This is written by Emily Lewis and Emily Stoakes, Central College students currently in Pignon, Haiti.

Click to read previous blogs:

Day 1 and Day 2 – Written by Rachel Lehr and Sarah Rankin

I am so blessed. I am so fortunate. I am so lucky… After 2 days of being in Haiti, this is how I feel.

Today, we woke up at 7:00 and ate breakfast. We had oatmeal and fresh mangos… yum! I like the food here, and I actually am satisfied with the amount of food we receive each meal. We sang worship songs and watched a video from the series A Hole in the Gospel. It was a great way to start off the day.

Emily Lewis doing cement work on the sewing house

Then, we went to the worksite and split up into 2 groups. Half of us stayed at the worksite and filled buckets with cement and poured it on the area for the base of the building. They are going to use the building for a sewing business for the women. The other half walked door-to-door and gave cloth diapers to families with babies. They also prayed with them. After a few hours the groups switched. I really enjoyed walking door-to-door because I was able to spend a lot of time with the most adorable Haitian kids.  They began to follow us around and hold our hands when we went to different houses. We thought they were going to stay with us for a few minutes, but they ended up following us the whole time. I loved it. They wanted so badly to be loved on, and I am pretty good at that.

A familiar site with the group.

We went to one house where there was a baby without any diaper or pants. I put a diaper on him, and then he started crying.  Meanwhile, his mom was talking to the group and praying to receive Christ! I held the baby for about 15 minutes and he fell asleep in my arms. So probably the hardest part of the day was saying goodbye to this baby. The other group prayed with 2 or 3 people who received Christ! We returned to the compound and ate lunch. We had cooked carrots and squash as well as potatoes with ketchup. We were given about two hours to rest, so Emily Stoakes and I went to our room and took a nap! We woke up refreshed and ready to go play with kids. We put on a vacation bible school at a library here in Pignon. Nick Rohner told the story of Moses, and Tim Wilson acted it out.

Salvation bracelets made at VBS at Olivet Library.

We had bracelets that represented Jesus and Eternal Life, so we tied the bracelets onto the kids’ wrists. I began playing a hand-clapping game with one kid, and within about 2 minutes everyone in the library was playing it. We left the library and walked to the hospital, where we were given a tour. The upstairs is pretty nice and is for people who can afford to pay, and the downstairs is for people who cannot pay. We sang Amazing Grace, I Love You, Lord, and a song we learned in Haitian for the patients downstairs. We also prayed with most of the patients. It was so tough to see these suffering people, but it makes me so thankful for everything God has blessed me with. Tonight we showed a movie on the wall and the Haitian kids joined us! A little girl slept in my arms the whole time. It was precious. Well I wish you all well back at home! I miss you Mom and Dad! Continue to pray that God will use me to be His hands and feet.

God Bless,

Emily Lewis

Today is May 15^th which is a Wednesday. We arrived in Haiti two days ago which feels like forever ago to me. Tim Brand always tells us we are on Haitian time and at first I didn’t believe such a thing but now I’m starting to think it’s very true.

We started out our morning with devotion time and some breakfast. We had some oatmeal and mangos. The food here is definitely different back home. For lunch we had some fried sweet potatoes and those have been my favorite food here so far. (Yes, Mom I said sweet potatoes!) They have to real Coca-Cola in the old fashioned bottles with the real sugar and I’ve had my fair share of them. Okay enough about the food. The view from my room is gorgeous! There are mountains surrounding the whole town on Pignon. I believe we are climbing the mountain on Saturday. (I can’t wait!)                                 

Laying the foundation for the sewing program.

After breakfast we walked out of the fenced in area from where we stay and walked on the streets of Pignon for about two blocks. We finally headed down a dirt path, which lead to the countryside of the town. We helped the community out by digging the foundation for a new sewing center. This building will be used for teaching the women of Pignon how to sew and make material goods for many purposes. Half of our group helped pour concrete for the foundation today and the other half went around the huts where people live and got to know the community.

Handing out T-Shirt diapers, as made by those in Pella.

My Creole has surprisingly improved since I’ve been here. We had lunch around noon and then had a little down time right afterwards. I chose to nap with my free time because this Haiti sun wears you out! (Yes mom, I have been wearing my sunscreen, but I still am a little pink.)  We helped out at the local library in town, where we held a vacation bible school for the children of Pignon. We learned a song in Creole and got to sing it with the Haitians. It was an awesome experience!                                                                                                                               

Emily Stoakes playing the hand game at VBS.

We are about to watch the movie Brave with the townspeople of Pignon, so I better get going! Wish I could write more!

God Bless!

(Bonyi beni ooo) that Creole for God Bless

Lots of Love,

Emily Stoakes

 

One of the walking door-to-door groups, in front of the house of one of the people who accepted Christ.