Amy's Adventures

Its just me again. Well that is not so true anymore because Rachel returned on Wednesday. Rachel’s title is Hope House Activity Coordinator. Also, there is a young couple here for a week but will be returning in 2 weeks to stay through December. They work for Convoy of Hope. Its an organization that will be donating enough food to feed our school kids 2 meals a day (that’s over 1100 kids) plus we will be sending food out to surrounding schools and orphanages all over this part of Haiti.

Since the last time I posted, we’ve had 2 groups come through. Harvest Time Church from Midland, TX was only here a short time. They were a fun group and I think they plan on returning next summer. The Grove from Riverside, CA was here a week. They accomplished a lot in that one week. My favorite part was the Community Fun Day. It was a ministry day designed just for kids.















They also painted the preschool building (inside and out) while a few of the group members passed out reading glasses. It was a big success. In the afternoons they went out for village ministry, VBS. At the end of their trip, they went to Kaliko like every other group, but...they invited like 20 extra people from the mission to go. It was a nice and relaxing time with everyone.







I enjoyed having them here because they were familiar faces and also made new friends.

Both teams were here during Hurricane Dean. The outer edge of the hurricane passed over the island on Sunday. The mission is protected by the mountains, but we still received strong winds and lots of rain. It was funny to see how cold everyone was at church that morning. It forced us to cancel all our plans for that afternoon because of all the rain, but everyone seemed okay with it and we just hung out on the mission. Harvest Time left that next day, but The Grove was able to enjoy beautiful lightening storms for the next 4 or 5 nights. It was amazing to see how the entire sky would light up. The Haitians say that it is God taking our picture. (Speaking of Haitian sayings…when its raining really hard, they say “Its raining so hard that the dogs can’t breathe.” I thought it was funny how similar that is to “Its raining cats and dogs” but makes much more sense.)

This past week was spent in the office. It was a good time to be able to catch up with Brad. He has been here since last Saturday. I feel like I got a lot accomplished. I did get one day off…last Sunday I went to the local, public beach with Mike and Laura (the Convoy people) and then to a soccer game in Source Matelas. They enjoyed seeing the real Haiti. We plan on going back to the beach this Sunday too, there is supposed to be a big festival with lots of food and music.

Well I hope everyone is enjoyed their summer and will post again soon!!

So last week was a much-needed week off. i feel like i got a lot accomplished.

lets see...where to begin...

the first couple days i slept in til like 9:30 (!!!!) and then off to the office. when there are groups here, i dont have much time to catch up on all my emails, plus i got to googletalk with Cathy and Marilyn, which was nice.

other random accomplishments this past week:
received an invertor, which means i now have electricity during the day...or til around 1pm;
fixed toilet...the handle broke off;
had some men come look at my leaky ceiling...hopefully that will be taken care of soon;
caught 4 mice!!
did my dishes...they were starting to pile up (mom, i know youre so surprised!)
took trash out to be burned...did an overall clean sweep of the apt.
organized the clothes depot;
got my laundry taken care of...i have a lady in the church coming every other week to do it.


tuesday night i had Monsado and Jackson stay the night with me. it was sooo much fun. we had a good time watching movies and eating popcorn. we played a couple different cards games too.

i love those boys!

thursday, jean ronald, bobby and i went to Cabaret to grab some lunch. it was good to get off the mission for a little bit. after lunch j.r. had to exchange some money and buy a few things, so we walked around the market...thursday is market day in Cabaret. we then went to Minnowtree to hang out at a friends house and watch some tv. (bc of the factories in that village, they have electricity, occasionally...not reliable though.) then, about 4:30 we went to a soccer game to watch Leon play for Minnowtree...they were playing Simonet. We had to leave at half time to make sure and get back to the mission before it started getting dark.

friday there was a party for the hope house kids. all summer a lady from port-au-prince has been doing a lil summer camp for the kids every morning and friday was the last day. they just sang some songs and then we ate cake...cant have a party without cake!!! this whole event lasted till about 3pm. by that time i was pooped. i spent the rest of the day up at my apt. then, friday night is always movie night at the hope house. we watched alice in wonderland. (i have to say...im not sure how kid-appropiate that movie is. luckily it didnt play in french, so i dont know how much they actually understood. but really...it shows a walrus eating little, talking baby clams; a catapillar smoking a hooka; a drunk little mouse; a crazy queen that wants to behead everyone who crosses her wrong; the crazy, disappearing cat; and many other things i cant remember.)

"its party time!"

saturday was a day of relaxation! i got up around 9am (really late for here) and headed to Minnowtree to get my nails done. a girl named Neslie did them for me on the porch of my friend David's house. it was probably one of the best pedicures ive ever received especially considering walking in flipflops on this terrain really can tear your feet up! (Myrth, it wasnt the same without you!!!) We then ate some yummy rice and beans before heading to the beach. it was ALMOST too cold to go to the beach bc it was sooooo windy, and it gets pretty cool when coming off the water. After the beach, we all played some cards up until it was time for the soccer game to start. this time it was Titanyin vs. Source Matelas. again, we left at half time...just before Conjac (a driver for the mission) broke his leg!!!!! thats pa bon! (no good!)

yesterday was sunday, so of course i started the day off with a time of worship at the Church of Hope!!! absolutely love this church! after church, a small group of us went to the beach at Simonet (by Ed's orphanage). we didnt actually go swimming, but they had lots of food and music playing. i ate some yummy fried goat with...of course, beans and rice. i didnt get to stay very long bc a man from tx arrived yesterday around 5pm. i needed to be at the mission when he got here. he is here for a week to show the men how to put up a fence. the company he works for donated enough fence to go all the way around the mission!!! thats a lot of fence!

today was spent mostly in the office and/or down at the hope house orphanage. even if a group isnt here...i make it a point to go there everyday!!! i just love those kids...i could never get enough of them! also, today i got to get some of my stuff off the bus that arrived on friday! ill get the rest of it tomorrow or wednesday, when they unpack the whole thing.

sorry this is so long! im going to TRY and post more often so i wont have as much to say each time.

i love and miss all of you!!!!

I am going to start this blog off with a quote that I saw down at the vendors, it was carved into a wooden bell. “No one hears the cries of the poor or the sound of a wooden bell.”

I literally hit the ground running. I have had groups (of all sizes) here since I arrived in mid-June. At one point, there were 34 people here that I was looking out for, planning for, and attending to every need. Over the past month and ½ there’s been quite the variety of people come through here…all of which relying on me to help their week go smoothly. I know…that’s a scary thought. But at the same time, I feel completely confident.

We had a group leave today and were supposed to have another arrive tomorrow, but they cancelled. This means I have a whole week off! I plan to go to the beach one day this week but the other days will be spent in the office and organizing everything the groups left behind (clothes, toiletries, toys and candy).

Well…I will have more time this week to write more and add pictures!

Hope all is well!

I love and miss everyone!

because I am unable to post here

www.xanga.com/zanmi

thank you!

Kristin joined up with the parents to throw Sami and I a suprise party...the best one ever!! It really was a complete suprise...maybe bc it was a month after my actual birthday. It also doubled as a going away party. It was good to see everyone. It was like old times again. I love how we could just pick up where we left off even though some of us hadnt seen eachother for a very long time. Kraig drove down Tulsa and Blair came all the way from Amarillo. The gang was together again. Yea!

Yes...the boys got us each one shoe for our birthdays...

WOW...sorry for the lack of updates. Im sure most of you know...Im home! Its definitly a bittersweet feeling. Here are some pictures from my summer...finally.

Katia (definitly not sure on the spelling)...aka "the face of the Hope House".

Beautiful Castinlove and Monsado...again.

WENDEL! He is Pastor Claudel's son.

Our nightly game of cards...this game lasted FOREVER!!! Madame Claudel is a "card shark" according to Leah...lol.

This is Peter...he lives in Source Matlas. I think I mentioned him in one of my earlier posts.

Vena and me on my birthday at Kaliko Beach.

Wickenson and Johnny at one of the night crusades. They won the basketball tournement put on by New Life AG.

TWINKIES...this is Bobby. He was also on the bball team with Wickinson and Johnny. (and no, we definitly did not plan this.)

Emanuella...on my last day :-(

Me and the girls...Amy, Sally, Me, and Leah

Saying goodbye to the guys.

Welp...thats it for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the end of their summer. Hooray for school starting soon. Ok, boo for classes, but hooray for friends all coming back to OKC. God Bless!

I don't even know where to begin. These past 7 days have been non-stop. We have had 2 churches here for the last week. So...lets start at the beginning...

New Life (NL) from Kansas City got here on Friday the 15th. Amy and I had Friday off so we spent most of the day at the Hope House. When we first met the team that evening...they seemed really cool. I was excited for the upcoming week...to actually have a team here. (since most all of the teams this summer dropped out...it has been kind of slow.)
Saturday...we went on the "Camu walk". I have never done this here before...it was beautiful. It was about a 30 minute walk up to this very remote village. We had to cross to rivers on the way. Since it rained the night before...the water was up to about my knee and running farely fast. One of the girls lost here flip flop and Jean Renold (one of the translators) takes off after it. All of the kids that were nearby jumped in the water to try and help JR retrieve the flip flop out of some tree roots. Once we reached the village...we did a mini-vbs with the kids from that village and the many kids that joined us along the way. They would see us walking and start yelling "blan! blan!" (which means white person) and run to join us. After the vbs, we walked back to the bus and spent the rest of the day at the Hope House. We ended the day with a fabulous Haitian meal. yum yum.
Sunday...of course we went to church in the morning, but then the other team...People's church (from OKC!!)...arrived as we were eating lunch. They were a lil stressed bc their luggage didn't make it to Haiti. But because of our amazing connections...Marc Lubin...it came on the next flight from Miami. My dad was busy with something, so he asked me to give them a tour of the Mission. After the tour...they left for Kaliko bc that's where they stayed for the week. Around 4...the rest of us headed down to...yes...the Hope House. We ate dinner down there. They fixed hot dogs for all the kids and for the NL group. The mommies were so excited to have us there that they prepared a yummy Haitian dessert for all of us. Then we watched a movie with the kids...at least until the electricity went out.
Monday...is when all the excitement started. Amy and I went out with Peoples to do VBS in the different orphanages that we support. They had a couple nurses with them that looked at all of the kids. We finished with vbs at 4 and Peoples left for Kaliko. NL during the day went out into the villages to spread news about the night crusades and in the afternoon held a 4 on 4 basketball tournament. The crusades were mon, tues, and wed night. They were supposed to start at 5, but Monday was a perfect example of a "day in Haiti". It wasn't until Monday morning did the group find out that there was a funeral at the church at 3 (which didn't actually start till almost 4), and so that cut the bball tourn. short for the day. And then we all went down to the church at 10 till 5 for the crusade (that was SUPPOSED to start at 5). At 5:30 there were maybe 20 people there. I went with Amelio on the bus to pick up people from the surrounding villages and at 5:45 they were saying that they weren't ready yet and to come back. The group started doing some worship about 6 with maybe 100 people there. By 7 the youth pastor started speaking to about 350 people. And at 7:30, when he was giving the alter call...another bus load was just pulling up. So we ended the night with close to 400-450 people. Crazy!!!
Tuesday...started off the same, but we went to different orphanages of course. But Tuesday night at the crusade, Pastor Herbert Cooper (from Peoples church) spoke. He was a huge evangelist before he became a pastor 3 years ago. He was supposed to start speaking at 6 bc he had to get to Kaliko before dark. At 5:45 again, there was hardly anyone there. He started speaking at 6:15 to about 300 people. And again there were people still arriving even after he finished, but we played games and did worship after he spoke, so it was good. At the end of the service, Pastor Claudel (the worship leader here at the Mission) was playing some music and all of a sudden, it turned into like a dance revival. It was soooo much fun. Everyone was dancing and jumping and worshipping all at the same time. It was amazing to watch these people who have so little become so excited about worshipping the Lord.
Wednesday...Amy and I went with Peoples to an another orphanage called Good Samaritan. We spent ALL day there. Normally we would come back to the mission for lunch and then go to a different orphanage, but today we just stayed there. Mainly bc there are about 60 kids plus workers that needed to be seen by the nurses. And these kids were in a lot worse shape than anywhere else we have been. So Wednesday was a long and tiring day...trying to entertain 60 kids from 9am - 3pm. Wed. night's crusade went relatively smooth. NL gave away a huge CD player for whoever brought the most visitors. A guy named Fonzie brought 45 people!!! We ended Wednesday night with dancing/worshipping too. But this time it was for almost an hour!! My legs were SO sore the next day.
Thursday...was mainly spent at the Hope House. We didn't really do a vbs, but just played with the kids and it gave the nurses a chance to check all of the kids. Unlike the other orphanages...almost all of our kids were 100% healthy. After lunch, Peoples went to the beach for the rest of the day and Amy and I...went back down to the Hope House. At 5, after NL returned from spending all day at the beach, we went down for the bball tourn. championship game. Then we played a couple games of American vs Haitian...we won! It was hard for the NL group to say goodnight bc they were leaving the next morning.
Friday...I got up at 6:30 to say goodbye to everyone. It was sad to see them go, bc they were a very fun group. Then...I went back to bed. The rest of my day was spent working in the office and...playing at the Hope House.

Sorry this was extremely long, but my week was very eventful. Thank you for reading it all the way to this point. Im off to bed now, and tomorrow...Im off to the BEACH!

God Bless,
Amy