First Two Days of Work

Hello Friends and Family,

It is good to finally write to you again. I hope all is well back home! We are all doing great, as God is blessing us abundantly here in Haiti. A lot has taken place these last few days and many stories and memories have been made.

Driving to the work site on day one, I can say was very nerve racking; however, very exciting as we were finally able to work. Driving past UN security and aid forces as well as hundreds of tap taps (small truck transports for the Haitians) really made me think, how great this experience is.

Our team is very strong and bonds well together as we all are different abilities put together to make one great team. When we arrived at the church, my heart was crushed to see the broken and destablized buildings at our work site. Our first day of work was very strenous as we moved tons of rocks and pieces of a broken wall that was collapsed after the quake. The devastation is saddening, but the resolve of our Haitian brothers and sisters is quite inspiring and amazing.

After working for many hours on rocks, we were able to spread out and play with the local children, clear out a giant dumb truck of material used for cement, and also do different other cleaning jobs at the work site. The day was quite a success, as Pastor Francklin told me he was very happy with our hard work.

The day had a few scares, but mainly ones we can look back and laugh at. The Haitian workers worked most of the day to collapse two trees that needed to be cut down, once they finally figured out how to the tree came crashing down on the truck that we were working to empty. Lupe was the only one in the truck at the time and thank God he was very far from the tree hitting him. Brittany had a close call with heat deprevation as she got very tired and sick from a long day of heat and lack of water. She is doing much better today, after having much rest.

Day two was an interesting day as we tried to cordnate the language barrier of Creole and English. Overall, it can be frustrating, but through patience and understanding of the Haitian people's situation we worked hard and well. We moved over thirty to forty cement bags today that weighed 95 pounds each. It was quite a feat and required the whole teams effort.

Overall, as a leader and member of this team, I have to say this trip has been nothing but a blessing to my heart and well being. God has strengthed us so much and made things so much better when they could be so much worse. We praise him for his everlasting love and provision to us and our haitian brothers and sisters. We hope to keep you updated more and more as time goes on. May God bless this trip and continue to show his hand here in Haiti.

I'd like to end this post by dedicating it to my mom who is going through chemo treatments in the hospital. Mom, I love you and we are praying for you so much, continue to be strong!

To all of you we miss you and love you very much!

God's Everlasting Love,

Logan D. on Behalf of Team Haiti

Day Three!

Group two arrived safely after traveling eight hours from the Dominican Republic. They made it through the border with relative ease which was an answer to prayer. They have great stories to tell about their stay in the D.R. but mose importantly, this group learned that in the D.R. tortillas are not they same as they are in the United States. Lupe, ordering tortillas for the group, was met with a look of confusion from the staff. However, they procedeed with the request and brought the group six omlettes.

Group three arrived safely as well. They had very nice seats flying in which was a blessing!

We went to church this morning at a church in a more upper class neighborhood. It was about an hour away, so on our drive there we were able to see a much broader view of the devastation. We saw schools that were broken down, apartments demolished, and many homes and stores that were gone as well. The most impactful think that we saw was the refugee camps which were basically "tent" after "tent" of families who were impacted by the earthquake. When we finally made it to church, we had quite a climb up the hill! The servive was wonderful and there were even a few songs that we were able to recognize and sing in English. Pastor Franklin spoke from Joshua 1:7-9 and we followed along as best we could with an outline that he had given to us. After church we took a further tour of the city and we saw more of what the earthquake did to this city. Tomorrow we start our official day of work and we are going to a church to help rebuild a wall and possibly do some VBS activity!

Group #1 is in Haiti!

We MADE IT! We are safe, God is good and we are exhausted. We were incredibly blessed by some friends of Jess V.'s family who took us in last night in Dallas. We made all our flights,and navigated the chaos of the port au prince airport, arriving with all our luggage, a huge feat!! we are looking forward to a great day tomorrow and the arrival of the other two groups.. finally our little family will be together in Hiti! Thanks for all the prayers and love!!! Continue to pray that we would see the people of Haiti the way God does, and for safe travels for the DR and 2nd Port au Prince Team tomorrow!

We Love You!
Emily
for group #1(Nolan, Jessica S., Jessica V, Andrea and Julie)

initial thoughts

I have never blogged a blog before, just as I have never killed a lion in Kenya as an initiation ritual, both of which are foreign arts to me, both of which I intend to do as a part of my personal bucket list. As this trip goes along, I hope you find our posts to be more meaningful and spirit lead... not that killing a lion cannot fulfill some spiritual exercise especially in the O.T. Are brownies good? yes. Are tomatoes tasty? only as an accompaniment on burgers. I am looking forward to sharing the love of Christ with these people, and even though I feel unprepared, God has been preparing all of us since before we were born.

In our devotion last night we identified three main focuses 4 us as individuals. Compassion, Trust, & Love. Each of these drive us to serve Haiti in Christ. -H2

Haiti 2 Team Report: We have just spent a full night in the airport in Atlanta, not much sleep. But we came closer as a team. We depart 10 am for DR.
-Logan D.

Haiti 1 : Texas

It is 12:00am in Dallas Texas, and we are staying with the Ferrington family who were so nice as to pick us up from the airport and give us a place to stay the night! It is wonderful to see the body of Christ already coming together in one big effort, even though we are not even to Haiti yet! This trip truly is in God's hands.
As for our first day of traveling, it couldnt have gone smoother. We experienced the cold Redding weather for the last time this morning as our friends gathered to pray for us in the parking lot- we will hold on to that memory. The friends, AND the COLD. Airports have been interesting as always, we have good books, and each other. There will most likely be funny and embarrassing quotes posted later, but as for now, we're gonna hit the hay.

Night ya'll, from Dallas,
Jessica V. and Andrea

Haiti 2 has now been renamed Justina Burrito.. Also travel advisary: sissors are allowed, just don't bring peanut butter! Brit's peanut butter got taken by TSA

Hello all,
This is Haiti 2, we just had to check our bags and thank God they were all free!!! God is good and he provides every step of the way!!
-Logan D.

We are encouraged and ready...

Friends and Family,

Tonight we had a our communion service tonight with the DR Team and our team and our friends and family. It was a great time. I felt God spirit so much with all those willing spirits in that one room. Praise God he is so very good to us.

We dedicate this trip to Him, our service, hearts, and lives. By faith we know he will provide every step of the way. He is very good. May you be encouraged as well by his good will to us.

Thank you once again for your help, we hope to update you as soon as we can!

Now it's time to rest. God's peace and Haiti Dreams.

Logan D.

Bags are all packed, time for Team time and Communion.
Logan D.

Less than 24 hours away...

Friends and Family,

We are officially less than 24 hours away from departure. Praise God he has been so good to us in our need. We thank each and everyone of you for your prayers and support. His grace has been so good to us as we have raised $25,000.00 in nearly two and half weeks!! AMEN, AMEN, AMEN.

This will be one of our ways of connection to you as we prepare to leave. We hope to maybe add pictures if we are able and video if possible. Mostly we will give brief updates. Each member will hopefully have an opportunity to write. We are packing our bags full of clothes, craft supplies, food, bibles, bug spray, and other goodies that will assist us.

Tonight is our commissioning service in the Prayer Chapel at 9 pm. We will be preparing our hearts for the ministry we will be apart of.

Tomorrow Schedule:
March 25, 2010
Leave Simpson Haiti 1 and Haiti 2 @7:30 am.
Haiti 1: Emily, Jessica V., Jessica S., Julie, Andrea, and Nolan take off from Sac International at 12:25 pm. They will be flying to Dallas spending the night and then flying to Miami the next morning in which they will catch a connection flight to Port au Prince, Haiti; arrival should be at 2:45 pm Haiti time on Friday.

Haiti 2:Logan D., Lupe, Kyle, Brittney, Megan, and Justina take off from Sac International at 1:08 pm. They will be flying to Salt Lake City to catch a connection to Atlanta, Georgia. They will spend the night in Atlanta and then the next morning will fly to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, arrival should be at 1:34 pm AST. They will then spend the night in the DR and depart the next day for Haiti by van transport. They should arrive to Port au Prince, Haiti on Saturday afternoon.

Friday March 26, 2010
Haiti 3:Kristina, Logan H., Andrew, Jared, and Ky, leave Simpson on Friday morning at 8. They will depart Sac International at 2:05 and arrive for a quick lay over in Dallas at 7:25. They will board another plane and fly to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida at 12:05 AM EST. They will wait 8 hours and leave on a flight at 7:20 am for Port au Prince, where they should arrive by 8:15 AM Haiti time.

That's our Journey. We hope to keep you closely updated! Please keep us, the Haitian people, and our service in your prayers! May God's Will be done.

In His Service and Everlasting Love,

Logan D. on behalf of the

Simpson Haiti Relief Team

We focus on God for this trip because he has taken our burdens and provided:

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30