Saturday - Good-bye and Hello

SATURDAY

This morning we woke up and, after breakfast, loaded up the truck, saying good bye to our new friends in Bon Repos and heading off to go even deeper into Haiti.  We boarded the trusty truck and our driver braved Saturday morning traffic in Port Au Prince to take us to our rendez-vous at the  Airport. We were met there by our new hosts and guides, who helped us transfer our bags and ourselves to our new transportation.  It was a TRUE Haitian Tap-Tap!!!    After hasty introductions, we loaded up the Tap-Tap and piled in to head off to our second base location.  We arrived at the mission home, unloaded our stuff, and hustled right back into the vehicle to head off to our first work with Ignite Your Faith Ministries.  We went out to do a “kids club” at St Christopher.  We arrived at the village and parked at the edge of the highway.  The dirt roads climbing up the steep hills are really only accessible on foot.  After about a 10 minute climb we arrived at the church there.  The church has a frame of two-by-fours and is covered with corrugated tin.  The pieces are mismatched and cobbled together, in an attempt to mostly enclose the space within.  The rutted dirt floor tells the story of the driving rains that sweep the hillside from time to time.  The church was packed (we later heard that someone had counted 145 children.  The children and the youth ministers had been expecting us a lot earlier (traffic really was a problem) and they had been praying and singing and playing games for several hours before we arrived.  It was around 95 degrees today and the coordinators had tried to send them home as it got hotter and hotter, but the kids had insisted on waiting on us.  As we began to walk into the building, the children cheered and clapped.  They were so genuinely glad to see us.  It made us feel really great to be so welcomed.  After the group was introduced, we got to pass out water (They had waited all that time with no water, as – of course – there is no electricity or running water at all in the whole village.)  We were introduced one at a time and the staff made a game out of remembering our names (more about that later.  This would come up again.)   Then one of the coordinators told the story of Noah, and we all got to play a part in acting the story out. 

Haslom (one of the youth ministry coordinators) led some of our students and some of the Haitian children in a dance to a song that is very popular in Haiti right now (A Christian song!! Popular on the pop radio!!)   After it was all over, they stationed some of our kids at the door and we passed out some suckers that we had brought as well as more sachets dlo (the little bags of drinking water which are the most popular way to distribute clean drinking water)   

Outside, we got to mix and mingle and we found our first major communication barrier of the trip.  In Haiti, everyone speaks Creole.  All business and all school is conducted in French, so anyone with a minimal level of education can understand some French.  Those with several years of education will probably also begin English (depending on the kind of school that they go to)   Up until this point, at Jesus in Haiti, we had been interacting with people who spoke French and possibly some English.  Enough members of our group had some French that we were able to communicate in at least a basic form.  However, for the members of St. Christopher, this was an entirely different story.  There was very little French and no English at all.   Most of these children do not even eat every day, so the thought of going to school is out of the question for most of them. (There is no free public education in Haiti - going to school costs money…more money per day than the average Haitian family makes.)   They chatted at us and hugged us and held our hands.  Our translators tried to help, but there were just too many kids there to be able to keep up.  We had to convey our good will with our smiles and our hugs.   The children held our hands and walked us back down the mountain to our vehicles.  Our guides promised them that we would be back again. 

After waving good-bye, we headed out and went back to the mission house.  We settled our sleeping arrangements and some people helped get dinner ready while others began organizing the donations we had brought.  The mission home also includes a boys home for some orphaned and/or homeless children. The majority are older but there are some small boys who live here.  Dickie is five and Bikende is six.  A few students were playing video games (FIFA, of course!) with the older boys while we had brought down a train set that I had gotten a good deal on at a garage sale and a couple of the students helped set it up for the little boys.

Our missionary host, Tom, and his high school helpers had laid out a meal of cold meat sandwiches, chips, and fruit and we gathered together in the living room to pray before eating.  Tom informed them that this was to be a dinner "date" and that they had to choose someone that they did not know to eat dinner with and learn as much as possible about them and their lives.  He assigned pickers, starting with our Haitian guides and translators.  The kids did a great job mixing up and as I went around, the "dates" seemed to be going very well.  The kids seemed to be into it and were very sincerely conversing with their partners.  I was so gratified to see that they were quite serious and all giving their complete and sincere attention to their dinner partners. 

After dinner, we did a quick clean-up and went upstairs to the open-air second-floor/roof/patio for proper introductions and reflections on the day.  Each person had to do an introduction and share information about their "date."  Then each person was asked to reflect on the day and share their most memorable moment.  The participation was great and we spent well over an hour on the roof, sharing each others company, getting to know each other a little better, and reflecting on the day.  Darkness fell before the reflection meeting broke up.   

It is hot in Haiti with no air.  We also don't have screens on the windows. But we are blessed to have electricity,  running water, and a solid structure, which most houses in Haiti do not have. We are also blessed with an opportunity to be in communion with these people and to try to serve the needs of people who are not as blessed as we are.  This will be a tougher four days in some ways. And a more rewarding four days, as a result. 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray for us to see what God is trying to show us as we dive deeper into Haiti.  Pray for us to be committed to serve.