A few pictures and thoughts~

Well today was Jen and Jon's last day in Haiti. They are on their way to Ft.Lauderdale in the morning for some debrief time before they land in Canada Friday. Jen and I updated about 50 kids today and it went really smooth, praise God. The pics below are of the beach we visited and swam at a couple times. The next one is the way a cement roof gets poured Haitian style. Lastly is all the elementary school kids singing their national anthem and raising the flag. They do it each day. Tonight at church Chris had the opportunity to preach, and it was well received and a blessing for all Haitians and Canadians! Tomorrow will be a quiet day on the compound as the team is leaving. But lots is going on to prepare for the youth conference and crusades that will be happening Thursday to Sunday. Please pray that the people who speak will be used by God to share the gospel and to encourage believers. Also pray for the hearts of the young people that are coming to take part in the conference. God is going to do great things, we can feel it AMEN? :)

Lots Happening

So yesterday was an amazing day for us. Church, praising God together and celebrating Christ's resurrection. There was 3 singing groups that sang: men, women and the little girls club. They sing beautifully such a blessing for everyone. We had lunch then prepared to go to the Tapion children's church which was a high light for everyone. Roseline and Jhony are the very faithful servants who lead the kids every Sunday afternoon. They have the kids memorize scripture and songs and each Sunday they ask a few of them to share in front of the rest of the group. We sang some fun praise songs together and Jen and I shared the resurrection story on a flannel graph board. Then Chris and I had the privilege of praying for and encouraging the kids with a small word. I don't even know how to put into words how blessed I was to be there. Wow thank you Lord!! Then we went into town for a dinner out at the local restaurant Mondy's. Fried plantain and goat with a little bit of spicy coleslaw, very good. A little walk thru town and we were all pretty done for the day. Today Jon got to help form up the roof at the welding shop. Tomorrow they are going to pour the roof and it's going to be a 40 man job all by hand with 2 small cement mixers and lots of buckets. It's going to be an experience for him, and Chris is definitely going to help too. I think Jen and I will stick to working with the kids in the morning. :) Sponsorship updating is going pretty well, have lots to do over the next 5 days and Lord willing it'll all get done. Pray for that please. Today was pretty relaxing, Chris is busy preparing for preaching this week I think he's going to preach maybe five times in the next 6 days. So pray for him for that. He's super excited to share at the youth conference. This afternoon he was invited to preach at the boys club in the church too. Boys ages 10-15. I hung out with Gaby today gave her a bath under the mango trees. Lots of fun watching her explore the world around her. Hopefully the snow is all gone once we're back and then we can be outside which she's loving. Well I think that's all for today. Lots happening and going on, God is good keeping us safe healthy and relaxed. Praise Him! Sorry if this has some grammar and spelling mistakes. I sorta wrote it quickly.

Busy Relaxing Day

Hi Everyone, We had a great day today, Chris Jen and Jon went to the Grand Goave market to check out the sights. It was a learning experience and only one that needs to be done once. The heat and smells are hard to behold. Gab and I stayed back from some R&R. I had a great chat with an old friend and he was able to shed more light on Haitian culture. Then we had lunch and went to visit an orphanage called Hands and Feet. They have 27 children and are in the process of building permanent residences for the kids. It's a really new ministry and everything is temporary at the moment. They are doing great work, Haiti ARISE is doing something similar by helping orphans! On their sign is James 1:27 and we think that's being fulfilled. Then we went to the beach for a lovely swim and some relaxation. Gabrielle loves the water and sand, rocks etc. She is doing fantastic, praise God! Chris went to play bball with a few old friends and had a wonderfully sweaty time. We are looking forward to Easter Sunday service in the morning it starts at 8am. 7am for the Haitians as they have Sunday school first. Well good night from Haiti~

Mangos a plenty!

Bonswa from Haiti. Wow a great few days, lots of sweat, stories and more sweat. Yesterday Chris and Jon had an adventure going over to the children's village to tile the floor. It was a morning of road blocks where they learned nothing is easy or organized in Haiti. But not in a bad way it's just a reality. much patience was applied. In the afternoon much to Jon's surprise he became a tiling teacher. (ask him about it!) They also went up to the children's church at Tapion and extended the tin roof and levelled the ground around the church. They were blessed by Roseline the church leader with cool drinks and crackers. Something small for them but a big sacrifice for her. Looking forward to sharing there on Sunday! Jen and I have been having a great time updating the sponsored young people. It's amazing to see their growth physically but also the maturity that is developing in a lot of them. About 5 will be graduating high school in June and have all applied to go to college in September. Very exciting! We've had lots of down time in the afternoon visiting with many old friends and watching Gabrielle enjoy the little tin bath under the mango trees. The mangos are plentiful and delicious. The food and hospitality is fantastic we are very blessed. God is good and it's neat to see the work He's doing here at Haiti ARISE. One of the sponsor girls in particular gave praise to God as she has been healed of pain in her back. She has scoliosis (you can tell looking at her) but she says it doesn't give her trouble any more. SO amazing because the last time I was here she was wearing a huge brace and wasn't doing so good. Ah-mazing :) Tomorrow is Good Friday and we'll be having a special service for that at 3pm but we'll be heading to the beach in the morning. Looking forward. God Bless you thanks for reading.

Here Safe~

Greetings, Here we are in Haiti wow, lots of emotions. It's quite the journey to get here 2 flights a night in Miami and another flight early in the morning. A wild ride from the airport and thank you God we are here. Reunited with a few familiar faces and thankful to God for bringing us back. Gabrielle was an amazing traveller and had a great first day exploring Haiti and loving all the animals every where. Feeling thankful tired and blessed. We will write more tomorrow and Lord willing get a few pictures on here for you. Blessings, Chris Rebecca Gaby Jen and Jon!

Returning together at last!

Time to resurrect our blog and tell you all that Chris and I are finally returning to Haiti this April. We've both gone back on 2 separate trips over the past couple years, but there's nothing like going together. What makes this trip even more special is bringing our sweet baby girl Gabrielle (she will be 18 months) with us. I know many of our Haitian friends will be delighted to meet her. We want to bring her to get a glimpse of what it would be like to be in Haiti with a child, as we consider long term missions in the future. We will be bringing friends of ours from our new church family in Innisfail, AB to come and see Haiti. And worship along side our Haitian brothers and sisters. We are going to be updating the Education Fund and participating in a youth conference. Plus many more adventures and times of reconnecting with old friends. My heart feels excited and happy as I think about this upcoming trip. Looking forward to telling our story as we get ready to go and while we are down there!

Haiti I missed you~

Greetings to anyone who's been checking for me to write a blog. I am sorry to report I've had no desire to write. Not sure why but it's like I am treasuring all the moments in my heart. So here I am back in Haiti the place where Chris and I lived for almost a year.
I found the piece of my heart that I left and it has been filled to over flowing with the love and reception I've received coming back.
I honestly am overwhelmed by the love of the people we worked so closely with.
Chris isn't here and everyone constantly asks about him. You never know the impact you have until you leave and come back. I know it was the Lord's doing as we sought him and asked to be led each day.
I am here to update the education fund for all the sponsors back in Canada. So far by the grace of God it is going well. Interesting timing though because the HAM students are on Spring/Easter Break but the Lord has provided a way for the children to come so for that I am thankful.
Next week we will be updating all the college, and high school students which I am looking forward to. It is great to see the improvement and growth in so many of the young students.
I am here with 2 teams from Med Hat and Calgary. They've been really busy helping build the homes and running VBS for the kids. We did a roof pour on the technical school that everyone was involved in that was awesome to witness again.
Today is Saturday and the ladies are planning an afternoon of blessing for the married women of the church. They will have a meal at the beach, go swimming, share testimonies, and do girly type things. I am looking forward to that for sure! We were blessed to be a part of that last year and now again this time. The men of the church are busy preparing the meal. What an encouraging time for the women to be blessed by the men.
Church services have been great and powerful. The prayers, songs and messages have blessed many hearts and you can feel the spirit moving among the people.
Weather has been very humid it has rained pretty much every night. Mangoes are ripe and falling so I've enjoyed munching a few everyday. There is much more to day but this is it for now.
Blessings to you all from Grand Goave.