Day 3

I'm still trying to catch up on blogging from the week, so I apologize for the tardiness! This is my third trip to Haiti and it is by far been the busiest. It's a good thing I love all of the people here at the guest house (including our team), since I don't think I have had 5 minutes of "me time" since I got here! They even hunt me down when I go to the bathroom. I'm being serious. Our team thinks it is hysterical, because it is more of the other team or other pastors that want to ask questions or need something. But on the good side of things it is good to be able to help! At upper room yesterday we discussed John 17 and how Jesus finished the work He was given. We discussed what He had to work with: the power of God and people. If we are doing God's work we are building people. A very good point was made - you can't "go to church" because we are the church. After breakfast several of us headed back to Sherrie's and the rest of our team went to visit a couple of orphanages. I had previously arranged to visit a child we sponsor through Compassion International, but after arriving it just didn't seem to be working out. I had called the field office yesterday to tell them I could not get to Petionville to meet the driver. Thinking I wasn't going to be able to see Wisler (the boy we sponsor) I went the team at Sherrie's. We were there for maybe five minutes when someone knocked on the gate and then Sherrie was yelling for me. Jean Claude from Compassion came to Sherrie's - had actually tracked me down to be sure I could make the trip. I was so impressed with them! So off I went to Leogone! It was a chaotic 2 hour drive into the country of Haiti to get to the Compassion project. What a beautiful place!! Sugar cane and coconut trees as far as you could see, and the road ran along the coast for a good distance and the water was beautiful! I will admit I was nervous, not knowing what to expect on this visit. When we arrived at the project they took me to a room where I could meet with Wisler. When he came in he gave me a big hug and then pinned a flower on my shirt. He brought me a few gifts of hand made Haitian woodwork. I had brought him a back pack full of things like a soccer ball, school supples, etc. We exchanged gifts and talked by using the Compassion staff to translate. Then we loaded into the van and went to Wisler's home to meet his family. This was the biggest blessing of my trip so far, and was worth the whole trip. Here is this boy from another part of the world, that I have written letters to for almost 5 years. I finally got to see him in person! And his family was amazing! His father is a sugarcane farmer and also grows coconuts, bananas, and some other fruits. While we were there his father wanted to give me something to show how thankful they were that I cared about Wisler and his future and that I would travel all of this way to meet him. He cut some sugar cane and cut open the tops of a few coconuts so we could drink some coconut milk. It was wonderful! Wisler was very quiet, and I asked his father if he was always like that. He said yes. He explained that he feels it is important for his son to be calm and not always quick to speak. He said that by doing this, when he does speak up others will listen. He is such an amazing father and a ver humble man. When we left their home we took the Compassion project worker back to the project, then we headed back to Port au Prince. On the way out of Leogone, we had to drive through some very tight market areas. At one point it got too tight. The driver tried to get around a truck that was parked a little off to the side, but didn't successfully make it. I was in my first Haitian car accident. There I was, the only white person for probably hundreds of miles, in a van with one Haitian man who was trying to get me back safely. Our van scraped down the bumper of the truck and the bumper guard on our van caught the bumper of the truck so as we tried to get "lose" from the truck we were actually dragging it with us. About this time a large burley Haitian man started pounding on the windshield in front of me. The driver started apologizing profusely and I was sure something really bad was going to happen. After the man yelled at us he told us to go on. Fender benders in Haiti are just accepted. Once we were free from the incident and away from the market, I said to Jean Claude that it was a wonder there aren't more accidents in Haiti with the way people drive. I said that it appeared that people didn't seem to mind the accidents much. He said that isn't true. He said you can get killed by hitting someone. I'm glad he said that AFTER we got away from the scene of our accident!!! I finally arrived back at the guest house. We had been mixed in with the other team all week so far, and our team really needed some time together to share experiences, etc. So our group stayed back at the guest house and spent time together singing and talking about things we had done so far and places where we had seen God working. Many on our team had gone to a few orphanages during the day and it became emotional for some as they tried to explain how their hearts had melted for these children. A couple of people have been throwing around the word "adoption"...I'm telling you that there is something about this place that is special. Honestly there is an evil here like no other, but at the same time God is so clearly present, especially in the children. The members of our team that went out to these orphanages said that it was the highlight of their trip (even though one of them got peed on:)).