Christmas in Haiti....Part 2!

So, where did we leave off....right. Christmas Eve. Well, for some reason I let myself get talked into climbing up the mountain on foot this morning. Needless to say, I am not in shape to climb a mountain....so I had to stop about halfway because there was no way I was making it to the top, except on a stretcher. But God has a purpose for everything as usual! One of the Haitians that was "escorting" us up the mountain stayed and we were able to talk and become friends. It's always great to get to know Haitians and develop relationships with them. That's one of the many things I love about missions...the Christ-centered relationships that are built. God is sooo good!

After coming down the mountain, there were kids there at the church and we stopped and played the "slap game" with them. You don't need to speak Creole to make a kid smile or show love. :) This game will work anywhere. Promise. :)

On the mountain in Montrouis. : )

Next, we had the opportunity to walk around the neighborhood in Montrouis, where we were staying. Our bags were stuffed with snacks and toys for any kids and frankly, anybody we ran into that needed a blessing. :)  Going from house to house we were able to witness many people in extreme poverty and in desperate need of many material things, such as food, clothing, etc. However, the most important thing that happened on this day is the several people on this route accepted Jesus Christ because members of our group took the time to witness to them! Amazing feeling to be there as new members are added to the body of Christ.

Many houses have these built around their houses as privacy fences or even for walls. They are handwoven out of palm fronds or other plant parts. 

On this day also, we visited an orphanage. We were not allowed to take photos in the orphanage, which should tell you something right there. It is currently in the process of being shut down by the government. I took the picture below right outside of the gate where you go into the orphanage. To me, it speaks to the feeling and mood I experienced while vising this orphanage. There were probably 15 small children from say age 4-12, outside. We were not able to play with them or give them any gifts. Next was the hard part, we were taken inside to see the babies. There was a room with about 6 or 7 cribs in it, each with a beautiful child inside begging to be held, loved, even noticed. It was one of the hardest thing I have ever experienced. I asked if we were allowed to pick them up and hold them and I was told no. It was emotionally and physically hard to be in that room. In another room, were from what I could tell, special needs children in cribs. We were then taken up on the roof and given some information on the orphanage's situation. At first, I did not understand why God had brought us there to this place where it was apparent our presence made no difference. But, God spoke to me at this place and gave me a glimpse of what my future and purpose will be in Haiti...defending and caring for orphans. In the place, I got a chill...and you don't just get chills in Haiti. It was God! : )

We ended up going into what I considered to be "downtown" Montrouis on their market day. IT WAS CRAZY!!! Only in Haiti could you almost get taken out by a giant fish being carted on a moto down a street about as wide as a doorway! We were all glad to get out of there! But it was cool and different than the markets I had been to in Port-au-Prince.

At the market in Montrouis.

After we got through the market we were able to get a view of what I guess would be called the river for the area. We were told that many voodoo rituals take place here at night. I was pleased to see one of my Haitian kite flyers down amongst the many women washing clothes down there. 

Well I thought I could finish recapping the whole trip in 2 blogs....but I'm not going to be able to do that! ; ) So much to tell...I haven't even gotten to Christmas yet. : ) Stay tuned for more. God is good and God is in Haiti! I'll end this post with a picture of one of my Haiti kite runners! I'll never get enough of them.

Christmas in Haiti...the Greatest Gift! Part 1

Bonswa! I am back from spending my Christmas vacation in Haiti and of course, am missing it already. I wanted to do daily blog updates about my trip while I was in Haiti. However, the wifi in Haiti is a bit shady to say the least. Anyways, I was given an incredible opportunity to be part of a team with Love in Action Ministries and Give Us Hope Mission that spent a week ministering to Haitians by giving Christmas gifts, food, toys, and most importantly the gift of Jesus Christ.
We were blessed to stay at the Life Connection Mission House in Montrouis, which is about an hour and a half drive north of Port-au-Prince up the coast. Having spent most of my time in Port-au-Prince, I was so excited to go outside the big city and experience different aspects of Haitian life, culture, and worship.

Our beautiful sunset, God blessed us with every day.

I always find it hard to recap an entire trip because sooo many things happen. So I am going to summarize the high points that stick out in my mind. :)

Sunday was a hard day for me because I missed the my kids at CLS and found in really hard not being there. However, that afternoon, a sweet girl named Edlan came home with us from church. I cannot even describe the impact this one little girl had on our entire group. She did not speak English and we don't speak Creole, but some how we were able to communicate and bond with each other. We were able to load her up with LOTS AND LOTS of goodies. As a matter of fact, I think of all the stuff we had to sort through for the upcoming week, she got like one of everything. :) I ate dinner with Edlan and God used this one little Haitian girl to show me that life goes on at CLS without me and that there are thousands of Edlans in Haiti and that there is always work to be done. My ministry in Haiti does not stop in Port-au-Prince. This is totally random, but she did something that tickled me during dinner. She filled her tray slam full that night at dinner and anything she didn't like or want, she just threw it onto my plate. I'm not sure if she was just being generous or she just didn't like it. But it made me smile either way. 

On Monday, we traveled north to a village called L'Artibonite. This village has a large amount of voodoo followers, but Christ is strong there than the voodoo! We visited with a group of believers that hold church services I guess you could say in the back part of a person's house. Thankfully, God blessed or group with the finances to be able to begin construction of a church for this group of believers in this community. The time of worship we experienced was intense. I had never been around anything like this. It was such a blessing even though I had no idea what was going on half the time.

Worshiping in L'Artibonite. Words can't describe it. You just had to be there. 

After the time of worship and prophecy, we gave out water bottles filled with goodies to the children. For many of them, this was the only Christmas present they will receive this year. I snapped a picture of these two cuties outside as they were leaving with their gifts. Well I can see this is turning into a reallllllly long post. So, I'm going to tell y'all about the rest of the trip in another post. This gets us through Monday, December 23. ; ) Still have 4 more days to share with you! Thank you for supporting me in my passion for Haiti and continue to pray for the people in Haiti and for myself as I journey toward moving my life there in June. Bon nuit! : ) (Good night!)