Arrivinng in Haiti was a little stressful for me. I had not made contact with Maula as to how we would find each other in Gonaives and we wern’t able to get money easily in Port Au Prince. But God worked things out perfectly by getting money to Western Union before they closed and by getting us SIM cards so that I could call Maula and let him know that we were on our way. When we arrived in Gonaives we found our expectations had been too low. We thought we would be living in tents, boiling our own water, with no toilets. But we have our own beds (Matt still sleeps in a tent because of the mosquitos), a toilet that flushes, a shower that we can use daily and plenty of water that we don’t have to boil! Praise God for his abundant blessings! Plus, when we arrived at the YWAM base it was midnight and they had a spaghetti dinner ready for us! Amazing!
The first few days were spent in a village in the mountains. We helped clear a banana tree field so they could plant other vegetables. Then we lead a youth service at the church. The village was interesting, to say the least. The beauty of the mountains was absolutely astounding. The people stared at us walking down the street and would shout “blanc” which means white. At the house, the church members lined us up in the kitchen because there was no electricity and only a couple of lamps. Then they asked us questions, so we talked for a while. Around 8pm they said we looked tired and sent us to bed! We could not sleep that early! We ended up doing some P90X exercises in the dark…it was interesting! The guys slept in one room and the girls slept in another. The girls ended up very cozy because the ladies from the church slept with us so that they could get up early to prepare our breakfast. Hanna, Anna and I shared one bed! Fun Times! Oh, and when the door was closed that was it for the night, we could not get to the bathroom, so we had buckets to pee in if we had to go in the middle of the night. We just had to laugh! The ladies from the church were great…though we didn’t speak the same language, we all bonded! The Sunday morning church service was 3 hours. We were seated in the front of the very large congregation on a stage that was very high. It was akward! They sang a lot of songs, we presented ourselves, the boys did a couple skits, then one of the men preached. The end was probably the most overwhelming part, most of the congregation wanted to shake our hands as we were on our way out. That was a lot of hand shaking, kissing checks and hugs!
The time that we have been in the city of Gonaives has been really good. We have worked hard. We have spent every morning working on disaster relief. We shoveled the dirt out of a widows yard. The whole city was submerged in water for 3 weeks, so dirt was left everwhere. The remnants of the hurricane are wide spread. Dirt piled everywhere, trash on the sides of the roads, chairs on the roofs of houses, and even make-shift tents on some roofs. People have adjusted their lives to the aftermath of the destruction. 
By cleaning out the dirt from the womans yard we are winning the opportunity to tell her about Jesus; She is not a Christian. We have also been working on building rooms and a roof on the third floor of the YWAM facility that we are living in. WE are actually not building, WE are carrying cement bags, concrete blocks, sifting sand and dirt, then carrying it up two flights of stairs. It has been really hard work for the last three days! We are tired, which is a good thing! We want to work hard so that we can bless Maula and Elda because they have been such a blessing to us!
We have also had many opportunities for evangelism. When we got back from the village on Sunday, we were invited to a crusade. Some missionaries from Washington were working with another pastor in the area. They had services everynight for 5 nights and we were able to participate in 3 of those nights. The first night we did the “Sin chair” skit and I gave my testimony. They also showed “The Passion of the Christ” and 24 people came forward to accept Christ. The next night Altus and Noah did the “Following Jesus” skit and Matt gave his testimony. At least 4 came forward for salvation. Then, the last night, we did the “Set Me Free” drama and between 25-30 people came forward for salvation! It’s been a regular thing here! People want the hope, freedom, peace and salvation that Jesus offers. We also had the opportunity to go to the park and talk to people about Jesus. It was interesting because we just went and sat and waited until people came to us and they surrounded us like a mob! Cathy was able to lead three boys to Christ, but the rest of the people there were basically interested in finding out if the girls had boyfriends and telling us that they loved us. I did get to talk to a couple of guys who genuinely seemed interested in Jesus. One of them was almost certainly a Christian and the other I was unsure of, but his English was not the greatest. It started to get out of hand with how many people there were, so we left. I’m still unsure of how I feel about the night, but that’s an entirely different issue!
I have not been able to build as many relationships here as I did in the Dominican Republic and so I’m not as attached here. I love the people we have met, the work we have done and the things we have gotten to experience. I have learned so much about Haiti and I have seen God’s people at work. More importantly, I have seen God at work here! It has been so different than I expected. I am happy that this month we have experienced different types of work and a different culture.
Keep praying for us. Some people don’t like us being here. A lady was yelling at us the other day in Creole. I don’t know if it was because she didn’t like the fact that the girls were doing guys work, or if it was because we were white or if she was just bitter and angry?!? Others think we are superior to them because of our skin color and where we are from, it’s sad. God has been protecting us, but pray that he keeps protecting us! Pray that God will bless the ministry we are helping, they have so much faith. The vision that Maula has for this area is tremendous! They believe that God will bring in the money that they need to expand their vision and to watch the hearts of the people of Haiti grow closer to God!
