Enjoy a brief video about the recent trip to complete the Three Cords Building for the ladies of the Three Cords Ministry, donated by the Joan Capps Foundation. Members from both First Methodist Houston and FUMC Conroe participated. Background music is sung by Claudel Senat, Worship Leader for Hope Church that is located at the Mission of Hope.

Today was a day spent away from the Mission of Hope compound as we went out to spend time with some of the people in nearby villages.  In the morning we were taken to a drop off place in the village of Mesaye where we were greeted by a few children.  Some of these children walked with us as we made a two mile hike on a scenic path that followed the river.  It took us to a clearing where our time of fun, games and faith-sharing happened.  For the next two hours, we sang songs and one of the youth from the Houston Chinese Fellowship shared their witness with the 25 children that had joined us.  We played jump rope and then setup a limbo line using that same jump rope for the limbo bar.  As children left the large group games, we entertained them one-on-one with hand string tricks.  The great thing was that the children were able to teach us tricks they already knew with the strings we gave them.  After our closing prayer circle with the children, we made the hike back the way we came.  On our return hike, most of...

The past two days have been very busy. Yesterday, Jerry, Ed, Rich and our Haitian friend, Abner, finished the roof on the new Three Cords Building donated by the Joan Capps Foundation.   While they were busy up on the roof, the rest of the team painted the outside of the building purple to match the existing building. The goal is to have a total of 4 buildings so that more women can work to help take care of their families. The women of Three Cords were delighted with their 5 new sewing machines and the new Serger and the bags and bags of fabric, buttons, scissors, and all kinds of sewing notions. It was such a joyful day to see their smiling faces!

Yesterday afternon, we all went to Oscar's Orphanage not far from the Mission of Hope. Oscar is a man who has been called by God to care for some of the orphans of the earthquake. He has 20 children from ages 13 to 3 living with he and his wife and two "mommies."  (Mommies are single Haitian women who help care for the orphans. The Houston Chinese Church Team...

GETTING SETTLED We arrived Saturday evening in Port au Prince, Haiti, and left the airport for the Mission of Hope. It took about an hour to get to the Mission, partly because of the conditions of the road and partly because we traveled through the heart of the city on a Saturday evening and there were many people out and about.

It's very difficult to describe the conditions here. People are living in extreme circumstances. There is power in the city, but once you get in the countryside, you realize there is no power because everything is so dark. Occasionally we would see a fire burning on the roadside, but we saw no artificial light until we came to the Mission of Hope. The Mission has generators and we have power from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Sunday morning we went to church and visited the Mission of Hope's many ministries. They have an orphanage on site with 61 children; they have a clinic, Three Cords Ministry (a ministry to employ Haitian women and give them a trade); they have a warehouse where 50,000 meals are distributed daily; Prosthetics lab, and more. You can see more of what they do by logging on to their website.

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Our team arrived safely in Haiti Saturday, Feb. 25. Here is a brief video from their first morning at Mission of Hope.

 

Click on Read more to watch the video. 



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Just wanted to give an update. We are doing very well. We arrived early yesterday morning and set things up for the conference. Most of the participants arrived safely today, although there are several that we have not seen yet. We think they may not have been able to cross the border. They took buses and walked to get here and they came in waves, exhausted from travel. I was humbled watching them arrive, knowing that they have risked a lot just to be here. We started the conference about 1 p.m. and had a great first day. We began with worship and prayer and felt the presence of God in such a strong way. The participants are excited, engaged and hungry to learn. Please pray for Yarislav, who is facing persecution and his wife and daughter have both died from illness. I can feel the pain all over him and he asked for our church to pray for him and for his continued faith. We heard from a couple of people today about their stories of persecution and boldness, even with threats of prison, in sharing their faith....

Today, our group participated in separate projects again. In the morning, half of us go to a farming village close to the mission. We walk beside a river, and children gather around. They hold our hands and walk beside us to a clearing under a mango tree. Once there, we sing songs, share "Mommy, What is Salvation?" again, and the children and adults color. A dental hygienist from another team teaches the Haitians about brushing their teeth, and hands out toothbrushes. We return to the mission for lunch, and then visit the village of Minotrie. In Minotrie, two translators for the Mission of Hope have started a church. The church has many outreach programs, including a school. At the school, we perform a puppet show about sharing and make friendship bracelets. When we are done making friendship bracelets, we sing songs, including some hymns, the Hokey Pokey (in Creole), and If You're Happy and You Know It (also in Creole). We conclude this visit with a walk around the village, where we pray with the people and play...

Those of us from Conroe are so blessed to be included on the team with First Methodist Houston. We are having an amazing experience making new friends among our partners in ministry, making Haitian friends, growing through the challenges and opportunities God has given us. We have the privilege of seeing God at work each day. Today we praise God that we had the opportunity to buy and deliver 6 chickens, one rooster and some feed for a woman and her four children who we met in Leveque through our temporary clinic. This is a very good gift because it will give her a sustainable income to raise chickens and this gives her hope she can care for her children.

This afternoon, we went to a nearby orphanage with about 17 children. We played games, shared the gospel using the booklets and puppets, and engaged the children in crafts. They particularly enjoyed face painting, as some of them had never had that experience before. I had the opportunity to pray with a young man and had interpretation by the pastor/principal....

Today we travel back to the village where we began our work yesterday. Upon arrival we decide to begin with a prayer that will include all of the Haitian construction workers. Reznik translates Jerry's words so that everyone will understand, and when he is finished the atmosphere has changed. Prior to the prayer one of the men asked me if I was working for the contractor, just as many of them are doing. I believe he and many others have been under the same impression: that we are to be seen as competition. When the prayer has ended, these assumptions are put to rest. Many of the men thank us and tell us that God has blessed us. It is immediately obvious that today will be a much different day.

We construct the frame that will hold the roof over the patio and the language barrier continues to be an issue; luckily it is not the only barrier between us. As lunchtime approaches we are all anticipating another meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, however, the foreman, Lukenson, informs us that his wife...

Our mission team is made up of 6 members of First Methodist Houston and 4 members of First Methodist Conroe. From FM Houston, we have Ann Spears, Chris Hysinger, Jenn Buntin, Peter Wazlawik, John Hilliard and Jerry Abshire. The First Methodist Conroe members are Nancy Heintz, Susan Grittman, Marixa Maldonado and Kent Ferguson.

Today was our first day to visit a village for work. We went to Leveque, where the Mission of Hope is working to build 500 homes for those who are living in transitional housing. While visiting Leveque today, the women on our team played with the children. Marixa is a nurse practitioner and she held a makeshift clinic where the children came to see her. She checked their eyes, ears, hearts and tummies. She praised the mothers for the good care they were providing their children, and gave advice when it was needed. In the afternoon, our interpreter read "Mommy, What is Salvation?" to the children. They all gathered round the hear the story written by June Wyrick, the mother of Kristen...