PV friends and family… We want to hear from you on the blog. Jody reads the comments to us every night, and we are looking forward to hearing from you. We love and miss you all. We have heard from my favorite blogger (Dan O’Hara). Thank you my love (Kim).
OK, I didn’t know I was the official blogger today so I will just tell you my take on the day. Sunday is a day of rest in Haiti. We went to church. Although I couldn’t understand a word spoken in the service it was beautiful!! It gave me a bigger picture of our God and Father. It was beautiful to see His children worshipping Him. I am sure it was a sweet aroma to our daddy. I can’t imagine what heaven will be like. I feel like I saw a little “piece” of it this morning. I got such a sense that the pastor had a huge heart for our Lord.
After service, we walked to the GORGEOUS beach. As typical, the children were flocking to us. They love to have their hands held, backs rubbed… anything we can give them. It is amazing how all that love and a simple smile can break the language barrier. It is neat to experience.
My favorite part was the walk back with our interpreter, Pierre. We were just picking his brain about the culture. What I learned from Pierre is that he is a good man who loves the Lord and I loved that the message he tried to convey was that we have to listen for God and allow Him to make the way. We can learn so much from them!! Pierre lives away from his wife and kids, but loves his family and wants to provide for them. He will move his family here when God provides a way. May we learn to listen to God and allow Him to make the way for us.
I have this feeling it will be hard for me to reconcile the life the Americans lead after being here. I didn’t realize all of the things we have to be thankful for, like warm showers, roads, clean water, lights, and I could keep going.
So thankful for this opportunity! Oh… One last blessing. McKayla was starting to get sick and she told me she was talking to God, “Please don’t let me get sick today. I have a lot of work to do for you on this trip.” I love that girl… a proud mama. 🙂
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Daddy, Emma, Brianna, and Parker; I miss you guys sooooooo much! Saturday I fell in love with this little girl! She was about 2 or 3 years old and the cutest thing ever! I played with the kids like all day Saturday and loved it, the little girl was named (pronounced salmon: but without the “L”). You guys would love it here! I’m not sure about Emma though. We discovered a black spider the size of my fist, Emma would have a heart attack! well please continue to post stuff on the blog! also remind other people to post things.
This trip has shown me how blessed I am, it is really hard to see all these people suffering when we have everything we need. I love you! (To: Bri hope you are feeling better. p.s. we have chocolate cake for dessert like every day! i think you would love Haiti!) (TO:Umma- there are a lot of bugs here! like a lot more than when we had old roof shingles! i still think you would like it. i feel like i am on the show “Survivors”!!! When i was at the beach today I stepped on a dead wasp and it got stuck between my toes. I didn’t even freak. I pulled it out and threw it into the grass:)
Daddy- You would absolutely love it here! i love you sooo much and tell Parker la-la said hi:) Oh and today i played volleyball with a Haitian boy and man and they loved it. every time it hit a tree, He would yell, “TWWEEEEE!” it was funny. And a 6-year-old boy was on the beach naked! Isn’t that wonderful? Anyways, i am exhausted soooo byyyyyyeeee! LOVE YOU<3<3<3
Dan, Emma, Bre, and Parker Boy… We have a team meeting right now, but know that I love you to the moon and back!
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What an amazing thing it was tonight to hear all of your words and prayers of support. Before the messages were even read we were talking about how thankful we were for the amazing support of our Isight family. We definitely feel God’s presence through all of you. Our worship experience today was amazing as well. Even though there were few words we could understand we felt God’s presence and the passion these people have for Him throughout the whole service. (Isighters, we felt so at home because we brought folding chairs from the dorms and then immediately after the service we assembled together to stack them on the truck.) We were reminded that the focus isn’t to provide a perfect service, it’s not to sing in tune or perfect harmony, it’s not to sit in comfort, it’s not even to understand all that is being done or said. It’s an opportunity to be surrounded by other children of faith and worship our God with passion and excitement for what he has done, is doing and will do in our lives. How awesome is our God.
We had opportunities this afternoon to “see the sights.” Some of us enjoyed a ride on the back of a truck through the country side to pick up more wood for the boat. Others of us had the pain staking task of joining children and youth from the Mole at the local beach. Building relationships with a tennis ball and frisbee at the ocean is something we definitely should look at adding to Isight’s outreach ministry. Tomorrow we begin again with all our projects. We were reminded tonight to keep our focus on relationships and not entirely on the specific projects at hand. Pray that this will resonate in our hearts. A few shout outs are below:
Faith I wish you guys were here. Its been great and humbling. I got to ride through the middle of Haiti on the back of a military truck. I can’t wait to see you guys. – Aaron
Hey love you miss you all. Lots of pictures. P.S. Please tell mom I’m drinking as much shower water as I can. – John
Elodie, Abigail and Micah thanks for your note and pictures. I can’t wait until we can share these experiences together as a family one day. I love you all. P.S. Can you let Mtn House and BMH know they can check the blog. – Jason
Mom we are all good, no worries. – Ryan
Jenny can you get the doxy out of my sock drawer please? “Hallmark mushy mushy…love you all…mushy goey!” – Wes
Be bold. Poverty is all around us; “us” being all who call Christ his Savior. Whether here in Haiti or back in Western North Carolina people are in need of the Hope that our Savior brings. We can not sit still and hold onto that hope when we know that our neighbors don’t know or understand. How can we not share the best gift we have ever been given. Be Bold in the name of Christ! Pray for us to have that bold here. We thank you so much for your prayers and support. We love you all.
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What an honor to see how God is working in different places at the same time! Amazing to think of all the different places (and languages) where His name is being praised. Our God is a BIG BIG God! Pray for Unity in the church- Be convicted in your own heart- so that we can effectively witness to those who do not know Christ. We are One in the Spirit… I am so blessed to be a part of a community who Prays faithfully for each other. Thank you for your encouragement. Kelly b
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From the Watkins house boys:
-Hope everything is going well- Albert
-I pray that God will have favor on you while you are there in Haiti. We miss you. -Ezekiel
-I miss you Jacob. I hope you’re having fun. “What’s that, the scenery, get out.” Shaylee misses you and so does lynx.- Scott
-Jacob, chea, chea- Richard
-Jason, we miss you shaved poodle- Richard and Adam
-Have fun. We really miss you. I hope everyone comes back safe with a big story to tell. -Austin.
Oh man, it is so great to see pictures and hear stories of how it is going…however, the pictures of everyone frolicking in the Caribbean ocean makes me have slightly less sympathy for the 10 hour “paint shaker” of a bus ride (after all it is a brisk 32 degrees here)! No, I am just kidding and so thankful to see all of your smiling faces along with the beautiful grins of the Haitian people! You are all doing such beautiful work. I love that the world can seem so big and so small at the same time. Keep posting!!! We love it! The kiddos are in bed now but, Richard, you are one amazing man and father and we all are a bit off balance when you aren’t here…it’s good to miss you but it will be even better to welcome you home! I just read Isaiah 43:15-21…thought of the beautiful new work you are doing there. Much love
It’s so strange that you have only been gone a few days, it feels much longer! I find myself checking my email several times a day looking for updates on the blog. (Kind of loving this technology right now…) So thankful for all of your desires to seek God and follow His lead. Praying for His abounding love to be revealed to and through you. May you continue to bless and be blessed! Aaron, we wish we were there too. Next time!
Aaron- We are so excited to hear more about what God is doing through your trip. We love you and will continue to pray for you! Kait & Nathan
PV team…Thanks to all of you for the updates. I am thanking God for answering prayers right now…for His grace in growing your perspectives on Him and His children. Thank you for showing His love and compassion…and for your desire for building relationships. I will be praying for God to continue to show you opportunities to unleash the tranforming influence of Jesus in the lives of the people you meet. Blessings to you all!
Hey PV people! Loved seeing your faces in the pictures today. Praying for a joyful Monday for all of you! — Debbie
Hey everybody! It’s been really cool to be able to experience this through you guys. I was moved by your description of worshiping with the Haitians and the Bigness of our God. Praying for you all, Jamie Partlow
Hello All! I have been and continue to lift you all up in prayer as you follow God’s call in your lives. Thank you for following that call and He will work mighty ways through you and in you! I will lift up health specifically for you. I know that’s difficult when any one on the team is sick. We shared that struggle with our team back in September. Savor the moments you have in the beautiful Mole. It will forever be in your hearts and minds well after you leave!
In Him,
Gretchen Austin (PVBC)
Wes, you are a dork (I’m sure the team has discovered this by now).
Joel says, “How are you doing? Is it going okay?” He got poison oak in the woods beside the road a couple days ago… it’s all over his body but it’s not bad. It would be better if he would stop scratching! He also has a cold. Sam has been wearing his cowboy vest, toboggan, and sunglasses for days. Hannah is sassy. My mom is coming up today to stay the rest of the week. Love and miss you!
Praying unceasingly!
Jenny
P.S. Remember what I said about what will happen if you acquire any deadly diseases.
Also, kids want to know about the “freaky” costumes in the pictures.
Hi Kevin and PV team!
It’s so great to hear your updates and see your photos! I’m thinking how different hearing about mission work is now compared to when I was a kid. If someone brought a prop of some sort while they read about some country I’d never heard of, I thought it was pretty high speed. Now, it’s like all of you, this foreign country. and its people are right in my living room! Gotta love technology! I pray for your safety and health and that you would fulfill God’s purpose in your lives as well as the lives you are touching. Thank you for being obedient to God’s call and for the sacrifices you are making to be in Haiti right now, and thank you for allowing us to partner with you on this journey. You will be blessed beyond measure as you work to further the Kingdom. Keep the updates and photos coming!
Amy Mitchell
P.S. The beach is gorgeous…enjoy that “suffering” for Jesus! 🙂
Abigail loved pointing you out in the pictures and whenever there was a picture without you in it she would ask “where’s daddy in this picture?” She’s having a rough time getting over this cold and I’ll probably take her along to Micah’s appointment tomorrow. We watched the boys basketball game yesterday and they played a great game but couldn’t pull ahead enough. It was fun being there anyway! Zach wanted to tell you he’s already taken 2 charges and you’re behind! Micah is starting to squeal at things in delight which is very entertaining for the rest of us.
I can’t believe you are building a boat out of logs – that’s pretty intense!!!
Love you tremendously and I’m slightly addicted to checking the blog 🙂
Elodie
PS – “I want to tell daddy to be careful and I love him.” – Abigail.
Aaron,
You are such a blessing to our family and I know that you will bless others while you are in Haiti. Can’t wait to hear all that God does through your team. I love you! Mom
Hi PV team
So glad to see God continue to answer prayer for you all. To have meaningful work, time to grow relationships, play and witness what God is up to….can it get any better than that? May God continue to bless you as you serve, give joy as you sweat, give you His eyes to see the white fields around you and fill your heart with what He’s designed for you to experience. Be bold in sharing the love of Christ…it’s only through Him that Hope is born and honor and value is given to His created ones! Praying for you!
Thanks for doing what you are doing. The international team is praying for you and your work.
Hey Aaron,
I just knew that when I was looking thru the photos I’d find at least one with you in the midst of all those beautiful Haitian children! We love you and are so proud of you. We can’t wait to hear all about your trip in person. Love & blessings! ~Aunt Christy & Uncle Kevin
We have loved looking at all of the pictures – the whole family is following the blog now and we are all so proud of you!! We are doing well – everything is fine at home and at work. Miller and Eli stayed out of school today – they said they didn’t feel well but I think they really just wanted to play Chutes and Ladders that Miller got from Dot Dot this weekend.
We really miss you but know that you have a lot of work to do! Stay safe!
We love you!!
Kelly
Hey Wes – I just learned this morning that our church secretary, Gretchen Goodyear, was in the same place last year. I’m not sure but I think her family might have gone. Does anyone there remember her? Small world. Praying for all of you and your families “seek first the Kingdom of God…” Love, Mom
Hi brother. I am still so impressed and amazed with you. My baby brother (4 years my junior) is all grown up. I am so proud of you. Can’t wait to hear about all if your adventures. Praying for all of you. Love you.
Good to hear things are going well. Praying for all of you. Godspeed.
Glad to see you are feeling better Kim! It is so awesome to hear all the great things God is doing for you and MJ and the people you are helping! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Jocelin says HI to MJ! Praying for your safe return!
Jen