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Our December 2005 mission trip took place from December 5th through December 16th, 2005. We had a team of just three women on this trip.
Our team members were (left to right) Bea Otte, Jamie Charles and Holly (Charles) Kangas. For Holly and Bea, this was their second trip to Haiti.  Our trip began again in West Palm Beach, Florida flying with Missionary Flights International. Holly learned that flying a DC3 was very different than piloting an ultra-light! But the views of the Caribbean were breathtaking, as usual! Our primary focus on this trip was the same as always - updating the information on children already in the Sponsorship Program as well as adding new children. (You can view photos of children who are still waiting for a sponsor on our Child In Need page) We were able to interview, measure and photograph 358 children on this trip which was much more than we thought we would be able to do with a team of only 3 people. We would never have been able to accomplish so much without the help of the Haitian staff of the school. Pictured here are (l to r) Violette Etienne, director of the Protective Center; Jamie Charles, HH4H; Lilie Saintilma, Pastor Noel's secretary for the school; and Luvrance Paul, principal of the primary school.
Of course, the children were not as helpful as the school staff, but we don't mind! We really enjoy being the center of their attention and scenes like this one of the children crowded around Holly while she tries to photograph their schoolmates are all too common!
  For sponsors, one of the highlights of every trip is the opportunity to meet and spend time with their sponsored child. Here we see Bea with her sponsored child, Patricia Mondesir and Holly with her sponsored child, Chinaika Jean.  During our stay, we were privileged to be able to participate in some wonderful celebrations. December 10th was Jamie's birthday and we were blessed with a wonderful birthday party with the children. In all there were about 60 children who attended the party which was complete with special songs and recitations by the children. But by far the most wonderful celebration we were able to be a part of was the Festival of the Bible, which is always held on the second Sunday in December, which was December 11th this year. The celebration began during the Sunday morning service when one of the ladies' singing groups sang a song about the Bible, which ended with them waving their Bibles in the air! Then there was a presentation ceremony where Pastor Noel handed out Bibles to many of the primary and secondary students in the school, who were all very happy to receive a Bible.  Later on Sunday afternoon, the big celebration began. We gathered with about 1000 other people in front of L'eglise Baptiste to prepare for a HUGE parade through the streets of Terrier Rouge. And of course everyone had their Bible (or even a hymnbook, for those who didn't own Bibles) to wave in the air as we began to march through the streets.  We were given a spot near the head of the procession, in front of the children, most of whom were children we knew from the Sponsorship Program. We were overwhelmed as we marched along, sometimes dancing and always singing, with so many of our Haitian brothers and sisters, celebrating this special day of the Bible! It was an incredible blessing to be able to be a part of this celebration (which was two hours long!) and we cannot begin to do justice to representing it here in still photos. If you would like to view a copy of our video from the Bible Festival Parade, please contact us. We would be more than happy to share a copy with you!
two Haitian cuties with their Bibles!    Another blessing we received was our visit out to see the new work Pastor Noel is starting in an area called Ouvray, which is about 3km from Terrier Rouge. There is a core of believers in this area who travel to Terrier Rouge for Communion Sunday each month, but the journey is too difficult for them to make each week. Pastor Noel is working with them to build them a building in their area and he is starting a Protective Center out there in January 2006. (You can learn more about this new work on our Ouvray page.) We learned that we were the first white missionaries to ever visit these people, which explained the overwhelming reception they gave us!  While we were there, we met this young woman who is both mentally and physically disabled. Her mother asked us if we could get a wheelchair for this young lady who is unable to walk. We are currently in the process of obtaining a wheelchair for her through Free Wheelchair Mission and we are looking forward to returning to Ouvray with a wheelchair for her! We will be sure to include photos of her with her new wheelchair on the Trip Photos page from our next trip planned for late April 2006. Before we made this trip to Haiti, there had been some concern about the dramatic increase in kidnappings in Haiti as they approach the time of their national elections. When we got to Terrier Rouge, we learned that this home across the street from the house we stay in had been turned into a "government building" where people could go to register to vote.  Because of this, they had hired a full-time security staff who spent most of their time on the porch of the house next to ours just keeping an eye on things. The blessing in this for us was that they also kept an eye on us, as you can see! We felt very safe being watched over by them as well as by our friends in Terrier Rouge, who escorted us everywhere we went just for our "security". Also, the UN still has peacekeepers in the area so we saw vehicles like these and other forms of personnel carriers going by the house many times a day. We were definately provided with plenty of security and never felt at all unsafe. We know that God holds all of us in His very capable hands and nothing can happen to us outside His will. That provides us with the best security of all! One of the best parts of any of our mission trips is the opportunity to build relationships with our brothers and sisters in Haiti. This trip was no exception and we will leave you with some photos of us enjoying our time and strengthening our relationships with our Haitian family, both those we just met and those who have become "old friends".
Holly and Bea with Lilie and Luvrance   (left) Bea and friend, Mirline (also a sleeping Woodlyn!) (right) Jamie and her 6-month-old goddaughter, Christine Thoma Stephane.   (left) Holly with our little friend, 1-1/2-year-old Bethany Degrace. (right) Bea with Patricia's mother, brother and half-sister.   (left) Holly with her little sister's sponsored child, Walie Georges. (right) Jamie with our 103-year-old friend, Theocida Manigat, who is still doing well although she doesn't walk well anymore.   (left) Bea with Woodlyn - sleeping again! (right) Holly with her "Haitian Maman", Rosianie Monestine   (left) Holly kisses Gawendy (right) Bea hugs Bie
Holly and friends And we'll leave you here with this photo of three of our good friends - Louisa Joseph, Jisca Mirna Louis and Roussica Angrand
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