A dream come true... a mission to Haiti (Schedule)

For months and months, she dreamed of traveling to Haiti. Tonight, she's sleeping in Haiti!

Here is the team's schedule for the next eight days.

Monday, June 11: Travel day to Port-Au-Prince (via Austin to Dallas and Miami)

Tuesday, June 12:  Travel to Dessalines (3-4 hour drive), and set up at the compound

Wednesday, June 13:  Work, time with village kids, and hospital visits

Thursday, June 14:  Work, time with village kids, and hospital visits

Friday, June 15:  Work, time with village kids, and hospital visits

Saturday, June 16:  Visit/work at orphanage

Sunday, June 17:  Church, visit orphanage, other work as assigned

Monday, June 18:  Travel to Port-Au-Prince, free time

Tuesday, June 19:  Travel back to States

I'll update again when I've heard from them.

Please feel free to leave comments for Kat. (Click on the comment link below this post.)  She won't see them while she's gone, but I know she'd appreciate seeing your thoughts and prayers even once she's home.  And, we will include them in her Haiti scrapbook!

Touch down! (Or, Kat and the team are in Haiti!)

Settle down all you football fans... this has nothing to do with sports.

According to the airline, the team's plane has landed in Port-Au-Prince.  Hopefully, this landing was a little softer than the last one. Prayers appreciated for the team to arrive feeling well and that all the luggage made it.

I will update later tonight (if I hear anything) and I will post their schedule for the remainder of their trip.

Thank you for your prayers throughout today!

Second and final stop... Miami!

The team has arrived in Miami!  They had a little drama with a very hard landing that caused some ceiling tile to pop open, exposing some wiring, etc., in the ceiling. Everyone is fine and they are getting lunch before their next flight.

Next (and final!) flight to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (American Flt. #803) is scheduled to depart at 2:50 pm Eastern time.

Want to follow along? Go HERE.

First stop... Dallas!

They've arrived in Dallas! Next flight to Miami (American Flt. #1976) is scheduled to depart at 8:55 am Central time.

Want to follow along? Go HERE.

Sending my baby to Haiti.

Several months ago, Kat sent out the following letter: 

Bonjou Fanmi ak Zanmi! (That’s “Hello Family and Friends!” in Creole!) 

I have some exciting news to share with you! I’m writing to let you know that I have received the honor of being selected to travel on a mission trip with seven members of my youth group. We will be traveling to the country of Haiti to work this June 11-19, 2012. We will arrive by plane in Port-Au-Prince and then take a very long bus ride to Dessalines. Once there, we will be assigned projects that include painting and repairs at a church in a small community outside Dessalines as well as volunteering at an orphanage and hospital. We will have the opportunity to play with the children and meet the people of the village. Most importantly, we will share the love of Jesus with them! 

I love volunteering my time and talents locally but I have always dreamed of traveling on a foreign mission trip. So this trip is very much a dream come true for me!...

Well, since that time the funds have been raised, a passable amount of Creole has been learned, the bags are packed and loaded, and she'll be on a 6 am flight tomorrow morning (Monday, 6/11) with the rest of the team.

Tomorrow, I'll post their schedule on the side bar of this blog.  Kat will be able to use her phone through mid-afternoon tomorrow until she boards her last flight from Miami to Port-Au-Prince.  I'll post Kat's texts for all to read if there's any real info in them.  (You know, other than "I just got a lemonade from the Wendy's in the food court!") 

Once they leave Miami, there will probably be 24 to 48 hours of "silence" until they are settled in at the mission compound outside of Dessalines.  If all goes as planned, we anticipate receiving a nightly email with a team update as well as a sentence or two from each of the youth.  However, power and technology can be spotty there so no news is considered good news.

Please pray for the team as they travel and minister.  Specifically, we would appreciate your prayers for safety, stamina, good health, and many opportunities to tell people about the love of Jesus.

Oh, and if you'd like to include prayers for the Mommy left here in the States... well, that would be okay, too!  I'm truly not worried. But I am a Mommy.

Merry Christmas!

 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.  (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.  And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.  He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

  And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
 
  That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,  but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
 
 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
 
 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.  After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,  but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.  The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. (Luke 2, NLT)

Thankful... Day Eleven

Today, I am thankful for all the veterans who have served in our nation's armed forces.  You are owed a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. 

 

To my own family members... "Thank you!" Dad and Grandad!

 

********************************

I am linking up with Dawn (another Dawn!) at the Goodlife for 30 Thankful Days.  What are you thankful for?  Feel free to link up and join us or leave your answer here in a comment!