Mission trip to Haiti finds people there STILL STRUGGLING by Sherri Phengchard   Litter and rubble still cover the streets of Haiti where despite a massive relief effort little has changed for the people of the Caribbean island nation devastated by an earthquake six months ago.     The mountains that stretch over Port-au-Prince, a city of 700,000, seem strong and eternal, arching their backs above the human turmoil of this broken capital city of Haiti. On the opposite side of this city, to the south, the cobalt blue Gulf of Mexico laps resolutely. The shore is a smelly...

There are a lot of stories I could tell of how our team encountered and experienced God in Haiti, but this is the one that stands out in my mind.  Throughout our time in Haiti, we spent almost every afternoon at the Son of God orphanage and we would take with us five translators.  From the beginning I noticed the kids weren’t really using the translators. I thought that it was because they were still getting used to them and it’s kind of awkward at first to have a conversation through a middle person, but we would constantly encourage the kids to use the translators.  It...

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22,25) There are numerous stories that I could tell about our time in Haiti.  Stories of despair, fragility, restlessness, and sorrow could easily be the anthem of my words, yet the story I am to tell is one of hope, life, thanksgiving, and joy!   Over six months ago, Haiti was…._______________.  (You fill in the blank…)  It seems that in some context,...

We’re home! Safe and sound! And our REAL stories are just too good to keep to ourselves! July 5, 2010…Apparently American Airlines thought that we showed up to the Atlanta airport at 4am to hang out for a couple hours with about 150 other people who didn’t speak English… Good ‘ol airline worker Jean came to the rescue after we stood in the same place for two hours and kindly told us as the rest of the crowd that the reason we hadn’t moved was because we weren’t standing in the RED line on the floor… DUH! We got to the desk to check all of...

Love will make you beautiful. -The Afters   Our team is falling in love with Haiti more and more each day and we are frequently asked by the locals: “How do you find my Haiti?” In a few words, we are finding: Awakening – Beautiful brokenness – Change needed – Determination – Excitement – Friendship – Generosity – Hurting – Intercession – Jesus – Kindness – Love – Mothers – New beginnings – Open Hearts – Patient persistance –...

Stories from Training Camp: We woke up at 3am to rain coming down on us – we hurried to pull the rain tarps over each tent and then settled in for the down pour. Eight hours later it was still coming down and puddles were slowing forming inside our tents as a river of red georgia mud was forming outside of them.   We decided to high tail it to higher ground – it was a hilarious parade of fun as everyone, soaking wet, grabbed anything in sight and carried it off to dry ground.   We had not seen the end of the mud though…   Our recent team builder was an obstacle...