"Go."

Today is the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. Since that tragic day, 365 days ago, so much progress has been made, so much aid has been shipped, so much love has been shown. But, there is still so far to go.

I actually wrote this post while in Haiti. Each night before bed, my five sisters and I would climb in our bunk beds and journal about our days while we took turns in the tarantula-infested shower and bathroom. Sometimes my journaling would get redirected into "blogging on paper," and the heart of this post is the result of one of those evenings. Basically, I've just typed up what I had written while there - adding only the last few paragraphs where I had left off.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Such a simple, two-letter word. But ever notice how frequently we use it? Every. single. day. Go get this... or that. Go team! Go to bed. Go to the store. Go ask your father. Green means go. You get the idea.

Part of our goal in coming to Haiti this week is found in Jesus's declaration in Matthew 28:19-20. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Since arriving here on the mainland, we have been doing a LOT of 'going.' From Port au Prince to Chantal and Cayes to Port Salut, we've gone many places and in many, many ways.

When Dudu met us at the airport shortly after landing in Port au Prince, we loaded all our luggage into a Haitian-style bus. Nice, air conditioned and about as smooth a ride as you'll get going through the streets of Haiti.

Until today, each time we've gone somewhere - either to the church at Chantal or the beach at Port Salut - it has been in our beloved yellow school bus. I don't think I've mentioned before that it has no air conditioning and is missing a couple of windows, but I'm pretty sure that's what makes it ours.

You might have seen where our bus really got going, stopping just short of nailing a tree. Well, yesterday as we were going back to the guest house in Cayes, they back right tire (yes, this would be the one spinning and smoking during the tree incident) blew out - very, very flat. As you might have guessed, our going stopped rather abruptly in the middle of a crowded Haitian street.

However, nothing takes our God by surprise. And as He would have it, Pastor Louis was only about a mile ahead of us in his white pickup truck. In a matter of mere minutes, our team was loaded into the bed of his truck with the rest of his family and we were all going on our way once again. Twenty-two people in the back of a pickup...
only in Haiti.

Another of our more unconventional methods of going to Chantal and back has been a white 15 passenger bus - except we carry as many as 17 passengers at once. See, the real adventure in this vehicle is best understood when considered in conjunction with the roads on which we've been going. We're talking pot holes the size of dump truck tires all over the road. Then you've got to consider that the road itself isn't paved and runs right through the middle of rice fields... lots and lots of rice fields. Add into the equation the fact that the city of Cayes has only three stoplights - all in the middle of a traffic circle - and that our driver could take a full length school bus from 0 to 50 and back again in 10 seconds flat and you might have some idea of a typical journey in Haiti. Guess that might be why it took us almost an hour and a half to go about nine miles one way to the little church in Chantal every day.

Every morning after the bus blew a tire, we would wake up hoping that a new one would be found. And every morning, we discovered that one hadn't. As we were later told, a huge number of the neighboring towns and villages had been searched, but apparently there were no bus tires to be found outside of Port au Prince. Therefore, for the remaining 3 days of the trip, our team of 11 piled into the van with our driver, tools, and a couple of Haitian friends - bringing the total to 17.

I think Mary probably described it best when she said riding in the very back of this now 17 passenger chariot was comparable to a really springy diving board. The last day we went out to Chantal, we also had the added cargo of duffel bags filled with school supplies and clothes. No wonder our heads met the ceiling with nearly every bump in the road.

Definitely a new way to go out into the world. However, I don't think any of us would have wanted it any other way.

Having now been back in the states for almost 6 months, the last day that we set out for Chantal, August 2nd, is probably the day that I will remember forever. While we sat in the same seats, with the same people, on the same roads, with essentially the same goal, aside from Pastor Mike, I don't think any of us had any idea what it would be like leaving these awe-inspiring people for the last time - or how radically they would change our lives in the following days, months, and years. What a privilege it was to go and what a blessing it has been to have gone.

From the Rooftop

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

Here in Haiti the sun rises early and sets late. And one of the best places to revel in this, the beauty of one of God’s creative masterpieces, is on the roof of the guest house.

This is by far my favorite place to start the morning. Me and God. And just this morning, during our time on the roof, I had approached the throne asking Him to work among us in a way that all we say, without a shadow of a doubt, was, “That was God.”

The life of a believer is a battlefield. And spiritual warfare is a very real thing. But I can’t say we weren’t warned. Take, for example, John 16:33. As some of His last words to His disciples, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Pay close attention to the wording from that verse. Notice He didn’t say, “if you happen to have a little bit of trouble here or there,” but rather He said, “you will have trouble.” My favorite part of this verse is that last phrase – the incredible promise that Christ’s victory leaves no reason for fear.

The reason I bring that up? Anna’s message for the kids at Vacation Bible School today was the gospel – the hardcore message of the cross. Tonight at the revival service, Cole’s message from Habakkuk was an encouragement that God is good, that He can always be trusted. I’m pretty sure someone didn’t want those messages heard… But Someone else did.

This morning, as we boarded the bus and started down the steep hill at the Cambry mission house, the bus tires slipped, and our driver, Philemon, managed to stop the bus from crashing into a tree. We’re talking mere inches.

After a quick attempt by Philemon to back the bus out of the hole and back up the hill, it was clearly evident that the bus would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Our next attempt at freeing the bus added the guys from our team and a few men from the mission to push against the front of the bus while Philemon worked the gas pedal. But, with tires spinning and emitting smoke, the bus barely moved an inch.

By this time, many of the orphans had cautiously come up the hill to see what was causing all the commotion. Even with the addition of wood for traction and rocks to help maintain the ground covered, the bus barely budged.

So, the six girls from the team and about twenty little orphan boys boarded the bus and piled around its back right side – hoping to provide some extra weight and traction. Then, with men pushing, the girls praying, and orphans bouncing up and down on the seats, Philemon revved the engine and tried again…

and again…

and again…

Nothing.

On one last attempt (with the same scenario as before), the bus crept up the steep embankment, out of the ditch, and away from the tree. What relief and elation!

You know what the funny this is, though? We didn’t do anything differently on that final attempt. Does it seem even remotely possible that seven men and a couple of teenagers could possess the strength to push a 20,000 pound bus out of a ditch and up the side of a mountain? I think not.

But see, that’s the miracle of our weakness. I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Sometimes we may be granted the opportunity to entertain angels.

And sometimes, they just might entertain us.

Pure and Undefiled

Tonight I lost a piece of my heart. It’s somewhere in the mountains of Cayes, Haiti in a small, two-story cinderblock orphanage nested into the base of a hill.

I’m not sure how many of you have ever been to an orphanage, but for me, last night was the first. I think we tend to get a picture of what we imagine something to be like in our heads beforehand, which is perhaps why it rocks our world when we see it for real.

As the sun was setting behind one of Haiti’s majestic mountain ranges, the team was greeted with the sound of singing floating on a breeze up the hill to the Cambry mission house. Under the cover of darkness, we walked the short way down to the orphanage where we found ourselves being hugged on and clung to by so many orphans.

Pastor Mike led us all inside to a small concrete room where a few benches lined the walls. And by the light of two oil lamps, we spent the next half hour singing His praises with His precious children.

I’m not exactly sure when, but somewhere between the words of “I’ve got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy” and “Jesus Loves Me,” I just lost it. There in the middle of a Haitian orphanage, tears streaming down my face, our voices blending with theirs through the refrains of “Papa, m’adore ou” (“Father, I adore You” – also known as the only song we know in Creole), I was reminded and encouraged by the words James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

So this is what ‘pure and faultless’ looks like. Little, dark-eyed children holding our hands, arms wrapped around our waists, sitting in our laps, dancing and clapping, and falling asleep, their heads resting against our legs. I had to smile as it hit me that while the precious children surrounding us may be orphans to this world, they have a Dad. A very real Dad who loves them and they love so very much.

And so, with tear-stained cheeks and promises of tomorrow, we made our way back up to the guest house where we concluded our day with a devotion about ‘people who make a difference’... to the sound of a hundred hopeful voices praising the One who has made a difference for me.

Crossing the River

You know that story about the Red Sea? The one where Moses lifted his staff above the waters, and all the Israelites crossed over on dry land. I’m saying, Exodus 14ish.

Well, everyday on the way to Chantal (this is the little village where Pastor Chery runs the church and is building the school), there is a river. Haiti has just finished the rainy season. Enough said?

Just in case that image is still a little too vague, I’d like to add some detail to it. We’re definitely not talking about a minor trickle, rather more like a full-fledged ‘you-can-wash-yourself-and-your-family-and-your-laundry-in-it’ rushing river. The kind where after 20 seconds of bated-breath and keeping everything important off of the bus floor, an eruption of cheering and clapping is a must. And today, our trio of guys even decided to ‘surf’ across the river in the aisle of the bus. Tomorrow, the girls plan to show them how it’s really done.

Such is our river. And while we don’t have a Moses (our driver’s name is Philemon – perhaps his parents missed the memo?) and have yet to cross the river on dry land, we have a God who walks on water. (See Mark 6:49).

And that is more than enough for me.

Stay on the lookout for my pictures on Cole's facebook. We are trying to get them uploaded but the slow connection makes this difficult.

“Kanna. Kanna. Poule.”

Or in other words “Duck. Duck. Chicken.” Just one of the highlights of my journey through Haiti. Before I jump to today, though, here are a few highlights from yesterday:

…all our luggage safely arrived in Port au Prince!! Granted, we had to wait about an hour for it at the airport. But still, huge answered prayer!

…the journey from the airport to Cambry (Cayes) was one unlike any other. I think it took us about 5 hours. (Hey, and Mom, our driver had nothing on Dad’s 90/20/90/20 through the mountains).

…after dinner last night, SLEEP. I have deduced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our bodies were definitely made requiring more than 7 hours over sleep per 60 hour time frame.

This morning, refreshed and after a delicious breakfast of bananas, eggs, and bread with peanut butter (apparently here, everything is spread with peanut butter), we jumped on the bus and left for Chantal. On the way, we had to stop and get the lumber for building desks.

Perhaps I should have suspected something about Haiti from yesterday’s experience at the airport, but apparently the saying in Haiti is “Hurry up and wait.” That said, the stop for the wood was not very short. After the Haitian men had loaded over half of it into the bus, Dad realized that instead of 16’ boards, they were only 14’. And thus began the un- and re-loading… this time with the correct dimensions.

The church and school at Chantal is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The kids were waiting for us when we got there, and as we entered, we were greeted by some of the loudest clapping, most beautiful singing, and widest grins on this planet. Let me assure you – our attempt at a Haitian song was much less impressive!!

After Greg taught the Bible story through our interpreter, Barbara, we took the kids outside to play. Soccer. Chase. Frisbee. Jump rope. You name it. Rachel and I (again with the help of Barbara) taught the kids how to play duck, duck, chicken. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like such a target… or heard the word “poule” combined with a pat on the head so much. But it was wonderful. Second only to the children’s contagious laughter.

As I’m typing this, I’m up on the roof of the Mission House with most of the team looking out across the fields and mountains of Haiti. Beautiful. Majestic. And a testimony to our gracious Creator. Bondye.

P.S. Mom, Dad says “hi.”

3 hours. 180 minutes. 10800 seconds.

Those numbers would be the amount of time before we leave for Haiti. In a mere 3 hours, the mission team will congregate in the parking lot of New Covenant Presbyterian Church for prayer and a send off from family and friends.

We'll travel through the night to Atlanta (huge "thank you" goes out to Nathan's dad for being our driver), and fly out of that airport at 6AM. After landing in Miami, our next stop will be Port au Prince, Haiti!!! If all of our luggage makes it that far, we'll grab it from the airport and pile into a Haitian van for a 90 mile, 4 hour, super bumpy trip to Les Cayes. Upon arriving at the guest house, our first task will be to unpack all the bags of supplies - which could take a while, as each bag contains very diverse items. (This was our attempt at strategic packing. See, this way, if a bag gets lost or stolen, we won't lose all of any one supply.)

Alright, so now that you have a pretty good synopsis of how our next 24 hours will play out, I'd like to take a moment to share a few ways you can be involved with our trip as we go.

1. I'm a strong believer in the power of prayer. And God has shown in so many ways over the past months that He is very much into answering prayer. Love what James says.. that "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." So we would love for you to join us as Prayer Warriors. Know that we covet (but not in the "Thou shalt not" way) your prayers, and consider you, as prayer partners, to be going with us.

2. Internet is limited (sometimes practically non-existent) in Haiti. However, on the off chance that we do have it one night, I will attempt to blog a few pictures or stories.

3. Pastor Mike will be sending email updates out to our families. For us, that means that my mom will recieve them from him and, in turn, send them out to friends and family. If you would like to be added to her forwarding list, Facebook her your email address, and she'll be glad to add you.

Hmm.. now it's even less than that. Guess I should get to making the hugest, chocolatest (yes, that IS a word), and most extreme waffle cone ever - since those things melt... in Haiti.

Packing. Packing. And more packing.

One word, three times. Enough said.

Next to the whole idea of flying or no chocolate for the duration of the trip (because chocolate melts in Haiti), this has definitely been one of my greatest concerns.

For years, my dad has smiled and chuckled to himself at the start of every family vacation. Consequently, I am very familiar with comments such as “Did you remember the kitchen sink?” or “Are you going on the same trip as we are? I thought it was only for a week?” But before I sell myself too short here, let me take a moment to explain.

Even on vacation, I love to be “doing” things. Sometimes this might just be reading a book. Other times, it could be playing a game with the family, scrapbooking, making hemp jewelry… the list goes on. Simply put, those things take up space. I am not known for underpacking.

At one of the team meetings, each of us was given a sheet outlining the quantity, size, and weight limits for our bags. This translates into: all of our personal belongings have to be packed in two carry ones: one is a bag whose length, width, and height (all added together) don’t exceed 45 inches. The other is a backpack. Technically, we’re each also allowed two checked bags; however, those are filled with supplies for Haiti, so we don’t get to use that space.

At that same meeting, we were each also given a packing list for the trip. So, after multiple trips to Goodwill to search for skirts and shirts with sleeves (which will all be left there, since the Haitians need them more than we do) and hours scouring the travel size aisles at Walmart and Target, I had basically everything on the suggested list. And by “had,” I really mean that it was all in grocery bags covering the floor of my closet.

Alright, enough background. So this morning at 9ish, the team gathered at New Covenant to pack our duffel bags (these will be our two checked bags) with almost a wide variety of supplies – things ranging from notebooks and construction paper to backpacks and markers, from Frisbees and soccer balls to medicines and Bandaids. As we spread out through the bottom floor of the church, you could feel the excitement and anticipation rising. We’re all just so thrilled for what’s coming!

The piles of supplies only lasted about an hour and a half before they had all been successfully crammed into one of twenty-four rolling duffel bags, listed on the inventory sheet for its respective bag, and weighed to ensure that the bag did not exceed the 50lb limit imposed by the airline.

And with that mission successfully accomplished, I set to packing my carry on luggage - which is where the real fun began.

With too many different items to name, I think I’ll just highlight a few of my favorites and let the picture speak for itself (it IS equal to like 1,000 words or something, right?)

- Bible, devotional, journal, and iPod: lifelines for the trip
- Mr. Reindeer: I’ve had him since I was one, and yes, he really is coming
- 4 pairs of shirts and skirts: The trip is actually 9 days, but due to limited space, we will be attempting to wash and re-wear… multiple times. *Also of note: they say don’t worry about matching in Haiti… well, Miss OCD here is matching.
- Plastic grocery bags: because we can’t flush toilet paper down the toilets there, it messes up the plumbing. I promise I’m not making this up.
- Peanut butter crackers and cereal bars: I hear that we’re going to live off of these at night.
- Fuzzy blanket: because I’m always cold. We’ll see if this changes when we get to Haiti.
- 300+ Silly Bands: for the kids.

And, drum roll please... it all fit!!

It’s actually quite amazing how much you can cram into a mini-sized suitcase and backpack.

"Bondieu Li bon."

If you ask almost anyone who really knows me, they’d likely tell you I am pretty laid back, go with the flow, and don’t plan too far ahead… most of the time.

However, in a mere two days, on Monday, July 26th at 12AM, I will join 10 fellow Aikenites on a mission trip to Haiti. An endeavor we have been planning for the past seven months. (Can I just pause to scream for a second!? AHHHHH!!!)

Alright, so the basics. The team is being commissioned from New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Aiken, South Carolina. There are 11 of us going – 5 guys and 6 girls. As I said, we’re leaving Monday, July 26th and returning Tuesday, August 3rd. We’re staying in Les Cayes, Haiti, but our main work will be done in Chantal. As things stand now, the guys will be doing some construction for the new school down there. It looks like about 50 desks for the students, a couple for the teachers, and maybe some blackboards. They sure have their work cut out for them. The ladies will be spending most of the time teaching VBS, playing with the kids, forming relationships with the women, and just loving on the Haitians.

I made plans to join the team back in January and have been looking forward to Monday ever since!! These past months really have seemed to fly by… tons of things to bring together before we leave the States. However, after receiving advice and instructions from our fearless leaders (Cole and Pastor Mike), special guest appearances from those who have gone before us to Haiti, nine team meetings over the past three months, and SO much prayer, I think we’re about as ready as we’re ever going to be.

Maybe a few highlights from the past couple of months are in order here…

- Sending out support letters. Since my dad, brother Greg, and I are all going as part of the team, we had the not-so-small task of raising $4800. God is so good!! (To date we raised a little over $4900)

- Mastering “how” and “what” to pack. Basically, our clothes and supplies for nine days have to fit in a carry on and backpack. I’m actually going to try this for myself for the first time in the morning.

- Getting the required shots and meds. Definitely one of the most fun doctor’s appointments I’ve ever been to… not! Actually, it wasn’t too bad. Thanks to Dr. Gordon and his nurse, we should survive Typhoid, Malaria, anything requiring Tetanus, and whatever Hep A is needed for.

- Becoming fluent in Creole. Well, not quite. You see, as my brother refers to it, Creole is the “poor man’s French.” And everyone in Haiti speaks it. I took Spanish in high school and German in college, and I assure you that neither of them is anything like Creole. Needless to say, I’m still working on this one… and probably will be until we step off the plane in Haiti.

There is still much to do, quite a few loose ends to tie up. But God’s gotten us this far, and He surely won’t leave us now.

As they say in Haiti, “Bondieu Li bon tout tan.” (God is good all the time).