George

I still feel stuck.

stuck in this way of life. A way of life that I want to change but age and education requirements are holding me back from doing what I want and feel called to do.

I want to struggle, I need to struggle but not here. In Haiti, Africa, Philippines
I don't care but not here where I'm surrounded by all my things. Where I'm comfortable.

Haiti and its people have humbled me. I want to be like George. All I want is to praise the Lord and serve him. I want to be at peace. I'm not there yet and won't be till I get out. My heat is being pulled and I want to go , even if I'm alone.


"Here I am Lord,
is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night,
I will go Lord
if you lead me,
I will hold your people in my heart."

Tap Tap

A tap tap would be the public transportation....like a taxi or bus stop. Some are big and most would be just a pick-up truck painted with crazy colors.

We road in them lost and every time was an experience to remember. I have to say a word about driving in Haiti. IT'S SUICIDE! They fly down the road. No speed limit. No age restrictions. No police on patrol. The streets are packed with people and cars. No bikes. We were inches to passing cars going 40. At first you just learn to look away because it makes your stomach hurt every time a car passes. I don't think I could ever get use to it. Really. The worst would be the road conditions. Driving in a bus was a challenge and the speed bumps where huge.

In a tap tap you should be able to fit 12 people in. We tried 12 and it didn't work very well. She had to sit on a lap or squat.

Trash

There are no consequences for the excess of our lives.

You can see and smell the consequences in Haiti. We have so much stuff, junk, crap. One day it will catch up with us. One day soon.

Today at work I swept the sidewalks and bagged leaves.

Feelings just sneak up on me.......I thought about the people of the world that sweep dirt off of dirt.

Trash.

We produce so much trash. I work in a bakery and we go through all kinds of things, especially food. We don't think about it, we just toss it.


There was trash on most every street in Haiti. Mounds of it. Of course it smelled. Haiti smelled dirty. You would see people in the trash along with animals (dogs, pigs, chickens). One thing I've taken for granted and not realized until now was a clean town. There are dumps but no one takes it there. I never saw a trash truck once.











notice the trash on the roof. everywhere. just toss it out the kitchen window.

Three Wings

This is Angela. She helps to direct the orphanage. When I go back I could work here or at wings. These children just melted me and I was so supprized at how open and loving they were. I mean, I just met them and we were having a blast together.
http://www.threeangelshaiti.org/











just look at that face! I want to take him home.














and this is Steven. The smartest kid I've ever met. Really.

pink glasses

These were Taryn Taylor's glasses till I took them out of Brandon's car and brought them to Haiti. The kids LOVED it. It makes everything pink and I would just watch them take them on and off, on and off laughing all along.
The bad part was this was durning Sunday morning worship....oops.

This is Fritz


These children are up for adoption. http://www.threeangelshaiti.org/

Darts

I'm not sure but I think Bill one the game with this shot. They play for $50 gourde EVERY Sunday. They put all of us on a team and we did horrible but it was fun to see the competition.

Kari pointed out the connections between the boys. You would see the older boys coaching/supporting the younger boys.






They could sure use a new dart board! The middle was was just gray and one big hole. It was really comical because when we stepped up they would all back up to get out of range. We were all scared we would miss and bake the window but that didn't happen.

St. Joseph's Home for Boys

We then traveled to St. Jose's. The home was very nice and it was a privilege to stay there. We stayed in guest rooms with bunk beads but I soon learned that no one slept there. We all slept on the roof every night because of the heat. There are 19 boys living at then home. These boys all lived on the street at some point in their lives. I heard some of their stories and its just amazing to see how far they've come.

Once they are apart of the home they are apart of a family. They do chores, go to school, practice for plays and dance theatre, pray. They try to avoid adoption because this is their new home. The hope is that the boys will grow up till they are 21 and then go out and give back to their country. Once they turn 21 they must find a job. I think the most amazing thing is that the home was ran by the boys. Bill is the coe director with Michael and Bill grew up in the family.

Here you see Michael and the boys coming in singing and bringing flowers for us all. This was our first meeting. They then went back outside and came in one at a time saying a name. This is how we met our prayer partner. Jensi gave me a necklace and then I gave him a toy. We then all stood in one big circle and prayed. Then we sang "Bind us Together Lord" while holding hands, black white black white, and that's when I knew I was meant to be there.

http://www.heartswithhaiti.org/

Papi & Katsmith

The first stop on our way to St. Jose's was at Papi's house. Papi is such an inspiration to all of us. His dream is to see a healthy, green, peaceful Haiti. He has done so much for his country by just trying to help one person at a time. This is his answer to all the problems in Haiti. You mush sit and listen to these people so they can start to heal, trust, and then together you can work towards a better life.

The moment I got off the plane I was humbled. We go to Papi's house and he gives us water, food, whatever we like- it's ours. He even brings out his newborn son for us to hold and pass around.

This is Josh holding Katsmith. It was really funny because first off Josh's mother wanted to see what it would look like for her son to hold a baby. Second, because Josh doesn't know what to do with a baby or how to hold him. Third, because Katsmith did a runny number two while being held.

From the sky

We left Jacksonville FL at 4 am to fly to Miami. Then from Miami to Port Au Prince, Haiti. I got to wondering about how everyone below starts their day. How will my day start in Haiti? We left when it was pitch dark outside. The sun came and touched the tops of the clouds and my face bringing me strength and hope for this trip.

There are 13 airports in Haiti. 4 of them are have paved runways. I've never flown over another county and thought about Haiti. Could you tell that it was a third world country?

The poorest country in Central America? You can't hide what you don't have. This was to be my home for the next week.

One of the scariest events that happened was right outside of the airport. Once we finally get through customs we go to gather our 28 pieces of luggage. There were 14 in our group. Once we stepped outside to look for our bus I was instantly overwhelmed by all the people. Haitians playing music, begging for money, yelling at us, and trying to take my bags out of my hands looking for tips. I didn't know where to turn or who to trust. In that moment I told myself that I could never come back alone. It's funny because later in the trip Arry challenged us to come back with nothing but our passports. He told us all we needed to do was to walk outside and say, "here I am with nothing. I need a place to stay. Will you help me?" I've thought about that really hard but think that I wouldn't be able to handle that....yet. I feel like that's what God is calling me to do. Just let go of all I had and walk forward just as I am. This takes full trust and nothing less. It's all or nothing. I've been so comfortable for so long but I'm not ready for this. I'm trying.