Monday, February 13, 2012

Already Worth It

The February 2012 Team has made it to Haiti! We landed Sat afternoon and, after a harrowing drive thru Port-Au-Prince in the back of a rather questionable van, arrived at Mission of Hope. A team from Texas is working with us this week, so while we waited for them to arrive, we spent some time resting and settling in to our bunk rooms. Once the mosquito nets were in place, and we had lathered on the Deet 100, we explored the 80 acre campus a little.

When Texas got here, we ate dinner, which was much better than expected! Our trip leader, Shawn, had said he gained weight last time he came, and we are beginning to understand why. After our meal, everyone serving on campus (in addition to our 11 and the 15 from Texas, there are about 50 here from Canada) came together for a welcome from the MOH staff and some time for worship. The generator that runs the power here is not 100% reliable, and the lights went out right as the acoustic guitar started. It was actually a perfect way to end the night, praising the Lord in the dark, with only our voices ringing thru the night.

We all slept very well (perhaps it had something to do with getting up at 2am on Sat!) and started the day Sunday with an official tour of campus. The scope of MOH is unbelievable, with the construction/mission arm, a school, an orphanage, clinic, prosthetics lab, nutrition program, sewing/craft ministry... It is truly incredible. We ended our tour at church, which was spoken mostly in Creole. It is an open-air building, shaped like a cross. The authenticity and joy in the way the Haitians worshiped was inspiring to all of us, and despite the language barrier, we sang and prayed along with them. You could feel God's presence in that building!

The remainder of the day we spent driving to the two MOH villages being built. We will most likely be working at these villages later in the week, but it was great to see them and hear the plans they have for these locations. The people were so warm and friendly, and so happy to welcome us. The children just come running when they see the bus, and tug on you and hug you and insist on being picked up and carried and played with. I'm sure we will talk much more about the kids later, so I'll stop there for now!

Today (Monday) we hit the ground running and spent the whole day in some of the remote villages on the hillsides of Haiti. We had some awesome interpreters with us, to bridge the language gap, and we walked through the villages, meeting people who live there. They were also welcoming and kind, and the children are SO loving! As we stopped at various houses, we asked if the family had any specific needs we could pray for. Whether they were believers or not, everyone was willing to share the needs of their family. We laid hands on them and prayed, and encouraged them with love and laughter.


One of the most incredible moments of our day happened about 20 minutes into the morning. After we prayed for a woman who was without a job and desperate to provide for her family, a young woman came to the interpreter and said she wanted us to pray for her because she wanted to know Jesus. Talk about an eye-opening experience! After some Creole discussion to ensure that she understood what she was asking, she knelt on the dusty road and we laid hands on her and prayed over her right there. It was incredibly powerful. If God isn't gracious enough, after she stood up, another young woman knelt with the same request!! It was amazing, and humbling, and such a huge thing to experience. God was truly moving in that village and we all felt so blessed to just be there to witness it.

I have to sign off now,but I left it on a high note :) We will try to blog later in the week, and keep you updated on the ways we continue to see God's hand here in Haiti. Keep the prayers coming, as they are obviously working!

Love, Erin (and the rest of the team!)

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