Greetings from Haiti,
OUTREACH; putting into practice what has been learned, serving Jesus
by serving others, dying to our own desires and comforts, and being
Christ’s ambassadors. Our DTS team safely arrived in Haiti at the
turn of the New Year to begin a new phase of DTS. After a 4 hr. drive
to the airport and 6 ½ hr. flights to Haiti, we were met by Pastor
Peter and informed of a 4 hr. drive to Pignon; where his church and
orphanage are located. We soon learned that traversing Haitian roads
is vastly different than travel at home. We piled our 30 plus pieces
of luggage into the bed of the truck and crammed the 14 of us into the
same truck and a small SUV. Our adventure was over some of the worst
dirt, stone and rutted roads I’ve ever experienced; not to mention
crossing a few rivers, replacing a dead car battery, 2 flat tires, 2
rest stops (one for water, another for the toilet, but no food),
lengthening our journey to 8 ½ hrs. for a total traveling time of
about 26 hrs., leaving us, needless to say, exhausted. As we know,
there is always good God works in every situation and we were
delighted to interact with the friendly natives at each stop, playing
with the children and viewing their way of life. Upon arrival we were
served a delicious meal of beans and rice, fried chicken, fried
bananas and soup, and settled into our rooms; exhausted, but well fed,
and thankful for our safe arrival.
Today is already day 5, Thursday, and 10 barrels of Gleanings’ soup
mix were unloaded at the church/orphanage. Pastor Peter blessed the
truck drivers with some and we are anticipating a village outreach;
doing dramas, sharing Jesus and being His hands and feet, giving soup
to the beautiful Haitian people.
Youth meetings were scheduled for Sun. – Fri. night, which actually
included every age group. Our previously prepared VBS material has
been useful for the younger ones; they have especially enjoyed the
crafts and we realized that many were using scissors for the first
time! As we pray and seek God daily He is using us to encourage the
people in their relationship with God. Each of us already had
opportunity to share a testimony.
Tuesday morning we walked through the village of Pignon, experiencing
the outdoor market and having the privilege of visiting and praying
for patients in the local hospital.
Work projects consumed some of our daylight hours, including:
re-organizing a tool shed, building shelves and painting a room at the
orphanage, and electrical work.
Wednesday we took another “ 4 hour” Haitian “road trip”, which we
quickly realized would again be much longer than expected; almost 8!
This time all 13 of us squished into the king cab truck, 6 in front
and 8 in the small truck bed, and experienced still worse roads. It
was encouraging, and a respite, to stop along the way and view other
churches Pastor Peter oversees. One congregation at San Michel meets
in a shack obviously constructed from whatever meager means were
available. A donation has been made to build a stable “shed”, which
will begin soon.
We are all enjoying spending time with and loving the orphans who are
still on school vacation this week. Chris and Philip play soccer
daily, Kayley quickly learns Creole from the children, and the girls
play clapping games. How sweet it is to see their smiles and joy as
we interact with them in many various ways.
On Friday we visited an outstation (a group of less than 100
believers) in the village of Bye, about 30 minutes away, where we
performed several dramas and testimonies and preached the Word. They
thoroughly enjoyed and understood the skits, which Pastor Meli
informed us was a completely new experience for them. Afterwards, we
extended a call of prayer for sickness, laid hands on them and prayed.
Five or six women came forward when we extended a call for salvation.
Upon leaving they sang us a Haitian blessing song, whereupon we sang
the Gleanings’ blessing song in return. Everyone who attended was
blessed to receive one or more bags of soup. Our team was thoroughly
blessed to be a blessing.
Hard to believe one week has already passed, sweet relationships have
been established and we will soon leave Pignon to return to
Port-au-Prince and minister with the YWAM base there. We are
anticipating and excited about all God will be doing. Thank you for
your prayers.
Blessings and love from Haiti,
Gleanings’ DTS Outreach Team 2011
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God making his
appeal through us.” 2 Cor 5:20