Trinity Reform Church Travels to PIgnon .
Submitted by Grant Willits~
A total of ten people traveled to Pignon. The trip was organized
by Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa. Of the ten
people that went, 9 were affiliated with Northwestern College,
a small private college in Orange City. The ten people traveling
were Grant Willits, Jeff Barker, Daniel Barker, Allison Dunkelberger,
MacKenzie Small, Kara Nonnemacher, Michael Simmelink, Andrea
Andersen, Mark Mineart, and Samantha Kleinsasser.
This is the third time Trinity has sent groups to Haiti.
Our church supports two different mininstries--
United Christians International (UCI) and Many Hands for Haiti.
Our overarching goals for our trips to to develop ongoing
relationships with the Haitian people while supporting
our ministries any way we are able.
We flew commercial from Omaha, Nebraska into Orlando, Florida.
We then received shuttle service from Acadiana to Fort Pierce,
where we stayed at a Sleep Inn and flew with MFI the next morning.
The travel went absolutely splendid. The people at MFI and Acadiana
were superb in their customer service and relation. The way back
was a little more of an adventure, as Tropical Storm Emily prevented
MFI from flying into Haiti! We ended up staying two extra days,
which really became an immense blessing as our group felt like we
got to work totally on God's time schedule. MFI and Acadiana were
again very supportive through trying to return us to Iowa.
We stayed in the Minnesota House while we were in Pignon.
The lodging was superb, almost too nice! It felt like we were
on vacation at times. The service staff were exceptional, too.
Larry Modale came down to help oversee our projects. Our
group really came to love and appreciate Larry. Larry is a
phenomenal man and I am grateful for having known him a
nd worked with him while in Haiti together. Your provision
of towels and bedding was especially appreciated.
Our group was scheduled to stay in Pignon from Monday,
August 1st-Thursday, August 4th. FORTUNATELY, Tropical
Storm Emily kept us in Pignon a couple of extra days.
What a blessings to have the extra days, particularly since
we were down there with Larry! Larry was great in keeping
our group in tune with God and our mission while we were there.
He also helped calm our nerves, as he has been stranded in Haiti
"many times." While we were in Pignon, we completed some
painting in the hospital, made a bookshelf for the hospital, visited
the Campbell’s orphanage, played the locals in a game of basketball,
sang in the hospital, distributed Bibles along with some other
basic toiletries, prayed for patients, toured the various hospital
entities (farm, school, and well), and were able distribute some
food to a family in need. We felt blessed to remain in Haiti for
a couple extra days, as we felt God had more for us to see,
experience, and do. During those extra days a member of our
team responded to a call to go down to Haiti for an extended
period of time next summer; we helped get a sick and dying boy
to the hospital; we distributed Bibles written in French to patients
in the hospital; we go to hear challenging words from Larry; and
we got to hand over a box of Kids Against Hunger food to a hungry
family. As previously stated, this was our church’s third trip to Pignon
and we are excited to return next summer!
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