The House!

The Feeding Program and Worship Time

The Ravine, Streets

The Ravine

Streets

After a morning of painting at the girls house, I walked back to the guest house for lunch with Andrew. When we approached the gate to the guest house and a couple of boys, maybe around 8 or 9 years old, asked me for water (that's been really common this week with many Haitian street kids). I have a green Gatorade squirt bottle so I usually can squirt some water in kids mouths, but this time I didn't have any water. I told him I was out of water and then he asked for food, but I didn't have any. I gave him a hug and then he whimpered that his mom doesn't feed him. I've always seen video of beggars or people who were hungry on the streets, but witnessing it in person was more heartbreaking than I had expected.
About an hour later I was up on the 2nd story balcony of the guest house looking out to the street and I saw the two boys again. This time the neighbor across the road was out in the street and beating one of the boys. The boys ran off and the neighbor began throwing rocks at them. That was the last I saw of them for the day. I pray that God will make Himself known to those boys and the neighbor.  David Weller

Thursday

I think it is time to tell other stories about the trip, the very somber ones.  Each of us were stunned as we looked at the crumbled buildings, and saw people attempting to carve out a family home from rubble and stone structures.  Garbage litters the streets and children everywhere wander in the blazing heat, begging for any water we are carrying.  Yet it is the individual stories we heard this week that were so stunningly sad.  One baby, aged 8 months, was brought to the orphanage because the mother no longer wanted to care for him.  Another child in the area was found too weak to stand up, still vomiting and weak.  He was rushed to the hospital where he was identified as having cholera.  Another mother rushed her baby with cholera to the hospital where a  well-meaning but untrained person ran to grab the bleach diffuser and sprayed the baby directly with the bleach. Another expectant mother came to their clinic, complaining of pains and so malnourished that the poor baby came early and was dead at birth.  At the feeding program that is held here 3 times a week, we learned that for many children it is their only source of food.  These are the real stories we heard, and we have been here less than one week!  It just seems incredible what this orphanage, and school, and vocational training center can do.  The Manassero's are so part of the whole fabric of this community, and they are really serving people in situations of life or death.
Today we walked to the place where Haitians are building "our" house, which might surprise many of you.  We fund raised before we arrived, and thought we were paying for a house kit that we could build.  Little did we know that Haitians could be paid to do the work, which seemed like such a smarter way to use the money.  There were so many other jobs we could do that Haitians couldn't, so it seemed such a wise way to provide work for local Haitians and create a home for a tent family.  Plus it is being built in the area recently ravaged by flooding and there was much damage around the area!  It was obviously needed. 
Therese

Tuesday

Having an amazing time with our team in Haiti! Everyone's doing very well. The guest house we're staying in is great (see the pictures). We all worked hard again today doing many different tasks (building shelves, painting buildings, sewing curtains, playing with kids, laying tile, etc.). We're now enjoying our evening slow down, including cool showers. It's HOT and humid, so we'll all probably lose some weight. Did I say the cool showers are nice? And the food is amazing too! All cooked with fresh Haitian ingredients by our Haitain hosts. Such a gift! Thank you all for your prayers as we continue through this week. Tomorrow we'll do the feeding program again that serves about 150 kids. Quite an experience yesterday! We'll also do it on Friday as they do this 3 times each week. Being here is an unforgettable experience that we'll take with us for the rest of our lives!

With gratitude,
Pastor Mike

Photos from the Guest House!

Front deck facing the street

Circle where our meetings take place

View west from deck

Upstairs

View southeast from side deck

Side deck by staff and boys room

Tuesday

It continues to be very warm here in Port-au-Prince! Every morning we have done a devotional, starting with Isaiah 55, then Monday James 1, and Tuesday James 2. This morning we ate a great breakfast which consisted of pancakes, bacon, fruit, and bread. Our group has been spread out within the Maison de Lumiere area, we have some people working at the guest house, the girls and boys orphanage, the transition zone, the school, and the staff house. Lunchtime came by and we enjoyed sandwiches, fruit, cheese-itz, and leftovers.

Last night around sunset one of the staff members took some of us on top of the roof of the guest house (2 stories) and we were able to see a remarkable sunset over the city of Port-au-Prince. We were also able to see the mountains, ocean, and town life around where we're staying. When one is only walking around Haiti it may be difficult to see how beautiful it is outside the streets, but when we were on the roof it was a new sight for us to see. Haiti has beautiful mountains, green plants, and blue-green ocean.

More to come soon!!  Stefanie

Monday

Each morning we start with a group devotional and then eat breakfast together.  The food is a delicious combination of American and Haitian dishes:  scrambled eggs-US style and scrambled eggs-Haitian style (with a delicious tomato/onion sauce), bananas, warmed rolls, and even peanut butter!  Lunch is enormous:  Haitian rice and beans, chicken, calzones-Haitian style (stuffed with egg and onion) and the most delicious fruit salad:  apples, pineapple, mango, bananas, and watermelon. As for the work, everyone chose jobs:  Phil, Dan, and I started installing tile in the Orphanage School, Justin, Maddie, Andrew, Jack,David, and Jim were painting in the girl's orphanage, Kristen and Stefanie were sewing curtains for the girl's orphanage, Sue and Shirley were sorting clothes needed for the flood victims, and Doyle and Dan were working on wood shop projects with Haitian teenagers.  The big news is that Pastor Mike Harbert arrived in the afternoon!  It was soooooo hot, by the way, and all everyone does is drink water and say how happy they are!  How much they are loving being here together!  What a team!

One of the highlights for the afternoon was helping with the feeding program.  About 120 kids (both boys and girls; ages around 3-11) came in and enjoyed playtime to kick off the afternoon.  Our team members especially loved this part, joining in for basketball, soccer, coloring and even just carrying some of the smaller kids around.  Sitting down, next, for a worship and teaching time, the kids sang together and heard the entire gospel story.  Hearing them sing praises (all in Creole) and say all together "Mesi Jesus!" (Thank you Jesus!) and "Benit soit l'Eternel!" (Blessed be the Eternal God!) was so powerful.  Then, with a white board, the school principal Ivans taught an interactive lesson all about Jesus dying on the cross, being in the tomb for three days and being resurrected, giving us hope through His shed blood!  Afterwards, the kids ate a nutritious plate of rice, beans, and vegetables before heading out.  Not knowing if this meal might be the only one the kids eat today is a humbling thought that again makes us realize how very much we have in the States.  Also, serving these kids, giving them food and water, is serving Jesus.  They're so precious, unique and beautiful.  It's a privilege, in this simple way, to build God's kingdom.  Stefanie

Church This Morning

The service we attended this morning was exceptional. The Haitian people seemed very passionate about the God that they pledged discipleship to and the pastor who was leading the service was no different. Haitians are some of the most committed Christians i have ever seen and it blew us all away to see them worship a God who seems to have forgotten them. That proved to be absolutely false once inside the church building where God was as present as could be for us and for the Haitians alike. We all are truly blessed to be in Haiti and have much to learn from these people about what it means to be truly dependent on God and trust that he will take care of all of our needs. -Andrew C. Boyd


This morning the service at Port-au-Prince Fellowship was amazing! We were in a full building with fans going and the hot air wasn't a factor. We sang five to six worship songs to begin the service and these were some of the most heartfelt songs sung, not necessarily the words but from the hearts that were singing. The pastor at this church was one of the most enthusiastic lovers of Christ I have met. As he prayed and praised God he expressed tears of joy and thankfulness for our God.

During the time for the offering the pastor said that they give 40% of their income to missions, and not just in Haiti, he mentioned they support people in the Middle East. It was an amazing act of love that people here would be willing to give money to others when they are one of the poorest nations in the world. Haiti may be poor in worldly possessions but they are rich in spirit. --David J. Weller

What we see in Port-au-Prince:

Landed at the airport

All of us landed safely in Port-au-Prince and the weather was just as we expected:  hot and humid.  Who knows for sure what the temperature was, but the forecast said 105F, and it was quite a change from the 50's in Carmel.  Bill and Susette Manassero themselves picked our group up at the airport, and we made the drive in an enormous caged bus which wove through narrow, congested roadways.  What a vibrant, chaotic place Haiti is!  How utterly poor are most Haitians, but so full of determination and resolve!  We saw what the Manassero's have been able to build here:  a full Vocational Training Center, a K-6 elementary school, a boys orphanage and a girls orphanage!  Truly inspiring to see such Godly servants at work in the midst of a truly needly community.  They have fed us delicious Haitian foods made by incredible Haitian cooks, and have made us feel really at home in such an unfamiliar, different environment.  Everyone was sweaty, tired, and exhilarated by our first day and awaits tomorrow with real joy as we get to worship at a local Haitian church.

Carmel Presbyterian Haiti Trip June 2011

Here is our group:  Kristen Strutner, Sue Clayton, Kyle Strutner, Shirley Harnish, Dan McCarthy, Doyle Clayton, David Weller, Justin Noseworthy, Andrew Boyd, Maddie Noseworthy, Dan Harnish, Laura Harbert, Philip Strutner, Therese Strutner, and Jim Miller  (not pictured:  Mike Harbert)

Here is an idea of the house we are going to build in Haiti: