Sunday, February 26, 2012

And Then There Were Two...

Nine of our 11 team members will be landing shortly back in the Washington, D.C. area.  Paul and I (Sarah) stayed an extra day and I'm really glad we did.

Our day started with Marilyn (Lazarus) making an appearance at breakfast looking much more herself!  Praise God!  We had some time this morning to relax, talk, climb coconut trees (go Tish!) and then the inevitable happened.  I, Sarah Finger, admit leg-wrestling defeat to one Paul Swicord.  We went two out of three rounds and he won.  I think I lost because the sun was in my eyes.  Yeah, that's it!  Tish wanted to take me on too but that didn't go as well for her.  As Mark said, it wasn't just defeat, it was total domination.  Sorry Tish!

After the group left, Paul got to work building screens for the health center and I made identification badges for the staff.  After lunch, Bert took us on a tour out to the Earthquake Memorial and then up Route 3 into the mountains, north and west of Croix-des-Boquets.  The Earthquake Memorial is hard to describe.  Before the earthquake, it was a quarry and because of that, it became a mass grave for thousands upon thousands of unidentified victims of the earthquake.  There is a small monument built there that says "We Will Not Forget You" and the date of 12 January.

After we left there, we drove up into the mountains and had a fantastic view of the bay and surrounding areas.  We saw an area where hundreds of thousands of people have been relocated out of tent cities into transition housing.  As we drove up the mountain, Bert pointed out a compound area that had been used by the Nepalese Army as part of the UN.  Paul and I took a picture as we whizzed by and we all agreed it looked like the Nepalese were not there anymore but someone was.  After turning around at Terre Rouge, a small village, we drove down a little ways to a tiny overlook, got out and took some pictures.  Back on the road, we started to approach the aforementioned compound area and then men there came out and stopped us.  Apparently, they did not like that we had taken photos of the area.  Bert has surmised they are ex-military.  Quite the excitement!

After returning to Hope House, we relaxed before a nice steak dinner and great conversation.  We ate at Bert and Roberta's apartment.  They also showed us some video of the school's Christmas service.  Super cute!

And now it's time for shower and bed before beginning our last morning here!

Update on Marilyn

Miraculously, Marilyn is up and moving, has color in her face and is ready to rock and roll!  In fact, according to Tish this morning, she asked, "where's my roller?"  Good news that we wanted to share!  Thanks for all your prayers!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Out and About in the Open-Air Truck

Regrettably, one of our team members, Marilyn, fell seriously ill last night and woke up not feeling well.  She was unable to travel with us today.  Please keep Marilyn in your prayers for a speedy recovery and strength to travel.

Today we gave up the paint brush for an opportunity to travel and move about Port-au-Prince.  The first stop was the metal-works where local Haitian artisans skillfully create some really cool artwork from tin.  They use old 50 gallon drums as their source of supply of tin.  We did a great job stimulating the local economy!  It's also really cool to walk around a Haitian community and move from shop to shop and talk with the many of the local artisans.  Many do speak some English.

The next stop was a first-time stop for all of us.  The name of the organization is Apparent Project, started by an American woman and her husband to create jobs with dignity for local Haitians.  Much of their artwork consists of necklaces, bracelets, other types of jewelry, baskets, purses, and the like.  In four years, this woman-owned business has grown to include buyers from Macy's and Disney and today employs 220 local artisans (70% are women).  What a terrific outreach to be able to provide the opportunity for a living wage for these folks.

Another treat was to actually eat lunch at a local Haitian restaurant.  In years past, we have lunched in higher-end hotel restaurants.  This year, we had requested something with a bit more of a local flavor.  We were rewarded!  We sat on an outside patio and had a terrific lunch off the main drag in Delmas, a suburb of Port-au-Prince.  We also made a quick stop at the supermarket for things like coffee, vanilla, cigars, rum, and Haitian desserts.

Our intent was to then head to the Earthquake Memorial but due to the high volume of traffic and congestion, it was too late in the day.  We'll have to save this for another trip!  Many of us commented that a day of riding and getting beaten up in the open-air truck with the sun on us was more difficult than the days painting!  It was still enjoyable because it's nice to get out!

Tonight, during our nightly devotions, lead by Mark, who requested that we all describe in 3 words what a memory would be of this trip.  Here is what we shared (some of them may not seem self-explanatory, so we encourage you to discuss further with the team members):

-all the children (Sarah)
-peaceful sunsets (Yvette)
-smiling children singing (Tom)
-dirty dishes done...not by me (Roberta)
-Stevenson doing well (Paul)
-Marie's girls bubbles (Greer)
-open-air truck (Tish)
-encouragement, hope, love (Christine)
-paint, paint, paint (Bert)
-white walls rollers (Mark)
-joy, fulfillment, hope (Jim)

Friday, February 24, 2012

Touched By the Ministries of the Lazarus Project

80 gallons of paint
17 of 20 rooms + a large atrium + railings + four outside latrines
28,000 square feet of paint laid; equates to over 9 houses at 3,000 square feet
11 fulfilled, but tired and sore servants!

As you can see from the numbers, with the help of God, we were able to accomplish and complete more work than we ever anticipated.  Bert and Roberta both commented that it was a pleasure to have a mission/servant team who required little supervision and worked so well together.

Once again, a highlight for the entire team was our visit to the Little Children of Jesus.  LCJ is an orphanage that cares for the mentally and physically handicapped which includes 95 people being cared for and 70 caregivers.  We re-connected with Gladys, as well as many of the children we got to know in years past.  There was a DJ playing music for the kids, so many people on our team showed off their best dance moves with the kids.  As we interacted with these children with physical and mental challenges, many of us remembered the words of Pastor Bollinger who told us that as we approach these individuals, we need to look into their heart and past their physical and mental disabilities.  If you're able to do so, you'll be blessed many times over.  It would be fair to say, judging from our devotional tonight, that was accomplished ten-fold by members of our mission team.

We've questioned which aspects of our serving were of the most value - painting/cleaning/etc. at the health center, our visit to Marie's, or our visit to Little Children of Jesus.  Only God knows the answer to that.  While the answer is unknown, we know that we were blessed by all the events and activities of the ministries of the Lazarus Project.  And we believe our interactions with the kids and adults at the Village of Hope and the orphanages touched them all as well.  And finally, we believe our mission/servant team has been blessed by the companionship of one another as we joyfully performed God's work.

Tomorrow we will be out and about in Port-au-Prince, shopping at the metal-works, doing lunch at a local Haitian restaurant, and visiting the Haitian Earthquake Memorial.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Mingling with the Haitians

After three days of focusing on the medical facility and painting, today we started with a school assembly at the Village of Hope.  We observed and participated in the kindergarten (ages 3-6) march, raising of the Haitian flag, and singing.  Paul may have even been distracting one child playing peek-a-boo while they were supposed to be paying attention!  For the rookies (Tish and Marilyn), it was an exciting experience.  It was another picture perfect day in Haiti with the mountains as a backdrop to the school.  Some of us who have sponsored children, once again had the opportunity to meet and talk (mostly smile), as well as take pictures with their children.  For Sarah, it was the first year meeting her little guy, Napoleon.  Tish, as the representative from the yoga group, was unable to meet her little girl, Nadge, because she was home ill today.  Tish wrote her a letter and left it with the school for Nadge.  This was a very satisfying experience for Jim, Greer, Mark, and Sarah.  Following the school opening, most of the team went to the medical facility to do what we do best - paint! Once again, we exceeded expectations by running through all the paint. For lunch, we enjoyed the standard Haitian fare of rice and beans (and optional fish sauce) with the students.  

Our return to Hope House found us in a Haitian traffic jam quagmire.  We survived, arrived at Hope House, spent five minute cleaning up and headed to Marie's Orphanage which was a real treat for the mission team.  Marie is responsible for twenty girls up to the age of 14.  She does a remarkable job.  We came bearing numerous fun gifts like bubbles and frisbees.  The real treat for Sarah, Christine, and Tish was having their hair done over and over again.  Yes, we have lots of pictures to share.  Christine even had cornrows until she took them out.  Mark took the lead and led us all in song and dance.  It was a real treat for the kids, as well as the mission team.  Picture Mark putting his whole body into "If You're Happy and You Know It" shake your whole body.  He was even airborne at one point - we have pictures!  We also had a presentation from Liz to Marie of a book, globe, and special candy from our special friends in Texas.  

Upon returning to Hope House, a highlight for Greer was seeing the three children of Lucien.  For dinner we had another great meal of lasagna (with meat - Tish was on her own).  None of us are losing weight!  We will continue on tonight with our nightly devotional.  More to come tomorrow!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

20 Gallons of Paint on the Wall

Since I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath, Tom has been crowned the "Spoons" champion.  He put up a mean fight although Paul was quick to fall...  So much for youth!

Today was a repeat of yesterday.  We had our Shrove Tuesday pancakes for breakfast this morning.  The perfect way to start the day!  Upon arrival at the Health Center, we quickly broke into teams and continued where we left off.  We've worked in 10 rooms and have completed as much as we can in 5 of them including touch-ups, scraping paint spills, and mopping.  The other 5 include the pharmacy store room, the break room for staff, the medical director and administrator support room, and have completed the patio/garden area that spans the entire interior complex.  By the end of the day, Bert remarked that we laid more paint than any previous mission team.  Needless to say, this is a very competitive and focused mission team!

We finished the day early because we ran through all the paint.  After returning to Hope House, some of the team members cut 20 fourteen foot planks into threes which will be used to frame in screen for the windows at the clinic.  We had another excellent Haitian meal of rice and peas, creole chicken, a squash/cheese-type casserole and watermelon for dessert.  Jim remarked that he is not used to getting a meal every night.

Tonight was an especially inspiring devotional lead by Liz with contributions from Tom, as well as Pastor Peter DeMik.  The most unusual and meaningful part of the devotional was marking of the cross with ashes by team members.  In other words, we went around in a circle and marked the cross on the person next to us while saying, "Remember, you are from dust and to dust you shall return."

It's 9:00 and while we are refreshed and restored spiritually, our bodies are tired and it's time for bed.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Clean Team, Dirty Team

To recap last night when we signed off with us going to nightly devotions.  As usual, Liz lead an inspirational devotional with many thought-provoking questions including, "Why Haiti?  Why now?"  This provided many of the veterans (Paul, Greer, Jim, Sarah) and our new-comers (Marilyn and Tish) an opportunity to share their perspectives.  Following devotionals, most people passed out from exhaustion, while Poker-Face Yvette took the rest of us to the cleaners in a rousing game of "On My Honor."  Some of us think Mark made it up on the spot.  (high probability)

This morning started with 6:00 a.m. stretching lead by Tish and joined by Tom "Stretch" DeMik, Paul, Greer, and Marilyn.  Fueled by an awesome breakfast by Bert, we made our sandwiches for lunch (they even had grapefruit jelly)!  We stole the title of today's blog from Roberta who remarked as we left for the Health Clinic, "there goes the clean team; we look forward to seeing the dirty team when you return."  And she was right!

As we got closer to the Village of Hope on National Route 1, the Health Clinic became visible in the distance.  As we drove up to the Health Clinic, exclamations of shock and awe were heard from all.  After a tour of the Health Clinic, lead by Bert, we quickly formed teams to perform the following tasks: sanding, cleaning, painting, taping, mopping, vacuuming, scraping, and singing (who let the dogs out? Jim, Tish, and Mark!).  While the building was cool, the work was hard, and needless to say, it was a good thing we bounced our way home in an open-air truck.  The quote of the day from Paul after inquiring if we were staying hydrated was, "It's better to have to pee, than not."  Go figure!  While we got a lot accomplished, there is still more to do.  The target opening day is early April.  We are so excited that we are contributing to the completion of the  Health Center so it can open as scheduled.  More of the same is scheduled for tomorrow.

While some of you are enjoying pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, we enjoyed a fantastic meal of Haitian beef stew, potat (Haitian potato), acra (taro root ground up with spices and then fried) and salad.  Some of those on the trip are outside their culinary comfort zone but are enjoying it nonetheless.

We are off to another devotional, this time lead by Sarah (no pressure) followed by a vigorous game of spoons!  Tish has warned us that there is no mercy when she's involved in this game.

Good night!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Arrival: Mission Lazarus Project

We arrived at Greer's at 3:30 a.m. full of enthusiasm for the mission (well, maybe we were only half full)!  All the logistics for departure and flights were all on time.  There were no lost servants or luggage.  Upon arrival, we were greeted with 90 degree temperatures and surprisingly, the Haiti grime did not hit us as hard as in past years.  Processing through immigration also was a pleasant surprise in that we were not tortured by the process.  Those of us that have been to Haiti in the past enjoyed the ride back to Hope House, riding in the open air truck.  Once at Hope House, room assignments were passed out and those of us with enough energy unpacked 16 suitcases of supplies which were warmly received by the hosts of Hope House.  The afternoon was then spent reviewing the work projects for the week and nap-taking.  Dinner was excellent - a pasta dish with garlic, capers, and black olives.  One change from years past is now we do the dishes after dinner.  Tom DeMik was the washer as he regaled us with stories of working at a sorority during his college years.  And yes, he had some colorful and interesting recollections.  Then Liz walked in...  Presently, we are getting ready for our devotionals and most likely, a follow-up beer and everyone to bed.  We are looking forward to tomorrow, where we will be cleaning and painting the new health facility.  We anticipate accomplishing a lot of work because it's Carnivale (Mardi Gras) in Haiti from Monday through Wednesday and the kids are out of school.  Much more to come tomorrow!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Packed and Ready to Go!

Our group met this afternoon to pack the luggage that hold the donations we take with us.  Members of St. John's, friends of the travelers, and the Brownie and Daisy troops at my school really came through for us!  We have 16 suitcases filled to the brim, but carefully packed as not to exceed our 50 lb. limit!  Here are some pictures of the packing!





We are off bright and early tomorrow morning!  Thank you for everyone's support.  We'll let you know when we arrive!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Less Than a Week!

Next week at this time, 11 members from St. John's will be slumbering away after a hard days work in Haiti.  This year's servant team leaves next Monday, February 20 with 9 members returning on Sunday the 26th and two other members staying an extra day.  The team consists of Sarah Finger (yours truly), Jim Lofgren, Paul Swicord, Tom and Liz DeMik, Christine Payne, Mark Guilfoil, Greer Putnam (fearless leader), Yvette Moy, and newcomers Tish Nordvall and Marilyn Newstrom.

Below are prayers for each day that we ask you to include in your daily prayer routine.


Monday, Day 1
Psalm 50:1
The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

Heavenly Father, we pray for safe early morning departure and safe arrival of St. John’s Servant Team to Hope House. Open all hearts and minds to the needs of others, that with eagerness, energy and joy your love may be lavished on the children and people of Haiti. Bless and keep hosts Bert and Roberta Anderson.

Tuesday, Day 2
2 Kings 2: 1-2
When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”

Carnival Tuesday in Haiti marks the beginning of one the holiest times of the year. It leads to a time of repentance and abstinence. A time when millions of Christians all over the world are engulfed in prayer, reflection, forgiveness and rebirth. It commences the celebration of the miracle of the life of Christ.  O Lord, we pray particularly for Sarah and Jim to be attentive to the whisper in the whirlwind.

Wednesday, Day 3
2 Corinthians 4: 3-6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

On this Ash Wednesday, pray that Christ’s light would shine out in the darkness. Help all to see the physical and economic needs among sisters and brothers. Real love is expressed in deed as well as in word. Help us to encourage the oppressed, plead the case of the widow and defend the cause of the fatherless.  May the work of Tom and Liz’s hands in worship and mercy give God the glory.



Thursday, Day 4
Mark 9:2-4
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.  His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Praise God for mountain top experiences. May we tend and keep the garden of God with Gospel seeds. By the Spirit may we enhance the earth’s beauty, usefulness and fruitfulness despite sickness, hunger, natural disaster and hostile environment. May we give until the need is gone.  Thanksgiving for Mark, Tish and Paul.

Friday, Day 5
Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Jesus, help us to practice hospitality to strangers. May God bless the prayers of his people and assist us to model Christ in humble service. Pray for blessings on Christine and Marilyn.  


Saturday, Day 6
Psalm 5: 12
Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

The ministry of mercy is a costly one. Jesus, you asked the rich young ruler to give up all his riches to follow you. Our willingness to carry this out is a critical sign of our submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ.  Pray for protection on Yvette and Greer.

Sunday, Day 7
Psalm 67:1-2
God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us,  Selah.   That your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
 
It is always hard to bid farewell. May God bless and keep you until we meet again. Pray for safe travels and good health for all.