Jan 28, 2011

Day 8

I still have a low grade temp.  The doc suggested I stay here again today to make sure I don’t have any problems during travels back to the states tomorrow.  Wow.  Writing that is so strange.  I feel like we just got here and yet it’s time to go already.  Listening to everyone share about going to the prison yesterday made me wish i had experienced it first hand.  The team build benches for the prisoners.  The said it was a log of hard manual labor.  In the end though the prisoners all thanked them through song.  The team said it was such a blessing and extremely moving.  These prisoners are being held on all sorts of charges and accusations and it may take months or a year before their case is heard.  The conditions are the worst part.  75-100 men in a 12x12 jail cell.  There’s not enough room for all of them to sit so they trade off sitting and standing.  They also have no running water.  Sometimes they can go for up to 3 days with no water.  It blows my mind that this can go on.  The mission is working towards getting the prison a large water tank system to they  won’t go without water.  If you feel led to donate this small project, click this link to donate directly to the NWHCM water project. Just fill out the information and in the notes field add Prison Water Project.

This trip has been life changing to say the least.  I’ve learned a lot about God, the members on my team, my wife and myself.  I will really miss Haiti when we get home.  There is a special place in my heart for Haiti and NWHCM.  I have been blessed beyond comprehension this week.  I will never forget this experience. If you’re reading this and helped support us financially with this trip, I just wanted to say thank you. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am that you were able to help us get here and experience God in such an incredible way through the people of Haiti. We hope to go back, and go back often. A part of us is there now.

Jan 27, 2011

Day 7

Fever. It’s what I’ve got.  After dinner last night Kate takes me to the clinic to take my temp.  It’s 100.6.  Not too high, but not good either.  She puts me on a Motrin and water regimen and sent me to bed at 8pm.  I wake up this morning at 8am.  12 hours of sleep.  The only problem was that I didn’t feel much better.  In fact, my temp was now 101. Kate decided to have one of the docs look at me.  He decides I’ve got some upper respiratory issues from ridding around Haiti in the back of a truck for 3 days.  He puts me on a z-pack and says to stay at the mission for the day.  So that’s what I’ve been doing today while my team headed for the prison to build benches for the inmates.  So far today I’ve read a lot of the bible, prayed a ton and made countless trips to the bathroom thanks to all the water I’ve been drinking.   The good news is I’m feeling a lot better.  I pray I only get better as this trip winds down with only 2 days remaining. 

Jan 26, 2011

Day 6

Voodoo.  Today we head to Ansephalor to visit the cross monument and voodoo temple.  The tap-tap that is taking us there is larger than the ones we rode the two days before.  The whole team can fit in this one and it can drive much faster on the roads.  The country side is beautiful.  Some of the sights have you forget you’re in the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  Then you turn a corner and come back to the reality of how these people live, and yet, the children all smile and wave to us as we pass by.  After the quickest tap-tap ride yet, we arrive at the trail to the voodoo monument.  The monument is what remains of a concrete cross after being struck by lightning.  All that’s left of it is the base.  The Haitians come to this place to light candles and perform other voodoo rituals.  When we made out way to the monument we came upon three men performing a ritual with candles and some clothing on a stick jammed into a crack in the monument.  One of the men was speaking and reading from a piece of paper.  Our interpreters wouldn’t tell us what they were saying.  They told us we didn’t want to know.  When they left we all circled around the cross and prayed for all of Haiti and claimed that cross for Jesus.  It was a strange feeling to know that cross (what was left of it) was being used for something so wrong.  We hike down the hill to head to the temple.  This is one of the largest voodoo temples in Haiti and it also has the voodoo doll in a glass case.  You read that right.  A doll in a glass case.  You see, these people also believe that at the same time the cross was stuck by lightning, this porcelain doll fell from heaven.  So, now they worship this doll.  When I first stepped foot into the temple, the smells were overpowering.  You could smell wine, candles burning and sickness.  It really smelled like death.  Whole families would move into this temple in hopes of having one of their family members healed.  These Haitians actually paid money to live in of the the rooms of this temple.  On our way to see the doll we pass by many of these rooms.  People were stacked on top of each other in them.  The smells coming from them would make your stomach turn.  We come to the room with the doll to find lawn chairs facing the wall with a glass case that houses their doll.  We sit down in the chairs and being to pray silently that God would be revealed to these people that that His truth would shine through.  After a while we got up to leave. It was a very strange experience.  It almost didn’t seem real. We leave the temple and head up the street to a local Haitian restaurant.  The food was great and the coke really hit the spot.  We didn’t stay too long and loaded up in the tap-tap again to head to an old resort of some kind to go to the beach.  The water was crystal clear, and as blue as the sky.  It really was beautiful there.  The sun was pretty hot so I retreated to the shade of some trees.  The shade was cool and I welcomed the occasional breeze.  It was soon time to head back to the mission.  We load up in the tap-tap.  A few Haitian men push us as our driver pops the clutch to start the motor and we were off.  The quick trip to seemed even shorter back.  Which was a good thing because at this point I wasn’t feeling so well. I’m going to take a nap before dinner and hopefully feel better. 

Jan. 25, 2011

Day 5

The sun rises on another day in Haiti.  We are all ready for the trip back to the mission.  We play with the kids and I take some more photos as we wait for the tap-taps.  They soon arrive and we load up. We all wave to the kids with smiles ear to ear on their faces as we head for the road.  There is a special place in my heart for those kids. 

The ride seemed to be much shorter coming back than on the way.  The drivers didn’t make as many stops this time either.  Perhaps they knew we all needed showers.  Maybe they could even smell that we needed showers.  Either way, we made it back in record time.  After unloading from the tap-tap I knew a shower and a coke were necessary.  Oddly enough though I had a coke before my shower, thanks for a quick paper, rock, scissors loss.  That coke was from the Lord Himself.  After my shower we had lunch.  It was great.  Chicken fried rice has never tasted so good.  I’ve also found that a dash of Hot Sauce goes a long way in Haiti meals.

We had another VBS for the kids in the nutrition program right after lunch so we rushed to prepare our craft.  All ready.  We head down to meet the kids.  They are amazing.  All they want is to hold my hand or sit in my lap.  Nothing more, nothing less.  After the craft and more photos the kids left us, but with smiles on both our faces.  Haiti is quickly carving a permanent spot in my heart.  I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Jan. 24, 2011

Day 4

6:45am came quickly and devos were starting.  Breakfast followed.  French toast.  I added peanut butter to mine and I have to say that made all the difference.  After breakfast the tap-taps arrive for our three hour drive.  You read that right.  Three hours in the back of a pick-up with the worst suspension you could ever dream of.  We load up in the trucks and hit the road.  The ride is worse than I thought.  You feel everything in the road, including the bumps the driver tried to avoid.  We make the most out of the trip by laughing so hard our sides hurt worse than our backsides.  After crossing a river, many streams and an uncountable number of bumps I ask our interpreter how much longer he thought we had.  He says “20 minutes” .  I then remembered how long the “20 min” walk to the market was the day before.  Sure enough, an hour later we arrived at the orphanage.  The kids were still in school so we had time to get our stuff ready for VBS.  We were ready.  So were they.  They got started on crafts, face painting, and balloons.  I honestly don’t think it mattered what we did as long as we were there with them.  Once everyone had finished we all went outside.  The team brought soccer balls for them to have and the kids wanted them so bad.  While walking around outside with these kids I found it hard to communicate with them.  Then I found a universal language we all knew.  Photo.  These kids craved having their picture taken and it was my pleasure to do so.  Some kids would smile and some wouldn’t but all of their eyes said so much.  As soon as you take their picture they had to see it.  Every time they would look and smile.  Photos were a win- win.  The sun quickly set to reveal the most stars I have ever seen in the sky.  Just another reminder of how Great our God is.  The children were getting ready for bed by now but devos were before lights out.  They sang songs, listened to a short sermon and sang more.  IT was beautiful.  We experienced just a taste of what Heaven will sound like through these kids.  By the end of the devos, kids were falling asleep on our laps or in our arms.  It was hard to let them go, but these kids needed some sleep, and so did we.  Our sleeping arrangements weren’t quite the Ritz, but no one complained and we all made do.  We each had a paper thin mattress to sleep on either the concrete floor or on top of a picnic table.  I chose the floor.  As I lay here and think about the day and these kid’s attitudes, I have nothing in life to complain about.  I have so much but these kids have showed me how little I need.