Friday, March 16, 2012

Update from the best female chaperone ever!

Greetings friends and parents of our HDCH team! This is a message from one of your two faithful chaperones, Liz Bonisteel!

Let me begin by saying, after faithful daily blogging, we are very sorry to have missed a day yesterday. The students have been SO wonderful, taking time, EVEN after EXTREMELY busy daily ministry and service activities, to update everyone. Yesterday the internet was COMPLETELY down due to high winds and rain, disabling an update. We are sure you all understand, considering we are living and working in a developing country;) We hope to update every day for the remainder of the trip.

Can I also say, although I am SURE you ALL are already very aware of this fact, this team of students is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! Every day they are striving to get closer with Jesus while serving the people of Haiti as well as one another. This was so evident last night as students shared personal testimonies. Every individual had such unique experiences to share and wonderful insights into how God has been developing in their lives over the past few months and most specifically since coming to Haiti. Many expressed gratitude for the families and homes they have, having seen people here in Haiti live with so little. A few also talked about their deep desire to continue drawing closer to Jesus. Imagine; what God is doing in these 14 students does not stop within this group or at the end of this trip. We PRAY and BELIEVE that the changes and the impact being made within EACH student will cause a ripple effect that will influence their families, peers, friends and communities for ETERNITY!

As for today, we spent a WONDERFUL time at WAHOO BAY BEACH RESORT, about an hour's bus ride from Mission of Hope. Students enjoyed OCEAN sea-doing, relaxing by the pool, shell collecting, and a DELICIOUS full Haitian lunch. After dinner, our team was on dish duty and everyone did a "bang up" job getting the dishes done for all 150 people who ate this evening. We also got to hear from Brad Johnson, Mission of Hope's President. His passion for Haiti and everything Mission of Hope hopes to accomplish was inspiring and I am sure many of the students will continue supporting and promoting Mission of Hope beyond this trip.

ANNNND in case no one mentioned it yet, Thursday was a SUPER exciting day as the students got to meet the HDCH sponsored Mission of Hope student. I as well chose to sponsor a child this week and was GIDDY with excitement Thursday morning KNOWING I would be meeting Antoinette Jean in the afternoon. Although my sponsored child looked hesitant and nervous waiting to meet me, she and I had the most AMAZING first interaction and because she has been in school for several years already (she is 18 years old and in Grade 8) she and I could speak French together without an interpreter! As a French Immersion student and now teacher it was SO fulfilling to be able to communicate with someone in my second language. As well, there were not enough interpreters for the amount of sponsored children who were meeting their sponsors SO I also got to translate for another sponsor and their student. It made all the years struggling through French class worth it and I am so excited to continue developing a relationship with my sponsored child. We have already planned to meet up and sit together at church on Sunday.

Since this MAY be my only trip post, I will end by saying that I LOVE these students SO much and am equally in love with Haiti and all the wonderful experiences we have had here. Monday is going to come all to soon and although I am sure you will all be glad to see these awesome kids again, I will be SO sad to say goodbye to them all.

Sooooo until we see you at the airport......

Owevwa e Bondye beni ou
(Goodbye and God bless you in Creole ;)

Liz ;)

2 comments:

  1. Cheryl van der Mark11:07 PM, March 16, 2012

    Thanks for the great update Liz. Glad to hear that you are enjoying these great kids! Haiti is a life changer. I pray that you all carry this experience far and wide for God's glory. Kenton.. sounds like an MOH intern in the making ;)
    Teagan.. proud of what God has accomplished through you. Hope you are having an awesome time showing the team around your "hood" and hope you are enjoying connecting with old friends. Give Nat's babies a ti bo for me.
    Cheryl van der Mark

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  2. Thanks Liz for your willingness to take 10 days out of your life for our children. It is really appreciated by us all. Your blog was wonderful to read, we are so glad that our children are making an impression not only with you as chaperones but the people in Haiti they meet everyday. Thinking of you all as we soon go off to church, may your day also be blessed! Kelly Bill

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