Haiti Mission Trip - Update 2

To my friends and family,

My trip to Haiti is now less than 2 weeks away and I’m growing in excitement! There is much packing and organizing to do in the next 2 weeks but I’m certain it will all come together at the right time. All the details will fall into place and I’m sure this experience will be a life changing one.

A few details for the trip have changed since I sent out my first email. I will be flying out of Winnipeg early on March 8th and returning late on the 18th. My team was originally going to fly out of Miami together and directly into Port-Au-Prince. Haiti is still pretty unpredictable and it is predicted that aftershocks will likely take place for the next months or years, which could affect commercial airlines in getting to Port-au-Prince. We want to make sure we get there, which meant taking a different route. We will be flying into the Dominican Republic as a team from Miami and then driving the 5 hours to Port-au-Prince by bus.

My team will not be staying at the school base anymore, but on the other side of the city. The school we were going to be staying at already had medical supplies for us to use. Now that we are across the city, we need to gather our own medical supplies before our trip. My workplace is collecting opened but clean, unused items that we aren’t able to use in our facility. I also got my hands on a doptone to borrow for the trip and am so excited to be able to listen to fetal heart rates in Haiti! What a gift to the pregnant mothers in a ravished country to be able to hear the sweetness of their unborn baby’s heart beat! I think it will be a special gift that I can give them!

We will be doing medical and pastoral care in tent cities, in orphanages and possibly in hospitals. We will spend one day at an orphanage 3 hours outside the city and another day at some orphanages within Port-Au-Prince. We hope to feed 10,000 or more people with our Food Program on one of the days, as well as the 1000 children we will be visiting at the orphanages. If there are enough resources, we hope to make that number 20,000 people in Haiti that won’t be hungry that day!

I’m looking forward to meeting my team members and had the pleasure of meeting one of my team leaders and the director of One Heart Ministries International: Haiti while in Kansas City last week. A meeting in person was a nicer way to dialogue than a phone interview, since we had the opportunity! It sounds like the team is made up of nurses, a doctor, a paramedic, pastors and counselors. I think it will be a good group of people to work with in Haiti!

Provision has been coming in and blessing me incredibly! Within the first week, we had an incredible response and we are so grateful! Thank-you to every one of you who has given so generously for my trip to Haiti! The people of Haiti will be blessed by your contribution!

We are getting close to our expenses being covered! A few expenses were added in the process and so our amount needed is a little larger than I thought. But we’re getting close! Anything that comes in over and above our expenses, I will give directly to the Food Program. Our team needs to raise $5,000-10,000 to reach our goal to feed 20,000 people. 100% of the funds will be used for the food program. The money for the Food Program has to be in by March 1, next Monday. I will be sending a cheque on that day so let me know before then if you want to give to the Food Program.

My greatest request is for prayer support as the trip nears and throughout my time away. Pray for safety and protection, everything to run smoothly with flights and travel, grace and strength for the packing, traveling, serving and giving of myself. Pray that my team bonds and works well together. Pray for miracles and the nearness of God. Pray for physical healing, emotional healing and deliverance for the people of Haiti.

Thank-you so much for your prayers and support! I couldn’t go without all your prayers and finances!