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From June 1-8th 2019, seven of us will be flying to Haiti on a mission trip with Lighthouse Bible Church, partnering with Greg Yoder and Christian World Outreach. CWO has been ministering in Haiti for over 40 years. Their mission statement is to participate with the body of Christ in responsible evangelism, to bring dignity, self-worth, and encouragement through leadership development, and to meet the physical needs of people, through humanitarian assistance. We look forward to being a small part of that mission.
The team has spent more than four months training in preparation for the trip. Training has included the culture and customs of the Haitian people, spiritual warfare, teamwork, realistic expectations, why mission trips, Basic Haitian Creole, staying healthy, speaking with an interpreter.
We are excited to be a part of what God is doing around the world to lead people of other nations into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
The team will be preaching and teaching 5 different times at a local church, topics include teaching the youth on Christians and the use of technology; teaching the men of the church on servanthood and leadership; teaching women of the church about women's roles in the church, home, society, and church, teaching on prayer.
We will have the evangelistic opportunity to teach about 165 women at the feminine training center about the love of God and knowing God. The center provides women with vocational skills, so they can obtain employment or start their own business to support their families. Each team member will have the opportunity to share their personal testimonies of how they came to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior, and we will be teaching 6 various times.
In the afternoons we will be teaching several crafts to the women of the school. These crafts will be something the women can make and sell for income. We will take part in the children's feeding program and teaching VBS to about 85 children.
Each team member took on the responsibility to handle their own expenses. We would like to thank each of our financial and prayer supporters. Without you this trip would not be possible. We would also like to thank the members of Lighthouse Bible Church, a small and loving group of believers with big hearts who have abundantly blessed us with their generous support.
Please pray for us. Our trip is not about us as American Christians of means helping those in need. Rather, these trips are an avenue by which we can work with and minister alongside other believers in a different country. We have an abundance to offer and humbly recognize our own need to receive from our international brothers and sisters in Christ. We know some of us will have a challenging time seeing the abject poverty (Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere). The will have difficulty with the heat, trying to adjust to a different culture and struggle with the wrong assumption that our way of doing things is better. Some will have difficulty eating strange food, not being able to communicate, sleeping in strange surroundings and the noises of a different environment. And of course, things never go as planned, thus the need to be flexible and adaptable. In addition, then top it off with our different personalities. Whew! That is a lot to contend with.
However, our God is great, and we believe He has called us to this mission, and we find comfort knowing there is a team of believers back home who will be praying for us.
While we will be ministering together as a team, we each have individual responsibilities.
Our team members:
· Pastor Ted Dudak: This is his first mission trip. Ted will be preaching and teaching.
· Rob Moritz: Has gone on one mission trip to Jamaica. Rob will be teaching.
· Becky Carr: She has previously gone on one mission trip to Peru. Becky will be teaching.
· Shanna Graifer: This is her first mission trip. Shanna will handle VBS, teaching the children
· Tracy Golden: This is Tracy's first mission trip. She will be teaching the women how to make jewelry that they can sell.
· Renee Franks: This is Renee's first mission trip. She will be teaching the women how to make wreaths that they can sell.
· Karen Pasquariello: Has been on numerous mission trips and lived in Haiti as CWOs first missionary. Karen will be ministering in whatever role needed and assuming responsibility for care of the team.
Karen Pasquariello