Haiti

Hey everyone,
I'm sorry I haven't been able to sen out a newsletter in a while! It's been so crazy!

Well, there has definitely been a lot that has happened the past few months.

As many of you know, I went to Haiti for a week in May.

I thought I would share that experience with you for sure!

( A second newsletter will soon be coming with an update about my Honor Academy life and what's happened since my last newsletter )

The first thing we did when we got to Haiti, was go through the crazy transportation process. We didn't know where we were supposed to go at first. Then some random trucks were quickly being loaded with all of our stuff! At first, we thought it was okay, then we started getting worried because we couldn't find the local pastor that was supposed to be right behind us. Well, he finally showed up and assured us that these men were with him and it was okay to get in the trucks with our bags. Once we got to the house we were staying in for the week, we got out and immediately sat with some local girls outside their tent who were braiding each other's hair. I tried braiding one of the other missionary's hair but it totally failed. All of the Haitian women there were giggling at my attempt, but I had a great time. It was really cool to see how they put the braids in that are like extensions so their hair looks longer then it is. It was really interesting and I wished I had those awesome talents. I always wondered how they did that.

Then the children started to appear. The first one was Sampson, he was a little timid at first, but he warmed up to us very quickly!! Throughout the trip, we all got to know the kids very well. Some of them that I remember most vividly were Bilinson, his sister Benjina, Sarah, Mickinson, Jamie, Princess, and Stefan.

Although I totally fell in love with so many of those kids, my heart is definitely in the hands of Bilinson. I truly love that little boy!! He was just so full of life and had the most beautiful spirit!!

I also met a woman by the name of Nadia. I still keep in contact with her as much as our language barrier will allow, through e-mail. We were doing tent to tent ministry when I met her. She invited me into her tent to sit and talk with her. It went very well. We could easily understand each other and I learned that her younger sister, who was 13, died in the earthquake only months before. When I learned that, I saw so much of myself in her. I saw the pain as soon as she mentioned her sister, and I was able to share with her about losing my younger brother, and how God used that to bring me close to Him! She was so encouraged by that and we instantly bonded. :) She is totally my Haitian sister!

She came to visit me many times throughout the rest of my week there and we built an awesome friendship :)

While we were there, we were able to rebuild a barrier to stop eroding rocks from falling onto the road, clear an area of garbage and rocks to prepare for a future garden to help feed the people living in that area, do VBS with the kids, do tent-to-tent ministry and pray over the whole compound we were staying at, and the country of Haiti as a whole.

I really enjoyed my time in Haiti, and it was so extremely difficult to leave! I honestly did not want to and I was not ready, but of course, I had to.. I probably would never have left if I had the choice.

With all of the amazing and beautiful things I saw in Haiti, we also experienced a lot of disturbing/surprising things. Children with scars from rocks falling on them, children and adults with infections and wounds still not quite properly healed, children and adults with new wounds and sicknesses just from the poor living conditions, adults still in suffering from the emotional side of the earthquake and, of course, numbers of how many are buried there, and how many people never made it out of there and are still buried, how large that mass grave is... and so on and so on.

( the house behind the home we were staying in completely collapsed.. the family of seven were still inside, and probably remain there to this day. )

Although, there is still reasons to Praise the Lord!! A demon possessed woman who was freed in the Name of CHRIST! A blind woman who could see after mud was applied to her eyes, just like Jesus did :) and of course, the few, but very precious salvations we saw!! :D

To summarize my experience in Haiti; it was a trip that I will never forget and that I truly believe will leave a lasting impression for eternity.

Thank you for whatever you did to help me get there! I truly appreciate you and all you did!!