A Week Is Not Enough

While in Jacmel my days were filled with a mixture of compassion and adventure. Even the transportation was something to experience. Traffic laws don't seem to be followed, and the right away seems to give way to first come first serve and whoever can beep their horn the loudest. Our means of getting around was by a "tap tap", an old pick up truck with benches welded on the bed of the truck for sitting, pictures below. This was fun!

On Thursday of last week Mitch actually got to drive the tap tap!

And I forget what day it was, but I got to ride on the back of a "moto" with Jean Mary to make a water run for my team.

A first for me on this trip was visiting the river. This river is used for bathing, laundry, taking your livestock down for a drink, and I saw numerous people walking back and forth with buckets of water for at home use. This river is beautiful...this life is hard.

Their church with Sunday worship and Tuesday night prayer is another experience that I won't ever be able to get enough of. The harmony of voices in song and in prayer have you drop to your knees in worship and it's a beautiful feeling to be praising God alongside your brothers and sisters in Haiti, and yet I know that this small preview is nothing compared to the symphony I will experience in heaven, but for the time being I am in awe, and so I worship the Most High God together with my brothers and sisters. When the Tuesday night prayer service was over, an elderly lady approached me to give me a kiss, and in English she said, "God bless you".

This same church uses it's building to feed the hungry children of Jacmel through a sponsorship program. Children gather here everyday to eat and play soccer in the yard. Just $30 a month provides these children with a meal, an education, and health care.

To paint a picture of what their home life is like, Pastor Lafleur told us a story from his childhood. He said there were times when he and his brothers and sisters went days without food. All his mother could offer him was a hug when the hunger pains came and a glass of salt water. This mother had a choice to make, either buy food or send her children to school. This woman valued education, for she had only been to school one day in her life because her father couldn't afford it. She wanted to break this cycle for her own children so she would tell him "eat your books today so that you can eat better tomorrow". Pastor as a young child studied hard and he was always the first in his class. The school would reward the top students with a small amount of money or a jar of peas. On one Good Friday his family had no food to eat, but that night with the money he earned from school and the jar of peas his mother was able to buy some coal to heat up the peas and that is what they had for dinner.

This life in Haiti, it is tough, and what is $30 to us?

Another program that Restoration Ministries offers is a chicken leg milk day. $400 provides a chicken leg in their beans and rice with a glass of milk for the 450 kids that are currently being sponsored. Thanks to Elena Bowling's vision and LifeSong Church, we were able to raise money and watch these kids enjoy a rare occasion of a chicken leg, my prayer is that this meal won't become so rare to them.

One day after lunch as I was sitting on the ground painting little finger nails, a child came up to me with a sour cherry for me to eat. I smiled and said "mmmmm", but with that small sound children ran to gather more cherries, before I knew it I had a least 5 children hand feeding me, stuffing my mouth with cherries. Mouth full I tried to motion for them to stop, but the cherries kept coming, and I'm laughing. Finally I motion for the cherries to be put in my hand, I then offer the cherries back and the children laughed and ate the cherries.

Our mornings were spent working and our afternoons were spent at the feeding program and playing with children. I miss it, I long to be back.

I met one little boy 2 years ago, only a year older than my son, he reminded me of Maddox when he would suck his thumb. 2 years later and now fluent in English I asked him, "Ilikie, do you still suck your thumb?". Unashamed he answered "yes!". My husband then asked him, "aren't you too old for that?", Ilikie's precious reply was, "not for that".

Ilikie is in the blue shirt below.

My friendships were made in the teens who live in this small community.

From left to right in the picture above is Vladimire, Stallacia, Steve, and Wichnel. Beautiful, smart and funny. So smart that I can see great things for them in their future. They are not their parents, but strong maturing adults with with a bright future. These 4 (and many more!) are loved by and supported by many.

On my last trip in April of 2011, Wichnel was teaching me Creole, but being the young and michevious guy that he is, he slipped in a phase, "alle poo poo"...Well when I repeated it, it was just hilarious to him, and since I'm a sucker for potty jokes it was funny to me too. Only in April of 2011 it was just him saying it, when I came back last week, not only did he remember, it seemed that all of the children, especially the preteens and teens would greet me with, "alle poo poo" lol. This went on all week long :)

I miss the children and the families of Jacmel. Their impact on me is far greater than any brick that I layed while I was there, and one week is simply not enough.

If you would like to sponsor a child please visit RestoreHaiti.com

To read other posts from my week in Haiti, please click on the following links:

Home From Haiti
Building Homes and Relationships in Jacmel

Building homes and relationships in Jacmel

So what did I see, smell, experience over my most recent week in Haiti? Is it even plausible to put into words? Or share the whole story in pictures? No, you'll have to go see for yourself and you'll be glad that you did, but in the mean time I'll do my best to share. And don't be fooled by my light heartedness, laughter and pictures of smiling faces, as I mentioned in my previous post, the people there do have joy, but there is pain and suffering there too, Haiti is in need of relief.

This was my 3rd trip back and I don't know how many trips it takes to get use to the Port-au-Prince airport, but it's not 3! Thinking back on the experience it really is very comical. You should have seen the looks on my team's faces as we left customs with our bags and men are swarming our carts trying to "help" us. If you didn't know any better and with the language barrier you would think they were trying to run away with our belongings, but we knew that it wasn't our bags they wanted, but our tips. It's just very intimidating having so many men hovering, yelling, and grabbing. Over the past 2 years I've been trying to learn creole, so when I was telling the men "no merci" we already have chosen someone to help us, I could understand one of them making fun of me for not knowing creole! LOL it really is funny looking back on it, I felt so sorry for my husband with this being his first trip and feeling responsible for me and our group. But finally we saw familiar faces, Jean Mary and Chris, and they were able to help us through the chaos. We loaded up in our vans and met a second team, Conduit Missions, who we would be working alongside with over the week. Now to take in the view of devastation as we drive 3 hours through Port-au-Prince and the mountains to our destination, Jacmel.

Our work was hard that week. We had to break the ground with pick axes and shovels to lay a foundation to add another room for an expanding family who was living in only a one room home. Another site required us to carry sand and rocks down a steep curvy hill, a quarter of a mile long each way. These rocks and sand were then sifted to make cement to build a house for a woman in need. Progress was being made one cement brick at a time, one bucket of sand at a time, with one team a week at a time. And in between the heavy lifting and swinging of a pick axe we took breaks to spend time with the many children who followed us everywhere, and we loved on them as if they were our own.

We were just volunteering that week, but we were working alongside men who do this everyday to provide for their families. These men who know how to laugh, smile, and joke, these men who told me they loved Jesus and that He was their life, only make $2 a day! And don't be fooled into thinking that cost of living is cheaper when it is not by much. This is back breaking work to do everyday for just $2. These men work hard, they aren't lazy, so it doesn't seem fair that they bring home so little, when my life back home is a vacation and I have so much...this knowledge breaks me.

Beside one of the houses we worked on was a home of a mother and her 6 children. The father was not present. She still has the same household task that I do back at home, cook, clean, dishes in a bucket, laundry in the river (ok maybe not the same), get the kids fed, make sure they brush their teeth, have clothes to wear (that is if they want to wear them, clothing seemed to be optional in their home), only her worries and mundaned tasks are weighed heavy by poverty and wondering where the next meal is going to come from. Thoughts must flood her young 25 year old mind who had her first of six children as a teen, "can I keep going?" 6 demanding children need her and they look to her with hopeful hungry eyes and I know there must been some days she can't provide. But why does she have the life that she has and I have mine? Did I work any harder to deserve my life? No. She simply was born in Haiti and I simply was born in America. How can it be that where we are born determines our wealth? While playing with her kids I gave them a bag of small toys and a bag of granola bars. This mother wrapped her arms around me and kissed me, thanked me. What had I done really? It was nothing, but to her it meant something. The next day she gave me a bag of mangos. How could I take food from this family...but she insisted and my husband and I didn't want to insult her and her generosity. Again, I am broken.

It turns out that this entire family is being sponsored by a couple I met just a year ago, which means these children do at least get one hot meal 5 days a week, their education is paid for and they receive basic health care. Praise God!

I have so many more memories to share and I will pour out my thoughts in posts to come. Thank you again for reading what is on my heart. I hope that what I've experienced inspires you to move and share the grace that we all have so undeservingly been given.

Home from Haiti

I'm writing this post inside of an air conditioned hotel room complete with my own refrigerator, flat screen tv, couch and a king sized bed with plush pillows. I was woke up by a wake up call service this morning and then later dipped my feet in the hotel's pool. I'm here with my husband while he's on a business trip, and I'm enjoying some alone time, reflecting. It's a very far cry from where I was last week, working hard carrying gravel and rocks up and down a steep and curvy hill, kissing boo-boos of starving children grateful to just receive a granola bar, listening to a man explain to me that he only makes two dollars a day, and visting homes made up of just one room for 10 people to live with no door or lock to keep them safe, no bed to lay down to rest and no A/C to keep them cool from the unforgiving heat. The poverty in Haiti is so great, the food is not cheap, the schools are not free and most families are forced to choose one of the following; food, shelter, or education. Which would you choose?

We traveled down to Haiti to work with Restoration Ministries, a church located in Jacmel. So is Haiti being Restored? Yes, and by God's grace! Matt, a Pastor from another team who was working with us asked an old lady, "What is different here from 5 years ago?" she responded, “The little kids were always running around singing vodou songs, now they all run around and sing Christian songs.” Praise God! The differences that I have noticed personally were less tents and more homes, more of the children in the small village we visited had sponsors! More parents now had jobs, where as just two years ago I saw countless children sitting outside the feeding program hungry without a sponsor or an education. Unless you've been there you can't understand how frustrating it is to not be able to put into words the feeling that comes over you when a child tells you he's hungry and asks for something to eat, it breaks you. And then you return home and the greatest joy you find is watching your own child eat a meal, ask for more and then gladly giving them more, praising God for His grace. But what of His grace in Haiti, is it there? Yes! God is there and He is doing great things among His people in Jacmel. While there God showed me that I do not need things for happiness, I just need Him, and those who only have Him are far richer than I am. My daughter asked me "are the people in Haiti sad?" she was surprised and couldn't understand when I told her that they are filled with joy! "Why?" because they have hope in Jesus, they live simply, and they hold on to one another. Our own world so easily distracts us from God, our family, our community, and our things that we buy, thinking it will bring us joy, only brings us discontentment.

So how do the mission teams make a difference? One brick at a time! One bag of supplies, one brush stroke, sponsoring one child... at a time. Shining the light of Jesus, and then getting the word out. Before leaving on my first mission trip 2 years ago a person approached me with this comment, "Haiti doesn't need Jesus, they need food, water, and shelter!" Appauled I thought, they need it all and the need Him too! And the difference between an aid worker and a missionary is that in addition to providing aid we share the love of Jesus who gives them hope and eternal salvation. Haiti has a heavy influence of vodou that oppresses the people enslaving them to a dark world not knowing that Christ offers them freedom and that having the love of Jesus gives them a better life of hope. God is doing great things in Jacmel Haiti and if you feel led to spend a week down there, loving on children, building, sanding, or painting houses, then I hope that you will go. If you can't go but would like to make a difference please consider sponsoring a child through RestoreHaiti, $30 a month with provide a child with a hot meal 5 days a week, send them to school with a uniform, and provide basic health care. Who knew $30 could do so much!

I have so much to share about my past week and I hope to do so this week while I'm still away from home and my normal. I plan on sharing stories, memories and photos in posts to come. Thanks for reading what will forever be on my heart.

"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
James 2:15-17

Haiti Bound

In just one week I will make my 3rd trip back to Haiti, and what really excites me is that my husband will be joining me for the first time as we lead a mission team together. Joining us will be our dear friends Karen, Kristy, Mark, and Elena.

I can't wait to get back to be hands on with the feeding program and housing project and whatever area they'll have us serve in. I'm excited about worshiping in their small yet amazing church. I'm excited about visiting with my sponsor child Loica (picture above), her family and seeing how much the children of the community that I have gotten to know have grown. I long to be back in a community that teaches me so much about hospitality, humility, gratitude, and respect. Away from all the distractions of my own world it seems that I can hear God speak into me more clearly, I worship more freely, I pray more intently, all my focus is on Him. I am convicted by the servant hearts of the people who so warmly welcomed me, their generosity embarrasses me in a away that I need to be. Looking at what they have or lack there of and what they give compared to what I have and what I give is a wake up call. What a humbling experience it is to go down to serve and to make whatever impact you think you can make, when in reality I find that it is I who has been impacted the most.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, they are in desperate need of relief. Yet with such poverty this country is filled with such beauty, both within the people, their hearts and their land. Riding around in the back of a tap tap(a taxi pick up truck), I get to take in the most amazing views of lush landscape, colorful art, a beautiful caribbean beach, and children playing soccer in every field that isn't being labored in, and with a simple word of "bonjour" I can get a smile from anyone.

So many Haitian friends come to mind as I look forward to my trip, 2 young teens James and Wichnel, funny mischievous boys who make me laugh and who have taught me a few Haitian creole phases. Regi and Gaby, two young but older guys who have always been a huge help to the team members hosting us as our guide and translator when the pastors were busy. And I'm looking forward to seeing Pastor Laflour again, who is an amazing passionate Pastor over Restoration Ministries (the church and ministry we are going down to serve). I can't wait to get back!

If you're planning a trip to Haiti be sure to read this funny, but true blog on the Top 10 Fashion Crimes Commited By Mission Teams and Aid Workers in Haiti , written by a long term missionary in Haiti. I have been guilty of committing a few of these "crimes" myself, but you live and you learn :) and if you would like any information on how you can offer support or relief to the community of Jacmel Haiti, please visit RestoreHaiti.com

Restore Haiti

In my previous post, "Haiti's Community" I talked about how beautiful the community of Jacmel Haiti was and how it inspired me. I mentioned how amazed that I was to see people who were so poor, yet so giving and so in love with God. I came across many people who were truly living a Christ centered life and I couldn't help but be in awe of God while I was there. However there is of course a heartbreaking side of their community and this is the reason why we went.

There are many starving families and orphans in Haiti. These families are so poor that they cannot afford to provide a decent shelter for themselves. Most cannot afford to feed their family everyday, to put shoes on their children's feet, or to send their children to school. You will find many families of 10 or more living in a small one room home or tent. Parents are being intimate with each other in the same room as the children. You will find diaperless babies sleeping on dirt floors, children begging for food, children barefoot on grounds covered in trash and broken glass, and in some instances teenage girls are prostituting themselves just to go to school. Unlike America, school is not free and children are actually desperate for an education. To see or hear of any of this will break you, but hopefully inspire you to help. Isn't it just amazing that even with all of these trials you still see them praising God and doing His work?! How can we with so much more not lend a helping hand? I don't mean to guilt anyone by telling you these things, but after seeing them first hand I cannot help but be passionate and desperate for them, even if all we can do is to put a band aid here or there on their community.

Many projects were worked on while over there. We brought over cases and cases of shoes donated by the people of our church LifeSong Church, to pass out to adults and children. We sanded and painted a house for a family who was living in a one room tent, but who is now able to live in a 3 room house. We fed and loved on many starving children who were desperate for both food and attention. We played soccer and we painted finger nails, but my most important task is my return home task to get people inspired to help. You can help by sponsoring a child. Sponsoring a child will feed a child a meal a day, for most that is their only meal, your sponsorship will also pay their way through school, and provide their family with a chicken or a goat a month. This sponsorship will be life changing. If you are not ready to make a monthly commitment, you can also make a one time donation, those donations will help build houses for the homeless, provide beds for those in need and other related projects. 

For more information on sponsorship please visit Restore Haiti. You can be a huge difference in a child's life. 

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40