Day 7: The Final Day Today was a mixed-bag day. With joy we look forward to coming home and being with our families, but with sadness we say au revoir to some people for whome we deeply care. We’ve learned from our Haitian coworkers as we hoped they have learned from us. It has become abundantly clear to us God has been at work this week. It was evident in the seemingly supernatural energy we were provided to (sort of) keep up with our Haitian colleagues all week, the synergy with which we worked with them despite our language barrier, and how our own team bonded in our love and support of our mission and work. While the cistern isn’t quite complete, we enjoyed witnessing how much was completed throughout the week, the incredible process by which it was built, and we are proud that we were a part of it. We have enjoyed many conversations, jokes, teasing, and praising with many of the folks in Duplan, including the local pastor Claude, Edzair, Lemaire, Elijah and many others to whom we were introduced. We were treated with great respect and gratefulness by all we came across in Duplan and, as a team, we are humbled and honored to represent our Reynoldsburg UMC community, the Methodist church, and most all Jesus Christ to the Duplan community. May God continue His great work in Haiti after we leave, as well as continue to work in our hearts when we arrive home. As we share our Haiti story to our friends and family at home in the coming weeks, we pray that the words we use are not our words, but the Lord’s. God bless the people of Haiti.

Day 6 We spent the entire day in Duplan at the worksite, but the pace was significantly slower, a very welcome change for our weary bodies. The floor of the cistern was completed before we left yesterday, so today was the careful laying of the walls. We helped haul the blocks to the bottom of the cistern, as well as the two different types of concrete required. The relationship between our 9 Haitian coworkers and our team has become strong; like most tight groups there was a lot of teasing and much laughter, making our efforts feel much less like work.

Pastor Claude hung out most of the day with us, bum foot and all. Several of us enjoyed significant time under this wise and wonderful man’s counsel; he oozes Christ’s love out of every pore. His laugh is hearty and infectious, and when he sings there is no question it comes straight from his heart. The community of Duplan is fortunate to have such a man in their midst.

Several of us managed to visit several of the classrooms today while in session. Tom revisted the outdoor classroom he helped build with the November 2010 team, and was even serenaded by the six-year-old class that was using it. How awesome it is to see what we have built put to such a wonderful use.

As we look forward to last day and the blessings it will bring, it is with some sadness that we will soon have to leave our new friends. But we pray that we have helped make a difference not only in the construction of the cistern, but also with our Haitian friend’s relationship with Christ. We are in the right place, doing the right thing, of that there is no question.

Day 5:

Orphanage, Palace, and Concrete

Best day yet! We started our day at the local orphanage for boys, bringing with us a plethora of balls, chalk and other such fun things. What a blast! First of all, these are great boys, well behaved and loads of fun. While Ceola and Mark spent time with the chalk writers (boy were they good!), Adam, John, and Tom joined 5 of the boys in a game of 4 on 4 soccer showing us how talented they were and how old and slow we are getting! We absolutely made a bond with these boys, as several hugged and hung on to us as we were preparing to leave; we also discovered that they knew the words ‘God Bless You’, as they emphatically repeated it when spoken to them. Future trips: Your time in Haiti won’t be complete without a visit to this place! God is working in that place and in those awesome boys. In our devotions tonight we reflected on our day, and it became very emotional when the subject came to what we experienced at the orphanage.

We then took a quick drive-by of the Palace, stopping long enough to get a few quick shots before our driver got us out of there. There was a ton of UN security force presence in the blocks surrounding the palace, although there was no threat we could see we certainly weren’t overly comfortable being there especially considering the fact that the palace is still surrounded by tent cities. There are more buildings still in ruins close to downtown then we have seen anywhere else, the most prominent being the Palace itself. The grounds appear to be kept up, but it doesn’t look like the structure has been touched since the day of the earthquake. We drove by a couple of other sites that had meaning to Mark from when he was a boy, allowing him to rekindle some old memories of his several years there.

After lunch at Epi D’or, we got back to Duplan in time to create the cement bucket brigade to create the cement floor in the new cistern. We were all tired, hot and insanely sweaty, but truly by God’s grace and mercy we found the energy to continue on until we had finished pouring the floor. We have established such an awesome relationship with all nine of the workers there. Through the workers, we know that God provided us energy to keep going and especially the boss, Aishan.

Aishan (who we met on previous trips) provided levity and laughter to the job all afternoon with his impressions of various types of vehicles as he carried his pails of concrete to the pit. We asked him why he has been so joyful during our visit, when last year he hardly talked to us. His response was extremely powerful and heartfelt: He had found Jesus! It drove home that fact that our entire church’s efforts in Duplan are paying huge dividends in the life of the people of that community and beyond it to communities around Duplan. Aishan being saved, and others like him, is the reason we are here, and the reason we are going deep here. It’s not all about building buildings, but more so helping to facilitate and build their faith in God and develop a lasting relationship with Christ. God is absolutely at work here! Halleluiah!

Day 4

Hard but Glorious work We spent most of the day finishing the moving of the big dirt pile from yesterday, and by late in the day we had moved all of it from the outside wall of the cistern to the road leading to the playground. It was hot, humid, and heavy work since it had rained much of the day and night before and the dirt we were moving was now mud. However, our team had the best day yet working extremely well together with great fellowship to get the job done. We were also able to get to know our Haitian coworkers better, like Aishan the job boss, Oscar, Sylvan, and others. We also had the help of some little helpers, like Mark’s new little 6-year-old friend, Larry who had to help Mark push the wheelbarrow.

The highlight of the day for several of us was again recess. Ceola had her nail painting salon going, but it seemed she spent most of her time fixing the efforts of her employee, John, who seemed to not paint fingernails but whole fingers! Tom managed to convince Pastor Edzair Paul to gleefully jump rope with a bunch of girls, while Adam and Mark once again survived the playground full of soccer balls and a football and a chaotic mess of boys sacrificing their bodies in order to get a chance to touch the ball.

Adam spent most of the afternoon with Elija and Ismail (Lamair’s brother), listening to music together and worshiping God together, and discussing theological and cultural subjects. There was much laughter and praising God coming from that crew, and knowing that God was in the middle of their fellowship. It didn’t bother the rest of us a bit that Adam was slacking the afternoon away!

When we returned to the guesthouse, a team of 10 from Seattle were returning from the field after truly roughing it in a remote village north of Port au Prince. It was fascinating to hear the differences in our experiences as well as the issues and concerns they dealt with that we don’t (like how to handle a tarantula invading your bed in the middle of the night!). This group lived without electricity or running water the entire week, making us feel a bit guilty that our team is able to enjoy the comforts of "home" while here.

All of us are beyond excited for the morning we will return to the Methodist children’s home (an orphanage our teams have been visiting for years). We can’t wait to connect with the children that still reside there and spend a morning of fellowship with them, sharing Christ’s love.

Our devotion tonight was from Matthew 6:24-34, where Christ is preaching from the mountain about how there is no need to worry about trivial things, that He cares for all and will provide for all. Verse 34 seems to encapsulate our theme for the week and was cause for much discussion during devotions tonight, “Therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each Day has enough trouble of its own.” As Ceola pointed out, tomorrow never comes and we only have today, so stop worrying about tomorrow. As our week here in Haiti continues, we approach each day not knowing what is to come or what we will be working on, but our faith in God’s plan is already providing great rewards.

Day 3

On to work!

We left the mission this morning around 9 and headed up to Duplan for our first work day. On tap was assisting in the building of a below-ground cistern, the main method for water delivery here in Haiti. Before the fun stuff though, we had to move some dirt ….a lot of dirt! Fortunately, there was a road badly in need of some fill, so our trips with wheel barrow and rake were nearby. Later in the morning, we couldn’t wait for the school to dismiss for recess, something to which every team member was looking forward. The treats and toys we brought from home were wildly received, with the highlight being Ceola’s nail painting salon, and John’s sticker emporium. Adam, Tom, and Mark tried their best to keep up with the kids on the soccer field during this time with the help of Pastor Edzair Paul, but at the ringing of the bell for the kids to go back to class, work was almost a relief. The Haitian children are wonderful, and grateful for even the little things. All throughout the afternoon, many would find some opportunity to step out of class and wave or say hello.

Along with more shovel activity in the afternoon, we had a chance to assist in carrying buckets of cement for the floor of the cistern. We were joined by Lumere, a lay pastor at the church in Duplan who worked along side of us the whole day. It rained a good bit of the day (and still is) so, between the rain and spilling some of the bucket contents on us, things got pretty sloppy.

We all continue to thank God for allowing us this wonderful opportunity to fellowship and work alongside the Haitians. Their resilience and sweet spirit continues to be a wonder to all of us. They have been more of a blessing and Christian example to us than they’ll ever know.

Haiti Day 2:

Sunday, blessings from heaven.

Today was a day of abundant blessings. After a smooth ride up to the church (they paved the road after the creek!), and reacquainting with some old friends at the church, we were blessed and warmed by the surprise appearance of Claude, the lead pastor of the Duplan church (who had been sick in the US for many months). Shortly thereafter we were reminded of the power and passion of the charismatic worship of the Duplan Methodist faithful. Elijah made a special trip during the service to pick up the conductor of the choir so they could perform special music in honor of our attendance. And boy, did they! We were mesmerized by the sound and passion that resonated throughout the church when they sang.

After the worship service our team was led on a tour of the Duplan clinic. Our tour guide, Lumere, showed us the just how far this project has come since our teams first started there. All that concrete, those buckets of gravel, the sanding, the tiling, and the painting has become source of pride within the Duplan community and the Methodist Church of Haiti as a whole. What a blessing and encouragement is was to see what God has created from the faithfulness of those who heeded the call to Pray, Give, and Go!

We were then invited to Pastor Gesner Paul’s residence to enjoy a lunch with him. As it turns out, it was actually a birthday party for Pastor Paul who was surrounded by his family. We here honored and humbled that we were so completely welcomed into his home for such an intimate celebration of his 60 years of life. He shared with us how God has used his life to serve him, and how He has blessed him because of it. He shared how he felt blessed that he was called to serve, and that he never stops thinking of how best to help the people here. He also shared his thankfulness on how God literally has saved his life in the past, allowing him to continue in His service.

Our team then had a chance to spend some time alone at the guesthouse in fellowship, still getting to know each other and getting to know each other’s story. Tonight’s devotion centered on the book of Job, and it reinforced the theme that is still emerging: That we do not know exactly what to expect this week, and that is OK. Trust in God, trust in His plan, and all will be well. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings when we finally start working in Duplan (and yes, school is in session, we get to see the children tomorrow!).

Haiti Mission Trip October 8-15, 2011

Day 1: Travel Day

First and foremost, thank you to all of those who prayed for our safe journey. You defenders of the faith successfully held off Satan and allowed us safe and uneventful transport to Haiti. We could see Satan trying to throw us off with several storms around Miami and a bit of rough air on the way to Haiti, but nothing at all serious. Thank you Lord for listening to the prayers of your faithful! Wow, what a difference a year makes! Those of us who have been here before noted on the ride to the guesthouse how there seem to be many fewer structures that had visible earthquake damage. It was very encouraging to see a large number of new structures built or in the process of being built. We pray that as we go about our week that our hopes are affirmed that what we saw is indeed true. In speaking with some of the staff at the guesthouse there seems to be a different vibe on the street then from last year, one more positive, one more hopeful, and one more representative of the Haiti before the earthquake. Our team is very excited to experience it for ourselves this week. On many mission trips there seems to be a theme that emerges throughout the trip, one that defines the team and the trip. After our devotions tonight, there does appear to be a theme that is already emerging, one that our group will continue to explore as the week develops, and whatever it will bring. We couldn’t be more joyful in anticipation! Tomorrow we are thrilled to join our friends at the Duplan church to worship God in their joyful way, and we can’t wait to rekindle the relationships we have established with many of the people there, including the children. We are humbled and honored to be invited to break bread with Pastor Gesnar Paul, the President of the Methodist Church of Haiti, in his home and hear firsthand how God is working in Haiti’s God story.