June 19 - Church and Port au Prince

Everywhere you look, when traveling in the cities; you see rubble, tents, earthquake damage and trash.  It's when you get outside the cities that you see the beauty of the land.



This is the Presidential Palace which was severely damaged in the earthquake. 





In Port au Prince, there are damaged, unoccupied buildings and homes everywhere you turn.



There are few stores.  Most products are sold on the sides of streets or in open markets.

All the days we were in Haiti were HOT days.  High 90s into the low 100s at times.  Sunday was no exception.  After breakfast we had a wonderful time of team devotions, worship and prayer at the Prayer Rock.  Then we changed into our church clothes and walked down to the church at the Mission.  We enjoyed singing, a drama presentation, a few short messages from different people and then a brief message given by the Pastor interpreted for us by Robinson.  The team was asked to go up front and sing as well for the congregation.  We chose to sing Christ Alone which had become one of our favorite worship songs during our devotion times.  Donald wanted to take the team into Port au Prince for a tour of the city.  It was a difficult trip because it was hot and long, but it was good for the team to get a good look at the main city of Haiti where many of Haiti's residents live.  None of us could even imagine living there.  The fumes, the trash, the congestion, etc.  Not a pleasant place to call home.  But many don't have a choice.  We were glad for the opportunity to experience Port au Prince, but we were also glad to head back to the Mission.  We were going to stop and visit another orphanage the Mission works with and do another VBS; but, because everyone was pretty tired from the past few days, we decided to head "home" to the Mission.  Colleen Bunse prepared the team a wonderful chicken fried dinner upon our return.  The rest of the evening was spent resting and in quiet time.  Some of the team continued to work on projects around the Mission.  After dinner, there was a fun time with Donald playing "Big Booty".  The teens....along with a few adults....played it for about two hours!  Lots of laughter!
"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Ps. 37:4

June 18 - Hiking, Haiti Walmart?, VBS Fun

Team got up at 4:00 a.m. today to take a hike up to a mountain top village Lifeline supports.  Elevation: 2,200 ft. Steep climb!



Sites along the way.  Haitians passing them up in flip flops carrying 60 lb. loads on their heads.





Voodoo temple at the top of the mountain.





Coming down!




Walmart? A Haitian market.





Fish anyone?  Don't forget the flies.




Or would you prefer chicken or maybe a skinned goat head?





Zach with the team's dear friend and interpretor, Salvador.  What a blessing he was to the team; especially the teens.  He often talked to them about God and loving and respecting their parents.  He told them that God put him in Haiti.  He doesn't know why but He did and that he has to love and serve God in all he does in Haiti; eating, sleeping, loving his family, working, etc.  He told the teens that God put them in Michigan, not Haiti.  He encouraged them not to compare the living conditions and wonder why God put them in the U.S. and Salvador in Haiti.  But instead, love and serve God in all they do in Michigan or wherever God has them.  In their eating, sleeping, working, schooling, and play.  A very special man.




VBS at a Baptist orphanage.





Everyone is tired as we head back to the Mission.  Even John.  It was a very full day!





Dinner at the Cantina.  And a cold pop!



Today started out very early for some of the team.  All but three members arose at 4:00 a.m. to begin a hike up a mountain outside the Mission compound.  Elevation....2,200 feet!  The team's fearless leader for the hike, Logan, wasn't sure they were going to make it.  But they did.  At the top was a village and school that Lifeline supports.  Since it was Saturday, there were no children in the school.  They walked around a bit and also visited another voodoo temple.  The way down was even more difficult than the climb up.  One young team member made the comment when she returned that she felt like a failure.  Why?  Well, she shared that as she huffed and puffed her way up and down this mountain, that she was often passed by Haitians walking in flip flops and carrying 60 lb. loads on top of their heads!  More perspective for you!  Pete and Jay had a special time of prayer over a Haitian man they met along the way. "When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked, 'Do you want to get well?' " John 5:6 In the late morning, the Bunse family arrived and joined the team.  They are adopting a little Haitian girl named Raymonda.  Three of the Bunse kids - Lily, PJ and Amanda, joined us on many of our adventures.  After a short rest and lunch, Donald wanted the team to experience a Haitian Walmart.  Well, to say the least it didn't resemble the Walmarts we knew back home.  He took us to an outdoor market where Haitians go to buy and sell anything such as livestock, clothing, food, toiletries, charcoal to cook with, cars.....you name it.  This is the place they buy and sell it.  The smells, the sights, the sounds, the heat, the closeness....it was almost overwhelming at different points.  Fish, meat, goat heads....covered in flies.  We walked through the market to the ocean side where fishing boats that look like they belong in time 2,000 years ago, bring charcoal over from the island off of Haiti.  Our feet and legs were black by the time we left there.  Danielle, Chris and Kim took turns carrying John.  As Danielle carried John, a few older Haitian women would go up to Danielle and touch her arm, look at John and tell Danielle, "God bless you".  We think they thought he was hers.  We were all very glad to see the yellow school bus and we climbed in a bit overwhelmed by what we had just experienced.  It was a good experience to see this part of their culture and how they have to shop.  It made us all appreciate the stores at home and how clean.....everything....compared to this place.  Then we headed off to an orphanage run by a Baptist Church.  This was a large, clean and very well built orphanage.  The team did another VBS at this orphanage and we had great fun here with the children.  After the lesson, craft and snack time happened, an indoor keep away game began with the older children of the orphanage and the "older children" of the team.....namely the dads! although the teens were involved as well.  But the dads were much more "vocal".  Much laughter!  After that we headed back to the Mission.  We were all very hot and tired after this day.  We had dinner in the Cantina that evening.  A Haitian dinner prepared by some of the women who arrive as early as 4:00 a.m. every morning to the Mission to cook the food that will be distributed that day to the various feeding stations.  The food they prepared and served was wonderful.  Especially the fried plantain.  We also received the treat of a cold pop in a glass bottle.  Wow!  That tasted good!  Donald's rule of thumb is that you aren't allowed to enjoy a cold pop in Haiti until you've been there for three days.  :-)  It was a very LONG day beginning at 4:00 a.m. and ending right after supper.  We skipped the time of worship, debrief and prayer.  Everyone was exhausted.  Great day though.  Saw God working in many ways in both team members and in the people around us!  Each day we've been blessed with "God incidences"...not coindences.

June 17 - Our Third Day



Quiet time on the porch at the Mission.





John, our companion for the week.  An orphan the Mission has taken in.





The church located on the Lifeline property. Stones were tithed by villagers so a church could be built for them to worship in.



Welding Vocational School, Sewing Vocational School and site of new warehouse at the Mission.



Cement Block Maker which once working will make 2,000 blocks per day.




The Cantina where thousands of meals are made each day on propane burners and then distributed to schools and orphanages.





View of the Cross at Lifeline from the soccer field.



Medical Clinic at Lifeline.  The last medical team at Lifeline saw 1,600 patients in one week!




The Sewing Vocation School at Lifeline.



Walking down the road from the Mission to the new orphanage property.



Workers beginning to dig the trench for the wall around the orphanage.  This project will bring much needed jobs to the local village.




Our guest team mate, Landon, with some new found friends.



Our first VBS of the day.  Elfie did a wonderful job teaching the children the Creation story.

Robinson was Elfie's interpretor.



Paper flowers was the craft for the day.  The children loved the colors!



The third orphanage we visited that day and held the second VBS there.

VBS was held in their church.  Their was a "heaviness" in the air at this orphanage.  Much sadness.



The voodoo temple that was visited. 



Donald Curtis, President of Children's Lifeline arrived and joined our team.  He brought a friend along with him.  Landon, a 19 year old young man from Tennessee.  Landon quickly became one of our team members and we were blessed to have him along on our many adventures.  It was a blessing to have Donald with us as well.  Arnold Lemke, Founder and Chairman of the Board was with us as well.  Arnold is now 80 years old and rarely makes it back to the Mission.  He was such a delight!  He would visit with different team members, especially the teens, and tell them about God's work at Lifeline and how it all began many years ago.  We also had as a constant companion while at the Mission, John.  A 2 year old orphaned boy the mission took in several weeks earlier.  He was adorable and won the hearts of everyone the moment we saw him.  After the morning rituals, Donald took the team for a tour of the grounds and different parts of the mission.  We toured the classrooms and the kids sang for us.  The team ended up singing a song for each class as well.  What a special time that was!  The children would laugh at our hand motions to the songs we sang to them.  We saw the church, the Catina where the thousands of meals per day are made that get transported to the surrounding villages/schools/orphanages.  Then we toured the medical clinic, saw the sun ovens, the block maker warehouse facility, the welding facility, the sewing vocational school and the large cement slab where a new warehouse will be built.  We also walked again through the surrounding village and went to the see the new property that has been purchased to build the first orphanage for Lifeline.  Construction on the wall for the property had begun.  God blessed this team with enough donations for this trip that not only covered expenses, but $7,000 was able to be given to Lifeline to build the wall around the orphanage land.  What a blessing!  The property is beautiful.  The local villagers call it "The Garden".  It is full of fruit trees and water flowing through it.  After lunch, some of the team stayed back to continue repair work on needed equipment at the Mission.  The rest of the team headed off to Barbancourt and led two VBSs.  The first VBS took place in a small, very run down church for an orphanage that was very small and the children only had stick homes to live in.  Very primitive.  The team did a wonderful job with VBS at this location and the children enjoyed their time very much.  The second VBS that day was done in another church at an orphanage that had better facilities than the first.  This orphanage had begun after the earthquake.  The man who ran it had found many orphaned children after the earthquake and began to care for them.  He housed them in small tents along side a village road and tried to feed them and give them schooling.  Lifeline staff found them one day and eventually helped to build the orphanage buildings they now live in.  The children enjoyed the VBS very much but there was a heaviness you could feel inside at this orphanage.  Many of the children never smiled.  Sadness.  You could only imagine what many of them were still dealing with after loosing all they knew just a little over a year ago after the earthquake.  Our hearts were heavy for these little ones.  Donald also wanted to show the team a voodoo house.  Donald has befriended this particular voodoo priest.  It was a little creepy to say the least but Donald did a wonderful job of explaining to the team how Voodoo came to be in Haiti and the role it plays in many Haitians lives.  He explained the murals on the walls and what rituals took place in the different rooms there.  We were glad to leave that place. After dinner and a time of worship, debrief and prayer, we went to bed during another heavy rainstorm.  You can see the ocean from the Lifeline property.  At night you can sit on the porch and watch the storms rolling in across the ocean. Amazing.

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Ps. 55:22


The Cantina at Lifeline.



The sun ovens at the Mission where bread is baked for distribution.