We have been in Haiti for almost 2 weeks now and things have been interesting from the beginning. This blog is going to be mainly for everyone back home to let them know what is happening. I felt the need just to write the facts after seeing all my messages on Facebook from people who were worried about me and my team.
Before making the trip to Haiti, all of our squad gathered at a house in San Juan, Dominican Republic to prepare for the long bus ride into Haiti. At 5 in the morning we loaded into 2 small buses with all of our stuff (half packed into a Nissan frontier) and headed to Santo Domingo to catch a charter bus into Haiti. Finally after a really long bus ride (which was not that bad because this was the NICEST bus I have ever been on in my life, no joke), we arrived at the Haitian border where we got off the bus and went through a small amount of paperwork and got our Passports stamped. After another short bus ride, we piled into a small school bus (packs and all) and headed into the country towards the compound we were going to stay at this month.
The ride in was a hot mess…literally HOTT… I do not think I have sweated that much in a long time by just sitting on a bus. We also got a shot of reality on that last bus ride…riding through what physically looked like a landfill…tent cities surrounded by garbage…and the smell only confirmed what we were seeing through the muddy windows. We all began to feel each other’s hearts become heavier and heavier as we entered the villages, so with that hanging on our hearts we began to sing praises to God…we began with God of this City and continued from there. During this last bus ride, our tire blew out halfway through and the Haitians proceeded to change the back tire with all of us on the bus with our packs and everything. They wanted to keep us on the bus for a few reasons but mainly because we were in the middle of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and it was 8 at night.
Finally after a 15 hour day of riding on multiple buses we arrived at the compound that we would be tenting at all month. You could hear the beach as soon as you stepped off the bus. Immediately a small puppy ran up to the group of us and was beyond excited about us arriving.
We knew we would be working with the organization called Mission of Hope International when we were informed, but we also found out that we would be working with a side organization called Be Like Brit (an orphanage in the city). Be Like Brit was set up by a mother and father from PA who lost their 19 year old daughter in the earthquake 2 years ago. She was in Haiti with a college group and sent her mother a text saying when she graduated she wanted to come back and build an orphanage and live here. After passing away in the main hotel in Haiti, her parents made up their minds to finish their daughters dream and began building an orphanage. We are working alongside this team to help build the orphanage as well as helping rebuild the school of Mission of Hope.
Each team has an off day each week where we get to do our laundry and have access to the internet. We also have a few sets of snorkel gear that we use on occasion we aren’t working. We try and have movie nights where we all get together on our computers and enjoy a movie and a snack (leftover bread from lunch). There were a few days where about 10 of us sporadically came down with a horrible flu. Justin and I were down for the count for about 3 days and I definitely thought I was going to not make it through each day. After all the chaos and craziness, we still have a place to come back to that feels sort of like a home here in Haiti. We have a small boat that we can take out in the mornings and during the day, and we have the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets to witness every single day. We get time to swim almost every day, but our swim time has to be cut off at 4 because of jellyfish that come in with the tide.
Each Sunday and Tuesday we go to church and worship with the local Haitians. Their services are full of life and dancing and are also very hard to follow considering we do not speak Kriol. This past Sunday, the pastor asked us if we would lead the worship and the sermon and we were beyond excited to have this opportunity. We have a lot of musically talented people on our squad so the worship was absolutely fantastic.
Halfway through our stay here in Haiti, the team came back from working that day to let our team know that the puppy from the compound was hit by a car and was killed. We also had a little accident ourselves as we were riding to church this past Sunday morning. We normally take the school bus everywhere we go, but that morning it had a flat tire so Lynn(Be Like Brit founder) started taking groups of us in his F150. About 6 people including me piled into the back of his truck and took off for church. As we were turning into the church I turned around and heard screeching down the pavement and saw a motorcycle coming straight at us going about 35-45 mph. There was no where he could go by straight into the back of our truck. The only EMT we have on our squad was thankfully in the truck with us, and jumped out as soon as the accident happened to check on the two people. The driver had on riding gear and he was very fortunate to have walked away without a scratch. The passenger however, was not as lucky because according to our EMT, he broken his femur. After the UN and the Haitian Police arrived, they were putting the passenger into the ambulance and he was going into cardiac arrest. That was the hardest thing I have seen so far on the World Race.
As I sit here typing this blog … it still has not set in that I am going to be out of the U.S. for almost an entire year and that these people sitting around me right now are going to be/already are my new family and my place of comfort and support. I cannot thank everybody back home enough for all the financial, emotional, and spiritual support that I have received so far on this amazing journey. I appreciate all the love and prayers and could not do this without everybody back home.
We still have 2 and a half more weeks here in Haiti so that gives you all the more reason to check back soon to see what other crazy things are happening down here. Two weeks is a lot of time for God to work in a crazy and outlandish way!
Freeom in Christ is the only Freedom worth having!!!
Because we have freedom in Christ we are crazy and silly missionaries… aka Chubby Bunny with Froot Loops
