Amazing Day in the Lord

The rest of the week 2 team arrived around 11 AM today - Jean, Travis, Wendy, Lynn, Kent, Dan and Rachel. After unpacking and eating lunch, they joined the construction, sewing, and OB medical teams.

Sewing – the ladies at Chardene came with their quilts and continued working on them. Liane gave a lesson on grace to the sewing ladies. Even though there wasn’t any school, the place was buzzing with kids. A highlight of the sewing was that Madison and Wendy pitched in to help a pregnant lady nearly finish her quilt, as she wanted it done before her baby comes.

Today there was Boot Camp, a youth-oriented program alternative to the Carnival. 200 + kids from Mission Possible churches met at MPCA and are participating in a 3-day event that involve scripture reading, worship, prayer, and recreation. Their day began at 4 AM and is concluding late tonight with Christian movies. A highlight today was swimming in the ocean at the Mission Center. Travis really enjoyed watching all of the kids having fun.

The Construction team worked on welding shelves on which to store tools and supplies at the Mission Center. This afternoon they went to Dupin and worked on the perimeter of the playground fence. This project is nearly done, with just a few more tweaks on the gate and swings.

The medical team started OB training with 25 pregnant mamas. They learned about a normal delivery, newborn care, cycle beads, and diseases. Deb, Sabine, Shari, Pam, Emily, and Ellie taught the classes. Rachel joined us in the afternoon.

It was a great day. We will tell you more tomorrow night. God is good!

Weekend Warriers

What a wonderful weekend we have had! Saturday, the core team remaining here celebrated Deb’s birthday with singing, Haitian hot chocolate, and cherry crisp for dessert after supper! It made her feel very special! We had a wonderful time playing Fizz Bo and singing in the evening.

Sunday we stayed at the Mission Center and had our own church service. It was a great time of worship in song and sharing of testimonies.  At noon, 5 of us went to Pierre Payen where 4 of our Mission Possible students met us to be seen by an ophthalmologist. We were able to tour the hospital. We are so blessed to have a relationship with Pierre Payen to treat our students when needed.

BJ and Maddie, Emily and Dr. Sam arrived about 6:30 PM tonight. The rest of Week 2 Team will arrive tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow the medical team will go to Dupin to start the OB seminars. The construction team will be doing some LED lighting for the Bible School, welding of shelves and painting here at the Mission Center. We will have much more to talk about tomorrow.

Friends are Friends Forever

The medical team went to St. Marc and did physicals on pre-school and 3^rd grade children. Because there was no school today due to the “Kid’s Carnival”, there were fewer children than anticipated.  Many of the children had complaints of sickness, so it wasn’t as much of a well-child physical setting today. There was one little boy who had an infection in his umbilicus following a “botched” hernia surgery. His wound had split open partially in a couple of spots and was badly infected. We were glad we got to see him today and treat him with antibiotics. Part of the medical team got to tour a hospital in St. Marc, which they found very interesting.

One construction team stayed at the Mission Center and built shelves for storing tools in the new shed that is being built. Some worked on tables that are being built to hold the Lifestraws at each school.  If the amount of dirt is any indication of how they worked, they worked pretty hard!

Another construction team headed to Dupin to continue work on the school playground. They were able to hang the swings and finish work on the teeter-totter. Then they spent the majority of the day enclosing the playground in a fence which is almost finished! There is just a little more work that needs completed on the gate. During the day, they enjoyed getting to see the children have fun on the playground while they were placing the fence. It happened to rain in Haiti today and there was a rainbow on the way home.

The sewing team went to St. Marc where 32 ladies laid out their quilts with batting. They will finish their blankets next week. It’s wonderful to see so many ladies participate.

Several stayed at the Mission Center to get prepared for the OB week starting next Monday. We also got organized for another Community Agent seminar next week.

It’s sad to see Week 1 team go! It has been a great time of fellowship and team-work. Everyone worked very hard and accomplished a lot. God bless all of you. Those of us who are staying will think of you shoveling snow from our seats on the beach. Orevwa!

Big Shout Outs Tonight!

No snow day here in Haiti so the work continues with the rising of the bright sun. The construction crew continued with the roof work at MPCA, playground building at Dupin, and various jobs at the Mission Center. The medical team continued with physicals at MPCA and community agent observation continued at Lanzac. We are amazed at the outpouring of support for Mission Possible’s newest fundraiser—Fill Up February. Some of us helped unload several 55-pound bags of rice at MPCA today due to this support. See Mission Possible website for more information.

Shout Outs – Feb 8

Remember to brush your teeth, grandkids! Love Mim & Papa (Bob and Jackie)

Hey Carmen Clan, Miss you and can’t wait to see you. Love you, Angela, Rosemary, and Isabelle.

Christina, Grace, and Micah – Praying for you all, and that you are healthy this year! Having a great time here! Miss and love you much!

Tyler, Andy, Audrey, & Charlie – I’m missing you all, but having an amazing time here. I’ll be home soon to tell you all about it. BEHAVE!! Love, Mom

Mom, Nana – I love you. Pray I get home safe! Love, Chad

To all my family, still having an awesome time. Have only had to eat one tuna pack so far! So eating pretty well. Miss you all. Love, Sabine

Eric, Noah, & Anna – I hope you are eating the food in the freezer. I’m having a great week. Love and miss you guys. Thanks for the hug, Belinda!

We’re doing great! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers – Love you! --Bev

Come quickly, Lynn. Can’t wait for you to arrive. Hi Cora, Kai, Colt and & Elle…babies too!

Jeff, Madeline, Allison, & Jonathan – Praying that you are having a great week! I miss and love you! See you soon!

Sorry Mom & Dad. I’m never coming home. Love you! Love, Marissa.

Ashley, Elijah, and Callie—Can’t wait to see you. Love you!

Leah, Ben, Marco, and Jack—Love you all. Thanks for praying. Miss you a lot. See you soon.

Heidi, Wilson, Abram, Annie—Love you and miss you. I can’t wait to see you Sunday morning.

To my family and friends—I love and miss you all and thank you for your prayers. I think Jess and Steve need to come with me next year! Love, Jonica

Hi, Jon. We are doing well. Working hard but enjoying it. The food is good and the weather is warm but usually with a nice breeze. We love you and will see you soon. Love, Teresa and Miranda.

To my family & friends – Miss you all. I’m getting spoiled on this trip with lots of good food & treats. The weather has been great and the kids are amazing. See you on the 19^th…maybe (wink – wink!). Love, Shari. PS – Miss you Belinda!

Deb – Hope everything is well at home. I love and miss you all! Belinda, wish you were here to complete our Community Agent team.

Hi, Whelan Family. I’m having a great time on this adventure. I miss you and love you. Can’t wait to see you soon. Love, Chris/Dad

Howdy Randy, Jordyn, Cody! Hope you are having a great week! I’m working hard but enjoying the sun. Love you all! Hey Sis…Happy 40^th Birthday! Love, Christy/Mom

Hey Conley Family. Hope you’re enjoying the snow. It’s all sunshine here. Can’t wait to see you all! Hope you enjoyed the room to yourself, Grace.  Love, Leah.

Janice—I’m having a great week working in Haiti. I miss you and look forward to see you soon. Love you, Jon

Alexys Hermiller, Tammy, Josh, Jaycie—I love you all. Having a great time in Haiti. Miss you! Love, Jenn

Mom, Dad, and Jadyn—I am missing you. Having a great time here working with the Haitians. Love, Jared.

Gabe, how are you doing?  How is Fuddles doing?  How is school going?  Are you enjoying all the snow? Love you Kelli – They carry Jeni’s at Meijers . 

. .

Doneta, Brittany, Amanda—miss you guys. Working hard here. It is hot. Tell Mitzi hi. Love, Steve

Hochstettler family and friends, we are having a great month so far.  We miss you all wish you all would come with us sometime.  Love ya!

Pam & Mark – Love you, kids!

Adam – It’s hot!

Ellie – All my love to my family. Public Service Announcement – Please Send Bug Spray!

A Hot Day in Haiti!

The medical team went to Degeance – Drs. Chris and Jeff, and PA’s Jonica and Andrea plus Ben, Marissa, Jeremy, Heather, Sabine, and Pam. They saw about 70 kids for physicals/sick visits. A big highlight of the morning (besides the sweat-drenching hike) was seeing Kenson and Angelina (our critically ill/injured patients from last February). What an answer to prayer to see their smiling faces and their healthy bodies! We think Kenson has grown about a foot since last year! They left Degeance by walking through the village where they got to see every-day life Haiti-style, including coconut harvesting and mat weaving.

Shari, Chad, Libby, and Christy went to LaHatte this morning. They were very pleased to find no major illnesses. The Community Agents are performing their duties well. Shari was thrilled to see their thorough medical documentation, a skill we have been working on for months. It was sad to find out that LaHatte’s well is dry. Their only means to obtain water right now is from the collection of water on the roofs and a supplemental cistern under the principal’s office where they are able to get water. The construction crew plans to lay pipe to connect the run-off water from the roofs to the cistern some time during this trip.

Deb and Jen spent the morning with the MPCA Community Agents, following up on some of the kids who had been seen on Monday who needed treatments. We also spent some time gathering the 5^th and 6^th grade kids, who missed having a physical in November. In the afternoon, the Degeance and La Hatte teams joined them at MPCA for the physicals. Many hands made for quick work allowing us time to swim in the Caribbean Ocean or relax at the Mission Center before dinner.

Today the sewing team (Liane, Jackie and Julie) returned to Chadene to continue to work with the ladies in the quilt making process. The ladies worked hard to put together the top, back and batting. It was a joy to work with the ladies and see their joy while working and sharing with one another.

One of the construction teams went to MPCA to work on the roof today. They put all the rafter’s in on 1 classroom and put all the purlins in on both classrooms and also finished half of one classroom with sheet metal.  Three Haitians were able to help lay purlins and sheet metal with Jared in charge. Mark, Chad, Leah, Jeremy L, Ellie and Adam were installing the rafters in the ninety-degree heat, managing to not pass out.

A second construction team traveled once again to Dupin. After getting stuck in a muddy ditch when they arrived, Marv, Jeff, Teresa, Miranda, and Bev continued work on the eagle’s nest and monkey bars, having quite an audience of children watching them work. Working in the heat made them very thirsty. Luckily, the principal surprised them all with a refreshing Coca Cola. After working so hard, Marv brought out his drone. The kids were mesmerized by it. The children also helped the construction team load up the truck before leaving.

John and Bob went to the new property at Degeance today with a Haitian engineer and laid out elevations for two interior retaining walls. They then came back to the Mission Center and John was the construction manager bossing Bob and Josh around. They cut metal parts for life straw tables, cleaned and welded one together. Josh is still working on getting the Internet improved at the Mission Center.

Everyone contributed to the blog tonight. So many things going on in every direction. It’s great to get back in the evening and find out all that was accomplished during the day. God is so good!

Tuesday, Feb. 6

With wonderful weather, the teams went out throughout the community to continue projects from yesterday. Jonica, Deb, Marvin, Bob, Leah, Jeff, and Jon took the rocky trip up to Dupin. Jonica and Deb continued the evaluation of the Community Health Agents and cared for some of the school children. Just a few feet away the guys, and Leah, dug holes, poured concrete, and cut wood for the playground. After lunch, Jonica and Deb joined the construction team contributing to a successful day full of great progress for the new playground. The frame for the swing set is up.

Back at MPCA, Jared, Adam, Mark, Steve, Chad , Ben, and Chris worked on the roofs. The crew saw a very productive day despite some frustrating setbacks. They had a pull cord on the generator fray which forced them to use the much less powerful battery-powered saw to cut boards. They now have the rafters installed in the first classroom and the next room's old roofing has been removed and is ready to start on tomorrow. Please pray for a smooth process and good communication with the Haitians working along with us.

At St. Marc, Julie, Liane, Christy, Teresa, Shari, and Miranda instructed a sewing class of 26 Haitian women. They taught the same introduction class they did yesterday at Chardene consisting of introduction to quilting and basic sewing skills. In the morning before joining the sewing team, Teresa and Shari continued the check up on the Community Health agents and touched base on the progress of several children’s health.

 The medical team had their hands full today treating around 150 children at Chardene. Bev, Jen, Jeff, Sabine, Jackie, Marissa, Ellie, Pam, Andrea, Jeremy Fry, and Heather evaluated feet, flushed ears, did physicals, and much more. Despite the large number of patients, the day ran smoothly according to the members of the team.

               

Back at the Mission Center, there was a Blood Pressure Clinic at 4:00 pm. Ellie, Marissa, Pam, and Heather checked blood pressure and the weight of patients. Afterwards, they sent them off to Dr. Jeff who evaluated each patient. Finally, they went to Jeremy Fry, our pharmacist for the week, who passed out medication. After the clinic, the whole team rejoined for and wonderful dinner and time to relax and spend time together.

The day was long and full of hard work; however, all of the teams had a wonderful time serving together and seeing great progress!

Shout Out from Deb - Hi kids! I'm doing great. Miss you and will look forward to touching base this weekend! Love you!

To those of you from church coming week 3, you may want to bring a light blanket or throw. It's been a little chilly at night. (Sabine says, "It's not cold". I say, "Better safe than sorry!"

Shout out from Sabine - Hello to family and friends. I miss you all. I'm having an awesome time. Ty, give the dogs a hug for me.

               

First Full Work Day of the Trip

With open hearts eager to serve, our team went out to three separate locations this morning. At Dupin, Deb and Ben checked up on the Community Health agents. The two ensured they were fulfilling their duties of caring for the student’s health, providing clean drinking water, educating the community on proper health and sickness prevention, and their many other responsibilities. They also saw and treated several young students who were ill.

At the same time, a construction team consisting of Marvin, Bob, Bev, Jeff, John, and Christy was working with endurance, through the heat of the day, to set the foundations of a new playground. They  dug and concreted the holes for the fence posts that will be surrounding the new playground coming up. While the work at Dupin ran smoothly, the way there was another story. After a scare going uphill, the team was grateful for an experienced driver to keep get them there in one piece. Christy says “great job Jeff for getting us up the mountain and not rolling backwards into the ravine.”

At St Marc, a small group of three, Miranda, Leah, and Shari, did the same evaluation on the Community Health Agents as Ben and Deb did in Dupin and treated a young student feeling ill. They were all impressed with the work being done there. The agents were thorough in fulfilling their duties and caring for the children at the school. At noon, they met up with the mighty medical team at MPCA where Pam, Sabina, Heather, Jen, Libby, Jonica, Chris, Jeff, Jackie, Ellie, Marissa, Jeremy Fry, and Jeremy Lemley were doing physicals, ear flushing, and caring for countless other medical needs in the school. The team was busy throughout the morning and afternoon, but had endurance and patience to serve the Lord.

To keep the children occupied while they waited to see the medical team, Miranda and Leah jumped rope and played soccer with the students. While the field was a bit rough and rocky, Leah had a blast kicking passing, heading, and throwing the ball with the children. The girls took a liking to Miranda, keeping her occupied as they followed and crowded around her all afternoon.

Up on the roofs at MPCA, the construction guys, Jared, Chad, Adam, Steve, and Mark, worked under the hot sun, tearing off the old roofing with the Haitians, installing new rafters, and cutting lots of boards.

At Chardene, Liane, Teresa, Julie, and Deb taught the first of six sewing classes that will be taking place at Chardene. They began with an introduction of the sewing process and distribution of sewing supplies and quilting pieces. The participants were eager to get started and begin the quilting process. All were smiling as they headed home in anticipation of their next class on Wednesday.

Speaking for all of the team, today was a success thanks to the Lord and his faithfulness to us all. We are looking forward to seeing how he works throughout the rest of the week!

Shari would like to give a shout out to her son, Dillon. She says, “Happy birthday Dillon I love you!!”