Sharing time

Every evening when we have a team, we have a meeting, but really it is sharing time.  It's a time where we share what we experienced through the day.  It could be little activities, it could something we learned,  or something God spoke or showed us.   It's always very cool to hear all the different things that can go on in one location with 15 people.   Today, one team member wrote about her experience in Haiti so far and I thought it fitting to share. 

Poverty. Oh the looks of despair. Tap-taps(Haitian taxi’s) moving this way and that. Trash discarded on the streets. Goats, horses, dogs, cows and bulls roaming the streets alongside of people. Jesus are you here in Haiti? We are looking for you Lord. We beg you to show up as we attempt in a humble way to be your hands and feet to these precious people. The needs are wide, they are deep. Jesus we know you are here but where?
Sawing saws, drills drilling, pills being counted, prayers being lifted on behalf of Haitians, children pointing to the ‘Americans’, shacks/lean to’s containing broken lives who desire hope, laughter being heard, tears being shed, the Holy Spirit moving in mighty ways. Oh Lord you are alive and moving all around us. You are here. We see you, we hear you, we feel you! Do our new Haitian friends feel your love as well?
Did the adults at Canaan Church like their new walls, their newly assembled kindergarten tables, the kitchen walls for the school? Did the community of Canaan sense the health clinic wanted to minister to their physical and spiritual hurts? Did the children of Canaan sense love, acceptance, hope and peace making their puppets, playing “Fishy, Fishy Cross my Ocean”, playing “musical bubbles” and eating a lunch of crackers, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches and water? Oh Lord you are present in poverty. You are hope to the hopeless, you are an ever present joy in the midst of Canaan. Do you know how I know dear precious Lord? I heard YOU in their songs of praise. I saw YOU in their smiles. I felt YOU as I was touched by Haitian children. To God be the glory AMAZING, GREAT things YOU have done. To partner with you here in Haiti has been a life transforming time. Teach me to use what I have learned to make a difference in the lives of those who you bring to me. Don’t ever let me forget your goodness!
~ Kim Sunderland

Kim, it's been a priviledge to watch you heal as you love on the kids and people here.  It's been amazing to see your daughters laugh and share their love with the children.  It's been a blessing to have you here as part of the process AWAKENHAITI is in both in Canaan and the Good Samaritan Homes!  May God continue to bless your efforts!

Team December 2011

Welcoming Team December 2011 today! 
We have a few Good Samaritan sponsors coming for the first time to meet their sponsor kids and a few returning to spend some time with their sponsor child, it will be a fun day for all of them!

Tomorrow, the team will be doing some light construction at the Good Sam Boys Home, physicals on all the kids, first aid training for some of the older kids and workers, and Christmas cards for their sponsors.

Wednesday and Thursday will be spent in Canaan doing medical clinic, first aid training, kids activities, and light construction on the church/school building.

Friday will be spent in Delmas at Pastor Nathan's church doing medical clinic and children's program.

Saturday the team will take the Good Samaritan kids to the park in the morning followed by an afternoon of team bonding at a pool & restaurant.

We trust that God will be very present as this team ministers to our brothers and sisters.
Please be in prayer for good health, safety, and for each person serving to experience God in an awesome way throughout the week!


Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.

Psalm 145:3

Celebration of birth and life!

May the celebration of Christ’s birth and life be at the forefront of this season!
Thank you for your love, support and encouragement!

Merry Christmas!
Jeff, Deb
Colton, Kylie, & Brooke

Brooke's rendition of T'was the Night Before Christmas

The nite befor Chrismas all snug in beds


not under our cuftrs (comforters)

so hot in our beds.

I can’t go to sleep because the dogs are barking.

I here something krunchy

I look out

It was Santa.

He was waring a tantot (tanktop)

And shorts

He was swetty

And standing in frunt of a fan

He saw the cokes

He chuwd (chowed) them down

He put down the presents

So happy to go

I yelled up to Santa

Thanks for the presints.

Heres sum bug spray

 
by Brooke Denlinger

Twelve Days of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas Haiti gave to me   


12 Cars honking

11 Bats flying

10 Frogs quacking

9 UN driving

8 Giant Rats

7 Broken Tap Taps

6 Mosquitoes biting

5 Barking Dogs

4 Flat Tires

3 Pterodactyls

2 Lane roads

And a skinny cow to feed my family.
 
~ by Colton Denlinger

Merry Christmas!

Decorating for Christmas in shorts and flip flops…



Last year we just couldn’t really get in the spirit of Christmas. Everything here was so new and awkward. The weather, we found was so tied to our idea of Christmas. Getting our minds in the spirit of decorating and listening to Christmas music was difficult. Making Christmas cookies was out of the question, we couldn’t buy flour and Crisco let alone M&M’s or Hershey kisses for some of our favorites. There were no Christmas programs at the elementary school or church. There was no Christmas party with friends.



But this year is a different story. The weather is still a bit weird but kind of fun. We stood outside hanging lights in summer weather. We think it will be a Griswald Christmas if we can get power to stay on long enough! We’ve been listening to Christmas music. We’re baking cookies (we can now buy M&M’s even if we have to buy 20 little bags to equal what we would normally buy and Hershey kisses with almonds are now on the shelf at Belmart!) We’ve gone so far as to plan a Christmas party with some other missionaries!



All those little traditions aside, last year we were blessed to experience Christmas in a very different light. We talk about “The Reason for the Season” and “getting back to the spirit of Christmas” but honestly, I don’t remember a time where I truly felt we did that. Every Christmas was so filled with shopping, programs, parties, kids asking for every toy and gadget under the sun all to the point of being overwhelmed and so tired by the time Christmas day actually rolled around, it was almost a relief when it was over. Last year though proved different. We didn’t have any of those things. While the activities and such can be good, they can also distract us from “The Reason for the Season”.
We love the fact that our kids don’t see all the catalogs and best toys of the year. Their view of Christmas has changed. Their experience of Christmas has changed. Our experience of Christmas has changed. Changed to really celebrating Christmas because of Jesus and the sacrifice God made in sending his son to live as human just so he could be sacrificed for our sake. It’s the greatest celebration we could ever have, why would we let all the little traditions and expectations of a society that fills itself with stuff override that?
Have a wonderful Christmas! Take time to celebrate!