The home I go to or the home I leave I'm not sure...

This might be my last blog until I'm back in the states so pray for a safe trip home, and pray for my spirits to be uplifted and encouraged. I know it's going to be difficult to leave. It's not time to go yet I'm still dreading to leave. Hope to blog before I leave home, but if I don't much love to all!
P.S. I will be putting up more pics and blogging some more when I arrive home to the states. The Internet is too slow here to put the pics up so watch out, I'm not close to being done blogging.
Living for Him,
D

Out to the country one last time.....

Well I'm off to the country one last time. While I'm there I hope that you will pray alongside me these important prayers:

Pray for the team to leave a forever impact on the Haitian people and the Church. Pray the team members are impacted by this trip also. Pray that hard hearts will be softened and are open for the Lord to work. Pray none of the team members or RMI staff become sick. Pray that we all have safe travels. Pray that I experience God's glory and majesty once again. Pray that I become closer with the Haitian people, and with the Lord. Pray God prepares me to leave. Pray most importantly for God's Kingdom to be furthered.

Your sister in Christ,

D

My Great Big Missionary Adventure

Can’t believe I’m really here!

Sorry it’s been awhile since I blogged.  I’ve had a chance to reflect a bit and write out some of my thoughts. Make sure you read all the way to the end – there’s pictures at the end!!

As you know I went out with a Ft. Lauderdale team to Maniche. I had been really discouraged about the language barrier. Yes I was born in Haiti, but I had missionary friends. It didn’t help that I was really shy. On the contrary I still can get around and I know more than people think I do, but there is a limit to what I know. Being younger then I didn’t really see the need nor have the desire to understand and speak the language. Now being a little older and wanting to have a closer and deeper relationship with the Haitian people, I’m trying to soak up the language as fast as I can before I leave. Thankfully I have awesome Godly people helping me in the RMI missionary and national staff. They haven’t given up yet! Sad to say that I only have two more weeks left in Haiti to keep practicing, but I’m very excited to get back home and practice it with a college friend named Petey who is Haitian American.

I’ve been able to get close with each team and have learned many things with each one. The first team I went out on and got to know is the team from Estero near my home area and their sister church is called Cherette. I learned that God can use anyone and anything for His glory or to encourage a fallen spirit. There were many there on that team looking to impact, encourage and have a new beginning and personally I think everyone did find a little of it all.

There was a church here on the mission center helping build houses with RMI the same week from New Jersey. I learned from them that hard work is necessary to get the project done. They worked so hard and got so much done with the project. In four and a half days, they figured out how to put one together then took it apart and started to make jigs for the next team.

The next week there was a team from Des Moines, Washington. They were also working on the housing project. They worked hard and got the job done! But that’s not what I learned from that team. I learned many animal stories and how to be inspired. God inspired me to pursue Him and His Word, and He also inspired others around me to pursue Him and His people. I also learned a lot about what people believe about the “Historical Jesus” and the “Christ of Faith”. I’m reading a book called A New Perspective on Jesus by Charles Stanley. It’s definitely a hard read for me so I asked the pastor on the team some questions about it. He explained a lot about the topics “Historical Jesus” and “Christ of Faith” and what people believe about them. It was very insightful and helpful!

Then came the Maniche Sister Church. A shout out to JUDY MANGO!!!!! She really likes mangos. We had some good laughs. The team was fun and has great people involved. We all had fun painting the church together. Yeah oil based paint - just guess how many half white and half black kids were running around. Ha-ha But I’m glad there was enough paint thinner to go around. Special shout out to John. He stayed with the project all the way through. We all sort of quit after a few hours in that sun. I taught the kids how to play Ninja Warrior. It’s a game that I learned in college. You stand still and at the count of three you make a funny pose. When it’s your turn you try to hit the other person’s hand so you’re the last man standing, but the funny part is when you strike you have to freeze if you miss or not. So as you can imagine there were some pretty funny positions. Good Times! Even when we didn’t have time to play with the younger ones we saw them trying to play with each other later on their own. It was the cutest thing ever. Later on we found a few minutes to a play with them so that was really fun. I know we impacted those young people and kids by giving hope and love to them. Showing God’s love to them. Their smiles and laughs were all I needed to know that God is working in their lives through us. Hope goes a long way when there seems to be none. The Ladies tea was the exact same. We served them yummy treats and played a game with them. They sang to us and we danced together. We got to bless them with gifts. We got to shower them with love and compassion. We gave them a break and let them be kids again. You could see the stars in their eyes while they sang for us. You could see the fireworks go off playing the game. The Haitian women don’t have too much time for fun or relaxing so for us to serve them is beyond humbling. The ladies teas for teams are my favorite beyond comparison so far to anything I’ve done. It was sad to say goodbye to the team on Friday, but they are new found friends. I can’t wait to keep up all the new relationships I have formed over these five weeks!

Since I’ve been back at the mission center I’ve been helping with Hope for Kids. Today we had church then the Thompsons and I went to the beach! The forecast looked horrible but we went anyway. It didn’t rain at all when we were there. It was pretty dark over cast and windy but I still had a lobster meal, snorkeled, and went shell hunting! It was a lot of fun to get to know Rob and Becky and the kids better also! Then when I got home I played dominos with Gary and Marilyn, had dinner and watched a movie. What a hard life of a missionary. HAHA ;)

I have about two more weeks left in Haiti. I’m stationed at the mission center for now but Saturday I will go out with another team from Lafayette, LA to their Sister Church in Picot. I’ve been to this church a lot so it’ll be cool to see how much it has grown in the past four years. Tomorrow I’m heading to take pictures for Hope for Kids at a school about two and half hours away. So I’m getting up early but should be back by lunch! Pray that we keep safe…

Here are some pictures!

 The Florida Bible Church Team.

 Sharing some scripture at one of the Ladies’ Teas.

Getting some work done!

I LOVE the Haitian food!

Taking a couple of team members for a ride.

Your sister in Christ,
D

Story Time with D

Just a jog turned into a life experience. Two team members decided to go on an early morning jog, while staying at the sister church Maniche. One was Haitian and one Cuban-American. They are both very passionate driven men that love the Lord. They were walking up the mountain and saw this Haitian man walking down with some logs on his back. They decided to ask the man if he knew Jesus Christ. Well the man answered, "What can Jesus give me" One of the team members said, "living water." That was the start of an interesting relationship. It turns out that the man is a pastor and wanted to see where the team members were coming from. He was feeling very discouraged about all the religions in Haiti. (voodoo and Catholicism est...) The pastor invited the two team members to his home. After hiking up and down around and every where else they got to the home. They said it was beautiful. They got to meet his wife and son. They got to drink coconut milk and sing songs of praise to the Lord. But most of all they got to encourage a very fallen spirit. The pastor and his son got to come later to the going away service for the team at the Maniche church. The two team members said they felt like little kids with so much excitement to see their new found friends had come. When they got back to the church they told the story with so much passion. Tears of humbleness, joy, love, and pure encouragement. God puts different people, different circumstances, and different things in our path to challenge, motivate, teach, encourage, and inspire us. Over all He wants us to be better people to impact the World He given us. I believe God worked in powerful ways that morning and the rest of the week in that pastors heart. The members said that his heart was hard, but God worked on the pastor's heart and the pastor came to the service like I had said before.
That is one of the stories that was just amazing to be able to tell and experience.
Only what HE wants,
D

Time for a new adventure in the country!

I'm off with a team from Ft. Lauderdale to their sister church in Maniche. I'm so excited! We leave today and will be back this coming Wednesday. The past few days I have been able to work with Hope for Kids. I also have been able to catch up with good friends. It was such a blessing to be able to do. Here are a few things you can be praying for while the RMI staff, myself, and the team is out in the country....
Prayer List:
Pray that the team impacts the community.
Pray the team members are also impacted by this time with their church.
Pray for the non-believers that may hear the message of the Gospel, that their eyes and ears may be opened.
Pray that I am impacted by the people and that I may impact others.
Pray for safe travel and that everything happens smoothly
Pray for the RMI staff as they are working hard to make everything happen smoothly and are under a lot of stress.
Pray for lives changed!

Love you all and please keep us in your prayers!
D

The House help where I live.
They are great women that help so much.

Hot Hot Hot

I got to admit it's really hot here. During the day there are only a few times that it's not hot for example in the shade or when a breeze comes. I think the only reason why I haven't gained weight is because I sweat it right off. But I the food here is amazing every meal. Well there were two things I didn't care for. One is breadfruit whipped into this hard foam goo and it's dipped in this slimy sauce both having no taste to them. The Haitians love it. It's called tomtom. The other was this oatmeal type cereal that oatmeal lovers would love but for me it wasn't up my ally. Other then those two I have just enjoyed eating so much. The Haitian's hospitality surpasses ours at any rate. They make so much food for the teams when they have so little. They give up there beds and sometimes even home for the teams to stay at the church. It's just so amazing. I couldn't really see the people in the US be so open and loving right away unless you were foreigner.
When I got back from the country I helped where I could then saw my dad off back to the states. I went back home (Gary and Maryland's house) and tried to recover from a very long week. As much as you think you drink water you really don't drink enough. I thought I did, but I guess I didn't cause I was feeling sort of under the weather. Friday the next morning I was moving pretty slow but went over and talked to Rob Thompson the field director in Haiti. We had a good talk and had lunch. The best part of the day was when we (Rob, Becky, and I) went into town together. That was a lot of fun. Town is hard to describe. It's like ants in an ant farm, orderly but chaotic. After that adventure I went to catch up with some friends and found out that one of the girls was going to play volleyball so I got to join her! It was a lot of fun! The Haitians are pretty good. We only peppered but I can't wait to play with a net! Saturday Gary and Maryland's home church came in to work on the housing project. They had it under control and didn't really need my help so I help Maryland with Hope for Kids most of the day. Once the guys were done for the day we packed into trucks and headed out to the Retreat Center. Sunday we all went to the teams Haitian church. That was a lot of fun as usaul. The team members were really excited to be there. Kids in a candy store. Every one had a glow about them and it's not just the sweat. There was this little girl that was giving everyone kisses on the cheek. You'll see a picture of her. She's in a green dress. The church was right on the beach in a beautiful area. We had a great time with the poeple. After eating we headed back to the Retreat Center, oh yeah did I mention we had ice cream! Yeah it was better then in the states. So good.
Now the team is working on the houses and I am working on Hope for Kids. I'll be trying to get the pictures on the blog as soon as I figure how to.
Only by the grace of God,
D

I'm Back!

Wow what an amazing week. I went out with a team to a town called Cherret. It's a little north of Les Cayes. It wasn't a long drive but it sure gave my heart a leap when we drove through the very crowded streets of the small market. The trucks barely made it through. When we arrived at the church we were greeted with a huge group of kids singing with the pastor, his wife, and church members. They welcomed us with such gratitude, love, and happiness. I can't even express the over whelming feeling I had to be already loved by people who had no idea who I was. I have awesome video, but unfortunately it's going to be a bet before I can place it on the internet to share. After the awesome fanfare, we had an amazing great big meal. The food was better then I remember. We had a debriefing meeting, where we prepare the team for what they should expect to happen and what is planned over the next four days. The sleep was hot quiet and paint filled.
Funny story time with D,
Well out in the country Haitians don't really have the best bathrooms, but fortunately this church did. They were located outside of the house were we staying. At night they locked all the doors and gave us bed pans. Out in the country of Haiti in the middle of night nothings awake not even the crickets. (well exept the really annoying dogs and chickens) I wasn't going to go to the bathroom and everyone hear me, so I figured I would just open the door quietly and go outside. The pastor didn't tell us that the door had been freshly painted a couple of days before. ooops.... To open the door quietly I leaned against it with my arm and upper thigh. When I successfully opened the door and proudly patted myself on the back I realized I was sort of stuck to the door. I had to peal my arm and thigh off. In the morning I had a blue streak of paint down my arm and a bit down my thigh. So the next night I thought I would try a different method, but woke up with a blue hand. It didn't really work, so I gave up and used the bed pan. Yeah that's right... ThAt GOOOD!

Sunday was so much fun. There was clapping, joyous singing, and love all around. The Haitians sing so beautifully. Just one night and morning and I could already see God in the peoples eyes and hearts. We had a service that night also. It was so much fun. We sang and danced! Out of the whole trip the singing and dancing, praising the Lord was my favorite. There was also a youth meeting, that was fun also. I taught some of the team members a skit so we did that for them. They loved it. Lots of laughing and smiles. (for the trinity students we did the "chair skit")

The next day the lady's packed goody bags for the Haitian women and men and the men built a wall. That was a hot day. The next day we had a women's tea and the men had a "men's tea". We had so much fun with the Haitian women. They are so precious.
Over all the trip went very well. We left on time the next day unfortunately the last day and got to the Retreat Center tired some sick and excited to be able to stop swetting.
The people at the church really impacted my life in many ways. I got to experience a satisfied life. I learned to be excepting to everyone through the Haitian people. I learned that I don't like taking showers with spiders, crickets, or cockroaches.

Oh there are many more stories and memories made, but that is the short version of a week with a team. God worked in so many ways in that one week. He touched hearts. He showed encouragement to those who really needed it. He opened eyes, and He used people for His glory!