Haiti June 14, 2013

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! God is so good, all of the time. He blesses His children who endure the hardships and, I can tell you, Haiti has plenty of those. Today was another miracle day for TEM and me. This may not sound like much, but it is awesome here in Haiti. We were given – yes, you read it right, GIVEN – a water purification system. This system was designed and built by a fascinating Christian man who I had the pleasure to meet, Joe Hurston. Joe and his wife have a ministry called ‘Air Mobile Ministry’ that does disaster relief around the world, in over 40 countries. There are only about 900 of these water purification units in the world, and we are privileged to have one! Not only does he build these units, he repairs them (that is essential in a country like Haiti). First, we cannot thank God enough, but we thank Joe and His family for being obedient to their calling.

Today the team got the roof on the outhouse at Jerusalem IV – we will have to finish it with our next team. It needs doors, and we need to make the seats and do the concrete finish on the outside walls. What a blessing it is for the people there!

This afternoon the team went down to Daniel’s village to sing and do the “Set Me Free” skit, and afterward Ryan preached a short but powerful message. Notice how intently the people in the village watched as the demons got control of Hannah – because they know these demons – the people in this village live in the darkness. But it is amazing when Jesus comes and casts the demons to the ground, then the crowd yells with joy – what a powerful message in the middle of the darkness! I know one day we will be building a church there. I don’t know when, but we planted a seed there in 2005, and we have watered and nurtured it every year since – it cannot help to produce fruit. Please pray for Daniel and the people in the village.

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Report by Ethan and Wesley (a short story of our trip to Haiti by Ethan, Wesley, and partly Morgan Barber)

This is our first time coming to Haiti. Coming to the island was a cool experience because, when we fly somewhere, we usually see a lot of buildings and houses. Here we arrived to a lot of poverty, and poorly built houses. Being first-time visitors to Haiti, we were really grief stricken by the disorder, and how there are no street rules. The first day was definitely a cool experience, just riding through the city and seeing how the majority of the Haitians are living. There is definitely a concern about shoes. The heat isn’t too bad, except for the sun being very direct. About halfway through the trip, Bro. Chuck informed us that we had received a water purification system; because of this we don’t have to go to Port au Prince to buy water. To summarize the trip so far, it has been a good learning experience, and it has been fun to serve the Haitian people. Today Morgan Barber and Wesley Bowers had a hot sauce drinking contest, they almost died. Afterward, Wesley’s and Morgan’s stomachs almost melted away.

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Report by Alexia

Hi! Well, today was pretty interesting – we got to visit a voodoo village! Let’s stop and think: how many people get to say about their summer: “Dude, I visited a Haitian voodoo village.” Not only that, but how many get to say, “Dude, me and some of the other awesome people on my mission team, while in the village, got to sing and worship the Lord – we got to share the Word with these people in hope of their salvation.” I have a feeling that not many people will be saying that once I get back, and we all talk about our summers so far. It was so eye-opening! To see these lost people – but these people know the truth, they just refuse to believe. Today was a true blessing! I wouldn’t change this day for any other. Not only that, when we got back and had some down time, Bro. Chuck informed us that after so long, we had received a water purification system for the mission house. Wow – what a blessing! God works in the most amazing ways, and as always, He ALWAYS provides. Home in 3 days!