it sure is weird being home and back to "regular" life after a week of irregular awesomness in Haiti.
photos from me are online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience/sets/72157617245817110/
--
Lucas Simmons
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
coming back
yesterday was amazing, we got to go see the property the Manasseros are praying about. There is this older lady with an amazing faith in Jesus there and it was really cool to spend our last day to see the vision for the ministry. We are in the airport in Florida right now, all missing Haiti and thinking back over the last week.
this has to be the hardest part of the trip for a lot of us. Our hearts have been so changed, and we are going back to our lives with this hole in our heart. I am excited for what's next. Whatever that is, whatever God has.
thanks for all your prayers and I will have more pictures online soon.
--
Lucas Simmons
Friday, May 8, 2009
bon fet!
yesterday was alicia's birthday (and also little clifford's) and so on wednesday I told alicia I was going out to help Bill with some stuff and went to epidor (which is kind of like haitian mcdonalds) and bought a BUNCH of food to feed all the kids and we threw a big surprise party for alicia. boy was she surprised haha. One person on the team described it as the craziest and funnest birthday party they had ever been to. It was pretty loud.
today we are going to the Baptist mission and then going to see the property the Manasseros have been praying about. it's really exciting to be able to see the next part of the vision for this ministry.
God is amazing. We brought in our suitcases a bunch of the Manasseros old pictures. In there was a photo of me from 12 years ago before I was saved. I used to go to their church from time to time. I think of knowing Jesus, saying I would never move back to the South Bay from San Diego. Then moving back, reconnecting with them, thinking they were crazy for moving to Haiti. Meeting my wife. Going to Mexico a lot. Getting laid off from my job and being super excited about missions. Being invited on a team to go to Haiti. Falling in love with it. Talking about it everyday to Alicia and to other people. Bringing people here to see what God is doing in Haiti. Wanting to move here. Having people think I am crazy haha.
New pictures at
I have over 2000 photos, I will have more to put up when I get home.
Quotes taken out of context:
You should never tell a girl she looks funny, sideways - Amy
He is a beautiful man - Dave Beck
I don't feel bad - Kim
--
Lucas Simmons
Thursday, May 7, 2009
God's timing is perfect
On Tuesday we went to Double Harvest which does a lot of planting in Haiti and also sells plants. It was a bit of a drive, but it was cool to see some more of Haiti. The weird thing was they didn't have soil, which I said already. On our way back Susette took a wrong turn and we turned around to go the right way. On one road I hear someone in the truck with us go "uh oh" and I see a tap tap on its side sliding toward us. Luckily for us the tap tap stopped about 10-15 feet before us. A crowd of Haitian people soon gathered around to help people out of the truck, and we were on our way (none of us were hurt). Please be praying for the people that were hurt and just shaken up by this accident. Not one of us was hurt, thank God.
13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." - James 4:13-17
We had a nursing clinic yesterday too, I couldn't really tell you how many people were there but it seemed like a lot. It was great to have the nurses all working together and have Brooke here who was able to stay a little bit longer than she planned. It was also good timing because around 5:30 or so my heart started beating really fast and it was weird because I wasn't doing anything super physical, felt pretty calm and I had been drinking plenty of water. It stopped after awhile, and the nurses gave me some pills and I slept from like 6:30pm until 7 this morning and feel much better. We have been able to spend some quality time with the kids, teaching Bible stories and playing with them. I am pretty sure everyone has either fallen in love with Haiti or fallen in love all over again.
Alicia and I taught some of the older kids the do not worry part of Luke 12 yesterday. I really didn't know what I was going to say, but God totally used the near car accident and that verse from James 4 to give me words to speak. We asked them if they had questions and it was really cute because like 2 of the questions were when we were coming back so we showed them james 4. No pictures today because I am at the boys house using the internet since ours is not working. Please be praying for our final days in Haiti. Tomorrow we are going to the Baptist mission here and going to see the property the Manasseros are praying about. Then I think we are all getting together at night. I can't believe this week is almost over.
--
Lucas Simmons
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
internet
we are without internet. it rained really hard last night and the modem we were using seems to not be functioning.
we went to double harvest yesterday to get some gardening supplies. it was really funny because we got all these plants and then they didn't have soil.
i have to run out, but I wanted to send a quick update while I had internet.
--
Lucas Simmons
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
yesterday was our first full day trying to accomplish some projects. we have narrowed it down to a few things which include: volleyball, garden, nursing clinic, computers and setting up tetherball. during the afternoon we also have skit stuff going on as well.
Yesterday we walked the kids to and from school. When we got to the school to pick the kids up, some kids we had never seen before started screaming and running towards some of us and hugging us and jumping on us. Renald, one of the guys who works here, told us later these kids don't get much love or affection at home. When they see us, they know that we will play with them, hug them, and laugh with them.
It's funny to me that half the time I am in America planning to come to Haiti I want to figure out all the projects we should do. There is nothing wrong with projects, but I have heard more people than just Renald say that giving these kids the attention and love is so huge to them.
during the afternoon yesterday we split up into two teams: some helped with the feeding program while others shared Bible stories with the kids. At the feeding (muTch) program Josh and Becca and Melissa did a skit on the lost sheep. It was really neat to see the kids at the orphanage here sharing the Gospel during the feeding program. And although I couldn't understand what they were saying, it seemed like the kids that were being fed were really interested in what was being said.
more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience/sets/72157617245817110/
more quotes taken out of context
i am, half the time, embarassed
that would be the pee bowl option (instead of pi bon which is like the best)
i could stick an IV in that
i've never been to the table this sweaty
--
Lucas Simmons
Yesterday we walked the kids to and from school. When we got to the school to pick the kids up, some kids we had never seen before started screaming and running towards some of us and hugging us and jumping on us. Renald, one of the guys who works here, told us later these kids don't get much love or affection at home. When they see us, they know that we will play with them, hug them, and laugh with them.
It's funny to me that half the time I am in America planning to come to Haiti I want to figure out all the projects we should do. There is nothing wrong with projects, but I have heard more people than just Renald say that giving these kids the attention and love is so huge to them.
during the afternoon yesterday we split up into two teams: some helped with the feeding program while others shared Bible stories with the kids. At the feeding (muTch) program Josh and Becca and Melissa did a skit on the lost sheep. It was really neat to see the kids at the orphanage here sharing the Gospel during the feeding program. And although I couldn't understand what they were saying, it seemed like the kids that were being fed were really interested in what was being said.
more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience/sets/72157617245817110/
more quotes taken out of context
i am, half the time, embarassed
that would be the pee bowl option (instead of pi bon which is like the best)
i could stick an IV in that
i've never been to the table this sweaty
--
Lucas Simmons
Monday, May 4, 2009
more funny team quotes
thank you for all your prayers. today we bought a lot of items for our team projects and mostly planned out our week - but I am sure things will change. i am excited about all the projects we have and can't wait to share pictures and stories. we are getting ready to help out with the feeding program and teach some of the kids Bible lessons, I will have more updates later.
some more random quotes:
internet?
pastors should not use such acronyms
i want the regular one, not the one made of gold
--
Lucas Simmons
Sunday, May 3, 2009
sunday
today we went to church at port-au-prince fellowship. I had goodies for john and beth mchoul, a two day old whopper for john and some candy for beth. I think it's funny how excited john gets about whoppas, especially two day old ones but if i ever moved down here i would definitely have those things that got me excited. worship was amazing... and i am really enjoying hearing how God is changing people's hearts through what they see in Haiti. It's also great to see all these people who in some cases haven't spent more than a few hours together come together as a team. I hear the laughter of our team right now in fact, I must be missing out on something hilarious.
today we also got to surprise alicia for her birthday with lunch at a place here in Haiti. It's really strange how you can go to one part of Haiti and see poverty and absolute squalor and in another such wealth. But then I think it's really not very different from how we live in America. You have Palos Verdes not too far from Compton and bad parts of LA. There is just a more stark contrast here.
then we got to play with the kids for a few hours. volleyball and soccer, mostly. I think everyone on the team is noticing how much joy the people of Haiti have even in the midst of all the poverty. It's definitely an interesting reminder as one person put it when you think about how many people in America are so depressed with so much wealth.
tomorrow the work starts. Please be praying for us and for God to guide us as a team.
I am adding a new segment to my blog, quotes from our team taken out of context:
I'll take trash pits during Jesus' time for one hundred dollars
Stop it or I will bury you alive in a box
New pictures are up from today:
cendy
the first time I came here, she would stare off blankly into space even when I tried to get her attention. now she is all smiles :)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
haiti!
Yes! We are here, in Port-Au-Prince. We almost missed our flight to Haiti because Spirit lost one of our bags. Then the Haiti airport was chaos as usual. Today we got to hang out with and meet the kids, and went to the ravine and helped with a feeding. The worship was awesome. We are all pretty beat and are finishing up our sharing times and getting ready to go to sleep. Excited for church in the morning!
I have uploaded some pics to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucastheexperience!
--
Lucas Simmons
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