We've just returned and possibly recovered from three weeks of back to back teams with A Door to Hope. I had an extra team thrown in the middle from Heart of God Haiti while Chris stayed in Grand Goave. The first week's team (June 13) was full of new faces and delay after delay in flights... and then missing bags - including "the one" with all the turkey, ham and cheese in it to feed the team lunch during the week.
There was a youth pastor (Lance) who was able to bring his entire family - wife (Jen), two daughters (Megan and Mikayla) and a son (Dylan) that reminded me of us back in 2012 when we were able to bring the Ward party of five. What an experience to share! They brought a few other folks from their great state of Montana: Alex, Lily, Chase and Raedene.
And then there was Heath (dad) and Gracie (daughter) from Alabama. The image of Gracie in my mind brings a totally uncontrollable grin to my face. Her deep southern accent was JOYful! It made me long for pure innocence again. They are in the process of adopting from Haiti. They've got their dossier turned in/accepted and are waiting to be matched. Pray for them as they journey through this process.
Then there's Tammy and Erica and Lexie. Lexie's been on several trips with us and is a Brentwood Academy Alumni who went away to college and brought her college friend along this time, who in turn brought her momma along for the ride. What a joy they were!
The second team - June 20 - went to Grand Goave and contained some of our most loved faith family from Temple Baptist in White House, Tennessee including the wonderful Andy, Emi and Drew who have opened up their hearts and lives to house our Brynna while we've been here January - August! Then there was Marliss and daughter Ashton, her friend Lexi and her mom, Lana. Then there was "madame mango" returning from the March team - aka Sherri with her son, Logan who's raised money to build MANY houses in Grand Goave. And Amelia returned for more adventures, too! Mark Carroll sent his son, Eben and grandson Ezra. Then we had newby Don from our Churh at Pleasant Grove.... and Chase from KY brought his little brother Garrett! Pastor Joe brought Tyler, Dylan, Sean, Eric, Matthew and mother daughter team: Elizabeth & Melissa were amazing!
This is where I left the A Door to Hope team and joined up with Erin, Dave and the Heart of God Haiti team up on the cool mountain! Erin and I played "Moose in the House" card game in the evenings and stayed busy all the days long... one night we even enjoyed a great treat - we ate popcorn and M&Ms!! (Thank you to my Montana friends!)
The third team - June 27 - was from Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Kentucky. They embraced life in Haiti and asked more thoughtful questions than I've ever been asked. We laughed and cried together many times throughout the week as we witnessed seeds being planted in people's salvation stories, the watering of the seeds and then were able to witness several men come to know the Lord and begin their journeys to know Him more. On this team were several returners who brought several to meet our glorious Haiti. Sherry brought big hugs from Doug (was on the Sept trip) and Kelsey, her son's girlfriend. She told me her whole life story the second night and I just wanted to take her home with me. She is such an inspiration and SO encouraging. Jodi repped the women as she was the only woman the first day at the house build. She never rested even for a second, but brought her son, Brady. Corrie brought her son, Eric and fell head over heels in love with the baby in the creche. Matt brought his dad Kevin and son, Canaan. That was sweet! Three generations of men serving together. Jackie & Dwayne came back with their daughter, Nicole and daughter in law Tiffany. Dwayne led us in worship each night playing the guitar backwards and upside down. Dwight (dad) & Nick (son) came back to the place that held sweet memories as they had adopted two children back in 2012 or so from the creche. Stephania stunned us all as she shared what it felt like to return to the place she knew as home before being adopted. Her friend, Emily (aka Red because of her koolaid dyed hair), returned once again to shine in VBS rec time as "Ms. Wolf" constantly telling the kids it was "manje time"! Ric, the engineer, inventor and overall hardest working teddy bear alive held the kids in the creche captive as he asked them questions and played with them. Chase stayed over from Grand Goave making it a two week trip. Mark stole many shots on his iPad and his excellent quality camera and then set up a flickr page so we can all share our photos. Kyle was the cool, quiet one in disguise because his name on his application was not Kyle! It was Jonathan. And last, but definitely not least was Megan who brought her cousin Emily. Megan was on our September trip to Grand Goave and came back to check out the mountains. It was GREAT to hang out with her all week.
Now, we are both recovering from sinus infections and the stomach bug. Both are or have been on anti-biotics this past week and are the epitome of exhaustion. It was only because of you who have prayed for us that we have been able to serve. The new friends God has introduced us to these last three weeks have been amazing with fantastic stories. We are so honored that He chose to weave our journeys together. We have two weeks to catch up on paper work and to-do lists and then we have two more weeks back to back with teams. Then we'll be heading home for a big wedding!! Thank you for your continued prayers for safety and health. They are greatly needed and appreciated. Chris and I are working on putting into words what has been swirling in our hearts and minds over the last few months. Thank you once again for reading. Until then, check out photos of the teams in my Facebook album "Haiti Stay: August 22, 2014..."
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