Saturday the 31st

So this is Stephen, I'm trying to write this post Debbi style so we'll see if I can pull this off.  Last night we stayed up till 1:30 playing games and talking with some other group from Pennsylvania, so some of us were super tired this morning. The plan for today was to cement the rebar into the  corner of the building for Tom. You know how they say that God laughs when we say we have a plan?  Yeah well he definitely does. So anyways that did not happen as planned. Daniel got his knee destroyed by a haitian soccer player so he didn't come to the work site with us today.   

        We show up at Tom's at like 9:00 am and he sent everyone to the work site but Jake, Brian, Joseph, and myself. We went with Tom to go get water. Well long story short then we rode in the horse slayer (the car was crashed into a horse recently) and it over heated like 100 times on the ride to get water. Anyway by the time we got to the work site it was 12:00. But we got all the work done by supper and everybody is super sunburnt but me.

                After supper  we played a game of Jenga and we found out that there is a rat in the kitchen that Watson can't fine, Wow. Any ways I think what I learned today is that plans should Always be second to the needs of the people around you. I guess I should get to bed, Debbi is suppose  to spell check this. So I'm going to tell her to try not to destroy this post.

               God bless you all,

              Stephen Mead  

       

                                                                                         

Sent from my iPhone

No. These are not tan lines. They are DIRT lines!!

Unfortunate soccer injury :(

Hard at work!!

Water line!!

Rock line!!

All the workers

Friends

Brick line!!

Taking a break and playing a little drums.  Our Internet service has been lacking. Tomorrow look for more updates :)

Thursday - our first full day!

Today was our first full day in Haiti and it was definately full! We awoke to turkeys gobbling outside our bedroom windows and then had a very yummy breakfast of Haitian baked oatmeal. Very tasty! It took quite a while to find a tap-tap to take all of us to Faith in Action's home base where we worked today, but we were finally successful! We spent the day bending and cutting rebar, building steel corner supports for Faith in Actions mission home.  We also had the opportunity for some fun jump roping with the local kids. We ended our afternoon with a little bit of singing with our makeshift band and then headed back to our guest house to clean up for dinner.  Dinner - most of the group's first time eating goat!  And it was good!!! After a game of soccer, we gathered to talk about our day and what we experienced.

During our scripture reading tonight, "For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God^* that you have through the imposition of my hands." 2 Timothy 1:6, we talked about how important the work we were doing is.  We realized in our interacting with eachother, that we are all equal and that the Haitian people are very open about themselves and willing to give us their trust and respect.  We talked about the fact that it is a gift to have been born in our country and we should appreciate that.  We also noticed how little the Haitians wasted and how resourceful they are.  They are very creative in using what they have. 

We also noticed how easy it was to make them happy when we were playing games.  It seems like nowadays, we need so much more for entertainment all the time, but these simple Haitian kids enjoyed our simple games and laughter so much it was contagious!  They just enjoyed being around us and watching us work.  We realized how important it is to have a smile on your face and a willingness to open our hearts to this culture that we do not know much about.  Today, we were not seperate.  There were not two cultures apart, but two cultures melded together.  Working, playing, singing, laughing.  Friendships forming.

We had a good day today!!  We are looking forward to our day tomorrow!!  God bless and good night.

Team March 2012

Walking to Faith in Action's home base to start our project. 

Whew!  We finally made it to the truck with all our luggage: 8 checked bags, 11 carry on and 11 back packs. 30 in all!!!  And we ONLY ended up about about a dozen helpers!!  Now a 3 hour ride north and dinner!!

Michigan meets Minnesota!!  About to board plane to Port au Prince!!!  We should be in Haiti in an hour an a half!!

100 "Bricks" going to Haiti Health Clinic!!

Because of your generosity, we have just reached

100 "Bricks"

for the Health Clinic in Liancourt!!!

Thank you so very much!!!

Haiti Health Clinic "BRICK DRIVE" Update!!

We have 40 bricks so far!!! 

Lets get the word out and move more bricks!!

~ We have one more week ~

Help us build a much needed

health clinic in Liancourt, Haiti!

We will keep you posted on their progress!!

Meet TEAM MARCH 2012!!

In just 16 short days, 11 of us will be travelling to central Haiti where we will spend a week immersed in the Haitian culture with amazing people that have become our friends.

 Meet our "Team March" ~

• Jeff - Chiropractor, father of 5, first introduced to Haiti in 2001 and fell in love with the people.  He has put Haiti in his heart and life for the past 11 years!
• Debbi - mother of 5, dream of going to Haiti became a reality in 2001.  Debbi has been on every "Hands for Haiti" trip so far!
• Jake - currently a student at Mid-Michigan College, a former hockey player and a songwriter, Jake was a member of the innaugural "Hands for Haiti" trip in Feb/March of 2010.  He developed this blog site about our trip.
• Bekah - a student at Northern Michigan University, Bekah loves sports and horses and music!  Her first mission opportunity was in the Dominican Republic in 2010.  The trip that inspired the formation of "Hands for Haiti!""
• Daniel - a junior at Cadillac High School and varsity soccer and hockey player, Daniel can't wait until he can get back to one of his favorite places.  He has been on Team June, Team May and now his 3rd trip to Haiti in just 2 weeks!!
• Brian - also a junior at Cadillac High School, this will be Brian's first mission trip.  He has been waiting for God to answer this call for him to serve and is looking forward to the amazing experience he will have!!
• Rachel - a freshman at Cadillac High School and an avid and committed dancer, Rachel has been looking foward to accompanying us on this trip for some time.  She is most excited about meeting the people that she has heard about over the years.
• Gabriel - currently at the Cadillac Junior High and a hockey, baseball and football player, Gabe is excited to share in this first-time experience in Haiti.  He also has been looking forward to seeing first hand the work of "Hands for Haiti."
• Joe  - homeschooled all his life in Minnesota, Joe loves all kinds of projects especially working on cars.  Joe has been on one other mission trip in southern Texas where he roofed and re-sheet rocked two houses in just 1 week.  This will be his first trip to Haiti, but not out of the country!
• Adam - also from central MN, Adam was homeschooled and raised on a dairy goat farm.  He currently works for his dad's trucking company and his hobbies include playing sports, volunteering for conservative organizations, and is very involved in politics.  This will also be his first trip to Haiti!
• Stephen - currently homeschooled in MN, Stephen will be journeying to Haiti with his brother, Joe.  This will be his first Haitian experience, but hopefully not his last!!

 

Haiti Health Care Clinic - Brick Drive!!!

HAITI HEALTH CARE CLINIC – Brick Drive!!

Keeping others healthy, one brick at a time!!

Good morning all of our faithful Hands for Haiti followers! As I have been praying for this upcoming trip the end of March and discerning our direction for fundraising, I keep coming up with the same thing.

The health care clinic.

I know we usually collect for water filters, but feel God is calling us to focus on this project right now. You may not know what this is, so let me explain.

In Haiti, especially the rural areas, there is not a lot of available health care for the amount of people there are and the health care that they do have is sometimes too far for people to get to because of lack of transportation.

We were introduced to a nurse that has a dream to provide health services to her local village. She already does this from her home, sometimes throughout the night. She has put her life savings into a clinic she has started building but has run out of funds so it is not finished. I had been asked by our very good friend, Fr. Alexis, if I could help her with this project. At first, I didn't want to take on such a large project. We are just a small mission group I told him. But during my prayer for direction for our organization, God was ever consistent with His desire for us to take this on. Yes, it is overwhelming at times. I am not so experienced with this large of a project, but with Gods guidance I believe we can accomplish it. Who thought He would ask such a small humble group to take on a health clinic!?

So far, we have raised enough money to put on the needed doors and windows. But it is far from finished. We are traveling to Haiti in less than 3 weeks and I would love to bring them another donation to continue their progress. Without us, they cannot. Please find it in your heart to help us to help Vania fulfill her dream to serve her people. Once the clinic is able to see patients we will be able to volunteer our services there and more fully immerse ourselves in the life and culture of our Haitian brothers and sisters.

So we are doing a 2 week push for Health Clinic donations. How much can we raise for this beautiful expression of serving Christ? I am asking that you forward and send this to your family, friends and coworkers. If it is not something you are able to contribute to right now, that's ok, there may be someone you know that might be able to. Any assistance will help. Any prayers will also be welcome!

God bless you and together we can do great and wonderful things for great and wonderful people!!!

The Plan:

We need 200 bricks in 2 weeks!! $25 per brick!! Can we do it?

How many bricks do you want? __________# times $25 =_________________.

Please send your donations to:
Hands for Haiti Health Clinic Bricks!!

7421 W. Blue Rd.

Lake City, MI 49651



28 Days until Hands for Haiti is at it again!!!

In 28 days, Hands for Haiti's team of 11 will be back at it - trekking around the mountains of central Haiti!! 

Join us on our journey as we immerse ourselves in their culture, rekindle friendships and make new ones, and become members of the family of God's beautiful Haitian people! 

Watch our blog closely these next few weeks as we prepare for our trip.  Then continue to watch our blog as we share with you our day to day experiences!!

God bless and please keep us in your prayers!!

Team March 2012