All good things must come to an end...

So here I am back in the California sitting in a Starbucks and I have to say it feels a little weird. It seems that only just yesterday I was sitting in a broken plastic chair outside of our dorm talking with Jean Jean about his boyhood trips up into the mountains with the family goats, all the while taking swigs of legit (aka. Sugar Cane) Coke from a dusty double sized reused bottle. At the same time, as I am literally now a whole world away, things are beginning to fade. It isn't quite so easy to get up at 4AM anymore, the songs i find myself humming are no longer worship songs, and I am taking way too long showers. I figured that this would eventually happen, so its no shock. What has been a great help has been all of the facebook pictures constantly being posted and tagged on a regular basis, and talking the ear off of anyone who will listen to me share about my this trip. While I know that all of this will eventually stop too at some point, I know there are some things that will remain.
The group of people that shared this experience together will always be connected in a special way because of what we all will apart of. I look forward to getting to know them even more as we adjust back to our normal lives here together. I also pray that time I spent fully focused, without distraction, will be something that I will always be able to go back to and cling to. Like Davey says, God is the same God at home as He is in Haiti. I am so thankful for this fact and will be striving take full advantage of this.

OK, that was a bit heavy, but I needed to get it out. Thanks for following along on this journey with me, sorry I couldn't have posted more...If you want to see pictures, check out facebook, there are more and more being put up everyday. If you want to hear some great stories just ask! If you know me, you know that talking is what I'm good at, so don't be a stranger now. :)

Okay Okay?

Okaaay!



Tuba Tim

What we did...

Whew! Still catching up on sleep and processing. Why am I tired? Well maybe because we did all of this:

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July 15th
Nutrition Center
English Class
Dinner- goat and passion fruit juice
Testimomies- Tracy’s and Dave’s
Bed time- 9pm Ryan meets Ted the Tarantula in bed, Dave’s speechless attempt to stop Ryan from jumping into bed

July 16th
4am prayer service
Cement Floors, Painting, & Trenching
Organizing clothing & Distribution
Bus ride w/ kids singing, visit local church (Lauren’s Prayer)
Organized rice and beans
Group prayer for Karen
b-ball games U.S. 4 for 4
Girls photo shoot
Testimony- ex-witch doctor “Price”
Letters for WestGate

July 17th
4am hike to the bat (guano) cave
Oxen digging trench
Board meeting w/ UCI
Shoe & clothing distribution for H.S. youth group because market clean up was rained out
Sugar cane factory
Haiti Idol/ 2 choir’s 6 songs each, one group walked 9 miles to sing, and the other had the leader with the clapping hands of furry
We sang 4 songs
Team introductions

July 18th
First full night sleep, slept in til 7am
Cinnamon rolls
Team cooking day
Church- we sang again
2nd service: “come as you are” Ryan spoke
Soccer game in the rain
Trash bag suit (Stan)
Taylor & Pelusa shampooing in the rain
Guinea soup, well done Brandy!
$213 for JeanJean/Kristie
Peanut Butter Popcorn- Amazing Lesley! ½ cup PB, ½ cup Karo syrup, ½ cup sugar: cook till smooth over low heat
Emotional Devotional- Team shoutouts; Jim’s, Lauren’s, and Stan’s testimonies

July 19th
Clothes distribution for choirs
Marketplace/ram pump
VBS (okay okay!)
Food Distribution; Dana gets her feet washed by Haitians/ Jim & Tracy find verses for mural
Pull wire as team (320 feet)
Arm wrestling tourney
Zourel’s testimony
Carl’s and Karen’s testimonies

July 20th
Trenching: Rocks, Rocks, and more Rocks (potatoes)
Cement floors & painting windows
Karen gets her first blisters
Ryan teaching at pastors class: some walked 11 hours for half day class
Stan gave food for some boys who were working
Verse on the bus
Beginning of Mural
Market clean up; rained out
Bus got stuck; we ran back to the worship center
Jen wrapped up Zourel’s little boy in her jacket- “awww”
Shrits & Skins in the thunder and lighting
Proper rules of basketball
Dave: “no no no, yes yes yes”
Kathryn’s agility
Tesrtimonies: Emma’s, Tim’s, & JeanJean’s
Iowa Team shows up (Lame!)

July 21st
Hour of power; I know, I know, we should of done this from the beginning
Haitian hot chocolate
Prayer/Fasting service; witch doctor came to Christ, and man that was kidnapped to be eaten (not alive cause that’s just stupid) tells his story
Mural painting
Most intense trench digging & rock busting day
Filling beans and rice bags
20 min walk for food distribution in the rain
clothing distribution for nutrition center kids
Sacrificial goat for dinner
Verses on the bus
Rain!
Testimonies: Ryan’s and Bonnie’s
Zombie talk; Eph. 6

July 22nd
Hour of Power
Mural &Bus painting
Electrical work done! Girls backfilled
Basketball lines & Clinic
Ryan’s and Jen’s sunburn lines
Kathryn and Lauren played V-ball w/ Kristie
Market came to us
Valentines cards passed out
Soccer, B-ball, & V-ball!
Youth Choir: Hyphen (Haitian Boyz II Men)
Iowa team prayed for us, we all stunk
Dave’s well planned times @ night w/ Iowa team
Testimonies: Lesley’s & Jen’s
Hurricane Bonnie forming over Haiti

July 23rd
4am prayer service
Dave peed on his foot because of GIANT tarantula (Grandpa Theodore)
Gave Wii to the Mompremiers
Little girls brought back valentines with thank you letters inside
Bus gets stuck in mud – Alfred Rocks!
Tracy did awesome on plane
Culture shock! Port-Au-Prince to Puerto Rico

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Don't worry, I copied and pasted :)

Tim

Into the Bat Cave!

It's hard to believe that I have only been here for two days...already we have done so much! Yesterday morning, some of us took a bus down the road to a family's house that was being relocated from Port au Prince that needed a concrete floor. We got there to find a pretty good group of Haitian men already gathered round a big pile of dirt. Occasionally a child would come with a bucket of water on their head and pour it into the pile. We took the cement bags over and dumped them onto the pile. As soon as we did this, the usually mild mannered local men went into overdrive, mixing the dirt and cement, filling up 5 gallon buckets, and passing them down a line of people into the house where the flour was being poured. I jumped into the end of the line near the house and threw the buckets that came my way to a man who poured onto the floor. There was yelling, buckets flying, and sweat pouring... If ever some water would start to leak out of the dirt puddle that was made, someone was run up and stop it from leaking out...they wasted nothing...even the dirt water. the best part was that even though only a couple men were actually being paid, the community came out to support this family. It was an incredible thing to be a part of.
This morning, we got up once again at the late hour of 4:00AM in order to pack up and leave for our "Hike to the Bat Cave" Hiking through the fields leading up to the cave at dawn was a pretty amazing way to experience the beautiful haitian countryside. Upon reaching the cave, we were greated with the warm dank smell of "guano" (or bat poop) and the hissing of thousands of bats. As we expored deeper into the cave, the bats began swooping all around us frantically in response to our flashlights. The haitian man that was with us took us to an area where vodoo sacrifices take place...I even saw a few bones and the skull of some type of rodent on the ground. The craziest part of our whole time in the cave was the thick mud that covered everything..only thing is, it wasnt mud...it was guano. At several points I stepped in the stuff and it went up almost to my ankle...real pleasant indeed. At one point we even had to jump across a guano "river" where if anyone was to fall into it would go up past their waste. Needless to say, this was quite an experience that I don't get everyday at home.
This afternoon we will be going with the youthgroup here to their town market and helping to clean it up with them as a service project.

So great news...there is the possibilty of getting online for some short time each day here via satellite. Anyways, I was the first one to blog on our teams blogsite, so I am copying and pasting it here! Your welcome...

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So hey this is Tuba Tim signing in for first post of the Team 2 Haiti trip. I'm pretty sure that words won't even come close to being able to describe what we've experienced so far, but I will try. We started out arriving 6 hours early to the San Jose Airport in order to make sure all of our bags got through. This gave us a great chance to hang out with each other, play the name game (at which Ryan excelled) and even learn to play spades with Carl's oh so exciting "electrical supply special edition" playing cards. The rest of our flights were uneventful, save for a few noteworthy things worth mentioning:

-In Miami I cut ahead of Selena Gomez (yes, THAT Selena Gomez) boarding onto our plane to Miami and I didn't even know it was her and that she was on our flight untill after.
-Jim made us a mascot out of a paper bag that would make Jim Henson jealous.
-Tracy survived without any meltdowns .
-Ryan did work and got us 7 carts for our luggage in Port Au Prince for $14 instead of $40.
-Kris was a trooper and flew with all of our luggage by himself on the last leg of our flight in the smallest plane ever.

Upon reaching Port au Prince we were greeted with our first major challenge as the airplane company that was supposed to charter us told us that we had never paid. Our fearless leader Davey came through big as he worked the counter with Jim and Ryan. Our amazing girls at one point all gathered around for an intense prayer session in the middle of the busy airport. Needless to say God (and Jim's Visa Card) came through big in the end and we were finally on our way to Pignon.
Upon touching down in the grassy field that serves as Pignon's Airport, we were greeted by an amzing welcoming committee made up of Jon Jon, Kristie, and a bunch of wide eyed children who seemed just as curious to see us as we were them. We then all piled onto the school bus, or, the Mompremier-mobile, and headed down the road to what will be our new home for over the next week.

That's it for now...more later?

Tim

Twas the night before Haiti...

Well this is it, can't believe it all starts tomorrow morning. Not really sure what to expect, but I guess that's the cool part of it... Not sure if I will actually be able to get on here during our trip, but if I can I will. I do know for sure that our team will be updating info at http://westgatetohaiti.blogspot.com/ so you can check that out and follow along if you want to. Here we go...

Shots, Shots, ShotsShotsShotsShots!

So school is just about over which means that summer is just about here which means that this Haiti trip is getting closer and closer! I just went to Kaiser Permanente (which, by the way has Jacob and the Man in Black's crazy mother in their commercials..) and have started to get the shots that I need. Somewhere between getting the shot for rabies, and then getting the order for malaria medication it kind of hit me, good thing I'm not a hypochondriac! Also, now I don't have to be so afraid of raccoons if I ever happen to see one out for a stroll in the middle of the day...

Haiti Support Letter

So....here's my Haiti Support Letter. If you'd like a special copy of your very own, just let me know with your snail-mail address and I'll get one out to you. I might even throw in a pre-stamped return envelope if you're lucky....

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Dear Friends and Family,

As a lot of you know, the last few years of life have been pretty major ones for me, as I took a huge step in moving out to California for a teaching job here in the Bay Area. While I have to admit that fear of the unknown did make the move a little "scary" God graciously showed me that I was following path he had laid for me as I was almost immediately blessed with a great job, a support system of new friends, and a wonderful church family out here on the West Coast.

With all of this being said, for some time now I have really been asking myself. "If I have been given so much, what have I done to help others?" A few months ago, as I was sharing this with my good friend Dave, he revealed to me that he had actually been in the process of organizing and leading a service trip down to Haiti this upcoming summer. As most of you know, Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake last year that that it is still reeling from. Combine this with the fact that it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and you have a nation full of very needy people. After some careful prayer, I truly began to feel that I was being called to serve on this trip. After all, I do happen to have a job that gives me the summer off.

So I am taking a step of faith and have decided to commit to this trip. I would be lying if I were to tell you all that I do not come into this trip with some apprehension. What will it be like in a completely different culture? Will I be able to work on projects day after day in Haiti’s intense overbearing heat? How will I handle seeing Haiti in its current state? How will I come up with my part of the funding for this trip? It is clear that I will not be able to do this alone. This is where you, my friends and family, can take part. There are two major areas where support will be vital to me.

First is through prayer. I cannot express the importance and necessity of this element of our trip. Without the Lord being radically present and working through us then no fruit will be produced. Therefore, I ask that you support me through your prayer; for our team, safety, receptive hearts of the Haitian people, and for the funds to complete our projects. This is vital to the success of this trip.

The second way you can help me is through financial support. The cost for each person on our trip is $2,200. That includes airfare, supplies, and money for the various service projects we will be doing. If you choose to support me and I receive more than is necessary for this trip, or for some reason I am unable to go on this trip, the funds you’ve donated will be allocated to the support of other members of the same trip. If not fully utilized there, the funds will be placed in the WestGate Church short term missions FUND to be used for other similar trips. Please make your check out to WestGate Church and write ONLY “Go Beyond” in the memo section of the check. Do NOT write my name on the memo line. Instead, please complete and return the enclosed slip with your check so that your contribution can be properly recorded for my trip. Please note that all donations over $250 will be issued a tax deductable receipt. If your donation is under $250 please keep your own record for your tax purposes. To make things easy, you can even make a donation online with your credit card at: www.westgatechurch.org/secure/index.php/trip/haiti_summer_2010

Thank you in advance for any prayer and/or financial support you that you might feel led to contribute. You are all very special to me and I am excited to include you in on this opportunity to help others in serious need!

God Bless,

Tim