Our 15+ hour bus ride on Saturday July 31st (started at 5am) from San Juan, through Port-au-Prince to the orphanage in Fedja Haiti tested our faith.Big time.It was our 14th hour ( at 11:30pm at night) on the bus as winded up the dark, bumpy mountain dirt road.We were exhausted from a long day of traveling & at every bump or turn in the road something metal in the back of the bus continued to clang loudly & make an annoying noise.We were wondering what it was & i was about to go to the back of the bus & throw it out the window!Our bus came to a narrow spot in the road where people were boiling food & a huge truck was blocking our way.Our Haitian driver accidentally bumped into the boiling pot & crashed into part of the house that was attached to that cooking area, & we stopped several feet away after realizing that the bus had taken part of the house off.An angry Haitian mob quickly gathered around our parked bus.It was pitch black & there were 6 of us white Americans huddled in the middle of an old school bus. The Haitian driver & our 2 Haitian ministry contacts jump out of our bus & try to calm the angry violent crowd.Now we are left alone in the bus. Fight begin to break out. Haitians are yelling & starting to riot.A few angry Haitians begin to bang on our bus windows & one man attempts to open the front bus door to hurt us.My team & i begin to PRAY!!Harder than we have ever prayed before in our lives.At this point, we think that they are going to break through our windows & at least rob us, maybe beat us/hurt us. All of our backpacks, passports/belongings were on the bus. Some of the angry rioters had guns & knives. We continued to pray for God to send His guardian angels around our bus as a shield to protect us & to calm the loud violent mob down.All of the sudden a Haitian opened up the back of the bus where all of our belongings were, & jumped on the bus. We had no idea who it was. They grabbed a long metal pole & walked toward us on the bus. Im thinking 2 things: 1. He is going to beat us with the pole. This is how its going to end…death by metal pole. 2.He is going to help defend us against the mob. So he lights up a lighter & goes toward the front of the bus. Now im thinking…oh boy. He is going to beat us up & then set the bus on fire…not good!This is not looking up. But he shined the lighter on the metal pole to warn the Haitians outside the bus…..he was defending us!!!!! The mob quieted down a bit, & as we prayed, one by one people began to go back to their houses & calm down. Praise God! Im not going to lie, i was scared.All of our hearts were beating pretty darn hard.This mystery Haitian “guardian angel” (haha) who defended us on the bus ended up being a friend of one of our ministry contacts & had come to the rescue to help us.
We then realized that the loud clanging sound all the way up the mountain was that metal pole. I suddenly was very grateful for that annoying pole & glad that i didnt decide throw it out the window earlier.We were still wondering where our Haitian driver went, & if he was ok.He had left to go get the police to rescue us from the crowd that was getting out of hand.Two police officers with guns came on the bus. 2 thoughts:they are on our side helping us….or on the Haitians side & this could get ugly! They arrest the bus & ride up the mountain to our final destination…the orphanage.Our ministry contacts told us the next day that the crowd definitely wanted to hurt us & praise God they didnt break into the bus. There was a shield around our bus….no one harmed us or robbed us. Thank you Jesus. If the police hadnt come in time the crowd would have multiplied even more & could have tried to take justice into their own hands. The situation is being resolved to help pay for the house that was destroyed by the bus. Thank you Lord for protecting us & getting us there safely, around 12:30am. All we could do was remain calm, be still, & trust in Lord. He delivered us & He was our shield! My faith was definitely strengthened that night!
Psalm 91:1- 2 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom i trust.”
This orphanage has about 78 orphans in it. Everyday we are loving on them. Teaching them english. Waking up at 5:30am to play a few hrs of basketball with them to start our day off (the heat of the day is WAY too hot to play in)Hold them, play with them, read to them, share about Jesus with them. Tuck all 78 of them into bed at night. They have several special needs kids there, & they are turning out to be my favorites. The last three years of working in a special ed classroom, kindergarten-2nd, has really helped me to prepare for this, in many ways. God is good like that 🙂 By the way, our orphanage is almost 600ft in elevation at the top of a beautiful green mountain. Everyone speaks Creole & French. A few of the kids have been taught this summer some basic english & we are going to follow with them & teach more. When i was their age, my father used to tuck me in every night & sing Jesus songs to me. Great childhood memory.(thank you daddy!) Im so thankful for my mom & dad.These kids dont have mothers & fathers to do that for them.So we are giving them as much attention, hugs, & love as we can in a month.Thanks for your prayers. The days are sweaty, hot & long but i love it. (and i thought the Dominican Republic was hot…..not even close to the heat of Haiti!!)Starting tomorrow we’ll be teaching english in mornings (after playing basketball early in morning) & then doing vacation bible school activities in afternoons…and spending rest of our day/evening hanging out. Compared to the bottom of the mountain (where the angry mob was)..the orphanage is very safe, away from everything. It is like an oasis. This is first time weve had a chance to go into town & get internet, so ill post more when i have a chance. Love you guys!! Hugs.
