This battle went on and on and on. One evening, I received a text from a friend and she said something along the lines of... Hey Megan, I am working on numbers for Haiti and I don't see your name on the list but the Lord keeps telling me you are supposed to go so I am just passing along the message. GREAT. Lord, I already told you NO. I am not going. I will not and I can not.
One Sunday, during the invitation, I just felt the Lord press onto my heart and say to me, "Surrender and go. I have a plan for you." So I told Matt as soon as our pastor said "Amen. You're dismissed." "Babe... I'm going to Haiti." Matt- "WHAT?!" (Matt was already signed up and ready to go. He had been begging me to go but was also being sensitive to my heart and feelings so he never pressured me.) He began telling everyone. When our pastor's wife, my friend, found out she was so excited! The Lord had told her several months ago that I was supposed to go. Now, I felt the walls begin to come down and began to receive what the Lord had for me. I was SO EXCITED!
I sent out some letters to raise support and was overwhelmed by the response! I had exactly enough to completely pay my way and purchase different items I would need... including my shoes (more about this later). Thank you so so much to those who gave. Your giving was such a blessing to me, and those who we had the opportunity to minister to.
Our team had a meeting to discuss different things about the trip and learn about different expectations/instructions. We received our journal book and the memory verse for the week was Isaiah 52:7 which says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" This verse is special to me. When I was in high school, we had to do an activity at church camp which- long story- eventually led me to this verse. I hated my feet but the Lord was showing me that when my feet share His news, then my feet are beautiful. Wow! God you are so good to give me this, what my family calls, a "God wink".
journal
During the few days leading up to the trip, I was overwhelmed with so many emotions... fear, anxiety, depression, unworthy, unprepared, not good enough... and so on. But I had to put my trust in the Lord that He has chosen me to go on this trip. He had a plan. And it would be good. PS: This was our first time out of the country besides a cruise... but you know, that's very "American" and totally NOT the same.
So Team 1 met at the church at 2 am on Thursday, July 2, 2015, to head to Houston.
Team 1- Family
When we were approaching Haiti, the landing was SCARY. Their landing strip is not very big... and I guess our pilot was getting nervous because the plane was rocking back and forth and continued rocking when we were landing. But... he gained control and we survived... Ha!
on the plane
Haiti!!
When we landed in the airport, we immediately were welcomed to the HEAT. No A/C in the airport (or anywhere else for that matter). We were allowed a carryon, and a backpack for our belongings, and then we each checked in a 50 lb suitcase full of supplies such as peanut butter, jelly, plastic bags, paper bags, craft supplies, shoes, tools, glasses. etc. Once we received our baggage, we had to get in a straight single file line to head out to our bus. As we exited the airport, it was overwhelming how many people (hundreds) were standing around at the airport. They are there hoping to earn a dollar as they offer help to people carrying their luggage. A heartbreaking sight. I do not have a picture as I was bogged down with luggage, HA!
one of our 2 buses
We began driving to Dr. Bernard's place where we stayed. He has 2 different (very nice) buildings. One is where visitors stay and the other is where the children and teachers stay (I don't have a picture of this). At the orphanage, they are schooled very well! Most of the children speak English and speak it well! The drive was incredible... and scary, haha. They don't have a road system like we do. When you want to turn, you just honk the horn and that communicates to whoever is around the corner to move out of the way. Most every corner has a building so you can't really see around it until you start to actually go around it. Makes things interesting! They have a lot of traffic too, but it's much different than Houston traffic, or North Street traffic. I prefer Haiti traffic! So much going on all around you--- keeps you on your toes! You never know how many people will be crammed into the "taptap" (their form of a taxi) that passes you!
this is the building where visitors stay
floor 1: under the tent is where meals are served
floor 2: a covered basketball/volleyball court
floors 3-5: rooms
view from overlook at orphanage
see how close we are to them!
a "tap-tap" (most of them have a covering over the truck bed)
the "door" didn't shut haha
Matt got the fun seat
notice how close the other bus is!
we picked up a rider haha
turns out he was "with us"
some homes on the mountainside
When we arrived to the orphanage, it was dinner time. I had no idea that when we walked down to the ground level where we ate, that all of the kids would come running out and start jumping with their arms reached up for you to hold them! By this point, I knew there was a "baby" there. My friend immediately went down to get her and asked if I wanted to hold her. I told her no... I wasn't ready yet.
After dinner, we had a meeting with Dr. Bernard and his wife and with another team from the States that would be leaving in 2 days. Dr. Bernard shared his story with us and his vision. He is amazing! Such a passionate man that deeply loves his people and longs for them to know Jesus! You can check it all out here: http://www.bethelguesthouse.org
gathered around listening to Dr. and Mrs. Bernard share their heart
Friday: DAY 2
Our instructions for day 2 were to unload and sort all of the supplies from the suitcases, hang out with the kids, and do a VBS at 2. While we were unloading the suitcases, here comes someone with the baby. I eventually got my turn to hold her and I lost all interest in everything else at that point. She melted into my arms like butter. Meet D... the baby who has my heart. While I was holding her and very quickly falling in love, I find out that she is on the "adoptable" list. My heart flutters. At the end of the day I told Matt, "We need to talk. I want this baby." He said, "That's obvious. Everyone here knows that."
Sorry, I couldn't pick just one :)
At 2:00, we gathered under the covered court and began doing VBS. Matt and I taught the story of Noah and the Ark and God's promise to never flood the earth again. Our craft was a rainbow but made into a dancing ribbon. They LOVED it! Here are some pictures...
singing "J-O-Y down in my heart... deep deep down in my heart"
teaching them the lesson with our interpreter Saby
Matt being silly pretending the ribbons are his ponytail :) ^^
Saturday: DAY 3
On Saturday, our group divided up into 2 teams. One team did construction and one team did English camp. Matt went on the construction team in Merger and I went to Boutilier for English camp.
Matt--
Our church supports/partners with a church in Merger. A lady that is a member of this church (Ms. Bonita) lost her home and her husband in the earthquake 5 years ago. She has been living under a tarp with her 3 children ever since. So we set out to build her a new home! Matt's team had to carry boulder rocks up a very steep "hill" (it was mountainous to us!) that was made of loose gravel. When I saw him at the end of the day, I could tell he had worked his heart out. He said it was the hardest day of his life... EVER. He almost over heated from dehydration and being in direct sun. Here are some pictures he took.
view from the house
girl on the left is one of Ms. Bonita's children; they enjoyed singing while the workers worked
Matt found a cute little bald friend
Matt and I before the work began
Matt and his buddy Jonathan after a hard work day
My team went to Boutilier to do English camp for the kids. The church sits on top of a mountain. 200 very steep stairs to get to the top! It was so beautiful up there! When the earthquake hit, it happened during church. So the church collapsed on the people, killing 4. A group from France has rebuilt the church and it very nice! The people are very proud of it! When we walked in, they welcomed us with singing! It was so beautiful and I can still hear them singing praises to our God! We thought the kids knew more English than what they did so it made the day challenging. We divided up into groups and taught different lessons. I was teamed with Molly and we were the only group without an interpreter. We showed them different flashcards simply wanting them to repeat after us but we could never get them to figure that out HAHA!! We received lots of blank stares! They did count with us and know must of their colors though! So it was fun when we had some participation!
first hike
some of the 200 steps
the church
inside of the church
Molly showing some flashcards
one of our groups
cutie pie
he had on an SFA shirt!! Axe 'Em Jacks!!
We made lunches for the kids. Because we only made 100 lunches, we could only let 100 kids in the church. It was so heart breaking looking at the doors because all the other kids that didn't get there on time watched us from the outside.
The kids saved their pb&j sandwiches to take home to their families. Some of the kids would pinch off pieces and pass it through the door to the kids standing outside.
**Cool story: On the way to the church, we stopped to buy some water bags. Sort of like a capri-sun but in a ziplock bag and it's... water. We paid for 115 bags. We ended up with extra that we didn't pay for. The very last kid waiting outside received the very last bag of water. God provides all our needs! He knows every strand of hair on our head, every piece of sand on the beaches, and he knew how many water packets we would need! Super cool God moment!
English Camp team!
headed back down
This was the view from the church. My heart kept singing:
"You're the God of this city, You're the King to these people, You're the Lord of this Nation, You are.
You're the Light to the darkness, You're the Hope to the hopeless, You're the Peace to the restless, You are."
-Chris Tomlin
When we got back to the orphanage, we unloaded 1200 Bibles from the bus that would be distributed, some that night, and some with Team 2 the next week.
praying over the Bibles
We divided up into 2 teams again. Some of us took some time to love on the workers and teachers at the orphanage. A Bible story was taught and their feet were washed! They also got to "shop" for new shoes. When the women came back from being pampered... they were GLOWING! So happy :)
washing feet
The other team went down to be with the kids in the orphanage while the women were being loved on. That's the team I chose :)
That's my precious baby D on the left. The little girl on the right was a stinker haha! She kept wanting everything in my backpack! When I wouldn't give her my crackers or chapstick (because I didn't have enough for everyone), she told me I was mean and wasn't her friend. I used to opportunity to tell her that she was my friend anyway and that I thought she was beautiful. Her face lit up and she ran off skipping and dancing! Don't ever take for granted the opportunity to tell someone they are beautiful and special!
being silly
That wraps up Days 1-3, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday!
To be continued...
