There's a lot I haven't blogged about recently. July was a super busy month in Haiti and then I spent most of August at home with family and friends. Needless to say, I haven't had much time in front of the computer to upload photos and write out stories. But I'm going to try to catch up, even if these posts are weeks (or months) after things actually happened!

So returning to July... a team of 10 from my church, First Baptist Church of Friendsville, TN, came down for a week. I was so excited about their interest in sending a team to Haiti because although my church has always been involved in missions, this is the first time that they've sent anyone to partner (in person) with a ministry I'm involved in. When they began seriously planning a trip, I was excited and then immediately nervous. I don't blog a lot about my thoughts on short-term missions... but in a nutshell, I see both the pros and cons of this kind of ministry. And in Haiti, I've unfortunately seen a lot of cons. That said, I still wanted to put together a trip for my church that would hopefully be beneficial for all sides. I know that a trip like this is important for each member of the team. Who knows how God wants to transform and mold their hearts during and after spending a week in a country like Haiti, but as important as that is, I don't want to overlook the fact that a trip should also be very fruitful on the Haiti side. Haiti doesn't need more teams to come in, do a little work, and then leave only with the thoughts of how blessed they are back home. What does that actually do to help Haiti or to further the Kingdom? But all that to say, I was committed to organizing a trip where the primary focus would be for the team to learn about Haiti, learn about missions, and learn while on mission in a country like Haiti what might be some of the most effective ways to do missions in a country like Haiti.

So that was the goal, and I think that the team can all join me in saying that God helped us accomplish just that. And throughout the week the team had the opportunity to work side by side with and learn from our Haitian brothers and sisters of all ages, whether painting at the children's home, leading activities with kids in two different villages, and also making time for some fun activities! I was so proud of the team for being willing to go with the flow and just letting God teach and use them during their week here. It's common for us to want to come to a country like Haiti and be so focused on "doing" that we don't take the time to really observe, listen, and prayerfully consider how we can partner with Haitian ministries, communities, families, and individuals. I'm thankful that the team from my church was as excited about learning about Haiti and about doing missions in Haiti as they were about diving into ministry opportunities here. 

Here are a handful of photos from their trip. Thank you all for loving on Haiti, and especially the kids, during your week here! I don't think any of them wanted to leave and hopefully many will have the opportunity to come back!