Hi everyone. I am writing this today for a number of reasons. I want to share with you about the last mission trip to Haiti because it was beyond anything I have ever experienced. This time I am doing it through the pictures. God was so present ! But first I want to bring you encouragement. I first visited Haiti 11 years ago. It was prior to the earthquake. I had no idea what was in store for me when I went there, nor did I ever dream that I would fall in love with these precious people the way I did. Loving them was easy. I wanted to bring them all home. The part that was hard for me was how was I going to make a difference in their lives. Who am I that I dare to think I have something to offer them . I had no idea how to do this. No idea how to start. I'm nobody special, just a mom, a grandma, a nurse, an ordinary person. I could not sleep or stop thinking about them. So I did the only thing I knew to do and that was to pray. And Jesus opened the door. He sent me there. Over and over. All the while I would keep asking Him what it was that He would have me to do. The same thing kept coming to me. He kept saying, " Just love my people". But you see, to me that happened the moment I met them. That was so easy. I kept asking and asking and it was always the same, just love my people. I kept thinking I had to do more than just love His people. In the beginning I was so uncertain on what to do or how to do it. But it was like blind faith. It was a passion He put in my heart and I realized I just had to take a step of faith. As I did that, and believe me, I had no idea what I was doing, it was like He took my hand and led me every step of the way. I never preached before, never prayed for a large group of people. It was totally out of my comfort zone. I saw things in Haiti and experienced things that I never knew of or heard of. Spiritual things. But God was right beside me. He taught me to get out of the way. He taught me to allow Him to take over and let the Holy Spirit move. And oh how He has. I have had the privilege of Him working through me (cause I could never do this of my own accord) to preach on the streets, in churches, baptize, dedicate, pray for multitudes, cast out demons, see people set free, officiate weddings, funerals, and miracle upon miracles take place. He filled my mouth with His words. I did not know what I was saying most of the time but I could see by the peoples faces that Jesus was touching them. They were being changed. They felt Him. In all these years, God has provided everything He has needed to accomplish that which He wanted. It was not me. He has sent angels to pray for His mission and angels who give. He has given the people in that mountain a beautiful church that is so on fire for Jesus, a school where children come and feel special and most of all, He has filled them all with His love. He has taught me that love truly is everything. Love, His love, breaks every barrier, every chain . Love conquers all. And there is NOTHING we cannot do through His love. If He could use me, the least of these, the least likely, He can and will use you if you take a step of blind faith. He will lead you by the hand and take you places you never knew He would. And oh what a blessing it is to be used by Him. God bless you all.
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11/14/18 What an expierence !!! Jennie,Tom, Laura, James, Keith, Rod, Leah, Keenan, Al, & Me !2/29/2020 What an experience this mission trip was from start to finish ! We had Tom and Laura Manuel leading their team of musicians as they blessed all of our village with their beautiful music ! Teaching the children every chance they got at different workshops how to play various instruments ! The smiles on their faces as they heard these strange sounds that turned into music was just priceless ! As all that was going on, Jennie, Keith, James and I visited homes, praying over everyone who wanted prayer . Blessing their homes before we left as we also gave out care packages to each one ! We had times of fun and also meetings with the Leadership of our church where we asked our Pastor of True Love Mission Church, if he would be willing to give up his full time job and be our full time paid Pastor ! He said yes ! We are all so thankful ! We took about 40 kids who have never been in a pool before and had a time of fun at the local hotel where there is a pool ! There was so much laughter and smiles that it just filled out hearts to overflowing ! The whole time together was amazing ! But getting home became a challenge as the morning we were to leave all of Haiti shut down . No one was permitted in the streets due to all the problems that were going on . The embassy was shut down . The emergency helicopters were shut down but our Jesus is never shut down ! It’s by His amazing grace we got home and that we got home safe ! A normal ride to the airport is about an hour and a half ! We went through fire and rock barricades with machine guns surrounding us and made it to the airport in 18 minutes !To God be all the glory in this mission and in all our lives !
 What another amazing Missions trip! We had a pretty large team going this time and everyone brought their love and passion to serve with them ! As soon as we arrived it was like family brought together! We went straight up to our church where the team quickly embraced the people young and old as they shared from their hearts why they were there. We blew up balloons in the dark that had little lights in them ! It made that whole mountain top just seem to glow and radiate the love of Jesus ! We spent the rest of the week going all over that mountain visiting and giving out food, clothes, toys,dolls etc. One afternoon was spent on the street where we had set up tables. We had coloring stations, painting stations, a game table, and nail polishing table !! Oh my gosh !! What fun it was to see the smiles on the faces of the young and old as they went from table to table enjoying their time! Later ,we decided to go to the other side of the mountain and share there as well ! What a scene it was as all the motorcycles pulled up to get us up that mountain ! Truly a moment none of us will ever forget ! The day before we left, we had such an amazing time with all the kids. Jean had them all come to his yard where we had a few stations set up . All the kids and some adults tie dyed t-shirts ! Our team taught them how to rubber band the shirts and then how to carefully put them into the dye. They all had so much fun ! When it was time to take off the rubber bands and see their t-shirts, you should have seen their faces ! They were so proud and they wore those shirts like they were gold ! Arnie, Russ and Eddy joined us that day ... what a blessing ! They are from the Ronkokoma Rotary. They actually traveled to Haiti in the hopes of getting our church and school water ! As they went up that mountain, we all prayed for the answer we were hoping to hear ! And guess what ??? We are going to get WATER !!! Thank you Jesus !!! Thank you for these faithful men and for all those that helped to make this possible ! We are waiting on God's perfect timing and we know it will happen. God moved through each one who came. It was another beautiful mission trip. We thank Jesus for this incredible opportunity and we love our Haiti family so very much !
This trip was a solo trip but one that was packed with non stop ,church, care packages, visiting, praying, feeding the multitudes and just loving on one another. One of the days I had a women's meeting and we spoke of the power of prayer. We shared testimonies of answered prayers and the importance of it being part of everything we do throughout the day. I shared with them what the Moms In Prayer International Group is about and encouraged them to meet and pray at least once a week together for their children, grandchildren, families and their villages. When it was over I had the opportunity to wash the feet of each one of these precious women , pray over them and anoint them with oil. Oh what a beautiful day it was. My time in Haiti always goes by so fast. Each day is such a blessing. It is such an honor to be part of their lives.
 Mission Trip 11/16/16 Oh what a trip! With Heidi, Abby, Laura, Tom, Ali, Danny and Kiersten2/3/2020 Oh my gosh! What a blessing! There were seven people that so wanted to be apart of this mission trip, plus myself of course. As soon as we landed the excitement in their hearts could be seen on their hearts could be seen on their faces. As we traveled to Jean's place each one was just taking in all that they saw. When we arrived, they were immediately greeted by a crowed of kids that just ran up to each one to give them hugs and help with their suitcases. We didn't waste any time! We started to unpack barrels that were waiting for us and then we went up the mountain to our church. It was a wonderful time of worship, meeting, greeting and hugging one another, Even for those who came for the first time, they felt the love and closeness that only God can make happen like that! It was instant! For the next week, the team that was led by Heidi Reid, put on a few different presentations to our church family, our school children and to approximately 400 people on the other side of the mountain. No words needed to be spoken. Jesus did it all as they did their did it all as they did their skits. Every one was so engaged, you could hear a pin drop. God moved once again and it brought us even closer together. The rest of the week we packed so much in, giving out everything we brought, visiting homes, feeding, praying and just loving on them. With all that we did, I don't think our Haiti family will ever realize how much of a blessing they are to us and how their lives and love have touched our hearts. We are forever changed. Forever grateful.
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