Pray for Team Haiti 2016
Tomorrow morning Team Haiti will depart for their 7th annual mission trip in Terre Blanche. The team would appreciate your prays over their travel and mission work over the next 10 days. Below is their agenda and a guide for how to pray for each of the individuals daily provided by Team Haiti. Check out last year’s Haiti Team recap here. 
HAITI PRAYER LETTER
RIVERSIDE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL JULY 2-11, 2016
Danica Bazilme, Seth Baxter, Kennedy Belknap, Larissa Belknap, Sara Bos, Noah Brown, Merilee Buehler, Mike Buehler, Camden Church, Matt Cole, Julia Favilla, Meeghan Grove, Alex Hall, Max Hochrein, Camille Jones, Olivia Jones, Elyse Kuebler, Katy Perez, Lisa Reinmuth, Anne Stoothoff, Eric Stoothoff, Jonathan Willis
JULY 2:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to talk in his ways and to keep his commands, decrees and laws, then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. Deuteronomy 30: 15-16
We all gather in Seattle for our overnight “red eye” flight to Port at Prince, Haiti. Pray we can all settle into the comforts of our seats and get some rest. It will be a very long night. Pray especially for the adults, Merilee, Mike, Anne, Eric, Sara, Larissa, Lisa and Camille. They probably need sleep more than the youth.
JULY 3:
Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said. Deuteronomy 6:18
We continue our journey this morning by road up to Terre Blanche. Pray for safety, for the drivers to remain alert, for the roads to remain clear and for no breakdowns. Pray also for the team of workers who have been preparing our “home” for the week. It is not easy to hand wash bedding in the river and yet that is what they have done to prepare for our stay.
JULY 4:
If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. Deuteronomy. 7:12
Today we start to share our love with a the village children during VBS. Pray for our story teller, Matt. We will share how God’s love gives us a choice. “Cain and Able choose an offering.” Helping him during story time are: Camden, Alex and Meeghan. Matthew, Seth and Max will be sharing a drama while Noah, Julia and Katy will be helping with action activity with the kids of the village. During our time in Terre Blanche Dr. Mike will be running a dental clinic. Helping him today are Elyse, Jonathan, Alex and Julia. Each afternoon we will have free play time with the children. Each evening before dinner, we will hike up the mountain to visit a family compound. We will pray with the family and share gifts of clothing and food. Pray that these activities will bring honor to God. Allow His love to be felt by the villagers.
JULY 5:
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his. House on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did. Not fall, because it had its foundations on the rock. Matthew 7:24-25
The VBS story teller today is Olivia, sharing how “The Prodigal Son Chooses Love.” Helping her are Noah, Julia and Katy. Matthew, Seth and Max are having fun doing a skit. The village children are starting to bond with our team. Many little ones will find the lap of a team member, some so small they fall asleep for their morning nap. Pray our love is shown in many small ways. Helping in dental today are: Camden, Camille, Meeghan and Matt. Sharing her devotion today is Kennedy.
JULY 6:
But he gives us grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
Today the VBS story is about “Naaman Who Chooses Humility”. Max is our story teller, and helping him are: Seth, Kennedy and Jonathan. We will have action activity led by Olivia and Matt and Sara. Crafts have been created by Larissa and Lisa. Each day we start VBS with songs and dancing. Joy fills the air. Then the children are challenged to memorize a bible verse. For many who may not have eaten since yesterday’s lunch this task is difficult. (Lunch is served to over 400 children each day from the school cafeteria. Many only receive this one meal a day) Pray for the children to really have the desire to store God’s word in their heart. After the memory work we share our daily story, and action activities and then crafts. After VBS our team gathers for our lunch. Our afternoons are dedicated to relationship building with the village children. Pray for Lisa and Camille who are organizing our team with fun activities to share. In the dental clinic today are: Olivia, Julia, Sara and Katy. This late afternoon the women of our team will gather with the church women for a very special time of sharing. Today is the day we bless 60 of the church leaders. We have gathered gift items, things to make their life easier and will give them these items. Each woman will receive a handmade canvas bag filled with items Riverside kids have donated. Pray for this time of gathering, that they will feel the love of our Lord through our time together.
JULY 7:
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this. Psalms 37:3-5
Today Noah starts our day off with his devotions. Then during VBS we will share stories of how “Peter and the Church Choose to Trust and Obey.” Pray for our storyteller, Camden. Helping him are: Olivia, Matt, Max. The village children will also be delighted by Camden and Katy as they do a puppet show. In the dental clinic are: Seth, Kennedy, Max and Larissa. Pray for the team as a whole. It is hot and the week gets to be long. Pray for good rest each night. We will have an evening worship this evening. Pray for this time of sharing. May the joy of our Lord be felt.
JULY 8:
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9
Our story today is how “Samuel Chooses to Listen and Obey.” Thank the Lord for each of the team members who have listened, and in obedience have poured themselves out to the village of Terre Blanche. Today is the last day for VBS but much is still to be done. Pray for Katy who starts our day off with a devotion. Then Seth, Olivia, Matt, and Max will tell the VBS story. Larissa and Lisa share the crafts. We all help the children complete this activity. Pray for Madame Elvire. She has led us each day during the Bible memory time, as well as leading her hard working team to prepare our hot dinners. Pastor Delamy and his wife Elvire have poured themselves out for our team. Pray for a special blessing for them. Danica has been on duty all week being our spokesperson. The village children speak Creole or French, while we all speak English. Communication happens 75% by body language. Danica has been there to help when we were not able to find the right words. This afternoon we will travel to another village, another of Pastor Delamy’s churches. We will meet with the school children and share some supplies we have collected. Some of these children may have walked the 45 minutes each morning to attend VBS. Alfred, the music teacher has walked each day to help with VBS. Pray for the Haitian school teachers who have also been helping each day to control the 400 plus children during VBS.
JULY 9:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Meeghan shares morning devotions. Today we all gather to open our “store” where as rewards for good behavior, or memory verses recited we exchange their memory coin for an item in our store. We have collected shoes, books, balls, clothing and other items to give away. We will open our door this morning at 9:00. Pray for the crowds of kids who have been waiting in line. Pray for good crowd control, this may be the only time this year the children have a chance for a pair of shoes. Pray for Elyse, Eric, Alex and Merilee as they help with fun exchange. Pray for each of the adults on the team: Merilee, Mike, Sara, Anne, Eric, Larissa, Lisa and Camille as they work in the afternoon organizing the supplies we will leave behind. Pray for wisdom for who should receive each item. Pray for the Haitian team who will clean and prepare the compound for the next team. All bedding will be hand washed before being stored until later. They have worked very hard serving us and keeping us safe. Each night elders of the church have stayed awake guarding the compound. We have been richly blessed, pray they have also.
JULY 10:
The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40
Today we have the gift of worshipping with the believers in Terre Blanche. Each team member will have the opportunity to share with the congregation a blessing they have received, or to speak a word of encouragement. Pray for boldness, that they will indeed bless the church with their words. After a rich couple of hours of worship we will gather our bags and head down the road. Tonight we will be staying at a beach resort closer to Port at Prince. Pray for safe travels once again on very busy roads. Once at the resort pray for a time of fellowship for our team. This is the beginning of the end but there is so much to process by each team member. We will have a time of sharing this evening. We each have experienced a story that needs to be told. Pray we are blessed during this time of sharing. Pastor Delamy and Danica will be with us. Pray we will bless them with our witness.
JULY 11:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. Psalms 84: 11-12
Today we start the long journey back home. Pray for safety on the roads, pray the airlines are not delayed. We arrive back in Seattle almost at midnight. Pray for the parents who will be picking us up. We all will be very tired, and often find it hard to verbalized our story. Pray for each team member to be bold and to trust in the Lord for he will give them boldness. May these stories be shared for the glory of God.