The sheer joy and happiness on the people of Canaan tore at my heart as we loaded back up in the van to leave. As we loaded up I had a window seat that happened to already be open. While waiting I felt a slight tap on my arm that was hanging out the window. I looked and saw the biggest smile hiding behind a soccer ball. It was the young boy that had won the ball for reciting Psalms 23 the day before. Over the noise of talking and children playing I heard him say in very clear English “Thank you for my ball, thank you for coming.” What was left of my heart melted and stayed in Canaan as the van pulled away. My heart weakened with the gracious smile of a child. Click To Tweet We headed out of the mountains of Canaan in a different direction as we had some new passengers on-board. The pastor’s family rode with us back to the pastor’s house quite a distance away. Between the extra people and our bags, and left over food it was a pretty tight fit and heavy load. Our driver did his best to maneuver the van through the rough terrain. At one point we had to get out of the van so it could make it up a steep hill. Normally this kind of thing would have been concerning, in Haiti on mission it is part of everyday life.   Once we made it down the mountain to the Pastor’s […]

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As the men shared scriptures with the children of Haiti, little did I know who was being taught. We shared our assigned stories along with our own testimonials and the way the stories impacted our lives. I spoke about young David and the way he overcame fear much like I had over the past few years. To watch the children as their eyes lit up, they knew the scriptures as well if not better than we did. To break up the bible studies we played soccer with the kids. It was incredible to witness the innocent joy a game of unorganized soccer provided. Even as the heat rose in excess of 100 degrees they did not complain. One of the boys after reciting his favorite bible verse Psalm 23 in its entirety won one of the soccer balls to keep. We promised he would get it when we returned the next day. Purity of the heart exists when the world has not interfered. Click To Tweet As we left Canaan we headed back down the bumpy roads towards Port-au-Prince. We stopped to get something cold to drink at the local grocery store. Their stores are much like ours minus the armed security at the entrance and the clerks that followed your every move. We grabbed some Gatorade and real Cokes (real sugar in glass bottles) and headed towards the mission house. On the way to the mission house we stopped to pick up the pick up the beans, rice and pasta for the next day. […]

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Nothing could have prepared me for God’s glory that I found in Haiti. I just got back from my first mission trip and Haiti has my heart for good. I was warned before boarding the plane that my heart would break. I researched and prepared the best I could for this endeavor, all to no avail. Never in a million years could I have prepared for Him in barefooted, hungry but happy faces of the children that awaited. When we got off the plane we met our translators and drivers and headed straight to Canaan, Haiti. Canaan is where the school that I had heard so much about was being built. Traveling through Port-au-Prince, immersed in the sights and sounds only to be experienced. Simple words written here would never give them the due justice they deserved. We all piled into a van, and headed up the rocky mountain roads. Roads is a term used loosely as there is not much of an infrastructure beyond the city limits. We bounced passed homes of the locals, dodged the goats and dogs that ran wild. Traffic in Haiti is a bit different from here in the states, granted they drive on the right side as we do, and the left, middle and anywhere else they like. Street signs are as existent as the streets so you really need to know your way around. As we breached the top of one of the many mountainous hills we could see the school off in the distance. Anticipation was palatable […]

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