Haiti 2013: Friday, July 12

Mike

Well, today was “beach” day. I have to admit I’m still struggling with spending a day of our trip at the beach. I could see if we were here for a month or more it would be kind of nice to have a down day prior to departure or maybe at the halfway point but after a week…?

It was definitely nice and I was able to score some nice black coral for the one (on Earth) I love the most. It was definitely a nice day of relaxation after a hard week of work and a glimpse into the beautiful country that is Haiti. Transformation can happen. If we continue to work hard and focus our efforts on helping our Haitian brothers and sisters rebuild their country, broaden and strengthen their infrastructure and help them become self-sufficient through education and opportunity, God will make a way for these people who are His precious children.

Yesterday provided an incredible opportunity to “village-walk” and many of us went to Cabaret. We split up into two teams of six people with a translator, a student intern, and four mission team members. We were able to sit down and speak with four different families/people; it was difficult at first but we worked hard at building relationships as well as sharing the Gospel. The most impressive was speaking with a young, pregnant woman (9 months) and she told us about how her father – a pastor – had died and her mother had taken over leadership in his church. Also, her husband was a teacher. When we asked what we could pray for her about, she asked that we pray her family could find a new home in a safer neighborhood. One of our team members – Debbie – prayed that her heart would perhaps not be for moving but using her faith and the faith of her family to witness to the people in her community. Salt and light…

Paul

Like Mike, I enjoyed having a beach day, but would have preferred to have another work day and then just a half day at the beach tomorrow before our flight.

I was a different group from Mike during our village-walk in Cabaret. We ended up spending our afternoon with a family of Haitian believers and helped them hand wash their laundry. We weren’t the fastest at it, but I am hoping that we were more of a help than a hindrance to Julie and her family. While working on our second load of laundry, Deborah, Ashley, Micah, and I sang a few hymns around the washing bowl with Julie (“How Great Thou Art”, “It Is Well”, “Amazing Grace”, etc). We thought Julie didn’t like our singing because she moved away after the first few songs into the shade, but before we closed our visit with prayer, she asked us to a sing a few more. Singing praises to God with the other ministry partners and the Haitian family was an experience that I won’t soon forget.

Jonathan

It was a very productive day. After a nice breakfast of pineapple, sweet biscuits, and cereal it was time to head down to motor depot. The four-wheeler we had worked on Thursday was not idling exactly right, but was doing better and the boss took it away. The Polaris Ranger that we rebuilt the starter on had a few more issues to be taken care of. Some of the wiring was burned up and the ignition switch needed to be rebuilt which is a first for me. In the states we would just go to the parts house and buy a switch. Such is wrenching in Haiti. After the wiring was fixed it was time to attempt to fire it up. After cleaning the spark plug, once again no new plug was to be had, it purred like a kitten.  After a lunch of chicken salad and a beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and dumplings it was time to go back to the garage. Upon arrival there was a lawn mower that needed repair. The customer was a Haitian man that had been deported from the U.S. after getting in trouble with law enforcement. He was an army veteran that served in Grenada. After working on a forklift and a motorcycle I got to work with a great guy from Canada on a bus. It’s a pleasant night here I hope its blessed night wherever you may be.

Haiti 2013: Wednesday, July 10

Mike

As work days go, today was the best so far; we still worked hard but we had lots of cloud cover this afternoon after a few short showers at lunchtime. We were worried that we might have to wrap things up early due to tropical storm Chantal but we had no further rain and were able to get a lot accomplished. We pretty much have all the footings dug, filled with gravel, level and laid with the re-bar mesh. The Haitian cement crew has been doing a great job as well and have more than half of the footings poured.

It was late when we got back from church last night so I missed out on blogging; the church service – which they have on Tuesday evening here – was phenomenal! A solid two-hour worship (singing) service. Without my notes handy (or YouTube J) I can’t remember all the songs but I will post a lot of that on my personal blog once I’m back in the States.

The biggest, craziest thing about the worship service was the big mash-up at the end…the entire area in front of the stage – and many of the aisles – was full of people singing and praising God. There were two huge times when I felt God’s presence yesterday: during morning devotions on the roof (5 a.m.) and  during the worship service.

We are prepared as well as we can be for the storm – don’t have much in the way of latest weather but we believe it’s just going to be a heavy rain-maker and that’s about it. Either way, we know God is in control.

Jonathan

The Last 2 days have been interesting. I got to go to 4 gas stations in search of fuel. 3 didn’t have any. Jon, Junior, and I went to check on some dozer work at Mercy hope orphanage only to discover that the laser level  was dead.  Note to self, take a generator. Junior is a Haitian man that is going to college for business. He is becoming an excellent project manager. Jon is the man in charge of the construction projects. He is an interesting person from Detroit. A real go getter.  Earlier that morning, I sank up to my calves in muck. I had to dig around my foot to get out. A section of the footer that we dug was abnormally wet from the night before.  As you can imagine that was a lot of fun to clean off  before church last night. The service was amazing. The Holy Spirit was definitely present. Wednesday started out warm but by noon the cloud cover settled in and the temperature was pleasant. Jon and I went back to the orphanage and helped the dozer operator level the pad he was working on. We ate lunch at the resort we will be going to Friday. The fried chicken was excellent. After lunch, I was able to go back and help the rest of the crew build rebar grids. One of the concrete workers taught me how they  bent  a right angle on the rebar with their tool. Another crew member  demonstrated how they make their squares out of metal rod to tie the rebar together. It was very interesting. The best part was , no translator was needed. We understood each other through our hands. It is now time for supper, stayed tuned for more.     

Kirk

We didn’t get a chance to blog yesterday because the day was packed with work and our evening worship service.  Mike, Keith, Paul, and I spent the morning out at the Bercy campus working on the foundation for the Pastoral Training Center.  In the afternoon the majority of the team went to the market city of Cabaret to walk the streets and talk with some of the people there.  I stayed at Bercy and worked with another team of high-school senior boys to make more progress on foundation.   It was very hot.  Last night I was able to spend some extended time with Schnieder (my Haitian son) and Ricardo after the worship service.  Ricardo Charles was there as well and we were able to talk at length with Ricardo translating, and clear up some confusion about the boys’ school requirements.   I’m very excited.  Ricardo Charles and I were able to figure out an extended plan for Schnieder (an orphan) to provide him a loving home, school, and a potential for future income.  Ricardo Charles has been such a blessing to us, and is a great example of how Mission of Hope is helping to mentor Christian leaders.

We were able to complete our part of the work at Bercy today (Wednesday).   Fortunately with the storm approaching, there was cloud cover and a stiff breeze during the middle of the day today.   The threat of the storm kept Andrew, April, and Micah at the main campus this afternoon.  Andrew made some new friends and I found him happily playing card games with some other youth (having a great time).  He is such a social butterfly.   I’m very proud of my boy. 

I finished Bruchko, yesterday.  What a great book.  Everyone is ahead on their reading and most of us have finished the book early.  That gives you an idea of how enjoyable a read it is.  I recommend you pick it up and read it.  I hope we get rained in tomorrow so Jonathan and I can do some work at the Depot repairing machinery.

Keith

Yesterday was a full-packed day.  During the morning, the guys went back out to the site of the pastoral training building to continue work on the footings.  The rain from Monday night didn’t disturb any of the work that we did on Monday.  At lunchtime, Mike, Paul, and myself came back to the Mission of Hope to meet up with the rest of the group for a village visit.   That afternoon we and the other people on our team (from a church near Charlotte, NC) visited the Guitton village near Cabaret.  We spent several hours there playing with the kids and talking with the adults (mostly through the translators).  We also did an on-the-spot dramatic presentation of Jesus healing the paralytic man with four friends.  The village visit was very interesting and enlightening, but since I know almost zero Creole, communicating with the people in the village was difficult.  That night we got to experience another worship service.  No Chris Tomlin songs this time, but again it was very joyous and worshipful.  The service ended with a conga line slash mosh pit.

We spent all day today working at the Bercy site again.  We weren’t sure how much time we would have, but the rains held off for the most part and we were able to complete our work on the footings.  They didn’t get all of the concrete poured.  That will have to wait until after the storms.  It sounds like we are in for a lot of rain tonight, so I don’t know what we’ll be doing tomorrow.  Hopefully we won’t be completely rained out.

Paul

I had a lot of fun yesterday playing with the kids and teens of Guitton. We played soccer, a slapping game, and a clapping game (the girls I was playing the clapping game though kept making April take my place because they felt she could go faster than I could). It was awesome to be involved with sharing the Gospel through drama and then praying with our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ that were there. The Tuesday worship service interesting for sure. The Spirit was definitely moving, and the bassist was killing his 5-string.

Today was by FAR the best working conditions on the job site at Bercy. We had peanut butter and jelly for lunch again, but without the sun beating down on us after lunch and draining us of all our energy we were able to quickly get all of our work done ahead of schedule.

Haiti 2013: 8 July (cont)

Andrew

Due to my mother’s request, I shall write a blog. When I arrived I expected the whole ordeal to go smoother since I was a bit more prepared from my previous experiences, but instead, quite the opposite happened. Frustration is a current obstacle because unlike last year when I had absolutely no idea what was going on, I now have expectations. I wish our group would do more of one thing whereas we do more of a different thing. This trip is also more exhausting than the 2012 trip. It seems the only things keeping me going are naps, cold showers, and Coca-Cola. The book we are reading is a very interesting and different selection than other books I’ve read and is very enjoyable (I finished it today and I’m in the process of rereading it.). Keep praying and God bless. –Andrew

Mike

Today was the first ‘work’ day and we definitely got after it! If I heard right, we were digging ditches and filling them with gravel for the ‘footers’ of a new facility that Mission of Hope is building at their Bercy campus. Once we finish, they will come in and pour concrete; once the concrete is dry, construction will start with concrete blocks. We are laying the foundation for a new ministry…that is a very cool thing. Sounds like we’ve got a tropical storm bearing down on us so we’ll batten down the hatches and be ready for whatever God needs us to do.

Paul

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3:17

Work was hard today. Frustrating at times when the ones directing our work have a difference of opinions on how the work needs to be done. But I worked as hard as I could, and as best as I could. Drank a lot of water, and then eventually threw it up. All in a day’s work. It’s currently raining (and the forecast has a lot of rain coming in the next few days) so I fear we will have to redo a lot of today’s work, but the work will get done.

Keith

Since I didn’t blog yesterday, the Sunday morning worship service was awesome!  When the Haitian people sing praises to the Lord, their joy is very evident.  The service was upbeat and worshipful.  It was very interesting hearing and sometimes trying to sing along with the songs in Creole.  It’s the first time I’ve heard a Chris Tomlin song (“Our God”) sung in Creole.  I enjoyed the service.

Today was a long, hard day.  As several have already mentioned, we were digging the footings for a building on the Bercy campus that will be used to teach and minster to pastors.  While the work was hard, it is very cool to have a small part of the future ministry plans for the Bercy campus.  It has rained a lot tonight.  Hopefully the work we started today was not washed away.  Our goal was to finish the footings before the storms potentially move through later in the week.

April

Today was quit eventful. Started my morning helping with VBS here on the Mission of Hope campus. Micah (my new friend from Missouri) and I served food to children. It was heart breaking to tell some of the kids that we could only give them one water packet per kid, and knowing purified water is an extreme need here.  But, we were told only one per kid, and we obeyed. The children are sweet, and they love being held and played with. I enjoyed helping in the Haitian VBS today.

This afternoon after lunch, Andrew, Micah and I with a few other groups that are here at Mission of Hope got in a school bus and headed out to paint someone’s home in the local community. On our way we had to make a stop at 3 Cords, which is a place where disabled women started so they could help other disabled women receive a job, there is much more to 3 Cords than I could share in the blog, but their story is amazing.

While at 3 Cords, we learned there was a pregnant woman inside that was in labor. So the intern that was assigned to my group told everyone to get to the back of the bus, that we were going to transport her to the local clinic on the Mission of Hope’s site, and he put one of our drop cloths onto the seat as we all prepared ourselves to what we thought was about to happen on our bus. However, about 20 to 30 minutes later while waiting our intern returned and updated us that they had decided to transport her on the ambulance instead. Though we didn’t witness a live birth on a school bus in the Middle of Haiti, it was still interesting to continue to learn of the Haitian culture even in a birth.

So much to tell, however I have had one of the many to come of long days and must rest. Good night to all.  John 16:33

Haiti 2013 Monday, July 8, 2013

Kirk

Well, we started work today.  The guys have been conscripted into working digging out the footings of a new building for the Bercy campus near the ocean.  It was a slow start.  At 8 am we went down to the “depot” where they keep the vehicles.  The plan was to load up some equipment into a semi-trailer, one that had not been used in a few years.  The trailer jacks had sunk into the mud and were broken, requiring about an hour of welding, banging, and the assistance of a forklift to get the trailer connected to the semi-tractor.  Jonathan and I offered our opinion that if the jacks weren’t fully raised that the trailer would bottom out on the rough roads en-route to the village.  Our concerns were summarily dismissed.  Well, guess what?  I posted the photos on my Facebook page.  The truck got so stuck on a hump/culvert crossing an irrigation ditch that the semi-tractor’s wheels were off the ground.  It took about another 30-45 minutes to get a bucket loader to lift the trailer up so the truck could get traction and pull the trailer off the concrete hump.  We spent the rest of the day digging trenches, with a short break for peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.  It was wicked hot.

April, Micah, and Andrew helped with VBS on the mission, and painted the inside of a house in a nearby village.

Jonathan

Monday proved to be an exciting day. The day began with a little quiet time and a chance to read my bible. I noticed the colonel was sweating when he got back from his quiet time. Later I found out he had been doing leg exercises! My breakfast consisted of pbj, watermelon and oatmeal, good stuff! We went to the motor pool to get things for a day of digging footers for a foundation which will become a pastor training center. Before we could leave the 53’ trailer had to have the jack repaired, kinda. Later on the way to the site to drop off the trailer we high sided a bridge and stuck the tractor trailer. Nothing a backhoe couldn’t fix. Speaking of which, I got to run one the rest of the afternoon while the rest of the crew suffered with shovels. I must say I’m impressed, I’ve never seen a harder working crew of young and old men. There is hope for the next generation. I’ll have to watch what I say because the humility in the work I saw today was inspiring. Well, I must go spaghetti is waiting and the Colonel took the last piece of orange cake!

Sunday, July 7th (continued)

Paul

While the full outline of our day has already been laid out above, my favorite part was by far the worship service this morning. While there played a few songs that I recognized, there are several others that I had never heard before. Listening to praises being sung with no idea or understanding of what is being sung was difficult at first, but when they would transition to the next verse and sing it is English it would all become clear.

Singing the praises of God in Haitian reminded me of first hearing the Gospel. I heard the message, I heard of our Savior’s love for us and that He died for us because of that love, but until the Holy Spirit reveals the Good News to my heart (like translating the songs into English) I didn’t understand it. Without the Holy Spirit, we may try to sing the songs and say the “right thing” at church without understanding the meaning, but it is just putting on a show.

April

This morning was wonderful. I woke up and witnessed a beautiful sunrise on the rooftop of our living quarters. It was breath taking. When we went to the church on the Mission of Hope’s site I didn’t really know what to expect.

I had gone on a mission trip in 2006 in Atlanta and had worked with an International church. When in Atlanta my team then and I had worked and played with children from all over the world, and the worship was in several different languages. This morning’s church worship was very similar to what I had experienced in Atlanta 7 years ago.

Though the Haitians sang in Creol mostly, there was English sung occasionally, and when sung in English it brought the words we were hearing in perspective and more meaning. Some of the words that stuck out to me was: Depoze which means lay it down. The song at the time was about laying everything down before the Lord and doing what one is called to do. Another one of my favorites was M’ tande chen k’ap tonbe which means I hear the chains falling. This particular song stuck out to me of how gracious God truly is.

Listening and worshiping with the Haitians was an experience I will never forget. I hope to return here, and help continue the vision that Mission of Hope has for Haiti. Time for bed, good night to all. Psalm 103  

Haiti 2013 July 6 and July 7

Saturday 6, July

Kirk

We arrived safely at Mission of Hope today.  We were plenty early to the airport this year as compared to last year, where we barely made it through check-in before the flight was closed out.  Most of us managed to grab a few hours of sleep in the cars on the way, or on the airplane.  We acquired an 8^th member of our team, Micah, an 18 year old young woman from Fort Leonardwood, MO.   April and Micah are already hanging out in the Three Cords store doing some shopping.

Mike

As Kirk already outlined, we have arrived safely in Haiti. The airport continues to get renovations and I was very pleasantly surprised at how different it was from 2011, when I was last here. Still, with a better facility comes more traffic and it took quite a while to get our things and clear customs. We waited awhile in the parking lot for some additional things coming in for MoH. That gave us time to meet and greet several vendors – with one in particular being very persistent and scoring some early-trip purchases from the team. He also testified to God’s power which brought to mind 2 Timothy 1:7 – our recent VBS/VBX theme verse: For God did not give us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

For me, this trip has been quite different so far from my previous missions to Haiti; however I am filled with expectation to see what God has in store for the rest of our week! Jezi se wa!

Jonathan

  Arriving at the airport was a pleasant surprise. The improvements at Port Au Prince were huge. We got to meet some great people while we were waiting. The group I’m with is very enthusiastic.  I have finished settling in. We’ve started reading  Bruchko. Now it’s time for supper! God is great!

Paul

Unlike the other guys, I have never been on a mission trip or to Haiti before, so I came into this with no idea what to expect. While the veterans have made several comments above about the improvements to the Haitian airport, it still seemed pretty run down to me. I had no idea that we would have to tip so many people just to make it through baggage claim! Driving through the city to the mission was an interesting experience: I was pretty sure our bus driver was going to run over someone (he certainly ran enough people off of the roads in from on us)! Along with the behavior on the road, I was taken aback by just the state of the country’s infrastructure. There is still a ton of wreckage from the earthquake in 2010 and we must have passed thousands of little tarp-covered-shacks, and a ton of barbed wire. I wasn’t expecting the barbed wired or the armed security at the Mission. It is just a demonstration to me of how much this country needs to experience the love and peace of Christ. On our flight here, I identified at least 5 different church groups on a mission trip. It is my prayer that all of the groups on that flight (not just our own) will have a positive influence on everyone we come across.

Keith

Well, as everyone has already said, we arrived in Haiti safely.  A big shout out to the drivers that sacrificed their time in the wee hours of the morning to get us to the airport in plenty of time!  The flight was cold. When we arrived at Haiti, the hot temps actually felt good… for a while.  The ride from the Port-au-Prince airport to the MOH campus was interesting…. Lots of honking, lots of passing, and a few close calls.  On the way, we saw a multitude of the temporary houses, many just consisting of tarps for the walls.

Just finished dinner and its already rained several times since we arrived at MOH.  I’m really looking forward to the worship service in the morning!

 April

Out of the U.S. for the first time, and I’m beginning to truly understand poverty. Yet my journey in Haiti has just begun, only arriving here at Mission of Hope a few hours ago, l have seen enough of the culture to grasp the concept of what it means to be poor.

From driving in the pouring rain in the wee hours of the morning, to the Atlanta airport, a 3 hour plane flight, and now in Haiti, I know God has something special in store for our team this week. I’m not sure what He has for me this week, but I’m putting my trust in God and doing what I can with what He has provided me with.  

When we arrived in Port Au Prince, I met a girl named Micah. She’s sweet, and came on this trip from her church alone. I immediately made friends with her, with a little help from Mr. Kirk. I thank God for her, and I pray I can be a good friend to her. She needed a friend as much as I did.

We’re about to have orientation. As the Apostle Paul ended each letter (paraphrasing): May the grace of God be with you.

Sunday 7, July

Kirk

We started off the day with the Haitian worship service.   It’s always very emotional to see friends from previous years.  Schnieder and Ricardo were there (the boys).  Our translators were not (Ricardo and Charlens).  Worshipping in more than one language is also very hard to describe.  The Doogie Howser throwback keyboard was in full effect.  Today’s worship “theme” was the power of Christ to overcome and give freedom from any burden.  We sang “Our God” which most of you are familiar with, but also a song “Depose” (day-poh-say) aka “Lay it down”.  The lyrics were simple but very powerful.  We also sang (more like shouted) this song:  “There is power in the name of Jesus (x3); to break every chain (x6); There’s an Army rising up (x3); to break every chain (x6);  I hear the chains falling (x6); chains falling (x6).”  I’m sure it’s out there somewhere.   John 8:36.  “So if the Son sets your free, you will be free indeed.”  I’m sure the others will be able to be able to give a better description.

 

Since it’s Sunday, we toured the campus and saw the progress being made.  The warehouse is in full operation.  The pipe we buried last year provides all water the compound and saves the mission about $140K a year.  They also purify the water so that it is now safe to drink vs buying Culligan water.  We also toured the village of Leveque where they have built a large Church and are expanding to go beyond 500 homes to 750+.  The Bercy campus has many more buildings and we will be working there to put in footings for a pastor training center.  April, Micah, and Andrew will be concurrently helping with VBS at Bercy.

Tonight is the famous Haitian chicken dinner from Gwo Papa Poul (Big Daddy Chicken), being catered in to the mission.  Apparently Schnieder and Ricardo work there and we will see them again tonight.  Tomorrow the work starts.

Mike

Sunday morning started out with shouts of young men and feet clanging on the metal stairs that lead up to the roof over our dormitory. I looked at my “smart” phone – which has morphed into a fancy clock and camera since it’s a company phone and doesn’t have International roaming – and discovered it was 5:45; time to get up. After getting cleaned up and re-coated with sunscreen and bug spray, I made my way up to the roof for morning prayers and Bible reading. It was a beautiful morning in Titanyen with the mountains to the north and east blocking the sun and the sea to the south twinkling in turquoise.

Breakfast was relatively healthy with Special K and the ever present peanut butter and jelly. I don’t know if our mission buddies from Santa Rosa County (FL) will read this but I thought I’d note that there was plenty of shuggggg-aaarrrrrrrrrr for the coffee. They’ll know just what I mean J

We embarked on a tour of the campus and it’s really amazing to see and hear about the breadth of services that Mission of Hope is providing to the people in this community. After the campus tour, we ended up at the bottom of the hill at Madam Cheap-Cheap’s emporium of all-Haitian souvenirs. I suspect I’ll end up back there but it’s Sunday and I wanted to see the church.

Wow! For someone who is used to very small Haitian churches, this was like a megachurch. It was still open air, and the pews were still quite narrow and hard on our posterity. Yet the cross-shaped design of the sanctuary, the three wings of pews, the full Haitian band, and even the front wall where lyrics to the songs – in both Creole and occasionally English were displayed – this church was a big deal. And worship was awesome! I had a 13 year old boy who asked to sit next to me who helped me out with some of the creole lyrics, and he even knew the English ones to songs I should have known better. I think his name was au Lenassan but I will have to ask him again if I see him this week.

The rest of the day was taken up by some exercise – it’s not hard to break a sweat here – lunch, and tours of Leveque and Bercy, other locations nearby where Mission of Hope is expanding their services to the community. Now, we are in contemplation and reading through the book “Bruchko” as a team, and using it to lead our devotions in the evening. In a few moments, it will be time to enjoy some of that famous Gwo Papa Poul (Big Daddy Chicken) I’ve heard so much about. Jezi se Wa!

The Transition: Haiti 13 Project

As the team prepares to take the trip back to Haiti again, the blog will be transitioning to this year's mission journey. The posts from the 2011 and 2012 trips will remain in case you'd like to read about that trip.