OneEightyOne Student Ministries

It’s exciting to be a part of long term transformation! There are noticeable differences here in Haiti, even since our first trip 4 years ago. For instance, there is considerably more vegetation. The tress are taller and there’s more ground cover. While that may not seem like a big deal, it is. This country is regularly hit with hurricanes and tropical storms that have washed away their topsoil. This has been complicated by serious deforestation years ago. Haiti is just now beginning to recover. We spent the afternoon planting trees. These trees will provide shade, food, an income, and help reestablish fertile topsoil. It’s happening – we can see the change. 

We’re also seeing changed lives. Children are trusting Christ for salvation at VBS. Adults and families are hearing the gospel as we plant trees and install water filters. God is so good. 

While our team is tired, they’re doing well, keeping great attitudes. Please continue to pray for us. We need boldness tomorrow as we share the gospel and Christ’s love in very practical ways. We’re very excited – tomorrow is Goat Day. 

We’re grateful to God for His provision and protection. Our team is healthy, spirits and unity are high, we’re doing well. 

Two nights ago I asked the team, “What do you miss most?” The top two answere were AC (or all things cold) and our families. It has been interesting to see the list grow as the week progresses. There are so many things we often take for granted, but we are gaining a new perspective and apprecation. 

The team is doing a great job leading and loving on the kids at VBS, which is what we’re doing for the first half of each day. 

We spent the afternoon in the village of Source Matelas installing water filters for a number of families. These families were selected by the local churches because of known needs. We installed the water filters and taught them how to use them. We also spent time with each family getting to know them, sharing about Jesus Christ, and praying for their various needs. It was a powerfull time of showing the love of Christ in a very practical way. 

We finished our evening with a celebration service at Church of Hope. It was amazing to sing and dance with hundreds of believers from both North America and Hatia. 

Please continue to pray for our team. The heat is a real challenge – it was 105 degrees today. 

Tomorrow we will serve in VBS then return to a village to plant another 24 fruit trees.

Sorry for the delay, internet access has been very poor. This is yesterday’s (Sunday’s) post without pictures. Many more pictures will come as the Internet allows.

Today was very full, not with work projects yet, but with worship and orientation. We enjoyed a tour of Mission of Hope’s main campus in Titanyen. 

We got to see their amazing clinic which includes an ER, prosthetic clinic, dental clinic, and soon an OR. They also operate mobile clinics through the villages in the region. They’re offering some of the best medical care in the country. 

We also got to tour their various shops that provide job training and enployment for Haitians including a coffee and ice cream shop, an art gallery, and a shop that sells various hand made goods like jewelry. 

One amazing part of the ministry here is how they are feeding 91,000 Haitians daily!

We took a tour through several villages where MOH has done amazing work providing improved housing and water for the locals. 

Worship at the Church of Hope was amazing, even if it was in Haitian Creole. It’s interesting to see how other believers worship our God so passionately. 

Dinner tonight was a traditional Haitian meal of chicken, rice, beans, and plantains, prepared by some local women. It was delicious.

We also got to see the retirement village MOH has established as well as the technical school and sports clinic they are currently building.

Finally we concluded our day with a time of worship and celebration back at the Church of Hope. 

These are just the highlights. As you can see it was a very full day of cathing the vision for how God is at work here. Tomorrow we will be busy with VBS and planting trees. 

Prayers for our team are appreciated. We already have a couple of students who are feeling the effects of the heat. Everyone is ok but this week will be physically challenging. 

Another amazing day in Haiti. Our day started off early with our first day of Vacation Bible School. After an energetic opening program we helped the kids work through 4 separate stations:

1. Recreation – where we get to play games and help them burn off some of their endless energy.

2. Agriculture – where they’re learning the basics of land preservation, cultivation, to avoid pollution, and how to plant and grow healthy crops.

3. Nutrition – each child receives a nutritious meal, enhabced with vitamins and minerals, consisting of rice, beans, noodles, and purified water. This is the only/primary meal for many of them.

4. Bible – where they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the week.

This afternoon we visited a nearby village – Source Matelas. We were able to plant 24 trees (mango, cherry, and avacado) for various families. These trees will provide food, shade, and help reestablish ground cover and top soil. During the project we were able to talk with family members about Jesus Christ and pray for their needs. One of our teams even had the privelege of leading a young man to salvation in Christ!

As you can see it was a very fully and fruitful day.

Sorry for the delay, internet access has been very poor. This is yesterday’s (Sunday’s) post without pictures. Many more pictures will come as the Internet allows.

Today was very full, not with work projects yet, but with worship and orientation. We enjoyed a tour of Mission of Hope’s main campus in Titanyen. 

We got to see their amazing clinic which includes an ER, prosthetic clinic, dental clinic, and soon an OR. They also operate mobile clinics through the villages in the region. They’re offering some of the best medical care in the country. 

We also got to tour their various shops that provide job training and enployment for Haitians including a coffee and ice cream shop, an art gallery, and a shop that sells various hand made goods like jewelry. 

One amazing part of the ministry here is how they are feeding 91,000 Haitians daily!

We took a tour through several villages where MOH has done amazing work providing improved housing and water for the locals. 

Worship at the Church of Hope was amazing, even if it was in Haitian Creole. It’s interesting to see how other believers worship our God so passionately. 

Dinner tonight was a traditional Haitian meal of chicken, rice, beans, and plantains, prepared by some local women. It was delicious.

We also got to see the retirement village MOH has established as well as the technical school and sports clinic they are currently building.

Finally we concluded our day with a time of worship and celebration back at the Church of Hope. 

These are just the highlights. As you can see it was a very full day of cathing the vision for how God is at work here. Tomorrow we will be busy with VBS and planting trees. 

Prayers for our team are appreciated. We already have a couple of students who are feeling the effects of the heat. Everyone is ok but this week will be physically challenging.

This morning started early to ensure we had time to pack our belongings, clean up after ourselves, and eat breakfast before hitting the road. We loaded the trailer, said our goodbyes, and heard a challenge from Matt to remember the impact of serving on those around us, the importance of encouraging those in ministry, and that we should not be discouraged because we are not alone in striving to serve God.   We have had a safe drive so far, and are now at an indoor trampoline park, Westerville Rockin’ Jump. The students really deserve an afternoon of fun after their hard work and dedication this week! Thank you for your continued prayers, we look forward to seeing everyone this evening.

We have!  As many of you already know, last year’s mission trip team built a carpetball table for KIDS Inc’s game room. This year, we offered to build a gaga ball pit. The KIDS Inc. team thought it was a great idea, so we purchased supplies and built a portable gaga ball pit… we finished just in time for it to be introduced at Teen Night this evening. Our prayer is that the gaga ball pit will be used tonight, as well as many nights in the future to help KIDS Inc. reach teens for Christ.  We also completed several other work projects, primarily painting the food pantry, scraping paint, sorting and stacking clothing for an outreach event KIDS Inc is involved with tomorrow, and helping to prepare the building for Teen Night.  We delivered a few more bags of groceries this morning,  and the remaining food and hygiene supplies will be left with KIDS Inc staff to distribute as they continue serving this community.  Teen Night is wrapping up as I write this post, we have spent the last 2 hours playing gaga ball, carpetball, basketball, and just generally hanging out with an awesome group of teenagers from the communities around KIDS Inc. We heard a challenge from Jake, the director of KIDS Inc. and the Gospel was clearly presented. We know that God has the power to change hearts and lives, please join us in praying that the teenagers present tonight would be open to the message shared and would also remain involved with the various ministries of KIDS Inc. throughout the year. We have had a busy week! We have been challenged, stretched, and blessed by the opportunities we have had to serve and interact with everyone here. We will be leaving for home tomorrow morning, please pray for safe travels! The current schedule is to have students picked up at 9 PM on Saturday in the youth center. If we anticipate being more than 15 minutes early/late we will let parents know as soon as possible. Thank you for your prayers! We could not have accomplished everything we did this week without your encouragement and support.

We started the morning with several outdoor work projects – the students have continued working diligently, and are accomplishing great things around the grounds and flower beds. No weed stands a chance against our group’s determination!  We also had a group staging and sorting the food and hygiene donations. Because of PHBC’s generosity we were able to give well stocked food bags to over 30 families that KIDS Inc interacts with regularly. THANK YOU!!! We also got to meet two teenagers who are actively involved with KIDS Inc.  They were invited and agreed to ride along in our van and help with the distribution of food bags throughout the community.  We completed a team building activity before dinner and are looking forward to our group devotion and recreation time tonight.  Please pray for unity and strength for our group. This has been a very productive week, but it has also been challenging physically and spiritually.  God is moving, and are so excited and thankful to be witness to the changes and growth that is occuring.

After completing our work projects this morning, we broke up into smaller teams to pick up trash in the surrounding neighborhood. We also took that opportunity to do a prayer walk – thanking God for His provision, and asking for fruitful ministry, encouragement for KIDS Inc staff, and blessing for the neighborhood.  The weather this afternoon  was not quite as warm as we expected, so we postponed indoor activities until tomorrow.  This evening we had a much needed time of fellowship and fun.  We ate dinner at a local diner, Shapiro’s, and then visited downtown Indianapolis. We treated the team to ice cream and then enjoyed a time of worship and group devotions outside.  We covet your continued prayers! Please pray for restful sleep, strength and energy, and that each individual on this team would be open to what God is teaching them.  Praise report as well – two full days of work projects have been completed with no injuries!