Scott Miller Blog :: Good Stuff

Friday in Haiti 2

After a long week of hard work, we spent this afternoon unwinding at the beach...what you can see in the first pic is my handsome farmers tanned ankles...what you can't see very well is the fact that the mix of my spray on sun block and the chlorine in the pool turned much of my skin and feet green!...incredible hulk green...

The other 3 pics are from our last nightly 'reflection' time on top of the roof...

Friday in Haiti

This morning we painted yet one more house in Titayen...all these pics are from there...

Thursday in Haiti 2

All of these pics are from the orphanage this afternoon...

Matt and one of the girls...

Girls at the orphanage...

Jason taught the kids how to make their finger disappear...he is one talented guy...he taught these boys other things as well, but you'll have to ask him about that...

The kids are amazed by my arm hair...they'll sit there pulling on it...kind of cute, but kind of unnerving as well!

Thursday in Haiti

Spent this morning in the village of Mesaye...couldn't take pictures, but spent the whole morning connecting with the kids in the village...games, soccer, bible story/songs, etc...prayed with them all and presented the Gospel...

First pic is the team pic of course...

Next is a picture at Oscar's Orphanage here in Titayan...we spent the afternoon here hanging out with the kids...this pic is the kitchen...apparently dogs are allowed...

Doc Amis adjusted all the orphanage staff and kids...you should have seen their smiles...

This last picture is of me and Stanley...they just found Stanley yesterday...today was his first full day at the orphanage...yet he smiles...

Short of the obvious results of a different diet than normal (w/ a beans and rice base), all of the team is healthy & staying out of the bathroom!

Wednesday in Haiti

Very productive day of mostly painting today...even painted some outdoor bathrooms, that are obviously being used...we'll just leave it for your imagination...no picture...

This little girl brought me to tears as she joined us for lunch today...she's about Hayden's age, & the thought that this might be her only meal for her today was frustrating...

Our fearless leader Jason...doing what fearless leaders do...uh...lead and stuff...

This is the house a crew of us completely painted...Denise owns the house...a single mom with 3 kids...we prayed for her baby today as she's been sick for a while...then gave her $20 to head to the hospital...interesting experience...

Wednesday in Haiti 2

Little guy wanted his picture taken...

This dude was loading cement bags on his motorcycle to take out to the building site...crazy...

Pathway serving, doing dishes tonight...

Wednesday in Haiti 2

Little guy wanted his picture taken...

This dude was loading cement bags on his motorcycle to take out to the building site...crazy...

Pathway serving, doing dishes tonight...

Tuesday in Haiti 2

This little guy sat with me through church tonight...

Mike with the family we painted For today...another chunk of the team took off defective roofs and cleaned up a gravel road...all of this physical work is done under the umbrella of MOH, and on the name of Jesus...we always take time to interact with the many many kids and Haitians that watch us white people work!

This little guy was chasing our truck down the road for probably a mile!

This last pic is more for the guys who were here last year...this is taken from the roof of the guest house we are staying in...really great place to connect with Jesus...

One last note of the day...a lady holding a baby came up to me, slapped the baby's tummy & then mine and said, 'You FAT?' I said, 'yep...I'm fat'...she shook her head in agreement...

Tuesday in Haiti

The large building in back is Convoy of Hope's distribution center...mission of hope feeds 50,000 people a DAY out of their current facility, this new center will only cause that to grow!

We were loading up in the truck...our main source of transportation...

We painted this lady's house today...yes, that baby I am holding has nothing on his bottom...

We painted this water cistern today and then Jason got in it to fix something inside...that's him on the top of it...

Long day for all of us, including John!

Monday in Haiti

You can't really see what's happening in this picture...but we just spent the past 40 minutes or so in worship on the roof of the GuestHouse, being led by John Mark, a 15 year old from the orphanage here at MOH...to say it was powerful would be an understatement...John Marks mom died 5 years ago & dad abandoned him at age 2...amazing how God is using this kid...

Monday in Haiti 2

A couple of funny Haitian kids that hung around us as we worked...one kid named Jefferson patted my stomach and said in his Haitian accent, 'baby?' Then of course he laughed his head off as I was left laughing myself...

Painter John Lankerd...he's a pro at Haitian house painting...

Pathway Boss Jason and Haitian Boss Jimmy after a long hard days work...

Doc Amis wrkd at the hospital all day doing the chiropractic thing...very effective and rewarding...

Monday in Haiti

Today a group of us painted, and the majority worked on installing roofs...

The guy in the red shirt is Mike Kauffman, & Becky, your husband was sweating today!

We gathered for lunch in the shade of the plantain (sp?) plants/trees out in the village of Leveque (where we worked today)...

Haitian kids were enthralled with Mike's iPhone...

More Haiti Sunday

2Pics at church...kids literally jump into your arms

Lavec (sp)...500 homes to be built!

Little kid I met

New Guesthouse we are staying in ...we worked on this last year...

Haiti Saturday

Haiti Sunday

Ryan holding his pants less friend

Some of the guys playing game with kids

A couple of cute kids I met

Haiti - we are here

We made it and all is well...looking frwrd to a packed sunday tomorrow...this picture was taken as we drove through Port au Prince...(sp?)...

Haiti Trip In Chicago!

Dinner at Portillo's (http://www.portillos.com/) with the team tonight (Friday)...leaving 7:30am Saturday...

'Our God' in Haiti

Steve Sommer just emailed me this video he shot during one of the worship services in Haiti...they are singing the song "Our God" in French and then in English...ok, you really had to be there...but it was a bit overwhelming hearing this church, full of Haitians, who have so little, declaring in worship that "if our God is for us, who then can ever stop us"...hard to put in words...

(notice we white people were messing up the whole clapping thing)

 

Haiti Update 6

Sitting in my living room, a bit overwhelmed right now.

I woke up Saturday morning in a 3^rd world country, used a toilet I wasn't supposed to flush, took a shower by turning the water off as often as possible, and witnessed the destruction caused by the earthquake last year as we took a tour through a suburb of Port au Prince before we flew out.

I got home about 30 minutes ago (around 1am early Sunday morning), walked into my two story more square footage than 6 Haitian houses house, Daisy met me at the door as if to try to make up for the lost time in a minutes worth of sniffing and licking, everyone was sleeping, so I slipped into the shower, which I left running over me for a long long time (to much information?), I honestly forgot how much of a spiritual experience a shower is for me, I am now completely clean for the first time in a week, and I'm ready to go to sleep.

Wow…I look forward to week's worth of processing what the team and I just lived over the past week. Look forward to sharing more at Pathway later on this morning. Thanks to all who were praying with us.

Haiti Update 5

 
Pic above is the whole team, with our interpreter for the week, Rosnic. Today was our last full day in Haiti. We have been based at MOH which is in Titanyen, about a 45 minute drive north of Port Au Prince, along the coast. The ocean is off in the distance, but every day we can see it easily. We've spent time in villages all over this area of Haiti. Unlike what you hear on the news, Haiti is really a beautiful land with many welcoming people. I realize we have spent most of our time within an hours drive of Titanyen, but, every follower of Jesus Christ in Haiti that we have come in contact with is filled with hope for what God is getting ready to do in their country. It is actually overwhelming the hope you feel from the Haitian people we have come into contact with, particularly those connected with the Mission of Hope church here on the MOH grounds. This was unexpected to say the least…

Today we spent the morning at the Village of Lavek (sp?) where MOH will be building hundreds of homes, as well as schools and a church. We slapped a roof on in about 2 hours, and then at 11am we took a break to feed the over 150 Haitian workers that we were working alongside. Just before they ate, MOH asked me to share a quick message. This was the first time I've ever spoke/preached with an interpreter…wow…that was fun…and powerful. Also the first time I've ever preached a message in 5 minutes. Was amazed at how well the Haitian men listened as I presented John 3:16 to them (with a little help from 'Big' Steve and Andy Davidhizar). A couple of pics here…

Amazing King of Painting, John Lankerd, took on a green paint can, and lost…

This little spawn of Satan crawled out of ditch another team was digging…

Here's a shot of when I was preaching…the bright colored buildings behind me are the homes that we helped to build…Pathway actually built 2 of those through a $10,000 donation that was given through us…

After the morning in Lavek, we spent our final afternoon here at a local beach. Some of the guys went snorkeling, others swam, others sat on the beach b/c they just knew if they were to go in the water they would get completely sun burned and have a miserable trip home so they just waded in the water a little bit and never went fully in…well…it really wasn't 'others' that did this…just me. Here's a pic of some of our guys who went out to snorkel in the ocean (Matt Painter was overjoyed that he got to see a coddle fish)…

And a few that stayed behind to swim…(not much to see here)…

We have enjoyed amazing health all week…until today. Today Arlen Eicher came down with…well…he got sick after we ate lunch and swam. After returning to MOH, he went down to the MOH Hospital. They gave him some meds for his symptoms, and he felt better right away. They think he was just really dehydrated. Please continue to pray for him to travel well on Saturday.

We fly into Chicago at 9pm Indiana time, Saturday night. We'll see you all Sunday morning at Pathway…

Haiti Update 4

Fyi…make sure you read update 3 too…both of these are from today (Thursday)…

I spent some time this afternoon walking through the Village of Hope (orphanage here at MOH). On a personal note, this was a bit of a heart gripping time for me. Not sure I can explain it, but my heart seems to really connect with these kids. Here's 2 pics from the baby house…this house has around 5 infant babies, all of whom who's parents either died in the earthquake, or of AIDS, etc. Arlen and one of the babies here…

This little guy put on a show for me as I walked away…

Here's a few of the older girls from the orphanage…amazing how well these kids speak English…

Haiti Update 3

Here's what happened today…

This morning we stuck around MOH and worked on a facility they are building here (the same one we worked on yesterday). Let me just take a moment to say that this group of Pathway guys are absolutely amazing workers, and skilled at that. Everyone down here is impressed with the work of these guys, including the Haitians. Manass and Scott Horner are in this pic below, working with a few Haitian workers.

This afternoon, we spent time in Mennotree (sp?), simply reaching out to the community alongside a Christian school/outreach in that area. Really proud of our team as we went door to door, talking with people and praying with them. Below is a picture of Matt talking with a group.

Below is a picture of Dean, Arlen, and Manass praying with a gal.

Below, Jason (in the hat) and Thad stirred up a soccer game with the kids.

Scott Horner below…

Gary Kyle…the kids are amazed by the arm hair we white people have…

'BIG' Steve and Jon Stoll…

Jason below…

Haiti 2 Update

Wow…uh…where to start…

Yesterday (Tuesday), Andy, John Lankerd, and Myself went back to finish painting a house we put a roof on in the village of Sesmatla (sp?). The other guys put 2 roof's on in the village of Menotree (sp?), and painted one of those houses.

It was Tuesday morning when Thad Sommer (who was sleeping outside) heard what seemed like a dog sniffing at his ear. As he opened his eyes, he figured out it was not a dog, but a rat the size of a cat. Apparently the rat ran round Thad's bed 3 times, as Thad was trying to get out ASAP. How about that…

Today, Andy and John went back to finish painting the house in Sesmatla, but the rest of us spent the day here at MOH working on a new building they have. Pics below…

Not a whole lot to report otherwise…having a great time with the guys…really wish more of you could have been a part!

Last night, we all got rained on after church…and then had the blessed job of doing the dishes…picture below…

Everyone is healthy…as far as I know (which I have not taken any polls or anything), no one has had any significant stomach issues, etc. Food is not bad at all here. Last night's rain brought a cooler sleep!

A lot of talk about our wives and kids tonight at dinner…we all are looking forward to getting home, but really enjoying our time. A day here is like the following:

6am        Electricity goes out (is only on from 6pm to 6am), meaning our fans go off, meaning we all get up. It's crazy, every stinking one of us wakes up. Get showered or whatever, and get on with our day.

7am        Breakfast…personally, I tried this Special K cereal yesterday, that has strawberry's in it…wow…that's a good cereal folks…thanks for letting me share…

7:30am        Team Devotions…so far led by Jason or I…

8am        We head out to work wherever we are going…sweat a lot…work hard…drink a lot…interact with locals and such…

Noon        Lunch…PBJ if out in a village (or a local restaurant if we happened to be in Sesmatla – started and run by an alumni of MOH school, funded by a loan from an American…really need story)…if at MOH, hit the dining hall area for whatever they have fixed, usually soup…

4pm        Head back to MOH, enjoy a Haitian bottled coke (taste slightly different) and our dorms…

5pm or 6pm    Dinner

7pm        Reflection Time…Reflection Time sounds very touchy feely, sit around, touch toe's and sing Kumbaya…not so…it really is a highlight of the day as we all share about what we experienced during the day, and things the Lord might be speaking to us…as well as other things that seem to happen when you get 13 guys together… laughing …what did you think I was talking about?

8-9pm        Head to our dorm area, and get ready for bed

10pm        Lights out…get under your mosquito nets…and pray the guy in the bunk above you sleeps well and doesn't snore…

2 ½ days and we are out of here…seems like we've been here for a long time…not in a bad way though…we are loving the interaction with the locals, learning the culture, etc.

We do have a cell phone we have rented, so if your husband hasn't used a dollar or two of minutes to call you, know that it's b/c he doesn't like you. Hah! The minutes seem to run out quicker that we can buy them actually.

Signing off…

Haiti picture

For some reason, this pic didn't show up on my previous post…

Quick Haiti Post

I've been in Haiti for 3 days now…it's everything you'd think it would be and more. Some of the quick highlights/experiences:

• Had an overwhelmingly powerful church service Sunday morning with the Mission of Hope Church, including about 800 Haitians! They sang songs in English and French. I shot the picture below as we all went to Kids church halfway through (the preaching is in French, so we wouldn't have understood much) the service.

• Really impressed with the people from Mission of Hope…they are the real deal…raising up Haitians to reach Haitians for Jesus.
• Today was our first day to actually go out and work (Saturday we arrived, Sunday was church and basic touring of the MOH facility and the area's we'll be working in). We painted one of the construction houses, and the rest of the guys put on the roof. Many of the Haitian kids jumped in to help us out (see pic below)…kind of stressed me out…so most of the painters deserted their painting duties and left Matt Painter (who did a great job…bottom pic below) to deal with the kiddo's…

• Haitians are not afraid to bring attention to your man-gut…many have nick-named Steve Sommer "BIG"…it was all funny, until a few of them started grabbing my gut, suggesting that I was also "BIG". Many of the women and children can't keep themselves from grabbing at my arm hair. This makes for an awkward moment…but then I realize that they just rarely see such a handsome guy in this wonderful country. Random pic below…

• When you think about what it would be like to walk into a village of a third world country, that's exactly what I experience today. At one point, me and John Lankerd walked down to a natural spring, which people were using to drink from (as of a year ago, Samaritans Purse now helps them filter drinking/cooking water), wash clothes/dishes in, swim in, bath in, etc. Absolutely amazing.
• This kid, Peter, was kind of my right hand man today as I spent the day painting. Pretty sure he has no parents, and lives with a friend. But he worked his tail off today.

• Went to check something out at the future MOH North campus, and this little girl decided to help me get the paint off my hands by taking her finger nails and scraping it off. Very kind of her…which is really the response we've received from almost every Haitian…they have been very welcoming and glad to see us.

• I would suggest Megan should jump to the last point below as I'm sure she'll have the feeling of "I can't believe he shared that…you are gross Scott." I will be the first to admit I like my American comforts…like AC, being able to flush the toilets (the motto here is "If it's yellow, let it mellow…if it's brown, flush it down"…let your mind run with that one), not having rats and mice in my living quarters, etc.
• Prayer thought? Seriously, pray for us to be able to sleep. I have NEVER experienced such heat in the night. Gary Kyle, Thad Sommer, and Andy Davidhizar have taken to sleeping outside. I understand Andy had a visitor or two (mice), and the other two got bit up even with nets. Please pray we can get the needed sleep we need. Thanks!