Christian Missionary Fellowship - Christian Missionary Fellowship - Gonaives, Haiti 2011

Friday June 17, 2011. The alarm clock at 2:15 a.m. this morning was almost a relief! I am sure I didn’t sleep much last night with the pre flight jitters I had for the big day ahead to travel to Haiti. The ten of us on this short-term mission trip met for the first time at the Columbus Airport. 5 men and 5 women, 2 from Indiana, 3 from Beverly Ohio, 2 from Dayton Ohio, and 3 from Brown and Adams county in Ohio. The sound of Ed’s laughter on the plane was a welcomed sound, calming me as I witnessed the excitement bubbling over in him and spilling out over everyone enjoying his company. The organized chaos at the Port a Prince airport was a strangely familiar sound! It really amazes me just how we find all 18 pieces of luggage and actually make it out of there in a somewhat timely manner. Hearing Sansurian call my name from the crowded streets of Port a Prince melted my heart, as I love him so much! On the 4-hour bus trip to Gonaives we saw something we had never seen before when we visited, RAIN! As we started off the bus that was parked in the alley by Sansurian’s house, the little children ran to us squealing with delight. What a welcome!

Saturday June 18, 2011. The men started right away today collecting materials and sorting tools to build the scaffolding and tool cabinet in the back room. Today was a day of preparation for us girls. Preparing crafts and lessons for the 200 expected for Vacation Bible School at Gonaives Christian Church wrapped up nicely. Months of worrying how it would all come together, was useless! God is able, and all we have to do is be willing, and follow, and trust of course! We did have one slight interruption today as we noticed the 5 little children from next-door watching intently every move we made. (Houses are extremely close in this neighborhood.) They were delighted when we acknowledged them as they smiled the biggest smiles! They REALLY enjoyed the small puppet show Scottie put on for them and especially the silly bands he threw over to them. I went to the market today with Sansurian and it was as crowded as ever! Traffic jams like I have never seen before! The site of John Ramon’s church was wonderful! They have been very busy, as they have completed a lot of work on the footer and walls. Ed and Scottie were well pleased, and things should go as planned for the 2012 project. It is so good to help these hard working Haitians!

Sunday June 19, 2011. Touching the hands of the little children in the Gonaives Christian Church was a heartwarming event today. Shaking hands with the beautiful people was so humbling to me. My prayer more than anything is each one of them may feel a touch from the Master’s hand as I extended my hand to theirs. Worship was overwhelmingly moving as I listen to familiar old hymns being sung in Creole. Lord, help me to feel the things that You feel, love people the way You love people, and see this world through your eyes! Sunday afternoon we had a welcomed surprise. Zach Wade had arranged to have 5 water purifying systems delivered to Sansurian’s house, compliments of a grant from International disaster relief services (IDES) They did a short demonstration and once complete we were able to drink safe drinking water directly from Sansurian’s well. I can only imagine how many lives these 5 filters will save!

Monday June 20, 2011. We took VBS to the Jesus loves me orphanage today. The men were building closets and occasionally playing with the kids there. The children seemed to really enjoy all the things we did with them, the puppet show, the bracelet craft, snacks of cookies and kool-aide, face painting, and making balloon animals. They even enjoyed the stamp markers we brought stamping on the yellow legal pad that Tracey gave them. Nothing could top the soccer balls though, that got them really excited. Again, it was a full day with not a minute to spare.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011. Vacation Bible School at Gonaives Christian Church was crazy but wonderful to say the least. 200 plus children and Sansurian forgot to leave us a microphone! Millio was so wonderful to be our translator and teacher today. He was so patient and kind with the kids and us. The men worked hard today as they were building our storage cabinet and scaffolding. The water pump at Sansurian’s house has burned up and they are working hard to fix it. These all sound like simple tasks but EVERYTHING you do in Haiti is extremely difficult to accomplish.

Wednesday June 22, 2011. VBS at Gonaives Christian Church again today. Things were a little easier having a microphone and I am especially grateful for the great translating of the skits Daniel Jean Claude did for me before I left. Again I see how God provides! The men are still working on the water pump and the welder that won’t work and starting to work on the Jigs for the trusses to be built on John Ramon’s church in 2012.

Thursday June 23, 2011. Today we went to Millio’s church to do Vacation Bible School for the children who attend there. We only had about 50 in attendance, but they loved everything we did. The children were extremely well behaved and very enthusiastic. It was good to do something nice for Millio, as he has been such a big help to us this week. The men wrapped up all the building this morning and the pump seems to be doing well. We tried to go up to Ennery today to check out the church project, but ¾ of the way there, a truck was blocking the road with a broken axle and we had to turn around and come back. It was a lovely drive through the mountains and the people we saw were very friendly. God has created such beauty in this little country we call Haiti.

Friday June 24, 2011. Wake-up call at 4:00 a.m. Leave at 4:30 a.m. for a 4 hour school bus trip to Port a Prince. (I still can’t believe how many people were out in the alley to see us off) A 3 hour wait at the airport for a 1½ hour plane ride to Miami. A 4-hour wait at Miami for our 2 hours on the Tarmac. A 3-hour stormy flight to Columbus and a 2-hour car trip home. Arrived safely home Saturday morning at 3:30 a.m.

Thinking back over the days of this last week, my thoughts are saturated with the beautiful people I leave behind. Each one has touched my heart in a very special way. Remembering God’s faithfulness is so sweet! Not 2 days of VBS but 4. Having just enough of everything we brought, down to the very last little bead for bracelets. The men accomplished everything they needed to and feel ready to build that church in Jan. / Feb. 2012.

Strange feelings come over you when you're on a mission trip. You find yourself in a far away land and yet you feel so "at home." You don't want to leave, yet you are anxious to get back from where you started. Strangers become your family and you feel love like you've never known before. A man from New York told me this week, that he believes your spiritual eyes are forever opened when you go on a short term mission trip to a third world country and I believe him! I know I have never been the same since my first trip to Haiti in 2010. To God be the glory, greeat things He hat done!

Hi all,
I spoke with Doug Ford a little while ago. The team arrived Friday evening about 5:00 safely at Sainsurin's.
All are well and all is going well. It is extremely hot and the humidity is high. Monday they will be teaching VBS at the Jesus Loves Me Orphanage. Tuesday and Wednesday they will hold VBS at Sainsurin's church. Thursday they will be at Jean Raymond's church. Nancy is in process of making over 400 balloon animals. The team will also be building closets at the Jesus Loves Me Orphanage. As of now,this is all the information I have. Carol, will you please forward this e-mail to anyone else that I don't have addresses for. Doug Ford will be calling his wife Mary who in turn will be contacting me from time to time. If anyone else hears from one of the team please e-mail me or Carol Thatcher or Melissa Hendrix, who will contact the rest of us. Melissa is in charge of keeping the website up to date. Please keep the team in your prayers.
--
Lisa St.Clair

Greetings from Haiti. I will be trying to give you updates to put on the website for CMF. The internet does not work all the time so I will give you info when I can. Things are going great here. The guys are at the orphanage this morning installing closets for Regge Thomas. Us girls are headed there shortly to do VBS with the kids. We have visited John Ramons church and you would not believe how much they have gotten done. Things will be going as planned for the trip in 2012, and Ed feels good that things are under control, (as much as they can be for Haiti) The water pump burned up it's motor so Ed is fixing it today, Thank God we had full tanks before that happened! Sansurians house is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! He has painted and has beautiful wooden cabinets and ceramic tile on all the floors. We actually have a refrigerator this time, but Mary still cooks in her outside kitchen she made in the back. She is taking good care of us. Her hospitality is so humbling to me. She truly has a servants heart. We have had electric most all the time, the internet is another story. The people here are as beautiful as ever, and the children were more than excited to see us. They all ran to the bus as we were getting off, just squealing with delight! My heart was squealing as well! To God be the glory, Great things He hath done! I will write again soon, love and miss you all, Nancy

The Internet is working today, very slow, but working! They are building the scaffolding for the job in 2012 today, and Scottie and Zachariah are building a much needed cabinet for a bunch of our stuff in the back room. It took 2 days to fix the water pump but I believe it is fixed now.The closets got finished and Vacation Bible School went great at the orphanage. The children were as well behaved and precious as they could be. Ed had something in a plastic bag when he got there and when he threw it away a little boy grabbed it right up and made a kite with it in no time! People are very resourceful here in Haiti! VBS started today at Gonaives Christian Church and we had around 200. Things were crazy for a little while, but it was wonderful! The children at both places LOVE the puppets. (the adults do too!) They just laugh and laugh at them! Thank you to Daniel Jean Claude for interperating the skits for me, it has made things much easier that way. Another really big hit is the beaded bracelets each one gets to make. Truthfully, they appreciate and love everything we do. Mary and Sainsurin are taking good care of all us, and it is still REALLY HOT! (note to self, bring battery opperated fans next time!) Thank you to all of you behind the scenes who make all of this possible, God bless each one of you! Nancy