haiti

it's been over a month since our trip.
and a lot has happened in that month.
however, our trip to haiti was incredible 
and i have to document this so i don't forget a thing!

our arrival at the port-au-prince airport was an experience 

the girls and i won't soon forget.  our eyes were opened to another world.

the heat, the smells, the people, the poverty...

everyone wanted to help us with our bags.

however, we were instructed to not let anyone help us.

there would be someone waiting for us when we got thru customs.

they got physical and very demanding in their desire to help us.

while sam helped carry bags i held the girls hands as tight as i could.

tighter than i ever have.

fear set in.

it didn't last long because God took the filter off my eyes for the first time

in my sheltered life and my heart broke for the people of haiti.

the destruction from the earthquake was horrible.

and the poverty was just awful.

the below picture was taken during our 2 hour drive to christianville.

she was scared and sad at the same time.

catching lizards.

she started out catching them with a plastic cup.

however, by the end of the week she was using her hands.

christianville has teamed up with fish ministries.

below are the tanks of fish being raised to help start a ministry that will teach the poorest how to sustain themselves by raising their own fish.

there were times when i could have forgotten where i was.

haiti was breathtaking!

25 people went on this trip.

each of us checked 2 bags full of supplies.

that's 50 bags!

our first day in haiti was spent unpacking and organizing

the supplies we took.

here's where we slept at christianville.

the locals refer to it as a resort.

outdoor showers, cold water, rats, lizards and no electricity

during the nights is not what i call a resort.

 

here's the girls beds.

we spent several days at the new life center.

the kids living in the village would see us drive in--

they would run to greet us and spend the day playing with the girls.

christina and chrystala are 2 of the kids the girls became friends with.

the new life center is on the right.

it's a place where children can go on the weekends to have a meal.

without the center the children would not eat on the weekends.

the blue-tarp building on the left is a house.

lia and christina

we loaded up bags with children and baby clothes and headed out to nearby villages.
we split into 3 groups each with an interpreter.
they took us to the homes of the most needy.

the mother of this baby asked us to pray for her baby boy to be healthy.

she thought he was sick because he spit up a lot.

while sam was holding him he peed on his arm.

we also gave the mother 2 cloth diapers.

another photo of the beautiful countryside!

rezimond--a local boy who spent a great deal of time at christianville.

he quickly became of a good friend of ours.

a coconut tree!

fresh coconuts!

sam was the only one who liked them.

this is how we got around.

sunday after church we drove about an hour to a little resort on the beach.

the water was lukewarm but it was 90 degrees out so it felt wonderful!

 

sofie gave the message at the grand opening of the new life center one afternoon.

we made 200 bracelets that we brought with us.

they were made with hemp and had 6 colored beads on them.

black--stood for sin

red--stood for jesus blood

white--our sins being washed white as snow

blue--baptism

green--growing in your relationship with christ

yellow--heaven

sofie stood in front of over 250 kids and told them about jesus!

thank you God!

afterwords we tied a bracelet on each child.

while everyone was tying bracelets and handing out dresses to the girls and toothbrushes and paste to the boys i happened to look through the crowd and see sofie.

pure joy is what i saw!

she was just doing her thing!

totally in her element!

loving every minute!

it just might have been my most profound moment of the entire trip!

 

some ladies from our church made these precious dresses.

one morning we did an elderly feed.

the day before a few of us headed to the market to buy rice, beans, soap and oil.

then we packed those things plus, toothbrushes, paste and shampoo in pillowcases.

the elderly came to us at christianville and we passed them out.

 

this was such a funny sign.  look closely!

another photo from the new life center.

lia is helping the village kids pump clean water from the well.

it was the kids job to get the water.

they would carry those gallon buckets filled with water on their heads.

the least we could do was help pump.

we visited a school one morning.

sam gave the message.

each school had their own colors of clothes.

the girls wore matching ribbons in their hair.

the outside of the school looked like a circus tent.

on wednesday, the day before we left we visited 2 orphanages.

the building on the right was the where the girls slept and the boys was on the left.

we took lots of clothes, toys and candy!

a friend of mine and her 4 girls made 200 bookmarks for us to take.

we handed them out at the orphanages.

our last night at christianville with special friends.

the group that came from our church.

our drive to the airport.

lia began writing in her journal as soon as we left christianville...

and sofie cried tears of sadness.

she was so sad to leave her new friends.

neither of the girls asked once to go home.

piles of trash burning on the streets of port-au-prince.

homes.

 

so thankful to God for this opportunity!
can't wait to go back!