Sharing some of my favorite pictures

Last Day

Today has been hard.  It was our last day to serve SonLight. I am still struggling to see through my tears as I type this post. Saying good-bye today was one of the hardest things I've ever hard to do. I know others feel the same way because we are all in tears.

I am sure we will each leave here with our own words and pictures to describe our experiences here, but words and pictures can not do it justice.  You need to experience it with with all 5 of your senses.  You need to see the children and families on the street. You need to smell the air and the people and the animals.   You need to hear the children singing as they worship the Lord on an empty stomach. You need to taste Haitian food and water, and you need to feel the kiss of a child as they welcome you into their hearts.

I pray that this experience will change us all, and that it will not be a fleeting change, but one that will have an impact on us for the rest of our lives.  There is a Haitian proverb"Sa je pa we ke pa tounen."  It means what the eye does not see, the heart cannot reflect on.

Please pray for our safety as we return home tomorrow.

Blessings~The Haiti Team

Michele with Lydia- 10 years old

Rob with a child

Wednesday night our team went back to the orphanage to play with the children and take them more supplies.  Some of the team members that didn't make the first trip came this time, and fell in love with the children as much as we did the first day.  We played with them and choked back our tears as we smiled and played with them.  It was hard leaving knowing that they would be sleeping on the floor and we would sleep on a bed.

Serveral of us have had the opportunity to teach in the classrooms for teachers that have been ill or out.  Danielle has taught every kid in the school 2 of the Kids World dances and they have been singing the and dancing and praising the Lord everyday with her.  Serina's burn is getting better and so far no tummy troubles for the team! 

Today we continued to work in the classrooms and the guys are working on various project throughout the school.  Several bathrooms have been their target!

Please continue to pray for us and our safety as we begin the journey home on Saturday morning.

Blessings~the Haiti Team

P.S. Happy 40th Birthday Steve!

Tuesday/Wednesday

Tuesday.  Today we went to an orphanage.  It is one that has just opened.  The former one was raided by the government and found 15 mal-nourished children inside, 5 of which just came back from the hospital Monday night. We had the opportunity to hold the children and play ball with them.  3 of us were holding what we thought were babies, but they were 4 year old girls that were so under fed they had not grown.  One of those girls is still not able to eat.  The house is clean, but it is empty.  There are 3 beds for the kids and one table for them to eat at.  A local woman has taken them in to love and care for them on top of her own 3 children.  These children are students at SonLight.  We are planning on going back with whatever supplies we can gather for them.  To say we were touched by this experience would be an understatement.  We spent part of the night trying to figure out how to get these kids beds to sleep in.  I fell in love with a little girl named DiDi.

After we left the orphanage, we gathered for dinner and devotion time.  I wish I could capture the stars as we sat on the schools rooftop and sang worship songs. Three different people saw shooting stars. We had the best devotional time since we got here.  Then we went back to the Hotel. 

At the Hotel some of the girls found a 6inch bug in their room.  Rob had to come to the rescue and kill it for us.  As soon as he went to hit it with a shoe, it flew across the wall. Rob yelled “It flies!”  We have never seen Rob move so fast!  He beat that thing to death with his shoe.  We laughed all night about it.

Our walk to the orphanage

Today some of us had the opportunity to teach in the classrooms and go through the school and take the official school photos.  Later today we will have the opportunity to return to the oraphanage and love on some kids!

Blessings~Katie & the Haiti Team

P.S. Happy Anniversary of your 1st date to Kathi, and Steve!  And Happy Birthday Steve.

Monday/Tuesday

My apologies.  The Sunday night post didn't post to this blog.  I just posted it, but with less pictures.  You can see more pictures at www.vangheem.com.

On Monday, we finally had the opportunity to serve the school.  The ladies went to classrooms, and the men began working around the school grounds.  Everyone seemed to have a joyful day meeting the children and getting to know them better.  The best part of my morning was being greeted by the children.  They all kiss your cheek and say good morning to you.  It had a way of endearing them all to me right away. We taught in the classrooms until 1pm, we then gathered for lunch and then part of the group went into Haiti on “Taxi’s” which are motorcycles, to go see the market.  If you could see the roads here, you would know that clinging to the back of a stranger a they zip down these bumpy, rocky, pothole roads was a chilling thought.  But, we all “maned up” and got on the bike.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of us riding down the road, but I was too busy hanging on! This trip is really gave us an intimate look at Haitians and the way they live.  Those of us that sponsor a child were able to purchase food for them as gifts.

After the market trip we had some devotional time and then sat together for dinner.  After dinner each night, we meet on the roof of the school to sing worship songs and talk about our day.

Tuesday we went back to the classrooms to help and really get to know the kids and their stories.  Mr. Rob, Mr. Marty and Mr. Scott were playing tag with the kids before classes began today.  This afternoon we will be visiting an orphanage where 15 kids are staying.  Our job there is to just hold the kids and play with them and show them God’s love.  Later this week we are scheduled to go to a hospital and visit the homes of kids we sponsor.

 

I am unable to get pictures to post today. Internet here is not the same as the US. I will try again the next time I have access to a computer.
Right now we have 1 person with a burn from getting off a motorcycle and another not feeling well.  Please pray for out heath and safety.

Thank you all for your prayers.  If you leave comments here I will relay them to our team!  This does require you to sign up for a google or blogspot account.  We would love to hear from you J

 

Blessings~The Haiti Team

Sunday Night's Post

Hello!

Our team made it safely to Haiti on Saturday!
Our flight out of O'Hare had technical "difficulties", and we were deplaned and put on another plane a few hours later. This only gave u a few hours till our next plane, so instead of going to a hotel we spent the night in the airport. This actually turned out to be a blessing. The hotel refunded all of our money and it made up the difference for the amount of money we were short from shopping for supplies for SonLight!
On Saturday we took a tour of the beautiful new Son Center. This worship center was built by volunteers and is an incredible facility were the Haitians gather to learn about God on Sundays. After our tour we went back to our rooms to get settled and wash up. We enjoyed a meal and worship time on the roof of the school.

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to attend Sunday School and go to service in creole. Then we learned our assignments for the week and went for a hike through the city of Port De Paix. I wish I had enough time to give you all the details of that journey. All I can say is that every picture you have seen on TV that every picture that you see on TV that pull on your heart strings is true. there were pigs and dogs roaming the streets looking for food and water. Kids had no pants and ran around in their underware. Garbage is everywhere. There are no police roaming the street to keep you safe. Kids come to school with no food to eat. It makes you wish you could do more, whatever it is- just more.

Please continue to pray for our safety and that our hearts will be willing and open to hearing what HE needs us to do why we are here.

Blessings~The Team

Just thought we would share the Haiti Team's Playlist with you all!  This is what we will be singing to our Father while we are Thanking him for our time in Haiti.

10,000 Reasons- Matt Redman

How great is our God - Chris Tomlin

I Can Only Imagine - Mercy Me

Revelation Song- Phillips Craig & Dean

Mighty to Save- Hillsong

We are also singing Amazing Grace.
Thanks for praying for us and following us on this trip!

Blessings~
Katie

Thank You!

This blog is to keep the West Ridge Community Church Missions Team Family/Friends/Supporters informed while we are in Haiti. We will post update here during our trip whenever possible.
We will be assisting SonLight Ministries in Haiti.  Here are some pictures from a past trip.

A Big Thank You to all our friends and family members that are supporting us and praying for us during this trip!