Three women from The Sanctuary recently returned from a week-long missions trip to Haiti. They were part of a group of 14 people from Illinois and Virginia who taught enrichment classes at a school outside Port-au-Prince. Liz Hyerdall writes about how God worked, her experience and how her life was changed.

I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived in Haiti.

We got off the plane at the airport and went to claim our baggage, at which point we began to feel the first of many beads of sweat from the Haitian heat. Little did we know, but at this point we were also about to witness one of the first of many works of God.

While waiting for our baggage, a Haitian man came up to one of our teammates and asked him, “Are you Patrick?” We were stunned that this man knew his name. As we looked down into his hands we noticed that he was holding a wallet.

This wallet was Patrick’s. It had apparently fallen out of his pocket on the plane while he was changing seats with another teammate. The man returned the wallet to him, and there was not a single dollar missing.

Through events like this and so many others, God showed me that he truly holds every event and every person in the palm of his hands. He loves and provides for all of his children, and he will never ever leave us or forsake us.  Not only will he never leave us or forsake us, he will provide our every need.

Sunday was the first full day we spent in Haiti, and we started the day by going to church in the chapel at the Village of Hope. The Village of Hope is the school where we taught our enrichment classes for the week.

Painted on the wall of the chapel was the verse John 15:5, which states “I am the vine, You are the branches; He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit”. It was the first thing to catch my eye as we walked into the open-air room with a chalkboard, wooden pews, and a layer of dust.

I immediately began to think about what this verse must mean to the Haitian people. They have been torn down and devastated by earthquakes and poverty. Their homes are in ruin. They use broken glass bottles to line the tops of the walls surrounding what’s left of their homes in order to keep out any who wish them harm.

Many of them are alone, and many of those alone are children. Some wonder on a daily basis where their next meal will come from. Yet in spite of desolation, destruction, and death, they know how to bear fruit. They understand what it means to abide in Him, for apart from Him they can do nothing.

In a place where there seems to be no place to turn, they choose to look up. They look up and see the living God who holds each one of them under his wings of protection. As I listened to the children sing during church, the sound of hope arose. Through the love of Jesus Christ, those who have nothing and no one have it all. They are firmly connected to the God of the Universe and the lifter of their heads. As long as they abide in Him, they will always have hope. Of this truth, they are certain! Hope is what guides them, and hope is what allows them to turn it all back to God.

This hope allows people to walk and live by faith. Friday, the last day of classes was a precious day in my life. I was able to hear the testimonies of many who walk by faith each day of their lives. In Haiti, you don’t take anything for granted. It is all blessings. What we consider bad events are moments when people see God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Jorel, a Haitian man who also translated for our music class, shared with us the stories of God’s provision in his life. Here is just one of the many he shared:

In Haiti, schools are not public, and therefore you have to have a lot of money to go to school, or someone has to sponsor you in order to enjoy the privilege. Jorel had neither. He was nine years old, and convinced of his need to go to school. He did what he had to do and worked as hard as he could in order to save up enough money to afford school.

Eventually he earned enough money to pay for books, a uniform, and school supplies, but he was still missing one thing… shoes. His village was a four-hour walk from the school. There was no way he could go to school without a pair of shoes on his feet.

He went to his pastor, who was also a mentor to him, and told him about his predicament. The pastor told Jorel: “Jorel, I only have one pair of shoes… but I will let you borrow my shoes Monday through Friday so you can go to school. However, you have to bring them back to me on Friday afternoon so that I can preach on the weekend at church.”

For a year, Jorel and his pastor shared a pair of shoes. Finally, his pastor saved enough money to buy a new pair of shoes, and instead of buying himself a new pair, he bought Jorel a new pair.

Liz, Jorel and Stephani

God also provided tremendously in another way for Jorel. When Jorel finally started school, a teacher made an announcement in class. He said, “If any of you needs a place to stay so that you can come to school, I have an extra room that you can use.”

Jorel heard this and immediately approached his teacher. He told him, “I need a place to stay. I walk four hours to and from school in order to get here,” and Jorel no longer had to make the trip on a daily basis. He stayed at the teacher’s house Monday through Friday, and on Friday afternoon for the first year he made the four-hour walk back to his village in order to return his pastor’s shoes.

Jorel tells this story not to bring attention to him and what he was willing to go through in order to get to school. He tells this story to glorify the God who made it all possible for him. He emanates gratitude for our Savior who gave him exactly what he needed when he needed it.

Just as God provided for Jorel, he provides for the orphans, for the crippled, the lonely, the hungry, the lost, and the needy. As long as we abide in Him, we have no need to fear or be anxious. He has it all under control, and he is working everything together for good.

Earthquakes and poverty cannot stop the beautiful plan of our Lord, and through everything he brings Himself glory. Because of Haiti, I am able to see God more clearly, to trust him more fully, and to hope more fervently. Each day is an opportunity to turn back in praise, and for that I am truly grateful.

A verse I found myself praying for the Haitian people…

Psalm 28:8-9
“The Lord is their strength, and He is a saving defense to His anointed. Save your people and bless your inheritance; Be their shepherd also and carry them forever.”

Today was a good day down here, cooler than earlier this week, only 90 with a nice breeze.

The enrichment classes have been progressing well all week.  After the normal grind at VOH, the newbies and I got a tour of the Food for the Poor facility, despite them cleaning up for the day so no food was being given out, but the scale of the opperation was still clear.  When we all met back at Hope House, we loaded up 25 boxes from Feed My Starving Children on top of the 30 we delivered earlier this week, and headed over to Sister Marie’s.

We spent plenty of time with the girls and Marie while construction on the second floor continued… many photo ops.  The church and dorms will be separate once the construction is complete, bearing in mind what the earthquake did.

Christoph not only worked as he always does most of the day out at VOH, but then makes his way over to Marie’s to help with the new church and dorms.  Upon returning to Hope House, the team sorted through 10 plus boxes of donated clothing, many of which were still sporting their tags.

Traffic has been interesting these past few days all through Croix-des-Bouquet, approaching upwards of two hours to travel from VOH to Hope House, and many tap tap drivers were supposedly on strike this morning due to political tension.

On a more uplifting note, Hoppie is returning to her old self, up and moving around as normal as she tries to avoid Peanut’s badgering.  So far, tonight has been the only dry night, despite copious amounts of lightning on the horizon.  For the most part, all is well down here, and we hope the same can be said for back home.  IUE.

God Bless,

Haiti Enrichment Team
Patrick

This is my first trip to Haiti, and my first time writing the Haiti newsletter… but I understand I should start out with this even though I don’t know what it means;)…

I U E

It is Wednesday evening 8:30 PM at Hope House. We just finished our evening devotional.   Each night has been a good time of sharing. Tonight we spent time in worship and prayer. Most of the team is now preparing for classes as I write… or helping with Paper Mache! Poor Stacey… it is VERY difficult to make Paper Mache in this HUMIDITY   Each night the Paper Mache projects have needed to be worked on.

And… it is raining……….again!!!  Since this is my first trip to Haiti, I didn’t realize that rain this many days in a row in the evening is not what most of the team is used to. And… it is very green, much more than I expected, and more than many have seen in past trips. We have seen some crops growing taller each day as we head up the very bumpy road to the Village of Hope School.

Today, we had our 5:30 AM breakfast as we have had the past few days. We headed to the school at 6:30 AM, with classes beginning at 8 AM. I have been amazed with how much is happening on the streets when we are driving that early. There is so much to see, and it is such an adventure riding in the back of a pick-up truck with our team of 14 plus 6-7 translators.

Today I got to stand in the front, behind right behind the cab. Patrick, the photographer on our trip, usually stands there to get the bst pictures.  (i think he said today he has taken over 1,000).

Anyway, I was able to see so much as we drove up to the school. By standing up I could see over all the walls that are around all the houses. Sometimes you would see a nice house behind the wall, sometimes you would see a tent, sometimes a collapsed building. Some people walking on the street have big baskets on their head, selling food… some are walking in school uniforms, some people are in business casual on their cell phones… and a few kids are wearing a shirt, and that is it.

I have been trying to think of a word to describe Haiti, and although I don’t think one word can really do it justice, Lennie used the word “RANDOM” today. I have been thinking about it, and maybe that could describe it. You see tent cities and then in front of them, there is one business… a barber/salon…?… outside a tent city. It has been pointed out to me that a lot of the businesses on the streets are barber shops or lottery shops.

You drive through the town and see two buildings standing and the one in between is completely collapsed. You see kids on the side of the road in their school uniforms, waiting for a ride. And you see their clothes are very clean and proper, as they stand next to piles of garbage and debris.

You see older children at the school with cell phones… at a school where they just recently put in toilets, the past few years. You see a Lexus on the road and a bicycle, and many who walk for hours to get to school. To me it is a lot of “random” things that don’t make sense. But again, this is my first visit and I am still processing it all, and still quite overwhelmed!!

Sorry, this is going to be long!  There is SO much to share!

In our music classes today, Liz and I were playing the ‘cup game’… and rhythm game. The kids enjoyed it, but then spontaneously started up their own rhythm and we had a mini jam session with red solo cups on the chapel floor!  And then, as we collected cups, I said something like “we are going to…” and a child broke out into the song “We are the World”. Pretty soon, we were all singing “We are the World”, in English, with the kids doing all the extra echo parts. It was SO FUN and totally random! (I wish I remembered both verses!)

The next class, I handed the guitar to one of the boys I found out plays guitar and he played many beautiful songs. He began to play the Haiti National Anthem, so I asked Jorel (our translator who is a fantastic musician himself) what the song was and if they would sing it. The class then sang for us… and he explained the words. What an amazing moment for Liz and I. ( I think Patrick was able to video some of it)

After class, we quickly loaded up the truck and headed to Delmas, on a sightseeing trip along with a stop at the Epidore for lunch (cheeseburgers! and coke!) and a grocery store. Debbie wanted us to get to see some of the damage and the United States Embassy, a UN camp, etc.

It was a LONG bumpy truck ride… maybe 2 hours (I promise I put on sunscreen Ian, but it didn’t quite work today:( )

We saw amazing things… many tent cities, hotels that were collapsed, some places where walls were cracked, and many UN trucks.  Near the Embassy the roads were so smooth… it was a nice break from the bumps!

Debbie had shared that around her area by Hope House, it was about one out of every four homes that were damaged or collapsed.  But as you got closer to the city, as we were today, it is three out of four homes destroyed. And we did see that… people living in tents where their home was.

There was one stretch of land with a fence around it and beautiful paintings that were for sale, hanging all along the fence. Behind these BEAUTIFUL works of art were hundreds and hundreds of tents.  It was such a strange sight to me.

We got back many hours later and helped unload and organize boxes for the school, and we went through a bunch of boxes of shoe donations. The others were… you guessed it… paper mache-ing (if that is a word)

Debbie named our team for the week. I guess she comes up with names for all the teams that visit. Ours is “Madam Sarah’s Magpies plus two”. We are a team of 12 women and two men (the plus two).  Debbie and Joell, the boy that helps her out at the house, were discussing our “team”.  He said we reminded him of “Madam Sarah’s”…which is a Haitian term that refers to beautiful birds that chirp constantly… so I guess they are saying that we don’t stop talking. (I have to say, I may not personally fit this description but it does fit our team:)

I talked to John–I know a guy–John. He works at the Hope House, helping with everything.  He shared about where he was when the earthquake hit and where his son was. He was next to a gas station. The building collapsed right next to him, his truck was a little bit damaged. His 12-year-old son wasn’t with him, but he was safe once John located him.

But their family lost 17, including some cousins that his son was close to… what a traumatic experience that they went through… and still deal with.  He shared so much more, but I will just share one AMAZING thing he said. He said that maybe the earthquake was a reminder from God to his people to live more ‘simply’.  He quoted a French proverb about “Nature not liking emptiness”… and from what I understood he was saying that many are living empty lives… trying to have the homes, cars, cell phones… and the earthquake was a reminder to him to live more simply.  This man is from HAITI and lives in HAITI… and he thinks they should live more simply… hmmm.  Random comment but something I needed to hear today!

God bless and thank you for your prayers!!!
Love,

The Haiti team
(Stephani)

Three women from The Sanctuary are on a missions trip to Haiti this week. Their team, which includes 14 people from Illinois and Virginia, will be sending an e-mail update each day on what is happening during the trip. A different member of the team writes the e-mail each day.

Tuesday (from Stacey at The Sanctuary)

Each morning we are leaving at 6:30 a.m. to get on the road to the Village of Hope. The temperatures have been incredibly high, and it’s very humid.  It has rained more in these last few days than I have ever seen here — bizarre!  It is amazing to look around at all the places that are familiar to some of us; and it’s equally amazing to witness the “tent cities” that spring up everywhere you go.  The Haitians are telling us that clean water is coming in and is “easier” to acquire if you are in one of these “cities”.

The classes at VOH are going well… mostly.  Everyone on our team is having a blast with the children.  I am doing art and anyone who knows me can assume how it’s going… anyway…  Patrick is getting tons of photographs of all the children and teachers to share.  After our two classes are done, we go right to lunch.  Mostly rice and beans — NO fish “parts” so far!    Of course it is delicious!  The little preschoolers get dismissed when we leave, and they shout at us when we go by them.  They are precious!

Today after teaching we got to venture out and shop at the metal workers’ shops, which are actually their homes.  We also went to a new shop that had beautiful art, so let’s see how we can get all these creations home.  Hey, someone needs to help their economy, right!?

When we returned to the compound we got to visit with Jan who is a friend of ours from the old Notre Maision.  She and Keith are doing well.  He has acquired a one level hotel with about 20 rooms in it to host conferences for Haitian Veterinarians.  Speaking of which, (Julie have a seat), Keith’s coworker, Kelly, and a student from Texas A&M named Kevin come over to check up on Hopie.  Keith and another Vet friend showed up later.  Everything is FINE, but boy what an adventure.  The two of them needed to remove what looked like a tumor from her private area.  They did the surgery in the back of the yard on the work table.  It started to pour down rain!  So some of us “assisted” by holding  four umbrellas and three lights so they could obviously continue and see what they were doing.  What a sight!

They removed the tumor and stitched up both her incisions.  We had to make a dog-head cone for her out of a plastic Cheetos container so she can’t get at her wounds.  She is resting and doing well, but that is a first for us!  Yes, we got tons of pictures!  Her pup, Peanut, hung out with her a little while and then took off to get into her usual mischief.

After that adventure we sat around the table sharing stories and ate dinner.  Then, Stephani and Liz led us in worship, and I got to lead devotions again.  James 5:13-16, 2 Tim 1:7, Phil 3:10-11, and Ps 29:3-4.  What gets in your way from diving deeper with Jesus?  What/who are you willing to give up in order to grow closer to Him?  Do you believe in the power of miracles?  Do you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in all areas of your life?

Thank you for your support, prayers, and love.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve God and His children in this way!  He is mighty to save and we are so blessed to be able to shine His light.  IUE!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Liz, Lennie, Lori, Patrick, Stephani, and Stacey