When disasters strike, the Church is on the front lines of response and relief efforts, working with local authorities and organizing grassroots efforts to meet the pressing needs of their communities.
Follow along with teams as they serve in disaster areas around the world, and also read about the experiences of past teams who have served in those areas through Praying Pelican Missions. Our disaster trip journals are a great way to stay connected with those support teams as they work locally and internationally to offer encouragement and assist the local Church in what might be their greatest time of need!
After a long day of travel and a great night's sleep, we were excited to spend the full today with Dorothy and her children at Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue. As soon as we arrived, the team split and began working in two different areas: spending time with the children and diving into the construction projects.
It was an incredible feeling to meet the children for the first time, many of which have been in our prayers each day for months. In no time, we were swept into the frenzy of piggy-back rides, swinging on the swings, and racing down the hill on tricycles. The children's energy was incredible!
One of our main goals in visiting Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue is to complete some much needed projects around the facility. We began the morning by removing a leaking roof from the laundry area and rebuilding it, complete with a working light and improved wiring.
In this picture, we have removed the old roof and made much progress in cleaning the washer/dryer area.
One of the other big projects we have for the orphanage is to repaint and freshen up one of the rooms so that the bigger girls can move into it. We made a ton of progress with the paint today and will wrap up the last details on Monday, so be looking for more pictures then!
We spent most of the morning coloring with the children, but had a chance later in the day to do a craft with them.
During craft time with the children, each child was able to make a butterfly. Also, with the help of Bermann, one of the PPM Haiti staff members, we taught the children about Adam and Eve and the creation story.
We were blessed to spend Sunday morning worshiping with Dorothy and several of her children who are physically unable to attend church each Sunday. We worshiped God together in both English and Creole, two cultures joined together as brothers and sisters in Christ. It was absolutely heart-warming to hear the children singing along to the worship songs!
The highlight of the day for many of us was hearing Dorothy share her life story. The Spirit led her to open her heart to us, sharing incredibly deep stories of both joy and pain. It was encouraging to hear a first-hand account of how God can take an ordinary, broken person and use them to make such a lasting impact in this world!
As Dorothy went on to share the background of the children she takes care of, we were further reminded of God's power and the preciousness of each human life in God's economy.
We spent some time after the church service working on some minor projects around the orphanage, including some final painting and moving some furniture.
After eating lunch, we left to visit Boutilier (also known as the lookout mountain) for some sight-seeing and souvenir shopping. From the top of the mountain, we were able to take in a spectacular view of Port-au-Prince and the bay.
We are fully expecting God to grant us incredible final day at Dorothy's tomorrow. Please continue praying for us as we continue to work with Dorothy and her children!
Today marked the last day of work for us at Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue and one of the major themes of the day was organization! We spent a ton of time in the morning and afternoon cleaning up the lesser used areas in Dorothy's house, doing our best to transform them into rooms that can function as storage.
Included in this was the creation of a "shop" space in one of the empty side rooms, which will be used to store many of the tools and other supplies that we plan to use on renovation trips in the future.
Along with other general electrical and plumbing repairs, we also installed a huge new medicine cabinet into the supply room. Most of the children have to take a wide range of medications for many different conditions, so having a space to keep it all organized is a huge help!
In this picture, you can see the guys handling the trickiest part of the project -- maneuvering the cabinet into the house.
We put the finishing touches on the new girls' room today. After repainting, arranging furniture, making the beds with new sheets, and adding some nice decorations, the last detail was to add butterflies to the walls.
The girls were excited to move into their new room, but now we have a huge problem... all the boys want to know when their room is going to be finished also!
While most of the team was working with the organization work, some of us spent time deep cleaning the infant room. Knowing how weak some of the children's immune systems are, we hope it will be a huge help to have the room cleaned, disinfected, and smelling wonderful.
As the afternoon came to a close and the projects wound down, we found time to enjoy coloring and playing with the children one last time. A highlight for many of us was seeing Emma get to wear her new gloves.
Emma has what is believed to be a genetic skin condition that requires her hands to be covered at all times. She had previously used a pair of socks for gloves, but now she has brand new gloves that allow her to use all of her fingers. Seeing her sit down and color was so incredible!
As we head to bed tonight, our last night in Haiti, our minds reflect back on the few days of ministry that we took part in at Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue. We can't help but see God at work in the connection between our group, Dorothy, and her children.
We look forward to the day that we can spend time with Dorothy again, and already have a list of projects ready to go for next time around!
From our hometown of Minneapolis to the island of Puerto Rico, USA mission trips are diverse in service opportunities, cultural experiences, and community needs.