FUMC Pampa

By the grace God, we have finally arrived safely in Haiti! After settling into our rooms, we enjoyed a delicious meal of rice, chicken, salad, and fresh cherry juice. This meal was definitely a great first impression for our time here in Haiti. Check out the picture to get a glimpse of the view we enjoyed during dinner. After a quick meeting, we all headed to bed to get rested for our first day of ministry tomorrow. Pray for lives to be changed and hearts to be opened.

This morning, after a delicious breakfast, we headed to Gressier to begin our ministry for the week. We arrived at the church and got straight to work. We started by moving a pile of rocks via an assembly line to set the footers for a building on the property. After we finished with the rocks, we continued with the footers by passing and pouring buckets of concrete. We are excited to see how the work progresses throughout the week!

After lunch at the work site, we traveled over to Good Shepherd Orphanage in Carrefour to love on the children there. We were greeted with smiles and contagious laughter! We were equally as excited to have the opportunity to play with them! Some of us were given the opportunity to distribute donations to the little girls at the orphanage. They were so excited to be receiving new, pretty dresses! Be in continual prayer for us and the locals as we continue our ministry here in Haiti.

We got up bright and early to attend church this morning at Pastor Apollon's church. The congregation welcomed us with open, happy hearts! Three women sang a beautiful song for us; they brought in the children to perform for us as well! Attending church with the Haitians provided us with a glimpse of what Heaven will be like for us. We can only imagine how beautiful it will be when people of every nation, tribe, and language will be worshipping our Creator in unison!

After a delicious lunch at the hotel, we loaded up the bus to head to Good Shepherd Orphanage. These children have already stolen our hearts! We played with chalk, bubbles, and jump ropes. We even had a game of soccer break out! One thing that we have really enjoyed so far this week is simply being able to build relationships. Some of the older kids and adults at Good Shepherd know some English, so communicating with them is quite enjoyable!

Before dinner, we were able to enjoy our surroundings and soak in the salt water! What a perfect way to end this awesome day.

We started the day back at the worksite again this morning! We passed bucket after bucket after bucket of water, cement, and rocks. Some of us also got to make the concrete Haitian style, mixing water, sand, and pebbles. We are constructing a kitchen for Pastor Apolon's church so that the congregation will be able to serve meals on the church grounds. This kitchen will also serve as a guest house for a guard who will oversee the property.

We also got the awesome opportunity to participate in tree ministry this morning! For this ministry, we walk around the community with mango and citrus trees. We stop by different houses offering the trees, but more importantly, offering prayer and encouragement. One man accepted Christ as his Savior today! Continue to pray for us and the people of the community as we participate in tree ministry again tomorrow!

We ended our day at Good Shepherd Orphanage, loving and playing with the kids. We colored pictures, played on the swing set, played basketball and soccer, and enjoyed each other's company!

What an amazing day! Started with a very warm day with the construction. We can't believe how much we have gotten done already even though this is just the start of it. "Wa-way" is Creole construction slang. It was used to get us going so fast; lots of blessings, lots of fun & lots of rocks and buckets of concrete were passed. What a privilege it is to serve in this beautiful country of Haiti.

We had the opportunity to participate in tree ministry again today! We have thoroughly enjoyed this ministry. Walking through the community, sharing the love of Jesus has been such an incredible experience. We even had the privilege of leading a brother to Christ. It has been a great day!

We had so much fun at the orphanage again today! Today, we brought musical instruments and a water balloon launcher. The kids had such a good time!

While most of us were out on the town, some of us stayed back and had one last work day. We started the morning at Good Shepherd Orphanage. We had so much fun making glasses out of pipe cleaners! Unfortunately, today was our last day with these precious children. Goodbyes are hard! After spending the morning at the orphanage, we headed back to Pastor Apolon's church to put in a little more work. We passed more water buckets and rocks. We also had the privilege of going out on one last tree ministry trip today. There is so much fruit being produced from this ministry, literally and spiritually! We are definitely blessed to be a part of it! We ended the day with an awesome time of worship, sharing, and prayer. Let's continue to join together in prayer for Pastor Apolon and the work God is doing through him in Gressier!

This morning, after a delicious breakfast, we loaded up in a van to begin our recreation day. We started our adventure by heading up to the mountain-top lookout. Man, what a view! While we were up there, we tried our hand at bartering with the local souvenir salesman. Next, we headed back down the mountain for lunch. We had pizza and ice cream! Such a treat. This afternoon, we were given the time to relax and enjoy each others company at the hotel. This week has been absolutely life changing. We cannot wait to share our stories and the beauty of Haiti with everyone back home! Be praying for safe travels tomorrow!