Haiti 2010: Day 1 and 2

Hello All!

We have had a very exciting start to our mission. We left Newark, NJ on time after a little bit of traffic, flew to Ft. Lauderdale and raced to our next flight. When we found our gate, they were just about to close it! They told us that only one out of our 13 pieces of luggage made it to the plane. That caused a little bit of panic but we prayed on the flight and when we landed, our entire luggage came too! Praise God! We were serenaded at the airport which added to our excitement.

The next adventure was finding our leaders, Katya and Miguel. The airport is extremely different than American airports and we were cattle herded through a very small exit, constantly being asked by “workers” if they could help. We found the parking lot, but no Katya and Miguel. We waited about an hour with our total of 17 pieces of luggage. Finally, I saw YWAM and asked to borrow their cell phone. I contacted Pastor Franklin and within minutes, they found us! Apparently the organization of the airport changed from yesterday when they dropped the last team off.
Next, we crowded into a 15 passenger van and started driving. For most of our team, this was a new, scary experience. Judy and Katrina sat in the front with Johnny our driver, and learned the importance of horns and being extremely close to motorcycles. He gave them a new definition of “road rage,” however, for them this is just the way they drive. It was about an hour drive to the guest house and we stopped for gas that was $6.00 a gallon.

The guest house was a pleasant surprise. We were prepared to sleep in tents in the backyard, but were lead to rooms with pre-made beds, fans, electricity, and a marble bathroom with ceramic floors. They had just finished this room recently. Apparently after the earthquake, many organizations were looking for places to house their teams and found many unused nice houses on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. This was one of them and it´s gorgeous. (We can´t add pictures yet because it will take too long, but I will post some when we get home). We ate, showered, had devotions and we were asleep by 9:30.

We woke to the lovely neighborhood rooster at 5am, however, we didn´t actually get up until 6am. We had individual and team devotions. Jason shared the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, specifically Matthew 14:16, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” He explained that we need to have faith in Jesus and he will take whatever we have and multiply it. This was a great word to start our day.

We traveled to the opposite side of Port-au-Prince, through crazy traffic to a community that was hit hard by the earthquake. We passed many tent villages, collapsed buildings and homes, and saw the people still living their normal life. The community was on a steep hill and we were helping to rebuild a church that had completely collapsed in the earthquake. We began by moving rocks for the right side wall and filling in a trench with dirt. We formed assembly lines to move dirt and debris out of the building and to bring concrete into the building. It was extremely hot and we took many, many water breaks. Mario became good friends with the concrete crew having mini Creole/English lessons in between mixing and moving the concrete.

After lunch, we worked for a few more hours surrounded by children that often joined in with our assembly line. One boy in particular, Papouch, learned all of our names and learned to “blow up a pound” (you know, the handshake thing) with me. He was adorable and made us all laugh. We then put on a puppet show, sang some songs, and made “Jezi renmen mwen paske mwen special” or “Jesus loves me because I´m special” on paper plates and we decorated them with flowers, hearts, and crosses.

It´s hard to see the devastation that is here and realize that we can´t fix it all. We are just joining in with the Haitians to put a small dent in the restoration that needs to take place. The people are hard workers, have strong endurance, and are joyful. It´s encouraging to see this and know that the Lord´s will is moving and working.
Our first day was hot, and tiring, but full of blessings. We can´t wait to see what the Lord is going to do tomorrow when we return to the church and continue to move debris, play with children and witness to the Lord´s people.
Please pray for physical strength (there´s no way we could be doing what we´re doing without God), for health, protection from the sun and staying hydrated (we sweat puddles in minutes), Judy´s car sickness and safety while driving, that we will not become cocky and over confident because we had a great day and continued grace, favor, and love from God.

This is the only internet access we will have, so if you are expecting emails from the team members, I´m sorry but you probably won´t get them!

The Haiti Team!

Haiti 2010: And the adventure begins...

The Haiti Mission Team is about to embark on an adventure. We are seven ordinary people that have a heart for serving others and serving our Lord. Our team members are Jason Jaszemski, Katrina Tavenner, Cecelia Tavenner, Emily Yeatman, Judy Yeatman, Crystal McCardell, and Mario Cassase.

We leave on Tuesday, June 28th for Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. We will be joining up with STEM Int'l to participate in medical ministries, re-building a local church, children ministries, and just serving the people of Haiti. Our team leaders are very close friends of mine, Katya and Miguel Ulloa who I served with in the Dominican Republic in 2008.

I can't wait to get to Haiti and begin the work God has for us there. Please pray for us and continue to read our updates throughout the week!

Crystal

Getting Started!

Woot! It's starting! I have begun to organize missions! You don't understand how excited I am right now. This summer I will be taking our youth group to Costa Rica through Surge2010. It's a Vineyard Eastern Regional Youth trip. It's going to be powerful. So far I have 9 people going on the trip and word just got out this week about.

The other one that is in the works is a mission to Haiti. After the earthquake hit them, I immediately felt that we had to go and help! I've contacted STEM Int'l (I went to the DR with them in 2008) and have expressed interest! Keep these trips in your prayers and that God uses us this summer.

Application Complete

Hey All,

Most of you won't see this until I actually start going on short term missions, but I finally completed my application to become a STEM Int'l short term mission leader. It was an intense, 9 page, back/front application with really in depth questions that required a lot of prayer and drafting. But it's finished! And it's sent in!

I got connected with STEM Int'l last summer when I went to the Dominican Republic. I felt God tell me to go on a mission by myself, meaning with no one I knew. At first it was really scary, but I wanted to be obedient to His calling. It was an amazing trip. I stayed with a wonderful family for one month driving in and out of a village called La Antonia everyday. We put concrete floors in, built a latrine, filled in the water line for a water pumped, and rebuilt an entire house around the old existing house.

One of the leaders was the VP of STEM Int'l, Jim Levin. Him and I had many talks about what it takes to be on the mission field. After every single one of our talks, God would nudge me a little bit and tell me that this is where I'm suppose to be. It's true, I feel the most at home when I'm helping others and sharing Jesus' love.  

A year later, I went to the STEM Int'l annual Missions Conference. I met awesome people that work full-time and be a short term mission leader. I got a hold of an application and when I got home I started filling it out. I knew it was God because it took me 1.5 months to complete the application. There was a lot of opposition from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (sorry I'm reading Book 6 of Harry Potter at the moment :) ).  The moment I put the application in the mailbox, I felt an amazing peace come over my body and just knew that this next step in my life was the right one. 

I am really excited for the years ahead. I'll go on 2 or 3 trips as a LIT (Leader in Training) then begin leading my own trips. This position will hopefully allow me to lead some trips from my own home church. God is amazing and keep this in your prayers!