THE MAKING OF A TEAM

TEAM MEETING

I met with the sixteen team members of a group that will be visiting Canaan later this year. There are four married couples, several family units, three young children and some teenagers. Six of them have been to Haiti before, five of them at Canaan. Most of them are people I know, this is a good team.
We want our teams to be more than good we want them to be prepared, effective, to have a meaningful experience and be used by God. This team started coming together in January, the roster is filled, their tickets bought and last night we had our first meeting, it was two hours long. We will probably have one more meeting before they come to Haiti. There will be lots of e-mail contact as we work through project details and maybe a special ministry or special event they may want to put together.

This team isn't different than any of the others we bring to Haiti. We like to be involved with all our teams long before they arrive in Haiti. Good teams don't become effective teams upon arrival it starts months before they board the plane. This Sunday I have a meeting with another team that will come in early January 2010. A week ago I met with a team that is organizing for a November visit. We are working with an Illinois group for this summer.
The point of all of this planning is good sense for not only us as a mission but you who come work with us. We depend on your help, prayers and support for what we do as missionaries. You place your confidence in us as you leave your comfort zone and step out to join God in what He is doing. We need each other that's why we spend so much effort in planning and preparation, we think it pays off. In God's love, steve

THE GREAT RACE

Liz when she lived at Canaan

I first met Liz Froba back in March of 2007 when she came and worked at Canaan for several months. That same year she traveled with a group of Canaan students to the A.C.E. Accelerated Christian Education convention in Flagstaff, Arz. before heading home for the summer. Then till last Fall she worked at a youth camp called Young Life in Windy Gap, N.C.
In October of last year Liz signed up to be a part of (team leader) The Great Race 2009. She and her team along with other teams are traveling around the globe visiting about 10 countries in ten months. Haiti was added to the list of "Race Countries" this year and Liz and her team were able to actually come and stay with us at Canaan for 3 weeks. Since then they have been in Thailand and Cambodia and will visit at least 5-6 more countries before getting home in November.
The following "You Tube" video was put together by her after leaving Haiti in February. I think it is worth sharing as she has a wonderful talent for capturing and expressing her love for missions on video. In God's love , Steve

Liz Froba Haiti Slideshow

BEACHES

SOME OF MY FAVORITE BEACHES

Canaan is located on a hill just three quarters of a mile off the Caribbean Ocean. Just about anywhere your at on the property you can see the beautiful blue waters off shore. Some of the most beautiful beaches in Haiti are up and down the coast from where we live.
Beach resorts with names like Wahoo Bay, Kaliko, Moulin Ser Mer and Club Indigo once lured travelers from the U.S. and Europe to their fine beaches, restaurants and hotels. The only foreigners that come now are U.N. personnel, wealthy Haitians and missionaries. There is hope that when the new improved roadway is completed and if the country continues to stay calm that the tourist once again will find Haiti's beaches a vacation destination.
Those who come to work with us at Canaan almost always get an opportunity to visit at least one of the three beaches that I take teams to. These beaches aren't resorts so we don't have to pay to get in, they are private so we usually have them all to ourselves. We usually take along some of the kids from Canaan when we go. Almost always we play games like keep away or volleyball, occasionally we have a cookout, sometimes an evening beach fire and sing along but for sure we have a good time every time.

GREAT NEWS FOR CLINIC

AWESOME CONCERT


The RAISE THE ROOF CONCERT IV is now history and this year's event a record breaker, please read the previous blog post from Talk of the Town our local online newspaper. We expect when all the checks come in this week we may surpass $13,000.00 coming close to doubling last years concert which itself was a record in 2008.
Fund raising aside what is truly awesome is how inspiring the 2 hour concert was to all those who attended. People were honestly moved by the music, songs, mime, videos, pictures and testimonies. People have come up to me over the last several days to tell me how "inpired, uplifted, and moved" they were from the concert.
I think the highlight was when I was joined on stage by Sally Tomcik from Bear Lake Community Church. She emotionally shared her testimoney from her recent visit to Canaan with the audience. Many people have expressed what a personal moment it was to hear and feel her compassion and passion for the patients who come to seek help at our present clinic. I know what she had to say was not only God inspired but came from her heart.
With the money we have received over the last 14 months we are very near to reaching the goal of our estimated construction costs. Please continue to pray that the funds come in to see this project is completed. Hopefully by midweek we will have a PayPal donation button on this site to enable us to receive online donations for the clinic and other projects. In God's love, Steve

GOD IS GOOD

Raise the Roof IV raised $12,300 for Haitian mission, organizers elated
By Jennifer Zartman Romano

Raise the Roof IV, a fundraiser to support mission work in Haiti through Go And Produce (GAP) Ministries, was held Saturday night at First Church of God. Musicians and vocalists presented a dynamic evening dedicated to raising funds and awareness of the plight of those living in poverty-stricken areas of Haiti.
On Monday morning, John Alcock, one of the event’s planners, was pleased to share the news: the event which set records in 2008 had again far exceeded anyone’s expectations and raised $12,300!
Organizers were thrilled to have raised $7,000 at the Raise the Roof concert in 2008.
“That will go a long way in Haiti,” Alcock said. “I’m astounded.”
The funds will be used toward continued construction of a medical facility near an orphanage in Haiti. Alcock said the long-term goal is that the medical facility might eventually become a hospital, but he’s not sure when that might happen.
Local residents have been engaged in significant mission work in Haiti for the past several years, making what they believe will be a lasting impact on the community there. Over 100 local residents have gone to Haiti with Steve Mossburg to complete numerous projects there.
“God is good. (The medical facility) will touch a lot of lives in Haiti,” he said.
Will there be a Raise the Roof V?
“We’ll continue to pray about it,” Alcock said. “Each year it gets better and better. People see the need and they attend.”
Athelcock was unable to determine what the exact attendance was, but it was estimated to be around 400 people.
DVDs of the performance on Saturday night are being created now and will be available soon through First Church of God. For more information about the DVDs or to make a personal contribution to the project, contact First Church of God at 244-5959

AN EVENING WITH FRIENDS

Paul, Amy, Travis and Mark at Canaan.

God continues to bless us with wonderful friendships through our work in Haiti. Yesterday Shirley and I had the fun of hosting some of our GAP-Haiti connection friends for an enjoyable evening of Creole cooking and converation. Lately Shirley has been intensifying and honing her Haitian Creole cooking skills as she gathers recipes for a Creole cooking book. Though this is a great way to get some feedback our main interest is in promoting the growth of missions.

Travis and Amy Turk who along with Mark Pohl recently returned from a visit to Haiti were here with us last night. Also able to attend were Haitian Erve Joseph who is attending college here in Indiana and my cousin Doug Walker. The Turk's and Mark are planning another trip yet this year possibly around Thanksgiving week. Unlike their other trips to Haiti this time they are building a team from within their church small group .

Doug who along with his wife Amber are Erve's host family here in the states will be traveling to Haiti in December. He has made numerous mission trips to work on a varied of projects with G.A.P. Ministry over the years. This trip he is teamed up with 15 others from our home church, The First Church of God Columbia City.

Besides these two teams we have inquiries and the possibility of three other teams maybe coming on mission trips this year. If anyone reading this blog has an interest in joining a team or forming one they can visit www.gap-haiti.com website and download much of the team applications, guidelines and contact info needed to inquire about a visit. In God's love , steve