A Bea(ttitude)utiful Week

Today our group had the opportunity to visit a Haitian beach. What a blessing today was; our time there was the perfect cap to the week. My experience at the beach was a great way to reflect on the week as a whole.

We started our time at the beach with one hour of immersion in our Bibles. My family will love this because we focused on the "Beattitudes." In my childhood, Matthew 5:1-12 was one of the many portions of the Bible that my sister and I would recite on the way to school in my mom's car. That time of reflection reminded me of the many times I prayed in preparation for my trip to Haiti.

Then it was time to dive into the fun. I saw many different kinds of fish and shared meaningful conversations with some of the people I have grown close with over the course of the week. It was also a time to just be silly and clumsily fall into the water over and over and over again. This portion of the day represented the service portion of our trip. Certain times were harder than others. We helped in a home for sick and dying babies. We gave water to one of the poorest places in the world. We saw a country in recovery of a tragedy. We felt the joy of Jesus Christ as we sought to give it to others in our own unique ways. We saw each other reach out to those in need. This was equivalent to our time in the ocean. Riding the ups and downs of the trip and doing our best to not be overwhelmed by the strength of the God's presence in this place.

At one specific point at the beach, Ally and I were looking out at the beach and mountains behind and ocean beyond from a higher seat of a large concrete cliff thing that we might not have been allowed to be on. However, we were there for a reason. At that moment, I saw Haiti in the way that God wanted me to see it. Beauty in Haiti can never be described in words (at least not in a way that does justice to the truth of its beauty), but I'll describe the scene as best I can. The mountains tall and full of lucious greenery contrasted with the white sand of the beach. Then the ocean stretched as far as the eye could sea (pun); the blue water and white waves reflected the sky in one of the most spectacular scenes I have ever seen in my entire life. But why was it beautiful? Because God created it. Every grain of sand, every tree, every drop of water was created by God. This connects to my specific experience in Haiti, and the way that God chose Haiti to leave its mark on my life. God showed me today that everything created by Him can be seen as beautiful. A baby in Mother Theresa's who was sick and crying was made beautifully by Him. A mother holding her weekly water supply for her children was made beautifully by Him. My life has had ups and downs, but God made me in His image to be another beautiful example of His creation. I'm not perfect, but I wasn't made to be perfect. I was made to be imperfectly beautiful. Every person here is a beautiful example of that truth in each of our own dysfunctional ways (I love you guys a lot).

Finally, tonight was our final family meeting and team meeting. Tonight I looked around at all the people who chose to come down to Haiti on this trip, and I couldn't help but smile and cry at the same time. Two years ago, my life was very different. Woodridge's youth group was not a part of it. Different people and situations brought me down to a low place two years ago, and I had difficulty seeing the good things in life. I felt empty. This trip has proved to me that the only way to find true, everlasting, and fulfilling joy is to surround yourself with people who love Jesus and to seek Him out constantly in your own life. I am one who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, and God filled me up on this trip with everlasting joy. Even when I cannot remember everything little detail that happened on this trip, it has shaped me more than I could ever describe. God made me beautiful, and I feel His joy when I trust His path and do my very best to faithfully follow it. That path lead me to Haiti, and I feel so blessed that God lead everyone here as well. Thank you Haiti. Thank you Woodridge. Thank you God for everything. 

Maggie Franke over and out.

P.S. Can't wait to tell you all about my trip Mom & Dad:) 

WORDS OF THE DAY - LAST DAY

Today's Words of the Day are a little bit different than other nights.  

Instead of the students sharing their word of the day...the leaders decided upon a word for each of the students.  We prayed about it, talked about each student as a group of leaders, and then decided upon the Word we believe pictures a unique special future for each of them.  The students and their words are listed below in their family groupings.

BRICE - Abider

NICK - Heart

JOSH - Man of God

ALYSSA - Quiet Strength

ALLY -Attuned 

COLLEEN - Atmosphere Changer

LEA - Strong

ANNIKA S - Authentic

EMMA - Truth Seeker

MORGAN - Solid

SARAH N - Strength Giver

MITCH - Humble

MAX - In The Moment

MEGAN - Valuable

LAUREN - Truth Teller

SARAH B - Pursue

DEVON - Daughter

AUSTIN - Intense

AMY - Influencer

TYRA - Yes!

ABBIE - Embrace

TJ - Depth

MICHAEL - Comfortable

GRETA - Inspirational

ANET - Igniter

ANNIKA C - Brave

NOELLE - Pure

HANNAH - Chosen

LARISSA - Beautiful

DREW - Sanctified

MAGGIE - Unashamed

ROBBIE - Dad

JR - Hype

SUSAN - Worshiper

TORI - True

Just a Quick Anecdote from Me

    Twelve months ago, my first time in Haiti, one of my greatest, yet most irrational, fears had been realized. I hadn't been in the country for even 16 hours, yet there I stood in a home for sick and dying babies. Facing a sea of cribs, occupied by living, breathing, delicate babies, I selected my target. My discomfort appeared obvious to anyone who saw me attempt to hold the baby. With my arms locked, I held a baby like Rafiki from the Lion King, because I had no clue what else to do. The infant began to cry, and from that moment on, the nuns who run the nursery constantly surveyed me to ensure I didn't cause any serious problems.

     

     By the end of my stay at the nursery, I had somewhat successfully fed a toddler, sorta changed a newborn's diaper and kinda bottle-fed an infant. Due to my inexperience, I would mostly call the morning a success. On only on occassion did a nun have to regain control of a situation for me. While feeding a 9 month old boy, I learned that babies can't breathe while they drink formula (in retrospect, this makes sense to me). The nun slapped me in the hand with a wooden spoon she carried in her apron and removed the child from me. Lesson learned, I guess.

   

     As scrappy as my paternity skills may have been a year ago, I found myself excited to go back to the home for sick and dying babies on my return to Haiti this year. Last Tuesday, there I stood again, facing an array cribs, occupied by the crying fragile newborns I once feared. Armed with the experiences I recieved while working in the nursery at Woodridge, my confidence to handle what the day brought felt unparalleled. I dove right in, harnessing my knowledge of how to properly hold, change and feed babies. The morning ended on a much better note than last year. No major issues, no nuns surveying me, and best of all: zero slaps by an angry, wooden spoon weilding, Sister.

     

     Personally, I found my personal growth from my first year to my second as a large improvement. When realizing this, a lot other comparisons of my growth over the past 12 months became evident to me. This year has been an important one for me, and in reflection, I learned that events and experiences are the engine behind personal growth and maturation. I felt like my Junior year officially began once I arrived home from Haiti last year. To me, the realization of how much I've positively changed is a beautiful way to conclude this year, and start a new one.

          - Robby Underdal

WORD OF THE DAY SATURDAY

1. NICK - Blaschke

2. AMY - Bargain

3. MORGAN - Understanding

4. JR - Alex

5. COLLEEN - Hey U

6. MICHAEL - Flipped

7. TYRA - Rele (Creole word for name)

8. SUSAN - Lean

9. LEA - Larissa

10. GRETA - Depth

11. MEGAN - Family

12. DEVON - Soak

13. ALLY - Woodridge

14. ROBBIE - SuperMan

15. SARAH - MicroFinance

16. BRICE - Atmosphere

17. EMMA - Others

18. MAX - Upperclassmen

19. ANNIKA S - Woman

20. NOELLE - Thoughtful

21. TJ - Aspect

22. ANET - Lea

23. MITCH - Fun

24. TORI - Loved

25. LAUREN - Yellow

26. LARISSA - Upsidedown

27. SARAH - Good

28. JOSH - Chance

29. AUSTIN - BluestBlue

30. HANNAH - Remember

31. MAGGIE - Held

32. DREW - Jonas

33. ABBIE - Zemmie (Creole word for friend)

34. ANNIKA C - Attitude

35. ALYSSA - Meaningful

Day 5: JESUS!

Today was without a doubt the most God-filled, joyful and fullest day of my life.  To give you a little background, earlier this year I had gone through a rough time.  I lost friends, I lost dreams and I lost all sense of hope in finding my joy back.  The reason why I came to Haiti is I had heard about all of the joy people had experienced from previous trips.  In that moment, when I heard those stories, the only thing I could want was joy.  I was nervous the first couple of days when I was not experiencing the learning that I wanted to take place.  I was expecting that God would show me His love through the heartbreak throughout Haiti.  I was expecting to break down in tears and feel God in that moment.  I realized later on in the trip that God had planned the exact opposite.  It was not long before I figured out that water truck days are my favorite part about Haiti.  Just to see all of the kids running up behind the truck, reaching their hands up for love, produce the opposite effect and instead gave me love.  I was reminded through their smiles, through their hugs, and through their stories that even in the worst circumstances, you can find joy.  These kids have nothing.  nothing.  Yet, they still wake up with a hope beyond what I could imagine.  

Tonight was only another reminder of that same joy.  When I was with my Haiti family, we were asked what we would like to have from God for the rest of this week.  I asked God for guidance and to keep showing me him, even if the rest of our activities seemed more like activities for a tourist.  I just want God to be shaping me constantly, no matter the agenda.  And man did I get that reminder!  Before worship, Drew gave a little miny sermon about how water was such a huge part of our trip-how at home we could literrally flood our homes with water, where as here we value it as a precious gift.  People stand in lines just to get a necessity.  And Drew just explained how we should be like the trees in Psalms 1:3, who only need water to survive.  Without it, they die.  And after this week I cannot picture a day without Jesus anymore.  I just need to have Him in my life.  He is my living water and without it I would not be living.  I cannot wait to take this faith back with me to Minnesota, because I have never felt so alive and hopeful in my entire life.  I truly believe that the best possible life comes from Jesus, and I do not want to picture my life without Him.  I have made a promise to not only keep the word of the day a part of my schedule-to constantly focus on how God is working in my day, but to never lose sight of the God who completely transformed my life today in Haiti.

-Emma V.

WORD OF THE DAY FRIDAY

1. AMY - Chaos

2. COLLEEN - Energy

3. NICK - Immodium

4. MICHAEL - Smile

5. ALLY - Blessing

6. EMMA - Jesus

7. SUSAN - Water

8. SARAH B - Grac (Grace in Creole)

9. MAGGIE - Everlasting

10. MITCH - Rain

11. ABBIE - Plan

12. JR - Youthful

13. NOELLE - Inspire

14. TYRA - Sweat

15. MORGAN - Give

16. TORI - Jump Rope

17. ANNIKA S - Sister

18. ANNETTE - Josh

19. MEGAN - Precious

20. JOSH - Good

21. LEA - Friend

22. DEVON - Unexpected

23. GRETA - Freedom

24. ROBBIE - Communicate

25. LAUREN - Mommy

26. ALYSSA - Immerse

27. DREW - Incarnation

28. BRICE - Germaine

29. MAX - Exhaustion

30. SARAH - Ayyyyyy

31. HANNAH - Understanding

32. LARISSA - Destroyed

33. ANNIKA C - Shoes

34. AUSTIN - Joy

35. TJ - Help

WORD OF THE DAY THURSDAY

1. DEVON - Full

2. AMY - Worship

3. COLLEEN - Goals

4. MORGAN - Embrace

5. MEGAN - Light

6. MICHAEL - Strive

7. LAUREN - Real

8. ANNIKA S - Reality

9. ABBIE - Hope

10. NOELLE - Innocent

11. MAGGIE - Grangou

12. ANNIKA C - Shine

13. JR - Rocks

14. NICK - Sports

15. TORI - With

16. ANNETTE - Chosen

17. ALLY - Connection

18. TYRA - Ronaldo

19. MITCH - Two-Sided

20. GRETA - Inspired

21. SARAH - Futuristic

22. BRICE - Understanding

23. LARISSA - Faith

24. MAX - Connection/Sorrow

25. SUSAN - Weeping

26. SARAH - Freedom

27. LEA - Enter In

28. EMMA - Happened

29. AUSTIN - Ankle

30. JOSH - Prepared

31. ROBBIE - Godly

32. TJ - Paitence

33. HANNAH - Edmund

34. ALYSSA - Love

35. DREW - Proud

WORD OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY

1. DREW - Scoop

2. AMY - Excitement

3. MEGAN - Change

4. JR - Aleh

5. MICHAEL - Danger

6. MORGAN - Exist

7. TJ - Austin

8. MAGGIE - Unprepared

9. ANNIKA C - Wealthy

10. NICK - Opportunity

11. COLLEEN - Kisses

12. EMMA - Crushed

13. SUSAN - Hands

14. TORI - Babble

15. MITCH - Humbled

16. LEA - Poppa

17. NOELLE - Caring

18. SARAH - Besa (kiss in Creole)

19. ANNIKA S - Loved

20. ABBIE - Special

21. MAX - SuperMan

22. ROBBIE - Helpful

23. TYRA - GoGoSqueeze

24. LARISSA - Green

25. ALLY - Attempt

26. BRICE - Haitian

27. ANNETTE - Leaders

28. LAUREN - Arms

29. SARAH - Healing

30. JOSH - Silence

31. HANNAH - Connection

32. DEVON - Nuns

33. GRETA - Still

34. ALYSSA - Whirlwind

35. AUSTIN - Heart

Day 4: Full

I loved today. As a returning, graduated senior, I got to experience a new addition to our mission here. Before leaving, myself and six other students took a StrengthsQuest, which is basically a personality test that uses a formula to churn out a list of 34 Strengths in an order. Each person gets a unique combination of Strengths that are evident in their lives, but now are put into words. We traveled to Grace Village, one of Healing Haiti's locations, and met 10 Haitian students, who are in a transition program at Grace Village and took the test. We got to learn about our strengths together. At first, it was difficult, because many of them did not speak French or Creole, and only one of our leaders was fluent in French. Information was definitely lost in translation as we introduced ourselves to the group, at least until Jonas, our team translator, hopped in to translate Creole and French to English, and vice versa. One of the Haitian students and the only girl of their group was fluent in Spanish as well, so when she introduced herself, she decided to do so in Spanish. It was really cool for me to be able to understand some of what she was saying in Spanish, about how she loved to cook, and would love to work in a kitchen. For that experience, the language barrier was very present, but felt much smaller than it has in Cite Soleil or any of the orphanages thanks to Jonas, who translated word for word what everyone said. It was also really cool to discover that, even though their circumstances are very different from our own, they have the same kind of hopes and dreams. As I said about the girl, Whitney, she knows she wants to work, and even own her own business. Another kid, Gerno, wants to be a doctor. Many others had dreams of being in chemistry and engineering, and I was just amazed that the same jobs are options to them, and they are so confident in their purpose in life. It truly filled my heart to know that they have dreams and hopes just like I do, and it made me want to help them and see them achieve those dreams.

After the Strengths Training, We left Grace Village to go to the mass grave. Two years ago, this location was nothing more than a hill fenced off by a stone wall, but today it is a beautiful monument to those who were lost in the earthquake in 2010. I felt a lot of sadness and mourning at this place. I had forgotten that between 300,000 and 400,000 people were lost in this disaster. Jonas, our translator, spoke to us about the memorial and about his personal experience durinng the earthquake. While he was talking, I remembered a project that I did in my Contemporary Issues class last fall. I focused on the poverty in Haiti, and did a lot of research on the earthquake and its effects on the country, and I remember watching video after video of live footage during the earthquake. There was something so distinctly awful about watching those videos and remembering those videos, and both Jonas and one of my teammates taught me what it was. Jonas told me that most of them could not have known how to try to save themselves. My teammate, Sarah, spoke during her word of the day about how those people were just trapped with no way out of the disaster. I cannot even imagine what it feels like to truly be that trapped and helpless to stop what is about to happen. My heart just breaks for the families who were broken, leaving many people alone, especially kids. Tonight, we sang the song "What Joy", and one of the lines is "You care for the widows and orphans", which has been ringing so true here in Haiti. It brought me so much peace and fullness to declare that God cares for these people and for their hearts and their lives just as much as anyone else. Tonight, I am just praying that I would be able to love these people with God's heart these next few days, that every person would get to feel chosen, would get to feel beautiful and loved absolutely. 

Day 3: Ou Belle

The second I walked into the Home for Sick and Dying Babies, I sensed that these children desperately needed God's love. And I made my mission to do so. The first day of our missionary practice, I was asked what I wanted to be shown by God this coming week, and I answered in prayer with this: keep me out of my comfort zone. At home, I had gotten so used to my repetitive routine that I wanted a change. I wanted my eyes to be opened by even the slightest act of God. And today did just this...

The first boy I saw--as I walked into the room--reached his short and innocent arms to my torso. I picked him up, and immediately was warmed in my heart by the incredibly genuine smile he exchanged with me. "This is love," I thought. If he can put a smile on his face in these conditions, anyone can be happy. Today I pondered the thought of, "Why do I complain and worry about the smallest things, while these children, in their incredibly harsh circumstances, can be happy by just simply being held?"

God has been working in me these past few days to show me what I need more of, and what I need less of. He has guided me to love these children with all my heart. I have lived in the moments, embraced the moments, and enjoyed the moments of God teaching me to be his hands and feet. To serve the people of Haiti with the raw love and joy of the Lord.

With this in mind, I saw a little girl named Cedanielle sitting on the warm tile of an empty room, alone. She had looked incredibly malnurished, and completely frail. She appeared to be two years old, but she was actually a whopping six years old. I had wondered where God would go if he were me, and I felt that this was the place, this was the girl he wanted me to love unconditionally. I extened my hand to her little fingers, and she curled her hands around my pointer fingers. She had a dry scalp that looked like she had been uncomfortable with, so I lifted her up, and gently rubbed her head that was laying against my persperating chest. She felt warm and fragile. I wanted to squeeze her so tightly, but I simply sat down with her against my chest as she strattled me comfortably. I saw thin droplets of sweat dripping from her head, so I let her down for her to cool off. She looked up at me with her large and captivating brown eyes, as I looked at her with my somber blue eyes. I bent down to her, and said, "Ou Belle." This word means "you're beautiful" in Creole. It almost looked as though she had never heard his phrase in her life. She lit up the room with her smile, as I saw the beauty of her rotten teeth. This was the first time I had seen her smile the whole day, and I held her for abuot an hour. This moment. This smile. This girl. All of this was God showing me, that by a simple act of love and kindess, we can make someone so little put a smile on their face that seemed bigger than everyones smile there. 

On her wristband showed the date of 29/07/16. This was the day she was admitted to the Home of Sick and Dying, and this was one of my best friends birthay date. It is crazy how one could have their 18th birthday on the day a beautiful little girl could be admitted to the Home for Sick and Dying on the same day. I have learned to show compassion to everyone and everything. This just comes to show that we are all the same, and we all deserve the love that God wants to give. God Bless.   -Morgan Marxer

Day 3: His loving hands

Today, Annette's ministry team went to the Home of Sick and Dying Babies. Once we walked through the doors, all the babies hands in the cribs went up so they could be held. I picked up a 18 month old baby by the name of Noele. For awhile, she sat limp in my arms because she was very weak. I was heartbroken that a child this beautiful was so broken and weak. I prayed that God would shine his love through me and onto Noele so she could feel love and strength. After awhile, she finally started to smile after the one hundredth funny face I made. She was laughing, giggling, and joy was radiating off of her. She made me feel so loved and I could see Jesus through this tiny little 18 month old girl. I believe she impacted me more than I impacted her. God put this little girl into my life to show me that even in the worst of times, there is still hope. Noele had so much Joy at the end of our visit and I will never forget that. I hope the rest of our trip in haiti is just this joyful as today. 

-Annika Swanson

It's crazy to think that we live in a world where we have everything we need and even more of what we want. That's different in city Solei. We got out of the tap tap and were ambushed by the tiniest and most beautiful children just hoping and anticipating an abundance of love. The guys from our ministry team were doing a great job with all of the chaos that comes with delivering water to the Hatians. Meanwhile, the rest of us were helping carrying buckets full of water and holding many kids at once. One specific little boy came up to me with a small cut on his hand. He looked at me asking for help. I took his hand and kissed it, his face lit up. He hung around a little while longer and then left. I spent some time carrying and clinging onto many children with the brightest smiles. A little while later the boy came back asking for another kiss. Soon enough he brought over all his friends and they were all holding out their hands for kisses. Each one of them had the most priceless expressions on their faces, I could never get enough of those kids! It taught me of how the tiniest acts of love mean the world to us. We crave those moments. I was reminded though the Haitians do not have all they need in city Solei, they have the biggest hearts in the world and the most joy i've ever seen. All the glory to God for these experiences that shape who we are!

Thanks for reading:)

-Susan Marsh

Eshet Chayil

Eshet Chayil: Hebrew word for "woman of valour". 

Today I witnessed 20 mothers waiting outside of Mother Theresa's: Home for Sick and Dying Babies. Some held their children on their hip. Others covered their skeletal babies with blankets to protect them from the beating sun. Upon entry, they sat in the waiting room while nuns and strangers alike fed, clothed and played with their children. A sea of cribs stood throughout the compound, some holding toddlers bearing IV drips. 

Despite the somber circumstances, both the trusting parents and nuns created an environment of jubilee and organized chaos. As soon as we walked into the room, little girls toddled and squealed in delight, holding their arms up to us. Nuns dressed in billowing white and blue dresses handed you a bowl of sticky, vanilla porridge to feed to any of the crying babies. These women of God are not to be messed with. They have a structure that is perfectly formulated to ensure each children is fed and clean. As they sternly yet patiently watched over each of us feeding the big-eyed kids, I felt such respect and admiration for these women. They radiate Jesus. The difficulty of running an organization where hundreds of kids come and go each day, while ensuring new volunteers are correctly doing their job is unimaginable. Instead of frustrated sighs and sharp tongues, they nodded and said "God Bless You.", often paired with big smiles and laughter. These are women of valour. The women who know that the Kingdom of God isn't brought about by moving mountains and grand gestures, but with each spoonful of porridge fed to God's hungry children. 

-Sarah Nelson

WORD OF THE DAY - Tuesday

1. LEA - Lalalalalala

2. AMY - Chalk

3. MAGGIE - Colorful

4. SUSAN - giggle

5. ANNIKA S - Smile

6. JR - Hope

7. MICHAEL - Change

8. NICK - Dance

9. COLLEEN - Kimberly

10. TYRA - Fingers

11. ABBIE - Joy

12. TJ - Breakthrough

13. MEGAN - Genuine

14. TORI  - Spin

15. ANNIKA C - Spoon

16. NOELLE - Baby

17. SARAH - Eseat Chyal

18. DREW - Trust

19. EMMA - Breaking

20. DEVON - Injury

21. MAX - Friendship

22. SARAH - His

23. HANNAH - Opposite

24. MORGAN - Touch

25. MITCH - Thoughtful

26. GRETA - Protector

27. ROBBIE - Held

28. AUSTIN - Drum

29. BRICE - Festivity

30. ALLY - Josephine

31. ALYSSA - Adore

32. LAUREN - Comfortable

33. JOSH - Father

34. LARISSA - Paitence

35. ANNETTE - Reunited

Day 2: Water Truck

Wow. Today was a day of heart break and love and incredible joy, it was so inspiring and life changing. Although it is only the second day, my heart already breaks for all these incredibly joyful people that are so broken and desperate. I was on water truck all day today and it was a very interesting way to start off the trip. There was no "get your feet wet" and there was nothing that could prepare me for what I was about to see. God sent me on a journey today of shock and joy. I saw the most poverty I have ever seen today and the most joy I have ever seen today as well. During water truck i experienced so many things that shocked me and shook me. At one point, we walked out of a newly built church that brought so much hope to the community, but after leaving, I looked to my left and couldn't move or speak for about 15 seconds. What I saw was an area about as big as the area of my house, and it was all garbage. I stopped and was so taken aback by that and couldn't believe it. Throughout the day many children would show us their wounds or latch on to us so tightly begging for love and attention, which also broke my heart and shook everything in me. However, in this poverty and heartbreak there was this permeating and clear light in the experience that constantly brought me back to God and His love and showing that to these desperate people. At one stop I picked up a girl and kind of jumped as I put her in my arms, and she starts bouncing, and I said, "Jump?" and she continues bouncing so I jumped, and for about the next 30 minutes I would jump and then stop and hear, "Jum! Ju! Ju!" and so I continued jumping. The joy that lit up her face was like nothing I had ever seen before. Overall, I would say the most precious thing for me was the ability and opporunity to love all these children that are desperate for so much but mostly desperate for love, and that I could give them God's love through me was an incredible and filling experience. Today, though hard, was filled with joy and love that can only come from God.

- Abbie VandenEinde

Day 1: Adventure

As we sat down for dinner this evening, Brice shared his word of the day for day 1: adventure. And yes, today was an adventure. This was a travel day consisting of sitting, pulling suitcases, trying to sleep, and then sweating once we all arrived at the airport in Port-Au-Prince. At MSP we prepared to be crammed (some of us with longer legs to cram than others), but we all felt a mixture of nervous butterflies, exciting bubbles, and anxious jitters as we boarded our plane. 

The flight was smooth into Atlanta, despite a slight delay in the gate at Minneapolis as we waited for our pilots. In an almost literal sense, we were gazing down from the heavens as our Father does when He watches over us. From Minneapolis to Atlanta we looked down upon tiny homes and hills that seem to be our whole world when we're on the ground. The world seemed so small from so far up in the air. Then, as we flew from Atlanta to Haiti, we either slept (myself included) or looked down at the vast ocean below. Water as far as the eye can see; bigger even than Lake Minnetonka (surprisingly). Even though flights can be boring in most situations, it was easy to see why this particular flight would be important if you looked at it in the right way. It alluded to the future perspective that we would all be experiencing in Haiti in the days to come. 

Today, August 1st, 2016, 35 people left Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tonight, 35 people arrived safely and are in two guest houses on the Healing Haiti compound. Granted, there were some hot and sweaty bumps along the way, but no trip can ever go exactly as planned. Special prayers would be appreciated for Greta whose bag was lost on the way here. There are sure to be many more ups and downs as this trip goes on, but nothing can change the fact that God has some pretty big plans in store for us.

Maggie Franke over and out.

STUDENT HAITI TEAM....MORNING 1ST DAY!

Welcome to our Student Blog.  We will be posting the days activities and pictures here at the end of each day.  Please feel free to send encouraging notes to the team through our blog site.

One of our students best describes how we all feel about this day in a text sent to one of our leaders:

Today's the day!!!!!!! 😱😱😃😃😃  -Tyra