Haiti Trip 2016 update #3

Today I am beginning my post, and maybe finishing it, from a very unique setting. At this point I decided to begin my blog after we have reached hour number 2 in a traffic jam. And this is not your typical traffic jam. 

We left the orphanage at 5:15pm with dark clouds overhead. May I remind you that our vehicle is a truck with a cage on the back. We hoped we would get back before the rain, but we had no such luck. 

Instead a monsoon type of rain hit us. It's very unique feeling to be cold In Haiti. Rain was pouring in to the truck and several of us are soaking wet. Occasionally we have moved for some distance, but now we are stuck only a few miles from the guest house. 

Pierre said he has been stuck on this road for up to 6 hours before. So I thought I'd report to you about the day now that the rain has stopped, but we still are not yet moving. 

Morning Devotionals

John McHoul, the founder of Heartline, shared with us this morning. John is one of those guys whose faith is contagious. He shared with us about the importance of following Christ wholeheartedly. It wasn't just a sharing, but a challenge to surrender and follow Christ no matter what. 

Now you maybe thinking that it's already pretty radical to follow Christ to Haiti. But in some ways it's easier to come to a foreign country where you have some anonymity, but the challenge is stepping out in faith every day at home or abroad. 

We concluded our time singing "I have decided to follow Jesus" and an open prayer time. It was very encouraging and a great way to start the day. 

The OK

The OK is the main compound for Heartline Ministries. It was once a southern bbq restaurant called the OK Corral. It was never able to make money and they sold the property to Heartline after the earthquake. 

There is now a bakery, run by the men's discipleship ministry, the offices, a school for the missionary children, the women's training center and the future home of the maternity center. 

We went for a tour of the facilities and then broke into different work crews for the day. There was a cleaning crew that got to clean out the tool shed, just like our team did last year. It was the same shed and it was just as disorganized as we found it last year. 

There was another crew who had to clean out the building we painted and cleaned out last year. However one room has been repurposed for a little care and has shelves and a counter that the painting crew worked on.

The construction crew is working on putting up a ceiling and insulation for the class rooms in the training center. Every job is a little different in Haiti, so we have to learn to be patient and flexible in our jobs. 

Mark was selected to go to the prison for ministry. He said it was a juvenile facility with 13-18 year old boys. They fed the boys and had a worship service with them. They were not allowed to take phones or cameras in so I don’t have any pictures.

For lunch we had an amazing Haitian meal. Rice and beans, fried chicken, fried okra, avocado, something that looked like coleslaw but was hot peppers and delicious, and apple turnovers from the bakery. The problem with a meal like that is you want to take a nap after you finish and not go back to work. 

The Orphanage 

After we finished for the day at the OK, we headed to an orphanage. It was a new orphanage for me, and it was a very nice orphanage. 

Upon arriving there, we were greeted by smiles and hugs from the children. They had all the kids gather in a room and we met each one of them. We handed out some gifts, including some of the dresses, and made sure all the kids got something. 

One of the highlights of today was when the children sang to us. They had been working on a couple of songs and sang beautifully. They sang “This is the Day” in English, Creol and French. It was very sweet! (I’d like to upload a video, but it’s too large for the wifi here.)

We then had an amazing time playing with the kids. There was nail painting again, soccer, Mark brought balloons, and Traiana and Bethany organized some games. 

Daisy and Ashley spent quality time with the young girls. I played catch with a boy until i thought my arm would fall off. Phyllis and Daisy sat down and allowed the girls to braid their hair. 

It was a special time to love the kids and live out the Gospel. There are so many great people on our team and watching how we have come together so quickly is encouraging. 

While I am talking about the orphanage I feel I should inform you to the mindset of orphanages here. Approximately 80% of orphans here are not really orphans. They have parents, but their parents cannot afford to care for them. Many kids getting adopted have parents who love them and want them, but they feel the orphanage is a better option. There they can get food, education and possibly adopted into a wealthier home. 

This is one of the main reasons Heartline has established the women's training center so the women can make a livelihood and keep their family together. The established form of charity doesn't help, but produces poverty. Check out Poverty, Inc on Netflix for more on this. 

Travel Home

After saying good bye to the kids we rushed into the truck to avoid the rain, as I mentioned at the beginning. Good news, the rain has not started again, but it is currently 8:24pm and we have only traveled about 20 yards since I began typing. We have been caged up for 3 hours with no idea how much longer traffic will last. 

A new experience with Haitian traffic. Every one seems to be handling it pretty good. Thanks for praying for us! 

Update: we did arrive home at 9:15pm, after 4 hours on the road for a 9.5 mile trip.