Haiti: Day 4

As easy as it would have been to spend every single second with Gaelle and the other precious orphans every day I was in Haiti, I didn’t want to miss out on some of the other ministries going on.  From the very beginning of the trip I wanted to be available to the LORD  and for His agenda.  I did not want to stand in the way of missing anything He had for me.  I woke up on day four and had the opportunity to go by the clinic briefly to gather medicine for some of the team back at the orphanage.  Once we delivered the medicine a group of our team was preparing to head out to one of the villages.  Gaelle was still in school and since I really wanted to experience going into the villages I decided to join them.  I knew I would have time to play with Gaelle once we returned later in the day.   This picture is the outside of the clinic. 

I was fully surprised at what took place on our village journey.  The village we were headed for was on the opposite side of a broad river with a steady rushing current.  We made our way down a steep gully that opened up into what I guess was a dock of some sort.  Basically there were about 3 or 4 trees hollowed out in the shape of boats with a man standing in the back of each tree boat holding a large tree limb that he would be using to steer the boat.  I was filled with excitement at the thought of this little adventure we were about to take but I soon found out that the thought of this adventure was worth more than actually experiencing it.  It wouldn’t have bee too bad if the navigator would have let us sit on the edges of the boat but he refused to take us anywhere until we squatted inside the boat.   My fascination of this adventure was gone about three minutes into the ride when my knees started burning.  We were stuck in this uncomfortable squat position until we made landing on the other side of this river.  We were then escorted by a Haitian pastor who had several specific people he wanted us to reach out to and pray for.  These are some of the people in his village he wanted to show Jesus’ love to.  We went to a church that was being built and prayed for all those who would be impacted by this church and for the Haitian men who were building it.  We met a man who must have been 70 years old who was about to be married for the first time that coming weekend.  We visited a house of three generations. Including a woman and her daughter and grand daughter.  The grand daughter had fever and we prayed for her healing.  The woman and her daughter both accepted Jesus!  Another young man did not actually receive Christ at the moment we were sharing but we all blessed him and as I walked away, I felt strongly that God would water that planted seed and bring salvation to his life.  As we traveled to several other homes we offered prayers of healing, provisions and left Jesus’ peace with them all.  God is the one who transforms people and nations and He has not forgotten Haiti.  It was so amazing to walk through the village and allow His power to flow through our hands and feet. 

Our team headed to the village.










                                                    OUR RIDE!

Below is the old man we prayed for who was about to get married.

I mostly drank bottled water or Gatorade, but on this night at dinner we were served  real ice cold coke made with real sugar that we drank from a glass bottle.  It was by far my beverage highlight for the week!  Here is our group having one or our Haitian meals.  It was usually dark with no lights at dinner so we never saw what we ate.  All I know is it was always yummy!

I spent the late afternoon and evening playing more with Gaelle.  We called home and Gaelle talked to Trey, Kali, Tommy, and Hyatt.  She has pictures of them all so she knew who she was talking to.  She would say, Bonjour Papa.  Bonjour Kali.  Bonjour Tommy.  Bonjour Hyatt.  She loved talking on the phone but eventually I had to hide it because she didn’t understand that calling to America was not cheap:-)

As I lay in my tent on this night, the reality that I only had one more full day in Haiti was seeping in.  It was sad to think my hello was so close to becoming a good bye.  The eerie sound of voodoo drums along with the dogs and roosters started in once again.   My air mattress was in desperate need of more air…I was practically on the ground.  The combination of these circumstances in America would have been enough to finish me off.  Just ask Trey.  He knows I have never successfully been the camping type of girl…at least not one without a thousand complaints.  Somehow in Haiti, these circumstances I found myself in left me full of gratefulness and I felt blessed to have exactly what I had in that very moment.  I knew my 'condo tent' was not only far nicer than most houses I had seen in Haiti but it was also filled with things to meet all of my needs…little snack packs, water, a blanket, and clothes.  May I never again be ungrateful for the rich material blessings I have in America.  Thank you my Lord.