Hello This is Damar again, We are now in Port au Prince and I am sitting in a stuffy cyber cafe to post this. We spent most of yesterday on the road to Port making several stops along the way, one of those stops was at the school were we are sponsoring a well with help from several of you who helped to sponsor this team. Thank you and thank you also from the Haitians who will benefit from this well. May it not only be a source of water to quench their physical thirst but as we prayed there at the sight, each time they get water from that well may they be drawn to the source who gives everlasting water!!! Jesus Christ!!! This morning we went to a location where they are opening a new orphanage and installed a well water pump. We then went to the baptist mission for lunch and stopped at the local lookout were you can see most of Port au Prince from. I apologize we haven't been able to post more pictures but the internet connection has been to slow. When we get home I will try to post some. This has been a very exciting trip and we have def. seen God moving, not only in the lives of the natives but in our lives also. Continue to pray for us our flight leaves tomorrow at1:20 with a layover in Miami and arriving in New York at 11:59 Thanks again for your continual prayer support God Bless! Damar

This message is from Nate to show he can use a computer when put under pressure.
In all seriousness the trip has been a good experience. God is truly larger than comprehension.
I'll be back and until then God Bless.

hey this is Mike.

The tour we took of the Help From Above School was one of the highlights of my time in Haiti. To see the joy of the children as they participated in the field day -science competition was wonderful. But what made it touch my heart was the fact that these children were being taught the word of God. They say change starts with the next generation. Seeing the school reaching the minds of the children with the message of Gods salvation is the start of this change. Also the dedication we saw in the teachers, administrators, kitchen staff, and others was touching; and the love they expressed was sincere and heartfelt.
The Help From Above school is a true beacon of hope in a dark country. I will not forget this school and all of the other wonderful experiences of this trip.

Hey everyone, this is Susan. So it's day seven of this trip and my words cannot begin to describe the things that I've learned/experienced/seen/felt etc. in those seven days. I'm am so amazed at the way that God has been working in this group. I feel God has given us great unity amongst the eight of us and the missionaries here; it's a wonderful feeling. Anyway, there is a lot that I could describe that stuck out to me on this trip so far but I will stick to what I had the pleasure of doing today. Erin, Kathy and I were able to go out to Joy and Leon's beach house to pray with Esther, Joy and Barb. We prayed over this country, the school, the church and the church's pastor Daniel. When we were discussing what needs prayer it was pointed out that we should not focus on problems but focus on praising God. Of course we need to be aware of problems but focusing on them can just bring you down and frustrate you. God knows what the problems are so we need to hand them over and just praise God. This lesson just really struck me since it is so true. After we prayed we all shared testimony, it was great being able to share and listen to each other and offer encouragement to each other. Clearly God is really working in this trip.

Oh I just have to mention that the beach was one of the best experiences ever. I was blown away with the beauty God put there, (and rather appreciated being able to relax in the sun and cool down in the refreshing water over the weekend!!)

Many Blessings to all,
Susan

Hey all. I hope all is well with you. Things are going well in Haiti. I just wanted to write about something that has stuck out to me on this trip. This trip for me has really been one of intersession. When I first got here I was able to interseed as we were traveling from Port au Prince to the guest house. I was able to pray for provision because there is such a desperate need and also doing spiritual warfare. There are a lot of spiritual strongholds here. There are many who are entrenched in Voodoo and superstition here in Haiti. Haiti was also dedicated to Satan so there is great need for intercession here. The first day we were here we were able to interseed for a woman who had recently become a Christian and was under a lot of persecution from her unbelieving family caught up in superstition. She even feels an evil presence and gets sick every time she goes to her family's house. The Lord allowed us to see early on the spiritual oppression that is here. We were also able to do a prayer walk yesterday that really stood out to me. Two young girls were following us and brought us to two houses to pray over. The missionary, Barb, that was with us did not even know the families. We also got a chance to pray with some fellow believers on our prayer walk. A mother of one of the people we were praying with was there. Barb told us later that she is not a Christian and was really suprised that she stayed to pray. Even though there is a language barrier I have to believe that the Lord is still working in a mighty way through our prayers.
The prayers of you all are asked for and greatly appreciated. Again there is much spiritual oppression here. Take care and God bless you all.


Erin

So far, in retrospect

Hey, this is Hans.

(sigh)...where to start? God has done so much in me personally, half of which I don't even know how to verbalize at the moment, so let's stick with an incident in the half that I can. One of the most prominent blessings I've been able to experience this week was the opportunity I had to go snorkling in the Haitian reef. I would say what I saw was breath-taking, only I needed those breaths while underwater. I saw some of the most beautiful of God's creations I have ever had the opportunity to encounter up close and they blew me away. Seated on a stranded log in the midst of the reef, staring back accross the unbelievably blue water at the vibrant, sun-baked shore, I developed a new and radical appreciation for and insight into the beauty of God and His creation. Moreso than this I was given a greater glimpse into the reality and entirity of His presence in this world and in my life. I am tiny and broken, but God is beyond massive and loves me in great big bunches. The fact that He is able to take something as broken and failure-prone, and insignificant as me and mold it into something beautiful, something He delights in and takes pride in, something He can use for his glory...it astounds me. As I said, trying to address this often leaves me straining for words, and to borrow from Thomas Aquinas I feel everything I've said thusfar concerning God is straw in comparison to who He really is. How awesome it is that I have the ability to pursue and encounter brushes with God's glory!

--Hans

Hello everyone! This is Kathy. Today was another beautiful day here in Haiti. This morning we went to church early around 8:30am. Church is over here before our church even starts in America! The pastor seems very sincere and expresses such a heart for the spiritual growth of the Haitan people. Some of the songs they sang in their language were hymns I recognized from home. Hymns like "There is a fountain" and "Holy, holy, holy". It was neat to be able to sing together and worship God in our own languages. It poured during part of the service and the rain on the tin roof made it difficult to hear for a time. But the sun came out and the ground was dry even before we left the church. The sun here is incredibly hot!
We took in the beach today after having lunch with the missionaries that work here. It was wonderful to spend a Sunday afternoon socializing and relaxing in the sun. Some of us even had the opportunity to play a game of volleyball with a few of the Haitan teachers from the school run by the missionaries here. It was fun to spend time with them even though we couldn't understand eachother when we tried to communicate and despite the fact that I'm anything but a volleyball player! However I made an exception for today and it was worth it.
Thank-you to those of you who are praying and thinking about our team. God bless you!

Kathy

Hey all this is Brant. Just an update on things in Haiti. We went out and learned how the Haitians made rope yesterday, is was really interesting. We helped make some, and hung out with the people at that tribe. We jumped some rope with the younger ones, I think we had 4 people jumping on the same rope at one time. We do have pictures, I guess you'll have to see them when we get back. Before we left, we did get to pray with the whole tribe. I actually was able to lead the prayer while Leon interpreted afterwards. The people were very opened to us praying for them, and did associate the prayer with being able to recieve God's blessings. It was good to see that there are those who do believe.

Nathan and I are the most sun burned, we went snorkling all day yesterday. WOW, the most beautiful sights you can ever imagine. I can't believe that there was a time in my life that I didn't think there was a God. His creation is awesome.

Church was good this morning, we studied John 10. The people really can understand this because of the Shepherd issue. Jesus is the good Shepherd, maybe we, in the United States don't understand this as well as the Haitians, because there are actually shepherds here. They shepherd mostly goats, but I've noticed that they will walk around with their master, and seemed to never get mixed up about who they were supposed to be following. May we all be the same as the goats, never getting mixed up about who we're supposed to follow. Our master provides for us more than we can ever acknowledge, lets give Him all the praise and glory, His name is Jesus.

Continue praying that we can break this "stranger" barrier and be able to actually talk to some of these people about our Lord and Savior. It's a difficult thing waiting on the Spirit to move, but I know it's coming.

We thank you for your prayers, and I hope we can get some pictures out today. We are constantly trying, I promise.

Also pray that mine and Nathan's sunblock will work better today. It really burns right now.

Hey everyone just a quick post to let you all know the internet has been down haven't been able to post anything and when we do have it, it has been to slow to post pictures. Sorry had a whole page written yesterday and it dumped me off when I went to post it, so hopefully after lunch I can post some of the happenings. God Bless, Damar

It's Damar again, we just got back from the Fri. eve. church service. They had a time of worship in song and then Pastor Danielle taught on the Gift of Salvation. Fortunately for us they have headsets for us that they translate the message into english for us. The past two days we have been doing several work projects. Some of us have been painting, welding, plumbing, vehicle repair, and working in the school with some projects there. Thurs. eve. we went down to the beach after working. It has been a good experience for everyone! Everyone loves the roosters, dogs, and donkeys that wake you up in the morning, haha, so far i've been tired enough they haven't bothered me but some in the group would like to make a big pot of chicken. haha! Tomorrow we are going to see how some of the local natives make rope and do some other sightseeing then we will head to the beach in the afternoon. Thanks for praying for us and we love to hear from You all! God Bless, Damar

Hey everyone, this is Brant and Brantley. Man it took a long time to get here, but I'm glad I came. God's provision for us in the U.S. is soooooooooooo taken for granted. It's taken for granted by me a lot, and I really didn't realize it. It will definitely make you think about things. I am so thankful for the things God has done in my life and is doing right now. Haiti is so much different than home, people have to get up each morning and do what they can to get their next bite to eat. There is so much trash all around, it is very dirty. People don't have good shoes or clothes, and it really makes you sad to see them. God is definitely working here in Posse ba daum. They are teaching the people first of all about Jesus, then how to grow things, how to make things and how to be clean. Wells are being drilled, and hand pumps are always something to be fixed which we've been helping with the last two days. I've welded some gates up for a man that lives down the road, and I finished them today. Nathan and I ran some new plumbing in our house, things were leaking pretty bad. Things are fixed now, so new things are in order for tomorrow. God is awesome, and is working so much through water for life, I'm so blessed to be a part of it. I think the only thing I don't like is that it is hard to talk to the Haitians because of the language barrier but in just two days, I have been able to build a couple of small relationships with the people, hopefully they will continue to grow. I thank God for all of your prayers, they are really being heard. Keep on doing it. Bye

We made it! We left the church 12:20 am this morning. Had a smooth trip to the JFK airport in New York. We maxed our baggage limit "weight and amount" and also maxed out our carry on and personal bags but PTL we got on with everything ok! Flew to Miami, Fl. had a 1.5 hr layover then we were in the air again. Arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti. 12:20 pm Leon Miller from WFL met us there. We loaded up and headed out to Paus Bwadum a 90 mile trip that normally takes 4 hrs took us a little over six hrs. due to some traffic and road detours. We finally arrived at the WFL guest house at 8:00 pm were they had a good meal prepared for us. We got settled in and now everyone is crashing, very tired from the long trip. Thanks for your prayers! God Bless, Damar

Welcome to the SnL Young Adults - Haiti Trip blog! Please Pray for the team as we minister in Haiti, Feb. 25 - Mar. 6. There are going to be 8 young adults on the team; Kathy Barnum, Erin Klinger, Susan Menges, Hans Weitzel, Mike Herner, Nathan Hole, Brantley Brown, and Damar Noecker. We will be working with Water For Life in Haiti. http://www.wflhaiti.com/