Hi! This is Alexis coming to you from Haiti!
Today was filled with much adventure. Starting early in the morning, we heard a devotional from Brad who spoke on the gifts that we can all give to the Lord. This was then followed by a wonderful breakfast cooked by the amazing staff. Every meal we’ve had since being here have been better than amazing. Students were then given the opportunity to help out in the clinic, help with construction, and teach VBS to the orphans.
Cole and Shy taught VBS to the orphans on the topic of Jesus walking on water. The construction group got the opportunity to completely destroy a wall and turn three rooms into two. The clinic group got to do a variety of different things. I was part of the group that helped sort out and organize the medications with Kate and Courtney. Katie took the blood pressures of the patients and Claire and Maddi helped Abbey dispense medications to the patients. While there is still much work to be done in the clinic, we made some of the work for nurses a bit easier for them.
Following the work that was done, we finally got the chance to eat their delicious beans and rice! This was the meal I’ve been waiting for and it lived up to its expectations!
We then had a presentation from Jody who taught us about the voodoo culture, as well as the heart-wrenching stories involving the struggles that many kids have to endure daily. This was a real eye opener and allowed me to see things differently.
After the presentation, we got to see Jody’s presentation come to life. We went out to the town and spoke with families, played with the children, and handed things out. When we arrived back to the campus, we had a break and then did the youth conference.
Courtney spoke at the conference and the youth responded very well to it. Her message was about the four traits and how David became a king. Today was the first day we got to split into small groups after Courtney’s teaching and personally speak with the youth. We then played more games with them and spoke with them even more. Good luck playing GaGa ball with any Haitian! They’re really good so I never stood a chance against them.
I forgot to mention, today was my birthday and everyone here made it special! The best gift I received was a birthday card signed from everyone in the orphanage. During prayer time, I was surprised with not one but TWO cakes made by the Castillo’s. Not mention, people sang happy birthday about twenty times and I felt so loved all day. My first international birthday couldn’t have gone any better! I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate my birthday in Haiti!
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Hello world this is Mason, just a FYI I will not have near as good of a story as Alexis, but I will give a little effort. The past few days have been such an amazing experience.
Today was filled with a lot of sweat and laughs! My small group had the pleasure of knocking down some walls and clearing out some very dirty rooms. In all of his glory Brad managed to cut himself pretty dang good on a nail. There was plenty of blood.
After working diligently in construction we had a hearty lunch and made our way into the Mole. Claire, Maddi, Alexis, and I were in a group for hut to hut. I actually got to see a little boy from my previous trip, that was 2 years ago and we picked up right where we left off. After the nice hut to hut we had our second day of youth conference, the service was very powerful and everyone payed great attention. Brad had a very good conversation with a young man about his faith. I got to play basketball with the other young adults from the youth, of course I won.
I hope yall are having an amazing time in America and ask for yall to continue your prayers. See yall in a few days.
Peace and love,
– Mason and Alexis
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This blog was written on Thursday. They were unable to blog tonight as everyone is busy at the overnight lock-in! It doesn’t end until 5am. The campus is still buzzing right now as they just finished playing capture the flag with 80 kids!
Please feel free to leave comments! We will read them tomorrow after dinner!
What a busy and wonderful day that you have had making a difference in the lives of those who have less as well as making a difference in your own lives! God is certainly smiling at all his beautiful children.
I always ask my family and friends in honest reflection, to rate their day or event with a scale from 0-10. If it was not a 10, what would have made it a 10? I also ask, what was your “high” and “low” of an event or the day. Life is made of both.
What was YOUR high/low of each day and what would have made it a 10 (if it wasn’t already)? .
Alexis, you really don’t want to hear me sing “Happy Birthday”, but I do want to wish you an awesome birthday with a great start to a new year that you will never forget. 🙂
What a busy day! I look forward to hearing about your lock-in and all you did on Friday and Saturday. You all are doing so many types of work–it’s great to see all you are doing.
It’s 6:30 in the morning Central Texas time, and, Kate, your brothers and Dad have loaded up canoes and have been out the door for about an hour and a half now. It’s a 100% chance of rain, and the scouts are camping out. I’m home and am praying for all of you adventurers.
May your time continue to be blessed, and may God surround you with protection, grace and mercy. 1 Timothy 2:1-6
Mom
Happy Birthday Alexis!!!
Looks like y’all are having an amazing time! Let Elizabeth know her peeps are praying for her and the entire team everyday! Keep the stories and blogs coming, we LOVE reading them!
♡ The Shoven’s
Howdy ya’ll! Wow! Ya’ll are busy bees in Haiti. VBS, Construction, Youth Conference and Hut to Hut evagalism…amazing things happening, I love it! Alexis, so nice to hear you were celebrated and loved on your birthday. It will definately be a birthday you will never forget. Not many people can say they celebrated their birthday in Haiti. Mason and Alexis loved your blog and hearing about all the amazing things happening with each of you and your team. Brad, hope where the nail got you that you are okay, hope their are no vampires in haiti after Mason said how much you bled, LOL. Kate, Courtney, Alexis, Abby, Claire and Maddi, I enjoyed hearing about the work in the clinic and dispensing medicine, what a blessing to the Haitians. Its really neat Mason how you saw a boy from when you were in Haiti before, that is really special. Love you all and praying that you are all staying healthy and safe. Looking forward to reading the next blog and how God continues to use you all in Haiti. Keep serving Him! Pdawg
Have you heard about the chocolate record player?…………………..It sounds pretty sweet.