In case you were wondering, our squad did make it to Haiti safely. Since the moment we reached the Dominican Republic / Haiti border, it’s been quite an adventure you might say. The approximate 5-hour bus ride from Santo Domingo in the DR to the border went smoothly with plenty of sleep and book-reading. Upon arrival at the border, we were informed that the country of Haiti was protesting against the very travel bus line that we were using. There was a moment where we thought we might have to cross into Haiti on foot, but what kind of transportation would a group of 50-some people find for the approximate 4-hour trek to Port-au-Prince? Needless to say, there were a number of concerns about what we would do. The awesome part is that our squad serves a great God who has everything under His control. I believed that if it was God’s will for us to minister in Haiti, then He would provide the way. For nearly 2 hours, as the border patrol and whoever else was involved worked on this dilemma, our squad called on God for His intervention, offered up passages from the Word that provided comfort and encouragement, and sang worship songs in the controversial bus. Finally, we received word that we had been given the ‘ok’ to cross the border along with the bus! Hallelujah, we were on our way once again!
Pulling into Port-au-Prince, the sun had long since set and the traffic was thick. Not only were there motorized vehicles going every which way, but streams of people were crowding both sides of the streets. The streets were filled with vendors selling all kinds of goods with their candles lit. At the bus station, Our squad split up for their different ministry locations. My team in combination with a few others loaded ourselves and our packs both inside and on top of a bus. That’s right. 7 people held down our gear on the roof of this bus as we drove through the city of Port-au-Prince. We did, however, get pulled over a couple times by the police, but our escoring contact was able to “convince” the officers to allow us to continue on our venture in the night. After a loooooong day of traveling, we reached our hotel for the night.
Then, day 2 in Haiti. The few teams that spent the night at the hotel were scheduled to be ready to leave at 8AM the following morning. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned thus far while on the World Race, is that things can and probably will change while on the Race and you have to be willing to adapt and go with the flow. Prior to leaving the hotel, the teams needed to get some Haitian currency from an ATM to cover our expenses for the month. Of the few ATM’s that existed in Port-au-Prince, none of them had cash. In addition, the local banks were unable to make a transaction for us for one reason or another. I just have to say that our squad has some terrific team leaders, Kim included. Working with Ashley, one of our squad leaders, the team leaders patiently awaited developments of the money situation. Several hours later, a money transfer from AIM came through via Western Union. Another hallelujah moment! Our intended departure time of 8AM turned into 5:30PM.
Now for the climax of this 2-day adventure… We left Port-au-Prince in a school bus (no people riding on the upper deck this time!). We knew we had about a 5-hour ride ahead of us to our ministry town of Gonaives, and with plenty of room on the bus to spread out, some of us were preparing for a nap. Well, the ride started off smooth enough as we crept through the Port-au-Prince traffic. Once outside the congested city limits, our bus driver turned into a crazed lunatic, although he acted sane enough at the wheel. It is very rare that you’ll find paved roads in Haiti, at least between Port-au-Prince and Gonaives. The roads were of dirt, rocks, and craters. In an effort to avoid the craters, our driver would swerve this full-size school bus to the other side of the road and then back again, all the while dodging any on-coming traffic. Honestly, it was the most nerve-wrecking road trip I’ve ever had. Oddly enough, with our 5-hour ride, I eventually had to loosen my grip from the seat in front of me and just close my eyes. After all, God is still in control, right? By the grace of God, we did make it to Gonaives still intact. My team then said our goodbyes to the other teams as we then headed to our current ministry location at the Gonaives YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base. The night ended on a high note when the folks at YWAM served us an American favorite, spaghetti. Yum!
Looking back at those couple of tense travel days in Haiti, I’m able to smile. I can smile because it was an experience that I’ll never forget and will continue to share with people until they’re tired of hearing it. But, I can also smile because I know that God’s mighty protective hand was with our squad throught it all and I trust it will be throughout the rest of the Race. Hallelujah!
