Tuesday, October 25, 2011

~Haiti~

Only God could have known and planned such a great and life changing trip. Back in January of last year my mom asked me if I would be interested in going to Haiti with her. I was like, "Sure, why not?" We didn't talk about it again until the end of July. She asked me again and my response was still, "Sure, why not?" She emailed Greg Denver, the leader of the trip, and he added us to the list. It all seemed so easy, too easy, but that is only from my perspective. Like I said this was something that God had been planning before any of us were born. Our church was very generous and helped us raise a large portion of the money we needed for our trip. The rest I was given by very generous and supportive family and friends. God provided.


We had a couple team meetings before we left. My mom and Amy were the only ones out of the ten that I really knew before our trip. The meetings were good, but kind of weird because none of us had really ever worked together. It was also very different for me because I was the youngest member of the team. Despite ourselves, God really unified us and we all became great friends and family as we worked together to serve the Haitian people. Oh, and Sara's great team building game, "Pictionary Telephone", that we played in the airport on our way to Haiti also helped. :)

When we arrived in Port au Prince we were greeted in the airport with music. After getting through customs we met our handler from North West Haiti Christian Mission who took us outside to a truck that delivered us to the little airport for our chartered flight to Mole. We waited for about two hours for our plane. We spent some of the time playing Uno, which we played almost every day while we were in Haiti. We flew to Mole St. Nicholas in a fourteen passenger plane. The runway at the Mole was just a gravel road.

Jose and Gabe Castillo, some of the translators, and our faithful transporters- Dumi and Smith picked us up. The runway was about fifteen minutes away from the Castillo's house. There were cacti everywhere which was something I did not expect to see. There was also a lot of butterflies which I absolutely loved because butterflies remind me of the hope we have in God.

The girls stayed at the bunkhouse at the Castillo's house and the boys stayed at what will be the orphanage several blocks away from the Castillo's house. After Jody Castillo gave us some instructions we met our terrific translators then we got to go to the beach! It was my mom's first time to see the ocean, and what a beautiful ocean and beach it was! It was so refreshing and relaxing to cool off in the ocean after a looong day of traveling. We headed back to the Castillo's house for supper. After supper Jody gave us some more instructions and some background information on Haiti. The Haitians have been blinded and captured by voodoo. Some people say that ninety percent of the Haitians are Catholic and one hundred percent of them practice voodoo. We all headed for bed by 8pm because we were all SO tired.

The sounds of the night included chickens, roosters, dogs, and at 4am sweeping noises and noises of the people of Mole waking up and getting ready for the day.

In the morning we got ready for church, ate breakfast, and then headed out to Mare Rouge. We traveled every day in the back of an old army truck that had wooden benches on both sides of it. The first day was the hardest because we didn't have our life jackets/booty perseveres to sit on. :) As we bumped up and down on our way to Mare Rouge we greeted everyone with a smile, wave, and Bonjour. One of my favorite parts of the trip was when they would smile back at us. Their smiles will forever be etched in my memory.

We arrived at the church in Mare Rouge which is a house of one of the members who had to move because she was being persecuted while she was living there. I sat out on the porch with my mom and the Castillos because there wasn't quite room in the church for all of us. Their singing was all acapella and very beautiful. Pastor Caesar had us all introduce ourselves and tell the church why we had come to Haiti. Ron preached a sermon on uncertainty using the Israelites time in the desert when they followed the pillar of cloud in the day time and the pillar of fire in the night. He also used the song "Ten Men Went Down to Spy on Canaan." :) After church we went over to the pastor's house for lunch. While we were waiting for the food a bunch of kids had gathered around his house. We played Ring a Round the Rosies, Duck, Duck, Goose, London Bridges, and they taught us two Haitian games. They loved holding our hands and touching us.

After lunch we divided into four groups of two and one group of three with at least one translator per group to go out and survey. The groups were Steve, Karla, and my Mom, Greg and Amy, Laura and Elias, Ron and Sara, and Jordan and I. Like I mentioned earlier it was so cool to see and hear how well we all were able to work together as we ministered to our brothers and sisters in Mare Rouge. The translator that Jordan and I were with was John Mary- he was teased quite a bit by the other translators for his name. :) Pastor Caesar came with us so that we would know where to go. On our first survey some kids that we had played with at the pastor's house followed us, but by the time we got to the second house they either were tired of following us or had somewhere else to be. Jordan would ask the survey questions and John would translate them. The questions included Where do you get your water?, Do you have a Bible?, How many people live in your house?, What are their ages?, and some intrusive questions like Where do you go to the bathroom? and Has anyone in your family died under the age of five? I got to play with the kids if there were any at the house and pray as Jordan asked the questions. At the end of the survey we took turns praying aloud for the family we interviewed.

After our two surveys we headed back to the pastor's house to meet with the rest of the groups and head back to the Mole. When we got back we ate supper, Elias led us in a devo, and we played some intense games of Uno and Earplugs/Spoons.

The next day we got up nice and early, ate some breakfast, and headed to Mare Rouge. Most of us were constantly applying and re-applying sunscreen in hopes that we wouldn't get too burnt. :) Our ride to Mare Rouge took between an hour and a half to two hours and another hour and half at least back to the Mole. Though the ride was a little crazy and long at times, it was a great time bonding together and a time to process everything we were experiencing. The view was also breath taking in several places. Once we arrived in Mare Rouge we split off in our groups to do some more surveying. I was able to paint the nails of the children we visited, yes, sometimes even the little boys wanted their nails painted. :) It was humbling to pray for them as I painted their nails and held their hands. The questions kept becoming harder and harder to ask after a while because we had a pretty good idea what their answers were going to be... Another one of my favorite parts of the trip was the last house we surveyed that day. We talked with the mother of the house. She had four little girls and there was also a neighbor boy that was hanging out at the house. I got to paint the kids fingernails while Jordan talked with their mom. As we got ready to leave and go to the next house the kids grabbed my hands and walked with us to the next house. They were curious about the moles on my arms and also how my legs were partially black with my black leggings. :) The kids called me "Zomie" which means friend and John said that they also told me that they loved me and were happy that I was there. I can only pray that through my actions and smiles they knew that I was happy to see them and loved them too. We didn't have enough time to survey the neighbors but told them we would be back. They were so welcoming and excited that we had come.

Once all the groups met back at the pastor's house we bumped back to the Mole. When we got back I got to play Hide and Seek with the Castillo's oldest boy, Gabe, who is four but will tell you he is ten. :) Like every night by the time supper came we were tired. So we played some card games then headed to bed knowing we would be up early again the next morning. :)

I was in charge of the devo Tuesday morning. Monday night when I was trying to figure out what I should talk about I looked through the various verses I keep in my journal and came across Romans 8:38-39. Which says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." It fit so perfectly with the message that we were trying to communicate to the people of Mare Rouge. Our God is SOOOOOOOOOO much bigger and powerful than Satan and their voodoo beliefs. I closed the devotion with "Our God."



By Tuesday morning we all felt like we had done enough surveying. Pastor Caesar took us to several of the church members' homes. While we were there two ladies accepted Jesus as their Savior. One of them was a young, single mother. In the Haitian culture if you are a single mother they assume that you have to and do sleep around with men to make money to support your children whether you really do or not. They aren't allowed to take communion or sing in the church choir. Please be praying for this girl. Pray that she would find all her needs fulfilled in Jesus. The other lady told us to come back tomorrow because her whole family wanted to accept Jesus too. It was so amazing to see God use our presence there to help bring two sisters into the Family. After lunch we got to experience the huge market of Mare Rouge. I was not expecting a market that big at all. :) It was pretty funny to see the different reactions of the people as our group walked through their market. It was different from all the foreign markets I've been to because it was geared toward the people living there not tourists. They were selling fruits, very fresh meat, clothes, hair barrettes that all the little girls wear to school, animals, and many other things. After the loud and busy market it was nice to be back on the quieter streets of Mare Rouge. Like I said earlier we greeted everyone with a smile, wave, and Bonjour. Well, it was Bonjour in the mornings and Bonswa in the afternoons. Our translator Pierre taught us another thing to say to the kids to get them to laugh, Sawswa(sp?), which means sauce beans. We got a couple group of kids to laugh at us. :) Before heading back to Mole Jordan, Greg, and I along with our translators, John and Jocelyn, went back to the house we didn't have time to visit with yesterday. It was such a blessing to see the kids again, to be able to play with them, and to pray with the family.

Back at the Mole I played Hide and Seek with Gabe again, Rosie, Mikela, and Malaya also joined us. We had supper, played some cards, and then went to bed. Our cooks did a great job preparing meals for us while we were in Haiti! We definitely felt very blessed to have food to eat.

Wednesday was our last day in Mare Rouge. We had planned the night before to walk to the river where most of them get their water, check out the public tap where some of them get their water, and to spend some time visiting with Pastor Caesar. We even left at 7:30 instead of 8 so that we would have some extra time to do these things, but God had some different plans. When we had Jocelyn ask the pastor how far away it was to the river he said it was "A very very very very very very very far away." They have to walk or ride a donkey to the next town, which is in a valley for water. We also learned that the public tap was actually just water that people sell out of their cisterns. Since all of our plans fell through Pastor Caesar took us to some more of the church members' houses. It was so humbling and a blessing to hear our sister in Christ welcome us and tell us that she was so glad to see us. We also prayed with the families we visited. We went back to the lady's house that we were at yesterday so that her whole family could accept Christ but she wasn't there.

When we went back to the pastor's house for lunch, we got to sit down and talk with him. He told us that he had prayed for a group like us to come and partner with him. He told us that it was a blessing for him and the church that we were there. He also said that six people had accepted Christ while we were there. Besides different needs he told us that the community and church have he told us that he wished he could find a godly wife who could serve with him. At the end we laid our hands on Pastor Caesar praying for him and encouraging him to continue serving God's people in Mare Rouge. After saying goodbye to our brothers and sisters in Mare Rouge we headed back to the Mole. It wasn't until we started saying Goodbye to people that I realized how much I had fallen in love with them. When we got back the guys, except Steve, went by boat to a fishing village nearby and the girls and Steve went to the beach. It was really good to be able to take time to relax a little and begin to process all that we had experienced. After supper we played some Uno and worked on packing our bags.

We all went through our stuff, deciding what we could leave that they could use. It was honestly so fun to take things out of my suitcase knowing that Jody was going to send most of it to the people of Mare Rouge that we had met that week. I decided to leave my tennis shoes and my second pair of flip flops. I thought that the flip flops I had been wearing all week would hold up till I got home, but the part that goes in between your toes pulled out the next morning. I was just going to keep sticking it back in, but Jordan was kind enough to let me wear his flip flops. I could have just taken back the flip flops that I had given away, but honestly after seeing many with no shoes or shoes that were falling to pieces I felt blessed to have my broken flip flops. I also knew that God could use my second pair of flip flops to bless a member of the church in Mare Rouge.

Thursday morning we got to "sleep-in" a little. :) We finished packing up our bags, ate some breakfast, played some more Uno, and went to the beach one last time before we left for the runway. It was hard to leave the Castillos, Beth, and our translators after working closely beside them. It was especially hard to leave the Castillo kids. Though I didn't always feel like I could possibly have enough energy to play with them after our long days of surveying I loved every moment I got to play with them.

We were flown by some pilots from Samaritan's Purse which was really cool. We gave everyone some more goodbye hugs, then boarded the plane and started our journey back to the US. Since I got on that plane I haven't been the same. I didn't even realize how much I had fallen in love with our brothers and sisters in Haiti until we were leaving.

We stayed the night in Port au Prince at Medical Teams International's Team House. It was a great place to stay. We got there around noon so we pooled together all our snacks for a potluck lunch. The rest of the afternoon we got to relax and rest. There was a medical team from Chicago staying there too. They were doing clinics in a place an hour or so away from Port au Prince. Not all of them were Christians and they didn't quite understand why we had come to Haiti. But it was really cool to talk to them and share some of our stories with them. After a delicious supper, we played some games until devo time. One of the men that work with Medical Teams International, Michael gave his testimony. He was born in Kenya, but moved and grew up in Uganda. He has an amazing story of how he came to Christ and what God has done in his life so far, but that would be very long to write and I don't remember it all. He had to take some one home but when he got back Jordan, Sara, and I got to talk with him some more. It was so cool to hear how God had used bad things for good and for His glory throughout Michael's life. He also asked us why we had come to Haiti. After hearing Michael's story and him asking about mine it really made me think about what has happened in my life that has prepared me for ministry.

Friday morning we got up nice and early one more time so that we could be at the airport by 6am. It was really strange being in Port au Prince because we weren't greeted by everyone that we met on the road. It was also a lot more westernized then Mole or Mare Rouge. We almost lost one of our bags but thankfully Elias and Wilson, a guy that worked with Medical Teams International and was in charge of picking us up and delivering us to the airport, tied our bags on the roof well enough that it didn't completely fall off. :)

We got through security quickly without any problems. As we were waiting at our gate for our plane I started getting a sick feeling my stomach because I did not want to leave. I still feel that way sometimes here. I just have to take a deep breath and trust that God has a plan for me and I need to be faithful and obedient.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale, FL and went through customs without any problems. We got to spend almost five hours in Florida waiting for our connecting flight to Baltimore. We ate some lunch, got to call/text our families and friends, some of us took naps, and we played some more card games.

For our flights in the US we flew Southwest, so for the most part we didn't get to sit by each other. This gave us an opportunity to share about our trip with those who wanted to listen. Although I hope for the sake of the people we sat by that we didn't smell too awful... :)

We just made our flight in Baltimore to Kansas City. We might have walked quickly/jogged to our gate. :) We arrived in Kansas City with all our luggage around 9pm. My dad picked us all up and then we finally got to eat some supper. We made it safely home at midnight.

It has and will still take a lot of prayer and time as we all process what we saw, heard, and felt in Haiti. Please be patient with us.

I am excited and anxious to see how God will use this trip to change the lives of the people of Mare Rouge and the lives of those who help them. I know that He definitely used the trip to change me.

 Thank you so much Greg, Amy, Jordan, Karla, Steve, Elias, Sara, Laura, Ron, and my mom for letting me be a part of the team and for being such great friends!! Love you all! It was a privilege and a blessing to serve with you!

If you have any questions or want to hear more stories feel free to ask away!

1 comment:

  1. I LOVED reading this post! I love how you included even the small things in your day, and I feel like I now have a better idea of what your trip was like. I'm sure you all were a huge blessing to the people in Haiti!

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