Home Again

We have made it home safe and sound. I am sorry that our updates did not post during the week. It seems that there was some trouble with the cell towers in the area of Haiti that we were in. Expect to see an update soon with a trip overview.


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We have arrived safely in Dallas and all bags are present. Waiting for a shuttle bus to take us to our vehicles. Wayne is flying on to Little Rock & the rest of us will be driving back to NWA. It will be a late night and we are already very tired so please pray for safe travels for all of us. We are looking forward to worshiping with you on Sunday.

-Phillip

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Boarding flight to DFW. Everyone doing well but wearing down. Will drive back to AR tonite arriving home approx 1 am.

Back in the USA

We made it through customs and into the right terminal. Found a Chilis and are having some lunch. Kind of disappointed that they don't have beans & rice or goat on the menu but I guess we will make do!





Thank you all so much for your prayers over this past week. God did amazing things in and through us. We still have 1 more flight to Dallas and then a six hour drive home please pray for alertness and safe travel.

- Phillip


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Landed in ft lauderdale. Three hour layover till next flight. Customs, baggage claim, lunch and ice cream!

Safely inside gate area of airport. Everyone tired but doing good. Flight leaves for ft lauderdale in one hour and fifteen minutes. John

Everyone rested well. Sorting supplies and preparing for ministries to begin tomorrow. Hope to visit orphanage near Joy House this afternoon.

Arrived in Haiti with all team members and bags in tact. Just started two plus hour bus ride to Joy House. Will send update once we arrive there. John R.

Destination... Haiti

We have boarded our flight to Port Au Prince after a relaxing overpriced lunch at the airport. Updates from this point forward will be short and may be delayed as they will be submitted via text message. Thank you for your prayers! We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us as we minister to the people of Haiti.

- Phillip

Location:Fort Lauderdale International Airport

Arrived in Ft Lauderdale. Three hour layover then off to Haiti. Pray all bags arrive with us. Everyone doing well. John R.

We made it to our first flight after an ordeal with our supplies. Thanks be to God for taking care of the details and getting all our luggage checked. Next stop - Fort Lauderdale!

-Phillip

Location:DFW

Flexibility & airport shuttles

We are enjoying the last comforts of home as we fuel our day with honey buns & donuts. Our shuttle bus was confiscated by a bunch of airline crew members. I guess that might play a pivotal role in getting to Haiti assuming they are for one of our flights. Anyway, God is already giving us the chance to practice flexibility & patience. Thanks again for your prayers!

- Phillip

The team made it safely to Dallas where we will hopefully get a good nights rest. It will be a short night as we are heading to the airport @ 5:30 am. Thank you for your continued prayers as we travel into Haiti tomorrow.

- Phillip

Pray for team as we finish packing and hopefully get a good night of rest. Some are working in the morning and we leave tomorrow afternoon for DFW. John R.

GPC Haiti Team 2011

Please pray for our team as we travel to DFW this Thursday, July 21. We will be flying out of DFW Friday morning and will arrive in Haiti early evening. In addition to the 11 team members in the photo above, Wayne will be joining us Sunday evening. The team will be working with two churches teaching Bible studies, sewing classes, conducting bible school for the kids and going Hut-to-Hut sharing the gospel.

In addition, we will be helping four families by converting their temporary shelters into a more permanent home. Between 500,000 and 750,000 people remain in tent cities following the January 2010 earthquake. The need for permanent housing remains a high priority.

Thank you to our church family for giving generously to the 2010 Christmas offering which is allowing us to meet multiple needs while we're in Haiti. Also, thank you to our friends and family for supporting us with your prayers, finances and encouraging words.

Please check this blog daily as we plan to send updates often. They will be short entries because we will be texting the updates from my phone.

John Rodgers

Life Will Never Be The Same

As we have been making preparations for our trip to Haiti this year, we wanted to take a few moments to share some stories about a great friend who recently went home to be with Jesus. Sara Williams went to Haiti with us in 2005 and 2006 and although it has been a few years since she has been to Haiti, she has been a vital part of our prayer support team for each trip since. Even though she didn't go with us the past few years, she has helped with packing, hygiene kits, and saw us off at the airport (at 4am even!!!) almost every time. But, we wanted to share a little about her time with us in Haiti.

I don't remember Sara ever being afraid to do anything. She might mention being nervous, but never enough to keep her from trying. On her first trip to Haiti, she volunteered to teach the hygiene class to women. As we prepared for the class, she asked me to go first so she could get an idea of what she needed to do. We decided to "tag team" it and by the time she got to her second section of teaching, she was already adding the "Sara" flare. She was searching the room to find anything she could get her hands on to use as a prop to demonstrate what she was teaching. She had all of the women on the edge of their seat waiting to see what she would do next! After that first class…there was no stopping her and her enthusiasm grew with everything she did throughout the rest of the week. Whether it was carrying buckets of cement as we poured the roof on Joy House or hugging & kissing on babies, she poured every ounce of energy into it all!

It was hilarious to watch her with the kids. Speaking no Creole, she would say things to them in English, the kids would in turn mimic what she said. She would then laugh because of it and then they would mimic her laugh…which would cause her to laugh harder and the kids would mimic again…and so on! You never had to wonder where Sara was…you just had to listen for a few minutes and then you would know.

If Sara wasn't laughing or making others laugh, she was encouraging or praying for them, or sharing Jesus with them. In Haiti, her witnessing tool was the salvation bracelet using colors to share the gospel. She was passionate about sharing how much God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. She shared God's love with boldness and urgency no matter where she was. Galatians 5:6b says "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." And that is what Sara was all about.

Life will not be the same without Sara…but life will never be the same because of Sara! We miss her a bunch! Check out more stories about Sara at Sarastories on facebook or the blog at Sarastories.net.

Kay Rodgers