Impact Haiti team returns home

Bondie' beni ou
Bondye Rinmin ou
Gloua a Dye'
Beni Soi leternel
Mouin Kinmin_ou
Translated means God loves you, God Bless you, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, I love you!

It is hard to take in all that was experienced in such a short time. We were a part of 10 services, 1000+ lives impacted in 3 cities. Port-Au-Prince, Cayes and Torcell. The team started this morning in devotion. Shortly after we were on our way. It was hard to leave them. They had impacted us as much as we had impacted them. We are all very thankful for the opportunity to travel throughout Haiti sharing the love of Christ with men, woman and children.
Everyone on the team recieved a certificate for the work of the Lord that they had done in these three cities. We all look forward to what God is going to do in our lives as well as the lives touched in Haiti. Please continue to pray for Pastor Virgil and Janie and all the churches in Haiti.

Bondye' beni ou - God bless you
Your August Haiti Mission Team
Pastor Eddie, Stacy, Terri, Katie, Katlyn and Josh

Last day on the ground in Port-Au-Prince (Friday)

Bon Dye Beni W' (God bless you)

Today we woke and had our team devotional. After devotional we set out to do our last children's service in Port-Au-Prince. We were all sad that it was our last full day but we were determined to give our all. Belmont decided to stay in Haiti at the compound to be a missionary bear. He loved the children and the children loved him. He told the team goodbye. We shared about the power of the word of God. We had about 175 children in service today. After service each child recieved a balloon sword. We gave away about 180 swords.
After lunch the team went to play with the children. When we went down there was about 10 children. By the time we walked to the concrete slab where the school used to be before the earthquake there was about 60 children. We played volley ball, pul, pul, qua(duck, duck, goose) sang songs and handed out raisens and sunflower seeds. This was a great opportunity for the team to interact with the community.
We shared with them and they opened up to us. We had conversations that we will remember for a lifetime. We went there to help and share and we will leave totally changed. As much as we wanted to impact them, they impacted us. It was very hot but we didn't want to leave. We continued to play for a few hours.
We presented Pastor Virgil and Janie with a Haitian tray. They are truly hero's of the faith and listening to them share their heart and passion for mission in the caribbean was a great experience for everyone on the team.
After the service we presented the local pastor with items for childrens ministry. It was so hard to believe that the week had went so fast. When we returned to the mission house we had dinner and served Zet, Manisia and Boss Michelle. They had cooked and served us while we were there. We wanted to honor them by serving them first at dinner. After dinner they shared pictures of thier family. We gave them care packages and thanked them for serving us.
Missions will change your life. I understand that it is hard to wrap your mind around it without going on an Impact trip but I can say firsthand that it changed my life and each person on the team.

Beni from Haiti! (Thursday)

Blessings from Haiti!

We have had a tremendous time in Haiti. Today we shared with the mission church that is in Port-au-Prince. We had so much fun playing games, learning a verse in English and they loved Belmont the missionary bear. You will see Belmont below. During tonights service Pastor Reynould had a little girl share the verse to the congregation in English. He invited them back tomorrow morning at 9am. Please be praying for us that God will continue to use us in a mighty way as it is our last children's service while we are in Haiti.

They listened so intently as Josh shared about God's love and how thier hearts should be like a sponge and soak up the love, instead of like a stone that water just runs off of.

Katlyn posing with the boys that won soccer balls after playing a game. The team took 20 soccer balls to give away. They love playing futball in Haiti.

Belmont the bear shared what was in his heart everyday with the children. Wilord interpreted what Pastor Eddie and Belmont was saying. Today Belmont shared se'it (candy) and told the kids that he was scared but after the kids shared the verse in 2 Timothy 1:7. Belmont was no longer fearful and full of Joy!

After the children service we went tent to tent sharing God's love and passing out care packages. We also prayed for those who needed prayer. Pierre went with us to interpret for the team.

We had the privilege of sharing a birthday celebration with one of our friends and interpretors, Wilord. He turned 23 years old today. His sister Gueldy and friend Pierre shared in the celebration. After the celebration, we went to a revival service on the compound. It was a great experience. Pastor Eddie spoke and Pastor Reynould interpreted. After service we had a great meal for dinner with Pastor Virgil and Janie Kincaid.
It was an amazing day! We look forward to another great day tomorrow. It will be our last full day in Port-au-Prince Haiti. Thanks for praying!

Torcel and Port-au-Prince Haiti

Today the team went to Torcel, Haiti. It is about an hour from Port-au-Prince. We were greeted by the local pastor. When we entered the church all the children stood and clapped. When went in Pastor Reynould was leading them in "If you're happy and you know". I recognized it emmediately and asked our interpreter if I was correct. He said, "yes you know Creole?" I only know creole "bitsy, bitsy". As a team we are learning Creole and French quickly and use it even when we are talking to eachother. So immerced in what God is doing in our lives and thiers that we have lost track of days and time isn't an issue. The service with the children in Torcel was so much fun and each church has been a new experience. After the service the pastor's wife served us all ice cold coke and sprite. We went outside the church to see the the damage caused by the earthquake. It was there that the Pastor shared his vision for the church and community. They want to reconstruct what was tore apart and add 6 rooms to it. This way they could serve the families by schooling thier children locally and not sending them away on a "tap-tap" or bus. There is no local school bus system here.

After returning the mission house we ate lunch and then went to walk and hand out candy to the children. Many of them remembered Eddie and Josh from the trip in May. Children walked with us everywhere we went. We played futbal (soccer) with them and invited them to the evening church service. We stopped and prayed for some that were sick.

After service many walked us up to the mission house and asked us if we would be back. Tomorrow we will be doing a children's service here on site. Every childrens service has been so much fun. The team is ready to serve this local community again tomorrow morning.

Thanks for following the Impact here in Haiti!

Impact Haiti Caribbean Coast

Bonswa! Good evening from Haiti

 I am struggling tonight to express to you everything that the team experienced Monday and Tuesday. As I stated Sunday evening we had the privelege to travel to the southern coast of Haiti. The city of Cayes(pronounced Ki) was different from Port-au-Prince. It is a four hour ride across the countryside and through the mountains of Haiti. When we arrived at 10am children were already waiting for us to start. It was a great feeling knowing that we were part of something so awesome. We started with about 40 children and midway through our songs it grew in number to about 150. The service was great! We were asked to also speak to the young people (15-25 years old). Pastor Eddie shared with them about spiritual integrity. We realized quickly that young people in Haiti deal with the same things that young people in the US deal with. Generations deal with the same things no matter the culture. After we ate dinner prepared for us we had an evening service with the families of Cayes. Pastor Eddie shared in the word and the alter time melted my heart. Many men came forward to receive prayer. I prayed with 12 young girls to accept Jesus as their savior. I am overwhelmed by God to have had the opportunity to share the love of Christ with them and to pray with them.

 

We received great hospitality while away from the mission house in Port-au-Prince. The team each received their own coconut. We drank coconut milk together.

The team was able to stop on the beach at the caribbean coast for 30 minutes. There were some children there. They saw us all walk after a baby crab that we saw and they started to dig deep in a hole and showed us a big crab. It was a very nice treat for the team to enjoy.

Tuesday morning we started with 200 children in service and it grew to over 300. It has been a high honor to share the love of Christ with the people and children of Haiti. The team came back to the mission house after a 6 hour ride here and ate dinner, cleared off the table and shared about our two day experience. We have only been here a short time but feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to come to Haiti as a missions team.

Bonweit! (Good Night) from Haiti

On the ground in Haiti

Our team is on the ground in Haiti. We are so very excited to be here. We arrived at the mission house and met the missionaries, Virgil and Janie Kincaid. After settling in we went and met Leslie and his children. One of our team members had brought pictures for him and his family that were taken last time our team was here. He went and got his wife and she asked Pastor Eddie to share his testimony.

We have the privilege of traveling and doing ministry about four hours from here on the southern coast of Haiti. We will not be able to post again until we return Tuesday evening. We are the first team to have this opportunity. We spent the evening preparing for our trip and dividing our supplies and care packages. The team is packing for our journey tomorrow. Where we are going there is no internet or cell service. We look forward to sharing with you all as soon as we are back on Tuesday evening. Thanks for praying for the team.

Eddie, Katie, Stacy, Katlyn, Josh and Terri

Impact Haiti

Bonjour! Good Morning from Miami, Florida.
The Impact Haiti team arrived safely in Miami and has spent the morning in devotion and debriefing about the rest of the week while in Haiti.
We are excited to be heading out to Port Au Prince, Haiti today. Please keep the team, Missionaries on the ground in Haiti (Virgil and Janie Kinkaid) in your prayers as we share the love of Christ with the Haitian people.
Continue to follow us here as we share what is going on in Haiti. We will update as often as possible.


Your Impact Haiti Team,
Eddie, Josh, Stacy, Terri, Katie and Katlyn