We have been home for 4 days and trying to put our thoughts together. The trip home was eventful to say the least. As Cindy and I have reflected on this trip we both have had some of the same thoughts. If we were to list the things that could be seen as a negative on this trip it could be discouraging. However we both feel like this has been our most fullfilling trip to Haiti yet. We are constantly asked " How is Haiti?" We are never sure how to answer that. For us it is wonderful, beautiful, amazing. We will try to summarize our thoughts here as we really have not been able to put them into words.
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| This is Love |
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| New Office. |
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| New Hospital. |
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| New Garden Project |
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| New life in everything. |
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| Beauty |
One of the first things that we noticed on our trip from the airport was that the
COLOR has returned to Haiti. The new buildings are repainted in bright colors and even the countryside itself is green and full of color. Secondly was the new excitement that we saw in the people of Haiti. We have always been amazed at their resiliencey but it was even more so this time as we saw new construction. One of the things that I enjoyed most were my early morning runs when I could really take in the sights and sounds of the people waking up and beginning their day. Life does go on and in the midst of what we might see as waste land God has created awesome beauty. The time of worship that we had with the Haitians in church on Sunday was awesome as always. What a good reminder that we all serve the same God and how small our world really is.
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| Haiti coming alive. |
We really appreciated the staff at NVM and cannot begin to describe how impressed and humbled we were by the job that they are doing on a daily basis. If you want to see true love in action spend a day with Brooke, E'tienne and Aubrey. Even the dirtiest of faces get a hug, a kiss and a smile. They truly are ministering unto " the least of these" and demonstrating God's amazing love. The progress at the NVM campus itself was great. We were thrilled with the progress of the childrens homes and the hospital and again had great accomondations. What made us really excited was the new garden project and the prospect of people being able to raise their own food. Also the new sewing projects are great. It is neat to see people being taught to support themselves and the smiles that it brings to their faces when they take pride and ownership in what they are doing.
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| What we love and miss. |
There were so many things that happened that we can't really sum it up here. Once again we are asking the question of where do we go next or what else are we suppose to do. It always feels like we leave a little more of ourselves in Haiti every time we come home. This was by far the most difficult time that we have had leaving. We wonder about those that we saw and treated and wonder if what we did was enough. And then we wonder about those that we were not able to see. We have to leave it in God's hands and rely on the fact that he knows best. Our team's goal really was to be used in whatever way was needed. Although our plans changed from time to time we believe that we were used in ways that we are not even aware of.
So now we wait to see what the next step is. We are investigating the possibility of putting together a container of food from our area to go over as well as other supplies that are needed. We also have some other ideas, but really are waiting for God's direction. We believe that there is more we could and should be doing but do not want to race ahead. Cindy needs to finish editing pictures and then we will post a new album. I know this has been kind of rambling but it is where we are at. Hopefully Becky will be putting something together for us to share with you as well so that you get another team members perspective.
Tim and Cindy for everyone.
