“To See the Happiness That a Simple Gift can Bring…..”

The team!

In January, Skip Lindsey once again brought a team to serve with JUST MERCY for 10 days. It was a time of service, heart changes, and reflection for them. In their reports of the experience, the day they sailed to the little coastal village of Baie du Melse was one of the highlights of the trip. Here is the account of that day in their own words.

Sailing to the village

“We sailed to the mainland to a village called Baie Du Melse, to distribute (200) OCC   (Operation Christmas Child) boxes.  As soon as we arrived a crowd formed around the schoolhouse, the building that we were using. Several of us worked as a team and presented the gospel to the children before the distribution.

Sharing the gospel with the crowd

We started handing out the gift boxes about 45 minutes after we got there. There was a lot of confusion and chaos with parents trying to rush their children into the classrooms where we were giving away the boxes. So many children…not enough gifts.  But even the little we did that day, over 200 people got to receive gifts: Not only their box, but also the gift of the gospel preached to them before the distribution.

“I helped five or six of them to open their boxes, and it was an amazing experience being able to watch their faces as they took their first glance into the contents. Being able to see the happiness that a simple gift can bring to others was a memory that I will never forget. It was a blessing being able to see the results of a thoughtful gift given from one stranger to another.” – Noah   (More pictures below this account.)

Children lined up to come in to get an OCC gift box

“ I was able to see many children who obviously had never received a gift before! To see the sadness and darkness in their eyes turn to excitement and joy was exciting. …. My prayer for the people of Haiti is that they were touched in some way through our meager efforts, and that they will be continually reached with the marvelous gospel of Jesus Christ!” – Loren

….later that night (we) played part of the Jesus Film. We had to borrow a sheet from one of the locals to project the movie. We began playing the first part of the Film and at least 100 people showed up to watch. Although it wasn’t in English (they had a Creole version) I still could see and understand the story the Film was telling. It introduced the people to who Jesus was and what His life was like.

Showing the JESUS film

Before the end the projector died and so we could not finish showing them the entire thing. I guess that is God’s way of creating another opportunity to go back to show the rest! Anyway, I was amazed at how enthralled the people seemed in the movie. . I had a young boy named Mikale that sat on my lap. He hardly took his eyes off the screen. At times he held my hand, just wanting personal touch.

More about the team’s experiences will be shared in the next update. We are grateful to them for coming and giving of themselves to bless the people of Haiti.

If you would be interested in coming to Haiti to serve with JUST MERCY, you can find out more at www.adventuremission.org.

We are grateful for those who lift us up in prayer and for those who support the efforts to share God’s love with the people of Haiti. Thank you for reading. Blessings on you.  (Scroll down for more pics.)