Highs and Lows

Wednesday

To quote my teammate, Trish... "Today was a day of HIGHS and LOWS".    Here in Haiti, the lows are more than I could have ever imagined and I'm confident they have changed our hearts forever.   But what's beautiful, is that the Highs are so HIGH, it makes every moment of sorrow worth it!  

We began our day serving at Gertrude's orphanage, a home for disabled children.     I knew going in this would be extremely hard.    I knew for a fact we would be uncomfortable, as we had been prepared that some of the disabilites were extreme.    What we experienced when we walked in was multiple kids strapped in wheel chairs, some tied to the walls for restraint.  A room that smelled of urine.   Broken down truck in the middle of the tiny playground, just to name a few.    This was our LOW.   

After just a few short minutes of acclimating, we wheeled the children out into the open air courtyard.   Some we unstrapped from their wheelchairs and took out to hold and play with.  Our friend, Junior, started playing his guitar much to the delight of the children.    The boys started racing hand-pedaled trikes with Mickey and Jr.,who were quite fast!    We gave our visually impaired friend, Maxim, a hand note that said "Glory to God" in braille hand-made by our Eden Prairie friends the Bushlands, whose daughter is also visually impaired.   We had so much fun and the boys were awesome with the kids.  Very poignant moments and our HIGH!

Next, we headed off to the Home for the Sick and Dying Children.   To say this was tough would be an understatement.   Although the care the children get is wonderful, it was overwhelming to see so many sick babies and toddlers.  Each room was lined with rows of cribs.    Babies malnourished and hooked up to IV's.   Toddlers crying from their cribs, arms outstretched with the hopes of being picked up and held.    Many burning up from fevers.  This was a LOW.

We jumped into action, picking up and holding as many babies as our arms could hold.    The boys brought out some balloons and began entertaining the older kids that were well enough to play.    We carried babies out into the courtyard for some much needed fresh air.   We managed to get beautiful smiles  on the faces of children who had looked so sad and hopeless.    This was a HIGH!

When you're in Haiti, it's extremely hard not to be overcome with feelings of helplessness.  The needs are extreme everywhere we go.  Therefore, we are constantly reminded that our mission is not to meet every physical need.  Our most important mission is to share the Hope they have in Christ and remind them of God's great love for them.

For more photos of our adventures, go to our Facebook page - 2012 EP Haiti mission trip.

Much Love from Haiti,
Karla

A day with everyone

Thursday, Day 4 - Today was a day that kept us moving. We started out today driving to Jean Garry's school where 472 kids learn in tight quarters. We played with the younger kids and sang some songs. After that we drove to grace village. It was a blast playing with the kids there for a little while. I cant wait for a whole day there tomorrow. Then it was off to visit with the elderly. They lived in average run down homes/shacks mixed in with the community. We visited 5 of the elderly that aged up to 79. Several were handicapped but all loved our visit. We sang songs, prayed, and gave they some supplies. It was great to see their lively spirits and love for god in their poor living conditions. We played with kids along the way and sung many songs. The mass grave was next. It was a small memorial at the base of the mountains where the unidentified victims of the earthquake were buried. Then it was off to another incredible game of street soccer. With two rocks as a goal, a kickball, and some new Eden Prairie jerseys we played a great game all leaving with smiles. It was a great day full of excitement and I cant wait for tomorrows day at Grace Village.

- Ben Ose

Friendship

Yesterday we got to deliver water to 3 different locations in city soleil to the people that live in shacks made out of anything they can find. As soon as we got off the water truck little kids that had seen us coming surrounded us. It was as if we had known them forever and we were their best friends. They completely trusted us, and even though they were living in about the worst conditions possible they were still so happy to be with us. We went to our 3 stops and at every stop kids were smiling and at the end of our last stop a huge group of kids started singing a song as we left. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. We got back, showered, and ate dinner, but since it was only about 7 o'clock Ben wanted to see if the kids in the neighborhood wanted to play soccer. The rest of us weren't too sure at first but it turned into what Tom called "a sacred time". Those little 10 year olds were laughing and beating us 4 to 0. We finally started to come back when we got this little haitian kid on our team named Jameson. We ended up coming back and tied them 5 -5. When we told them that we had to go, they made us promise that we would come back again the next day to play with them. We had known them for a little over an hour and we already had made some great friends. Then we met up with our group and each of us shared our word of the day. That's where we take our whole day and try to sum it up into one word, and mine was friendship. Everybody that we met was so nice and friendly, and you would want to go back and play with them some more. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life, and I'm never going to forget it.

Served

Wow!  What an amazing day we had delivering water to Cite Soleil, the poorest of the poor in the Western  Hemisphere. Every evening in the guest house we sit in a circle and share our "word of the day".  My word today after serving on the water truck was "served"....not serve...but "served".  At our first stop I was holding a precious little girl, half dressed, as we took a little tour of the area.  As we walked, this precious little one wiped the sweat off my face and moved the hair sticking to my face.  Then she started singing "God is so good, He's so good, He's so good, God is!"  Totally loving me, sharing her joy and serving me....  Then at our second spot I was holding two little ones and when it got too hard for me to hold them both,  I sat down and gained a third.  As I was moving, the rubberband fell out of my hair and a few older teenage girls came over and started braiding my hair in the beautiful, perfect braids like they have in their hair (and, I might add, picking out the gray ones they found and totatlly laughing in amazement).  They were totally serving me, loving me, connecting with me....I started out the day ready to serve God's precious people and instead God's precious people served me.

And by the way....I couldn't have been prouder of our amazing teenage boys serving, laughing, and loving the people of Haiti!

God always has a plan for us.

After a long trip through Miami we arrived at the guesthouse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, all intact with all of our luggage and personal belongings. After a quick swim at the hotel pool across the street and a delicious dinner we got a chance to take a little walk. As we were walking through the rubble-filled streets, we were greeted by a swarm of boys. These boys, in their rags of clothes and dirty, broken shoes, were happy. I was shocked at this occurance, as was the rest of the group. Although these kids had almost nothing, barely enough food and water, they were content and even happy. This just showed me that even though they don't have much, God has a plan for them. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says "I have a hope and a future for you" this is something that we need to remember, no matter how bad we think we have it God always has a plan for us.

Thank you for your prayers and God bless,

Nick Beckman

Being "In The Game"

What an honor and privilege to be serving such an amazing team!  As I walked into "Packing Central" the first thing that stood out were the rows of shoes, caps, jerseys and personalized bookmarks that were so lovingly laid out ready to be loaded and delivered to these precious children down at Grace Village.  The efforts made all around to fulfill this special request to make sure EVERY child is to receive a pair of shoes, even the brand new residents, was heartfelt.  Thank you all for making this happen in such a short amount of time...with God anything is possible!

The caps, jerseys, boys, and planned sport activity at Grace Village made me think about being on a team and the wonderful blessing of being on Jesus' team!  We're joined with him by faith so that when He wins, we win.  That is what is means to be glorified in Him.  He chose us, and He made us "get in the game".  This group is "getting into the game"!  Our great calling is to find out what God is doing in the world and then to fling ourselves wholeheartedly into His cause.  Yes, there have been questions about what is to happen this next week as we're down in Haiti and there will be many more...but all in all, this group is stepping out on God's court in this world.  The world is God's kingdom.  He could do all of this without us, but we share in His glory because we are on His team and that's God's call to all of us!  I pray that God will show each one us His kingdom in unexpected ways and that we fully invest for Jesus and His kingdom not only this next week but always.

When we stay "in the game" four things happen:
 (1) We are living proof of God's power
 (2) We accomplish God's goals for our lives
 (3) We glorify Christ with our life
 (4) We share in His ultimate victory

What a wonderful way to live! 

"Heavenly father, your kingdom will last long after the things of the world will pass.  Help us to live today for the things that will last forever.  Thank you for letting us "be in the game" and make us living proof of your power so that those who know us will know that we know You.  May we never be ashamed to say, "I believe in Jesus".  In your precious name, Amen."

Team

If just hit me today as i was organizing my garage full of donations that God has really changed my definition of "team" over the last few months.  When we started out planning this mission trip i was so excited to have this experience with two of my sons, Tim and Ben.....team "Ose".  Then God placed it on the hearts of a few other moms and sons to come along on the adventure, moms and kids whom i love and am so blessed to share this time with...."EP mom - son team".  Then i realize that our team leaders will be my dear friend Margie Schroeder and Jeff Gacek the founder of Healing Haiti, WOW....team "amazing".  Then Jeff's brother Tom and his wife decide they actually like working with teenagers and want to come along with our crew, fantastic....team "incredible".  Then we have a garage sale to make money for Healing Haiti and i see friends donate their garage (literally), items to sell, shop the sale, donate even if they don't shop, bake beautiful items to sell to the shoppers......team "above and beyond".  Then i see the continued, growing amazing support of family and friends as people have been praying for us, making financial donations to our trip, dropping off shoes for the kids at Grace Village, boxes of Educational toys, baby food and nutritional supplements, clinging crosses for nervous moms, batteries, sports equipments,  portable green houses, suitcases, anything they can do to bless our team and the people of Haiti....team "exceeds my imagination".  To top it off, my sweet friend and neighbor Eleisha McGuire, and her 2 darling children walk down yesterday with a bag full of name tag / book marks for each of the kids at Grace Village...tags that we can tie to the shoes so the kids will know which pair is for who and then they can use the tags as a book mark in their Bibles.  The scripture on the bookmark reads...."Cast your cares on the Lord and HE WILL sustain you: He will NEVER let the righteous be shaken" Psalm 55:22.  Team...."All of You"....thank you for sharing your talents, gifts, time, money, prayers all to be part of this team!  My definition of team started out so little......and God thinks so big!!