Haiti December 31, 2014

Report by Emily Bonny, Becca Ryan, and Meagan Phillips

This morning we left the Truth Evangelistic Ministry mission house on the military truck to go to the Mission of Hope in Titanyen. There we learned more about their ministries, including their schools, clinics, orphanages and churches at this campus. An inspiring aspect of this organization is that its many operations are self-sufficient and self-sustained by their Haitian employees. In case the government ever wanted to kick out all Americans, Mission of Hope would continue to thrive in all of its different ministries. Their clinic had recently undergone renovations and help was greatly needed to get it running on time. Our team worked on painting the rooms and courtyard of their clinic. We met various teams that had the same passion and love for serving the Lord. We experienced how small our world is when we met one of the teams from Austin. One woman there has an adult sister with special needs and we were able to introduce her to Camp Blessing Texas. How great is our God?!

During lunch, we had the opportunity to explore more of the mission including the orphanage, where we played with some of the children. There is a store called 3 Chords that is run by Haitian women who were injured in the earthquake. They make all of the merchandise, and all of the proceeds go back to these women. They make bracelets, headbands, purses and wallets. While we were painting the walls, the ceilings and all the medical examination rooms, we experienced God’s continued hand of protection on our team. One of our team members, Laura, had a really bad fall as she tumbled off a high stack of cinder blocks. It could have been really bad, but the Lord cushioned her fall and she only experienced a bruised tailbone. God is so faithful! After we painted a little longer we headed back to Z’Orange, where we ate dinner and learned more about our translators and the goals for Truth Evangelistic Ministry. It was inspiring to hear their hearts and listen to their back stories and the struggles they went through just to attend school. It showed us how blessed we are to have a free and appropriate public education. Later tonight we are going to a village to celebrate New Year’s Eve at one of the local churches.