Jan 12
Day 1- Travel Day. We made it safely to Haiti and are doing good. I have to say driving through Port-Au-Prince is shocking. Yes, we’ve seen pictures but there is still collapsed houses all around and piles of rubble lining the streets. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the earthquakes. Jeff and Deb said there is a collective melancholy sadness hanging over Haiti today. The events of that day are still fresh and people are still shaken. Everyone is really tired. Most of us did not get any or much sleep last night and not much sleep during our travels today. So…tonight will be a crash, (FANTASTIC!!! wink wink Matt) hopefully! It’s pretty exciting being here and learning about the work that Jeff, Deb, Drew, and Vanessa are doing every day.
In this last year alone Awaken Haiti has built a church and school and started a medical clinic in Canaan (a displaced refuge camp that is now a permanent town, just with no infrastructure). Awaken Haiti resources Good Samaritan House where orphaned boys and girls are loved.
Ok, time for bed. We are on EST time zone so be thinking and praying for us as you think to check in on the Engage Blog.
January 11
Greetings Engage family and friends,
Check in here on this blog page as we will be blogging daily from Haiti. Tomorrow morning Tom and KY Colestock, Nate and Jessie Hempel, Kristin Tuckey, and me (Jon Hand) will be joined by 6-7 other friends from local churches and we will be flying to Port au Prince, Haiti for 5 days of discovering and learning about the mission of Awaken Haiti.
Here is our itinerary:
Day 1 - Thursday - Leave Carlisle at 2:15 AM. That’s right! AM!!!! Ugh. We will arrive in Haiti after a stop and layover in Miami. Arrive Haiti 4:20 PM.
Day 2-Friday Jan 13 - Work day at Good Samaritan Orphanage- painting, other odds and ends at both the boy’s and girl’s homes. Begin dental checks with our very own dental expert Tom Colestock.
Day 3- Saturday - Work in the new refuge city of Canaan (pronounced ka-naw). We will be playing with kids, working on a church building, helping in a medical clinic, playing soccer and games with kids in Canaan, and doing home visits to just BE with people. We will end the day with a bonfire with kids from the orphanage! 
Day 4-Sunday- While you are at Engage Church we will be worshiping with a Haiti community of Jesus. I’ve heard these things go for 2.5 hrs. You thought Engage was long…plus…they don’t do the services in English. In the afternoon we will be take a tour of Port-au-Prince. The city is still in shambles from the earthquake. In the mid-afternoon we will spend time with the kids at the orphanage making bracelets and doing some dental check ups. In the evening we will do a little outdoor swimming since the weather will be in the 80s. !!
Day 5-Monday-Work day # 2 in Canaan. We will be working on an outdoor central kitchen (since the homes do not have kitchens), painting buildings, and teaching dental hygiene.
Day 6-Tuesday-Return home and arrive at Regan Int. at 5:00 P.M. whew!
Stay tuned each day for daily blog posts from our trip. Let’s go on this together.
Here is a link to Awaken Haiti so you can learn more.
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Thanks for keeping us updated. You are in our thoughts and prayers. I look forward to hearing about everything when you return.
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[...] Engage recently sent a group of people to Awaken Haiti. Hear from the group as they share about their experience. Read more about the trip from Pastor Jon’s blog. [...]