My time in Haiti was definitely a memorable one. Four out of the six teams of my squad served at Mission of Hope (MOH) for month one. MOH is located in Titanyen which is north of Port Au Prince. Too many great things happened in Haiti to write them all down, but they are everlasting memories and forever in my heart. However, I would like to share a few highlights of my time in Haiti.
I met some amazing people. Once barriers are broken, Haitians are so welcoming and engaging. I already miss the friendships we made there with our translators, village champions, and the interns at MOH. (If you would like more information about village champions I strongly encourage you to read my teammate Alice Sudlow’s blog about Haiti entitled “A Beautiful Mission: A Hope for Haiti.” You can go to her blog page by clicking on her picture on the left side of my blog page or this link. http://alicesudlow.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-beautiful-mission-hope-for-haiti She took the words right out of my mouth about Haiti and Mission of Hope and then added some.) The Haitians are so hungry and thirsty for hope and for God’s love.
I love Creole. If I had been able to live in the village and stayed about one or two more months there I would have been halfway fluent in Creole. Even knowing just a few words or phrases in Creole really help break down barriers, and learning a song in Creole breaks down barriers as well as my team learned. I will share about that in a little bit so keep reading.
No shoes, no pants, no problem. Many kids lack both of those, but when a little boy without pants runs up to you when you get off the bus in his village and he wants you to pick him up… you do it. Love on them. I am not saying it is easy, but you embrace them and give them all the love you can.
Our second week in Haiti was challenging. My team and I had the opportunity to serve all but one day in the village of Minoterie (sounds like Minnow Tree when you say it). that week. Here are some of the things that happened that week that stand out from my time in Haiti.
Minoterie sits right on the coast and is filled with so many wonderful people. Many homes are made of concrete which offer very little comfort and others are still the temporary homes built by Samaritan’s Purse after the earthquake. These homes basically consist of wooden frames with blue tarps as walls, or a tent on steroids. While a tent is a great temporary home for someone such as myself on The World Race, it is not a great home for a family of five in the long-term. Having been in some, I can testify to the fact that these homes are an oven during the day.
Each day in Minoterie we did village time, one day we painted a house, and we also played with the kids in the village a couple afternoons. Guided by our village champion and interpreter, we went house to house passing several goats along the way. We always would speak with the people outside their homes and have only been inside on a few occasions. If a Haitian invites you into their home it means they are proud of it. A reason for them not to invite you in is mainly because we are white or because of the condition of their home. White people, not just Americans, are not always easilyule accepted due to the French rule and slavery. There is a barrier that is not always easily broken. I say all this to give you the feel of Minoterie.
On September 25, my team and I were ministering in the village of Minoterie. We had been to many of the houses the week before to invite people to a worship service including the house of a man by the name of James. We were able to visit with him again. He remembered us and after several minutes of conversation he said he wanted to become a Christian… TODAY.
We explained what that meant and that life is not always roses and peaches when you become a Christian along with words of encouragment and other explanations. He still wanted Jesus in his heart. So in my twenty-five years of living and several mission trips I have been on I have never lead anyone to Christ. That was the day. I lead James in a prayer to accept Jesus into his heart. It was such an amazing and beautiful moment.
Below is a picture of my team with James. He does not look too thrilled, however, in the Haitian culture they find it silly to smile for pictures and think we Americans are crazy for smiling all the time when taking a picture. With that said, he was actually very happy and was smiling a lot.
One day of ministry in the village of Minoterie we visited many sick people and prayed with them, and sometimes we sang. We were able to meet, visit, sing, and pray with our village champion’s, Djuadino, mother and grandmother which was so amazing to be invited into their home. Side note, it is a big deal to be invited into a Haitian’s home. Often times you will visit with them outside because they are ashamed of their home. So it was a wonderful privilege.
Also that day we visited the home of a little girl. She was six years old but she was the size of a two year old. She could not speak or walk. She lay on a bed that smelled soiled but her smile could light up a room. It was very difficult for my team to witness that and to see a child in that condition. Her parents had passed away and her fifteen year old cousin had been taking care of her. They were both malnourished.
Another day in Minoterie we were ministering and a little boy was following us. Many kids ask for your watch, jewelry, headband, or even your water. Each day we arrived we always had an entourage of children many of which flocked to Alice because of her beautiful ability to speak French.
So this little boy was following us around. He asked me for water, which I could not give, and he got angry and flipped me off. I was not upset nor offended. I doubt he even knew what it meant. Every day we saw this boy. I found him to be annoying and very difficult to love him like Christ loves him. The rest of my team just loved him to pieces.
We had a worship time in the village lead by another group that was there for a week serving with MOH. Dju (or Jude we never could figure it out), the little boy who flipped me off, was there and came up front to sing, very loudly and proudly I might add, “Lord I Lift Your Name On High.” It was cute, but I still could not help but think of how rude and angry he had been towards me all week. I could see anger, hurt, and pain in him all week and I could see his craving for attention.
At the end of the service the pastor of the church came up and was speaking about a little boy who did not have a home and needed prayer and any kind of help given. The boy he was speaking about was Dju. My heart sank. Turns out his father was not around and his mother had died. He lives with some family who treat him very badly. He is unable to attend school and gets beaten when he tries to go to church. My heart sank and immediately my heart was filled with compassion and heartache at the same time. I could not help but go to him afterwards, hug him, and tell him that I loved him.
I said I would tell you about how learning a song in Creole helps to break down barriers so here is the story. There is a song called “Break Every Chain” in English. We sang that song during training camp and launch then we came to Haiti and they were singing it in the church we attended while in Haiti. Obviously it was in Creole. We learned the words to the song.
Skip to a day of ministry in Minoterie. We were at a young woman’s house. She was not very talkative and did not seem too interested in our presence. Through the conversation we asked what she liked to do for fun. She said she likes to sing. We asked if she would sing something and she did not want to. So we offered to sing a song first. We sang a song in English. Nothing. She still would not sing. So… we sang “Break Every Chain” or “Pou kase tout chen” as it is known in Creole. She lit up and the floodgates opened. She was a fountain of words and she sang a song.
It is amazing what happens when you take the time to learn about a culture and some of the language despite how badly you may butcher it. It truly enables you to relate even in the smallest of ways to break down barriers and share more of Christ’s love in an effective way. She turned out to be a sister in Christ and was so encouraging to us.
As I said, so many things happened during my time in Haiti that it would be impossible to blog about them all, but these are some of the things that mean a lot to me and things that I feel lead to share with everyone.
I am so thankful to everyone who has supported me in this journey in various ways whether through finances, prayer, or words of encouragement. They are all so important and I am so thankful.
