We just finished hosting a 10-member mission team from Tacoma, Washington for 9 days. We thank Pastor Rollie Simmons and the leadership of Trinity Church for sending some of their members to work with us. Much was accomplished and we are very grateful for the help that was given to Rehoboth Ministries.

The members of our team consisted of four women and six men. The men laid tile and painted rooms in our mission houses and the women taught sewing classes. Due to heavy rainfall the last couple of days, plus innumerable interruptions of all kinds in our schedule, they did not get to see the final transformation of the kitchen/dining area in our smaller house. The work continues. A member of the team was gracious enough to leave funds for Rodelin (our tile man) to complete the work instead. Next, comes the plumbing and the installing of the cabinets – all paid for by Trinity Church.

The women’s group were real troopers, for they had only non-electric Singer sewing machines with treadles to teach the young women that came. (I believe some of them may be considered antiques!) They were scheduled to work with four women and instead seven showed up! The thread kept breaking on all the machines, but somehow they managed to help the young ladies cut out patterns and sew their own aprons to take home with them. The ladies were so excited and eager to learn that they would have kept coming back for days if the team had been able to stay on. They reluctantly said “goodbye” to their teachers and asked if they would be back next year.

The team was also involved in ministry. They traveled to Belle-Hôtesse (our church plant in the countryside) and handed out candy to the schoolchildren there as well as to the kids at the school in Sainte-Philomène. The team’s leader, Vic Langel, ministered in at our annual youth conference on human sexuality and at our Sunday morning service in Petite-Anse. His message, “Does Jesus Really Care About Me?” deeply touched the hearts of our people. On Sunday night the whole team ministered during a healing service and many of Pastor Lefort’s members in Sainte-Philomène came forward for prayer.

We thank the Lord for the servant attitude of this team. One of the team members even washed and massaged my tired, aching feet. Unfortunately, due to the heavy rains, we were not able to visit beautiful Cormier Plage (the beach). The team did, however, drive to Fort Liberté to have a look around. Fort Liberté is an old fort located close to the Dominican Border. Being from Tacoma where it rains over 200 days a year, they did not at all mind getting wet!

One member of the group (Jean-Yves) is Haitian and was returning with this team to his native land for the first time after having been gone since the young age of 17. He and his parents moved to the United States and he, now in his thirties, had not previously had the opportunity to return. When he heard Trinity was sending a team to Haiti, he jumped at the chance to set his feet on Haitian soil once again. It was sheer joy watching him relish the culture, the food, and speaking Creole with his fellow Haitians.

Although we truly miss the team, one of the members chose to stay and spend a couple of extra weeks with us. I guess he likes us! George is consoling us in the team’s absence and we are thrilled to have some continued fellowship from a fellow partner in the Gospel.