Thoughts from: MATT

Wow, just over 24 hours ago we were driving through a earthquake devastated country on the way to the airport to fly home. The drive was both an exciting, yet thought provoking journey in our U-Haul truck turned human transporter as we bounced and jolted our way through the streets of Haiti. The heat or bumps didnt seem to bother us that morning as we had finally given up the thoughts of comfort by means of air conditioning or schock absorbers. What we were doing though was thinking about the week we had just spent, the lives we touched and were also touched by, the people of a country that looks at times like it may never be rebuilt. Mostly though, I personally had thoughts of all the good that is coming out of this time, I have never been to or seen a country so hungry for something to put their hope into, and for many, there they are turning to Jesus (150,000 people were saved withing 2 weeks after the earthquake).

We spent most of our week at an orpanage outside the city of Leogane named after the late Dezmond Fleury (http://fleuryfoundation.org/). It is not now run by his brother Pastor Kelly (one of the most amazing and selfless man I have ever seen) and is home to around 70 children from newborn the teenagers. From the moment we arrived at the orphanage on the first day we saw how the joy and love that had been instilled in these children as they hugged us and were sitting on laps and holding our hands before we could introduce ourselves in broken Creole. This continued throughout most of the week and everyday we would find ourselves becoming more and more attached to these beautiful children of God. We could see that these children had a love and hope in Jesus as we taught them bible stories, held them, played with them, and “tried” to even talk with them about how to behave.

On one day we split the team in half and went down to Port Au Prince (The Capital) and visited a tent city. Although you were intitially filled with pain and anguish as you drive into what was a golf course, now home to 50,000 people living in tents, I will leave with joy and excitement for what God is about to do and has already done. Most of us were sent with local teams to just go through the tent city and talk to and pray for people, the people were so excited to see you and talk to you and usually after one stop at a tent to pray for someone, you have people coming to you from everywhere asking you to come over to their tent and pray for their family. Amazing. That day ended with an amazing church service that filled and exceeded capacity of a large tent set up in the middle of the tent city.

There is so much to share about what God is doing in Haiti, and what God did in the lives of our team. We had a week filled with sadness, pain, excitement, joy, wonder, amazement, distruction, and beauty. It is something that I will never forget and I am glad, these people have taught us what it is to have joy in Jesus Christ even when there seems to be no hope at all. Pray for Haiti. And Pray that us to can find Joy and Hope in our Lord.

Matt

Music @ The Lunch Box

Our good friend James Spaite will be playing music at the Lunch Box (Downtown Visalia) for lunch. If you are going to grab a bite to eat today between 11:30 & 1:00 stop by grab a tasty treat (the broccoli salad is AMAZING!) listen to this fantastical musician and grab a Haiti T-Shirt!

THE LUNCH BOX @ 112 N Court St.

*Thanks James & Thank you Lunch Box (www.visalialunchbox.com)

Hock it for Haiti - Recap

"And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of of fragment and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men." -Mark 6:41-44

It was truly amazing to see God's work in progress this Saturday for the "Hock it for Haiti" garage sale event to raise financing to help send our group to Haiti. With such short notice to gather enough treasure to sell, advertise our location and set up, there was definitely some concern that it wouldn't be as successful as we would have liked or hoped. But just like the disciples gave the five loaves and the two fish to Jesus, we also gave our garage sale to Jesus...and boy did he ever deliver.

We raised:

$1,754.45 cash

1 chuck-e-cheese token

1 bathroom coin

100 pesos

20 Canadian cents

...and a black button!

We started the event Friday with donation pick-ups and sign making. It was a great opportunity to continue getting to know the group and building relationships. I think in most cases you build your relationships while serving during the mission trip. In our unique instance we're building these relationships on the fly as we figure out how to finance our trip in a short amount of time. Saturday morning came awfully early with a 5:30 am start time. As we began to layout all our donation we were astonished with the actual number of items we had to sell. "As one of the designated pick-up team members I remembered thinking to myself...we don't have very much to sell, I was blown away by how much we actually had in the end" said Chris Tiesiera.







Saturday was a great day filled with fellowship with each other and the community. It was an opportunity to bring awareness to the growing problems in Haiti and in many cases people gave so generously through purchases and donations. One lady came back after she had paid more then we were asking for a couple plastic plants and some clothes and insisted that we take her families "Vacation Fund". We were floored by the giving hearts that we came into contact with.

We'd like to give a special thanks to all the supporters that visited our "Hock it for Haiti" event and contributed as sponsors. You are a blessing to our ministry and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please stay tuned as we continue to give updates on our exciting journey leading up to our departure on July 3rd. If you didn't get a chance to donate and you'd like to, you can click the "Donate" tab on the right. Thank you for your continued support and prayers!!!

God bless,

Visalia Haiti Relief Team

Hock It For Haiti...Part 2!

We're at it again!!!! First of all we want to thank all of you who helped make the first "Hock it for Haiti" such a great success in such a short notice. God totally showed up for us not only financially but in building team unity, building relationships with those who came to the yard sale, building closer relationships with those of you who donated their things and their time to help and hang out with us. We were totally blessed in ways we didn't know we would be. God is so good! We had such an out pour of people wanting to contribute more stuff even after our yard sale and since we still need to raise financial support we decided to do a "Hock it for Haiti part 2"

When: This coming Saturday the 26th
Where: 1320 Chinowth St. Visalia, CA 93277
Time: 6am-1pm

call J.R. Robertson (650) 814-2606 or Chris Tiesiera (559) 936-2272 to come pick up your heavy items that might require a truck.

Or deliver the smaller stuff to the location of the yard sale the night before, or morning of.
(Call Val (562) 822-7922 for delivering stuff to the location because the location is her G-ma's house!)

Thank you all so much for your contributions and please keep us in prayer. We can't wait to go to Haiti and come back to share what God is doing there.

God bless,
JR, Jerrod, Christy, Peter, Chris, Kathleen, Sarah, Andrei, Danny, Melanie, Laura, Matt & Val

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Shots Time!!

Tuesday the team went took a trip to the Tulare Health Clinic to get there vaccinations. Some were nervous, some were VERY nervous. JR took it like a champ...sorta. Enjoy the video...we edited out most of the crying, whining and throwing up (your welcome JR) ENJOY!

Meet: Christy

Name: Chris-"cross will make ya jump jump"-ty Canafax
Age: 26
City you live in: Visalia/Tulare
Job: Youth Director. I’m a professional at hanging out with teenagers and twenty somethings and I love it!

What word would best describe you: Intentional.

Describe the perfect day: My morning would start strolling the beautifully aged streets of San Francisco. Streets lined with ravishing character and countless stories waiting to be revealed. In time we would stumble upon a hole in the wall café perfectly located down an ally tattooed with graffiti. Here is where the best cup of coffee will be found and slowly consumed while sharing random stories and chats with my loved one. The day would continue with time shared with friends and family. Music, laughter, serving in some style and a more than likely bike ride would absorb our time until the late afternoon. At sunset my loved one and I would find our toes buried deep in the warm sand amazed by the beauty of the summer colors floating in the oceans horizon waiting quietly for the sun to find its temporary hiding place. Our night would continue in time shared with wonderful friends. Mischief and a sense of danger will most definitely be included in our night activities. Our night would conclude with a blanket, a cool breeze and a wide open skyline to worship and praise His marvelous creation for the stars have a story of their own to tell…

Who are the top 3 most influential people in your life: Jesus, Larry Canafax, Peggy Owens, my two sisters Kyla & Jamie and their family. There are so many more people I would like to add to this list!

What’s going to be playing through your headphones on this trip: Whatever playlists Jerrod Turner creates for my eagerly awaiting ears to enjoy.

Why did you sign up for this trip: I signed up for this trip to be used, to be a servant. My heart broke when the devastation hit Haiti earlier this year. If the Lord can and chooses to use me to share His love in Haiti, then I must and will go. So I go not because of anything I can offer but because the Lord will use me to do His work.

What excites you most about this trip: I’m excited for the opportunity to live life if only for a week with the people of Haiti. I’m excited to show and share the love of Jesus. I’m excited to be available for whatever the Lord is going to do in and through me. I’m excited to see the Lord use my teammates. I’m excited to serve alongside an amazing team of people who love Jesus. Simply, I’m excited to be used however He sees fit.

What are you nervous about in this trip: Honestly, nothing.

How can people pray for you through this trip: Pray that we set ourselves aside and let the Lord do what He needs to do. He will use us; we just need to be willing and available. Pray for strength, health and protection as we travel.

Meet: Sarah

Name: Sarah "Twinkle Toes" Garske
Age: 28
City you live in: Pleasanton (aka perfectville)
Job: Dance/Language Arts Instructor

What word would best describe you: talkative

Describe the perfect day: a hike at Yosemite followed by a hot cup of cocoa and guitar by the campfire

Who are the top 3 most influential people in your life: God, my oma, my dad

What’s going to be playing through your headphones on this trip: Hurricane by Jimmy Needham

Why did you sign up for this trip: it was time to give back

What excites you most about this trip: the kids

What are you nervous about in this trip: my kreole

How can people pray for you through this trip: just pray that God will use me to convey his love to the people of Haiti