HungryForLifeInternational

08/27/07

Blog readers!!! (a.k.a. friends, family, anyone at all),

This trip is coming to a close, and the last couple days have been great.

Our last day in Dumay was the hottest yet... but we were able to 'call it a day' at 1:00pm. The trusses for school feeding center have been finished and the roof is waiting for it's layer of sheet metal to be finished. We were able to pour the rebar posts for the school into the foundation as well, and the construction will continue to progress on the school building.

On Sunday we worshipped in the Gramothe church again, though this time with a larger congregation... the hurricane from last weekend has long since disipated. It was a great time of worship and reflection. The evening we closed with watching a movie called 'End Of Spears'... a movie with a thought provoking message about missions... get a chance to watch it if you can! We, the leaders, also broke the schedule for today, Monday: Beach Day!

Today we loaded up a 'Haitian' bus... (read LOADED UP)... and headed to Wahoo Bay with the youth group from Gramothe. The two and a half hour trip each way was tiring, but the time we spent at the beach was relaxing. We ate lunch at the restaurant in the resort we visited; a meal that many of the kids in Gramothe have never had the opportunity to eat in their lives. It was also an experience for the Gramothe youth as many have never been to the ocean either!

Tomorrow we rise early to head for the airport in Port-au-Prince. We have two layovers, and fly into YVR at 6:50pm on flight AA 887.

Continue to check out the SAC Trip Blog on the link to the side of this page to find more stories from team members.

Blessings all... will attempt to post more pics soon... if not today then when we get home to Vancouver.

Paul DenHaan
HFL Team Leader

8/24/07


The last couple days have been grueling hot... but it has been AWESOME!!! The team is healthy overall... except for a couple sore throats and a few cuts and bruises. This has been somewhat due to an enforced water consumption of 2L by 10:00am, 3L by the end of lunch, and 4-5L by the time we leave to go back to the oasis of Willem and Beth's home. Some of the team has been downing 6-8L per day.


This is the second time I've published this blog entry... and I'm super tired... even though it's 9:30pm... the heat and the work has us all in bed early... in fact, I'm the last one up...


The pictures will tell the stories of the last couple days:


The soccer group began it's day with prayer before splitting off into teams:




We had the opportunity to participate in a rice distribution on behalf of Rice Raiser International, as well as handing out dehydrated soup mix from Fraser Valley Gleaners:

08/22/07

The last two days have been a blur with everyone working really hard...which has made them fly by. Our daily routine has consisted of soccer in the morning with the kids followed by construction in the afternoon. The days have been long and hot but we have gotten a lot accomplished both in building relationships and in building the school and ajoining cafeteria.

Yesterday (tuesday) saw us playing a few different games of soccer and just hanging with the kids as well as starting to put up the trusses for the school cafeteria and lining the future floor with rocks.

Today we continued with the same activities and also poured concrete onto part of the roof of the cafeteria.

Jeremy Roberts
HFL Assistant Team Leader


Here are the pics you've been waiting for:

The ladies insisted on their own soccer game on the second day!


We figured we'd be continually 'schooled' by our Haitian friends... today we won a game 6-4.



Not everyone can play... but there are smiles and fun everywhere!



Construction begins of the feeding center's cafeteria roof:

08/20/07

It is the end of a long day of working in the Haitian heat... most of the youth group are in bed... 1/2 hour before quiet time. This is merely the result of a busy and productive day. Everyone is too tired to think in cohesive sentences, including me... so I'm going to let the pics here show the story of the day.

First off, here are some shots from our visit to an orphanage nearby that Willem and Beth look after for HFL/Cranbrook Community Team:



The road entering the river... not quite what it's supposed to look like!?!?

That's it for now... it is 10:15pm... 15 minutes past my bedtime... and Aaron and I are the last ones to hit the sack...

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Paul DenHaan

HFL Team Leader

08/19/2007

Hey All!!!

This trip has been full of adventure so far! It promises to continue to produce a lot of memories and stories. Here's an update on today:

As some of you know, we have been anticipating having to deal with some effects of Hurricane Dean, which is traversing the Caribbean Ocean into the Gulf of Mexico as we speak. Overnight the storm headed more south of Haiti than what was forecasted, which means we have dealt with less than we might have. I struggle to say, 'Thank you God', knowing that the hurricane will continue to another part of the world, and will cause distress in the lives of other people...at this point it looks like through Jamaica. Last night was very windy with a few monsoon rainfalls, and this morning the effects can be seen everywhere. The village of Gramothe, which is across a valley from where we are staying at Willem and Beth's house, and is the primary location of the work of Mountain Top Ministries, dealt with a few setbacks. Many trees were destroyed or damaged, including banana and fruit bearing trees. There is a lot of mud and many paths/roads altered due to high rainfall. The homes in Gramothe have not been affected as much as the landscape surrounding them, however, almost all the residents live with dirt floors and inadequate drainage for this type of weather, which translates into damp and muddy homes. The damaged vegetation will result in a setback in food availability and/or farming income for many of the people here.

Today we delayed heading up to the church in Gramothe, as the rain continued to fall. Our transportation in Haiti is in the back of open bed trucks, which means that rainfall equals wet transport. Coupled with the amount of phone calls Willem was receiving from the people of Gramothe who were struggling this morning with trying to make amends to last nights damage, church was almost cancelled for the first time in seven years of operation. We waited for an extra hour and a half before deciding to venture out. Everyone changed into shorts and t-shirts in anticipation of a wet ride. We weren't let down. Check out pics below:

We changed in the medical clinic in Gramothe and walked up to church. We were greeted by about two dozen people, a small handful of the 400+ that attend on a regular basis. The team led some songs complete with music:

Aaron was invited to preach:


And we worshipped together!

We changed back into wet clothes and walked/drove back across the valley to Willem and Beth's house. This afternoon we hope to visit an orphanage after our midday dinner and have some fun with some kids. There were many items brought along which we will be blessing our brothers and sisters in Haiti with. Thank you to all those who obeyed the desire they felt to send items along!

That's it for now...will keep you posted as this trip develops. Out of all of the storms that have passed through in the last 10+ years, this storm has had the largest effect on the area we are in. We do not know yet how this storm has affected the other parts of Haiti that we will be working in, specifically the village of Dumay. This forecasted wind and rain may change our activity plans for the week somewhat, but wherever our focus ends up being, this trip promises to keep us busy and used by God to help out our brothers and sisters here.

This trip would not happen without the support we have from you, our supporting team at home. For this we thank you; we are blessed. We pray that we may continue to be effective partners with you as we are all participating in this trip together, whether physically in Haiti or not. Please continue to keep us in prayer, some prayer requests at this point are:
-for our team to continue to bond as a group
-for wisdom and insight in how we can use our time in Haiti for the most impact, especially considering the changes the weather has brought to our plans
-that God will reveal himself in new ways to all who are on the team and those we come into contact with
-For thanks that we know that we are all in His hands

In One peace,

Paul DenHaan
HFL Team Leader

08/18/2007
More waiting at the airport:



Touching down in Port-au-Prince:

Our transportation to MTM:

A view from the truck:

Free to time: hiking around