{4 days in...}

Hello friends & family!  

We continue to have a blessed week here in Haiti.  Yesterday was our first day out among the villages and we started our day in Source Matelas (pronounced Sus Matlis).  It's a village just down the road from Mission of Hope and the village name literally translates to water source.  It's a village with lush trees and flowing streams that start in the mountains and flow to the ocean, passing through Source Matelas on the way.  Our job for the day in Source Matelas was to  do village ministry.  This really looks like building relationships and getting to know the people there.  We traveled through the village by foot with our translator Herlo and our intern Sarah.  We stopped and spoke to a few families at their homes.  We got to know a little bit about them, how long they'd lived there, how many family members lived with them, what they did for work, and most importantly what could we  pray for them and specific needs for that day.  We met an elderly woman who fell going home from church whose hip was now bothering her, got to pray over a 6 month old baby, the same woman's grand daughter, play with the other kids in the home, and we continued on our way.  Another family welcomed us with open arms to their yard.  They brought out chairs and invited us all to enjoy coconuts.  They proceeded to cut them down from the tree in their yard, cut them open with a machete, and gave us all one to enjoy the coconut milk and eat the coconut if we wanted to.  It was such a beautiful moment and this family invited the 10 of us in to share with us from the little that they had.  They were such a blessing to us.  

Our afternoon was spent in the village of Simonette which is a village set back off the main road down by the ocean front.  We were able to visit Vi Bella, a business that makes jewelry made out of recycled plastic soda bottles and beads that's sold at Mission of Hope and in the US.  When we arrived there were 7 women circled around a table on the covered porch of the 2nd floor of the building making beaded necklaces and earrings.  We were able to see all the pieces they created and see where they work Monday through Friday from 9 to 3.  After we left Vi Bella we continued to walk throughout the village and down to a local soccer field where we had the joy of playing with all the kids that came out to see what all the commotion was.  All in all we had a great first day with the people of Source Matelas and Simonette.

Today the team spent the day painting in the village of Leveque in the neighborhood that Mission of Hope is building.  They were able to paint three homes!! Currently there are just over 250 homes, but MOH has plans to finish 500 homes to house the people that continue to live in temporary housing that they obtained after the earthquake, just beside the homes that have already been finished.

Please continue to pray for our team as we come to the midpoint of our trip.  Pray for courage as we continue to meet new friends in Haiti, pray for a few rumbly tummies, and that the Lord would help us to see everyone here as Jesus sees them.

 {The November Team 2012}