enjoyed being on this trip and playing with the kids.

Sarah S.

Today is the first day of VBS and we have around 400 kids. Yes, 400. We thought we were over preparing when we thought 300. It is great to see so many children. All are eating now and then we will begin the afternoon session. Pray that the children will lean of Jesus' power today and tomorrow. The team is really doing great with the children and working through the language barrier. It is great to see and all of you would be proud of them.

Yesterday we gave another 30 water filters to church members. All were surprised as to why they were called back to the church in the afternoon. All were very thankful for the filters. During the filter training, the youth of the church met and several from our team were able to share their testimonies and one of the local youth shared also. Both youth groups shared from their life experiences.

Evening church was fun. We did a series of skits to invite the kids to VBS. It was very funny and the congregation laughed hard. The team sang several songs and Pastor Nate preached. It was a great service.

We are tired this afternoon after the busyness of the morning, but all are doing well and loving the time here in Haiti. I am glad we could get an update to you today.

Trace

Hey everyone! First off I want to say thank you for praying for us. It has helped out a lot I'm sure, because everything is going really well! Yesterday we got up and had breakfast then hit the road for a really long bumpy ride! It was nice to go through the towns where people live and see how they live each day. It was a very eye opening experience, and showed me just how good we have it. When we got to our campus(which is beautiful) we all unpacked and had a very tasty meal. Today we woke up and had breakfast, then got to take a tour of the campus we are staying at. We got to check out the workshop, school, and beautiful church! After that we met some new friends and got to play around with all the kids! Then we went to a town about 30 minutes away and showed the people of that town that have cholera, how to use the filter systems we gave them! So that was very exciting to help people out that way and we could see their excitement and appreciation for that. Over all, the first few days have been great, and God has really opened my eyes to see how much we have. One thing I've notice is how little they have, but they seem to be the happiest people I've met! That has been a big challenge for me this early in the week! Thank you all for praying and I hope you continue to pray as we finish out the week!

Brandon Cooley

As Brandon has said, we have had good days here in Haiti. There have been the expected unexpected things, but the team has handled them all very well. All of us are healthy and the weather is quite nice. Tomorrow we will worship both in the morning and evening, do another seminar on filters, and prepare for VBS on Monday and Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how many kids come. Pray for us as we prepare and that the kids will learn more about Jesus.

With the limited internet access here, pictures will be a luxury. Sorry.

Trace

Haiti Travel: Stonebridge Team

Our first day of traveling went well. We made it safely to Haiti! We had a good day yesterday and when we talked last night, many were overwhelmed with the sights and poverty here. Nate was particularly emotional and taken by Haiti. All are in good spirits and healthy. We are anticipating a long day of travel to Deyemon. We will continue to update the blog as time allows.

Thank you for your prayers. God is with us and moving our hearts.

Last Day at Ebenezer

At this moment we can hear pockets of cheering Dominicans all around us. Its obvious they are Miami Heat fans. By morning a winner will be decided. We have been reminded here that there is a race we are running. A race we strive to win. A race much bigger than what we think is important in the society in which we live. One of our Bible verses we shared with the kids at camp this week talked about the ultimate prize, an eternal life with God. In our morning devotional, Kayla and Rachel shared how we find strengths through our weaknesses. It was brought up about our journey as Christians being a difficult one, not the easy road traveled. All of us agreed we needed each other to stay the course. Today we got a glimpse of those here in one of the poorest areas and saw first hand very poor living conditions... something you may see in a National Geographic magazine. Children followed us, some with nothing more on than a t-shirt five sizes to big or torn shorts, bare feet and beautiful smiling faces that captured our hearts. Then we got to see God's creation by climbing the water fall and playing in the ocean. It was truly a great ending to our week and an eye opening experience. I know that I am very thankful that my husband and children are here together. What a great opportunity to serve as a family and with a wonderful group of young people!

Connie Lyon



Families get ready to see us soon!!! Thanks for the opportunity to spend with those you love.  They worked hard and shared their love even more.  I'm honored to have lead such an amazing group.  When they get home ask lots of questions and get ready to hear many stories.

Tracy

Monday, June 17, 2013

Hola todos! Its hard for me to write this blog in English because Spanish has been surrounding me everywhere for the last two weeks! As the days count down to our departure, I fall more and more in love with this place every single day. Today, we had our final full day of camp instruction. As wild as the kids can be, it is still a ton of fun seeing how much joy is brought to their faces by hitting around a volleyball or completely airballing a basketball. As Allie discussed in devotions, a couple days in, we all realized that God didn’t bring us here to necessarily make them better at sports, but to share His love through our sports camp, and I think that’s just what we’re doing. I can’t wait for the last day of camp tomorrow to give them their t-shirts and prizes.

The rest of the day, we painted, enjoyed hanging out with our Dominican friends, and played a massive-awesome-fun game of volleyball. After our volleyball game, we came upstairs to an authentic Dominican meal prepared by Ruth and Carlota. It was so delicious!! AND it included my favorite Dominican specialty – passion fruit juice – YUM. (That would be an awesome welcome home gift for me mom or dad if you learned how to make that!) In all, I am so very thankful for all of the awesome experiences and lessons that God has given us here - Be ready family and friends for some amazing stories when you get home!

See you all soon,
Love you all bunches,

Marisa Sonrisa



Hola! Today was so much fun. During the sports camp, I feel like we especially got to know each kid in our group even better. I was personally in charge of five boys in the younger group in the morning. As the day went on, I got to see how each of their personalities stood out even more to me. As they were leaving, the older group came in., the first person I talked to was Naomi- as soon as she saw me, she asked if I was ready to lose a volleyball game to her! Haha. I love seeing everyone's excitement to play sports and learn new things here. After the camp, we all bought a few things from the venders that had come to the school. Later, a few of us girls taught Sadrac and Naomi the "Cup Song", which was really fun. From there, we went right into a full-out, 7 on 7 volleyball game with the Dominicans. It was a blast and I hope we get to play them again sometime before we leave. I am definitely not ready to leave here in a few short days, but, on the other hand, I am excited to share all of our adventures with you all!

Hasta Pasta! and Love you all,

 Maquensi (or Mackenzie, for all you English speakers:) )

Dribble contest demonstration

The campers try it out

Rachel D-ing it up

King of the Court

Some of the girls took a break to style Shelby and Allie's hair

Savy and Shelby

Shooting competition for the girls.  Gabby and Keaton count made shots and rebound

Mackenzie working with the kids on soccer

Alexis marking down made shots.  These boys were competitive

All smiles for the camera

Brittany finishing up our Autobus

This morning we had the opportunity to attend the Ebenezer Church service. The first part of the service the dance team performed. Even though we couldn't understand the words to the song, we were able to understand the message they were presenting through their movements. Moise said a couple things and then Tracy went up and spoke to the church for the team. Alexis and Marisa shared their testimony with those in attendance as well. It was so neat to hear about their journeys and current walk with Christ. After that, we were able to worship. Thanks to the projection of the words, we were able to sing along even though we didn't know what we were singing. The dance team had tambourines and moved along to some of the songs in addition to the drums and piano that was played. Throughout the service, there were 2 songs that a group of 8 young adults sang. The vocals and harmony were amazing! Ruth was able to translate the message for us that Moise presented. At the end of the service, we had the opportunity to take communion and those people that were baptized last week became official members of the Church. Once they were members, the Church had the opportunity to walk through and confirm/congratulate them in their decision to take the next step in their faith. We were truly blessed throughout the couple hours we were able to participate in the Church service here.

After an amazing lunch of mac-n-cheese and shredded chicken, everyone enjoyed some down time.

Later this evening we'll be attending the evening church service which will be followed by pizza! We're all looking forward to see what the rest of the evening will bring in addition to the rest of our time here. Enjoy the pictures!

Brittany



Today was a bit of a change of pace for us without having any campers but it was just as exciting since we were able to attend church services and spend some time with the congregation. This evenings service was a smaller service but we all saw the passion of the attendees. The Dominicans really worship with all that they have and then some. To begin the service we all joined hands in a large circle and prayed out loud together. Everyone prayed their own prayer and thanked God for the many blessings he has bestowed upon us, it was a powerful experience. Tonight's sermon was on obedience and trusting in God's word. It was encouraging to see how many youth are actively engaged in the church and sermons. Two members of our team contributed tonight as well, Kayla and Mackenzie each gave their testimony before we wrapped up. To close out the day we had some pizza and talked about our day and what stood out to us. We all agreed that we admired the enthusiasm everyone at Ebenezer has for the Lord and how contagious it is.


Allie

The whole team after a day of worship

The 2 Shelbys

 

The Lyon Crew

So exciting to be on this trip with Keaton

Mackenzie and Kayla each shared testimonies in the evening service

Alexis and Marisa shared testimonies in the morning service (Ruth translated)

Shelby and her 2 buddies

Moise jumps in on a photo

Allie and Mackenzie are called up during the evening service.  They had no idea why.  A little nervous, but it was just to demonstrate how to move during worship

Mackenzie and Brittany all ready for church

Lunch crew in between church services

After lunch and a little rest we organized camp prizes for our last 2 days