Barbencourt kids

Some of my pictures uploaded to my computer and some didn't. However I did get my video to work of the Barbencourt kids. This is my favorite group of kids. They put their heart and soul into their singing and I enjoy them so much. I took this video on Thursday. Son (you pronounce it with a long o sound. It is short for his real name which I believe is Luxson) does such a wonderful job with the kids and getting them to really sing.

This is Son and his cousin Renauld (son is in the red hat) We teased them a lot about looking like gangstas but they were very nice, Christian men.

Here is the video of the kids singing.

Home!!!

We are finally home. After an awesome week of being in Haiti and working with the Livesays it is hard to be believe this trip is done. My thoughts are all jumbled and I really need to sit and process what went on.

I will be getting my pictures uploaded tomorrow and then will try to piece together what we did on the trip. It will take me a few days though so bear with me....

We were supposed to arrive home Sunday night at 10:30 pm.

God had different plans for us. In the morning a few of us got up very early and went with Troy to Port. Troy had to go in early as it was his turn to lead the praise and worship at the church they attend. We spent the morning at a bakery and just hung out and ate croissants in the air conditioning! Ah that was good!!!!!!!

The rest of the team followed later with Tara. We all met up at The mission church in Port au prince. Wow!!!!!!!! We were only there for about 40 minutes but the praise and worship time was AWESOME!! Most of us walked out in tears it was sooooooooo good and praising the Lord with the Americans and the Haitians together was just wonderful and so uplifting. It was a good thing to because about halfway through we had to leave to make it to the airport. It was so crazy at the airport and what normally takes us 20 minutes or so took us 2 1/2 hours to get through. What happened was that a flight was cancelled from the day before so all those people were now trying to get on a flight that day. There were 4 planes sitting on the runway all waiting go take off. I have never seen this before. It was crazy. The flight we were supposed to take was 45 minutes late arriving into Port and then the other people ended up boarding their flight first. Which meant we spent another hour on top of it all in the waiting room with A LOT of people trying to get out. We were supposed to take off at 12:30 and we didn't take off until after 3:30. Our flight from Miami was supposed to take off at 5:30 and we pretty much knew there was NO way we would make it. We flew into Miami 1/2 hour after our next flight had already left. Ah it was bringing back memories to a few people who set up a tent last February in the airport. I will say American Airlines was awesome to us!!! They got us booked up as fast as they could for as early as possible the next day and they even got us 5 free hotel rooms as a beautiful hotel, and vouchers for breakfast and dinner for everyone. They did not have to do that as the reason the plane was late was due to a security concern (piece of luggage left on plane but not sure where the passenger was, come to find out they had just moved the person to first class or something like that) but AA went out of their way and made us VERY comfortable.

We arrived home today at 2:00pm and thank you to all of you who came out to welcome us home!! It was wonderful to see you all!! Thanks too for those that called me this afternoon. I hope to be able to share some of my thoughts of our trip. God has really confirmed some awesome plans that are now in the works.

I am going to really miss being with this team on a daily basis. They were wonderful to work with and I am forever blessed to call them friends. More later!!!

last day in haiti

hard to believe that tomorrow we head home. I apologize for not updating more and with pictures. We have had very little time to blog and when i did it was hard to put things into words.
This was probably one of the best trips i have been on yet. i will be writing more after we get home. Thank you all for the prayers. Amy, i know your knees must hurt by now! your prayers were VERY much felt and we have so much to tell you!!! Thank you for the emails too that you sent us and the cautions. It is so wonderful to have friends that listen to God's voice and are willing to warn at any costs!! VERY much appreciated!!!

Thank you michelle for picking us up! We appreciate that so much. We are heading to port in two waves. 6 of us head out with Troy in the morning and we are headed to a cafe in port while Troy has praise team practice. The rest of the group will leave here at 8 with Tara. We have two many people for one vehicle with the luggage. i get to head out with the first team. it will be a day of tears as we leave good friends that we have made.

We had a huge thunderstorm go through a while ago and now we are going to walk up to the cross to see the lighting that is over the Caribbean.

love to you all!!

pictures?!

Bible school was awesome today!! We had the Barbencourt kids. They are incredible. Their singing is unbelievable.
The pictures above were from Sunday at the church in La Digue. It has been tough for me to get pictures up but I will keep working on it.

Thursday

I am trying to post a few pictures. Yesterday was a beautiful at the beach. A few people were stung by jellyfish. They were everywhere. They were so pretty too look at but they do hurt. Such a strange sea creature. We had a very nice dinner at the resort and I had chicken creole. Yum! It is a spicy sauce like you would have on spicy chicken wings. Which you all know my favorite food is chicken wings! :)

Today we are doing VBS for the Barbencourt kids. It is amazing at how well it is going. The one on the mountain was a ton of fun but I felt so out of it. Someone told me that was due to the high altitude. I never even would have thought of that. The ride down the mountain was one of the scariest things I have ever done. Picture a truck going down a donkey trail with no barricades on the sides of the road and you can look right over the edge and see down the mountain. wow! Talk about trusting God. Amy and I said bible verses a lot of the way down. The view's were so beautiful but quite scary!!!

Pictures are not loading properly. I am sorry but will try again later.

Thanks for the prayers that you all have been saying for us!!!

Hi from Haiti

yesterday was a tough day and an amazing day. Tammy had a great post so for those of you who have not seen it can understand the day. The truck ride up and down was probably one of the scariest things i have ever done. picture a mountain path not really meant for a truck. We were very close to the side quite a few times. it was beautiful though!

here is what Tammy wrote:

Hello everyone! We are having a wonderful time in Haiti. The VBS has gone very well so far, and we are managing to handle the heat.Today was a really hot, exhausting, emotional, awesome day! Some of us rode in the truck, while others from the team hiked up to Petit Bwa. What an experience! The road was REALLY rough! In the cage of the truck it was Brenda, Diane and I; along with Robensen, Pastor Rony, and Patrick. It was very cramped as we were in the little truck and had all of the VBS supplies with us as well. I am very afraid of heights - especially riding in the back of a truck on the edge of a mountain with no guard rails. The road was all rocks with some huge holes. At one point, we almost tipped over. We were thankful that God placed two Haitians right at that spot. It took them, along with Adam, Robensen, Patrick and Pastor Rony, to hold the cage of the truck up so we didn't all tip over. As the guys were holding up the truck, Troy gunned it and made it up. We found out later that the wheel of the truck on one side was completely up in the air. Needless to say, we were doing a LOT of praying!After we reached the top of the mountain, we started VBS. It went so well. This was such a great group of kids. After VBS, we handed out candy and Bible story books to the kids, and Bibles to the adults. We took a short break to drink a coke. (Somebody up there just happened to have a case of it). Unfortunately, there was a mix up with our lunch. Adam (the other missionary) was supposed to bring lunch up for us in the truck, but he forgot it. Oops!! We were a little hungry, but we pooled our snacks from our backpacks and we managed just fine. After our break, some of us went into the village to pray with some people at their homes. This has definitely been the highlight of the trip so far. We prayed with several people and gave them Bibles. The village witch doctor saw us praying and was curious. He asked if someone could come pray with him. We went to his house and Pastor Rony and the village pastor talked to him for quite awhile. At that moment I was thinking that we should be praying for the blood of Jesus to cover the house and rid it of evil. All of a sudden the pastors started singing and we realized that they were singing "Power in the Blood", so we all joined in (in English of course). After the song ended, the man dropped to his knees to pray. In Haiti it is the custom that everyone just prays all at the same time, so we all prayed for him, and he accepted Jesus as his Savior. It was absolutely amazing and had most of us in tears. You could just feel the power of God there! We decided that if this was the only thing we did on this trip, it would be worth it.I did hike back down the mountain. It was very, very hot, but the hike down was beautiful!

petit bwa

it is 6:21 am and half of the team is departing for the 2 hour walk in the mountains. I have much glee that it is not me!!! :) Nathan is leading this trip up and pray for them that they stay cool, and that they will not be too exhausted. The rest of us will be riding with Troy and Adam in the truck. We hear this is not such an easy ride so please pray for all of us as well! :)

We will be doing a 3 hour bible school and then will be going out into the villiage to pray for people and to hand out bibles. We will probabably be back around 5:00pm. This is a new place for me and i am excited to meet these new people and share Christ with them.

last night was hot sleeping so a lot of us did not get the sleep we needed so pray that we all stay calm and cool. The team has been getting along well together and there has been no problems.

Amy K. We have been praying for you at the prayer walk! We thank you for your worn out knees!!

Tomorrow is the resort and i believe after today it will be much needed!!! I am not sure what it is about this place but i just LOVE it here. it is so peaceful and its sooooo beautiful. Even with the heat.

I do not have any pictures loaded up yet but as soon as i can on Tiffany's computer i will work on getting them loaded. one of my friend's kathy told me that she is surprised that there is internet here. yes, it surprises me too. it is a satelite service and this week is working very well. it always amazes me that the villagers have no food but they have cell phones.

until later.........

yesterday

Sunday was a nice quiet day. I hope to add my own pictures soon. however for now you can go to this blog and read about some things that happened during the day. We had an awesome storm go through last night and the lightning was just beautiful.

Go here: http://missionlifeline.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-20-2008.html

We are in the same house as the new missionaries Adam and Amber. They are a very nice couple and we have been having a good time getting to know them better.

Thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming!!

nikolas, heather, katie, hannah and Caleb. miss you tons!!!!

Today we start our first day of Vbs. We will probabaly have between 150 and 200 kids so pray that the chaos will be limited! :)

Thanks!!

We have arrived!

At almost seems strange to be back in Haiti! When we stepped off the plane we had a beautiful breeze that could only have come from God!!

We had only one small delay in Chicago but it was only an hour and since we had a 2 hour layover in Miami it wasn't a big deal. Everyone on the team did really well! Our plane took off from Miami right on time and that was another blessing from God because this is probably the first time in months that that flight has left right when it was supposed too!!! Thank you, God!!

Everyone else is sleeping at the moment but the sun is coming up and it is beautiful. We start the day going to church on the mission grounds. Pastor Rony is the preacher there and Nate will give a short message. Looking forward to finally hearing him. The team is doing great!! Jen with her broken arm is doing really well for those wondering. She has tons of help!!!

Thank you for the prayers and keep them coming. Tommorrow is our first day of Vbs here in La Digue. We will probably have around 150 kids but possibly more!

Nikolas, katie, heather, hannah and Caleb. miss you like crazy!!

Time to leave!!

Today was the last day of bible school at our church and over all I think it went really well! The kids seemed to have a great time. I cannot believe though that its time for our Haiti trip tomorrow morning! We have to be at the airport at 4:45 am!! I am sooooooo excited! Enjoy the video above! It is what we see as we fly in and it always a wonderful feeling of excitement as we know we are here for Jesus!!!!


Please keep our team of 16 people in your prayers!! I will be doing my best to blog as I can.
Pray for safe flights and open hearts as minister to the people of Haiti!!!

Also keep my friend Kim in your prayers as she flies out tomorrow as well for her families trip to California!!

Great Quote!

I am borrowing this from a friend that sent it to me!

I love it!

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the
morning, Satan shudders & says...
'Oh crap...she's awake!!

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint on his knees."


Hard to believe we have 4 1/2 days until we leave for Haiti!! Keep those prayers coming! Things usually are the most tough for those traveling in the last few days. Lots of spiritual warfare going on.

We started VBS today at our church. I really enjoy doing this each year and this year I am working with two great people! Diane and Tori I help run the Cinema room and this year we get to do science experiements.

Every year there is so much work that goes into this and the kids seem to really love it! Thanks to everyone that helps make this such a great time!

P.S this is just for Mari!
Thanks Mari!!! :) By the way when I get home from Haiti I am moving in with you for two weeks!! Just wanted you to know that its all set. 5 kids are coming too! LOL

What is your personallity like??

I saw this on Diane's blog today.

It really made me laugh!

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have high extroversion. You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends. You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation. Enthusiastic and fun, you're the first to say "let's go!" Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You're generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You're generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is low. You're a pretty conservative person, and you favor what's socially acceptable. You think that change for novelty's sake is a very bad idea. While some may see this as boring, many see you as dependable and wise.

http://www.blogthings.com/thefivefactorpersonalitytest/">The Five Factor Personality Test

Fishing fun

The kids did a ton of fishing. They had so much fun!!!

Dad and the girls!!!

Caleb is a natural born fishermen. hmmm wonder where he got that from?

My dear sweet hubby!!! He is such a great dad!!!!!

Caleb, so proud of his bass!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet girls!

Yes these are my dear girls! I believe Katie left to go back to the trailer by this time.
Smart girl!!!

Boys and Snakes! Yuck!

My least part of the vacation was they had a 2 hour seminar on snakes where the kids could hold them when it was done and they could watch a snake being fed. Okay for those of you that really know me you know I have a HUGE fear of snakes. I am NOT a fan at all. However my children wanted to go so bad so I sucked it up and went with them. They had a great time. This page is for the boys.

This snake was eating a yummy frog. Ugh I made Nate take the picture.

Katie and the Pinata!!

Friday, July 4th Pinata time!!

One of the things that I love about Caddilac State park is that they have a DNR that really caters to the kids. They put on all kinds of fun stuff for them. Fishing clinics, archery, pellet gun shooting ect.... On the 4th of July they had pinata's for each age group. The kids had such a fun time. Katie actually got picked to whack at it a few times and did a great job!!!!

Camping food!!

We left last week Wednesday for about 5 days of camping fun!! We went to a place about 2 hours north of us called Cadillac. They have a nice state park there and I actually took my camera along. We did a lot of tubing, swimming, fishing, eating.......

We do a lot of our cooking in a skillet right over the fire. This is one of the suppers that we had.
This one was all vegetable. I think we had almost every veggie in there and cooked together
it was soooooooooo good!!! Great job, Nate!!!

Fun at the park!

Okay, I know I am now a week behind on my blogging. We went to this fun park on a week ago Monday with my friend, Cheri and her kids. It was a really windy day but lots of fun!!!

Rocks in the Sun - New book by Troy Livesay

I would like to really promote this new book. Rocks in the sun

You all know Troy and Tara from reading my blog and from the different mission trips we have gone on.

Their heart for the Lord and for the Haitian people is just awesome! If you have not already I urge you to check out their blog and to see what is happening with the livesay family. They are VERY dear friends we love their family so much!!! If you buy the book a portion of these fees go directly to the Livesay family as a fundraiser! Please pass this on to anyone you know who may enjoy it!! Thanks!!!