Adventure to the Dominican Republic

Friday, August 2, 2013

Friday morning I got up, got dressed, and went down to the balcony to work on paperwork/planning until Edmond was able to take me to the store. I was planning to buy a stove and whatever else I could with the funds I had available. I wanted to at least do what I could on this trip to get the house ready. Anyway, I stepped into the kitchen off the balcony so the ladies could sweep it, and about that time David came to talk to Sherrie about going to the Dominican Republic to meet up with his brother John and the team he had over there. He was going to be able to pick up medicine, clothing, and other items. Sherrie told him I was going with Edmond to get appliances and David suggested that I might want to go with him and Micah to the DR because you can buy appliances a lot cheaper there. So the next thing I know I am packing my backpack for the night and getting into the big blue truck with Micah and David. Three white people headed across the border. There is always ad adventure when you come to Haiti!

We left Christian Light at 11 am. A little more than an hour into the trip, we came to a Haitian police checkpoint. A male officer stopped us, and if you know anything about what can happen at a police checkpoint in Haiti, you would expect me to tell you about some bribe they wanted or something else negative. But not this time. Officer Markel asked us a couple of questions (Where are you going? Are you American?) and then said he needed a job. He was looking for another job that he could do when he wasn’t policing. David (who was driving) looked at me and asked if he could tell him. I said sure. So David told Officer Markel that I was opening a women’s center and would be looking for a security guard in a couple of months. He seemed very interested and he wrote down his name and phone number. Then he asked us if we were Christians, if we knew Jesus. He said, “because if you don’t I would like to tell you about him”. Wow. How many Haitian police officers have you seen that try to witness to people at a checkpoint? We assured him that we were indeed Christians, and soon we were off again. David said, “That might have been the reason for this trip – that you would find your security guard.” What a rare and amazing opportunity, to get a security guard for the women’s center that is a trained police officer, has connections to the police and has his own gun! OK God, you are riding with us. Thank you!!!

Sure we had just had our first divine appointment of the trip, we kept heading for the border. Once we got out of Port Au Prince the drive was beautiful and interesting. As we approached the border, there was a large lake that came right up to the road, sometimes on both sides of the road. The water was so blue and the huge, magnificent mountains in the background were breathtaking. David explained that prior to the earthquake the water wasn’t as high as it was now. The earthquake caused a crack in the rock bed and some of the ocean had come through. This was evident in the fact that you could see the roofs of several houses just under the top of the water.

And we ventured on until we came to the border. The first gate was to exit Haiti. 

 

We were able to go in and take care of immigration smoothly and David inquired about the taxes on appliances coming back into Haiti. They told him $20 per appliance (which may or may not have ended up being the correct amount). Then we were off to the second gate, entering the DR. This one was more frustrating and took us more than an hour to get through. There were people in street clothes with clipboards trying to get you to show them your papers so they could get money from you, but we knew better thanks to David. Then we were met by two young men, one of which was wearing a khaki Boy Scout shirt trying to look ‘official’, but we knew better J. We went and took care of immigration and then we had to take care of the paperwork to take the truck across the border. David took care of the paperwork and then we were on our way, or so we thought. We were stopped as we started driving out. This time by a man with a rifle. The man with him took our passports (at which time I texted church with a prayer request), and David got out of the truck to go with them. We got the passports back, thank you God, and finally we were off. Santo Domingo here we come!

 

It was very interesting to see the differences between Haiti and the DR even though the two countries share the same small island. And bye bye Creole, hello Spanish, which none of us knew much of. The DR is a beautiful country, and even in the very poor neighborhoods the streets, sidewalks, and yards were clean.

The people were friendly as well. I know that between David and Micah we had to have stopped and asked “Santo Domingo?” about 20 times to groups of people sitting around. And sometimes we would stop at an intersection and not even have to ask, the people would just point. We did mind of stand out in our very ‘Haitian’ truck with three white people. And all along the highways were these little concrete ‘shrine’ structures where you would expect to see Mary, but as we drove by we looked in each one we passed and Mary was nowhere to be found. It became kind of funny and gave us something to do. You know, ‘Mission Haiti’ could be an interesting reality show, just sayin…

So on we went toward Santo Domingo. Even though we didn’t find Mary, we saw a little bit of everything along the way. People were selling lots of things alongside the road, including lizards on leashes, fruit, furniture, onion rings, and fish and crabs on a stick. We even saw a few other things we could have done without, but I digress…

 

We finally made it to Santo Domingo after dark. There were road signs, interstates, lots of exit ramps, one-way streets, and loud music. After driving around for a while trying to get close to the hotel where David’s brother John was at with his team, David called John and we ended up going to a large mall area where we found a decent looking taxi and paid the driver to lead us to the Aquarium hotel. We got to the hotel around 9:30 pm (10 1\2 hours after we left). We started meeting some of the team members, who showed us to the rooms we would be in for the night. I roomed with a very nice lady named Charlotte, her granddaughter, and a young lady named Esther from the Dominican. I hadn't been in the room five minutes when a lady came to bring me a cold bottle of water. After we dropped our stuff off in our rooms, we joined John’s team for devotion and prayer. He had 28 people from Alabama on his team and he gave the three of us the opportunity to tell the group what we are doing in Haiti. It was wonderful to share with other Christians what God is doing in Haiti. The team had been reading "Follow Me" by David Platt and this was the book they were basing their devotion on. Very cool considering myself and two others are leading a Bible study on Follow Me at our church this fall. They discussed what is means to make disciples. That we are called to make an intentional investment in people; called to see the urgency in eternity; to rest in the sufficiency of Christ; and to no longer be 'spectators', but active 'doers'. What a great message as 31 of us sat in the room together in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We represented three states of the US. We were all from different walks of life, with different gifts and abilities. We came from different denominations. Among us were individuals of different races and ages. But we were all there with a common purpose and a common heart. This is a picture of what the body of Christ was meant to be.

After devotion we headed to our rooms for the night. Not long after getting to the room, another lady from John’s team knocked on the door and gave me a gift package. She said she wasn’t sure what was in it, but the group wanted me to have it. That was very thoughtful of them. I placed the package in my backpack and went to take a shower. 

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel with the other team, at which time one of the team members gave me $200 from his church to help with purchasing appliances for the women’s center. Thank you Lord! I was also able to pass out some business cards for Hope for My Sister, and I had several people from the other team express interest in staying connected to the ministry. You never know what God will do with that opportunity in the future. We joined the team again for their morning devotional and prayer. They focused on Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!". And, Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." They discussed Chapter 9 of Follow Me, which is entitled, "Born to Reproduce". This chapter of the book is the application chapter. It causes you to reflect on what you have read throughout the book and asks you to make a personal disciple-making plan. In developing your plan you are given six (6) questions to consider. These include: (1) How will I fill my mind with truth? (2) How will I fuel my affections for God? (3) How will I share God's love as a witness in the world? (4) How will I show God's love as a member of a church? (5) How will I spread God's glory among all peoples? and (6) How will I make disciple makers among a few people? I love the end of the 9th chapter, where David makes two profound statements that each of us should seriously consider as we walk with Christ: This is a call worth dying for. This is a king worth living for.

After devotion we loaded the truck with the medicine and supplies from John's team, which also included toiletry bags (this will be important to know later) Then we were off to go shopping. John had arranged for Kevin to go with us since he spoke Spanish. He was very helpful. The first place we went to look for items we needed was IKEA!It was nice to see a familiar store.

We found a few things there. I was able to get two desks and garbage cans for the three bathrooms. Then we were off to an appliance store. We went to a large supercenter store where we found what we were looking for. I was able to get a refrigerator, a gas stove, a microwave, a water cooler, and 3 mirrors for the bathrooms for $1,100! Thank you Lord!!! David and Micah also found some things. It took a little while to load everything up, but once we did we were off heading back to Haiti. David drove all day the day before, so Micah drove back. They both did a great job of driving in crazy traffic!

The drive back to the border was beautiful, especially as the sun began to set.

Unfortunately, despite a great effort, we did not make it to the border before it closed for the night. So, we were stuck in the DR until the border opened this morning at 8 am. We found a hotel in Jiramie, which is close to the border. The rooms had decent beds, ceiling fan, and air conditioning. The toilets in the DR, however, do not have any seats…not sure why…and the bathroom in the hotel room did have a door...But, we found Mary! A sculpture of her was on the wall just before we got to our rooms in the hallway of the hotel.

After we put our stuff in our rooms we walked down the street to a local street restaurant where we had burritos and quesadillas. It was a little wooden building on the corner with a large window/hole cut out for you to order and get your food. The young men working there were very nice. The food was very good. And where we were we could hear music and see dancing in a local outdoor place down the street. What an amazing sense of community they have there. We don’t see this in the US, and it truly is sad. Everywhere you looked you saw families and neighbors sitting around talking. It was a beautiful thing to see a culture where life is slower and being together is more important than going places or buying things. But back to the story at hand…After we got back to our rooms I contemplated what I was going to wear the next day since I had only packed one change of clothes. The shorts I had been wearing that day were awful by this time, but the skirt I had worn the day before was a possibility, but it had been in a bag with a wet washcloth all day and was pretty nasty too. About this time I was looking through my backpack and came across the package the lady had given me the night before. In that bag was a t-shirt, body wash and lotion. So I had a clean shirt to wear, and I used some of the body wash to wash my skirt by hand in the sink and then hung it up to dry for the night. Thank you Lord for the little things! I called Sam and had him check on other flights for Monday because the chances of us getting back in time to get me to the airport for my 1 pm flight were looking very slim. The options weren’t good and they were expensive. But, we put it in the Lord’s hands.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

This morning we were up and on the road about 7:20 am, headed for the border, which was scheduled to open at 8 am. We got to the Dominican border at 7:30 and knew we would have to wait a little bit. 

 

At the Dominican Republic border

A Dominican man approached our truck and wanted to see the papers for it. Not knowing much Spanish, it was a challenging conversation, but we were encouraged by the man’s patience and pleasantness. David stated telling the man we were missionaries and opened his iPad to show the man pictures of the children from the orphanage. Then David got into the back of truck and got out a toiletry bag that John’s team had given us and gave it to the man. He seemed pleased, at which point he personally walked us to the window in the building and we were able to get our passports taken care of by 7:55 am. Then he motioned for us to follow him toward the gate. Just before the gate another man stopped us, but our new little friend came over with him. He wanted to see our paperwork for the truck. David got out and gave him a toiletry bag as well and he let us go through the gate.

At the next gate, a man in uniform with a gun stopped us and wanted to see our passports. Them he asked if we were missionaries. We said yes, and David showed him a picture. And he gave back our passports and told us to go on. Thank you Lord for ‘favor’.

The next area was to get our passports taken care of for re-entry into Haiti. As we walked into the building there was a long line, at which time I took a deep breath and thought that we were going to be there a long time. But the line was for those people leaving Haiti. The line for those coming in only had about 3 people in it! This process went very smoothly and the man we dealt with in immigration was very nice. Then we were on our way, waiting for the next person to stop us for the appliances we had in the back of the truck…but no one did. We went through the last checkpoint without anyone stopping us. What could have cost us a good chunk of money cost us nothing. God was in the details today! Then as we got into the part of Haiti where traffic is usually in total gridlock, Micah hardly even had to slow down! On the way we discussed the possible need to just drop me at the airport and leave my other belongings at Sherrie's since changing my flight was going to be difficult and very expensive. I dreaded the idea, because I had really hoped to change clothes and get my other things. To our great surprise, we got to Sherries at 10 am - only 2 hours after going through the first check point in the DR! Thank you Lord!!! I was able to clean up, change clothes, pack my stuff, and talk to Sherrie a little before heading to the airport. 

At the airport I went upstairs to get some lunch before my flight and was able to get on the WIFI and put a post on Facebook. My friend Ryan from Tennessee responded and told me his friend Katie was there at the airport as well on her way back to the states. He said I should try to find her. There aren't a lot of white people in the Haiti airport on most days, but I didn't see her. I went downstairs when I was finished eating and stood in the back of the room because there weren't any seats open. I had been in that spot maybe 2 minutes when a white lady came back to the same area to stand. I immediately recognized her from her picture on Facebook. I had found Katie! We talked for a bit. She and her husband are adopting from Haiti as well. She has gone down with Ryan and worked with Pastor Odvin at his orphanage. One of the boys from there had been transferred to another orphanage, by Ryan and Katie, and this was the little boy she and her husband were adopting.  Such a sweet lady, and a new friend!

Three flights later, and some delays in Cincinnati, and I made it home just before 1 am this morning (Monday). I am so thankful for the opportunity to have gone back to Haiti, and for the adventure to the DR. Each time you see God work in the details your faith grows deeper. You get better and better at stepping out into the unknown because you have stronger trust in Him to lead you and take care of you. And the people that are serving in Haiti are the nicest people you will ever meet. It is truly like having a large family where everyone helps one another and watches out for one another. Thank you Lord for the many, many blessings you gave me this week! Words cannot do justice to your mercy and grace, but thank you Father that you know what is in our hearts!

Until the next adventure!

Patricia