February/March 2009 Mission Trip
By Patricia Duarte
Our trip to Haiti started out with delays and also ended in delays….and they say that is typical of trips to Haiti.
We including myself, Anna & Mark Sampley, Todd Camp, Earl Phelps & Pastor Ray Peach departed from Nashville with excitement of seeing our friends in Haiti and making new ones. We arrived in Miami in a flash; from there we sit on a plane for 2hrs, on the runway. All of you, who know these flights, know that it was very full. The people were getting rowdy and that is putting it mildly.
I sat by an elderly Haitian woman. She was so calm sitting there with everything that was going. Personally I just wanted to be sure the plane was fixed before we took off. The crowd was getting loud and my companion next to me all of a sudden reached in her purse and pulled out a much worn & greatly used black bible. She held it up in the faces of the young men and said; “In the name of Jesus sit down and be quite” I didn’t need an interpreter. They did and soon we were on our way and my new friend departed our ways, I know I will see her in heaven and we can laugh about our trip.
We arrived in Jolivert late that night with no luggage (of-course) where we met up with the group that had arrived a couple of day earlier. Betty Johnson, Nancy Bukovnic, Sherri & Scott Searcy, Brandon Embry, Jana O’Neil, Louissaint Louis XVI, Zach Fulkerson & Shawn Green. Everyone knew what their ministry was for much prayer and fasting had gone before this trip. Some worked in the Clinic, some worked with the orphaned baby girls in the KY Adoption Orphanage, some played and ministered to the children and all of took part in the 7 day Pastors Conference.
The second week, Anna, Jana, and myself ministered to the women at a one night conference. Ralph Porter had sent Bibles to give out at conference. This was a wonderful gift and everyone wants bibles. The conference was a great success and we all have been asked to come back. They would like to have a Pastors Conference every year.
The Mission Trip to Jolivert Haiti had Missionaries from four different churches that had raised funds by donations and fund raiser for the Pastors Conference and Ministry. Out of these funds we were able to pay for food & supplies to feed 100+ people a day for 7 days, for interpreters (which God sent godly men to interpret) and also we left money to build houses for a mother of 8 and a mother-grandmother of 4. For more information on our ministry visit www.reflectionofchristchurch.org.
We had a lot of fun and a lot of new experiences. The last of us to leave Haiti got to spend a night in the beautiful Plaza Hotel in Port Au Prince courtesy of American Air Lines. A special thanks to the January group that went before us. They finished the new bathroom in the dorm and the new kitchen in the conference center. I know they worked hard to get everything ready for the conference. I am looking forward to my next trip to Jolivert.
Your Sister in Christ,
Pat Duarte