We’re home! Safe and sound. Most of the ladies miss John-Eddy though. How could you not love a face like this?
Thanks to everyone who contributed financially and who undergirded us with prayer while in Haiti. You blessed us and those we were serving!
We certainly can’t claim to have outworked team #1. Team #1 was a blessing in that they did so much work their week that we could take the time to really serve and comfort through the loss of two infants. Thanks Team #1! But…but…we were able to move 60 tons of dirt to fill in the floor and lay all the block walls. The Village of Hope 2 will be completed soon!!
Spirit Move, Across this Land…by: kim james
I ask the Lord, “Why am I here?, What do you want me to do here? How can I help? What is the purpose”? Today, I have strongly felt the Holy Spirit move among me. We began our day attending the Damou Church Service and it was amazing. It has been my favorite part of the trip so far. While I could not understand a word they were saying, I just could feel the Holy Spirit move through the entire congregation. Their voices beautifully soared as they worshipped and sang praise for Jesus Christ our Lord. It was angelic. The members were from old to young but mostly a younger generation, which is awesome because it will be that generation to spread and pass on the gospel to others in growing God’s Kingdom. Everyone came dressed in their absolute Sunday best, all prepared to celebrate, worship, praise and serve our one God, Father of Jesus. It was a packed house. I also got to hold a sweet little boy during service (John Eddy) whose smile melted my heart. I fell in love with him and if I could bring him home with me, I would in a second. We were packed in the wooden pews, sweat running down every inch of our bodies and it didn’t even matter. The Holy Spirit was there. While I cannot begin to describe their living conditions in a way you would comprehend, despite those conditions, these people have Jesus in their hearts and it showed. Against all their odds they are choosing Jesus! While I knew God was here by faith, God knows sometimes I need to hear and see him. I call it Hugs from God. I certainly could hear and see him today. I thought I came to build houses and yet today God revealed a different purpose to me. One of the orphan babies passed away today and went home to be with his heavenly father. While consoling Tina (who owns and runs the mission house and orphanage) on the loss of her baby boy, God spoke to me and said, “This is ‘why’”. I needed you here for her. I needed your whole team here just for this. We have bonded more than I could have imagined. He has chosen each one of us to be here. Once again, my plans and Gods plan were not the same plan. Through the grieving of the loss of baby Josiah today, once again, God showed himself to me.
The people here are a light in this darkness. There is so much Voodoo and lost souls here in Haiti, however God is Sovereign and doing mighty things through the people here at the mission house and through the ones that have Christ in them…the Spirit is here, moving, across this land. I cannot walk away from this having only a memory of a weeklong mission trip in Haiti. I am a part of this now. I am a part of Damou Christian Mission. I am not sure how God will fit this in my life and what the future looks like, but I know I will be back. This is now part of my life and it has changed me forever. God has stretched me even further in my faith. He is showing me how he wants us to love others, just as he does. When I see every Haitian here, I hear his whisper in my ear, we are ALL his children. Help them, love them. He has humbled me. I am so blessed by God and I have seen his great favor upon my life. He wants us to share with others the Good News and love. That’s it. He wants us to love each other as he does. I came here and was thinking that I was overwhelmed feeling too small in this huge problem to even be able to help. He has shown me different. These people have come up to me and hugged me and blessed me for being here and doing God’s work. I will never think again that no matter what my contribution is, that it is too small or that it doesn’t matter. It does matter and God is telling me, excel still more. He is here and through us, through the missions and through the hearts of the Christians here, His Spirit is moving.
For such a time as this
The 2nd infant in 24 hours died this afternoon. Despite being a lightweight at just over 1lb, Katianna was a fighter, considering the conditions in which she was born and in which she endured at the hospital in Jacmel. Everyone on our team from OCC have been champions… despite much grieving. We’re digging deep and finding our strength in Lord as we comfort and console Miss Tina and her staff. We’ve all realized that’s why God has this team here. For such a time as this….
Please Pray!!!
Please pray for Miss Tina and our team!!! This afternoon one of the orphans, 6-week old Josiah, stopped breathing suddenly…and died. One of our team members, Kay(see her blog below), gave infant CPR until they reached the doctor, where he was pronounced dead. We all held baby Josiah one last time before Miss Tina cleaned him up and dressed his lifeless body in a handsome little suit for his burial…which was this evening.
So please pray for us all. Our hearts are just wrecked right now. No one could have prepared us for what we just experienced in the past few hours.
Also, keep praying for little Katianna…our 1lb premie as she continues her fight for life.
Thanks!
John Parkey
Mom and Daddy love you Riley and Beau!
“I’ve been resting all of my life” …by Kay VanArsdale
God’s word tells us to “Come to me all of you who are labored and have many burdens and I will give you rest.” I’ve been thinking about that scripture a lot since I’ve been here. Yes, I work two jobs, yes, I go to school, and no, I do not get a lot of sleep. But my burdens pale in comparison to those of these beautiful Haitian people who take everything that comes to them with an acceptance and contentment like I have never seen. While I don’t think I do much complaining about where God has me in my life at this time, I can confess that there are days when I have prayed, “God can’t I just have a break today?” I look at the folks here in Haiti, and the burdens of my world pale (almost vanish) in comparison. Yesterday, when we at the worksite, we all worked hard, and for some of us, manual labor was a stress because we are not used to that kind of work. But the Haitian men (some of them were 12 & 13 years of age) worked with a power and might that held me in awe. They worked together and they were supportive of one another’s weaknesses and strengths. All the while they were smiling and chatting and, while I’m sure they were not having any fun, they had a certain kind of joy in it. They bring true meaning to the understanding that this IS the day the Lord has made, and they showed how to rejoice and are glad in it! As I worked and watched, taking in as much as I could, I would see women carrying Large buckets of water on their heads and there would be children with them carrying jugs of water. They were walking, barefoot or in flip flops, on the rough and rocky roads through the mountains. Always taking a moment to smile and give a cheerful “bon jour” to these strangers working, watching, and learning from the simplest of cultures. What these men and women go through and do on a day to day basis made me realize that, hectic as it seems, I have been resting all my life! In the afternoon, just before lunch, one of the guys I had met in the market the night before said to me, “Hello Kay, is good to see you again. Do you remember me from the market?” His name is Enell (pronounced like N L) and he said he would be singing in the church on Sunday. He asked if I knew the song “Open the eyes of my heart” I said I did, and he began to sing, he nodded his head and lifted his hand to say “Sing with me.” We sang a few songs together and he would teach me some verses in Creole and it was beautiful. He asked me if I worked like this at home and I said no, not at all. We talked about many different things. We laughed, and we sung a little more and then we started talking about the scriptures. He said that his favorite was “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for bad I will give you a future and a hope.” He said to me: “Jesus, he is my hope and I have to believe that, and I have to hope that my God had a big plan for me in this life. I do these things now that he can maybe someday use me, to use my singing to bless people the way – Do you know Chris Tomlin? I love him. He blesses my heart and makes me feel the way I want people to feel when I sing.” I said yes, I know him (of course, I did not realize he meant it literally!) He said I will give you something to bring to him. It is my dream that maybe he would come to Haiti someday, and I could sing with him- he in English and I would sing French or Creole-That is my dream, and my hope that it is God’s plan for me.” As I sat and listened to him talk about his life and how “Chuckie” had helped him and shown him God’s love, I experienced what true hope is to the hopeless. Many of us talk about hopelessness in life and how we have Hope for this or hope for that, I don’t know in my heart that we really understand “how” to really have and display the hope that God has promised us. Enell said this “I have to hope that my God has a big plan for me, for my life. ……….. …….Well… as God would have it, the direction of this day has changed and I will go to another part of the conversation that Enell and I had. He said “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away” He talked about losing his mother and how some years later he lost his father too and then he repeated himself, and said how he has seen it many times. He gives and takes away As I was writing this I thought I heard someone call my name and I turned to the group and asked if someone just called me and they all said yes and I heard Tina, now yelling for me. I ran up the stairs to find Tina and Chuck trying to get baby Josiah breathing. I took over with infant one person CPR and asked Tina if we could take him somewhere, she called Dr. Ken who said we could bring him there that he the supplies on hand to at least try and stabilize him. Despite my best efforts and the skilled hands of kind and caring Doctor and his wife, Josiah went home to his heavenly father today. Yes, the Lord gives and he takes away. Yesterday he gave Katyanna and today, he took Josiah. Tina, of course is grief stricken. She went as far as saying “I’m a bad mother.” We all know that is not true in any way. I told her that no matter how great an earthly parent any of us can be, there is no greater parent than our own Heavenly Father and she agrees. It just hurts. God has promised us all that he will never put on us more than we can handle. You know what I think? I just think that maybe little Katyanna is going to be fine and God knew that Tina has taken such good care of Josiah already that he decided to take him home where He could finish taking care of him so that Tina will be able to focus on taking care of baby Katyanna, who is doing well so far I might add. Two struggling little ones is a bit much for one person. God knows what he doing and we all have to trust that. Enell asked me if I have a favorite scripture and I will leave you with that….. “It is my greatest expectation and my hope that in nothing will I be ashamed, but that Christ would be magnified in me, whether it be by my life or my death. For to me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain.” (Phil 1:20 & 21) Josiah gained his place in heaven today. He left here knowing how much he is loved and will be missed. There will be grief and tears. Despite the pain in her heart, Christ does now and will continue to be magnified by Tina’s life and the love that she so freely gives these little ones who, without her would have nothing and no one. A side note… We had a wreck on our way to Dr. Ken and much prayer needs to go up.
NO ORDINARY SATURDAY by Valerie Parkey
Today I had plans to go with Tina to take the boys to see a dental hygienist. God had different plans! A couple of days ago a baby was brought to the orphanage that was just born and at a whopping 1lb. Her name is Katiana. Tina knew a pediatric nurse staying at another mission close by & asked her to watch over Katiana for the night. Tina got a call this morning that the baby was struggling to breath & definitely needed to go to the hospital, so we went to pick her up. Have you ever seen a one pound baby? Me neither til today What a miracle. Fingers the size of toothpicks, but this girl has the heart of a true fighter. As I sat in the back of the SUV, I thought to myself, “It’s not every Saturday I hop in a car with a legally blind lady driving while I’m in the backseat holding a baby the size of my hand.” God is crazy (good crazyJ). We went to the Cuban hospital about 10 minutes down the road, took Katiana inside and they basically told us they wouldn’t admit her, she was just too little, and sent us to the hospital in Jacmel. On the way, Katiana began to struggle to breathe. We’re about ten minutes from the hospital, and I’m holding a baby girl in my arms who is turning blue. I yell to Tina and she calls the house and says, “Start praying!” They were praying there, I was praying (and yes, sweating profusely) as each minute felt like 10. At one point I could not get Katiana to move. Tina pulled the car over, we switched drivers and she began CPR. As I’m flying down the road, about to hit every Haitian I pass, I can’t stop praying and listening to Tina’s sporadic shouts from the backseat, “Turn left, go straight, Next right!” We fly into the hospital lot and Tina runs out and gets Katiana on oxygen. She’s ok…for now. That 1 pound wonder fought like crazy to stay alive. God’s plan for today was not anything we expected. His plan today for this little corner of the world was for a little girl named Katiana. Please continue to pray for her as she is in the hospital with a lung infection and that teeny tiny body. Yep, this was no ordinary Saturday, Katiana is no ordinary girl, and we have no ordinary God.
Exploring God’s Kingdom
Even though Haiti Team #1 left us a “pet” tarantula and a only one pair of work gloves(which, by the flower pattern on them, I’m sure belonged to their team leader, Chris)… I do have to give credit where’s it’s due.
On our tour, we walked up to the worksite, and what you see in the picture was all accomplished by Team #1 last week in about 5 full working days…with literally only buckets and a shovels. Kudos to Haiti Team #1 for giving God and the Haitian people their best and leaving it all in Haiti!
Exploring God’s Kingdom
Today we spent most of the day touring and exploring what God is up to with Damou Christian Mission. We walked down to the school, where this year the enrollment was up to 1100 students…almost 300 more than last year. I’ll try to post a picture later of Jeff Summers participating on the girl’s varsity jump rope team. Let’s just say, he’s got skills!
We’re back online
We’re back online! During the 3 days of internet interuption a lot of progress was made on the work site. After 2 days of digging footers through stone and root rich soil, progress is starting to be seen though the laying of the foundation.
Broken shovels, picks, and a pry bar were all we had to remove very large rocks and giant roots.
Note the size of the shovel in relation to the root and rock it is resting against. Unfortunately, this was not the largest rock removed from the ground.
If the rock was too large to be removed, It was chipped away piece by piece.
Finally, progress is seen on Tuesday!
Not only is a structure being built, but God’s love is being shown to the Haitian people through the building of relationhips.
We even adopted a pet for team 2. We placed him in a cage in the women’s dorm. 
The picture doesn’t show the massive size of this Taranchule. He is actually the size of an adult’s opened hand and crawled from under a rock pile onto a Haitian workers foot. Have fun team two!
About me
OCC in Haiti is a blog that is updated daily June 16 - 23 by Okolona Christian Church's team on their work & ministry in Haiti.
