August 2016 Mission Trip

Saturday, 13 Aug 2016 – Home Safe & Sound

The EVM Mission Team arrived home in various locations from Miami at all different times today after spending the night (well let’s say 4-6 hours) at a hotel overnight due to weather and availability of crews. Friday and Saturday were long days but we are thankful that all of our missionaries are safe and sound and returned home to family, loved ones and congregations that missed them immensely! God is good! We are grateful for your prayer cover during our travel and time in Haiti!

Friday, 12 Aug 2016 – Departing Haiti

We headed out to Port-au-Prince airport at 0930 on the Tap-Tap. Even though our flight wasn’t until 2:37 pm, it was good to leave early due to traffic at the airport. Upon arrival, Sister Isabella worked her magic to get us checked in as a group in about 25 minutes. The air conditioning in the upper floor of the terminal was broken and it was sweltering. Everyone ascended to the 3rd floor for some lunch and then settled in on the 2d floor to await the departure. Then the fun started…delay after delay found us departing at 6:45 p.m. causing everyone to miss their connecting flights. God is good and we flew to Miami. Once on the ground in Miami, we found our way to a hotel to get a few hours sleep and start the process again anywhere from 4 – 7 a.m. It was a very long day!

Thursday, 11 Aug 2016 – Preparing to Go Home

Our EVM Mission Team is getting ready to fly home tomorrow. We are packing and having our final evening of fellowship! We have built relationships with our teammates, other missionaries, our hosts and every Haitian we’ve met! We leave Haiti for a little while and look forward to returning next year!!

Our youngest missionaries, Sisters Tanishia, Jada and Annalisa made long-lasting friendships with Haitians everywhere they went.

 

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Sisters Jada, Tanishia and Annalisa hanging out with a new friend!

 

Wednesday, 10 Aug 2016 – Graduation Day for VBS/ESL and Sports Camp

Today we hosted a graduation celebration for the chidren in Onaville.  Sister Isabella and our translator, Nikki led Praise & Worship with the children.  Then Sister Isabella led the “Invitation to Christ” for the children.  25 Children responded to ask Jezi (Jesus) into their heart.  We prayed with each child to ensure they understood the meaning of what they were doing and not just coming forward with a friend.  Praise God for 25 souls saved!

Next we had a wonderful Praise Dance coordinated by Sister Sherwanna, Sister Melody and Sister Tanieshia; Sister Tanieshia led the praise dancers. After the Praise Dance, it was time to congratulate the children with certificates for their participation in VBS/ESL and Sports Camp. Then it was time to break for lunch and feed the children.  After lunch, the teachers recognized leaders in their classrooms with a special award and gave each student a goodie bag to take home!

 

 

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In response to the “Invitation to Accept Christ”, 25 children came forward to invite Jezi (Jesus) into their heart.

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Sister Lesa and other EVM Missionaries pray with each child desiring to invite Jezi (Jesus) into their hearts!

 

 

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Sister Tanishia leads the Haitian young ladies in a celebratory Praise Dance!

 

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A beautiful Haitian girl receives certificates for completing VBS/ESL and Sports Camp from Rev Hawkins and Pastor Massillon.

 

 

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Certificates given to every child who participated in VBS/ESL and Sports Camp!

 

 

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Sister Melody celebrates graduation with her class and translator!

Tuesday, 9 Aug 2016 – VBS/ESL & Sports Camp

On our second day at Onaville, we hosted VBS/ESL and Sports Camp as well as fed the children Rice & Beans.   In VBS/ESL, the scripture was John 3:16, then the lessons were Introductions, Colors, Months of the Year, Family descriptions, Numbers 50-100 and singing “Jesus Loves Me”.  We fed the children rice & beans for lunch.  Then the first class finished eating moved to Sports Camp.

In Sports Camp, we had several games set up for them to try…some translated, some did not.   At any time a ball is present, the Haitians want to play soccer.  So shotput didn’t work as they either wanted to throw the ball or put the ball on the ground and kick it.  The children loved sack races…had so much fun laughing and falling on the ground.  Sister Jo made an impromptu change and had the children playing Red Light, Green Light.   The children loved playing that game too!  They had fun throwing bean bags and Frisbees and jumping ropes.  We even had a few hula hoops for the girls to try.

We visited Chambrun and Sister Darlene and her family.  Sister Darlene brought out every chair in her home to show EVM missionaries hospitality.  It was so sweet!  Pastor Sneed and her Father connected over a baseball cap with John 3:16 written on it!

Back at camp, we prepared t-shirts with “Love” for the Praise Dancers and put together goodie bags for every child to take home.

 

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Sisters Jo and Jada teach VBS/ESL with the help of translators.

 

 

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Sister Michelle with the youngest children in the VBS/ESL camp

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Sister Blanche and Sister Vernocka working with the 4-6 year olds!

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Sister Lesa teaches VBS/ESL with the help of a translator.

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Sister Melody teaches how to tell time to her students.

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Sister Sherwanna works on colors with her students with the aid of Skittles!

 

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Pastor Sneed works on colors with his class.

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Visiting in Chambrun with Sister Darlene and her family.  The home was built through donations to EVM and in partnership and with Nehemiah Vision Ministries.

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EVM Missionaries visiting with Darlene and her family.

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T-shirts lovingly prepared for the Praise Dance crew.

 

 

Monday, 8 Aug 2016 – Vacation Bible School/English as a Second Language (VBS/ESL)

Today was the first day of VBS/ESL.  The theme was God’s Love!  We walked into the church to find 297 children awaiting VBS/ESL camp to start.  We had children from 3 to 15 years old.  We split into 6 classes of children.

Once in class, we started with scripture Proverbs 8:17 then worked on Days of the Week, Common Phrases, Common Foods and Numbers 1-50.  We sang “I’ve got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, down in my Heart” with the children also. The second lesson added more Common Phrases and Common Things plus Numbers 50-100 as well as Time.  Then the children put together a clock showing them how to tell time.

We also fed the 300+ children rice & beans for lunch.  It wasn’t a smooth process on this first day however all the children received a hot meal for lunch.  It was difficult to remember that they may not have eaten for a few days before their first day at VBS/ESL camp.  Because it took an extended amount of time, we didn’t get to host the Sports Camp today.  It was quite a full day for the Onaville children and the EVM Missionaries!

 

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EVM Mission Team ready to go to Onaville to teach VBS/ESL and Sports Camp and love the children!

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Children waiting in the church to participate in VBS/ESL.

 

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Sister Isabella coordinates with Madame Yvette, the school administrator, and the translators.

Sister Isabella is from RIP Ministries (www.ripministries.org), an EVM partner in Haiti.

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Our youngest attendees eating a hot lunch of rice & beans!

 

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Children making clocks to help them learn to tell time!

 

Sunday, 7 Aug 2016 – Church and Fellowship in Haiti

Pastor Massillon sent a van to pick us up for Worship Service at Onaville. We arrived to the sweet singing of the saints.  We experienced a prayer time that captured our hearts listening to the pleas and praise to Jezi (Jesus).  Reverend Hawkins introduced Pastor Nelson Sneed to the congregation.  Prior to the word, Pastor Sneed asked Sister Tanishia to sing for the congregation.  Sister Tanishia is a gifted young lady who thought for a moment and sang “Mary’s Alabaster Box “acappella”.   Pastor Sneed then delivered the message “Great News” from Ephesians 2:20.  Sister Isabella assisted with translation until a translator arrived.  Both Pastor Sneed and Sister Isabella stretched their abilities to bring the Word to the Haitian people of Onaville.  We were able to fellowship with the congregation after the service.  Sister Tanishia moved to the piano and began playing a favorite gospel song and the Haitians closed in around and began singing with her.  It was a sweet fellowship in the Lord!

San Angelo Standard-Times is currently profiling Ezra Vision Ministries in multiple articles to tell the story of Haiti and EVMs efforts in Onaville.  The Standard-Times sent a reporter, Federico Martinez and a photographer, Yfat Yossifor to document their experiences in Haiti as well as EVMs efforts.  Look for their articles on the website and at www.gosanangelo.com

 

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During offering, the Haitians not only bring money but also bring a portion of other things (potatoes, rice, toiletries) to help those less fortunate.  It is amazing!

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Rev Hawkins introduces Pastor Sneed with the aid of Sister Isabella translating and Pastor Massillon smiles in the background.

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Pastor Sneed preaches the Word.

 

 

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Pastor Massillon prepares for Communion with the congregation.

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Sister Tanishia plays piano and the Haitian choir/band members sing along.

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Federico Martinez, San Angelo Standard-Times, interviews John a translator for the Sunday Worship Service.

 

 

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Yfat Yossifor, San Angelo Standard-Times, captures the Onaville Worship Service in photographs.

 

Saturday, 6 Aug 2016 – Arrival in Haiti

We arrived in Haiti with 18 missionaries ready to serve!  We rode to the campus on the Tap-Tap…a new experience for some of our missionaries!  After getting settled, we were blessed with a thunderstorm which caused a bit of rearranging bunks to drier areas of the ladies tent! A double rainbow appeared to remind us of God’s promises!  We had a wonderful dinner of chicken, fries, plantains, spicy slaw and Sister Gail’s wonderful oatmeal raisin cookies!   We spent the evening getting to know our fellow missionaries and sharing our reasons for coming to Haiti!

Tomorrow we will go to Onaville for worship services.  Pastor Sneed will deliver the Word and Sister Isabella will translate.  Please keep them in prayer as this will be a first for both with a Haitian Creole service. God is leading!!

We are so blessed to be in Haiti and thankful for family and friends at home supporting us!!

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Arrived safely in Port-au-Prince Haiti.

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Time to load luggage on the Tap-Tap!

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Sister Gail and Sister Annalisa enjoying their ride on the Tap-Tap.

 

 

April 2016 Mission Trip

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Our EVM Missionaries arrived in Haiti for a Medical Clinic to complete school physicals.

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Checking in one of our children into the Medical Clinic

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Our lead Nurse completing a medical check on one of our little ones.

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Our missionary loves on one of our kindergartners during the Medical Clinic. 

 

During our January trip, we found that the school children were having attention problems due to lack of food.   A few children might have a sack lunch but that was far and few between.   We’ve provided peanut butter sandwiches for the children in the past, however, the main staple of Haitian families is Beans & Rice.   The Pastor and the teachers asked that the school children get a hot meal to help them be able to focus on their studies and interact at school on a more consistent basis.

Ezra Vision Ministries also recognizes malnutrition as a problem for our Onaville school children.  During the April Medical Mission Trip, the first hot meal was served at the “The David Steward Christian School for Boys and Girls” in Onaville Haiti.   The ladies were extremely efficient feeding 285 children in 45 minutes.  Praise God!  For 2 days, every school child ate the same meal.

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A makeshift kitchen set up to prepare the Beans & Rice for the school children. 

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Ladies found broken doors to use to load and serve the children hot plates of Beans & Rice! 

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Ladies found broken doors to use to load and serve the children hot plates of Beans & Rice! 

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Our youngest children eating Beans & Rice for the first time during the school day! 

2016 Mission Trip January (18-21)

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Our Leadership Team made it home safely! Thank you for all your prayers! Please continue to pray for EVM’s continued ministry in Haiti.

 

EVM Mission Trip Update, January 21st

Greetings again!

I apologize for failing to send a report last night- -I got “tied up” in a sermon preparation I’m meditating about for this Sunday, and the time got “past me”. In any case, the day was once again very gratifying. We got all of the curriculum material for each of the grades (Kindergarten – 5th), plus the 6th grade as well (in preparation for next year)! Sis LaTonya: I’ll be getting with you next week!

We are working to complete the plans to begin building the new latrine built within the next 2 months. This is going to take extreme prayer on all of our parts–I will explain more later in my Trip Report. I have attached a couple of pictures of what the latrines look like right now. I will send a picture or 2 of what a new one will look like once it is built (PRAYERFULLY within the next 2 months)!

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We will send more pictures out on Google Drive for you to pull down of the trip, once we get back.  I will also send each of you a Trip Report NLT Monday morning–I’ve got a lot of catching up to do between now and then.

I do want to mention and give a SHOUT OUT to Debra- -the “new” EVM Website is up and operational.  If you haven’t gone to it within the last 24 hours, you might want to do so.  It’s quite impressive.  A big THANK YOU to Debra and all her helpers who made this day possible.  It is another step EVM is able to take because of all of us working and serving in our gifted area.

We will be heading back to the States in a few hours, and then both Richard (the Rock Star) and I have a long way to go to get from Miami to our final destinations.  Please pray for Richard that he makes it back to the DC area under the enormous amount of snow that is supposed to hit there between now and Monday.

Blessings to you all–it has been an incredibly special trip to see where God has taken Onaville, the people of Haiti, and EVM in just a few short years and months.  One last thing before I sign off, I have also attached a picture of one of the children in their PE uniforms that has the seal of “The David Steward Christian School for Boys and Girls” on it–it is a picture of a Cross and a book symbolizing learning and wisdom in a Christian School–God is GOOD!

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Did I mention that we are going to have to pray collectively and mightily for the new latrine to be built in the next 2 months!!!

Best and blessings –

Ronnie
“But you O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head,” (Psalm 3:3, ESV)

 

EVM Mission Trip Update, January 19th

Greetings from Haiti!

 

We had a very productive day today.  We began it, by meeting with Pastor Massillon, Madame Yvette, who is the Head Administrator, and Pastor Pierre. There were a group of concerns that were “ironed out, that I will not put in this e-mail.  The best synopsis is we all agreed that the children’s education comes first, and we all need to make sure they are taken care of to the best of our (the parents, the staff, and EVM) ability.  Nothing was contentious, but there were four basic concerns regarding the children that were discuss:

  1. Their comfort–it is extremely dusty and hot under the tent.  Plus, there is little to no light when the sides of the tent are down.
  2. The students need their books–they are finally ready for pick-up this week!
  3. Many of the students are hungry at the beginning of class, and throughout the school day.  Some of the students come with a snack; however, many do not.
  4. There is a need for a copier to produce many of the student’s homework assignments and test papers.

We will work all of these issues, and several others, but I just wanted to give you a flavor of what was discussed.  Oh yeah, one of the children also saw fit to label Richard as a “blanc (white) American”.  That’s because they didn’t know his name and associated him with the group of Americans who tends to come and help them out.  As soon as they learned his real name, he became a “rock star” for the rest of the time we were there–RICHARD, RICHARD, RICHARD!!!!

 

We also got by to see Sis Darlene’s new abode–built through the blessings of EVM’s Homes for Haiti, under the leadership of that rock star I just mentioned–Richard Green!  It was an absolutely beautiful time.  Darlene’s entire family was there to greet Richard, and pass on their love and appreciation for what was done for them.  The house is impressively built to hurricane and earthquake codes, and has already been wonderfully decorated inside.  You can tell they are very proud of their new home.  It took 4 months to complete the building process, and anything that was salvageable from the previous mud home, was saved and given/sold to someone else in need.  It is an amazing story of the power of love and blessings.  Darlene is convinced she would not be in the home had we not spent time in Chambrun many mission trips before, AND, had Richard not begun the relationship-building process that Paul typified when he came to a different town during his many trips/journeys.  I’ve attached a picture, but will not send any others due to their size.

 

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We all are blessed to be children saved by God’s grace, living in America, and being a part of the EVM ministry too!  God is good; ALL THE TIME!
We will be back in Onaville tomorrow morning to spend time with the students.  They look very precious in their PE uniforms!  We will be there when they raise the flag in the morning.  Time to turn out the lights–more tomorrow.

Best and blessings to each of you –

Ronnie
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen,” (Jude 24-25, NIV)

 

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Visiting with Daline and her family Tuesday at the new home done through EVM and sharing a wonderful meal together.

 

 

EVM Update, January 18th

Good evening!

 

We made it here, safe and sound!  It was a pleasure to meet “all of the usual suspects”–Gami, Cathi, Brooke, Pastor Pierre, the cooking crew, and Clarise.  Clarise is getting married this weekend to a beautiful young lady from the United States.  Everyone is excited about Emily’s family traveling here for the wedding.  Clarise and Emily have known each other for the past 6 years through Emily’s travels here as a missionary.  You might remember Clarise as the young man who taught the Children’s Church and is now the headmaster for the Boy’s Home here on the NVM campus.
There is a medical team from Indianapolis here conducting a medical clinic for the people (not the kids in the school) of Onaville.  They have been here for a couple of days, and will leave out this coming Friday.  I believe there are 15 people on the team–the leader and his wife have been here several times before.

We were able to spend an hour with Pastor Pierre this evening and have begun to map out the trips for 2016 and beyond.  We primarily spent time talking with him about expectations for the school, and how we can/will make the school in Onaville a “school of excellence” through our collective efforts.

We will visit the children and administrative staff for the first time tomorrow.  Richard spoke with Bernard, who told him that everyone is excited to see us–as we are too!  We also plan to meet with Dr. Edmond, who heads up the NVM clinic here.  The NVM campus has grown beautifully- -it is a blessing to see the transition that continues to take place each time we/you come.

BTW:  The EVM house was completed 2 weeks ago, and the family has moved in.  We will send you a host of pictures tomorrow evening. Needless to say, Richard is stoked about seeing the occupants!

One last news flash:  if you don’t like mosquitos, January is a month to stay away from Haiti- -either that, or make sure you bring the repellent!!! We have been here on July 4th, back in 2011; and now, we are here on Jan 18th–the MLK holiday–what a marvelous way to spend the holiday–preparing to serve the people of Haiti both now and into the future!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and thanks for all each of you do to make the EVM vision and mission a success.  Pastor Pierre commented during our discussion with him that he told the staff at Onaville the EVM has only been doing this for 2 years, and we have made great strides in getting the school firmly established.  There is a long road ahead of us, but we will make it by continuing to serve together in our spiritual gift!

Best and blessings,
Ronnie

“and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness,and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”   (Isaiah 58:10-12, NIV)

 

PS:  I pray a couple of you who have not been on a mission trip might consider coming if only for a couple of days–pray about it!!!

 

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Meeting with Pastor Pierre Monday night