John 15:1-8

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.


5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Haiti Health Clinic update

Hello Hands for Haiti and Health Clinic supporters!!

Because progress in Haiti is sometimes slow, this is the first Health Clinic update that I have received. 

On January 5th, they started installing the steel windows and doors and in about 4 or 5 days, they should be completed.  This is very exciting!!  This progress is solely from the contributions made from our Haiti Health Clinic Dinner back in August 2011. 

A huge thank you to all who donated for this project.  There is still lots to be done but this is a good start.  I will be in contact with Vania and Fr. Alexis regularly for updates from Haiti and also giving them updates on financial support from Hands for Haiti. 

We will soon be doing another drive for funds for this much needed clinic.  Watch for more information.  Please contact us at any time if you have any questions or would like to contribute financially.  handsforhaititeam@gmail.com


God bless!!

Wednesday, Oct. 26 - Our Last Day

Yes, it was 1 week ago today that we spent our last day in Haiti before we travelled home.  And, yes, it has taken this long to write about it - my apologies.  Sometimes it takes time to process what we've experienced and learned.  Each time we go, we "taste" different parts of Haiti and we "digest" it in new ways.

Last Wednesday, our morning began with a farewell breakfast with Fr. Alexis.  Jeff and Ben had arrived prior to this from Tom's house.  They had spent the night trying to help him fix his truck.  Although the task was unable to be completed, they did gain an understanding on what was wrong with it - a blessing!

After saying good-bye to our friends, we travelled to Port-au-Prince with Jean Rony and arrived at our Guest House in about 3 hours.  We unloaded our bags and headed to Mother Theresa's Home for Malnourished Babies to spend the day there. 

This was a very emotional day for everyone.  We felt that it was a bit contradictory - bittersweet you can say.  It was sad seeing all of the undernourished children, but very fulfilling giving them our love and attention.  We saw God in each of these little one's eyes, reaching out to us to be touched.  We saw hope in the mothers that came to nurse their babies and care for them.  We saw selflessness and dedication in the Sisters of Charity that very joyfully care for these beautiful children of God every single day and night.  We saw reminders of our Creator everywhere, even in the pictures of our Savior that lined the walls of the rooms.  The children were so eager for our attention.  So eager to sit on our laps.  Are we that eager to seek out our Heavenly Father?  To yearn to sit on His lap?  To give Him our complete trust as these young ones trusted us?  There was no fear in their eyes.  When they saw us, they just reached out.  What are our fears in life?  Can we put them aside and too, reach out to the One Who is Love Himself?  We have to try.  We yearn to be filled with His love.  We were created by Him, so we can only be fulfilled with Him.  Let's stretch out our own arms and welcome Jesus into our hearts and let Him consume our lives.  Then we will smile like those little children that smiled up at us when we picked them up.  Happy and loved!!!

God bless!!

On our way home!

Contemplation by Ben

Tuesday

Today was our last day in Verrettes and Liancourt. We leave tomorrow morning for Port au Prince to work in Mother Theresa's Home For Malnourished Babies. We would like to thank everyone here for all their love and hospitality. We were welcomed with open arms wherever we went!!!

We were able to work in the tree nursery again this morning. Again, our Haitian friends taught us the gift of singing while you work. Our guys were also able to help Tom (FIAI's director) with towing and fixing the program's new truck. Hopefully it will be running soon!!

Giving out water filters and food packages in the mountain village of Veelo was also a highlight. We gave out some hats to the boys and hair ties to the girls also in this area. As always, it's such a joy to see the smiles on their faces.

One special part of today was going back to the home of Rosilyn where she and her daughter and neighbor made placemats and baskets for us. They were so incredibly happy to have some work to do. We bought all the ones they had made!! Rosilyn has 8 children to support and her neighbor has 6. It was like a party at her house from the excitement!!!

We had some joyous occasions but also some challenges today. Our friend, Echo's, prayer today stood our hair on end. This young man who has down syndrome was so in tune with his Creator and Father that you could literally feel the presence of the Holy Spirit all around us. It was a beautiful expression of love.

We saw God in the people all around us today. In the beautiful way Echo showed his care for our friend, in the smiles on the children's faces, in the eyes of the women who worked tirelessly to make our baskets and placemats, in Jean-Rony who cared for us, in Tom and his wife Fecilta as she lovingly passed out food in her village, in our friend, Obines, who selflessly helped us find our way, in Fr. Alexis and his staff who so joyfully cook and serve us with beautiful smiles. Oh, we could go on forever!!! We love everyone here and will miss our friends deeply. Au revoir beautiful faces of Haiti.

Ben in mountains

Monday, October 24

First, we apologize for a delay in this and the last post appearing on the blog. Unfortunately we have not had internet or cellular service in this part of Haiti because of the overcast skies.

Yesterday, we had the privilege of going to church with Fr. Alexis twice! We were just amazed at how universal praising and worshipping God is! You can adore Him in any language with people of any culture!

We also visited the health clinic in Liancourt that needs help with funding to finish the construction. The dedication and vision of Vania, the nurse who has given her life savings to this dream of hers to help her people is so incredibly inspiring! We felt blessed to be a part of it!

Our Sunday evening concluded with a very festive time playing games with our friends!

On Monday we awoke to children playing in the school yard. Such joy in these little faces so eager to touch our white skin. Their giggles and laughs would melt anyone's heart.

We then headed to Faith in Action's tree nursery to help with planting fruit trees. It was humbling working beside the Haitians. They were not affected by the heat as we were. We were grateful for their joyous singing to help our task go quickly. We are meeting so many friends and making so many relationships!

After lunch we headed up into the mountains to one of our favorite places - Te Rouge! Here we colored with the children and the adults! We were so surprised that so many of the older people wanted to color with us. The feeling up there was one of unity with each other. We were all joined in playing and singing. ALL of the people joined together. It was awesome to see the elderly women dancing and getting into the festivities.

What an amazing place!!! We were taken aback when one of the women didn't know who she was when shown the picture on the camera that we had just taken of her. But the joy in their simple lives touched us more than anything! Again we realize how much we have and how little they have. But who really has more?

God bless!

Te Rouge - in the mountains

Planting trees - Monday

We planted 300 pummelo trees (like grapefruit).  They figure that 1/3 will survive and will bring in about $140 worth of fruit per year.  This should bring in about $14,000 income annually from the trees we planted for the people in the mountains of Haiti.  It will take 5-7 years until full production.

Delay in posts

Good morning!  Just if you are wondering why there haven't been any posts, we have not had cell phone service for the last few days and very limited internet.

Working in tree nursery

Saturday.

Yes! The roosters took the night off from trying to keep us awake. We found out why as soon as we got to town. Today is "market day" in Verrettes. That means the the village market is packed with venders from all over, selling their goods. From fruit and vegetables to list of raw meat and fish to grains and breads to radios and sunglasses to clothes and shoes. Everything you can imagine including, yes - a whole street lined with live chickens and roosters for sale!  It was quite an experience!  We actually did find a few things to purchase. We then were able to meet with a group of men from the US that has a new way to provide clean water for impoverished countries. They gave us a lot of information to think about. While half of the group was on a mission to fix the truck we were having trouble with, the other half had the opportunity to visit a young man's home that is falling down. Sr. Judy from Verrettes told us of this boy's need for a home and food since his mother had deserted him and his brother and sister.  The only dream he has is to stay in school and become an engineer some day. We were very moved by his story of dedication and survival!! When it was time to return to Fr. Alexis' home, we took an exciting ride in our first tap-tap, public transportation in Haiti. We met many new friends on the truck and and many awesome conversations. In creole, of course! We ended our evening with an energetic game of Jenga with Fr. Alexis' staff. I don't know what was more fun - playing the game or watching their faces when the tower fell!! The memories we are making will no doubt last forever! Today we were very impressed to meet many people from the US that spend their lives helping people in Haiti. We felt like we could connect with them. We are also grateful that little Ryan, Tom's son, was running around and feeling better. He has been sick for awhile. There were 2 funerals that we witnessed these past two days and that made us think of our lives as gifts. That we wake up every morning and take life for granted sometimes. We remember to be grateful for the gift of life. When we were finished reflecting on our day, we defined our day by the fact that everyone is just as important as the next person is to our Heavenly Father. He loves the little naked boy in the corner of the field just as much as he loves anyone else on this earth and we think that is awesome! Good night and bless!! Team October

Saturday, Oct. 22