Kevin’s Post
The defining feature of this trip has been our team. This is the fourth one month mission trip I have been on in the last five years and this team is by far the most mature. This has been the most physically demanding trip I have been on in many ways and the team has been not only content, but joyful. We just spent 8 days in a shore city called Point Sable. Most of our days, we would be carrying rocks and sand up a mountain for a church to be built. In the afternoons we would walk to a beach with a host of Haitian children who would all take their clothes off when we jumped in the water. Most nights we had church which included a lot of worship and some teaching.
The church is being built out of rocks on the mountain, sand from the beach, and cement that you helped raise money to purchase. This serves as a great example of Haitian culture as I have experienced it. They use what they have and they make it work. They are an extremely joyful people and humble us daily with their spirits. They have not stopped serving us and worrying about us working too hard. There have been no missionaries in Point Sable for over fifteen years so this is a big deal to them. I pray that God used us to encourage them and help them understand the connectedeness of the nation-spanning body of Christ. Although I haven’t felt clean in over a week and I sweat every night while I sleep, God has given each of us grace upon grace to experience His peace while we have been serving Him.
Next, we go to Boucan La Marre. I know we will be doing some more construction, but other than that, I’m not sure. I’m not fluent in Creole yet, but they do get a kick out of the idea that a skinny white guy from the U.S. knows some Creole.
Pray for continued openness for our team and for our eyes to be open for opportunities to love. Thank you for all the prayers. I am certain that God is working through them to sustain us.
Hailey’s Post
When our plane flew over Haiti, I looked out the window and saw what looked like a hilly golf course. Haiti, a victim of extreme deforestation, is the texture of a crumbled up piece of paper. Never have I seen such a mountainous terrain that seemed completely impossible for humans to exist on. The roads are like paths of boulders that somehow the Haitian Toyota trucks trample over, only to suffer a flat tire here and there. The food here is exciting. Mangoes, pineapple, watermelon, radish pasta salad, beans and rice, plantains, Conch stew, popcorn, fried chicken and fruit juices. Strong coffee has been served to me every morning even in the poorest village we’ve stayed in, Pointe Sable. The coffee is the best I’ve ever had.
Our trip has been a roller coaster – like going up and down the Haitian mountains. We’ve all had our highs and we’ve all had our lows. My personal low started when Kevin threw up for five hours one night, and I thought the world was ending. Fear overcame me, but as our team prayed for me I felt God’s spirit tell me how in control He was. Fear in general has been a struggle for me but God delivers me every time. We are now in Boucan La Marre and we will be here until the 16th when we go to Port Au Prince. We will be doing construction here as well. Please pray that we continue to stay well and in good spirits and that God may do what He wants through us.
In Boucan La Marre, we have our tents set up under a couple of huge, ancient mango trees. At night the mangos drop like leaves – often almost hitting us in the head. Pastor Pierre’s house, school and church are all on the property we are staying on. It’s a beautiful place, with auburn colored rocky soil, palm trees and lush vegetation. All around it truly feels like a tropical island. While we don’t have a/c, at night, it conveniently cools down to the 70’s and sometimes 60’s and we occasionally get chilly. There is a constant breeze. Our clean clothes hang from a clothes line and our bathroom consists of three stalls, a toilet in the middle and a shower on both sides. If you take a shower in the late afternoon you will be lucky because the water will be warm – the afternoon sun heats it up in the cistern about the house. Madame Pierre is cooking for us – 3 meals a day. There is always fresh fruit and often American dishes. She has been cooking for missionaries for 15 years and in my opinion is a gourmet chef. In the daytime you can hear the children singing Christian songs in Creole, and at night we fall asleep to the church praising God through enthusiastic song and drum beats.
Today is Saturday and we are resting. Sunday we will drive down the mountain to Ans-au-Galet to church and Monday will begin construction work in the school. I know that what I’ve described to you sounds like paradise. Well that’s because it is compared to the village we’ve been in the majority of the trip – Pointe Sable. We are so thankful here for the love from Pastor Pierre’s family and the relationships we’ve formed with some of the people who work here. In Pointe Sable, I think the main thing that astounded us was that in a village with stick houses, animals, poop, trash and naked Haitian children everywhere, a village where they materially had so little, the christians we met there were spiritually rich. It is scriptural if you own nothing but have God, you’re rich. I met God in Pointe Sable joyfully, because He and the people there showed me that He is all you need. He is in control of my body, mind, and Spirit. He is in control of my appetite (which left me there and I lost some weight). He is in control of how much sleep I get at night when the donkeys, chickens, and goats won’t shut up. He will sustain me no matter what the circumstances.
I found out that Pastor Pierre often hikes from Boucan La Marre to Pointe Sable in the middle of the night, arriving at day break. This hike consists of going up and down an impossibly steep mountain. Pastor Alfonso has wanted to make the hike with him, but Pierre won’t let him. He says it’s too dangerous. Sometimes wild birds try to attack him on his hike. Regardless of the obstacles, he still gets to Pointe Sable because that’s where God calls him. He does not always feel hydrated, full on food and happy, but God sustains him. He may not get sleep that night, but God sustains him. That is who we are called to be, sustained by God and obedient to God despite life’s circumstances.
The pastor of the church in Pointe Sable, Pastor Jinual, is another figure of inspiration to me. He is the most loving, gentle, humble person I’ve ever met. He was so thankful for us to help him build the church. He told us everyday how thankful he was and he always took care of us. The last night we were at Pointe Sable, we gave him a Proclaimer, which is a solar charged audio bible in Haitian Creole. He was so thankful. On the boat ride from Pointe Sable to Ans-a Galet yesterday, Pastor Jinual played the Proclaimer the whole 2 and 1/2 hours for everyone on the boat. It was very enjoyable except when the Proclaimer began spouting off a lineage list of names that lasted 20 minutes, which conveniently happened right as Kaiti and I were leaning over the rocking, hot boat waiting to puke. We didn’t throw up, and we were never as excited to see land as we were yesterday when we arrived. We have two more weeks of construction and relational work. Everyone here is thriving – we’ve all gotten so close. The pace of life is slow enough here to read and journal quite often. Some have finished books and are exchanging reads with other team mates. Some are rediscovering what rest means after a busy year of school and work. I’m learning how being still is the best way to hear God’s whisper, and I feel overwhelmed by peace and joy and the richness that comes from true community – from my eight new best friends. God is so great to let us experience this wild adventure. I’m so thankful to be a part of it.
