Haiti Mission Trip Day 5

Every morning during our mission trip, the team meets together for prayer and devotions. And today, our devotional time was led by Cathi Hubbard. We have been talking about all week that we are to be the “hands and feet of Christ.” Cathi took this one step further. She challenged us to be the very face of Christ. She shared that even with a language barrier, we still communicate messages to people with our facial expressions. In other words, just a smile can convey the very presence and love of Christ. And so we dedicated ourselves to communicating God’s love through our faces. 

This morning, part of our team continued to perform the daunting task of moving huge boulders to the site of the water project. Another team began planting seeds for the coffee crop. The people of Chadirac will sell their coffee yield to Land of a Thousand Hills which will have a huge economic impact on the community. The only problem is, the yield is not very large.  But it is a start. And the water project, funded by our Christmas Eve offering at Stones, will play a major role in facilitating this very “micro-industry.”

Jeff and Cathi Hubbard and I met with the Haitian pastors for a second straight day. I taught from 1 Peter 5 on How to Shepherd Like Jesus. I cannot put into words just how fruitful our time together was. We talked about the character and role of a pastor. I encouraged them to share their own personal struggles as pastors and church leaders. They were so eager and open. And again, with the vast differences in our cultures and especially between their churches and  churches in America, the pressures and the problems are really the same. I was utterly amazed.

The entire team spent the rest of the day teaching Bible stories, singing songs and leading activities for about 150 kids of all ages. Duaine Francis brought an American football and began teaching the kids how to throw it. You should have seen their eyes. These kids have absolutely nothing. They don’t even have a flat field to play soccer because they live in the mountains. Imagine it. These activities were the first group games they have ever experienced as kids.

We moved a bunch of rocks. We taught Bible stories. We planted some coffee beans. We even trained their pastors.

But our biggest accomplishment was telling them how much God loved them with our smiles.

And they got the message.

Haiti Mission Trip Update Day 3

The team is exhausted after a long day…but we continue to be encouraged!

We arrived up on the mountain at 10am. Upon arrival, we  split into three groups. Dwaine Francis, Andrew Klinger, Gordon Sutton, Tim Sutton and Jeff Hubbard began working on the water project. Their job was to move a couple of tons(estimate) of rocks up the mountain to the spring. The rocks will be used as a retaining wall for the first cistern which will collect the water from the spring. You would have been very proud of our guys…they really worked hard. But you would have been amazed at the sight of a woman from Chadirac literally carrying a huge boulder on her head while carrying two other huge rocks in her hands.  You will see pictures of this later. It was very impressive to say the least.

Mandi Klinger, Deb Workman, Linda Gallman helped some of the ladies from the community prepare lunch. Our gals did a great job even though they were not as fast as the ladies from Chadirac at peeling carrots, and cutting shallots, beets, tomatoes, lettuce. And yes, this is all “Organic.” The team could not believe just how resourceful and skilled these ladies were at preparing food. There is just not a lot of it.

While all of this was going on, Cathi Hubbard, Kristi Bennett and I had the privilege of meeting with 25 church leaders from churches in Chadirac. I shared with them that Stones Crossing Church has made a commitment to the community of Chadirac as well as to the churches. They were overwhelmed with gratitude that we would travel such a great distance to come. They are even more excited about where they see their community going in the future because of our partnership with them. They explained to me that their churches are growing in number. They are really seeing God working through their ministries. The church we visited on Sunday is planning a building project soon to accomodate the growth.

I asked them to share what their biggest challenges are as pastors. Their responses mirrored many of the same challenges pastors in the United States have. Even though Chadirac is literally a fourth world country, we have many of the same problems. It is remarkable how much we have in common.

I shared with these church leaders a leadership lesson based on Hebrews 11:23-27. I challenged them to see Moses as a model for being a great leader and to give themselves fully to their ministries. I also gave them some practical steps they could take. They seemed to be very encouraged.

The entire team spent the rest of the day at a local church teaching the children of the community Bible songs and stories. We also had prepared for them a lot of fun games and activities. These kids had so much fun! The laughter, the smiles and love in their eyes will be something I never forget. When we started this particular activity, we began with only about 10 kids. But word spread faster than a Facebook Status Update that something fun was happening in the local church. Within just a few minutes, the number of kids multiplied! The church was literally packed with kids!

Thanks for your prayers…we really are energized by them!

Haiti Mission Trip Update(new)

At 8am, our team piled in 3 SUVs and began the 55 minute ride up the mountain to Chadirac. The view was simply beautiful. A picture could never come close to conveying just how breath taking these mountains really are. The ride is very slow, steep and rocky and requires four wheel drive vehicles. Not to mention prayers!

We made it in time for church. There were probably 120 people attending this particular church in the community. And get this: the church service was 3 hours long! Some of you think I preach too long!  At Stones Crossing Church, we use the Connect Card to take attendance. At this church, they call the names on the membership roll. If you are in attendance, you answer “Present.” If you are not, then they mark your absence.  And not only do they take attendance, but they also mark if you were “On time.” Maybe we could begin this practice at Stones!

The worship service was also inspiring. No lights, no air-conditioning, no seat cushions and no band. Everyone sang joyfully and passionately. They know how to worship God and enter His presence with singing. If you could just see their vibrancy, you would then realize, we could learn a lot from them about what corporate worship really is.

When we walked in the church as a group, one of our trip guides, Wendall Robinson, informed me that they were expecting me to preach and this on a moment’s notice. I asked God to give me a message for them in a matter of minutes. God is faithful! My text was Ephesians 3:18-19. I talked about how to experience God’s love every day and was very thankful for such a gifted interpreter, but especially for the presence of the Holy Spirit to build up His people.

We spent the rest of the day doing home visits. As Americans, it is very difficult to grasp the level of poverty here. But the people are so full of  joy. And they are so beautiful. What we learned is that they have the very same problems as us, just in a different context. And we worship a God who is able to handle any problem we take to Him.

Tomorrow, I will lead a pastor’s roundtable discussion. The goal will be to identify their biggest challenges as pastors in their community. This will be the foundation of future mission trips from Stones to Haiti.

Thank you for your prayers. Our team is very encouraged!