Chaos

This past weekend was the Spiritual Retreat for the Sous Espwa staff and the missionaries from the Dominican. A group of 17 of us left Thursday morning for Barahona, a city on the southern coast of the Dominican. Early in the morning we departed (7am) and it took an hour and a half to get to the border. However, when we we got to the border we waited in line...and waited, and waited.

8:30am, only the beginning of our day

Some Dominican guys came to help us cross. They lead our caravan of three vehicles right past the long line of cars waiting outside the gate. They directed us through the gate; we were now on the Haitian side of the border. Thursday is market day so that meant there were masses of people set up selling in the border area and many other people going back and forth across the border with purchases...in tap-taps, motorcycles and large trucks. The area inside the border was gridlocked. There is no other way to describe it. It reminded me of those small square picture puzzles where you mix up the tiles. Then in order to get the pieces in the right place you have to shuffle, reshuffle and shuffle them again. At one point I got out of the vehicle to get something from one of the other cars. I turned around to go back, made it to the front of the car but then a big bus and truck boxed out our car. I was stuck in front of the vehicle because there was no room for me to get between the bus and the truck, let alone get the side door open. Eventually the truck and the bus moved and I was able to get in.
We had to park our cars outside of the first building so that we could all go in and get our passports stamped (exiting out of Haiti) and pay money for each of our passports. The Haitian part of the border was staffed by people who spoke Creole. Jenny was able to communicate with them concerning the paperwork and fees. Then some of us got back into the vehicles and we attempted to get a spot back in the mass of cars. We waited and waited and waited once again. Half of our group walked ahead with our passports to the next group of buildings on the DR side. They had to get the passports stamped once again (for entrance to the DR) and get the vehicle paperwork straightened out AND pay a whole bunch more fees.

All the kids and I :)

An hour or so later the vehicles finally made it to that group of buildings which were only about oh, less than a quarter mile away. Then the Dominican people that were helping us directed us into a couple of spots to park. They had to direct the traffic around and away from us just so we could get into the open spaces. We all got out of the cars once again and went to another area to do something. I'm not even really sure why we had to get out, but we went up to this window and showed our faces with our passports.


Finally we had all the paperwork and passports taken care of. This time everyone loaded back into the vehicles and we made our way into the traffic once again. We were stuck for another hour between semis and trucks, waiting to get out of the gate. At 1:30pm the gate on the DR side opened...to our excitement there was a wide OPEN road ahead of us! I am quite sure everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief. From 8:30am -1:30pm we were at the border. It took us FIVE hours to cross over! (It only took the group 3 hours to cross during market day last year.)

Driving through the D.R.

On the way home Sunday, coming back into Haiti, it took about 45 minutes to cross the border!!

The last gate!

I must be dreaming...

I had a wonderful weekend at our retreat! I took this picture one afternoon on our walk to the beach. I still find it hard to believe that I'm in the Caribbean! This weekend we were commenting on how God's beauty was so evident all around us. There is no speech or language where his voice is not heard! Creation SPEAKS


Psalm 19:1-6 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a bit different around here. For one, it's an American holiday so the Haitians do not have off from school or work. For two, it is not cold here like it usually is in MI around the holidays. Currently it sunny and 91 degrees. And for three, we are not having a big Thanksgiving day feast. We are going to be in the car tomorrow, traveling- on our way to a spiritual retreat. 


I will be missing my family and friends AND football! (Mostly football...it occurred to me that I have not seen an NFL game since I left the states. Very saddening.) I love my family and friends dearly, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! As much as I wish I was at home for the holidays I'm very excited to be experiencing them here. Much time this weekend will be spent on a beach along the ocean!! However, I'm sure you'll be in my thoughts too ;)


I am so blessed and have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:


A great trip here,
A wonderful family that worked hard to make this entire trip come together,
Many, many encouraging friends and a supportive church,
Overall good health,
Welcoming relatives here that have been accepting, helpful, and so patient with me,
And a God who always provides. I have met, and exceeded my fundraising goal by $100! It was almost exactly a month from the time I sent out my letters to the day I found out that I had all my funds in! Praise God! I have not stopped thanking Him!


John 14: 11-14
^{Jesus said, 11} "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

~A Little Dirt Never Hurt

Last week Monday I went to work with Ruth at the Sous Espwa offices.  By the end of the day I became a little bit bored sitting at the desk. So, on Tuesday I volunteered to help out at the worksite with the team. Little did I realize what I was getting myself into!


The team was building a septic tank. The challenge in this was that there was a steady stream of water coming into the hole that was dug for the tank.  The bottom of the hole was much lower than the water table-  so all week long someone had to scoop the water out with buckets.  The water level had to stay low enough in order to pour the concrete floor of the tank.

Tuesday morning- Digging out some dirt to level off the ground.

I scooped the water into 5 gallon buckets for about 6-7 hours. Thankfully I did not have to lift the buckets out of the hole, just fill them!

Nearing the end of the day, after getting splashed with water, mud, and concrete.

Tying the rebar together with wire.

The Haitian crew mixing the concrete.

The concrete was placed in these big tubs and then brought, on a trailer, to the place where we were working. Someone filled the tiny metal buckets with the concrete.

Then we made a human chain to get the buckets over and down into the hole. On average there were about 17 people working in/near the hole. It got pretty crowded at times! But thankfully we had all the willing and able hands to help. 

The progress as of Friday, the last work day for the team.

Part of the team also painted this apartment building on the site... 

... a pretty peach color!

Friday afternoon I played soccer with some of the kids that live at the site. They were off from school for the holiday.

One of the boys was teaching me a sweet move!

The whole group, including the Haitians that worked along side us!

Beautification Day

I have realized that I need to blog more frequently- I have so much to share! Especially this past week I was busy every moment so I have so much to tell. I'm going to try my best to give you a brief idea, in a series of posts, of what all I've been up to:


Last Saturday was Beautification Day at the church my relatives attend. This consisted of the members of the congregation and some kids from area schools and orphanages coming together to beautify the church. Back home we have a "Clean Up" day at church; here they have beautification day. The Pastor put a different spin on this and encouraged us to not only focus on beautifying the church, but our heart and mind as well. He asked us to think of specific things that we needed to change in our life- rip up the bad, throw it out, and fill up the holes with Christ so that Satan does not enter back into the empty space. It was a very interesting analogy. 


Some people pulled weeds, others picked up rocks, others moped and wiped down the chapel, some new flowers were planted, and a little painting was done. I primed the nursery with a large group of people. There were two small rooms, with very outdated murals on the walls, that we covered up. It took about 4 coats of paint to cover these murals. 

One room of the nursery

The other room (notice the wonderful angels)

I didn't take pictures yet of the nursery after we finished priming. I'm hoping to get some pictures later. However, I can assure you that it looks much much better!

The chapel (sanctuary)

Outside clean-up

The youth group here meets on Saturday afternoons. Last week, after Beautification Day, I attended youth group with the kids. I went again yesterday afternoon...I can already tell that the youth group here is pretty amazing. 

Sightseeing!

Last Saturday the team from Canada arrived. This team consists of 12 people- 9 guys and 3 ladies. Sunday was the first day that I spent time with them. Jenny picked me up in the morning to attend church with her and the team. We went to a local Haitian church. The church met in the top of a building, in one small room. It reminded me of Bible times when Jesus met with the disciples in the upper room. There was hardly enough room for the congregation, let alone all 14 of us, so we sat in the choir area in the front of church. The whole service was in Creole and was two hours long. They started off by singing for about an hour, followed by a 45 min sermon and then more singing at the end. After church we stayed to talk to the leaders of the church. The team asked the leaders questions about their church and how they could help, and then the leaders had an opportunity to ask the team questions about their church. It was really neat to see two groups of people, from different parts of the world, together sharing about God at work in their churches. 

The view from our seats, looking out over the church

After church Jenny invited us all over for lunch at her house. From there we went sight-seeing. We drove downtown past the palace that got destroyed in the earthquake, past tent-citys and to one of the big churches that also was destroyed in the quake.

What is left of the Holy Trinity Cathedral...

they are hoping to rebuilt it eventually.

Then we drove up the mountain to a look-out point over the city. It was only about a 20 minute drive because there was hardly any traffic. The road was steep and curvy and narrow. Once we got to the top of the mountain it was about 10-15 degrees cooler. It was a gorgeous view! There were only a few clouds in the sky so we could see everything fine. There were soo many houses packed into the small area. About 2-2.5 million people, at least, live in Port-au-Prince.

Wednesday I went with the team to the Musee du Pantheon National, in Port-au-Prince. The museum is built underground. We had a guided tour and we learned all about the history of Haiti. The stuff I understood was actually pretty interesting (as interesting as history can get). And there was a small art gallery in the museum, displaying the works of Haitian artists- that was the best part!

A New Place to Call Home

Haiti. What a place! Like nothing I've ever seen before.

Let me start by telling you about some advice I was given before I left. I was told that in Haiti, you can choose to see the ugliness or the beauty. I choose to see the beauty and the good, in the midst of the ugly. There is beauty- flowers lining the walls, palm trees and various other greenery sprouting up all over, goats and chickens milling about the streets, beautiful people going places, always on the move. Then there are some unpleasant things- trash burning along the streets in garbage cans and in the ditches, children tapping on the car window begging for money or food, very large potholes in the road (makes for harsh driving conditions!), concrete everywhere and large metal gates.

It is hard to find a quiet place in the city. The sounds travels because the windows are always open to let the air in. In the morning I awake to the girls practicing the piano and the roosters crowing. Dogs are barking throughout the night. The sounds travel from the neighbors houses- their voices, the music they are playing, or their television. During the day I hear people talking as they walk by, the sounds of vehicles on the roads and horns honking.  

Daily life in Haiti is a lot different than life in Michigan. To begin with, it gets light at 5:00-5:30am and it gets dark at 5:00-5:30pm. I usually wake up between 5, 5:30 just because it is light outside and my body thinks it’s time to get up. Most people here go to bed early. I thought this was odd at first, but then I realized that when I wake up so early it only makes sense to go to bed earlier. At home I went to bed around 11:00-11:30...here I’m tired enough to sleep around 8:30-9pm. I’m in bed by about 9:30 on a good night! The heat can be very draining. 

It gets very hot here during the day and stays warm at night. The morning is the coolest part of the day. I think it’s normally about 80 degrees during the day- then again, I’m not really sure because we don’t watch a news program or a weather channel. And it doesn’t make much difference because you can’t do anything about the temperature. There is hardly any air conditioning, besides in the vehicles and an occasional room. In my room I have a fan blowing on me at night to keep the mosquitoes away. Most of the time when you sit still in a room, such as at the desk at the office, you keep a fan blowing on you to keep you cool and to keep the bugs away. 

I am adjusting to life here ever so slowly. Most days are very different from the next because right now I have no set schedule. This past week (I’ve been here for a full week now!) I have been touring the area and working with a team that is here from Canada. Their team consists of 12 people- they arrived on Saturday and they will be here until Monday. Only one or two people from their team have been here before so they didn’t know much about Haiti when they got here. We are learning and living together.

Me and Natasha (my cousin)

The Peace of God will Guard your Hearts and MINDS

Monday and Tuesday I had many things to finish up before I left. My mom also helped me rearrange everything inside my suitcases again and we had to keep re-weighing them. We had been packing for a week, trying to get the weight in each suitcase to be right. One suitcase could be up to 70 pounds and the other up to 50 pounds. I kept pulling things out that I decided I wouldn't need (like my favorite book :( in order to make room for more important things! Over these last days at home I thought I would be nervous and freaking out...instead I was surrounded by such a peace. I felt the peace that passes understanding. Isaiah 26: 3-4 "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal."


Tuesday night I went with my family and a good friend to Detroit for the night. We stayed in a hotel near the airport. At 4am we awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed (ok, I was probably the only one bright eyed). I was a bit nervous at that point, but I prayed for the nerves to go away and they did.  We checked in my bags; one weighed 69 lbs and the other 49 lbs. That was a huge relief for my mom and I! Although trying to avoid the inevitable, we eventually had to say our goodbyes. There was not a dry eye. Obviously ;)

I hadn't flown since I was 15 and never by myself, so I walked confidently through the airport...pretending like I knew what I was doing. Thankfully I didn't have any blonde moments :) The plane to Miami was pretty full, except for the seat next to me. God had a plan in all of that too. I had been given some letters from my friends and co-workers to read on the airplane so I was able to read the letters and cry to myself without really disturbing anyone! The lady on the end of the aisle was super nice and I don't think she thought anything of it because she knew I was leaving for 7 months.


Once in Miami I had a 4 hour layover. I got to ride the SkyTrain to my gate. That reminded me of the Metro in Chicago. I was also amazed that there were golf carts inside the airport! Craaazy! I sat by myself for 3.5 hours contemplating life (prepping myself for my arrival at the Port-au-Prince airport). Going on the 4th hour I began to feel sorry for myself and decided that I wanted to make friends with the nice group of people sitting near me. So, I asked them why there were going to Haiti. They proceeded to tell me about their trip and I shared about mine. When they learned that I had never been to Haiti before they were at first shocked (along with everyone else I ran into), and then they told me I could join their team to get through the airport! What a relief- I about cried when they invited me to join them! On the plane ride to Miami I prayed the whole time that God would surround me and direct me through the airport without any trouble. Well, he sure surrounded me...not only with his presence but with a group of 7 other people! <--- God sure does answer prayer!!


On the plane ride to Port-au-Prince there was a young Haitian girl, named Etianna, sitting next to me. Right away she asked me if I understood Creole. I told her I was going to be in Haiti for 7 months and no, in fact, I didn't know Creole. She laughed at me (not with me, at me). I told her that she could teach me Creole if she wanted to. At first she wasn't sure what to think of me and I wasn't sure what to think of her. However, we warmed up to each other real quickly. She wrote down several words and phrases for me and then I repeated them to her over and over. Her father was sitting next to her and she would turn to him, speaking Creole with him. At that point I realized how lost I was really going to be when I arrived in Haiti, not knowing the language. Thankfully God gave me an insight into that so I began preparing myself mentally. You really feel lost when everyone around you is clearly communicating and you are the only person that has no idea what is being discussed! (more to come on that later)


When we arrived at the airport it wasn't that chaotic- not like I had expected it to be. The airport (warehouse) is very small and immigration, baggage claim, and customs are all in the same area. The luggage was all piled in one big spot next to the conveyor so we had to search around for our bags. I found both of my bags right away and one of the guys in the group handled the heaviest one for me. Then as I was walking towards customs, to exit the airport, my uncle was standing right there. I breathed another sigh of relief...finally another familiar face!


My family was waiting to greet me when we pulled into the drive around 6 o'clock. I was exhausted and very very very happy.


Thank you for your prayers throughout the day! The trip could not have gone any better- Praise the LORD!