Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Spring Trip to Haiti


Over the past seven days, the Anderson family and Haiti Care Mission have been hard at work in Haiti.  We were very excited to get back on the ground and spend time sharing the love of Jesus with the children. 

     There are so many stories to tell about the trip that we have  decided to write about it for the next two newsletters.  For this edition, we will share some stories from our stay with our first missionary host.

     We started our trip with a few concerns about the large amount of items we were bringing in.  We took a total of 16 bags into the country.  Our main concerns were logistics and customs.  But as God always does, He took care of everything.  We had no problems with either.  We had favor at both airports, (US and Haiti) and our travel was seamless.

     Our first stop was at a small church in Tabarre.  The pastor of this church is a friend of our host, Pastor Lamartine.  As we arrived at the church, the children began to filter in.  We taught a Bible lesson and explained the meaning of the salvation bracelets.  We then distributed dresses, salvation bracelets, and candy.  After we had finished, the pastor noticed that many more children had arrived.  So many new children had arrived, that the pastor asked that we start over and tell the Bible story again so all the children could hear the message.

     When we had finished, the pastor told us, through tears in his eyes, that no one had ever come to his church to do anything like this before.  He was very grateful. He told us, “The lesson you taught them today and what you did for them today will never be forgotten by these children.”   It was very humbling to hear his words of gratitude.  We feel blessed to have opportunities like this.

     The next day, we took a longer drive to Mirebalais.  When we arrived at the church, the building was already filling up with girls from the village.  Once again, we shared a Bible story with the children and distributed items to every child.  The ladies of the church were very excited that we had dresses that fit them as well and several ladies were thrilled to receive diapers for their babies. 

     On Sunday morning, we traveled to a church in Fond Parisien. Lance shared the Gospel message to the church.  After service, we were able to distribute items to the children and not one child went home empty handed. We are always fascinated with how God plans for our trips.  We do our best to make predictions about the number of items to take to each location, but God has it perfectly coordinated.  He knows the exact number of items needed and how many children will be present.  He is the best planner of all.

    The final stop of Sunday was to Fond Dieu, on the border of the Dominican Republic.  Once again, we were impressed with the way God worked it all out.  This small church is in a very poor village, which the pastor had built through Food for the Poor.  Every child in the church and most of the mothers were able to receive a new dress or diapers.  The boys received a toy.  One mom and daughter were so excited to receive the dresses that they went to change and came back to show us.  They were very grateful.

    The first half of the trip was very busy. We were excited to be able to travel to some new locations, as well as return to some of the places we visited last April.  We feel honored to be able to share the Gospel with the children of Haiti and place an item of love in their hands.  Thank you for linking arms with us and supplying us with the resources to do this work.

 
If you would like to view pictures from the Haiti trip:
click here to view photo album
Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers.
Living victoriously in Christ,
Lynn and Lance Anderson, Mission Directors

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