First Day of Week 3!

Today we went to Dupin for team three's first day of work. We met our translators and rode in the cattle truck. We got a flat tire and had to hike the rest of the way but the view was amazing. We were happy to see that school was in session and all the students that came got their physicals. We got a special treat for lunch with coke and passion fruit pop. We loaded up at about five o'clock and headed back to the mission center. We had a tasty supper and celebrated Pam's birthday again with a haitian cake from nurse Anite. Pastor Miguel and Maude (our cook) joined us. It's been a blessed day!

Rachel- we found your sponsor girl! :)

Lots of goodies came from this little girl's ear!

Belinda & Kenbelove, reunited! :)

Our Provider

Jehovah Jireh-God, our Provider

When we are tired, God provides rest.  Take for example, Heather.  She has had some trouble sleeping this trip.  There have been nights of 1 hour, nights of 2 hours.  She did sleep better last week when her husband was here.  But, she must still be catching up.  Today during a prayer at the church service at Lanzac, she leaned forward on the bench in front of her.  She prayed first, and then fell asleep.  Fortunately, the sweet Haitian girl beside her helped her save face.  She nudged her and said, "Amen!" when the prayer was over.  "He gives his beloved sleep..."  Psalm 127:2

When we are hungry, God provides food.  The hungry were fed well at lunch.  Maude prepared chicken, beans and rice, and plantains - delicious!

"But if God so clothes the grass of the field..., will He not much more clothe you?"  Matthew 6:30 For Leishe, a 3 year old whose burn on her bottom has been faithfully cared for by Devin and Nick, God provided panties.  Shari found handmade cloth diapers with velcro stashed behind a door in the Hen House (no chickens live there) and we were able to deliver them to Leishe and her mom.  Mom waded across the creek by the mission center carrying her.  Emily translated.  She put it on right away and it fit perfectly-covering the burn and providing protection from infection as she heals.

God provided fun and fellowship.  You should have heard Sabine and Deb singing "This is the day that the Lord has made," while swimming in the ocean right outside the mission center.

God provided a sign.  Last night as we waited to pass the blockade, we were reminding ourselves that God was in control, that He parted the Red Sea and He was able to get us safely to the mission center.  We looked over and saw a sign

Merci Jesus

Auto Parts

Daniel

Hannah said, "My grandfather's name is Daniel, and he just retired from Auto Zone!" And we all said Merci, Jesus (Thank you, Jesus) for reminding us that You are with us, just as You were with Daniel.

Sleep, food, clothing, fun, signs and safety-we are so thankful!  And we can't wait to see God continue to provide for us and through us as we serve this week.  Thank you for your prayers!

But, wait- there are a few more things that have been provided since the blog was first written.  Deb was wishing for a hair cut.  Hannah is a cosmetologist but didn't bring scissors.  Emily did, though!  She brought scissors to give to one of her friends.  Voila!

And God provided cake so we could celebrate one of our fearless leader's birthday (pray birthday blessings on that Pam!).

A day of prayer & travel

Today was a day full of prayer and traveling. Our week 2 team left early this morning and made it safely to the airport. They are now in the States enjoying all of the air conditioning they want. ;) Our final team just made it safely to the mission center and entertained us with stories as they ate their Haitian spaghetti! Those of us who have been here all day spent a lot of time in prayer and worship as we waited to hear how our team members coming & going were doing. Please continue to pray for us as we finish seeing students this week and for the country of Haiti.

^Nick made a new friend tonight... good grief!

Final Day of Week 2!

What better way to end another week of clinic than a beautiful hike to Degeance? I'm always amazed at the beauty of the landscape; a sunny sky with majestic mountains surrounding acres of banana fields. Friendly passers-by greet you with a hearty "Bonjou!" while walking or riding on a donkey.  Each member of our team arrived successfully to the top of the mountain, and soon we began to interact with the students, teachers, and community agents at Degeance. Immediately our team began to witness smiling, chanting, clapping, and dancing (in addition to an intense game of soccer using a tennis ball). It's always amazing to me to see the joy the children have.

Today our team tackled physicals for preschool through second grade! The children were so cooperative, making our job a breeze.  In clinic we were able to treat several infections, cleanse and dress wounds, and provide reassurance and encouragement to all of the students who were healthy. Deb spent the morning with us at the school, then made her way back to the mission center to continue her amazing work training the community agents. The Ultra Blanc took a motorcycle all the way back to the mission center. I'm always impressed by how adventurous Deb is! Those of us leaving tomorrow said "See ya later!" to our interpreters, many of whom have been so helpful and a pleasure to get to know. The week has flown by and our team has worked well together. It's impossible for me to mention all the ways in which each person has contributed to our team. From Heather and Sabine making fabulous lunches, to Joey and Rachel helping the providers with prescription dosing, to Emily the Real Estate Agent taking over the enormous task of flushing out ears so that Emily the Nurse could eat, members of our team have seen a need and tended to it. I'm thankful to serve with so many people who are so focused on the goal of ensuring Mission Possible students are healthy that they are willing to jump into any task in which they see a need. It was truly a great way to end our week!

-- Jameson

^Emily and Deb have been feeling left out of the iphone world all week, but finally figured out how to "bump" their phones and share photos with each other. After 2 long, exhausting weeks.. it's the little things that keep us entertained. ;) 

Shout-Outs

Shoutouts from the Week 2 Team

"We miss you Julie, Olivia, Kelly, Marcia, Johanna, Vanessa (we will find Schnider tomorrow morning, Kelly!!! and search for Nieka next week Julie and Liv) -Emily S.

"Jason, don't forget to update my fantasay football! I miss you" -Joey (P.S. Kiss Lincoln for me)

"Dear family, I miss you, I love you, and I am praying for you." -Nana Pam

"Payton and Cass, I miss you more than I ever have and I can't wait to hug and kiss both your faces. I love you both." -Emily H

"Casey, Lindasay, Tyler, mom, and anyone else that has been keeping with us this week, I can't wait to see you and tell you all about this amazing week! Miss and love you all." -Kem

"Mom, Dad, and all my friends and family, thank you so much for your continuous prayers! I can't wait to see you and tell you everything! Love you!" -Rachel

"Susie Rastatter, we miss you and love you! Thank you for your prayers. You are definitely here in spirit." -Kathe, Alison, Emily

"Jay, Justin, and Matt, I can't wait to see you and go out to dinner and eat Graeter's and watch Walking Dead! I love and miss you. See you soon!" -Alison

"Dear family and friends, thank you for all your prayers. I am having a wonderful time." -Deb 10:10

"Brian, Beth, Olivia, Elle, and Rachel, thank you for praying. See you all soon!"

"My family probably isn't going to read this. But just in case, I saw your girl today, Sharon." - Heather and Jeff

"Family and friends, thank you for following our trip and for your prayers and support. We are having a wonderful time and are excited to see how God works in the next 10 days." -Nick

"Hi Mom, Dad, Tay, Court, and the rest of the family! I love and miss you guys so much!" - Devin

"Jameson is fun! He's not like his dad, 'The King of No Fun!'" -The Queen of Fun ;P

"Hi Hachemy- I hope you are staying warm... I think it's time to start wearing your winter boots!! Miss you!" -- Rene

"Jackson, I miss you." -Jameson

Busy Day at Saint Marc!

I'm going to jump ahead to the end to say: IT IS RAINING!! It has been so hot this week and the air has been so still. We are thankful for the mist and the breeze. We spent the day at St. Marc and saw over 100 children for their school physicals. We also had the opportunity to see several follow ups from last week and they are looking great! We feel so blessed that God has provided for our students! We continue to pray for the kids we have seen and for those that we will be seeing in the coming week. Today we had the opportunity to take sutures out of a pre-schooler's eyebrow. He told Nick: "You do me wrong, you are not my friend, I am all finished." over and over again...at the top of his lungs. After Jameson, Nick, Devin, and Pam held him down and took the sutures out he calmed down in Emily's arms. His mama came and told us that she thought the sutures were disolvable. We are so glad that we had the opportunity to take them out, because they were not dissolvable sutures and it is possible that they still would have been there in February when the next team came. After a long day of physicals, half of our team went to Pierre Payan Hospital to take a tour. We saw the Operating Rooms, the Maternity Ward, and the In-Patient Ward. We all found ourselves humbled by what can be done here in Haiti. We were amazed to learn that they have very few post-operative infections. We are so thankful for the missionaries who live in Haiti and the teams that come in and provide for this population. We were reminded today that 50% of Haiti practices Voodoo which was a driving force for us to continue to serve these people and tell every child "Jezi renmen ou" (Jesus Loves You). Today was Maude's (our fabulous cook) birthday! The team celebrated with her by making a card (Thanks Rachel) and baking her a banana bread/cake (Thanks Sabine and Heather). She was so surprised and it made us all smile. We are so appreciative of her and were glad to be able to celebrate with her! Alison and Emily spent the morning wandering the school finding children who still needed their school pictures taken. By the end I would say that they were finding kids with ease! The students love when their cards have their pictures on them. They come up and point to the picture so that you know it is them! Kem decided not to do hemoglobins today because the kids didn't like her yesterday! To make up for the kiddos at Chardene thinking she was evil for poking their fingers, she spent the day doing snap chat filters with the kids.  Shari took over the unfortunate job of poking fingers and checking hemoglobins. After Kathy checked their feet, they would scoot over to play with the snap chat filters before getting their vision screened! Kathe spent her day assessing and cleaning ears. She also had the opportunity to hold down our screaming kid with the sutures; that was a team effort. Jeff continued to do height and weight with the kids. They get so excited to come up and give him a high five and stand nice and tall when it's time to get their height. The kids LOVE Papa Jeff. Rene decided not to check feet today ;) She felt her talents would be better used to collect kids from their classes since she knows where they belong and she doesn't need a translator! Joey and Rachel were busy all day! They always finds something to do! Jameson and Nick have been forgetting to initial their charts and so Joey came up with the idea to give them each a different colored pen. Now we just need to remember that Jameson is blue and Nick is purple! When Deb is not crying about not having an iPhone or the ability to "air bomb", she is becoming a pro at flushing ears.
Overall, it has been a great day! We are enjoying the music coming from the kitchen as Kitchen Karaoke is in full swing while we watch the storm brew over the ocean! God truly is a wonderful creator and we can't help but to see the beauty in his work! Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers!

Busy, busy day!!

We spent the day today at Chardene seeing only a few grades, expecting to be out by 2:00, but had a few surprises that extended the day.  We saw a sweet boy with a sore on his forearm which he said was the result of a curse put on him by a voodoo doctor and it would never heal.  With lots of encouragement from everyone, he was able to take his antibiotic, and he fully understood the directions for washing and dressing his arm each day.  We all then laid hands on him and prayed aloud for his healing.  Expecting God's hand to show in this in a big way.

We returned to the mission compound around 3:45.  The MP staff had planned and organized a dinner for those of us who sponsor a MP student.  They and their families were invited to come to eat and spend some time with their sponsor.  It was so memorable and special to have time to speak with them (through translators) and learn more about them.  We took a group photo and were so grateful for the time we had together and a wonderful meal provided by our cook, Maude.  

This evening we successfully talked Deb into telling her whitewater rafting story.  No one can tell it like she can and we were all laughing hysterically.  She also gave her testimony about how she came to be involved with MP.  We all love her very much and are so thankful for her work in this ministry.

We awoke this morning to no electricity, but Heather saved the day with her French press coffee pot.  Praying for electricity tomorrow morning.

Missing our families at home, but enjoying our time with our family in Christ, serving, laughing, sleeping, and sweating together in Haiti.