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Our Schools Sponsorship Team Trips Newsletters Ed Lockett Get Involved Missionary Ventures Home |
First, THANK YOU ALL for your prayers! We felt them. To those of you who donated finances and supplies for the trip, we are so appreciative! For a visual tour of our trip, check out either Carole or Joel's Facebook (send us a "friend request" or email if you would like further details on how to access). We went with a list of things we wanted to accomplish. Below is the actual list Joel handed out at our prayer partner meeting the week before we left. I (Carole) am adding how we see (and saw) God answering each. * Effective ministry through the VBS program, personal relationships and evangelism, and the church services. Sam, Courtney, and Joy did an amazing job with the VBS lessons and crafts. There will be blue bandanas in Marchasse for a long time to come! Ian tirelessly led the singing at VBS and church services. He left his guitar in Marchasse to the joy of many! * Wisdom on distributing funds raised to bless the teachers, supplement the school lunch program, and for special projects. Through bagel sales, the "Taste of Haiti" luncheon and the generosity of our supporters, we raised over $3,300. We were able to give the teachers at four different schools bonuses that amounted to at least one months salary. * Team unity in the face of uncomfortable living conditions. This was HUGE! There was not a single incident of "getting on each others nerves." Instead each member used their strengths to support the agenda of the team. I am especially grateful for Pierre and the way he was always available to translate, saved our heads by catching falling luggage on THE BUMPIEST BUS RIDE EVER, (We should have listened to you earlier Pierre!), and helped with meals in every way imaginable. * The team would be a blessing and encouragement to the missionaries, pastors and teachers we will be working with. Again, each person pulled their weight here and did not allow the language barrier to stop them. Tom was even able to teach/encourage the teachers and preach at a church service in Marchasse. * Each team member would experience God in a powerful new way and come back excited for missions. I won't speak for the rest of the team here, but I know this is true for me (Carole). This was my third trip to Haiti and my eyes are opened more each time to the nearly overwhelming needs of the Haitian people. Haiti is just one example of "the mission field." The important lesson God is teaching me is not to be a camerawoman. (See Ed Lockett's newsletter dated 2/26/09). * Haitian lives would be touched, brought closer to Jesus, and have needs met. There are so many stories we could tell you here! I'm going to limit myself to a few: - Bob was able to supply some immediate needs in the form of medical attention. One child had been rubbing charcoal into her infected lip. Bob cleaned it out and treated it appropriately; she was dramatically improved the next day. - The husband/father of five of a family in the church recently died. Mom could no longer afford the tuition for her two eldest children to stay in school. Haiti Friendship Ministries will pay for them this year and possibly in future years. - One of my favorite activities in Haiti is learning Creole and teaching English. I love the time before school starts (it's relatively quiet!) when I can sit down with a few kids or teachers and really visit. After my first trip, I purchased an Oxford English/Haitian Creole Picture Dictionary to help me learn Creole. This year, my sister Florie donated four of these dictionaries for me to give as gifts to people I had established relationships with. The joy these gifts bestowed was truly humbling. * Direction on future ministry in Haiti to get more involved with helping and partnering with the school, church and community in Marchasse. Ongoing!! We need your prayers! * The country of Haiti, and in general, the desperate needs of its people; that Jesus would be lifted up in that land. Ongoing! We need your prayers! On April 19th at Princeton Community Church in Pennington, NJ we will be sharing stories about the trip, showing slides and video, and singing some of the songs we sang in Haiti. Services start at 10:00 AM if you would like to join us. Meanwhile, we are starting to plan next year's trip. We will keep you posted as plans progress. We recognize that the scope of "Haiti Friendship Ministries" ability to serve is dependant on its "friends" support. Thank you, friends, for helping make this trip so successful! For the least of these, Joel & Carole |