I apologize in advance for the long post :)
I’m not quite sure where to begin. The five days I spent in Haiti for this most recent trip went by so quickly. I know that my words that follow cannot possibly do justice to the activities and blessings of the week. And my words are only representative of my experience, while I know that each person that was present that week has their own view of God’s hand on our time in Haiti. As always, each will go back forever changed in a different way, as God has spoken to each heart in differently. I do know that I am amazed at the fact that, during the chaos of the week, I could look around me at everything going on knowing that only two short weeks before I stood in this house in Haiti alone, with no furniture or any other items with which to operate. I am truly amazed at God's hand in the development of this ministry. Here is a recap of the most recent leg of the journey...
I’m not quite sure where to begin. The five days I spent in Haiti for this most recent trip went by so quickly. I know that my words that follow cannot possibly do justice to the activities and blessings of the week. And my words are only representative of my experience, while I know that each person that was present that week has their own view of God’s hand on our time in Haiti. As always, each will go back forever changed in a different way, as God has spoken to each heart in differently. I do know that I am amazed at the fact that, during the chaos of the week, I could look around me at everything going on knowing that only two short weeks before I stood in this house in Haiti alone, with no furniture or any other items with which to operate. I am truly amazed at God's hand in the development of this ministry. Here is a recap of the most recent leg of the journey...
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Mark, Gary, Bruce, Keith and Mary (Mark’s daughter), from Dry Ridge Baptist Church, arrived
in Haiti around 3:15 pm and waited on the rest of us. I met up with Allyson,
Connie, and Randy in Miami and we were on the same flight that got into Haiti
at 4 pm. (In case you are not aware, Allyson is Hope for My Sister's first long-term volunteer that traveled down this week to move into the ministry center/house). Once we had everyone and all of
the luggage, we headed out. A Haitian pastor that Mark was working with met us
at the airport and took Mark’s team to the house. Edmond picked up my group and
took us to the house. I was disappointed when we pulled in the gate and I saw
the iron bars for the windows and doors sitting around the coconut trees
instead of on the windows and doors upstairs. The iron work was supposed to
have been completed by October 15. We unloaded all of the luggage at the house
and began setting up necessities for the night before the power went off. Mary,
who was in Haiti for the first time, jumped right in and started mopping the
floors so we could put the mattresses down to sleep on for the night. Edmond
came back just a little bit later and took me to the market so I could get food
for the team for the night, along with some ice for the cooler. I also
purchased a couple of additional fans (a huge blessing since there is no air conditioner). I was surprised when we got back (well
after dark) that the power was still on in the house. And it stayed on until
around 8:30 pm that night. That is rare, and did not happen the rest of the
time as the power went off around 4 pm. We managed to get things settled enough
for the night and had sandwiches and chips for dinner, with the 9 of us sitting
around 2 desks the team had assembled pushed together in one of the upstairs
bedrooms with a lantern in the middle to see by. It was wonderful to eat and
sleep in the house for the first time!
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| Moving Allyson In! |
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| Patricia and Mary's Room for the Week |
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| Temporary Dining Room |
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| Men's Room for the Week |
Sunday, October 20, 2013
When we got up on Sunday morning, we had run out of water. I talked
with the landlady about the water and she showed me how to turn on the pump to
get the water from the cistern up to the tank on the roof. We waited and tried
the water and still no water. Mark had Keith climb up on the roof (I believe he
climbed up through the tree out back) to see what was going on with the tank. The
pump wasn’t working right, but we finally got the water up to the roof and
later someone came to work on it. Sunday morning Mark and his team went with
the pastor to his church, where Mark preached for the service. (Mark preached
at this church all week.) Me and my group stayed at the house in an attempt to
begin going through everything and trying to create some organization. There is
a large church just across the street from the house and they sang worship
songs for hours on Sunday, and that was a huge blessing. Around 1 pm Julienne
and Frantz came to visit and meet the team. They are leaders for an
organization called KOFAEL Haiti, which provides microloans to Haitian women. They
are a young Haitian couple with amazing hearts for serving God and the women of
Haiti. They currently have 42 women in their program and beginning Saturday,
October 26 the monthly meetings for KOFAEL will be held at our house/ministry
center. We were also talking with them about moving into the house to live with
Allyson. We discussed arrangements and I am very excited about the
possibilities that we have for making a big difference in Haiti by working
together. It was agreed that Julienne would move in on Tuesday, October 22 and
Frantz will move in after they are married in December. Mark and I called
Pastor Sanousse and he came with a tap tap and took the entire team, except me
and Mark, to Black Mountain for service Sunday night. Mark went back to the
church he had been to that morning and I stayed at the house so I could be sure
that everyone could get back in (the gates to the house remain locked at all times, and we did not yet have copies of the keys for everyone). The
power went off early in the evening but I was able to have some good quiet time
listening to the music next door and spending time alone with God. Mark got
back first and the pastor that drove him took me to the market so I could buy
something for dinner for the group. The pastor had his body guard, “Big Daddy”,
with him. Traffic was horrible so we
went to the closest market but it was already closed. Then the tap tap we were
in broke down. It just died in the middle of the road, in crazy traffic. Big
Daddy looked under the hood, and then they rolled the truck backwards to jump
start it. We made it on to the next closest market, and the pastor stayed in
the truck as Big Daddy and I walked across the street. When we got there the
men outside with the shotguns told us the market was already closed. So, we
began walking up the street toward the Delimart. He asked me if I was afraid to
walk up the street and I said no. He kept reminding me to walk in front of him
if we were going through a crowd so he could “have my back”. He was very nice
and very helpful. We made it back with more food for sandwiches and more ice. It
was well after 9 pm by that time. Another group dinner around the desks by the light of the lantern. Earlier in the day I had called my friend
Esther about coming to cook and clean for our group for the week and we were so
thankful she did!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Monday morning Esther and two of her friends (one male and
one female) came to see what all we needed and they immediately went to work
cleaning before I even had the chance to talk with her. They came in and saw
the needs and just started taking care of things - praise God! We talked about dinner and I
asked if she could make goat. I gave her money for the food and they went
shopping for everything. I walked Mary, Bruce, Keith, Gary and Randy down to
Christian Light so Mary could hang out with Rachel and spend time with the
kids, and so Edmond could take the guys to the hardware store for construction
materials. We were working against the clock to get the materials back so the
stove could be hooked up in time for Esther’s team to cook dinner. Edmond was
due to be back at Christian Light to take the guys by around 10 am, but at
about 11:30 am the guys all came back to the center and said they had been waiting
all of that time but that he hadn’t come back yet. Typical for Haiti, but I am sure
that for the 4 men who were in Haiti for the first time, it was a little
frustrating. They hadn’t been back long when Micah called to say Edmond was
back and he was on his way to pick them up. Traffic was horrible all day on Monday. Allyson and Connie went with
someone else to get phone service for Allyson and get her some groceries for
the week. While they were all gone, except Mark and I, Pastor Sanousse came to
the house with Sarah, Rachel, and their mother. Sarah and Rachel’s father, who
was a Haitian pastor, died several years ago and several US pastors have been
trying for some time to honor the desire their father had that his girls would
go to school in the United States. I have seen the girls a few times and they
are both incredibly sweet. Sarah is 13 and Rachel is 11. Pastor Sanousse took
Mark, the girls, and their mother to the US Embassy to try to get their paperwork finalized with the hope of
Mark being able to bring them to the US with him when he headed back this weekend. I can’t imagine how their mother will feel
about letting them go, but I also know the hearts that Haitian mothers have for
their children and how desperately they want the best for their children.
In the middle of people coming in and out of the house the
workers showed up to work on installing the security bars. Just as they were
getting started I heard water running and when I discovered where it was coming
from I felt a little overwhelmed. One of the pipes on the roof that carries
water had burst at the seam and water was spewing onto the balcony and down
onto the ground. I grabbed one of the workers who was on the balcony measuring
for the bars and showed him. He went down to tell the landlady and they were
able to shut the water off. Monday was a crazy day. The people in and out of
the house included the nine people on our teams, the three people cooking and
cleaning, three men working on the bars, the man who came to fix the water
pump, Pastor Sanousse with the girls and their mother, and the American couple
that had taken Allyson and Connie to run errands, and the Haitian couple that is leading KOFAEL. In the midst of all of the
comings and goings there were lots of noises such as drills making holes in
concrete upstairs for the bars to go in; welding sparks and cardboard catching
on fire in the windows as the workers welded the bars to the windows (with much
smoke filling the house); the generator Micah brought over for the guys to use
since the electricity was off by early evening; and the hammers, saws, and
drills from the assembly of furniture downstairs and outside. The guys were able to get a good start on building the bunk beds for the house. It was a very
busy, hot, and noisy day!
That evening Micah, Rachel, and David came down from Christian Light to have
dinner with us. Esther and her team had prepared an amazing meal. We had fresh
vegetable salad (tomatoes, onions, olives, cucumbers, and green peppers), goat
with potatoes and carrots, rice and beans, and fried bananas. I absolutely love
Haitian food! It was a wonderful dinner with amazing people! It was truly a blessing to not have to go back to the market to get something for dinner :). It was our first real meal of the trip and we were so very thankful! David has a God-given dream to start an EMS training program in Haiti, which could save so very many lives. I pray that God opens doors and provides the resources needed to make this happen.
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| Installation of Security |
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| Keith and Bruce |
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Tuesday morning Esther and her team were running a little late, so I went ahead and started fixing breakfast. They showed up and finished. We had pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. After breakfast the guys immediately went to work making the furniture. By the end of the day, including work from the day before, they had made 6 sets of bunk beds, 2 single twin-size frames, a full-size frame, and 2 8-foot long tables for the kitchen to use for food serving and work space. In addition, they worked on 2 toilets upstairs by replacing much of the components inside the back tanks and installed our gas stove and refrigerator. It was such an amazing blessing to see furniture in the house!
After breakfast I also walked Mary back to Christian Light where she met up with Rachel and was able to go down to the ravine with the feeders as they went around feeding and weighing all of the babies and small children down there. When Mary came back we asked her how it went and what she thought about the experience and she said she didn't have words that could describe the experience. This young lady has such an amazing heart and I know that God has big plans for her life.
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| Keith and Gary working on the toilet |
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| Randy and Keith working on the stove |
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| Our first set of bunk beds! |
After breakfast I also walked Mary back to Christian Light where she met up with Rachel and was able to go down to the ravine with the feeders as they went around feeding and weighing all of the babies and small children down there. When Mary came back we asked her how it went and what she thought about the experience and she said she didn't have words that could describe the experience. This young lady has such an amazing heart and I know that God has big plans for her life.
Allyson and I spent a good bit of time working on paperwork throughout the day, ensuring we have the necessities covered regarding volunteer agreements, housing arrangements, etc. During a run for some more supplies, Connie and Randy were able to get copies of keys made so we were able to get the keys organized between us. Thanks to Esther we were able to get a twin mattress for Julienne, who moved in that afternoon. This was such a wonderful step forward in developing our ministry. Julienne has an amazing heart and we are so thankful that we get to work with her and her fiance, Frantz. That night for dinner Esther and her team prepared lasagna, rice and beans, pikliz, tilapia, watermelon, cantelope, pineapple, and mango. The food was amazing!! We ate dinner downstairs this time since the upstairs bedrooms were full of furniture!
After dinner we spent a good bit of time talking about Haiti, about the issues women face in Haiti, and why a ministry like Hope for My Sister is so very important. Julienne joined us for dinner and was an important part of the conversation. She shared with us that her mother had been killed by those practicing voodoo, and she talked about how important it is to worship God openly and fully. She has such an amazing spirit. Thank you God for bringing her into our lives!
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| An amazing meal! |
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| Keith, Bruce, and Gary, ready for dinner |
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| Randy and Connie - Allyson's parents |
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| Allyson! |
That night before bed, I spent a few minutes with Esther
thanking her for everything that she and her team had done for us. Her group would continue working there through Thursday, but I wanted to be sure to express my appreciation and discuss arrangements with her before I headed home Wednesday morning. We shared a
few tears and she prayed for our ministry. She and her team even slept in the house that night, in one of the rooms downstairs. We did not have any more mattresses so we gave them blankets and other things we could find to try to make them as comfortable as possible. I cannot tell you what an incredible blessing that Esther and her friends were to me and our team over these days. They cooked, cleaned, ran errands, Esther helped translate with the landlady and others, and she even killed a lizard and a roach that had made their way into the house. She is an amazing lady and is so incredibly supportive of this ministry.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Wednesday morning was difficult for me. The four days I had been
in Haiti had been full of ups and downs, anticipation and frustration. From
questioning what in the world I am doing there to receiving positive
affirmation that this is God’s will. I was up before anyone else on our team,
working on packing the rest of my stuff. Esther had made me a plate of food
because she knew I would need to eat before I left (she is so thoughtful). I sat downstairs and ate alone, in the quiet. Afterward, people were starting to wake up. I went and talked with the guys and gave them each hugs and thanked them for their sacrifice and the talents they had provided during the week. I don't know that they will ever truly comprehend just how much of a blessing they have been. I hugged my brave volunteer, Allyson, goodbye. I am so thankful for her and her family, and their sacrifice in order to provide hope of a stronger future for the women of Haiti. As I approached the stairs to head down to the gate, where Edmond was waiting to take me to the airport, Esther came up the stairs and said she wanted to give me something. Then she broke out in a chorus of "Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul" standing at the top of the stairs with her hands held high in praise to the Lord. I had been trying so hard to not get emotional that morning, but as soon as she started, my attempt clearly failed. Then we hugged and kissed each other, exchanged "I love yous", and she walked me outside. This was by far the hardest time I have had leaving Haiti. I finally pull myself together and got to the airport, where I was finally able to access WIFI, and my dear friend David Gunter had left me a message that said, "The struggles in life are short lived. Our lives are short. When you get to heaven after Jesus has said well done, there will be a string of Haitians that will hug your neck for all you are doing right now. Whatever you have to go through it is worth it." Well, I teared up again in the American Airlines line...I am so very blessed that God has placed so many amazing people, so many amazing "giants of faith" in my life that guide me and encourage me each day. I could not do this work without them. Thank you Father for never failing, and for carrying me when I don't see an answer, when my strength is gone, and when I can't possibly grasp which step to take next.
Hebrews 12:1-2 is a fitting way to close this post:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
May we always endure....
Hebrews 12:1-2 is a fitting way to close this post:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
May we always endure....
Prayer Requests
I would like to ask that you remember the following requests
in your prayers:
- That Allyson will have the strength, the wisdom of discernment, and the peace she needs to serve full-time in Haiti over the next year. Lord give her protection and cover her in grace and love so that others will come to know You through her. May she seek your guidance in all decisions and follow You even when it is difficult. May Your full armor protect her, and may many friends (both old and new) lift her up in love and encouragement and help her grow stronger in You.
- That Connie and Randy will receive Your comfort and peace as they say goodbye to their daughter in a few days when they fly back to the United States. Watch over them and their family, giving them grace and an outpouring of love from their friends and church family. Father, thank you for their hearts and the tremendous support they have shown to Allyson as she has stepped out to serve You in such a mighty way.
- That Julienne will feel welcome in her new home and that she and Allyson will become close and support one another. That You will prepare their hearts for the addition of another full-time volunteer staff, Emily, who will move into the house with them in four weeks.
- That You will lift up Emily and prepare her heart for the journey she is about to make as she plans to move to Haiti in November to be part of the volunteer staff at HFMS.
- That Mark, Keith, Gary, and Bruce will be blessed in a mighty way for their service in helping prepare the house so the staff can serve the Haitian women. Father there are no adequate words to describe how incredibly thankful I am for these men and the blessing they have had on my life this week, and the blessing they have provided for years to come as countless servants sleep in beds they made, eat food stored and prepared in the appliances they installed, and use tables and benches to serve the Haitian women. And the blessing they have provided for years to come for the many Haitian women that will come to this house for Bible studies, medical clinics, education and training, and assistance during some of the most difficult times of their lives.
- Father, be with Julienne, Frantz, Elisabeth, and the women involved in KOFAEL Haiti as they begin meeting in the house this Saturday, October 26. I pray that this ministry will be blessed and that You will show us all how the two ministries (HFMS and KOFAEL) can work together to serve the women in Haiti. Help us to have patience and seek those activities You would have us provide. Help us to stay out of the way and dedicated ourselves to building up strong Haitian women that can then serve other Haitian women.
- That Esther, her friends, and their families will receive many blessings. That their hearts will stay fixed on God and they will continue to look to Him for answers.
- That everything will work out for Sarah, Rachel and their mother. That if it is God's will they will be able to come to the US to attend school and that He will provide loving people in their lives here to build them up and show them the love of Christ. That He will protect and care for their mother in Haiti as she is separated from her children. If there is any way we can help in this process, Father please let us know.
God bless!
Patricia
