Friday, July 22, 2005
Busy Busy
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
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
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Another weekend in Haiti...
Sorry to all of you faithful viewers, it has been a while since an update. This past week I have spent a lot of my time filing...Myrth would be proud. The past couple days there has been a nice breeze through the office...but not today, there was nothing. It was very hot in there today.
Last Friday, Leah, Madame Claudel, Amy and I (yes, there is another Amy) rode along with George into town. He goes every Friday for the groceries. After we ran the errands, we stopped at Epi d'or and had lunch. It is an American style restaurant. Since last year they have added on "MacEpi" which is obviously a play off of McDonald's. I got a Cheeseburger, fries, and a coke for about $2. It was good too. When we got back to the mission, mom and Mary-Jo had already arrived. They came just for the weekend.
On Saturday, I got up and helped my mom make chocolate gravy and biscuits for about 15 people. Claudel requested it. I think everyone liked it. After that we drove around a couple of the nearby villages. We showed mom and Mary-Jo the house I helped build in Sources Matalas.
Sunday was chruch! My dad spoke, so I actually understood the messege. After service, my dad, mom, Mary-Jo, Vena and I went to Kaliko for the night. It was fun taking Vena along...it was her first time to ever stay at Kaliko. (She is 19 and a part of the mission.) We spent most of Sunday on the beach...The pool was overloaded with UN guys. But then they left, so most of Monday was spent by the pool. It was a great birthday.
And then Tuesday...back to the office for me.
For those interested, I have created a new web-site with pictures on it. I have given up on posting them on here...I tried uploading a picture and 6 hours later when it wasnt finished...I gave up. Sorry for the inconvenience of it not being all in one place. Anyways, the web address is www.freewebs.com/zanmi/. Its not real fancy, so I hope it is simple enough for even my mom to figure out. I dont have many pictures on there yet...but just give me time.
Well, Im off to shower... now that we have water again...and then to bed. Tomorrow promises a long, hot day of painting!! I love you all and goodnight.
Thursday, July 7, 2005
Both GOOD and BAD news!
Bonjou! M'espwa tout moun yo tre byen.
We have stayed busy the last couple of days. On Tuesday we even helped build a house for an older lady in the church who hurt her foot. I finally got to see Peter there in the village (for those of you that know that story). i asked him why he wasnt at church on Sunday and he said that he hasnt been going ever since i left but now that i am back he will start going again. Yesterday i worked in the office with Leah, that is until the battery died and we lost electricity. I spent the rest of the day at the Hope House with the kids. We had church last night at 4 and the praise and worship was good (as always) with Claudel. But then, Pastor Josweh shared a lil word.......for over and hour!! Especially when you dont understand anything he is saying, an hour is a long time to sit on those hard wooden benches. He wasnt even finished when the Americans had to get up and leave bc we were late for dinner and didnt want Amis (the cook) to wonder where we were and we didnt want the food to get cold. (Last night was the Haitian meal and it was mighty fine.)
Okay, the good news...Last night we found out that the "ring leader" of the largest gangs in Haiti was shot and killed yesterday! It took the U.S. telling the U.N. that they werent coming in to help and that they need to step it up and regain control of the situation. So the U.N. joined with the Haitian police and went into City Sol (the worst part of Haiti, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince) and shot him. They also arrested a lot of the actual gang members. The interesting part of the story is that on Monday 2 pastors went in to share Christ with the ring leader and he refused and then just 2 days later....well you know.
Now for the bad news...Huricane Dennis is currently passing over this lil country! Now dont worry about me, the mission is located in a cove and this area has never been hit, even last year during the terrible hurricane season. When i look out the front windows of the house, i can see it built up over the other side of the island. Normally when i look across the bay, i can see land, but i cant see anything other than the clouds. (For those of you that have been here...i can barely even see Port-au-Prince.) So, PLEASE PRAY for Haiti right now. Pray for the people and the villages that are being hit and ask God to protect them. Im not real familiar with that side of the island, except i know the Baptist Mission is located up on that hill and they will need our prayers.
Well im out, i have a feeling im about to lose power as the rains start to come. So, please people, PRAY!
We have stayed busy the last couple of days. On Tuesday we even helped build a house for an older lady in the church who hurt her foot. I finally got to see Peter there in the village (for those of you that know that story). i asked him why he wasnt at church on Sunday and he said that he hasnt been going ever since i left but now that i am back he will start going again. Yesterday i worked in the office with Leah, that is until the battery died and we lost electricity. I spent the rest of the day at the Hope House with the kids. We had church last night at 4 and the praise and worship was good (as always) with Claudel. But then, Pastor Josweh shared a lil word.......for over and hour!! Especially when you dont understand anything he is saying, an hour is a long time to sit on those hard wooden benches. He wasnt even finished when the Americans had to get up and leave bc we were late for dinner and didnt want Amis (the cook) to wonder where we were and we didnt want the food to get cold. (Last night was the Haitian meal and it was mighty fine.)
Okay, the good news...Last night we found out that the "ring leader" of the largest gangs in Haiti was shot and killed yesterday! It took the U.S. telling the U.N. that they werent coming in to help and that they need to step it up and regain control of the situation. So the U.N. joined with the Haitian police and went into City Sol (the worst part of Haiti, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince) and shot him. They also arrested a lot of the actual gang members. The interesting part of the story is that on Monday 2 pastors went in to share Christ with the ring leader and he refused and then just 2 days later....well you know.
Now for the bad news...Huricane Dennis is currently passing over this lil country! Now dont worry about me, the mission is located in a cove and this area has never been hit, even last year during the terrible hurricane season. When i look out the front windows of the house, i can see it built up over the other side of the island. Normally when i look across the bay, i can see land, but i cant see anything other than the clouds. (For those of you that have been here...i can barely even see Port-au-Prince.) So, PLEASE PRAY for Haiti right now. Pray for the people and the villages that are being hit and ask God to protect them. Im not real familiar with that side of the island, except i know the Baptist Mission is located up on that hill and they will need our prayers.
Well im out, i have a feeling im about to lose power as the rains start to come. So, please people, PRAY!
Sunday, July 3, 2005
Haiti
Bonswa! Tout moun ye?
Hello! How is everyone?
Im finally back in Haiti! I made it here safe and sound. I have stayed pretty busy ever since ive been here. I just got here on Friday and on Saturday about 6 of us went to Kaliko (the beach) and spent the day. We were all girls and unfortunantly there were about 40-50 Brazlian guys who were with the United Nations. Lets just say they were enjoying their day off a lil too much. But too be honest, they were actually entertaining to watch, especially when they would try to dance. We spent the rest of the day at the Hope House (the orphanage).
Today was church! I have really missed church here in Haiti (even though I dont understand much of it...I just sit by someone that can translate for me). We had communion this morning, and that was really amazing to be a part of. Out of the times ive been here, ive never been in service for communion. Then this afternoon a couple of the older guys invited us to go watch a soccer game in the nearby village. It was Source Matla vs. Port-au-Prince. Source Matla won!! (That is the village were most of the church people live.)
Welp, its 9:00 and that means time for bed. I hope everyone is having a terrific summer. O, and by the way...for some reason I could not get the pictures on here so just give me some time.
M'ale orevwa!
Hello! How is everyone?
Im finally back in Haiti! I made it here safe and sound. I have stayed pretty busy ever since ive been here. I just got here on Friday and on Saturday about 6 of us went to Kaliko (the beach) and spent the day. We were all girls and unfortunantly there were about 40-50 Brazlian guys who were with the United Nations. Lets just say they were enjoying their day off a lil too much. But too be honest, they were actually entertaining to watch, especially when they would try to dance. We spent the rest of the day at the Hope House (the orphanage).
Today was church! I have really missed church here in Haiti (even though I dont understand much of it...I just sit by someone that can translate for me). We had communion this morning, and that was really amazing to be a part of. Out of the times ive been here, ive never been in service for communion. Then this afternoon a couple of the older guys invited us to go watch a soccer game in the nearby village. It was Source Matla vs. Port-au-Prince. Source Matla won!! (That is the village were most of the church people live.)
Welp, its 9:00 and that means time for bed. I hope everyone is having a terrific summer. O, and by the way...for some reason I could not get the pictures on here so just give me some time.
M'ale orevwa!
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