Love in Action - Haiti Style

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Amen!!

Home Again

The January 2016 Haiti team has now safely all returned back to the States, to our respective locales. We want to thank you all so much for your moral and prayer support throughout this journey.  With this mission finished, please pray for:
1) The people who were presented the gospel by our team who chose not to make a decision for Christ. Pray that the seed of the Gospel will take root in their hearts.
2) The growth and discipleship of the new believers in Haiti who came to Christ these past two weeks.
3) The maturity and growth of the evangelical churches in Haiti.
4) The pastors of the Haitian churches.
5) Wisdom for knowing the next steps in our continued partnerships in Haiti.

Finishing the Week

Yesterday was a beautiful day exploring the Citadel & learning more about the history of Haiti. Our tour guide, Johnny, was a lot of fun! Today was another day of clinic. We were fortunate to have 8 students from ITTP (also known as the Haitian PT program). They came to observe & learn more from us. All of them were very bright & willing to help with patient care. We had a little over half a day at the clinic & then went to visit the school. Cowman school is a Christian school that currently has kids ages 3-15, that are a mix of missionary kids & Haitian kids. After visiting the school Kayla, Jordan, & Bev went on a home visit. Angie, one of the missionaries, asked us to visit a mother of a student who had a stroke last June. The mother has improved a lot & is up walking without an assistance. She was telling her story & talking about how she was embarrassed about going out in the community. It was a great opportunity to share with her that the Lord allows some things to happen for His glory. Her recovery is a miracle & she could share it to show God's power & goodness. The Lord continues to encourage us & bless us in our interactions with the Haitian people. Please pray for us as we finish up with our last day of clinic & traveling back to the States tomorrow. 

Treating & Teaching

Time at Bethesda Clinic with OMS

Yesterday we started our work in the Bethesda clinic on the OMS campus. The clinic here is amazing. They have a birthing center, a lab, a tuberculosis treatment area, and a building to do x-rays in. Our day was very busy seeing patients of all diagnoses and all ages. Bev and Jordan enjoyed working with a couple of stroke patients and their families. Kayla saw two adorable little boys that had neurological involvement. She had one little boy that kept telling her that, "You are not my friend," when she had him do activities that he didn't want to do. The Lord keeps showing us how important physical therapy and the education that comes with it is needed in this country.

Day 2 in the clinic was just as busy as the first. We had follow ups from the first day plus many other new patients. Today was more of a solum day due to it being the anniversary of the earthquake. Ironic enough we saw a patient today that had become a paraplegic due to a ceiling falling on her in the earthquake. Listening to her story about being trapped under the rubble for 23 hours was heart breaking.

Today we only had clinic for a half day, so the staff could show us the radio ministry that OMS is doing. The radio ministry is the oldest ministry at OMS. It started back in the 1960s with radios that were being handed out and programmed to an evangelical program. After that the team traveled to a small physical therapy technician school to see the work they are doing there. The first class of this program just graduated in December. The administrator, James, showed us around the school, introduced us to students, and showed us his building project. The things going on at this school are wonderful. It's exciting to know that some sort of physical therapy service is now being offered in Haiti.

Please continue to pray for us this week as we finish out our trip. Also pray for the health of our team as we have 2 members currently fighting colds. Thank you for all of your prayers you send up for us daily. Words cannot describe how appreciative we are.

Gift of Spine Teaching Model to ITTP (Haitian PT Program)

Pics from Bethesda Clinic

Off to Cap!

Arriving in Cap Haitien

The 5 team members that traveled to Cap Haitien made it safely after being bumped from their first flight due to a presidential candidate also going to the same place. The flight consisted of a 20 passenger plan including the 2 pilots. Our first thoughts of northern Haiti are that there is so much greenery & the weather is beautiful. It's much different from our community in Carrefour. Also our night time sounds went from goats & roosters to birds & crickets. Today we were able to attend a Haitian church that had lots of beautiful singers & the pastor had a strong message about asking God to be king & ruler over our lifes. After that we enjoyed a bumpy ride to a beautiful beach. We spent a wonderful afternoon soaking up the sun, relaxing, & splashing around in the Caribbean. Tomorrow we will get back to work at Bethesda Clinic which is on the OMS compound grounds. Pray that we would be attentive to the needs of the patients we will see & to the missionaries here at OMS. 

Wrapping up Carrefour

After a splendid night of R&R our team is dividing today. There are 6 members headed back to the states, 5 going to Cap-Hatien in northern Haiti, & 1 that is headed to serve on another mission team in Guatemala. Please continue to pray for those of us staying & we will continue to blog from Cap Hatien. We will try to get some more pictures uploaded, but there has been difficulty with the wifi. The greatest part of our trip has been that 9 people accepted Christ as a result of God using our clinic to spread the gospel. 

A Few Pictures from a Beautiful week in Carrefour

Teamwork and Audacious Love Days

Day 3 in the clinic we deemed Teamwork Day. In the morning we had the clinic at the church and then went to Francois's (disabled community) in the afternoon. At the clinic Jordan, Naomi, and Kayla saw stroke patients including a mother and daughter. They were so thankful and praised Jesus that there were people to help them and educate them about what a stroke is. The afternoon at Francois's was a crazy whirlwind of problem solving and loving on kids. The final wheelchair adjustments were made and other kids were fitted for equipment to improve their quality of life. Our translators even pitched in to help with certain projects. It was a beautiful scene of Haitians and Americans working together.

Day 4 in the clinic was our final day, which was deemed Audacious Love Day. There ended up being an impromptu stroke camp and back school to be able to help get as many people seen as possible. More of our patients came to Christ! Today was also a day of restoration and forgiveness. The Lord has shown us this week that the work He has called us to do here is really affecting the community as a whole. We are making a difference in one small piece of the world because the Lord has allowed us an amazing opportunity. There have been several people come back to see us this trip that we have seen on previous trips. God has allowed us to build and grow our relationships with the community, our translators, and the church members. Please continue to pray for us as we leave this place. Pray for safe travels for each of our team members. We also ask that you continue to pray for Haiti. Pray that hearts would be open to the Gospel and that each person would feel a desire to have a personal relationship with Christ.

The Lord's Continued Provision and Faithfulness in Haiti

The last 2 days we have seen God's goodness immensely. One of the things we left out is that the first night we had a few things stolen off of the roof. The good news is that almost all of our things were returned... which never happens in Haiti. Another surprise is that our friend Ryan showed up, who is a huge asset to our team. We were all extremely overjoyed!

The first 2 days of the clinic have gone really well. Tori was able to give a little boy named Joey his wheelchair. He and his mother have waited 10 months to get this wheelchair. With the help of Elliot and Kevin, Tori was able to adjust the wheelchair to fit him. We have had several patients accept Christ. The former voodoo doctor from last trip came back to visit us and has told us that he is still walking with the Lord. On Monday we went to the disabled community and delivered and fitted four wheelchairs to their exuberant owners.

The "husbands," also known as Kevin and Elliot have been our rocks this trip. They have been super helpful and keep the clinic moving smoothly. A few notes we should share is that Elliot is experience "tap tap butt." I don't think anyone actually knows what that means.

Most nights we have had electricity which means there are some team members that are soaking up the air conditioning. The rest of us are sleeping on the porch which has been wonderful because it gets cool at night.

Each day we have seen God's provision in the connections being made. We are continuing to build relationships with translators, community members, and the church family. Tonight we were able to have an uplifting night of worship and prayer with the team from California that is also here. The main thing we will be continuing to do this week is being intentional in sharing the gospel with every single patient that walks in the door.

Please continue to be in prayer for us as we finish out the week. God has been so good to us this week and we can see His hand working in every situation that has happened.

-The Haiti Team

Sunday Update from Haiti

The team has had an insightful weekend after getting on the ground in Haiti. We are experiencing all of the ups & downs of living life in Haiti. Each of us are seeing the spiritual turmoil that is plaguing this place. Although this is going on, the Haitian people are excited to see us & have welcomed us. We have seen friends of ours that are very happy to see us as well. As of this moment, we are still figuring out our plans for the week day to day. Everyone is healthy & safe. We have the best cook in all of Haiti, so we are being well fed. Prayers would be appreciated for the Lord's continued guidance on what this week will look like. Also please pray for the Lord to bring down walls & unite this community as the body of Christ.

- Jordan Hawker '15

Haiti- January 2016, Day 1

Happy New Year!!!! The Haiti team celebrated the first day of 2016 traveling on multiple planes and multiple airlines to make it all safe and sound to Port-au-Prince. We've already had a divine appointment with another missions team helping with our extra luggage and others working with helpful airport personnel and then receiving all our luggage in Port-au-Prince except one bundle of walkers that's spending the night in Miami. 

Everyone is here and healthy- we are all just quite tired! Tomorrow we will get situated more and have the opportunity to get to know the community we will be serving in for the next week. This has been an awesome way for each of us to ring in the new year and we look forward to sharing this journey with you all! (As we are able!)