Kenton

Kenton was a guy with a big heart. He will be missed greatly by everyone, but at least we know that we will see him again someday in heaven. He was someone that probably had one of the biggest hearts I know. Back in september when I did a presentation on Haiti in front of my history class and at the end Mr.K asked me if I could figure out if we could sponsor a child in Haiti, and right then and there Kenton stood up and handed me money for it, which led others to give towards the cause. Then a few weeks later when Mr.K asked me if I could start to organize a mission trip to Mission of Hope Haiti for March Break, Kenton was one of the first ones to sign up for it. Almost every day after that he asked me if I needed any help with organizing or finding flights etc. Once our mission team got to Haiti, I really saw the kids just drawn to him, and he was so good with them. I could see that he loved being there and he had a real heart for the people. He told me that he wanted to be an intern at Mission of Hope in the future. I really saw God working through him while we were there. Shortly after coming back he asked me for all the information that I had used to organize that trip, because he told me that he really wanted to lead a mission trip with his church there for this March Break. 

He will be missed so much by all of us, and especially among those of us that had the amazing experience of going to Haiti together, that trip drew us all really close to one another and formed a bond between all of us. Please keep all of his friends and family in your prayers

Rest in Peace Kenton Van Pelt

-Teagan

Change

It has been a few weeks since the Haiti trip, and the first word that comes to mind regarding the trip would be “change”.  All of us were changed in big and small ways. I changed a lot in the way I thought about missions. Before the trip I felt that missions were good and that they were helping people, but they never had an impact upon my life. I have so much respect now for people in missions and I now have a sense of the mission world and I can see that they are doing good work.

The last days in Haiti I had no desire to leave and I did not want to go back home. I didn’t think I could handle the change, but I had no choice but to leave. It was a very tough plane ride home for me because, to be honest, I was angry at myself for the way I had been living back in Canada. I was living a selfish life and I didn’t think I could go back home and be my old self. I then realized that I didn’t have to live in my old self, I could go home and be a new Kenton and live a more selfless life. 

I really feel like Haiti is the place for me and I know that God will make my life and Haiti intersect again. I loved it so much and I felt that I could be myself, like I didn’t have to prove anything. We met some great people from other teams and even though I probably won’t see them again I know that they made and impact on my life.

Finally I would like to thank our whole team for making this a trip that will be remembered. You guys are the best and I will miss all of our jokes and fun times that we shared together.

God Bless!

-Kenton Van Pelt

2 weeks back

It has been 2 weeks since we left Haiti, and I can’t believe it. It feels like it has been a lot longer. I really enjoy the daily reminders I get though, from other team members about what we experienced together. I love how we are all closer now, and even though most of us are from different social groups, we all say hi to each other in the halls. I definitely enjoyed getting to know all the team members during the trip, and I hope some of these friendships will last a long time.

One thing I would like to say about life after Haiti is how my perspective has changed. I think I am less concerned about material things, and I feel much closer to God. I think I am more easy-going as well.

I would recommend going on a mission trip to everyone who’s reading this. Whether you go to Haiti or not, or someplace far away or close by it doesn’t matter. Mission trips are really fun and it’s great to improve people’s lives, or at least brighten their day.

~Micaela

Regan + Kensley = Forever & Always

      So now its been a while since we have been back from HAITI! It still feels like I was just there yesterday, and tell people new and funny things about the trip all the time. At first it was really hard transitioning into "home" again, waking up to an alarm and not Liz's Voice really upset me. Haiti was an amazing experience and a great eye-opener, coming back didn't really seem real. But being back for two weeks now has been difficult, missing the nightly reflections, DANIEL <3 AND of course KENSLEY (would not have been the same without that man)

The trip wouldn't have been amazing without each and everyone on the team, thanks for an awesome time, hopefully we can do it again :)

Love you all <3

Regan Bill :)

Sadly to many days to count

Sooo we've been back in Canada for a while now even though it seems like we just got back yesterday. I'm already getting excited for the next Haiti trip were going on. Because we’re still going on this right guys. Because I miss everything about Haiti. Like the beautiful sunset, the early mornings, Liz's deep voice, Sabrina's road, the children that were so amazingly awesome, the really kind people on the street saying bonjou or bonsoua, the food especially the food, coke in a bottle, the hot sun, crazy church and of course KENSLEY. 

so until again Haiti

-Josh Miedema

Haiti is super cool beans

It seems so unreal that we’ve been back from our Haiti trip for over a week. When I look back at our time spent in Haiti, everything seems to be so vivid and feels like it was just a couple days ago.

I would just like to say that I am so pleased and thankful that I had this amazing opportunity. I’d
say it was one of those experiences where God put you there for a reason. I am so glad that despite all the bad things we’ve heard about Haiti, we decided to go anyways. We get to share with others that no matter how much poverty or devastation that this nation faces, there is still beauty within the brokenness. There is a definite sense of hope and perseverance inside the souls of Haitians. I have the feeling that God is shaking up Haiti with a whole bunch of hope and love.

I miss you, Haiti. Hopefully I will return sometime soon.

-Colette Schotsman

not really sure what to title this, but here it is...

So having lived in Haiti, at Mission of Hope, for 3 years, I was always used to the Haitian side of things. Teams came and went, and that was normal. There were some really good teams, and some kind of annoying teams. That's just the way it was. I was used to all the preparation that it took for the Mission to be able to have teams come down. The Guesthouse had to be clean, there had to be new food and pop brought in, the trucks and buses needed to be booked, the translators had to be called. All of this was normal for me. So for me to actually go back to Mission of Hope ON a team, and see the other side of things, was a whole new experience. It was cool to actually go through that journey with everyone, to actually see what it was like to be a part of all those people that go down to Haiti.

In my opinion the trip went very well! Sure we had a couple rough spots, but thats completely normal. We all got along quite good, and we were able to interact well with the Haitian people. I don't think we were an "annoying" team (and trust me i've seen a few), so thats good. Another thing is that I think that we were also the youngest overall team to come down to the Mission of Hope, there have been some other Highschool teams but they have been mostly mixed age groups. I don't think there have been other teams with Grade 10s and only Grade 10s. 

I hope that God will use our team to spread the word that Haiti is a wonderful, beautiful country, and even though it struggles with poverty, we could learn a thing or two from the Haitians. They are so friendly and happy all the time, and the kids are always running around with smiles on their faces even though they may not have pants or shoes on. Lemme just say that it was a pretty amazing trip, and I am so happy that I got to be a part of it.

-Teagan

I’ll Never Forget You Haiti!

It’s now been over a week since we were in Haiti and I miss it … a lot. (Maybe not having to share one washroom with twelve other girls, but that’s not important right now). BUT, I’m glad to be back home. I had an amazing time making new friends from other teams and experience a totally different culture. From this trip I have realized a couple of things,

#1. God has blessed me with SO much. All of these Haitians live in these little houses with tons of kids and with little food to eat. It’s something that many of us take for granted.

#2. I should praise God no matter what the circumstances are. The Haitians all love God with such a strong passion and it absolutely amazed me when I saw. They had been through so much yet they were still filled with so much joy and all they wanted to do was praise God.

#3. Haiti is one BEAUTIFUL country. Yes, there’s garbage on the streets and there are still some rubble from the earthquake, but it’s still absolutely beautiful. Not only the landscape, but the people make it a beautiful country.

Haiti was an amazing experience that I know I will NEVER forget. I encourage you all to pray for Haiti and that it will continue to grow as a nation and that God will continue to work through them to show His power.

-Monica Ha

Ps. I really miss those plantains…

7 Days back

In Haiti I had a great metaphor and here it is: as we drove to the Mission of Hope we saw the ocean and the mountains; in the mountains there was this windy road that lead up and over the mountain. We are going up that mountain. We are going up the mountain of Haiti. We want to understand, and help these wonderful people, but we cant do it alone. We need God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The bus driver is like God. He knows the way, and which way to go to our destination. Our Hope Rep/Leader Daniel, is like Jesus, he is with us telling us to be patient, and that everything is going to be okay. Our translators, Smith and Kensley, are like the Holy Spirit they make things possible. They break the language barrier. We couldn't get up the mountain without them. The road is hard and twisty. When one of us gets a flat tire we all get out and fix it. We encourage and help each other. When we are in a turn in the road we just got to have faith in God that we will make it. We have stops on the way. At the villages we connect and after each stop we have a better understanding when we make it to the top we have a great understanding. We may be going down the mountain now, but we do not have to be depressed about it. We get to share the good news that we experienced, and we have each other still. We are here for each other. If one of us is going through a hard time with leaving Haiti, we can talk to each other, and we are always there. Being home is a blessing because God has a plan for us.

-Sabrina

Another blog....from Jill deBoer (:

Well a week ago right now, the team was in the beautiful country of Haiti, returning to Mission of Hope from the village of Source Matales. What a great experience this trip has been. All of the planning, get togethers, emails etc. was all more than worth it. When someone asks me how my trip was, I can't even put an answer into words. I feel as if I were to say, "It was amazing, or great, etc" is a major understatement, because this trip was more than that. It was a time that everyone grew closer with their friends, their relationship with God and the people of Haiti. Getting to know our translators, Kensley and Smith, was quite something and I'm quite confident in saying they are being missed by each of us right now! Such personalities everyone of them have is so inspiring to witness.

When I sit here, typing and realizing that everyone of those kids are still there, the same way we saw them...whether thats playing with eachother, saying "eh you!" to a random bus of missionaries or whatever they may be doing. Its hard to wrap your head around the thought of us coming back to our houses in Canada, seeing our family and friends again, yet the people we met are all still there, some struggling with the same thing. I often wonder how we can help them when we are here, 3000 miles away and the only answer that comes to mind, is to pray. Pray for the familes that we have come in contact with in Haiti and have hope that God will reveal himself strongly to each and everyone of them in their future.

The feeling that I have encountered upon my return, is feeling as if I am in some sort of a dream. Flying over the Haitian shoreline, seeing tin roofs etc. was obviously much different then the highrise buildings in New Jersey, and Toronto. Coming home and going back to school was without a doubt, one of the wierdest feelings I have ever felt. It's gradually going away now, yet still somewhat here. Its the feeling of not actually being here. Yet I know I am, Its just hard to comprehend it all that easily. I feel like I should still be in Haiti.

It is in my hopes to return to Haiti again in the near future. Whether thats with the school, or on my own, I will go. Haiti will be forever in my heart.


May God continue to bless each and everyone of you,

Jill deBoer   

*Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. -James 4:8*

4 days back

We have been back in Canada for 4 days now. I can't believe the trip is over, it went so fast. 

I think that the trip went really well. I had so much fun helping and playing with the kids. But most of all I got to figure out how strong my faith was and how God worked in me and others. I will never forget the day we painted a families house and I stood on a ladder with our translator. We didn't have a normal conversation, he asked me all kinds of different questions about my faith. He asked me what it meant to be a Christian and what do I think about being a Christian. At first those questions were hard to answer but now if i think back on them it would be easier to answer. 

I'm excited to continue my life with stronger faith and always remembering what we did for other people down in Haiti. I want to go back some time in my life weather it is within the next 2 years or in the next 10 years. If someone were to ask me should I go to Haiti I will definitely tell them to go with no hesitation. 

I hope everyone enjoyed reading our blog and keeping up with what we did,

Thanks everyone for your help in getting us there as well.

-Leanne

Last Night in Haiti! :(

This week in Haiti has been amazing! I met so many wonderful people from the other teams that were here as well as got to know everyone on our team. I have grown so much closer to God. I feel like I depend on Him much more now. Throughout this week I have seen that God is EVERYWHERE even though sometimes it might be hard to see it.

I am excited to be going home as well as sad to have to leave this beautiful country. Haiti is an amazing place and it is easy to see that God is working in this land. I can't wait until I can come back here again. Many people will tell you all of the reasons why you should NOT come to Haiti. But there are so many more reasons why you SHOULD come to Haiti.

Everything that we did this week, every village we visited, every person we talked to, every child we played with, no matter what we were doing, it was clear to see that God was working through everyone on this team. (As well as the translators and our Hope rep.) I have enjoyed my time here in Haiti. I loved going to the different villages and meeting all the kids. I loved playing games with the kids and trying to convince them that I can't dance. I loved going to paint the houses (as well as some people). But most of all, I loved getting to know God better.

I have learned a lot over the past 10 days. One of the things that I learned is that paint does not taste good. Also, that it's fun to paint people! But mostly that no matter how little you have, you have everything if you have God's love. All you need is someone that loves you. 

I am really looking forward to seeing how much I really have changed, and seeing how I can use what I learned here in my normal every day life. I am also looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. Also, I am excited to see how tanned I am compared to my friends and family. But most of all I am looking forward to being home with my family.

~Sam Huisman

P.S. Never forget that there is someone, somewhere who loves you and wants the world for you. Jesus loves you and so do I! 

FLIGHT INFO

Hey Parents, here is the flight info, please don't forget to pick up your kid ;)

Continental United Flight #4924 from Newark, arriving in Toronto at 10:37 pm.

See you tomorrow!

Church Day

Today was an amazing day. We got to sleep in a half hour and do devotions later. We left for church early to get good seats, and we ended up getting the front row. It was so loud and wonderful. The songs are so up beat and so much passion behind the peoples voice. They had there hands up, on there knees, and praying. This is the kind of church that makes you realize how wonderful and blessed we are that God cares for us. God is so great, and amazing. These people sing with all there heart and are so happy to shake your hands, and say GOD BLESS YOU. I love these people. They seem so happy to see you even though they don't even know your name. It was cool to see our translator, Smith, in front of church singing. I then went to sunday school and the kids are so happy and so into Jesus.  I just love it. It was sad to realize that it was the last sunday here. The last full day. We had all new teams here and it was cool to make even more friends. It was fun to interact with them over lunch. In the afternoon we went to another village. There weren't as many kids, but still they are cool. Liz meet with her sponsor child and we prayed for her family. Her mom kept hugging me because our names were very similar. It was alot of jokes because it was our last time for seeing the translators, Kensley and Smith. We gave them cards with Canadian animals on it and they loved it because we all signed them. We played soccer with the children. We played M.O.H against Source Matelas. We ended up winning 3-2. It was a very close game. Tonight for supper out like last sunday. I am getting tired of chicken. When I get home I cant wait to have meat, and hot chocolate. For devotions we had Jean Marc, an orphan, play the guitar, and sing with us. It was so powerful and I felt even closer to God. On this trip you see how wonderful God Is. After singing with Jean Marc we went around the circle and said three "L" things, what we Learned, things we Loved, things we what we are Looking forward too. It was great to hear everyones opinion. Right know we made Daniel a card, and are signing a t-shirt for him. He is an amazing leader. I am ready to go home and see my family I really miss them. And if I am going back here they have to come with because I cant put this to justice. No matter what I say I will never explain it right. I love the mountains and ocean. And will miss them dearly.

Love Sabrina

Day 9

I can't believe it is the last day of the mission trip already. It has been such an amazing time. Today was a great day to end the trip with. We started off the day by going to the Mission of Hope church (which is shaped like a cross). This church is like nothing I had ever been to before. Everyone is so energetic, full of joy, and full of thankfulness, and love for God. Even though this country is full of voodoo, it is also full of a strong love for Christ.

During the afternoon we went to a village called Source Matelas. We had already gone to this village before, but this time we went to a different part of the village. We walked around for a while and we got to see the factory where all the concrete used in the area is made. After that we got to play soccer and basketball with a bunch of the kids from this village. It was great to see the kids having so much fun, since it seems like these kids have so much sadness and despair in their lives. Although this statement isn't really true, since these kids are normally fairly happy. I think people just seem to assume that they are sad, because they have so little physical material, even though they are often pretty happy because they have Christ in their hearts.

I am really going to miss Haiti. I will miss the mountains and the heat, the sunrise and sunset, the beautiful people and seeing immense joy in the children's eyes.

~ Micaela

ps. shout out to my fam. love you. <3
pps. I love Jill, she's my favouritey ;)

Haiti is cool beans

"It's always darkest before the dawn." - Florence and the Machine, Shake It Out 

For me, these lyrics represent the dark times that this nation of Haiti has been through. They also remind me that the dawn of Haiti is in motion now. It is clear that the Mission of Hope is doing wonders down here and that God is ready to be heard. 

On Thrusday, we headed to Simonette. This village is where one of our translators, Kensley, comes from. Kensley took us around to pray for a some of his family members. After praying for some people, he took us to his father's house to show us. His father has recently passed away and left behind an unfinished house. Kensley told us he wanted to finish building the house and start an orphanage. He said he wanted to start an orphanage because he wanted to help people who have less than him. Then we proceeded inside the house to pray for him and what he wants accomplished. This was a very meaningful time for a lot of us. I could see so much passion and determination from a Haitian man who has a deep love for God. 

Shout of to all of my family. Love you guys. 

-Colette 

[Insert Clever Title Here]

My turn.

The past eight days have been exceedingly gracious to us.  But today's events were probably one of the most spiritual days the team has encountered.  In order to understand the whole story, I will recite the metaphor of Sabrina.  On Thursday we shared a recap of our testimonies. When Sabrina's turn came up she announced her speculation on the mountain behind the Mission of Hope campus which presents a winding road leading up it.  She said that that road represents life and that we are all in the same bus trying to get up it.  The bus driver is God because he knows where we're going and how to best get there.  Our Hope Rep, Daniel, is considered Jesus, because he gives us reassurance to keep faith in the driver and contains knowledge in all the coming events.  And our translator, Kensley, is seen as the Holy Spirit telling us what the world is saying and how to respond.  Sabrina said a little more but thats the gist of the metaphor.

ANYWAYS. Today we actually went up that road, which was a mind blowing ride due to the previous said metaphor, and visited a village in the mountain.  The name of the village kind of escapes my mind due to pronunciation and spelling issues.  HOWEVER, it was an amazing experience and is considered the most fun village we've visited.  The kids were nice and even the parents partially participated in the games we played.  Vince, our male chaperone, really connected with this one shy kid who was kind of positioned away from the other children.  The kid had no pants on but that didn't stop Vince.

Afterwards, we went further over the mountain to this waterfall ... I have name remembering problems so bare with me.  But the name of the town that the waterfall was in is called Waterfalls. So we'll just call it Waterfalls Falls.  So at Waterfalls Falls we ate our gourmet lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and proceeded to the falls.  Waterfalls Falls is a local tourist attraction, so obviously, it was very beautiful. We were able to climb up the current of the falls and stand underneath the falling water.  Which really hurt.  We also got our first team photo.

Weird thing though.  Whilst site seeing and playing around at the falls, we saw some ladies burn a platform of candles, place some food, and project some aura energy by means of squirmish hand gestures.  At the time, no one thought twice about the act, but we soon learned afterwards that they were performing Voodoo.  Reminiscing  on the event, it was very dark and almost sad to watch.  That such people find it necessary and habitual to appease the bad instead of fight the bad.  Not to be judging, but I didn't really like it.
In order to not leave this blog on such negativity, I shall tell you all a very recent story.  I saw this lizard on the ceiling and I told Regan because she wanted a lizard.  But she couldn't reach it so I got a towel and attempted to blow it off the ceiling.  After this one hard whip, the lizard just vanished.  Not even joking, it just disappeared.  Kind of weird but we laughed.
Anyways, it was a fun day. We're all safe and doing good. Sucks that we're leaving soon.  I have to go now because apparently I've been writing too long.

Peace out!

- Joel Robins

Update from the best female chaperone ever!

Greetings friends and parents of our HDCH team! This is a message from one of your two faithful chaperones, Liz Bonisteel!

Let me begin by saying, after faithful daily blogging, we are very sorry to have missed a day yesterday. The students have been SO wonderful, taking time, EVEN after EXTREMELY busy daily ministry and service activities, to update everyone. Yesterday the internet was COMPLETELY down due to high winds and rain, disabling an update. We are sure you all understand, considering we are living and working in a developing country;) We hope to update every day for the remainder of the trip.

Can I also say, although I am SURE you ALL are already very aware of this fact, this team of students is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! Every day they are striving to get closer with Jesus while serving the people of Haiti as well as one another. This was so evident last night as students shared personal testimonies. Every individual had such unique experiences to share and wonderful insights into how God has been developing in their lives over the past few months and most specifically since coming to Haiti. Many expressed gratitude for the families and homes they have, having seen people here in Haiti live with so little. A few also talked about their deep desire to continue drawing closer to Jesus. Imagine; what God is doing in these 14 students does not stop within this group or at the end of this trip. We PRAY and BELIEVE that the changes and the impact being made within EACH student will cause a ripple effect that will influence their families, peers, friends and communities for ETERNITY!

As for today, we spent a WONDERFUL time at WAHOO BAY BEACH RESORT, about an hour's bus ride from Mission of Hope. Students enjoyed OCEAN sea-doing, relaxing by the pool, shell collecting, and a DELICIOUS full Haitian lunch. After dinner, our team was on dish duty and everyone did a "bang up" job getting the dishes done for all 150 people who ate this evening. We also got to hear from Brad Johnson, Mission of Hope's President. His passion for Haiti and everything Mission of Hope hopes to accomplish was inspiring and I am sure many of the students will continue supporting and promoting Mission of Hope beyond this trip.

ANNNND in case no one mentioned it yet, Thursday was a SUPER exciting day as the students got to meet the HDCH sponsored Mission of Hope student. I as well chose to sponsor a child this week and was GIDDY with excitement Thursday morning KNOWING I would be meeting Antoinette Jean in the afternoon. Although my sponsored child looked hesitant and nervous waiting to meet me, she and I had the most AMAZING first interaction and because she has been in school for several years already (she is 18 years old and in Grade 8) she and I could speak French together without an interpreter! As a French Immersion student and now teacher it was SO fulfilling to be able to communicate with someone in my second language. As well, there were not enough interpreters for the amount of sponsored children who were meeting their sponsors SO I also got to translate for another sponsor and their student. It made all the years struggling through French class worth it and I am so excited to continue developing a relationship with my sponsored child. We have already planned to meet up and sit together at church on Sunday.

Since this MAY be my only trip post, I will end by saying that I LOVE these students SO much and am equally in love with Haiti and all the wonderful experiences we have had here. Monday is going to come all to soon and although I am sure you will all be glad to see these awesome kids again, I will be SO sad to say goodbye to them all.

Sooooo until we see you at the airport......

Owevwa e Bondye beni ou
(Goodbye and God bless you in Creole ;)

Liz ;)

Day 7

Today was beach day. We went to a very nice resort that had a great beach and had amazing food! Almost everyone got sunburnt so there is going to be some complaining tomorrow :P The water was very clear and I had a great time snorkeling in the coral reefs looking at the huge swarms of fish. 

The past few days have been amazing. I have grown more spiritually in this week than I have in the past year. 

A lot of people will tell you that Haiti is a bad place to go and all it has is a bunch of garbage, but the truth is that Haiti is a beautiful place and the people are very loving and caring. There is so much joy here and I can’t get over that through so much pain and horror, they are still the happiest people I have ever met in my life. 

I have no desire to go home right now and all I want to do is do work in the villages and interact with the people and try to learn more about them. 

I love Haiti and I can’t wait to come back here and spread the love of God in as many ways possible.

God bless,

-Kenton Van Pelt

ONE of the best days

Just a quick update on why there has been no blogs the last couple of days, is due to the internet connection.

So look whose turn it is to blog today........Well  today was quite the relaxing but also enjoyable day, along with a few other groups we headed out to the beach today, spending more money than I needed to go jet-skiing with some friends, but also purchasing a few things for the fam jam back home. This is not a normal beach, this was beautiful, the sand was soo cool, and the way it slipped between my feet reminded me of summer. The beach was a great way to calm down, think about everything that has happened throughout the week, and just talk to and even thank God for everything. Just having a day where we can chill, let the sun burn sit and heal, and working on the tan was great. Ending the week and jumping into the weekend with such a relaxing day felt really good. Throughout the week God has really been taking ahold of my life and showing me that there are people in the world that are less fortunate than I am. Something that stuck out to me a few days ago but also that I see everyday, was the way everyone here in Haiti trusts in God and counts of Him to get them through everything, I have been starting to look at my life the same. Experiencing different events each day has opened my eyes to the way people in and around Haiti live. Each day of this trip has made me come closer to Haiti, other members of the team but most importantly God.  This trip has been a huge eye opener, cant wait for what the next few days hold.

Having an awesome time.


Miss you Bills ;)

Love; Regan Bill

Day 5

hello
hey its Josh
soo its day 5 and today we did a construction project. well actually it was just painting but it was still pretty great. on todays painting job we actually seemed to get some paint the wall. this  painting job was alot different then the last one. this was still fun but i think everyones just getting tired though so theres not as much energy. anyways were having alot of fun and everythings all good here.
ok bye

My Adventure so Far

Well it's my turn to blog!!! Well a lot has happened to me and the others in HAITI!!! :D We've painted a house (including ourselves in the process ;)) We've learned how to understand, AND talk to the children in Creole which is totally a blessing and a miracle at the SAME TIME!! :D And finally we've all learned how to listen to God and how He communicates with us. For example, I've learned that God speaks to me through pictures, and nature all around me. It's almost like the stars are His eyes and that He loves just to look down at us from up above, and look at His creation with the never ending love that He has! :) I've also learned how to keep away those temptations that Satan is trying to make me think, and I've just got to say no to Satan and stand at God's right hand and give my life up to Him. I've also learned to be thankful for what I have, and that EVERYTHING that I have is a blessing so I shouldn't be angry that I don't have the latest ipod or that I don't have the nicest phone, but with God as my rock and Savior, He can provide for me and I should be thankful that God has provided me with so much. 

But it wasn't just the spiritual adventure that I've been on. I've also been meeting new friends from Iowa, California, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and many others (mostly from the States) I've also met, and talked with a lot of other kids in the villages near Mission of Hope (M.O.H). It's been awesome trip so far! 

So I know that you guys are itching to know what happened today (or maybe some of you already read the blog from Leanne, but what ever! :D) 

So today we went to a village near Mission of Hope called Abraham. In the town we separated into three groups, and we got to walk around this village and pray for some of the people there. Then after lunch we got to go to another village that we saw on Sunday called Leveque. There we cheered on a soccer game. It was an interesting game because there were deaf people playing, and it was cool that even though that they're kinda different we can still have fun and treat everyone equally(and instead of cheering we got to do JAZZ HANDS!! :D I also talked (or tried to talk) with some of the kids, and at the end of the soccer game we prayed, and sang a song with everyone that played in the game, and all the groups that were there. It was a pretty big circle!! :D So I'm having so much fun here in Haiti, and tomorrow is the mid- point of our adventure, and tomorrow we're probably painting a house, or doing some construction. 

Blessings to everyone!

        - Melissa Janssens

p.s-  Everyone is LOVING the after burn that I brought :D

Day 4

Another day in Haiti. We are having a awesome time here and we can't get over how beautiful the weather is.

Today we went to another village called Leveque and Abraham Village. In Abraham Village we walked around and prayed with families first.  The one man we prayed for was a Christian but also worshiped voodoo. We probably spent over a half hour just talking to him how Christ is all you need and that we need to have faith in Him and only Him. After we finished that, we gathered up some kids and played soccer up on the mountain. We ate lunch and then headed out to Leveque. There is a deaf village there and we got to watch them play soccer. The deaf team played against the hearing which were part of the village as well. They had an awesome time playing and were glad we were there to support. 

To finish the day off we got to go to the church and sing praise songs and worship the Lord. Even though most of it was in Creole we still had a awesome experience. We all miss you guys very much and can't wait to see everyone soon. 

xoxo

-Leanne

A Day In Haiti

So, it's monday and it's day THREE. Haiti's been a pretty amazing experience so far and it's very warm here, much better than Canada :)
Today we went and painted a house for a family, inside AND out. It was kind of tiring because the walls weren't smooth, but it was all worth it in the end because just seeing the smiles on the family's faces when we finished was absolutely PRICELESS. It seemed like our day of work made their LIFE. I was definitely tired and stuff since it was hot outside (and of course I had to wear my HD sweats *sigh*) but yeah, it was totaaaaaaally worth it :D
The kids there were also REALLLLLLLLLLLLLYYY cute, but then again .. I guess all kids in Haiti are really cute. (Outside of the families house there were kids and some of them were dancing, it was adorable :D)
But yeah, after we painted their house we had dinner and OH MY GOODNESS. The food here is sooo good! Almost as good as my mom's cooking! (Just kidding, my mom's korean food beats anybody else's food).
AND ONE LAST THING. Everyone thinks that I'm Chinese here and when I tell them that I was born in Canada, but my parents are from Korea they always ask me where Korea is. People also say like, "ching chang chong" and stuff like that to me because they think that that's how I speak, hahaa. I find them all so cute :)
BUT YEAH. That's all I have to say today, HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAVING FUN WHEREVER YOU MAY BE. And if you're in Canada, HOPE IT'S COLD :)
TATA FROM HAITI.

-Monica Ha

Too tired to think..

Last night at the end of a long, tiring, awesome day we had reflections, we went around a circle and said what we like about each other. These are the results...

Mr. V- without you we wouldn't be here

Liz- all or nothing, except its never nothing

Leanne- great heart

Micaela- always ready for anything

Sam- caring about everyone

Monica- understanding and loving

Colette- always a happy person

Kathryn- she's cool

Sabrina- never complaining, always positive

Melissa- makes sure you’re ready on time, always happy

Josh- finds the funniest side of everything

Joel- very patient

Teagan- very excited about kids, intelligent

Jill- bubbly, happy, excited 

Regan- makes every situation 10x better

Kenton- manly, easy to talk to, really nice

Not Just an Idea, but Reality

         We are finally here. I type that, but I'm still not quite sure what that means. I mean, I know I'm physically here on an island called Haiti, yet I still feel like maybe I'm dreaming. As I could see Haiti from the plane window as we were descending, I started to cry (no surprise) as it was dawning on me that this was actually happening. Though, once we actually landed and were in the midst of the business of Haiti, I felt like as if I was watching, not actually participating in these events.

         Haiti is beautiful and truly amazing, no doubt of that. The weather is insanely hot, all the better. The bugs aren't too bad, the mountains and sun are breathtaking, and the people are wonderful. Haiti may be poor in money, but the Haitians are rich in spirit. I noticed right away all the laughter and conversation - it's constant. The driving is totally random and makes no sense at all. People honking and weaving in and out of traffic. I bet if you can drive in Haiti without dying, you can drive anywhere.
        Today our team went out to two different villages to visit with the Haitian people. As soon as we got off the bus there were children shouting to all their friends in Creole that we had arrived. Children were running out from everywhere and grabbing our hands. I must admit that I'd never had a welcoming quite like this one.
        We all did our best to communicate with the people, mixing English, Creole, and French, attempting to get our point across. It was quite comical, to tell the truth. Though I don't think they minded as they were still hugging us.. that's a good sign, right? Besides, we had translators with us to make sense of everything. Thank the Lord for Bilingual people. The children were grabbing at us, fascinated with my hair, nails, jewelry, feet, they were even running up to each of us to pinch our fat!  Something that really struck me was that these people lived in tents, literal tents made of anything they could find, yet they weren't complaining. This was their life, it was normal to them. I feel like we have a lot to learn from them, like they can help us, just by displaying such a positive attitude towards everything. We not only played with the children, but actually got the chance to get to know and pray with the families in Haiti.

    I'm really trying my best to just to stay open-minded, take in as much of God's beauty as I can, and try to figure out what His will for this trip is. For me, it is my first missions trip and I'm still trying to understand everything but I love being here and I am certain that there's a reason God has brought me to this beautiful country. I'm anxious and excited for God to reveal exactly why!

Kathryn.

Day 1- A blog from Jill deBoer (:

Well you should know we have arrived safely in Titanyen, Haiti! So far it has been great!  The bus ride yesterday from the airport to Mission of Hope was about an hour and a half, but so neat just seeing the different culture. For me, the plane and bus ride was a bit rough...apparently I have developed motion sickness? (Don’t worry Mom and Dad, nothing bad!) 

Today we visited 2 different villages. Praying for families and having little kids RUN up to you wanting so bad just to talk (try to talk, considering the language barrier) and hold your hand literally everywhere we went. I wasn’t super shocked at the culture...maybe because I had already expected most of this to see. It was just seeing it all happen first hand that was a little different. Anyways…we are all still so tired considering we haven’t really gotten a ton of sleep since home! It is extremely hot here, everyones got quite the amount of colour already! 

There will be two different people writing a blog each day. Kathryn and I are doing it for today. Sorry there will be no pictures because of the slow internet connections. 

I LOVED finding all the hidden treasures in my suitcase, thank ya Mom and Dad!:) Miss you all can’t wait to see ya. 

LOVE: Jill deBoer :)

9 Hours! :)

So here we are. In the Buffalo airport. We left around 1:30 this morning, some of us didn't sleep at all last night, some of us only got a couple hours. We got to the airport around 3 or 4 (it all kinda blends together after a while when it's this early in the morning). We went through the border, customs, and security all pretty smoothly. Every single one of our bags were under 50 pounds. That brings us to now. Our plane is delayed an hour and a half, so we wont be leaving until around 7:30. right now we are all just kinda chilling on the floor or our terminal, playing dutch blitz, sleeping, journaling, and other things to occupy our time. We all have these awesome green t-shirts with "Stop & Think" written on them. People have been asking us where we are going, and if we are a school team, and stuff like that. It's unbelievable that in only around 9 hours we will be in Haiti! I can't wait to be there!

-Teagan

33 hours till Haiti

so guys don't expect anything long from me i’m not one to write like 5 or 6 paragraphs im not really one to write but Jill and Teagan have been pushing at me to write something so fine here it is.

Sooooooooooooooo 33 hours till Haiti. I'm all packed up and ready for departure. excited and nervous at the same time. For myself iv never been on a plane or EVEN OUT OF THE COUNTRY on that matter. it's hard to explain how nervous and excited and scared and happy I am all at the same time. you know there should be a word for this mixed feeling of emotion . . . . hasamervoited or maybeee scarexneappy or maybeee wait getting off topic... right Haiti well here come Haiti READY OR NOT HERE WE COME!!!

-Josh

P.S - funny this blogs first title was 33 DAYS know its hours just to let yah know

3 Days!

Wow I can’t believe it, our trip has almost arrived. I can still remember sitting in history class watching the slide show that Teagan put together. That slide show touched my heart so much that I knew from then and there we had to do something to help those children. That’s when Mr. K came up with the idea of getting a team together to go down to Haiti. 

This was going to be a tough challenge because we were on a very strict time limit to get this whole trip organized. But we had the Lord in our hands and he helped us through this time.

When Mr. K told us there was only 13 people that could go my heart skipped a beat and I began to worry I wouldn’t get to go. I put my name down on the list and hoped and prayed that I would get on. A couple weeks later I got an email saying I made it on the team. I couldn’t have been happier my life was just about to change forever.

As the days went on I started to wonder what if God didn’t want me on this team. What if I made a mistake and took someone else’s opportunity? But those worries eventually left me especially after the retreat we had. I then knew from there I was meant to be on this team and God had something planned for me. We were all put on this team for a reason and don’t forget that guys.

I am so pumped for this trip and can’t wait to change the people’s lives down there but not just theirs mine as well.

God bless you all,

-Leanne

4 MORE DAYS!!

It is unbelievable to me that in less than 4 full days I will be on a plane on my way to Haiti. I am so excited to go to Haiti and have an amazing opportunity to spread God’s love to people in need.

It is amazing to look at how this trip started and was planned in such a short time. When you look at how smoothly the planning for this trip has gone, it is easy to see God’s presence in this trip.

Many people have been asking me if I’m scared to go to a place so far away, a place so full of poverty, but to be honest, I’m really not. I will say that I am a little anxious about packing. We were blessed with so many donations that it may be hard to fit them all into suitcases.

I really hope this trip will be successful, and I hope that our team will not only make a physical difference in these people’s lives, but also an emotional difference. I hope to leave a lasting impression of love in these people’s hearts. The Haitian people have suffered a lot in the past years, not only from the earthquake, but also from hurricanes and other terrible disasters. It puts me in awe at how much little (physically) most Haitians have, and yet they have so much joy and hope in their lives. These people are so dependent on God. Even though they have suffered so much, they still trust God and rely on Him full heartedly.

I can’t wait to spend time with this awesome team and do God’s work.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ~ Mathew 25:40

Micaela De Jong

Ps. These are our two theme songs:

I Will Go - Starfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nRATH_g2W4

Follow You – Leeland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ajIFfSaEzE

4 Days

When I first heard Teagan speak about Haiti I knew that something big would come out of her presentation. I really felt like I would become part of something that was amazing. Mr. K (our history teacher) asked Teagan to start a mission trip to Haiti and I knew that second that I wanted to go on the mission trip. So I prayed and asked God if it was the trip for me, and I knew it was because he increased my longing to go to Haiti. 

Soon after that I got an email that said I was accepted to go on the Haiti trip. I still can’t express the joy in my heart when I read those words. Ever since then I have constantly become more and more excited about going to Haiti. 

The past few months I have been thinking about why God is sending me to Haiti and I feel like he is sending me there to not only help the people of Haiti, but to tell them of his amazing love and grace. 

A few weeks ago I received a letter from an old family friend that has adopted two children from Haiti, and it said to find the beauty in Haiti, not the ugly. I was so empowered by that because it means that just because there is a lot of pain in Haiti, does not mean that there isn’t beauty. God has used this many times throughout the Bible. He found so much beauty in places where most people thought were dirty and not a good place to be in. 

The trip is less than a week away and I am so excited to go to Haiti and do what God has told me to do there in the best way the shows his love towards his people. Finally I want to thank Teagan for coming to HDCH and making this trip happen. You have given me a huge chance to see what God is doing in Haiti.

God bless,

Kenton Van Pelt

We're packing a huge success!

This past Friday, I held a packing party at my house. We counted, sorted and packed all of the donations. It was unbelievably amazing. 160 toothbrushes, countless tubes of toothpastes, clothes, medical needs, etc. was all brought and will be opened up in Haiti to distribute. Seeing all of this is already a huge eye opener in how much care people have. It was a great night altogether! It really was shocking that at the start we had no idea how we were going to fit everything, yet everything fit perfectly.

No words can describe the excitement inside all of us.

4 more sleeps! 'Cause I can bet no one is going to be sleeping Thursday night! ;)

Jill deBoer (:

5 Days

5 Days AWAY from an experience that will change our lives forever and really open our eyes. Well, I never actually knew that I was going to Haiti, until, Mr.VanderVeen came into my science class, and said he had some good news for me, I was completely unaware of what he was going to say. He asked me if I wanted to go to Haiti, Well I jumped at that question and said "UMM YESS" I was soooo excited. Its weird, I actually haven't told anybody about this but, Two days before I found out, I was praying before bed, and heard something say "Don’t worry something good will happen" All I could think about was, Did God just talk to me, or am I loosing it? When I found out I wasn’t going before hand, I really thought, Wow, God doesn’t want me to do this, praying and thinking about it now, makes me really realize that God has a time, a place and a reason for everything. :)

Going to the packing party, was a TONNNN of fun, it honestly was great. Thank you Jill and Family for your Hospitality. I really got to know everyone better, and realize this trip is going to be awesome. God is going to work great things through us, when we are in Haiti, I cant wait for what that will be.

I am soo excited and cant really explain, but also scared at the same time, But God is with us, and will guide the way.

A Psalm From David  (PSALM 42)

 1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; 

the LORD delivers them in times of trouble. 

2 The LORD protects and preserves them— 

they are counted among the blessed in the land— 

he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. 

3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed 

and restores them from their bed of illness.

Continue to Pray, God will listen to everything you lift to Him.

Most excited Member, Regan Bill

6 Days

     Well it's my turn to blog today so from the time I learned that I was going to Haiti from now has been very busy getting everything together. I even doubted myself that I wouldn't be able to get something out of this. To be honest I just wanted to go there for the warmth, and possibly learn something from this trip, but then when I went to the retreat at the van der Mark's I realized that I was going on this trip for the WRONG REASONS! And this made me think if I even should go, or if it was God's will for me to go on this trip. It was at the retreat that made me STOP AND THINK about how God has worked through my life to be here and that He wanted me to be here, and how amazing that it makes you feel that you belong because, honestly I've had some really tough times.

      

          So anyway back on the topic that the Haiti trip is only ONE WEEK AWAY! The whole Haiti team went to Jill deBoer's house for a packing party! So There were about ten or eleven big, full boxes of donations, and once we divided and counted all of the items we had to load them. Now all of the suitcases that we'd all brought were HUGE! but they had to be under 50 pounds! And there was a lot of donations! And when the party was over we managed to pack all of the suitcases full (and under 50 pounds) without leaving any item left behind!! That just showed me and everyone else that that was a miracle in of itself that God just showed us that we were meant to be on this trip and that we were ment to meet eachother, and get to know all of us! I myself even learned more about everyone, and myself! And thankfully I'm so excited and blessed to go on this trip, and I know now that I belong.

              

 - Melissa Janssens