Enough

We started our day at morning Mass with the Sisters in a humble chapel rich in piety and devotion.  The message was about leading by action rather than by words, and having faith that our actions, to the best of our ability, are enough.

Enough.

Haiti is a country to enormous need.  What can I do that is enough? 

Today I got to witness first hand the results of my efforts.  Last spring I helped fundraise for a new roof at Reiser Heights primary school that would allow children who were receiving education in a dark, run down outbuilding to move into the main building of Reiser Heights.  The community room at Reiser Heights was not being used due to a leaky roof.  We fund raised and put a new roof on the community room.  We put partitions in that community room to house the children.  Today the children were IN this bright and cheerful space receiving an education.  Glory be to God!

We distributed shoes, backpacks and Creole children's Bibles generously donated by friends and supporters of our cause.  Children were delighted!

We delivered 35 boxes of Feed My Starving Children Food that will nourish these children.  We gave them candy.  We brought a keyboard, and under the leadership of one of our ever energetic and talented team members, we had a concert outside of the school building that started with a Michael Jackson medley, proceeded to Children's worship songs clumsily sang by our team in Creole, a bit of Haitian Hip Hop and ended up with kids surrounding the keyboard and having a blast making their own music.  

Is it enough?  God's plans are perfect.  I only need to listen and obey.

Peace,
Joyce

Surreal

I am feeling incredibly blessed tonight but also troubled by how much we have in the U.S. and how little we appreciate it.  Bill and I saw and experienced so much today with our Reiser Relief team in Haiti.

We started the day touring a school and distributing backpacks to the students.  Crowded and noisy conditions, but much learning going on.  These were the lucky kids.  We went on to distribute water around Cite Soleil and were absolutely bombarded with children looking for attention and love.  These kids were not able to attend school, and many were wearing no clothes or just a pair of underwear OR a shirt or dress.  So happy though.

We walked out to see the ocean at one point and we weren't on solid ground, but rather a compacted pile of garbage six or more feet deep.  This area was also being used as a community toilet and was surrounded by thousands of shacks constructed of rusty tin, random pieces of wood and whatever else could be found.  But the children sang a wonderful song for us right in the middle of this:  God is so Good!  The words were a mix of English and Haitian Creole, and it is STUCK in my heard!!

My arms are really tired tonight.  I don't know if it's from helping to carry water buckets or from holding little ones all day.  Tomorrow we head up into the mountains to visit a Baptist mission and Reiser Heights, another school sponsored  Reiser Relief.  Dramamine will be helpful, from what I've been told.  Count your blessings.

Patty Munson

How can you say no?

To be in Haiti on a mission trip is to be in touch with one's rawest emotions.  You rub shoulders with some of the very best of humanity amidst challeging settings.  The truth is there are so many needs here that it is very easy to serve.  The problem is that we need to make sure the Haitians themselves are part of the solution.  In the schools you see pride and a genuine desire to learn.  The uniforms are neat and clean.  It makes you aware that you are from a land of opportunities some of which you have squnadered carelessly.

Hugs are freely exchanged between students and our mission team.  The distribution of backpacks nearly casues joyous pandemonium.  We meet yound adults awaiting scholarships.  Each face is a study in hope and fear and he or she makes his / her plea. How do you say no?

It is a guarantee that Cite Soleil will change your perspective.  You serve in ways that you never have before.  Smiles abound on the faces of yound and old alike.  Many children are naked or attired in clothing too large for their petite, undernourished selves.  You have never hugged so many children in your life.  Past and future disappear.  There is only this time and this place.  This child clinging to your hand.  We sing:

God is so good

is so good

is so good

God is so good

is so good

Haitians and team alike, we are on fire, filled with the Spirit.  We rise above the conditions.

How can you say no?

Ann Sargeant

I See You

We started our day at Terre Promise school where we toured the school, distributed backpacks generously donated by many at Faith Lutheran Church and beyond, and met with six kids who are hoping to go to university on Reiser Relief scholarships.  The students shared their hopes and dreams about why they want to go to university....to acquire nursing degrees to serve the poor in their community, to acquire a civil engineering degree to help build a better Haiti, to acquire a tourism degree to promote all that is beautiful in Haiti.  These were 6 of thousands of bright Haitian students who graduate high school with no chance of attending university without a sponsor.  It was a gift to spend time visiting with them and getting to know them.  An education can change not only their lives, but the lives of their entire family and future generations.  It is overwhelming to consider the enormity of need, so we focus on the 1, 2 or 10 kids who we can help to achieve their dreams.

We spent the balance of our day in Cite Soleil distributing water to those with no access to free clean water, loving on kids who desperately need affection, and opening our eyes to what breaks God's heart.  One of our team members was holding a tiny girl who said in English "I see you."  That phrase struck a dagger in my heart.  I spent the rest of the day repeating it to every person I locked eyes with.   I see you not going to school.  I see you dragging a bucket of water that weighs more than you do.   I see you with your hard bloated tummy.  I see you wearing your hot dirty sweatshirt...the only piece of clothing you own.  I see you walking barefoot over sewage.   I see you calling a shack with a dirt floor and zero human comforts home.  I see you living next to pigs and feces and garbage six feet deep.  I see you and your stunted arms, skinny legs and arms.  

There was another tiny girl who jumped in my arms wearing a filthy polyester cheerleader outfit.  I held this girl 12 months ago and she was wearing the same dress.  Does she have no other clothes?  It looked like she had been wearing the dress for 12 months, day and night.  She had no shoes.  She had no underwear.  She was light as a feather and she clung to my neck.  Her hair was red instead of black: a sign of malnutrition.  And she had tears rolling down her cheeks.  We walked out by the ocean with our team and stood on top of a pile of garbage that also serves as a graveyard and open air outhouse.  Our interpreters lead the kids in song.  "God is so Good, He's so Good, He's so Good!"  My little cheerleader stopped crying and started singing softly in my ear.  The Holy Spirit surrounded us, our team, and the moment in a powerful, indescribable way.

God is so Good, He's so Good, He's so Good

God, I'm crying with you.  Use us to bring Your glory to Cite Soleil.

Peace,

Joyce

Thrive

Today we went to the largest tent city slum in Port-au-Prince, Cite Soleil.  We witnessed the worst living conditions in the entire Western Hemisphere.  Home to many in Cite Soleil is four pieces of salvaged metal with a tarp on top.  We assisted with the distribution of fresh water from the Reiser Relief / Healing Haiti water truck.  For many there, this was the only water they would get for the day.  

It was very hard to see people living in these horrible conditions.  It was harder yet to see and smell the raw sewage and trash everywhere.  In Cite Soleil, the "beach" is where 6 feet of compacted trash meets the ocean.  To our western eyes, there doesn't seem to be anything good about Cite Soleil.  That is, until you spend some quality time with the children and adult residents.  Once you do that, you see the love, you see the joy - and you learn that the people of Cite Soleil thrive in spite of the utter poverty around them.  


The people of Cite Soleil are thriving.  How do they thrive?  By the grace of God.  The children were so happy to see us - and they couldn't wait for us to hold them and love on them.  They are Children of the Light - and they witness God's love to us just as we serve them.  We learn from them - how thriving is not about being rich, it's not about living conditions, it's not even about safety or security.  Thriving is all about knowing that God loves you and that you are created by God for a purpose.  That is how the people of Cite Soleil thrive.  And even though we will continue to help them with their basic needs in this life, they have already made themselves rich in faith and in love.  

I met a 10 year old named Molice who was the embodiment of this love and this joy.  I sincerely hope to see her again on a future trip.  I LOVE the people of Cite Soleil and I LOVE the people of Haiti!!!!

Bill Munson

Day One - Airport Friendships

My 16 year old son Nick and I arrived by ourselves in Haiti as we were on a different flight from the rest of the group.  The plan was to have someone pick us up and bring us to the guest house to wait for the other 10 to arrive at 4:00. We wound our way through to immigration, down to baggage claim and outside expecting to see the logo'd shirts of our drivers. Imagine looking out into a sea of people who are trying to get your attention, vying for your "business" all the while schlepping four huge suitcases and backpacks.  Unfortunately, our drivers, due to a scheduling mixup, were a no show. During the next four hours,  Nick and I were blessed to meet the most amazing men that took us under their wings, tried their best to help us out and watched over us to ensure we were safe and sound while we waited for either our ride to show up or the rest of our group to arrive on the later flight. I had a fair amount of anxiety but as the afternoon went on, we had made some pretty awesome connections with the Haitian airport workers.

With a sense of relief we were thrilled to have the rest of our group land in Haiti, and we joined them for the trek out to the Tap Tap (open air bus) for our ride to our new home away from  home, Healing Haiti's Guest House #2. The ride to the house was filled with overstimulation of every sense. Blaring horns of rush hour traffic. Vans, trucks, motorbikes all trying to fight their way to somewhere and no traffic lights wreaks havoc on traffic management. The roads littered with potholes, garbage, chickens and lined with people. Smells of fresh rain, food cooking, and the faint smell of flowers and sewage. Bright faced children running after us, waving and yelling "Alo!" Sensory overload times 10. 

After arriving at the Guest House and with our bellies full of a fantastic meal prepared for us, we met on the rooftop patio for a team meeting to discuss the plans for the day tomorrow. We will be working the water truck, delivering fresh water to Cite Soleil. With the fresh rain today, business may be less than usual for fresh water but there is no doubt we will have lines to serve.  

We will be providing basic medical care to those that need it, playing with children, helping carrying water buckets, and deliverying the backpacks we collected to Terra Promise, the school in Cite Soleil.  Our leaders warned us that we may get easily overwhelmed and encouraged us to step back when needed, but to know that the anticipated range of emotions we will experience is normal. I don't know what normal is here in Haiti. We are assured to find out tomorrow.

Sandy Zarembinski

Preparing for our trip!

We all met in Forest Lake last night to pack up all of our donations. We have 12 bags packed to the brim with almost 50 lbs of donations in each bag! Shoes, school supplies, clothes, medical supplies...you name it, we've got it! I'm excited to get back to Haiti and experience everything again. It's been almost a year since I was there for the first time, even though it feels like yesterday. Maybe because Haiti is on my mind and in my heart every single day! I remember sitting at Father Reiser's funeral and being so moved by the thousands of people there to celebrate his life. At that moment I knew I wanted to get involved and help continue the work that he poured his heart and soul into. Never did I imagine I would also become so passionate about it! My all-time favorite quote of his is "You can't walk away from misery and do nothing". Until I stepped foot in the country of Haiti, I never truly understood what he meant. I'm so excited to be sharing this experience with Joyce and Mike again, and 9 other new friends! 3 days until our journey of transformation begins...can't wait to see what God has in store for us this week.

Kim Maciej