Haiti or bust - January 2012

This crew is headed to Haiti - plus 3 more who couldn't be there for the picture.  

IMPACT is sending FIFTEEN people to Montrouis, Haiti.  Seriously, we can't wait.  There are 4 of us going back for the 2nd & 3rd time and there are 11 of us who are brand spankin' new to Haiti.  Meet the crew:

From bottom left: Garrett - first trip to Haiti, nurse in SLO, asset to our medical team & group humor.

                             Jarred - P.A. just moving to CA, lived in Haiti for 2 months doing clinics, stoked to go back

                             Johnny - first trip to Haiti, incredible call to missions, great thinker & tons of fun

                             Amy - first trip to Haiti, loves kids, stoked to help at the school & the mission (orphanage), organizer extraordinaire 

                            Sarah - IMPACT intern, first trip to Haiti, HUGE heart for our interns there and the Haitian people she's never even met

                            Miriam - first trip to Haiti, servant-hearted doctor in Paso, stoked to use her gifts for the Kingdom

                            Lindsey - went to Haiti in Sept to help "settle in" our 9-month interns, was absolutely captured by that place and those people, can't wait to see what God does in this girl

From top left:      James - EMT, first trip to Haiti, gifted musician - God will use his talents to bless many

                           Bree - yours truly, #3 trip to Haiti, stinkin' love that place and cannot wait to go back.  I could write a book, but I'll spare you :) 

                           Todd - lover of people, talented musician, incredibly gifted with teenagers, extended family has lived in Haiti for 30 years & this will be his first visit there - stoked for his experience

                           Jenny - nurse, care-taker, servant - she will be awesome at clinics and loving on kiddos

                           Kyle - EMT, disaster planning and mission-minded man - can't wait to see how God will use him to dream about changing the village of Montrouis

Not pictured:      Carol - 2nd time to Haiti, captured by this ministry in March and cannot wait to return to minister to the Reeves family, the school and the Haitians

                           Andy - pastor, comedian, lover of Jesus, people and restoration - stoked to have him minister with us in January

                           Marina - IMPACT intern, added merely days ago, up for anything, really interested in cultures and what others bring to this world, stoked to use her micro-finance gifts there

PRAY FOR US.  Buy an "espwa" bracelet and join us in bringing hope to Haiti.  Keep reading here to follow us as we go.  

Empowerment at its finest

Here at IMPACT, we believe in partnerships with people across the globe that are empowering them to help themselves - giving them the tools to have sustainable income without American intervention and loving them immensely while they sort through the process of going from poverty to success.

This article is GREAT.  Some of my very best friends are living in Peru running this program for 10 women there.  Some of my other good friends plug six interns I love dearly are living in Haiti doing the same thing.

We all have a story to tell and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves means helping them write their story while they continue to give life to ours.

.more on short-term missions.

this is good.  read it.  understand what it means for you.  weigh your decision when you decide to go on a short-term missions trip.

http://www.theveryworstmissionary.com/2011/09/using-your-poor-kid-to-teach-my-rich.html

Turkey... Acorned

So our Turkey team had a GREAT article written about their trip in the Camarillo Acorn!!  Awesome stuff - for them, for missions and most of all for Jesus.  We love it.  Check it out.

http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/news/2011-09-16/Faith/A_church_family_without_borders.html

Proud

Incase you didn't know or you haven't gotten the memo, I'm PROUD OF OUR GALS.  There are 6 women who've given up everything to be in Haiti for nine months and holy smokes, I couldn't admire them more.  Having spend a week with them at training and week with them in Haiti - they are nothing short of incredible.  They form this beautiful team and work so well together that they didn't even need "leaders" to bring them there (except maybe a little help killing spiders and moving book shelves at the school).

Seriously, my heart is overflowing because our God is so stinkin' good. 

One of the most touching things to me about these girls is their servant hearts.  I see this so much in Shala - she sacrificed a ridiculous amount of American dreaminess to be in Haiti (a job... with a promotion to boot, a 2-year relationship with a guy that totally supports her, a more than ideal living situation, etc.) and she's finding the sacrifice is so worth it.

Read her most recent blog... you won't be disappointed.

Did I mention I'm proud of these girls?

Meeting the people of Montrouis

The girls have some trouble uploading videos from Haiti because, well, it's Haiti and they're even lucky to have internet ;) They get limited bandwidth and videos take up WAY too much of that, so I decided I'd share them on our IMPACT blog so you could see a bit of what's going on in Montrouis.

Here they are getting to know some of the kids that live at the mission... only girls could be entertained for long periods of time playing games like this - Naika caught on quick! 

We have some videos of Dr. Kerry Reeves explaining to us why the people in his discipleship program in the fishing village of Callalan are so eager to learn English and how our team can help them while learning Creole.  We also have a video of the girls introducing themselves in Creole and the Haitians introducing themselves in English.  I'm still trying to figure out how to upload them, but I'll put links in as soon as I figure it out.  I'm excited to go back and see what incredible progress has been made in a few months... my hunch is that the English/Creole language barrier will hardly be a barrier anymore :)

God is SO good.  Kerry and Joy Reeves & Stephen and Autumn Byxbe are THRILLED to have the girls there and know that it will make a huge difference in the quality and quantity of ministry that can and will happen there in Montrouis/Saint Marc.  We are so blessed to have been called to partner with New Vision Haiti and pray that God will bring much fruit.  While Lindsey and I are sad to be home, we are grateful to have had the opportunity to go and we know that God will use our stories to invite people into the story of what He's continuing to do across the globe.

The Important Things

We - as a crew, 6 interns (and a 7th who met us here), Bree & Lindsey H - are learning alot our first week here in Haiti. 

 

Visit: newvisionhaiti.org to see the ministry they are working with for the next 9 months.

The gals are learning how to live with cold showers, sleep on the roof because the power goes out therefore, so do the fans, we're learning how to live in community, make new friends, run programs, set up classrooms but at the core of it we're learning that there are two things in life that really matter - loving God and loving others.  The most important thing on this earth are our relationships.  God is teaching us incredible things about that even in this first week as we get kids fed & sponsored to go to school, pray with and get to know the people of Montrouis that the girls will be living with and the girls learn to live in their new community here at the mission.

We know they are incredibly blessed with running water, electricity (most of the time), a washing machine, food on the table each day, ample space in their apartments and most of all, a Christian community to live in, not to mention an incredible 180 degree view of the Caribbean from their apartment where they get to watch amazing sunsets & lightning storms.  

In comparison to the life that's happening outside these gates, we have SO much.  

This week, we've been...

- At the school setting up classrooms...

- In the fishing village meeting the people in the community & helping with Bible studies & prayer meetings

- Getting to know & love on the kids that live below the girls at the mission (Bree's loved this one for a while)

- And relaxing one evening at a local hotel, taking a sunset swim in the Caribbean and eating hamburgers :) 

While it's hot, humid and sticky, the gals are learning to acclimate, learning to love each other & those God's putting in their lives and learning to live in Haiti.  Their work each day involves educating kids who would otherwise receive minimal education and never learn English, feeding and educating 150 kids through the sponsorship program, loving on and praying for the people in the village of Montrouis - many of whom are new believers, helping them with the fishing program as they are able to feed 1500 people through the feeding program, helping refugee victims find trades and rebuild their lives and serving alongside the Reeves & Byxbe families as they change this village for the Lord.  They are learning that them being here will change lives for eternity.  They are learning about the important things - God and people.  Lindsey H and I couldn't be more grateful to have taken the beginning of this journey with them.  THANK YOU for your support! 

If you're interested in helping the girls financially, go here: https://sna.etapestry.com/fundraiser/IMPACT/impact2011/team.do?participationRef=2963.0.36276270 and click "make a donation"

If you're interested in sponsoring one of the Haitian kids for school/food this coming year, visit: http://celebrationchildrenshome.ning.com/group/CKC and see how to help the girls in their ministry!!!