The Osklaoosa CRC Senior High Youth Group break into groups and with enthusiasm and excitement they praise the Lord by serving all over Pignon!

Day 5 in Haiti was LAUNDRY DAY and another work day for us. Everyone woke up full of energy and ready to start another day…not. We are getting tired, but mostly because we are staying up too late. We are having so much fun we hate for the days to end. Yet we are excited for what tomorrow brings.

Laundry Day

We realized that we have been telling you about what each group has been doing, but forgot to tell you who was in each group.

Group 1: Kip & Margie Greenhalgh, Jessie Eveland, Brandt Brown, Tyler Montalvo, Leah Van Maanen, Kaity Richmond, Briana Ver Steegh.

Group 2: Brad Boender, Gloria Buckallew, Jake Taylor, Jacob Sampson, Emma Bunnell, Saydee Smith, Taylor Seaton, Gracie De La Cruz and Cara Roquet.

Group 3: Billy & Ariann Blake, Dylan Meyers, Adlynn Eveland, Paige Howard, Sienna De Jong, Erin Shannon, Melissa Moorman.

Please forgive us!

Group 1 spent the morning distributing goats. It proved to be difficult for the kids to let the goats go after they decided to give them names and get attached in one hours time. They were named the following: Opal, Ramba, Kaity Heren, Robert/Oreo=Robertoreo and Cowssandra. We were blessed by each of the kids praying for the family that received their goat.

Whole group goat distribution Praying a blessing over a family receiving goat

The afternoon was spent painting rooms in the new education center. We gave a second coat of “Buttercream” to one room and a first coat to the other rooms. It will be very exciting when the school is complete and the first group of 4 year olds begin in the fall.

Painting Group

Group 2 spent the morning loving on and playing with the kids at Thrive for Five. The girls quickly fell in love with the babies until one peed on them. Actually our teens were awesome with all of the kids and after singing “If you are happy and you know it” in Creole, the teens got up and sang it in English for them. They quickly recognized the song and did the actions with us.

Thrive Smiles and Tickles

We went to the deaf school in the afternoon and played basketball and soccer, blew bubbles, took pictures of the kids (which they loved seeing themselves in them) and our girls let the little ones paint their fingernails. We had to leave early as a storm was approaching and we didn’t want to get caught in the rain.

Deaf School

Pouring cement floors was on the agenda for Group 3 this morning. We split into 2 groups so we could do cement at 2 houses. We conquered both before 10 am! The assembly lines were fast and powerful. And we are the group with only one boy! #girlpower. The families were so grateful.

Starting concrete floor Finished concrete floor

We also had the opportunity to go with Liz to assess homes for the same Do Something Concrete project. We were able to find 2 homes that qualified so we chatted with the families and measured the houses for her. In the afternoon we distributed food to 4 families.

Christi always asks the families questions to make the distribution more personal between us and the families. One of the questions she asked was if they were a Christian, and if they remembered a time when God had answered their prayers. One lady said she had prayed for God to provide, and our group bringing the food was definitely an answered prayer. It was so neat to have confirmation where God is using us to do His work.

Food Distribution

Another family blessed

Another family blessed

Devotions tonight were centered around faith and deeds in our families. We spent some time talking about our family lives and answered yes/no questions such as “Do you have chores,” “Are you the oldest, middle, or youngest” and “Do you have a curfew.” It was a neat way to get insight into each persons family.

We also received our parent letters tonight. It was a time of smiles, laughter and some tears. Some kids even enjoyed reading their letters to each other after devotions. They all said it really meant a lot to receive letters from all of you parents and they miss you!

Evening Devotions Relaxing in the evening