HungryForLifeInternational

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