Wrapping It Up

Hard to believe we have now all but wrapped up day 6. This is the 3rd trip to Haiti that FBC has supported and my 3rd visit. Each trip has been blessed by God and each has been very unique. This trip has refreshed our souls and validated why we are called to go to all the corners of the earth and preach the gospel.

This week there were a lot of children loved, families fed and sweat sweated! I know that this team was obedient to God's will. I am so impressed with our youth. How they embraced the challenge and not for even a second backed off from loving the Haitians. Each were stretched outside of our comfort zones but especially our youth.

I am so proud of this team and my prayer is that some of the seeds we planted will manifest into more souls won to Jesus.  First Baptist family, thank you for your support and prayers. Without both this work cannot be accomplished.  Praise God for what he has done and will continue to do.

Jim Clark, Haiti team leader

My Estafano Moment

As we visited the orphanage on Tuesday I was very unsure of how it would go.  I felt very much outside my comfort zone.  When we arrived, the children sang a few songs for us and then they broke up and filtered through our group.  I was standing toward the back not sure what to do next.

At that point, I looked down and a small child, probably no more than three, was standing at my feet with his arms stretched up for me to pick him up.  I hesitated at that moment because he had visible sores, a running nose, and a bad cough.  Our host Jeff had warned us that some of the children were sick and that it was OK for us to be "selective" in who we interacted with.  I was embarrassed that I hesitated for that reason, but I did.

I shared with our group later that at the moment of hesitation, God placed a portion Mathew 25:40 on my heart.  What I heard was "the least of these" where Jesus said that whatever you do to one of the least of these my brothers, you do also unto me.  At that point I picked this child up (I learned later his name was Estafano).  From that point on I had him for the duration of our visit.  It was clear he did not feel well and just wanted to be held.  We played together and later one of the staff took him from me to go get his food. I spent a few minutes with several of the other kids and then Estafano appeared at my side again with a plate of food in his hands.  I heard later from several of our group members that he came out of the kitchen searching for me.  We sat down and  I fed Estafano.  I noticed that each spoonful he would "kiss" the food before I put it into his mouth.  Occasionally he would point to my lips before he did this but I was unsure what he wanted.

To the side nearby was a group of larger boys, probably 10 - 11 years old.  They had stayed back from the rest of the group but one of the boys was keeping a close eye on me.  In a while he came up to me and Estafano and I learned that they were brothers.  Estafano's brother took the spoon from me and filled it, then blew on it (as if cooling it) and fed it to his brother.  The food was stone cold but somewhere in these children's past, someone had blown on their food to cool it before spooning it to them.

When we finished feeding Estafano, the brother (Marcus) stayed with me and wanted to play some games.  He showed me several and as we played, more of the older children gathered around.  Before long we had a large group of the older children gathered around us and playing.  I don't think the older kids get as much attention from "Blancs" (that is what they call us - whites).  But we had a great time as a group playing games for the remainder of the visit.

I shared this story with the group in one of our daily devotions because my hesitation was natural - but what a joy and blessing I would have missed if I had made the decision not to pick up Estafano.  God did not call us to come to Haiti to "fix" Haiti, or build a church or a bath house - he simply called us to come.  God can accomplish much through us if only we take that first step of faith in obedience to his call.  That act of obedience blesses God and He in turn blesses us.  During that devotion time I told the youth in our group that they will make many important decisions in the next five to ten years of their life, and these decisions will set the course for their future.  I wanted them to remember this trip and how God blesses us in our obedience.

I was blessed in my "Estafano moment" because I set aside my personal concerns and fears and responded to God's urging and the simple need of a sick little child to be held.  I may never know the impact that had on others but I know it is a moment I will never forget.  And it is a daily reminder to me to make the obedient choice whenever I feel a moment of hesitation.  The blessing is ours to receive.

Jody Watts

Pulling in the Nets

This post is getting up late because the internet connection was down last night because of a storm that rolled through yesterday evening.  But Wednesday was an eventful day. On Tuesday afternoon, we bagged rice in 5lb bags to be delivered on Wednesday morning. Bright and early Wednesday morning, we headed to Royale to pass out bags of rice.  Royale is a village sitting on the beach. As we walked toward the water, men were pulling in nets to draw in their catch. The guys in the group, led by our missionary Big Jeff, jumped in and started pulling. By the time we finished pulling, a crowd had gathered. Big Jeff stood up and shared the gospel with the group of people. Then Terry stood up and shared his heart.  After that, we passed out bags of rice to the moms in the village. We had a few bags left when we got back to the bus so we handed them out as we walked out of the village.  Jeff's goal is to have a church gathered in the village in the future.

We left there and went to another village that is closer to the mountains. It's surrounded by plantain fields, mango trees, and an assortment of other agriculture. After a walk around the village, we went to the church building where Jeff shared the gospel and Jim shared his testimony.  We passed out rice to the moms and as they walked out of the church each mom would raise her hands and say, "Merci, Jesus!"

After a siesta, we spent the afternoon painting a community outhouse and putting a roof on it. The outhouse is in the community where our team had worked last year building two houses. We had planned on building a house in the same community this year but weren't able to get to it. It was quite the experience doing the work because the outhouse was already in use. Let's just say it was a very odoriferous experience. The work went quickly and we were able to finish painting inside and out and get the roof on in one afternoon.  

Thanks for all of the prayers . . . 

FBC Haiti mission team!

Heaven in a Haitian Orphanage

We had been warned by "Big Jeff", our missionary host, before we arrived at the orphanage to expect to be shocked emotionally at what we would see and experience.  As I got off the bus and walked into the orphanage grounds, I viewed conditions akin to a labor camp in Nazi Germany during WWII.

Then I entered into a large lean-to tarp/tent with crude wooden benches where about 60 Haitian orphans were singing, clapping, and praising Jesus at the top of their lungs in their native language---with huge smiles on their faces!  I stood there in complete amazement as I took it all in.  And I was humbled.....a doctor from the U.S. on a one week mission trip to Haiti got a glimpse of what Heaven will be like as children with absolutely nothing from a material standpoint sang to Jesus with incredible JOY!

And this joy was obviously completely INDEPENDENT of their circumstances in life.  A child would be hard-pressed to find himself in more difficult conditions than these children experience---no running water, one outdoor bathroom without septic facilities, tattered clothing, poor nutrition, no toys, etc.  Yet they were full of joy.  And I felt ashamed.  So often I have complained about various circumstances in my life.  I have allowed circumstances to steal my joy. I was reminded by these precious Haitian orphans that TRUE joy is found only when we rest in Christ Jesus alone.  And I was convicted to stop complaining and to count my many blessings---to thank God in ALL things, ALL the time.

Terry Ezell, MD

Rocks and the Gospel

We hit the ground running on Monday morning. After breakfast, it was a short ride to the church building in Guitton. Our jobs today were to paint the outside of the building and to prepare sand for the stucco. "How do you prepare sand?" you ask. Well, it involves a big pile of dirt and rocks of every size, a sieve, a shovel and a wheelbarrow. One person tosses a shovelful of dirt and rocks into a sieve. The person holding the sieve shakes until the only thing left is a bunch of rocks while the pieces small enough to use for the stucco end up in the wheelbarrow. Rinse. Repeat.

Pedro and David were assigned the job of making sand when we got off the bus. Eventually Seth, Reese, Ashley, Victoria, and I took turns shoveling and sifting. We worked with a Haitian named Richard. In the course of the morning as we shoveled and sifted, Pedro and Richard were able to communicate using a mix of Spanish and French Creole. Richard is 30 years old, lives two doors down from the church, is married and has a couple of children. After some conversation, Richard invited Pedro to his house. While Pedro wasn't able to go, it was awesome to see Pedro and Richard create a relationship that overcame the boundaries of race, class, and language. 

As he shoveled, Pedro asked Richard about his view of God, his relationship with Christ, his hope for heaven. Pedro did his best to share about Christ's love. In the end, Pedro was able to pray with Richard in the hopes that he would come to know Jesus as his personal savior.

It was awesome to see how a pile of sand and rocks led to an opportunity to share the gospel.

Keep praying and keep believing that our Savior can make a difference in our lives and the lives of those we meet here.

Jamie

Treasure

Today we started painting the church building at Guitton. But then we decided to clean up a soccer field for the kids who had showed up. While we were there, I met three little girls. They decided to help us pick up trash. I noticed that one of the girls liked my sunglasses so I gave them to her. She looked at me as if I had just given her gold. She was so grateful. She hugged and kissed my cheek. Then she called me sister. I was amazed one little thing could mean so much to a person.

Rebekah

Mountains and Smiles

Today started early - very early if you got up when the roosters started crowing - with biscuits and gravy before heading to worship services at two different churches. One group went to Nawash. The other went to Guitton to worship.  After a bumpy ride in the bed of a truck we arrived at a small church building which sat near rows and rows of plantain trees.

Despite our inability to understand the words of the church member there, their love for the Lord was evident and their worship indescribable. It was hard to resist clapping, dancing and raising hands to the songs they poured out in such a beautiful language. It was amazing to see these kind and gently people become so full of passion and life as they sang and prayed with a fervor that I've rarely seen before. Merci, Senor!

After lunch and quite a few rounds of card games at the compound, our group ventured nearer to the mountain to see the structure which sends water throughout the villages. The children who played in and near the water there clung to our hands and posed for pictures. Their smiles were more beautiful than the mountains.

As this is my first trip out of the country, I have been amazed at how different life here is - in both heartbreaking and beautiful ways. There is poverty yet contentment, worn buildings yet breathtaking mountains, a foreign language yet so much understanding. My prayer is that through us God would touch the hearts of those we meet and also touch our hearts through them.

Victoria

On the Ground

Saturday came early for everyone on the Haiti mission team. We met at the church parking lot at 2:45am, loaded the church bus and headed to Charlotte. Surprisingly, our team of 18 was first in line at the American counter. In fact, we were there before the counter was open. But promptly at 4:00am, we started checking luggage. We checked and checked and checked some more. As the last person checked in, we had a total of 32 bags headed to Haiti with us.

Both of the flights (first to Miami and then to Port-au-Prince) were uneventful. The best news was that because we were had to purchase tickets in advance, 16 of the 18 were in business class (sorry, Reese and Christi). Once we landed in Port-au-Prince, we were baptized into Haitian culture in the baggage claim area. Men in red shirts were eager to help . . . but (there's always a but) for a fee. But we were told to accept no help and to keep our luggage close.  So we kept one eye on the luggage carousel and one on the bags that we had already gotten.

We came in two groups. The first arrived at 1:00pm and headed to the compound in the bus. The second group arrived at 4:00 and headed to the compound in an SUV and a truck. Jody, Jim, and Pedro had the good fortune of riding an hour and a half in the bed of the truck with the luggage. Needless to say traffic and road conditions in Haiti are very different than in the states. Apparently it's not illegal to ride on the left side of the street. If you blow your horn you have right of way. And if you meet a bigger vehicle coming in your lane you get out of its way.

Once we were acquainted with Haitian traffic rules, we settled into the compound at SMI. Our students went out and played soccer with a lot of the local kids.  Rita is our cook for the week and made rice with beans and sausage for supper. After supper, David led a brief devotion and we headed off to bed.
On Sunday, we will be at two churches (Guitton and Nawash). Please pray for our team this week as we get to work and serve alongside the Haitians.

FBC Haiti mission team
Scott, Vickie and Rebekah Blackburn
Jamie and Victoria Burdette
Jim and Kasi Clark
Terry, Belinda, and Seth Ezell
Christi and Reese Hinchman
David Mitchell
Pedro Pena
Ashley and Madison Rinehart
Jody and Sara Catherine Watts

A Week Full of Blessings

Mission Haiti 

Day 6 June 22, 2012. 

WOW!  What a powerful week and how everyone on this trip has been blessed. Today was a wrap up day. We started with devotion and breakfast, went to Cipress and wrapped up the roof trusses on the 2nd house. Cleaned both houses out, swept the floors and did all the touch up paint on the first house. 

Brooke our soccer star spent a lot of time playing soccer with kids today I think they all were impressed with her skills. Amazing how sports can be used as a vehicle to witness. 

Before we left Cipress today we all gathered in this 24X13 foot house in the back room which was no more than 13X12 room. We had our team (14) our translators (5) and about 15 Hatian children to pray and bless this home. It was open prayer and as the americans prayed our translator shared to the Hatians when the Hatians prayed, he translated for us.

The translator (Richie) wanted all of the young children to hear the prayers and to understand what we were doing. It was a very powerful moment.  What you must understand, in Haiti Satan is very powerful and uses the voodoo rituals to capture the young.  While we in the United States are not as openly faced with this type of spiritual warfare, it is happening at home also, only in ways more subtle.  We must put on the full armor of God or we will fail.  Satan uses our laziness and our unwillingness to take up the battle to his advantage.  We see it daily here.  We must begin to see it back home. 

After leaving Cipress, we rested and then went to a beach about 15 miles north and spent a few hours decompressing.  There is no way to convey the energy expended not just physically but emotionally and spiritually in a place like Haiti.

Tonight we had a great devotion led by David.  We each shared our takeaways from the week.  Fourteen different people all on one mission but with a very different impact on each person. This was a very unique team that wasn't comprised entirely of FBC members.  We had several join us from other churches.  That was a blessing.  We all learned from each other and as David said tonight, no matter where we see each other in the future, a bond has been forged that will forever link this team together.  We have all been blessed and pray that what we did this week will create a harvest of salvation to many here.  All we can do is plant the seed, God will do the rest.  We will head home tomorrow to our families, our loved ones, work, air conditioning, and long clean showers but each of us will leave a part of us in Haiti forever.  

We again thank you for your prayers, support, and faith in each of us to do the Lord's work.  God bless each of you and please say a prayer for Haiti.

Jim Clark

Onward Christian Soldiers

Mission Haiti 

Day 6 June 21 2012. 

This was a very different day. It started like any other but as the day progressed we all sensed that it would be something special. We started with a great breakfast and morning prayer, then went to Cipress to work on the houses. The entire team was together and while some were working on the house many just went to the different homes and just shared. Most times it is the children who get all the attention but today the ladies in our group had the unique chance to minister to the woman of Cipress.  It was amazing with no interpreter how God allowed the woman to communicate with each other. 

Today might have been the hottest day yet so after lunch we took a long siesta.  It was needed by all. Around 4 we decided to walk to the beach site that SMI has a vision for a camp for children. Along the walk we met some fisherman on the shore tending their nets and boats - old handmade wooden boats using cotton cloth to wedge into the cracks between the wooden planks.  I was brought back 2000 years to our Lord sitting beside his disciples, many who were fisherman doing the same thing, preparing for their lives to change as followers of God.  

Ed, who is on our team, suggested we prayer walk some of the village.  Well, it was not just a suggestion.  Ed had decided he was going to prayer walk and if we wanted to join we were welcome to come.  So we loaded up and went to the new church church site here in Guitton.  Earlier Jeff from SMI had marked out the church foundation.  As we were praying and walking the site, we heard singing from down the road getting closer as it came.  Closer, we heard Onward Christian Soldiers in French, a large group from the church had the same idea we did.  It was amazing the power of the Lord.  Two separate groups with no plan coming together to praise God and celebrate His love and grace.

Last night LaChanda led our devotion.  She challenged us to continually be in prayer.  It was a very different day, a very blessed day.

Jim Clark

Rice

Day 5 June 20 2012

Mission Haiti. 

Let me apologise for not sending the Wednesday blog. As I lay on my cot last night thinking about the experiences of the day and how to best convert thoughts to words, I was so at peace with the work of the day and the great devotion by Charlotte that I fell asleep. 

Well let's talk about Wednesday. It really began Tuesday night. We had purchased twenty 55 pound bags of rice to hand out at the church in Cipress and that was good. But as we talked that night we began discussing the village we had walked to Sunday afternoon (Nawash).  This is rural Guitton and several miles off the main road. A new church/school is under construction and one of the more impoverished areas we have seen. We felt led to do something and before you know it our team had donated $320.00 and Jeff kicked in another $180.00 so we were able to buy 20 additional bags of rice and 2 bags of beans  for the village at Nawash. We had no idea how far this would go. 

When we arrived a large crowd had gathered and there was some commotion as food here is precious and there is never enough to go around.  The rice is broken down from the 55 pound bag to 7 cups in a small bag so each family would get 7 coups of rice.  This village was laid out in a random, haphazard fashion so that many of us were out of sight of each other most of the time.  Each small group had a Haitian with them.  When we reached the end of the village, we had 4 or 5 small bags of rice remaining.  So like Jesus beside the water with the loaves and fishes, God made certain that we had enough for the families of Nawash.  

The afternoon food handout in Cipress was very organized.  We went to the church/school where we have been working.  The pastor had organized the church family under the tent and we were able to hand out the food down the rows of chairs.  Again it was special to see. We would hand a bag at the end of the row and ask them to pass it down. To see them do this, to take food in their hands and then pass it on not knowing if there would be enough for all, was incredible.  As always when we trust Him and believe, God provided.

I am so proud of how this team has come together.  There are bonds of friendship being formed that will never be severed.  All have pulled a huge load this week.  Doug, Erica, LaChanda, Charlotte, Brooke, Ed, David, Fred, Emily, Kasi, Angelia, Christi and Sandy - this is a team that I am certain God brought together.  

Needless to say, it was a great day.  We spent a lot of time loving on the Haitians and ministering and witnessing to them because this is the main reason that we are here.  Oh, yes, we did work on the roofs too. 

Again, all is well, all are healthy and all are tired but renewed in our spirits.  Thank you for all the prayers.  

Jim Clark

God-Moments

Day 4 June 19, 2012. 

It was a long day today and the sun was out making it almost unbearable.  While it has been hot the past couple of day, the cloud cover really helped.  The direct sun really saps the energy. 

Today the team split. The roof crew went to work on the roof while another group stayed at the house this morning and broke down twenty 55 pound bags of rice. Each bag when broken down will generate about 50 meals for a 5-6 person family. Along with rice many bags of black beans were also packaged. The goal was to distribute food and clothes this afternoon in the Cipress neighborhood. But as we learn quickly here things are subject to change. 

All of the stuff was on the pick-up truck when we had a flat tire. Around here AAA is not a option so the flat took hours to repair.  Now we have scheduled the delivery for tomorrow. The entire team  worked on the house and we finished one roof and  began the rafters on the second. Erica has become a pro at cutting wood and cranking the generator   

There were dozen of children where we are working.  While we worked on the roof, there was plenty of time to share with the children and the adults.  The team has pulled together very well and we are being blessed.  

Fred Jordan led the devotion tonight.  He brough a hat full of small stones back to the compound and challenged us to find God-moments this week and to take home a stone as a reminder of that moment.  His God-moment today was when a board fell off the roof and hit David in the head (no major injury) but David did sit out for a while.  While David was sitting down with some ice on his bump, the children, as always, gathered around.  David who is a good artist picked up a piece of burnt charcoal and began drawing on a short piece of wood.  The attention the children paid him was amazing.  And as he drew he witnessed to them.  The God-moment was, as David said, that the Lord had to hit him with a 1x6 to remind him what he was really there to do - share the love of Christ.  It reminds us that God is always trying to get us to pay attention and sometimes it can take a tragedy or a simple bump on the head to make us listen.  Our prayer tonight was for Him to make us aware of the God-moments we each have the opportunity to experience each day.

The journey continues so please keep us in your prayers.

Jim Clark

Banana Grove Prayers & Divine Encounters

Day 3 June 18 2012. 

Wow what a day. It started with pancakes, both plain and berry along with bacon and some fruit. We would need the fuel for later. It was very hot today but overcast which was a blessing. Today we were working at Cipress where we did so much work last year. Lots of changes, new security walls, foundation has been dug to build a church building to replace the large tent where services are now held. Several more homes built and occupied and 2 homes ready for roofs and another under construction. We worked today on painting the two houses and were able to get one of the houses framed for the new roof. We should finish the roof on one tomorrow and also get started on the 2nd roof. We had a quick lunch and no siesta today.  Then it was back to the site for 3 more hours, then back to compound. 

Remember on Sunday we shared the church we attended (which is the pastors house) had  bought land to build a formal building on. It was a bananna grove on about 2 acres. This morning as we drove by where the new building will be, folks had started clearing the field.  This is done with machetes and human labor.  At 5PM this afternoon, we participated in the dedication service with songs and prayers.  About 125 gathered and at one point, we split up and went to each corner and prayed that the Lord would bless this site.  We ended in a large circle in the middle of this now-cleared field holding hands and praising God for what He had delivered to this church congregation.  The dedication wrapped up at about 7:00PM.  

We came back to have dinner, devotion and to map out tomorrow.  We will work on the houses but we also have 55 dozen bags of rice to breakdown and we will visit some needy areas and hand those out on Tuesday.  This is a great chance to share God's word.  

Everyone is doing well here.  No injuries or illness.  Today Emily was reunited with a young deaf boy she met last summer.  When he saw here, the look on his face was priceless as was Emily's.  They picked up talking in sign language just like long lost friends.  At the land dedication, a child we all remember, Lovely, went up to David Sloan and called him by name and she told him she had missed him and was glad he came back.  You never know the impact you have on people but today, Emily and David saw firsthand that their being here last year made a tremendous impact on those 2 children, all because God placed it on their hearts to make the first trip last summer.  

Wow!  It is only Monday.

Jim Clark.

A Very Good Day

 June 17 2012. Day 2. Guitton Haiti.

Typically when you are in Haiti, you wake up with a rooster crowing. But he must have been off today so the cows filled in. We had a great breakfast along with opening the day with scripture. We arrived at church at 8:30 and it was a special service.  There were probably 150 people in attendance.  The lady who was a voodo queen and was saved last year was in church! The singing and the preaching was inspiring.  We each introduced ourselves and, since it is Father's Day in the states (Haiti celebrates Father's Day next week), they sang a happy Father's Day son to us dads.  The service ended around 11:30.  We had a short lunch break.  Then we walked 1 1/2 miles to a small village to see the village and an almost-finished church building that has been started and will soon open for worship services.  


Today, it has rained a lot.  It has been torrential at times.  The kids kept on playing soccer outside.  They never stopped.


Our devotion tonight was on allowing God to be in control and us learning how to get our own will out of the way.  Everyone is well and excited to see what tomorrow will bring.  Looks like along with sharing Jesus with folks here, we have a couple of roofs to install tomorrow.  The church here prayed this morning for you in Rock Hill.  Keep praying for us.


God bless and goodnight!
Jim Clark.

The Longest Day

Most of us were up past midnight last night and were back up at 2am so that we could meet the rest of the team at 3am in the church parking lot.  We prayed in together before we left the church parking lot to head to the airport. We were at the international counter at CLT by 4am. We had 26 checked bags for 14 people at $65 a head for a total of $800 plus one excess baggage fee to the tune of $200.  So our total baggage fees were supposed to be over $1000.  United WAIVED our baggage fee.  Having $1000 worth of baggage fees waived by United? Priceless. Blessing number 1

Our 6:10am flight to Newark gave us a nice view of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty as we landed. Not as nice, shuttle bus ride from gate A20 to gate C110. Our 10AM flight to Port-au-Prince landed at 2:15PM. It was 64 degrees leaving Newark and twice that when we landed in Port-au-Prince.  All of our bags arrived intact!  Blessing number 2 

We left Port-au-Prince at 3PM for a 1 1/2  hour bus ride to Guitton. After unpacking all of our food and gear, we grabbed a quick ham sandwich for dinner.  Then had a quick intro to our week from SMI's Jeff Dahl. 

After that, we had a chance for a cool shower and to stretch our before 8PM devotions. During devotions each team member received a personal card from one of the GAs from First Baptist.  WOW!  That made us all feel great.  

Thanks to all the prayers for traveling mercy we are here safe and ready to see what else God has in store for us this week.  Keep praying for us and with us.  The travel to get here is over, but the real journey has just begun.  Rest assured that we will all sleep well tonight.

David Sloan

Haiti 2012

On Saturday, our Haiti team will be meeting at the church office at 3:00am to pack up and leave for the airport. Yes, you heard that correctly - 3:00am. Yes, it's early. Yes, it's inconvenient. Yes, they would love to still be sleeping. But the team knows that comfort, convenience, and the so-called 'necessities' are all optional when the opportunity to take the gospel to the world is the goal.

Please pray for our team as they pack. They will not only be packing clothes and toiletries. They will also be packing all of their food for the week. Charlotte Elliott and Sandy Wilson are shopping and then packing a weeks worth of cans, packages, and boxes on Thursday. Pray that the food will fit in as few bags as possible. The airline baggage fees still have to be paid.

As I sign off, let me include a bit from an email that Charlotte sent to the team earlier today,  

I am excited and hope that you all are too. The physical food will soon be taken care of……..it’s the REAL meal that I am looking forward to. God will lay out a terrific ‘Spiritual Banquet’ for us all! Only our Great and Mighty God could take us to one of the 4 poorest countries in the world, and feed our souls. I am going to be looking for the Voo Doo Princess that got saved last year ( I have a gift for her). My prayer is that God will give each of you a special set of your own stories. I can’t wait to see how he shows off…..

Stay tuned to this site over the next week and catch up on their trip each day.

Grace and Peace
 Jamie

Haiti Team - Day 7

Last night in Haiti.

This is long winded blog so I apologize in advance.

First we want to thank each of you that have followed our journey this week in Haiti. Without your support and prayers we would not have been able to perform the Lord's work.

Today was slightly different. Several of us went back to the school and church to do some work. One of the outreach mission programs going on at the church-school compound is building homes for earthquake victims. The homes are about 200 square feet and 2 rooms. The house we painted today is being given to widow lady with 3 children whose husband died during the quake. Once we finished we had a group prayer in the front room of this house that the family would be blessed and thanking God for allowing us to assist in this ministry. Some of the group remained at the compound and did painting, cleaning, and some general work items that were needed. I will get a little out of sequence now but it will make sense later.

After lunch we went to a local beach called wahoo beach. A very beautiful place with lodging, restaurant, fantastic beaches with plenty of amenities. There were probably about 150 other folks there all performing similar work as us in the area. What struck me here was the huge contrast of what only a few miles could bring. This is a place the average Haitian would never enjoy. Such is this island.

On the way back we stopped at a little village church where the plan was to hand out some rice and clothes. It all started orderly but it did not take long for the pushing and shoving to start. While we were never in immediate danger, because of the tension we stopped the handing out of rice and clothes, boarded the bus and returned to our compound. This brought home the real plight of people who are starving. Today was humanitarian and is needed in addition to evangelism.

Now to get bet to the out of order sequence. Scott and Vickie Blackburn along with their daughter have been part of this week's team. For many years they have been sponsoring a Haitian child. A young girl. When they knew they were coming on this trip they began praying and seeking a way to meet this child. It is very difficult to get anything to happen in this country but through prayer and interpreters and more prayer, they were able to meet this beautiful young Haitian girl today and spend time with her and finally have not only a picture-and-letter relationship. But they were able to hold and hug her and be able to tell her in person how much they loved her. They were able to see first hand how God has not only blessed them but has blessed this child.

There have been many highlights this week and in a few hours we will leave this place and in about 24 hours we will be in our nice homes and air conditioning with plenty of running water with our families who we have missed and love dearly and yes we will be thankful for that. But a part of us will remain here forever. Our ongoing prayer is that God will use what seeds we planted and grow up strong christian leaders to give this country the one thing it needs more than houses, clean water, clothes or even food but the gift of life through Jesus Christ. Amen

Jim Clark, Team Leader

Haiti Team - Day 6

We just wrapped up our nightly devotion which was conducted by Billy Finch. Today we wrapped up some painting at the school. The exiting part was the school and church area we have worked all week was have a good old fashioned revival and the classrooms we cleaned and painted were being used by the families that were here for the revival.

We later went to a tent city that had been built following the earthquake by Samaritans Purse. We handed out bags of rice and clothes to the families. These tent cities were to be temporary but they are not and are filled with the most desperate of the Haitian people. We were very humbled by what we saw. Words cannot capture the despair that is everywhere in this country.

Our medical team again today was called in to service when a local had a major motorcycle wreck and he was brought to this compound for treatment. He had head wounds and possible internal injuries. Our team stabilized as best they could and we transported to a hospital in St.Mark. The missionary staying at this compound told us in Haiti you must pay at the hospital in order to be treated and if he could not offer payment he would not be treated. Very harsh and cold but that is how it works here.

Again another fruitful day. We are all exited about coming home Saturday and look forward to being with our families again. Continue to pray for us and the people of this country.

Jim Clark, Team Leader

Haiti, Day 5

Another great day in Haiti. The temperature pushed 100 degrees + high humidity. Today we saw a couple of real life Haitian situations. First, thank God that we have a couple of nurses on the combined team. Vickie Blackburn who is traveling with us and a nurse with the KY team were faced with a medical emergency this morning. A local older Haition lady set her sheets on fire with her lamp during last night. She suffered sever 2nd and 3rd degree burns over her chest and abdomen. As is the custom here when there is a emergency, they call the local pastor. In this case the pastor then contacted the missionary who resides in the compound where we are staying. Long story short as the closest and best medical available on this island happend to be the 2 nurses that were part of this 30 person team. The lady was brought to this compound in the missionaries truck and Vickie and her fellow nurse began what most likely could be life saving service on this lady and began to treat her wounds as only a qualified health care proffessional can. Without this treatment most likely this lady does not make it through the day.

The other instance I want to share is on Sunday I told you of the voodo princess being saved. Well part of what occured was all of her voodo items and her clothes were placed in the street and they were burned in her presence. Today members of our team visited with her and provided her with new clothing. I can't fully explain what we are seeing here but in this ravaged country people are in desparate need of Gods promise and as we work among these proud people we are sowing seeds and touching lives but even more than what we give them God is blessing us daily and I know each of us will return home with a stronger conviction to listen to Gods call and respond in obedience.

Haiti, Day 4

Another great day in Haiti. We headed to our work site where Raymond asked Doug Hurst, Jessica Shaver and me to spend some time with the kids hanging around. We sent the kids to get there friends and prayed about what to share. With our interpreter, Richie, I told the story of Noah and the ark. The children hung on every word! Their faces just lit up. I then used the Evangecube to share the story of salvation. They each claimed to know Jesus as Savior and I pray it's true. These children have so little but God loves them SO much!

"Suffer the little children that they may come unto me."

Amanda Cavin