Haiti Day 6: I survived a hurricane in a 3rd world country!

As I woke up this morning and was finishing last night’s blog post, Christine came out of the bathroom and told me to check the forecast because it was really windy outside. A kid the night before had spent 10 minutes trying to tell us that a hurricane was coming, but we only half understood him and really didn’t believe him. Needless to say, we were very surprised when I checked the internet and saw that Hurricane Gustav was only 70 miles off the coast of Haiti and the eye was heading straight for Jacmel. I brought my computer to Devo’s this morning to read the weather.com forecast to the group. I asked Pastor if he knew about the storm and he said yes. He just never bothered to tell us…very funny!

We ate breakfast pretty fast this morning. We had ham, cheese, tomatoes, and onion sandwiches. Then, we all piled into the back of the taptap and rode about 20 minutes out of town to the orphanage started by Audio Adrenaline called “Hands and Feet.” The ride was super fun. The rain and wind was blowing all over and all of the Haitians on their front porches were probably looking at us and thinking we were morons! I think that being in a third world country has lessened my sense of danger, because no one in their right minds in the states would have gotten into the bed of a pickup to ride 20 minutes through rain and hurricane force winds. When we got to the orphanage, we piled out and started helping prepare the grounds for the hurricane, putting chairs away, and securing the lumber for their building project. The winds were getting hard to battle at this point and the rain was making it hard to see, but I did catch a glimps of the grounds from the porch of the house. The grounds were beautiful. There were 2 white French colonial houses nestled at the bottom of a lush green mountain and 2 more being built. I wish I could have seen it without the sheets of wind just blasting across the scenery. I actually caught a coconut tree snapping in half on video while we were there. We got a quick tour before we decided that we needed to leave if we were going to make it back safely. I was sad that we didn’t get to spend any time with any of the kids, but knowing me, it was probably for the better. We could have weathered the storm at the orphanage, but Donna had stayed behind again today and we didn’t want to leave her at the hotel all by herself.

By this time, it was almost too dangerous to navigate the roads. Luckily, the road between the orphanage and the hotel was paved (the only paved road I’ve seen here), so 3 of the girls piled into the cab of the truck with Pastor and 2 of the Haitian girls from the church. The rest of us climbed into the bed and pulled a tarp over us for protection from the storm. That ride back was CRAZY! Gerard, our driver, was speeding as fast as he could. We could see through the window to the front that there was ZERO visibility out the front windshield. Gerard was just driving and honking his horn as if to say…I’m coming and I’m not stopping so get out of the way! It was quite the task trying to keep the tarp over us in the back. Phillip was huddled next to me in the very back of the truck bed and he opened the back of the tarp just a little bit so we could see out. Most of the road had already flooded, debris was starting to fly the rain was coming down so hard that it was stinging…it was not a good situation to be driving in. I got some pictures which are incredible out the back of the truck. There was a kid on a bike trying to draft behind us, but he couldn’t see so when the truck stopped, he ran right into the back of us and fell over. Luckily, he was not hurt and was able to get back up before another car came along. Crazy crazy crazy crazy sitiation…but soooooo much fun at the same time! It was definitely an incredible adventure that I will never forget!!!

On a side note…Michelle, the lady who runs the orphanage called us later to tell us that one of her buildings that was under construction had washed away. No one was hurt, but please pray for them.

When we got back to the hotel, we all headed up to the roof to watch the storm. Our rooms are on the 4th floor of the hotel and the roof is the 5th floor. The stairs leading up to each floor and the hallways are all open air. Rain had been coming in all morning so our hallway on the 4th floor was flooded. The boys’ rooms had water in them, but luckily the girls rooms stayed dry. On the roof we had a lot of fun. Before you freak, the roof is half a completely enclosed room, a and half open air deck. We hung out up there and played in the rain for a while pretending to be weather forecasters and splashing around in the puddles. The wind was super strong at this point and we have lots of great pictures and videos of people almost flying away. Everyone started calling me a prophetess because I spoke about weathering storms last night…so I went out in the middle of the deck, laid down and pretended to sleep in the bottom of the boat like Jesus (see my storms blog…it will make sense when you read what I spoke about). We got lots of great pictures. Then, the trees and tin roofs started to fly, and a government vehicle came through the streets blasting on a megaphone how everyone should go inside and stay away from the river, so we moved the fun back into the enclosed part of the roof where we sat most of the afternoon and evening to watch the storm. It was kind of funny, yesterday is sprinkled a little and all of the Haitian people freaked and went indoors. Today, there is a hurricane, and people are outside walking in the wind and rain going on with their daily business as if the weather conditions were normal. Some of the ladies were even carrying the big baskets on their heads through the storm. I have no idea how they did it. Pastor said that when it sprinkles, Haitians think it will make them sick, but when it pours, they don’t. Weird.

As some of us were sitting on the roof, a white man came up the stairs. It was funny because we are so used to seeing only black faces that when we appeared, Buckey was like, “OMG, are you white?” The guy totally took it in stride. His name was Danny Pye and he was the head of Haitian Children’s Home on the outskirts of Jacmel which provides homes for Haitian teenagers. He and his wife live in their house with 22 teens who have been rescued from human trafficking and all sorts of other types of abuse and raise them as their own kids...like a family The kids call them mom and dad. They live as Haitians do eating the same food and celebrating all of the same traditions. He said that it was his experience that Haitian children who leave Haiti for another country fto go to school never return...and for good reason. His goal was to raise Haitian children through the school years in Haiti to become leaders in Haiti. Danny had been on vacation with 3 of his Haitian sons who earned A’s on their government testing in the north of Haiti. They had gotten up early to drive back to Jacmel before the storm hit but when they arrived here, all of the roads leading out of Jacmel had been flooded out so he stopped at our hotel. It was really moving to hear his story on how came to Haiti and how this ministry just sort of fell into his lap. They are about to bring 2 more couples over from the states to serve as home families for 20 more kids each and build a school and hospital. I asked him if they needed teachers and he told me that he needs someone to oversee the entire school. I probably sat and talked to this guy for 3 hours. We are going to get in touch when I get back to the states. It is definitely a field of ministry that I am completely passionate about, and this is an organization that I can see myself completely on board with. We will see where God leads me I guess… After several hours of trying to wait it out, all of the roads leading out of Jacmel were still completely flooded, so Danny and his 3 sons decided to walk home during the eye of the storm. He’ll be back tomorrow to pick up his truck…

After Danny left, 2 of the Pastors from the church we are working with and some of the Haitian teenage boys from there came to the hotel with food. We were supposed to go to Pastor’s house, but didn’t due to the rain, and we thought that the only meals we would get for lunch and dinner were the snacks we brought because the hotel’s kitchen was under a foot of water by noon…but in an unbelievable act of kindness, these people walked all the way from pastors house with pots of rice, beans, and a vegetable and goat meat stew to feed us. CRAZY! Phillip said he walked it last year and it took an hour in good weather. They literally walked an hour through a hurricane to get us food…no joke. Pastor said that they walked through water chest deep to get to us. And even more amazing…when we all had finished eating our meal together on the roof, they turned around and walked back. The people here have been so warm and generous! I will never ever ever forget this incredible act of service and generosity. Never.

We continued to weather the storm out on the roof just talking, hanging out and watching the storm and the people who continued to be out on the streets as evening set in. A few times a bulldozer drove by and people were riding in the scoop of it. Power lines were down or half-down all over the road and people would just stop their trucks or motorbikes, pick them up, and continue on their way. I guess it’s ok to touch power lines when the city only supplies power for 2 hours a day…The odds are good that you were touching the lines when the power isn’t on. A hospital vehicle drove by a few times looking to pick up any dead bodies of people who may have parished during the storm too. We didn’t see them pick anyone up, but it was eerie to think that maybe there were bodies in the back of the vehicle. Earlier, Danny had pointed towards where the hospital was, and told us that everyone here referred to it as the morgue because people go there to die. He told us a story of how one of his adopted children’s mother bleed out after childbirth because the doctor refused to sew her back up. He said that he would not take his children there under any circumstances. I’m glad that no one we knew got hurt, but Pastor did bring us the news around 6pm that Jacmel was getting directly hit and that 2 people that he knew of had died as a result of building collapses.

At 7pm, we all met on the roof again for some praise and worship time, and just to talk about the trip and what God had been teaching us. It was just a really good time to debrief about everything and hang out with everyone. I’ve been writing this blog all afternoon as things have played out for lack of anything else to do. We’ve been fortunate enough to have power since the hotel runs on generators, however as night set it, the entire city was pitch black. It was so weird looking out over the city and mountains and not seeing a thing. I don’t know if I have ever been in a place with absolutely no light…false or natural from the moon and stars. It was like looking out into a big black void. It was apparent by the sounds and feel of things that the winds were dying down by 9 or so…they were still super strong, and the rain was still coming down hard, but I figured it was safe to go to bed, so I did…

Haiti Day 5: Kid Crazy!

Another crazy long day (which is why this is being posted in the morning…I was in desperate need of a good night’s sleep). We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast of potatoes and eggs, and headed off to the church and Pastor’s house. Poor Donna wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed behind in bed all day. We dropped a few people off at the church to do some ground leveling work even though we weren’t supposed to do any construction on the building at all (see yesterday’s post). The rest of us went to Pastor’s house to help cook for the feeding program that would be held later that afternoon. Most of us washed dishes. The locals kept laughing at James because he was a “man doing a woman’s work.” He took it well.

VBS was held that school across the street from Pastor’s house. I was amazed at the school. It was a shell of a building…2 stories tall. All of the classrooms had huge openings for windows both to the outside and to other classrooms. I’m not sure how teachers teach without being distracted by other rooms. Each room had a chalkboard on a stand and some homemade bench desks for the kids to sit on.

We had over 250 kids from the community at VBS. It was INSANE! They were separated into groups by age and shuffled around to 3 different activities. I was in charge of the 9-12 year olds. We played with a parachute and beach ball, had sack races, read Biblical stories to the kids, and made friendship bracelets. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. They will continue tomorrow, however we will not be a part of it.

After VBS, we held the feeding program. Many of the children down here are sponsored by people from New River Church in Nashville. Some of the team members sponsor these kids also. Sponsorship involves giving $30 a month which provides 3 meals a week, schooling, money for clothes, with some left over to go the child’s family. We set up tables for the sponsored kids in Pastor’s house and served them huge plates of red beans and rice with some meat and vegetables. The plates were so big that I wasn’t sure that the kids little bellies would be able to eat it all, but not one child left a scrape on their plate. Not only do they feed the kids, but they also teach them manners. Every child waited until all 60+ of them had their food in front of them to dig in. Once everyone had their food, he showed them how to place their napkin, and how to use the fork and spoon to eat without just digging in and shoveling it down. It was definitely a humbling experience.

We came back to the hotel for some R and R after the hectic morning, which I definitely needed. After standing out in the high noon sun and sitting in Pastor’s hot, hot house all morning, I was definitely feeling over-heated and my heart was beating irregularly. I changed the bandages on my wounds and cleaned them out. All wounds seem to be doing well except for the one on my left hand. It’s deep, really oozy and really nasty looking. I don’t think my hand is going to fall off, but it will probably take another day or two for me to figure out if it gets infected, or if my body is able to naturally clear it out and begin healing it. A highlight of the day for me was the wicked ghetto tan lines I got from all of the bandages…especially the left hand one. I didn’t know that I could tan so dark, so fast, but apparently I can because in the 4 hours that I was outside today, I have some really crazy tan line designs on my hands and knees from the ghetto way I had to rig up the band aids because my sweat was just making them fall off.

Tonight was our first community outreach crusade in a neighborhood nearby. When we drove up on the taptap, tons of kids started running along side the truck screaming and yelling and welcoming us. It was the best welcome I think I’ve ever gotten. When we got out, all of the kids grabbed our hands and led us over to where the crowd would be. They didn’t want to let go. I had one tiny little girl grab my hand with both of hers, big smile on her face, jumping up and down saying “blon, blon” which is Crole for White. She just kept saying it. I didn’t know what to say back so I was just like, “that’s right, me Blon.”

The band from the church played some music, some of the team introduced themselves and Tom and I both spoke to the crowd…Tom on salvation, and I about life’s trials and Jesus’s comfort (Read my storm’s blog post). It went really well. I had many compliments on my message after the outreach. I can honestly say that I don’t really even remember speaking…it was totally a God experience with the words that poured out of me. I’m jut thankful that I didn’t mess up or look like a moron...thanks for your prayers.

Back at the hotel…I went to bed almost immediately. Today was the most wearing day on my body that I’ve had here so far…but as I’m writing this and posting it the next morning, I feel completely recovered after getting a good night’s sleep. We go to the orphanage today which is what I have been looking most forward to on this trip. I’m not sure if I will get any interaction with the kids. We are supposed to be doing some painting on the building.

Also, this morning is very winding and there are some awesome clouds as I look out my hotel window. Some kids last night was trying to tell us that a hurricane is heading towards us. We didn’t believe him but I just checked the forecast and he was totally right. Oh My! Hurricane Gustav is a category 1 hurricane and is expected to go directly over us tonight! Don't worry mom...I'm safe. I think. If I survived Hurricane Andrew...I can certainly survive a category 1 in a third world country!

Kid Crazy!

Another crazy long day (which is why this is being posted in the morning…I was in desperate need of a good night’s sleep). We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast of potatoes and eggs, and headed off to the church and Pastor’s house. Poor Donna wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed behind in bed all day. We dropped a few people off at the church to do some ground leveling work even though we weren’t supposed to do any construction on the building at all (see yesterday’s post). The rest of us went to Pastor’s house to help cook for the feeding program that would be held later that afternoon. Most of us washed dishes. The locals kept laughing at James because he was a “man doing a woman’s work.” He took it well.

VBS was held that school across the street from Pastor’s house. I was amazed at the school. It was a shell of a building…2 stories tall. All of the classrooms had huge openings for windows both to the outside and to other classrooms. I’m not sure how teachers teach without being distracted by other rooms. Each room had a chalkboard on a stand and some homemade bench desks for the kids to sit on.

We had over 250 kids from the community at VBS. It was INSANE! They were separated into groups by age and shuffled around to 3 different activities. I was in charge of the 9-12 year olds. We played with a parachute and beach ball, had sack races, read Biblical stories to the kids, and made friendship bracelets. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. They will continue tomorrow, however we will not be a part of it.

After VBS, we held the feeding program. Many of the children down here are sponsored by people from New River Church in Nashville. Some of the team members sponsor these kids also. Sponsorship involves giving $30 a month which provides 3 meals a week, schooling, money for clothes, with some left over to go the child’s family. We set up tables for the sponsored kids in Pastor’s house and served them huge plates of red beans and rice with some meat and vegetables. The plates were so big that I wasn’t sure that the kids little bellies would be able to eat it all, but not one child left a scrape on their plate. Not only do they feed the kids, but they also teach them manners. Every child waited until all 60+ of them had their food in front of them to dig in. Once everyone had their food, he showed them how to place their napkin, and how to use the fork and spoon to eat without just digging in and shoveling it down. It was definitely a humbling experience.

We came back to the hotel for some R and R after the hectic morning, which I definitely needed. After standing out in the high noon sun and sitting in Pastor’s hot, hot house all morning, I was definitely feeling over-heated and my heart was beating irregularly. I changed the bandages on my wounds and cleaned them out. All wounds seem to be doing well except for the one on my left hand. It’s deep, really oozy and really nasty looking. I don’t think my hand is going to fall off, but it will probably take another day or two for me to figure out if it gets infected, or if my body is able to naturally clear it out and begin healing it. A highlight of the day for me was the wicked ghetto tan lines I got from all of the bandages…especially the left hand one. I didn’t know that I could tan so dark, so fast, but apparently I can because in the 4 hours that I was outside today, I have some really crazy tan line designs on my hands and knees from the ghetto way I had to rig up the band aids because my sweat was just making them fall off.

Tonight was our first community outreach crusade in a neighborhood nearby. When we drove up on the taptap, tons of kids started running along side the truck screaming and yelling and welcoming us. It was the best welcome I think I’ve ever gotten. When we got out, all of the kids grabbed our hands and led us over to where the crowd would be. They didn’t want to let go. I had one tiny little girl grab my hand with both of hers, big smile on her face, jumping up and down saying “blon, blon” which is Crole for White. She just kept saying it. I didn’t know what to say back so I was just like, “that’s right, me Blon.”

The band from the church played some music, some of the team introduced themselves and Tom and I both spoke to the crowd…Tom on salvation, and I about life’s trials and Jesus’s comfort (Read my storm’s blog post). It went really well. I had many compliments on my message after the outreach. I can honestly say that I don’t really even remember speaking…it was totally a God experience with the words that poured out of me. I’m jut thankful that I didn’t mess up or look like a moron...thanks for your prayers.

Back at the hotel…I went to bed almost immediately. Today was the most wearing day on my body that I’ve had here so far…but as I’m writing this and posting it the next morning, I feel completely recovered after getting a good night’s sleep. We go to the orphanage today which is what I have been looking most forward to on this trip. I’m not sure if I will get any interaction with the kids. We are supposed to be doing some painting on the building. Also, this morning is very winding as I look out my hotel window. Some kids last night was trying to tell us that a hurricane is heading towards us. We didn’t believe him but I just checked the forecast and he was totally right. Oh My!

Haiti Day 4: No Scrapes, No Scars, No Proof!

I have just spent the last hour or so picking tiny rocks and pieces of wood out of both of my hands, both of my knees, and one elbow. Apparently, Haitian teenagers play soccer hard core. Actually, the soccer tournament this evening was a lot of fun. I just got knocked around a few too many times. I had one huge fall were I went sliding face first across the field which was made of tiny stones, wood and dirt. Buckey totally got it all on video. I'll try and post it soon. Typing this blog is not fun tonight as my hands seemed to have taken the brunt of my falls. My scrapes are pretty deep on my palms. It is a good thing that I got the tetanus and hepatitis boosters before I came here because as I got off the field and was pouring water on my wounds, I looked over to see a little girl with drawers dropped peeing in front of God and everyone. Did I mention that there is no plumbing in most places? Most people just go to the bathroom wherever they feel like it. Needless to say, I scrubbed the heck out of my wounds when we got back tonight too, adding to my current pain. Mom…don’t worry. I have plenty of alcohol wipes, Neosporin and bandaids to last me a lifetime here…no need for a doctor…at least I don’t think so.

The rooster didn’t get me up this morning, but Christine trying to cuddle me did. Breakfast was at 7am. We had pumpkin soup with potatoes, onions, and carrots, which was super heavy and spicy for a morning meal. I ate a little of it before we hopped in the taptap for church.

Children’s church was a lot of fun. The kids sang songs. We did our Good Samaratin skit which was a hit with the kids. We sang a praise song in Creole with puppets and Pastor talked to the kids for a while.

When the kids service was done, we shuffled the kids out and all of the adults came in. The adult service began around 9:30am and went all the way until 1pm. The little open air building was super packed and it was like stepping back in time into an Old South revival. It was actually a cool experience. We sang a song in Creole that we have been practicing all week, James gave a waaaaaaayyyyy long message, and my personal favorite was hug time where we just walked around hugging everyone during a song. After church we mingled for a bit before heading back to Pastor’s house for a heavy lunch. We had rice, Creole mac-n-cheese which was super yummy!, a goat stew of some sort and lettuce, tomatoes, and plantains. Pastor’s wife really takes care of us.

After lunch we got ready and headed to the soccer tournament…and well, you know what happened to me. Christine and I were the only girls who played on the girls team. Christine got payback for me when she tripped one of the biggest girls on the other team. She didn’t look to happy after that. After our game, the boys played. Most of the dressed, but Phillip was the only one who got playing time in that match. Both of our teams lost the tournament. Oh well. It was definitely an experience…one that I will bear the scars of for a long time to come.

After the tournament, it was teen night. The band played some songs. Kids danced to island music. Many of the teens treated it as a talent show night and got up to sing and act. One couple sang “Sometimes When We Touch.” Hilarious! At one point, a Haitian teen came up to me and began asking me wierd questions like how hold I was and did I have any babies??? He then began telling me how beautiful and nice I was....AWKWARD! Apparently, he was looking for an American girlfriend. To bad I was waaaaaay too old for him. Thank you to Buckey who had the unintentional save when he stepped inbetween us which gave me a natural avenue to turn away. Phewwwww! We left teen night early because Pastor said it would go on foreeeeeeeeeeeever and headed back to his house for a light dinner. His wife had prepared a soup for us that tasted like a warm rice pudding except the rice was pureed. It was Deeeeeeeelish!

I’m back at the hotel now resting my scrapes and scratches. Tomorrow will be another long day as we are running the VBS with the children in the morning (I am in charge of the 9-12 year olds) and the feeding program in the afternoon. We were supposed to do the building project tomorrow also, but as you may have read in a previous blog, the government stopped construction on the new church and it has not been reinstated yet. Tomorrow night, we are also having a Crusade and I have been asked to give the message. If you’ve read my previous posts from before Haiti, I wrote about storms in our lives. I think I am going to talk about that since the people of Haiti deal with hardships on a daily basis. Pray that God would use me to reach these people for Him, that I would communicate clearly, and that I don’t freak out!

My hands hurt…I’m signing off…

Haiti Day 3: M-ap pase yon bob tan!

The rooster woke me up at 3am this morning. Luckily, I fell back asleep and didn’t get up until Christine woke me up 15 minutes before we had to be upstairs for morning devotion. When I opened my eyes, I realize that my body was incredibly stiff. I was paying for the fun off-roading experience up and down the mountain from yesterday. A bunch of new bruises appeared this morning too. Oh well. No scrapes, no scars, no proof…right???

It was a beautiful morning this morning. Not a cloud in the bright blue sky. It was nice to start the day on such a happy note. For breakfast, we had fresh pineapple and banana pancakes with some funky fruit jelly. I freaked a little when Pastor told me it was grapefruit. I’m not supposed to eat grapefruit because it negatively interacts with my thyroid medicine, but he assured me that Haitian grapefruit is different than American grapefruit. He must have been right because I’ve been OK all day.

Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent at our hotel. Teenagers from all over the town came over and met on the roof for a Youth conference. I recognized many of them from yesterday, including a 17-year-old girl named Natalie who had taught me some phrases in Creole and French the day before. I am starting to get good at the language. The title of this blog means “I am having a good time.” I also learned “Sa se koupe dwat” which means “That’s finger lick’in good” and “Neg sa-ap anuye-m” which means “That guy is bugging me to death!” At the conference, there was some praise and worship time, Bucky and Tom shared some scripture and gave a message while Pastor translated, then Pastor and some of the Haitian teenagers spoke. We passed out a huge meal of rice and beans, chicken and a pasta salad when it was all through and mingled with the kids for a while.

Later in the afternoon, the team piled into a tap tap (which I finally figured out why is it called that…when you are ready to go, you tap the top or side of the truck twice to let the driver know you are ready), and headed over to the church for soccer practice. The big soccer tournament that we are playing in is tomorrow. When we got there, there was probably 100 people or more already watching a soccer match. The church sponsors some local kids, both Christian and nonChristians, who have a soccer team. New River donated their uniforms last year. The match was pretty intense. I’m not sure who ended up winning. I went inside the church to hang out with some of the littler kids. One of the locals brought us some fresh sugar cane which was waaaaay cool to eat. It isn’t as sweet as I thought it would be, and I got some pretty awesome pictures of me spitting out the stalks after chewing on them.

After soccer practice (of the lack there of…yes, everyone is going to come watch us make fools of ourselves on the soccer field…should be an experience), we went back to the hotel to talk about the plan for children’s church tomorrow as a storm was rolling in from over the mountains The lightening and thunder was pretty fierce even though it never rained. For kids’ service tomorrow, we are in charge. Kimmie and Lori have put together a great plan. We will be doing the story of the Good Samaritan and putting on a skit. I get to be one of the thieves with David and Donna…we all get to beat up Tom. After a quick practice and waiting for the lightening to subside, Pastor took us to the most expensive hotel in Jacmel for dinner. The hotel was beautiful and some of the homes we passed on the way there were incredibly large and well-kept. Again, it was all in the old French style. When we walked in, we were shocked to see a large table of Asian people. They looked almost as strange as our table full of white people. Pastor told me that they were most likely from Taiwan and that the government there has special projects they do in Haiti. He said these projects almost always never benefit the Haitian people and are very beneficial for the Taiwanese. It makes me sad to see these rich people with their lavish houses and big foreign projects enjoying their meals when if they would walk 500 feet down the road, there are families of people huddle under a thatch-roofed hut gathered around a candle for light eating moldy plantains.

For dinner, I had some sort of fish and fried plantains (bananas) for my meal. The fish was good, but a little salty. I also got to talk with Pastor about the state of education at Haiti. He said that only 30% of the country is literate. There is no public school system. People must pay for their kids to go to school and as you know, people don’t have a lot of money in Haiti. Pastor said that the rich keep raising schooling prices to cut out the poor and only keep the opportunities that education brings for themselves. It is really sad how corrupt everything is here. Pastor also shared with me how he envisions building a school where all of the poor kids can come regardless of what they can pay. I told him that the day he opens his school, I will come and teach in it.

After dinner we walked the grounds of the hotel. It was situated on a cliff overlooking a small bay off of the Ocean. I walked down a few flights of steps etched into the side of the cliff to get a better view of the scenery. Everything around us in the distance was pitch black, but it was beautiful to see the lingering lightening illuminating the mountains across the bay and the cliffs and sea below. I sat on the edges of a wall thinking how I wish I could have captured that picture in a painting at that moment….that is until a rather larger and scary looking spider jilted me from my contentedness. On the way back up the stairs, Christine found a mini hermit crab that pinched her. I also saw a freakishly large hissing cockroach. I would have gotten a picture; but I decided to run instead in case it decided to eat me for dinner.

Other than the creepy crawlies, I am having such an amazing time here. Haiti truly is a beautiful country full of beautiful and joyful people despite the hardships they face on a daily basis. Tomorrow is going to be a looooooooooooooon day with kids church, regular church service in the morning and then the soccer tournament followed by another Youth festival in the afternoon evening. Pray that I would continue to build relationships with the kids and people here and not let exhaustion or body soreness get to me.

For now, it is time go get some sleep…

Baybay, Mezanmi (bye bye, friends)

Haiti Day 2...Spaghetti for Breakfast!

I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster and the air conditioner shutting off at 6am, well-rested and refreshed for the new day. The team met on the roof for prayer and a devotion before heading down to breakfast. We could hear the city below already awake and hopping. At breakfast, I tried the Haitian coffee which was AMAZING…and if you knew me, I don’t normally like coffee. It isn’t as strong as normal coffee and doesn’t have that bitter “coffee” taste. I had a great chat with Tom, the Pastor from New River in Nashville about teaching at-risk kids, and Reading over coffee. He used to be a social worker and SpEd teacher and has a great idea for a Reading remedial program that he wants someone like me to collaborate with him on and publish it. It sounded interesting. I told him that we would talk about it more in-depth later. The meal served was spaghetti…I’m not kidding. I had spaghetti noodles with onions, ham and sugar mixed in with a sliced avocado and banana on the side. Again, it sounds disgusting, but it was actually very good, and after-the-fact, I was thankful for the carbs after the long day that would come…

After breakfast, we boarded 2 taptaps (See Day 1 for a definition) for the 1hour drive up the mountain to a church in one of the remote regions. The ride was the most extreme fun I have ever had! The scenery was beautiful...rolling lush green hillsides, the mountains leading down to the river which emptied into the ocean, but the road was ridiculous. I think it may have been paved back in the 1800’s but the years of rain and water running down the mountain have washed away parts and created ravines in the middle of the street. Too many of us have stories of almost bouncing out of the truck bed. Think of it as off-roading, but in a small Toyota pick-up that has ZERO suspension. In fact, I looked at the tires of our truck when we arrived to see that the tread had worn off most of the back tires. Luckily, they carry 2-3 spares at all times so it was changed before our journey back. Most of us have bruises all over our bodies and sore muscles after that ride. I took some video from the top of the truck before it became absolutely necessary to hold on with two hands. I will try and post it soon.

The final destination was the mountain church. This church was literally was on the top of a mountain. The building itself was 4 walls of cement bricks with a tin roof covering it. We were told that some people walk an hour to get there. It was like doing back in time. All of the men were in collard shirts and ties. The ladies had brightly colored dresses with scarves draping their heads. When we got to the church, we mingled with some of the locals while the guys set up the music and projection equipment. They are such warm and welcoming people. The ones who speak English are eager to use it and willing to translate for you if needed. It was at this point that I found my first Haitian baby to stuff in my suitcase! Her name was Alex. She was 6 months old and she was PRECIOUS! OK, I’m just kidding about taking her home, but she was super adorable. After what seemed like an hour of worship, Pastor gave a message in Creole and we all introduced ourselves and greeted the congregation through a translator. Lori gave her testimony which was touching and then we passed out juices and crackers to the congregation and mingled some more. It was an interesting experience. About 4 hours later, we boarded the taptaps and had some more fun going back down the mountain. Loved it!

We had about an hour to chill at the hotel before we headed to Pastor’s house again for dinner. His wife cooked us rice with a bean puree and some goat meat with onions. Goat has a real bite to it. It’s good stuff. Apparently, it is what the rich people of Haiti eat.

After dinner, we walked over the Pastor’s church. On the way, we passed the new church building that we will be working on later in the week…maybe. As we approached, we noticed some big red letters scribbled across one of the walls. Apparently the government had come by the day before and had put a stop on the building process for some bogus technicalities. Pastor said it was all an attempt to squeeze more money out of them and that they were meeting with the mayor to try and plead their case. Crazy. I had a good chat with Pastor on the way to the church. He said next year he is planning on coming to Chicago and we wants to go to my church. I think he might be a little overwhelmed by the size of Parkview…but wouldn’t that be waaayyyy cool for him to come?!?!?!

When we got to the temporary church building, many of the teenagers had already gathered. Tonight is the special Youth service night. We were showing some Cuba Gooding Jr and Beyonce movie for them. After a lot of technical difficulties, we finally got the movie up and running. Most of the teenagers stayed inside to watch it while I and some of the other team members stayed outside with the younger kids. I had so much fun playing with the kids. They all like to play that hand slap game where one person puts their hands on top of the other’s and you try to slap the top persons had before they pull away. A little later, I got some of the children to teach me how to count and say my ABC’s in Creole. I learned a few body parts and some random phrases too. One of our translaters has a daughter named Windelle who has been spending a lot of time with us. She is 12 years old which is exactly the age of my students at home. She speaks English well, and she and I had a little arm-in-arm walk and chat tonight getting to knew each other better. I have convinced her to speak on video for my kids back home…which I am super excited about. I’ve been getting lots of great footage, but for them to see a kid their own age telling how life is in Haiti…Let’s just say I’m a genius! As the night settled in, I got a chance to step away from the movie lights and take a look at the night sky. There is virtually no light pollution here. You can image how amazing the stars and sky look. I think I saw and Milky Way. I definitely saw several shooting starts tonight. Looking at the sky here reminds me of how insignificant we all really are compared to all of that…

I’m back at the hotel now writing this, all showered and clean. The dust here really is unreal. I have some pretty awesome Haitian buggers as evidence of it. Tomorrow we are hanging out with the kids again for the VBS activities in morning and early afternoon. Later in the afternoon we are holding a soccer practice. Apparently, Pastor entered us into some soccer tournament later in the week which should be interesting since only Christine has played organized, competitave soccer before. Tomorrow is our first night out on the town for dinner which should be an interesting experience…I’ll keep you all posted.

Joyful

Ps. The stomach issues are not longer an issue…thanks for the prayers = )

pss. I'll try and post pics and videos soon...this country really is AMAZING!

Haiti Day 1: The loooooong road to Jacmel, Haiti.

Three trains, three airplanes, and one three-hour crazy bus ride over a mountain later, I finally have made it to Jacmel, Haiti. Sleep has been few and far in between the past few days, so I am completely exhausted, but it has been an incredible experience so far. I left Chicago on Wednesday and had a pretty uneventful flight after spending the previous night way to anxious to go to bed. Christine had a dinner party for her friends Wednesday night before we left, so we ended up only getting 1 hour of sleep before meeting everyone at New River Church at 3:30am Thursday morning. The flights to Miami and Port au Prince were also uneventful despite my stomach problems from the malaria pills and the looming Hurricane Fey over Florida. In fact, if it wasn’t all over the news, I wouldn’t have even know there was a major storm. We arrived in Haiti around 2pm today and through the random plane seating and layover, I’ve been quickly getting to know every member of our mission team on a more personal level. They all are fantastic by the way!

Haiti is everything I expected it to be. We got off the plan presidential style…stepping out the cockpit onto a staircase which led down to what looked to be no more than a few hundred square foot cement slab with a shack for an airport building. The heat was heavy and damp and immediately wearing on my body once I stepped out into it. Getting through immigration was not a problem at all...a few papers to fill out, a stamp on the passport...piece of cake. The kids and men outside grabbing at our bags and begging for money gave us more of a problem. Pastor LeFluer (our host) literally had to yell at some of them to back off. There were so many of them...it just gave us a taste of truely how poor and desperate the people of Haiti are. While we were loading the bus in the airport parking lot, a group of trumpeters and trombonists came over and played America’s national anthem...looking for money of course. I felt like they were playing for me in the Olympics…that I had just won the gold medal in international travel! Its funny what your mind comes up with when you are sleep deprived. We gave them a few American dollars and loaded the bus for our long journey.

Several of Pastor LeFleur’s family members met us at the airport. About 20 of us with 4 bags each boarded a bus the size of a SpEd bus for the 3 hour trek across a mountain from Port au Prince to Jacmel. This totally would have been illegal in the USA and I’m pretty sure we almost flipped over a few times taking the sharp mountain curves. There was even a part where the road was washed out and falling down the mountain, but we crossed it anyway. I’m definitely thankful that we all made it to Jacmel safe and sound. There was no air conditioning so you can imagine the ride was a little uncomfortable. Let’s just say that Phillip (trip leader) and I have a whole new relationship after the bus ride.

Driving through Port au Prince was an experience. It basically is a collection of old shanty stone buildings with tons of people outside of each trying to sell something. Every time our bus would stop, people would come to the windows and stick their hands in trying to sell us water or phone cards. It is crazy because all of this takes place in the shadows of the Prime Minister’s palace which is a huge white mansion…very similar to our white house… stuck in the middle of beautifully landscaped grounds with armed guards and gates surrounding it. It made me sad. I asked Pastor about this and he just told me that Parliament steals the money.

On the streets, no one obeys the rules of the road. Basically, everyone just halls ass down the middle of the narrow streets and honks at people to get out of the way. The bigger guy usually wins. We passed a few Voodoo worship temples which had weird paintings drawn on the outside of them. There are a lot of random goats and cows standing about as well…oh, and the trash in the streets is disgusting! There literally is just heaps of trash piled in the middle of the streets. Now I know why disease is prevalent in Port au Prince.

The countryside is a little better. The houses are the same but spread out over more open spaces. The country was completely deforested during the last revolt, but think heavy tropical brush covers most of the open spaces. It reminded me of all the stories you hear about the brush in Vietnam...but again, there were lots of random goats and cows all over the place.

Jacmel is a busy little town on the southern coast. It still has much of the French colonial feel to its buildings, however most of them are completely run down. There was tons of people in the streets when we first arrived. They have the ladies here who balance and carry huge baskets of stuff on their heads…just like you see in pictures. It really is amazing how they can balance all of that stuff. There are people on the streets selling stuff here too, but they aren’t as pushy about it as they were in Port au Prince. It is very dusty here too, and there are constantly mopeds and huge trucks flying through the unpaved streets creating more dust. Overall, I kind of like it. It is a friendly place. I get the sense that people here don’t see a lot of white faces, but when you wave to them, especially the kids, their confused looks turn to smiles and they wave back.

Our hotel is simple but nice. Christine, Donna and I are sharing a room with 2 beds and a bathroom. There is no hot water and the shower literally is a pipe hanging out of the wall that spits water (my SD girls will appreciate that!!!). There is no public electricity in any building here. The lucky people have generators they use to get a few hours of light or air conditioning. Our hotel turns the generator on at 8pm and shuts it off at 6am allowing us to run fans and a small room air conditioner overnight for a comfortable night’s sleep.

After settling in, we went to Pastor LeFleur’s house for dinner. We took what they call a "taptap" which is pretty much a pick-up truck with tall hand bars in the bed that people pile into and use a a taxi. Again, we crammed 12 poeple into the bed of a small littel toyota truck standing up, holding on to the bars for the 10 minute drive zooming in and out of the unpavaed streets of Jacmel to Pastor's house. It totally would have been illegal in the USA, but again, a fun experience. His wife cooked us an incredible soup they call Bouillon. It was more like a stew with carrots, potatoes, bananas, sea kelp, goat meat and a bunch of spices of some sort. It sounds disgusting but it was really really yummy. We also had passion fruit juice which was awesome! We spent the evening hanging out with his family and neighbors. Many of the kids were eager to practice their English on us. On a side note, kids have to pay to go to school, and pay extra for schools that teach French (one of the state languages) or English. There is no public education system here so many many of the kids don’t have any education at all. Sadness.

Now we are back at the hotel…electricity running…and completely exhausted and overwhelmed from our long day and submersion into this strange but beautiful culture. We all met for prayer and briefing on the roof earlier tonight and got a lot of information about the town, the culture, and tips on keeping ourselves safe. Donna was able to use my computer to video chat with her adopted 3 year old daughter from China (and those of you who know me, know that I want to adopt kids internationally…so this was a divine roomie situation here). Now, we are just chilling in our room getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we get up early to go to a church in the mountains called “Bois Coup” for a special service. Tomorrow night will be my first experience here hanging out with the Haitian kids during a special youth service/movie night we are hosting. I can’t wait!

Here are a few prayer requests before I say goodnight…
The malaria medication is really taking a toll on my stomach. Pray that I don’t continue to feel nauseous in the hours after taking it!
Communication hasn’t been a big issue so far, but pray that we could effectively communicate with the people (especially the kids tomorrow) of Haiti.
Pray against any spiritual attack that may keep us from being fully open to whatever it is God has planned for us here.
Christine is being weighed down by a few difficult situations back home. She is very worried about some issues her roommate is having and needs discernment. She also is still jobless, but has a great prospect on the front. Also, pray that she could leave all of that stress behind and focus on what God has in store for her here.
FOR PROTECTION AND PROVISION!

Nighty Night, Friends!