We finished the first house from Monday today. The group from Genesis Church helped us again. We are very fond of Dale the painter. He has become a legend. At first, Dale is rough around the edges. It's just hard to like him. He's pretty mean, but once you break through his shell, he is so endearing. He's an incredibly hard worker. What a testimony he has been to us. He gets right to work on the task at hand and does not stop until it's completed. He also lost his job right before coming to Haiti. He had every reason in the world to stay home, but chose to follow God. The Genesis Church is from Florida. They do not have regular Sunday church like we do in Oklahoma - that seemed odd to us. They are an evangelist church where they go out into the mission field -wherever that is God calls them - and they serve to build the Kingdom. Dale was traveling with his wife and two daughters, Morgan and Alison, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their two children. Plus two sisters, of no relation to Dale and the rest. This group really has a heart for Jesus.
Tracy (pictured above) and I spent time painting the interior windows in one of the bedrooms. We had good fellowship during our task. Zan and I also tackled a few windows together. Girl talk is always good. We did have lots of time for that since those dad gum windows soak up SO much paint.
Chris (pictured above) was our main man helping Cody and I roll the master bedroom and adjoining bath. We put multiple coats on those concrete walls. (It's kinda funny to say 'master bedroom' for a Haitian home...It's about the size of your walk-in closet.)
Cody childhood upbringing of learning how to paint and paint well really paid off. He was in charge of all the cutting in -the very tedious painting. Can you believe the plumbing?? Working sink, toilet and shower! We were definitely in a 'rich' home!
There was only so much room in the house to paint. There were 13 of us on the Journey team and about that much in the Genesis group. So those of us not painting spent time loving on kids. Pictured is Jessica loving on that ornery kid. He looks so sweet, huh?
There was only so much room in the house to paint. There were 13 of us on the Journey team and about that much in the Genesis group. So those of us not painting spent time loving on kids. Pictured is Jessica loving on that ornery kid. He looks so sweet, huh?Finished window! After five million coats of paint...I was proud. Tracy made me pose for a pic.
Dale's sister-in-law and daughter painted the white and pink floral mural. This is a piece sunk in the concrete wall. The girls wanted to do something nice to offset the odd faux window, so they painted. There is a matching mural in reverse colors on the front porch. It was the perfect touch. The homeowner was speechless when she saw the finished product. (Pictured is Tracy pretending she's painting it. Silly girl.)
Grant (middle) is helping the homeowner hang up curtains which are the exact color of the exterior of the home. She picked the paint color to match her curtains. Plus the curtains have sweet embroidered flowers which match the painted murals on the inside and outside of the home. I think the homeowner has a future in Haitian interior design. :)
And here is the finished product. This house is my favorite thing we accomplished on our trip. It's just a little gem among such poverty. Tracy was asked to bless the home through prayer which our translator, Maxim, repeated in Creole. All the surrounding homes in this village are gray cement - no color. What was really cool was as we painted neighbors came over to ask how they could get their home painted. It was a very neat why to advertise the Church of Hope and build the Kingdom. Now, amid the gray rows of houses stands a little beacon of light - of pink light as a witness for Jesus winning Haiti one house at a time.
When she sat down on the front porch, it was the icing on the cake. What a perfect moment to witness. How incredibly proud she was of her home. "Every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God." -Hebrews 3:4
Alice and Casey, our Mission of Hope (MOH) interns. This is their very first house completed. Glad to share in that memory with these amazing girls. 
The Genesis Church (Dale is on the far right holding the paint roller. How perfect. The artists are the girl in the orange shirt holding the puppy and the woman in the light green T-shirt.)In the afternoon we traveled to Titanyen, a village, for orphanage ministry at In His Hands. Fourteen children live there. The Genesis group gave out bracelets and shared the Gospel. Our group painted nails, applied temporary tattoos and handed out stickers.
This is their classroom where we played.
We played a game, led by our translator Maxim, called Over/Under where you jump over the line when the word 'over' is said in Creole and then back over, or under, when the word 'under' is said. It gets faster and faster the longer you play. You really have to pay attention, especially if Creole isn't your native language. I was terrible at it.
Tina using her drinking water to apply tattoos. 
Lela joyful helped apply tattoos.
Momma Lisa's Nail Salon was a regular occurrence for us girls. Lisa painted sweet Katie's nails.
Cody found a common ground with this teen. They listened to music on Cody's iPhone. Music translates in any language.
The Genesis Church also had the talent of animal balloon making. Well Tracy thought she'd get in on the fun, so she grabbed a green balloon and started to make a puppy. Really, Tracy has NO clue how to make any kind of balloon animal. A sweet boy patiently waited for his puppy. Tracy started twisting and turning making a shape of who knows what. You can see in her face the concentration and fear of trying to figure this whole balloon making thing out for this sweet boy at her side. After about five minutes, Tracy reveals her balloon puppy.
And it was PERFECT! Just look at Tracy's joy! She told us after she was praying the whole time asking God to use her as a vessel to make that puppy. And He did. This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. It's proof prayer works when you submit and press in to the Spirit.The children at In His Hands were wonderful. Sweet and precious. I want to adopt every child in Haiti, Cody says. It's true. I do. It was hard for me not to get attached and want to save them. I didn't feel God telling me any of those kids were mine, but it didn't stop my heart from wanting to provide a good life for them. The orphanage was not what I expected. It was literally a makeshift shack with adjoining rooms. It makes you wonder why it costs so much to adopt a child when they live in conditions such as that. And it also makes me what to do a shoe drive for like Crocs or tennis shoes and send them over. Adequate shoes are a must in Haiti.
At night, we play group games. Lots of dominoes that get intense and our fav, The Name Game or also called All in the Family. You write a famous person's name on a piece of paper and put it in a hat. All the names are read aloud twice. You try to remember all the names. When it's your turn, you go around asking if a player is 'so and so'. If you guess right then that player is now on your team. You try to conquer the entire group all the while keeping who you are a secret. Well Cody and I tend to dominate the game. Cody is really good at reading people. I'm just a lucky guesser. I chose Frank Sinatra and no one remembered, so I dominated that round. It was my team of eight versus Shelli's team of four. They wouldn't give up (because Tracy and Jessica are so competitive) and about 30 minutes later after we had quit playing - the game was OVER - they remembered!!! Just imagine a bunch of girls running around screaming with excitement. It was the best defeat of my life!
Dominoes...
During devotions, morning or night, we would play another game where we would share our pet peeve, a nickname we wish to be called and the animal we would be -which you have to act out. During Cody's turn, he complained about having to act out his animal - which he cheated and told me, so I would guess it, but I wasn't allowed to guess anyway. He asked for help. Bryan said I could help him at least be his prop. Cody shouts, "Get on all fours!" My eyes went wide and I was embarrassed. Totally not what Cody meant, but it quickly became a trip catch phrase. So pictured is me on all fours...while Cody acts out his animal. Can you guess it? Think prehistoric with spikes. Yep, a stegosaurus. Thanks, Lisa, for capturing this memory. I'm glad you did. :P
