...Saturday March 5th through Tuesday March 8th...
I find great joy in leading missionary teams. When it’s a group of committed veterans, all the better. And that is what I experienced while serving in Plaisance, Haiti with Gale, Teeko, Leon, Derek, Cookie and Tina March 4-11.
We arrived at the guest house a little after noon on Saturday March 5th and were on the soccer field by 1:30. We caught the tail end of a celebration and the kids made sure we knew how happy they were to have missionaries in town.
On Sunday we attended church and then went on a tour of Foundation Guillaume Mission which was founded by the father of the current director, Mr. Elvis Guillaume. There is a school, health clinic, orphanage and elderly home at the mission. In addition to the church in town, there are 12 satellite churches affiliated with the mission. The team will have the opportunity to visit some of those churches this week.
Monday morning we get an early start by visiting the school during the morning assembly. We spend some time visiting classrooms and talking with students. We then jump into our ride and head up the mountain to deliver groceries and pray with families. At each of the 10 stops we made, we gave the family the equivalent of $50 in food. It may not seem like much but it is enough to feed a family for about a month and includes 50 pounds of rice, a gallon of cooking oil, some seasoning and tomato paste. It is unfortunate but the cost of food has risen dramatically in Haiti. About a month ago a 50 pound bag of rice was $16 (US) and now is $28. With a median income of $1,200 per year most Haitians can’t afford to purchase that quantity of food.
We head over to the orphanage in the afternoon and spend time with the little ones. There are about 40 kids here. The older kids loved the coloring and crafting activities. They made necklaces and bracelets. We sat with them through their evening devotions before heading back to the guest house.
Tuesday was a busy day for our team. We started out at the community market where we blessed 100 people by purchasing sandals for them. Some of the folks we blessed did not even have shoes. We left the market and stopped by the school during their lunch/recess period.
In the afternoon we blessed 10 families with groceries. During our travels we met an extended family of sisters and cousins who were wondering where today’s meal was coming from. We also had the opportunity to pray in the home of a lady who is 104 years old. At each stop the families we met welcomed us into their humble homes not as strangers but as their special guests
