Another trip...

Alicia and I are going from Dec 17th - December 26th

Since it's not a KHC team I will be putting our updates at

http://lucastheexperience.blogspot.com

Photos are up

I just put my photos online from the Haiti trip. See them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience/sets/72157608896015769/

yesterday

we had a visit from TiGeorge to our house which was really cool, because he and his cousin and friend got to see all that we have done this week... after that we got to help with a feeding at a church in this makeshift church.  it was really cool hearing all these people worship God and hearing the passion behind the message, even if I didn't completely understand it.  We also got to perform a skit and all the kids were laughing.

At night we got Epidor and had a big birthday party for Renald and tried to watch a movie upstairs but it got rained out so we moved everybody inside.

Photos are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience

only a couple more days

the realization that we will be home soon i think is setting in.  i think a majority of us would rather stay, but we are trying to enjoy our last few days here.  today is renald's birthday so we are going to watch a movie on the roof and eat epidor (sort of like haitian mcdonalds) at the guest house... most are trying to finish up the rooftop garden today and we are also doing a feeding in the ravine at about noon today.

i am posting more pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience 

i am not sure how much time i will have to update before we leave... but i will definitely post something soon after we get back.

lucas

thank you for all your prayers.  the team came back and they got to help out a little bit, but not as much as they would like.  There were a lot of distraught people there and tear gas was shot off at one point, but everybody is back and OK.  I think there are still people trapped in the building because the building is unstable and it's hard to get people out like that.  please keep praying for those people and the rescue efforts.  i don't think they have the right equipment to get people out of there.

the rumor is that the building was pretty much condemned and the owner didn't care and just had the school in there anyways.

today

we had a lot of plans.  as we were driving to buy food for the kids for a celebration for one of the staff's birthday here, another one of the staff told us that a school collapsed in port-au-prince.  some of our team (like half) went up there at about noon or 1 today.  none of the kids at the orphanage are in that school, but I can't imagine that it would be a very pretty sight.  I stayed behind and so did a few others.  I wanted to help, but I also felt like 5 guys going from our team was enough and told them to call if they needed more help from us and so far we have not heard anything.  Please be praying for them as scenes like this can be kind of chaotic... 

We who stayed behind worshiped and prayed with the kids at the orphanage for our team and for the people who are trapped.  

All of our projects are continuing or finishing up today and it has been great spending time with the kids.  i am looking forward to hanging out with them all weekend.

i will try to send more updates as we hear from the team... 

here are some pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience

thursday

today

some people went shopping for shelves

some are cleaning up a room that will be where all the medicine and clinic stuff will happen

some are working on the rooftop garden

some are painting

some are updating blogs and planning

tomorrow is our last regular day, we don't have much planned other than hanging out w/the kids after they get out of school and finishing up projects... saturday we are going to do a feeding with all the kids at the orphanage and then celebrate a couple of the staff members birthdays by having a special meal at the guest home and then watching a movie!

there was a loud thunderstorm last night and it really poured for quite a little while.  

gotta run, lunch time.  there are more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience

Thanks for your prayers...

Lucas

wednesday

hi all

today is going great.  we are well on our way with the rooftop garden.  painting is also going well, dan is all over the place at different houses.  eddie saw 75 patients yesterday and has a lot more today i am sure.  i am doing a computer clinic, which has fewer patients than the medical clinic.  we are trying to also fix up this guest house we are staying in as much as we can so that future teams will be able to stay at a little nicer place.  it is so great working with everybody here and we are all having a really great time.  i feel like there is so much going on, it is hard to describe it all.  i have included more pictures and if you want to see where the kids go to school, there is also pictures of that.

anyways off to my computer clinic.  hope you enjoy the pics.

update

Yesterday we had a lot going on.  It was mostly a shopping and prep day for the week.  That was pretty exciting because a lot of us got to experience the bustling city of Port-Au-Prince.  We also worshiped with the boys in the morning and even got to pick the kids up from school, which is just a short ten minute walk.  It is quite funny because actually it was just me and one Haitian guy who went so when I walked in I of course stuck out like a sore thumb haha.  There was also a medical clinic for some of the local families, which continues today. 

This morning we worshiped with the girls and walked them to school.  I love how almost everybody you pass on the street says Hello to each other.  It's so different from America.

Today, aside from the medical clinic, we are working on the garden and on painting and whatever else comes along.  The majority of the rooftop garden will be constructed downstairs as it is SUPER hot on the roof and not many of us can last for very long up there.  The Haitians don't seem to have any problem lasting up there and we have quite a few helping us today.

Andrew is feeling better today, woo hoo!  Pray that we would be careful in how long we are out in the sun and for us to be focused on supporting the ministry of the Manasseros.

Lucas

Ravine

We went to the ravine yesterday.  There is a need there beyond anything we ourselves can fix.  Only God can fix these problems. Eddie, our doctor, is checking the kids out and we are having a clinic tomorrow and Wednesday and a feeding on Friday.  We are doing a lot of shopping today for our projects and the heat has already taken one of us out (Andrew), he is just sitting in bed as he got dehydrated.  We are all try to make sure we don't over-exert ourselves with the heat.

Thanks for your prayers and I have included more pictures of the past day.

We ARE here

Cendy

Keso

John McHoul

Hi everyone, we are all here.  After a long night of flights and getting all of our bins through american airlines we arrived.  Then, we went through customs which they stopped us and asked us if we had medical supplies.  I said yes but explained in Creole that they were for kids without parents and prayed that God would take care of the situation and make him blind.  Well, he opened THE medical supply box looked in at all the supplies and closed it back up.

We also in Miami asked the burger king to turn on their broilers early because John McHoul, the pastor of the church we go to here loves whoppers.  So this morning he had a day old whopper from Burger King haha! ew!  It has been a great time seeing, fellowshipping and playing with the kids.

The guest house is amazing and the kids.

Everyebody says hi to everybody :)

Gracias por su oraciones

We are going to the ravine soon... 

I wish I had more time to update, but this will have to do it for now.

Lucas

Burger King

My wife is so cool she just got the manager at burger king to turn on the broilers to make a whopper for john mchoul and myself. I will be eating my whopper fresh, johns will have to be xrayed and have some jet lag
Lucas Simmons
www.lucasyalicia.com
619-277-5288

We have landed in miami

Unfortunately will smith was not here to sing to us.

I read an entire 170 page book called touching the void

And we made a haitian friend from orange county on the plane. Yay for new haitian friends!
Lucas Simmons
www.lucasyalicia.com
619-277-5288