Forward Church

After a long day of travel, we have safely arrived in Haiti! We have met the other teams we will be working with this week and are so excited to get started! After we got settled into Cote Plage, our lodging site for the week, we were treated to some “fried” chicken, friend plantains, rice and beans, a salad, and some cherry juice! We ended the evening with an opening meeting and are playing games and getting to know one another! Tomorrow we are headed to church at Bwadjout, the town we will be working in this week, and after are going to play with some children at Good Shepherd Orphanage! Pray for us as we begin our trip, that hearts will be open and ready to serve!

Today we started our day with church at Bwadjout, the church we will be working with this week. It was amazing to be able to worship the same God but in different languages! They sang their songs in Creole and we sang the same song in English. We also shared communion together which was an amazing experience. After the church service we walked down the road to see the new location of the church and the progress that has been made, and talked to Pastor Junior, the local pastor, about the upcoming week. We then returned back to Cote Plage and had some lunch then ventured out to Good Shepherd Orphanage to love on some kids! We got there and talked to Sister Mona, the director of the orphanage, and then started playing with the kids! We made bracelets, colored, made balloon animals, played on the swing set, and played some soccer and basketball. We then returned for the evening and planned out VBS and had some dinner. We ended our evening with a meeting and some community time! Tomorrow starts our first day of VBS and construction, so pray that everything goes well! Also pray for rest as we begin our first day of ministry!

PJ introducing the team to the church at Bwadjout!

The kids have a swing set at Good Shepherd and they love to swing and play!

Today we started our first day of ministry at Bwadjout! We started with a Vacation Bible School for the children. We did the story of the Parable of the Lost Coin and Lost sheep, complete with a skit and some crafts! The children loved putting cotton balls on a picture of a sheep and also got a free coin! After VBS we started moving concrete blocks down the hill to start the walls of the church! After moving the blocks we were able to play with the kids! We continued to play with the kids and doing hand games and bubbles! A few people went on a prayer walk around Bwadjout and were able to witness a man become a believer! What an awesome God we serve! Tomorrow we start out second day of ministry and we are so excited to go back and be with the workers and children! Pray for us as it has been very hot! Pray for rest and relaxation tonight so we are able to work hard tomorrow!

The group acting out the Parable of the lost sheep!

PJ having a dance off with one of the boys at VBS!

The team moving blocks down the hill to start the walls for the new church!

Today we started early with a breakfast of peanut butter and jelly with delicious Haitian coffee. Then we got on Elie's bus to go to Bwadjout. Soon after we arrived, we were greeted with smiling face from the beautiful children in the community. We got started with VBS and made crafts that helped us learn about inviting Jesus into our hearts. After that we got started on the construction site. We passed buckets of sand and gravel down to what will be the church sanctuary. There, those items were mixed with cement to make mortar for in between the blocks that we passed yesterday. The walls are starting to take shape and we are so excited to be a part of the work that God is doing in this community! After lunch, we spent time playing soccer and hand games with the children. It is such a joy to see their faces light up! Thank you for your continued prayers! Tonight we ask for prayers for good rest and safety up to the worksite for our last day of ministry.

Today we had another day on top of the mountain at Bwadjout! We got to sing songs and color with children during VBS and also help move buckets to continue with the new church. We had to cut our short because of Tropical Storm Chantal. We came back to Cote Plage so we could ride out the storm. Luckily, by the grace of God, the storm never hit us! We were so blessed in getting just a little bit of rain and some cooler temperatures! We filled our afternoon with fellowship and game playing! Tomorrow we are lucky enough to go back to Bwadjout for our last day of ministry! Pray for us as we finish up what we have started and for Chantal to keep on moving through!

Today we completed our last day of ministry at Bwadjout! We walked up the mountain and loved on the kids as much as we could! We played soccer and hand games and had one last VBS with the bible story about the good samaritan! The children were so excited to see us because they thought yesterday was going to be our last day! It was so good to see their smiling faces again and to love on them for a few more hours! After VBS we headed back to Cote Plage and had some ham and cheese sandwiches then headed out to Good Shepherd Orphanage! We got to play with the kids we had met on Sunday and talk with Sister Mona some more! After Good Shepherd we went to the beach! It was so nice to have an afternoon to relax and just have fun together before we all head back to the states! After returning back home we ended the evening with a closing meeting. Pastor Junior, the pastor at Bwadjout, joined us and we were able to pray over him and lift him and his church up to God! What a sweet moment! Pray for us as we travel back home in the next few days!

The whole group and some of the kids from Bwadjout! What a blessing it was to work with them this week!

Praying over Pastor Junior as the sun sets!