Haiti (2017)

I recently took a mission trip to Pignon, Haiti. It was an experience that I will reflect on for many years to come.  

The trip began with flying to Florida to then leave on a plane with a company called "International Missionary Flights". It was a pretty small plane, but was not as small as I had expected.  On our way, we stopped at a few stops before finally arriving in Pignon.. our destination. Once we arrived, one of the first things I noticed was the beautiful mango trees nearby. I resisted the urge to pick one, and found myself following the group and getting on a white school bus. We drove through the town to our destination point which was a new building that a ministry called "Project Hope" was building. Once there, we all settled in quickly and saw where we will be staying. The accommodations were very nice compared to what we saw around us. There was nothing on our agenda the rest of the day, so the group decided to go on a walk to see more of the city we would be in for the next few days. As we were walking, eyes were on us, as we were the only white people around. One of our leaders taught us to say "Bonjou" ("Good morning") as we walked by. This would automatically put a smile on their faces.  We then found a small field where a few children were playing, and the group began to play with them. We brought a soccer ball and jump ropes with us from Project Hope, and we were glad that we did. It was quite interesting trying to communicate without knowing their language, and without them knowing ours.  There was lots of miscommunication, but we had a good time. An interpreter helped as we tried to sing songs with the kids. They really enjoyed this. It was hard to leave this group and go back, but it was getting late, and we all needed to go home. Sadly, we were able to go back to clean water, food, a shower, and a clean bed, we couldn't say that that was the same for the people of the community we just met and spent time with. Later that night, we had a devotional and began to prepare our hearts for the days ahead, little did we know what to expect.

The next day, we led a VBS with children in the remote Vincent region. We split the children up into 3-4 groups, and had a Bible Story/Lesson, Gospel/Song, and Recreation/Prayer station. The children would rotate through the different stations, and to close, one of our leaders did an illusion trick for the children. As the children let, they receive rice meal packs for them and their families. Our group then went back to Project Hope, ate lunch, and then went out to begin home visits. We broke off into small groups, and each had 1 or 2 interpreters per group. We would walk the street and ask people if we could come in and speak with them. When we did, we would ask if they knew who Jesus was, and if they attended church. Most of the people we spoke to did attend church at the location we presented the VBS at, therefore we were able to ask for their specific prayer requests, and pray with them which was an awesome experience.  My group also met a pregnant woman who did not have a husband, who didn't feel like she could come to church because of her condition. We were able to remind her that Jesus' mother was pregnant without a husband, and Mary (though under different circumstances) felt some of the feelings that this woman had about what others thought. We were also able to pray with her and ask for blessings for the baby as well. After each meeting and prayer at the homes, we were able to distribute more rice meal packages to the families. As we went along, children would join us and follow us along the road. They would hold our hands and just watch us as we went and prayed with the individuals. This reminds me of a combination of Jesus calling his disciples to come follow him, and they came without question mixed with Jesus telling us to be like little children, and to have faith like them. What a beautiful image.  

The following day, the men went to a construction sight to help build a roof, while the women in our group went to a women's ministry at the Elshaddai Church. The woman's ministry was an interesting experience as well. When we arrived, there was a group of women waiting for us to present what we had planned... but we expected for the church to have a presentation planned. Therefore, I was able to present the Gospel story that I had presented at the VBS and ask if all of the ladies there believed this to be true.  They all did. Then we opened the floor for questions. The questions could be about the gospel, women, life in the US, whatever they had questions for. They asked some questions about the US, but mainly were interested in if women dealt with abusive relationships in the US, and if so, what they did about that. When we later opened the floor up to prayer requests, the pastors wife mentioned a prayer request that struck some of us off-guard. The prayer request was for the ladies who were single in the church, to find husbands, because it will be very bad if they don't. We then same some songs together and went back to Project Hope. The men came back from the construction site exhausted and slightly confused as well. They had tried to help, but the Haitians wanted to do the construction their own way. After lunch, some of the men went back to the construction site to try to finish some of what they started, and the women went on some more home visits in a different area. This area was home to one of our interpreters.  We broke into two small groups, and the group I was with finished before the other group, and when we got back to the vehicle, there were some kids nearby. While we waited for the other group, we were able to teach the children nearby how to play hopscotch using a stick and some rocks. They LOVED this and continued playing it after we left.  This was a great experience using what they had to make something fun and uplifting out of it. Later that night, a group a 30-40 children came to Project Hope to do games, crafts, and a story time. It was originally supposed to be a movie, but something happened last minute, and we were able to use what we had to accomplish the task at hand. Again, the language barrier made it hard to do this, but because we had learned the numbers 1-10, we were able to play hot potato with the soccer ball, and bring the jump rope out. Some of the members from our group were able to present the story of Jonah, and the illusionist was able to preform his tricks as well. Finally we were able to feed them a hot meal, and enjoy that same meal as well.  

The next day was Sunday, and we woke up, ate breakfast, and then headed to church.  The church service was set up very much like a Traditional style worship service in the states. They had a place for the choir, the preachers sat in chairs up front behind the podium, and the keyboard they had was set to an organ setting.  Everyone, including the children, were wearing nice dresses and the men were wearing ties, while all of us missionaries were wearing jeans and t-shirts.  I tried to lead some of the songs, but there was miscommunication with that as well.  One of our group members led the sermon, and spoke about "Safe Houses".  It was not as expected, but we were able to experience a worship service with them.  Everyone there seemed very tired, including the pastors. One ray of hope/light that I saw was a little boy (2 or 3 years old) who was conducting the choir from his seat and was very "into" it. After the church service, while one group was taken back to Project Hope, the group that was waiting had the opportunity to tour a rum distillery. The rum was more like moonshine, and the employees seemed happier than the pastors inside the church we had just left.  We did not taste test it, but we could smell it, and witness some of it's effects. It later rained, causing us to stay where we were at Project Hope, and not allowing us to be able to make it back to the church that night.  

The following day, the group drove about 2-3 hours to Fort Citadel. On the way, we drove through a river in which the water came up to the windows in the car.  The group was in 3 vehicles, and prayed hard for each vehicle to get across. The Lord provided. When we got to the location, we were bombarded by locals trying to sell us items as well as wanting us to use their horses to go up the mountain to the fort we were visiting. There was a lot of confusion and pushing and shouting, but we all were able to get onto a horse, and up the mountain to see a part of the Haitian history.  We visited a fort that felt like a castle, and were able to see what hard work, blood, sweat, and tears (of sweat) can do. It was magnificent.  There were over 300 cannons in this fort that was on top of a mountain, and countless cannonballs stacked and ready to be used. Later, we made it back down the mountain, back across the river, and back to the Project Hope site. We then had the night to fellowship with one another, and reflect on our journey.  

The following day we visited a local orphanage where there was finally a ray of hope. We toured the site before we flew back to the United States, and began acclimating ourselves to the paved roads, air conditioning, city sounds, hot showers, no flies buzzing over our food, and much more. The experience was over though. The days we had prayed for were now completed, and exactly as God had planned them, and we were to be grateful.  

Coming back from that experience was quite hard to be honest. I didn't understand why it was hard for me to find hope there, and while I was there, I continuously sang "God of This City", hoping that I would be able to feel God's presence, but I couldn't find it.  

Please pray for Haiti. Pray that God will bless them with hope, and with His presence. Pray for the pastors who are doing the best they can. Pray that the women will be protected from harm, and that the men will find jobs to provide for their families. Pray that God will grant them peace, compassion, and understanding. Please pray for God's love to pour out on them like the rain in their rainy seasons. Pray for them to learn how to love God back.

Pray for Haiti.