Under the Haitian Sun, Part 1

  Bonjour!  I have only one week left in Haiti! I will miss this place so much, but I've enjoyed every day that I've been here.  Have there been struggles?  Absolutely!  Going to the bathroom each night with a dozen cockroaches isn't my ideal way of taking care of business.  And I'll be honest that I eat far more rice and beans than I care to. However, I've also learned to enjoy a much simpler way of living here.  And bucket showers under the bright moon and stars is something I truly look forward to each night.  God is teaching me to humble myself to find joy in completing the smallest of tasks.  He's teaching me to make do with whatever is available.  He's teaching me who He made me to be.  Here are just some of the highlights of my time in Haiti.

>> We got to visit our host cousin in the hospital less than 24 hours after giving birth to little Baby Bella. She, her mom and dad, and big brother (Chavez is 2), all live at our house. The whole outing was an adventure of two hours on a Tap-Tap*, visiting a Haitian hospital, and getting to pray over the new baby and her momma. 

    *Tap-Tap - a small pick-up truck where everyone piles into the back and a man stands on the tailgate and will tap the truck with a piece of metal to let the driver know when to stop and go...I call it the Haitian version of a subway car.

>> Celebrating my 21st birthday in Haiti was definitely a highlight! I was treated like a princess, had a spaghetti "cake" (100% awesome, by the way), and got sparkling juice popped over my head. A birthday I won't ever forget, all thanks to my two teammates, Greta and Jordan, and our translator, Jimmy. 

>> I learned how to wash clothes the Haitian way.  I think the clothes get cleaner this way than in a washing machine back home! It takes four cycles of scrubbing, rinsing, and wringing before we can hang it up to dry. By the end, my hands ache, but at least my clothes are clean!!

>> "Can I have a kiss, Baby?" is my favorite phrase each night. My 10-year-old host sister, Nika, and I love to have our nightly snuggles, which often result in her falling asleep in my lap. I don't know where she got that phrase, but we exchange plenty of kisses when it's repeated! 

>> Bucket showers are the best thing ever. That is all. 

>> I ate lobster for the first time. We had a day at the beach and watched them bring the lobster to shore directly before they cooked it for us! I actually really enjoyed it, which will surprise anyone who knows me. One, because it's seafood, and two, because it was spicy!

>> Our host mom, Mona, let us tag along to the market one day.  A Haitian market is a VERY crowded place with barely enough pathway for one person to walk through.  She introduced us to some of her many cousins, and we saw her pick out various fruits (including my new favorite: Kowosol), and get some chicken legs from a cardboard covered bowl for our dinner. Her chicken is my favorite!

>> Invited our 10-year-old host sister, Nika, to church and she came with us!! 

>> Took Mona and Nika out for ice cream for Mona's birthday. They both got so dressed up and Nika was so excited to be invited...it was so worth it! 

>> Shredding coconut has become my job at our house. Unfortunately, this means that by the time I leave, I most likely will have no fingertip on my right index finger. Mona uses the shredded coconut in her bean sauce.

>> The common area at our house has become one of my favorite places. This is where everyone hangs out and where Mona cooks. It is fun to sit out there during the day and interact with the dozen or so people who come over each day. 

>> Greta's and my room is another favorite place.  It has become the safe, comfortable place we get to call home. 

  I already have a part two started because I had so many highlights in Haiti! Look for that in the next couple weeks! 

Prayer Requests:

  ~ Safe travels to Jamaica on March 7th. 

  ~ Health for our team. We've had our bouts of illness run through the team making it a tough couple weeks. 

   ~ Within a week of each other, two of our teammates have returned to the States due to illness. Please pray for speedy recoveries for both of them so they are able to rejoin us soon! 

    ~ That our final week in Haiti will be an intentional one. That each of us will grow even closer to our host families and bridge gaps in this last week. 

  Family and Friends, your prayers, support, and encouragement mean more to me than you could ever know. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Sierra

Update from Haiti

  Hello from Haiti!  I've been here almost two weeks now - I can't believe it!  I will admit that I've started this post about four times now, I just can't seem to find what to write about.  I thought I'd tell you about how my typical day goes.  

  First of all, let me tell you about our home.  I'm living with two of my teammates right now and we're staying with our host mom, Mona.  Mona has a home that is best described as motel style with separate rooms all accessed from outside.  I think there are at least 15 people who live here right now including us.  There is a common area outside where clothes lines are strung and the activity happens.  We are in a city, Petit Goave, and we live on a busy street right across from a bar.  You can imagine how loud it can get here!  But I've learned so sleep through it. 

 

  We all wake up around 7:30 and get ready for the day, have devotional/journaling time, or sit with whoever is outside.  We eat breakfast just with our translator, Jimmy, but the whole family does not eat together.  After breakfast, my roommate, Greta, and I do the dishes, and then it differs day to day after that.  We've shredded coconut, mashed spices together, made fresh grapefruit juice, and I've even plucked gray hairs out of a man's head!  It all depends what our host family is doing.  

  At 3:00 everyday, we go to a school to teach English. It's fun to see the kids learning, and we often have the opportunity to debrief as a team afterward, if needed.  As we walk down the street, we pass many people selling items, chatting with friends, or those yelling, "Blanc! Blanc!" after us. 

  Our evenings are always different, too.  Sometimes, we get to be with our team, and other nights are just spent doing the dishes and laughing with our family.  One of our host cousins sells fried food from her porch, so we often get to help her prepare some of the food and sit out there after dark.  I always get my nightly cuddles from my 10-year-old host sister, Nika, during this time, too.  I go to bed early, around 9:00, as the heat makes me very tired. 

  It's a very different way of living here.  Very simple, and slow-paced.  The first week came with a lot of struggles, but I had a fresh perspective starting this second week.  What I'm doing day-to-day is hard to describe.  It's hard to explain, and I often worry that my answers won't be satisfactory to those of you back home.  But I have to remind myself daily that I'm here for the Lord.  Because He brought me here.  I'm here to serve Him, through serving His people in the smallest of ways. 

  Thank you for your prayers.  I feel them!  

Updated prayer requests would be:

  - Health for my team. A few have gotten sick from food while being here. Please pray for quick healing for them and avoidance for the rest. 

  - Bonding with our host family.  Although this second week has improved our relationships with them, further connection would be amazing! 

Sierra

I'm Ready

  Today was our last day serving with the Salvation Army here in New York City.  Although I will miss serving in the soup kitchen and my 3rd graders, I am excited to embark on the next phase of our adventure!

  I'll be honest, this last week, I was so nervous to leave for Haiti.  I shared those fears with my dad, who reminded me that returning to Haiti is how I came across this Immersion trip in the first place.  Since returning from Haiti in 2013, I've wanted to return.  It was his reminder and encouragement from my team leaders and teammates that had turned my nerves into excitement. And that excitement has since developed into readiness.  Readiness to leave the U.S.  Readiness to "settle" into a place for longer than just two weeks.  I am ready.  I'm ready to break down language barriers.  I'm ready to live like locals.  I am ready to be immersed.

  My mom asked me the other day if I wanted her to buy international data for my phone.  I told her no.  Not because I don't want to talk to her.  Because that is completely opposite of the truth.  But being unplugged is part of the incredible experience that I signed up for.  Unplugging will hopefully allow additional room for growth.  And, if I were to talk to my friends and family every day, I'd have nothing to tell about when I got back.  Don't get me wrong, not knowing the next time I'll get to talk to my family and friends will be extremely difficult.  And yes, I've already shed tears over it.  But it's a part of growing up.  And it's a part of this crazy adventure God is taking me on. 

  Highlights of this week: 

    • Two of the third grade girls I was tutoring wrote me a song.  It was adorable and sweet and made my day. 

          Photo credit: Mal Henderson

    • Earlier this week, Mal, one of our leaders, took us girls on a date.  The night prior, we all watched the 2001 love story, Serendipity.  On Tuesday, we are at  the restaurant Serendipity 3 in Brooklyn, which is the location the movie revolves around.  It was amazing, intentional girl-time that I believe is very important on a trip like this.  

     • Last weekend, we had a team meeting where we shared our hearts as we had faced our first bout of conflict the week prior.  Although extremely challenging, it was so necessary to share with one another where we felt hurt in the past week.  We grew as a team, and we were able to immediately put into practice what we'd discussed.  

          Photo Credit: Mal Henderson

     • I have been sick this week.  I spent all of Thursday in bed, unable to help my team serve in both the soup kitchen and with the after-school program.  Was being sick a highlight?  No, of course not.   However, throughout the day, many of my teammates checked up on me several times, asking how I was doing and if I needed anything.  Since I didn't have my own bed to sleep in, nor my mom to be there, having my teammates there for me was the next best thing. 

  So, the next time you hear from me, I will be in Haiti.  I will say now, though, that I have no idea how often I'll have Internet access.  Below are some specific prayer requests as we make this transition. 

   1. Pray for those on both the Caribbean team and Africa team who are still sick.  That we would heal quickly and feel 100% by Monday, when we all head out. 

    2. Pray for the adjustment into our host families.  That they would be smooth and that we would develop deep, rich relationships with them.

    3. Pray for my team that we would continue to grow closer together and face conflict head on, despite how challenging it can be. 

  Thank you all. 

  In Christ,

    Sierra

A Greater Purpose

  Yesterday, New York was hit with a huge snowstorm.  At times, it was almost blizzard conditions.  Cold, blustery, and at least six inches of snow when we left, a small group of us made our way to REI.  

  We took the subway, but when we got to REI, we found it closed early due to the storm.  Frustrated, we turned back towards the street, and noticed a van stuck in the middle of an intersection.  We quickly went to help and proceeded to spend the next half hour pushing stuck vehicles.  

  I reflected on this on our way back.  Our frustration about trekking to REI only to find it closed was very short-lived.  I believe helping those people is why we made that cold, wet journey.  It was God's purpose...not ours. 

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord." ~Isaiah 55:8

  Experience Mission's "motto" is Live Your Mission.  Did things go as planned yesterday?  No. Will things in the next five months always go as planned?  Definitely not.  But it's learning to be flexible and serving where we're at.  It's about seeing a need and diving in with a servant's heart.  Yesterday, we worked as a team to get cars out of stuck snow.  We were cold, hungry, and at first frustrated, but had there been more stuck cars after we pushed the last one, we would have stayed out there.  We were there not on our own time, but on God's.  We embodied what it means to "live your mission". 

  Living My Mission,

Sierra

New York City

  So it's Day Four in NYC and I am loving it!!!  We've been staying at the Salvation Army since Friday night. Salvation Army doesn't have programs during the weekend except church on Sunday morning.  And since Martin Luther King Day was on Monday, we've had the whole weekend to explore New York City.  Nobody's complaining!  I've walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, stood in awe of Times Square, ridden the subway, visited the 9/11 memorial, and have visited a few adorable, local coffee shops.  But don't misunderstand me, although all those things are fun, navigating the subway system when nobody knows it, is the biggest team-building activity.  Experiencing these things together for the first time is the greatest bonding things ever.  It was a weekend of fun, bonding, and more getting to know each other.  It's been one week.  One week.  And I feel like I've known my amazing team for at least two months!  I wonder what I'll say in two months....

  Today was our first day of serving with the Salvation Army.  It was challenging, but I absolutely loved it!  The whole group of twenty-six (Caribbean and Africa teams) went to one of three Salvation Army locations. I stayed with six others at the location where we've been living.  Our first task was cleaning and reorganizating their giant refrigerator. This location feeds about 300 people on a daily basis, so their pantry, freezer, fridge, pretty much the kitchen in general is super-sized.  During lunch, we got to serve 200 of those people lunch at the soup kitchen.  It was so much fun interacting with people! I just loved it!  The last part of our day was serving lunch to kids who attend the after-school program.  I also got to go into a classroom with a small group of 3rd graders and help them with their homework and also got to chat with their "tutor" for a bit!

  Prayer requests this week:
• that we would meet our challenging moments head-on and be ready for when the Enemy attacks us with uncomfortable situations
• a few people have gotten colds since arriving in New York. Please pray that would all stay healthy.
• for continued growth as teammates

Thank you all so much!

First Two Days

 I had a wonderful day on Sunday, getting sent off by my church family.  It is such a comfort to know I have a great support group and prayer warriors I'm leaving behind.  My mom made my favorite meals, and my family stayed home to play several games and have our last movie night.  My mom graciously took me shopping since I had a last minute change of mind on what shoes I'd be bringing.  After purchasing two pairs of shoes, I got home and changed my mind again.

 Monday morning was a pretty rough morning for me.  My amazing family got up super early to take me to the airport.  As many people warned me, the airport goodbye was the hardest.  Leaving my family for six months is the one thing I'm most scared about.

  The flights went quickly and smoothly, and for that I am grateful.  We are staying in a beautiful building with dorm-style rooms and a large community room that we can all hang out in.  There are 25 of us all here right now with 13 on my Caribbean team and 12 on the Africa team.  My two leaders are awesome and very welcoming. And my ten team mates are also amazing, and I'm enjoying getting to know them.

  Today we started our orientation.  We've had two sessions, each three hours long. The hours have seemed to fly by, but they are theologically deep and challenging.  The discussion that happens, though, is real, spiritually stretching, and definitely helps us get to know each other.  We will be serving in New York with the Africa team as well, so it's fun to get to know them, too.

 On Friday, we will all jump in some vehicles and begin the 10+ hour trek to New York. I'm so excited to finally visit NYC!!

 Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
A few new prayer requests would be:
   • that God would reveal Himself to each of us throughout these tough discussions
   • we will have safe travels to New York
   • our team time will be fruitful and fun

Love,

Ten Days!

  Can it really be only ten days away?  I have a list going of all I need to accomplish in the next eleven days.  Some are larger, time-consuming tasks such as "unpack that pack and eliminate something because you're going to break your back carrying all that stuff!", and some are little reminders, such as "go outside in the freezing cold and get your sunglasses out of your car to pack them since you can never seem to remember to grab them anytime you get out of your car!"  It's not quite that detailed on my list, but it's implied.

Everything I will be taking with me...out of the pack

Everything I will be taking with me...in the pack(s)

  The big blue pack in the lower picture has most of what is on the tables in the first picture inside.  The daypack has some basic items that will be carried in it while out and about, and the big, green, round thing is my new bug net!  I changed my mind from the first bug net (see November's post) to a Sansbug net.  It pops open like a tent and has plenty of wiggle room, is lightweight, and while it takes up more room than the previous one, it was also cheaper! (Bonus!!)

  I would absolutely love your encouragement, prayers, and thoughts while I'm away!  Although I won't have immediate access to internet, I would love to open up my inbox to a plethora of notes from my supporters!  Feel free to Facebook message me, email me, or use the contact form on the right sidebar to write me a note throughout the next six months!

  Tomorrow is my final day at work.  I am so eager to be done working and focus 100% on the trip and spending my final days with friends and family.

  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!  Thank you for your support!!