Whose Joy?

This is Gina.  Eleven-year old Isaac stole my heart today.  It all began during one of our stops at Guiliame's Orphanage in Cite Soleil.  We were greeted by many curious and smiling children when we walked into the well-shaded courtyard. We were there to play games with them and provide a fun experience for the children.  Everyone enjoyed games of pin the tail on the donkey, blowing bubbles, batting balloons, bean bag toss, and throwing balls.  Christi,  Lisa and I blindfolded the children and steered them toward the wall with the chalk-drawn tailless donkeys.  The boys in my line were amazing at this game and their accuracy of pinning the tail in just the right place was mind-boggling!  It took me only 2 boys to realize they were coaching one another in French Creole, to go up, right, more right, down a little.  Yes!  After an hour or so of games, we sat down for some quiet time of coloring and drawing pictures.  I felt a hand slip into mine and I looked down at big brown eyes. Isaac Thomas and I sat down to draw.  He spelled his name for me and I spelled mine.  Then he motioned for me to draw.  As Isaac sat quietly, I drew his portrait and captured his beautiful face.  He just beamed!  I was there to bring happiness and fun to his day, but the happiness and joy that he brought to my day far surpassed what I did for Isaac.

No Cheating!

Isaac Thomas

Before we left the children sang and we all joined in clapping.   Their beautiful voices sang praises to Jesus.      Thank you, dear children, for showing the love and joy of God!

See our beanie babies!

-Gina Lasher

Healing Haiti Team Member

Sweetly Broken

Ednure Louis.  You don't know him, but God does.  And he had a plan to use that little two year old boy to change my life forever.  As we entered Mother Theresa's orphanage, the sounds of children and crying babies echoed through the open corridor.  Sick and dying  babies.  Children who've been left by their parents because they cannot care for them on their own. 

We entered the downstairs area where the sick babies are.  It was like taking a step back in time.  A dark room with concrete walls filled with rows upon rows of small iron cribs.  IV's hanging from anywhere they could find a spot.  Sisters in the traditional habits.  And more sick babies than I had ever seen at one time.  This is where I thought I would spend much of my time that morning, but God had a different plan. 

I immediately passed through that room just to see what the upstairs looked like.  The rooms where the non-sick older children stayed.  And there he was.  Ednure Louis.  Sitting on the cold concrete floor.  He instinctively reached up as I crouched down to pick him up.  He sat contently as I held him.  I offered him to Lisa, but he didn't want to go, and before I knew it he was sleeping soundly on my shoulder.  I swayed back and forth trying to offer a little comfort, and before I knew what was happening the tears were streaming down my cheeks.  God's living waters were pouring out of me wishing I could do more than just hold these children for a few short hours.  I was being emptied of me so that I could be refreshed again with God's Holy Spirit. 

Many times I thought of putting Ednure Louis in a crib to tend to another crying child, but something inside me told me to hang on... to hang on tight.  And so I did.  And as I prayed over Ednure Louis gently breathing in and out on my shoulder, wondering whose child I was caring for and why he was there, a peace began to fill my heart.  We sat on the bench, gently swaying, breathing in, breathing out.  And like the day before, I found myself in a bubble of peace amongst all the chaos.  God was using this little boy to remind me that He is in control and will be my only source of peace and strength. 

As Ednure Louis and I sat quietly, visiting hours for parents ended.  A young gentleman who had come to visit his child moved my legs off the bench and set his tiny child down in front of me....  "please take care of and love on my child while I'm gone" were his unspoken words.  I can only imagine the heartache of a parent leaving their child behind every day knowing they can't care for them.  And so I sat there with Ednure Louis on my left shoulder and this little girl on my right shoulder.  We sat there sharing this very moment that God had prepared, predestined, for the three of us, and I was humbled.

I cared for children of all kinds this day... sick and dying babies, mentally handicapped children, and children whose parents simply cannot care for them on their own.  I held a 7 month old baby who could not have weighed more than 5 pounds and could not hold her head up because she was too weak.  Her crying ceased, and she fell asleep in my arms.  I played with and prayed over a 1 year old little girl whose wrist was no larger than a grown man's thumb, but whose spirit was larger than my entire team combined.  Despite her circumstances, the Holy Spirit shined brightly through this little girl's eyes.   I loved on a two year old girl whose hair was gray from malnourishment.  She clung to me and tears streamed down her tiny little cheeks when I put her back in the crib... time to go... she was losing that ever so powerful human touch... that sense of love that God pours through us into those children and my heart ached once more.

I had gone to serve those children, but in the end, God used them to serve me.  I walked out of Mother Teresa's that day having had my heart split wide open but immediately mended back together, stronger than ever before.  I walked out of there with the image of those children, God's little angels, imprinted on my heart.  God held my hand as I walked out the door... sweetly broken.

-Christi Ebert

Healing Haiti Team Member

Living Waters

Today we had the privilege of serving the people of Cite Soleil, delivering over 10,000 gallons of water... 5 gallons at a time.  The sights of garbage, shanties, bright colors of clothing and fruit in the market, and unclothed children... the smells of delicious foods intermingled with burning garbage and sewage... the feeling of dust in our eyes... the sounds of idle chatter and children laughing... all consumed us simultaneously as we pulled in.  The horn on the water truck beeped letting everyone know we were there, and people came in droves.  Men, women, and children... all carrying their precious buckets.  Those buckets were like gold as this would be the only clean water they might get in days.

Bucket Line From Atop the Water Truck

  

As the adults and older children lined up behind the truck, the younger children surrounded us, automatically reaching up to hold our hands, looking up at us with their big brown eyes, and smiling at each of us when we smiled down at them.  It's amazing how a simple "Bon Jour" can conjure up the biggest smile in children and adults alike.  How powerful a simple touch can be.  I spent twenty minutes sitting and gently tickling a small child.  Imagine a child, in the midst of that chaos, sitting still for twenty minutes.  God was using me to deliver His love to that young child without a spoken word.

We served three different areas, each unique in their own way, but with the same loving and compassionate people.  God had a plan for each of us today.  Jeff experience a moment of sorrow as he watched a child walk away with an empty bucket when the water ran out.  Sue experienced joy as she interacted with the happy children.  Lisa experienced love as she watched the rest of us display Jesus' love all day long.  Gina and Allison experienced their gifts of giving as they played with all those children with the dark hair and big brown eyes.  And I, at one of the stops, as I held that hose filling the water buckets through all 3,500 gallons, experienced Jesus.  I literally felt his presence flowing through that hose... his living waters flowing into those buckets... into the lives of those Haitian people.  And I was reminded of the story of the Samaritan women from John 4.  Jesus says, 

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.  Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

I pray that throughout the rest of this week, and the rest of our lives, God's living water continue to flow through each and every one of us and through the lives of all the people we have the honor of serving.

-Christi Ebert

Healing Haiti Team Member

Heartbreak

Her eyes were beautiful. Her long lashes softening her big brown eyes. Her smile was infectious making people happy to just be around her. She was 1 year old and had been given to " Missionaries of Charity Home for Children". Her future uncertain, her prognosis unknown, she only wanted to be loved. She only wanted to be held. I spent 2 hours holding her and the time flew bye.

The babies at Missionaries of Charity Home for Children are there because there is no where else to go. The families are poor and medical help is limited. It is, without a doubt, there last chance.

How can you look in their faces and not be affected? How can you hold them without your heart breaking?

We saw babies so skinny that their diapers would not stay on. We saw babies so sick that they wouldn't cry or react when poked with a needle.

How can someone so young, so innocent have so little future?

As I left the building, her cries echoed through my heart. I'm sure that though they eventually stopped, I will hear them forever.

-Dave McCarthy

Healing Haiti Team Member

Let the Adventure Begin!

From a cancelled flight, a two hour drive to Rochester in a snow storm, a delayed flight to Chicago, a 2 hour delayed flight to Miami followed by 2 hours of sleep to catch a routine flight to Haiti, our team couldn't have been in better spirits. To a person, everyone was upbeat, excited and anxious to step into a world we have only read about.

Haiti is an onslaught on the senses. It is a country of extremes. There is massive poverty and destruction yet there is great beauty. From a gorgeous flowering tree growing amidst the earthquake rubble to the inner beauty reflected every Haitian face in the slums of Cite Soleil.

With 80% unemployment, Haitians are faced with great challenges just to obtain the basic necessities. Life is a struggle, yet they have chosen to be happy. Everywhere we went we were met with smiles, waves and people whose faces light up when you talk to them. Most can't speak English, yet a smile is a great communicator.

Our first day involved delivering water to the people in the slums of Cite Soleil. It can best be described as organized chaos as people jockey for a position in line to get the water they desperately need. Maybe because the water deliveries are so important, they treated us with respect and were very grateful for our help and Healing Haiti's help in bringing it to them.

On our way back to the guest house, some members of our party were quiet, reflecting on what we had just experienced. Others talked excitedly on who they had met and what they had seen.

We're back now at our lodging and most of us are fatigued from the previous night's short sleep and from lifting water buckets. Yet we are all looking forward to tomorrow and we're hopeful that through our efforts, we can make a difference in someone's life.

-Dave McCarthy

Healing Haiti Team Member

God has used Haiti to open my eyes.

I am so excited to be returning to Haiti! I went for the first time with my husband in Nov ’10 and God changed me. I have always had a heart for missions but it was so overwhelming. There are so many needs, who would I give to and how would I know if the money I gave would actually be used to help. So with all of these thoughts I chose to do nothing. When Eagle Brook started talking about missions last summer, I heard God’s whisper. I chose to be obedient even though I had no idea where the money would come from or the purpose of my going.

While in Haiti, I was separated from all of life’s distractions like my job, computer, phone, family, friends, obligations and to do list. My only job was to surrender. I was supposed to slow down and listen to God’s whisper, to truly be in the present! I felt that I had one ear listening to this world and the other ear waiting for God to prompt me. A small naked and dirty little boy came up to me and ask me to pick him up and I could hear God asking me, “Will you love the least of these? Will you surrender and be my hands and feet?” Working at Mother Theresa’s was the same. I was able to pray over these babies and to give the healing gift of touch. I was representing Jesus’ arms. That is a powerful thing! Then playing with the kids at the orphanages and seeing these children that are being given food, shelter, education and learning of God’s love. These children are the future of Haiti. What a blessing to be a part of building up these children so that they can break out of the bonds of poverty and start to understand their value, we value them, God values them.

God has used Haiti to open my eyes. I have heard Pastor Bob say that we are the top 5% wealthiest in the world and I would say to myself, “Yes, but we live in America and here we are just barely making it.” After seeing how these beautiful people are living and their amazing faith, I am realize how much I have been given. I can no longer stand by while people that I have seen and touched are thirsty, hungry and sick. I will be part of the solution. I learned in Haiti that I could be in the present and hear God’s voice, so now that I am back in Minnesota I am learning to do the same.

I am returning to Haiti for a couple of reasons. One is that I want to be a part of the solution in helping the poor, sick, orphaned and widowed. I also want to continue to build relationships with the Haitians. I have a handful of people that I know God put into my path and they touched my heart and I can’t wait to see them again. The final reason is to be a part of showing my fellow Christians the truth about surrendering to God’s will and to start living a purposeful life. That together if we can make a difference when we each do our part. What an amazing journey our life can be! I can’t wait to hear the stories of God’s amazing transformation in each of my teammates .

- Jenn Imsland

Febraury 28-March 7 Trip Leader