2017 Haiti Mission – Week 3 (Nov 7-11)

TUESDAY after work I head over to the Men’s home (the boys have grown up now). There are six young men between the ages of 15 and 22 who live here and all of them would be on the streets if it wasn’t for the mission. Four of them are in school, thanks to the mission, one is learning to be a cook (on the mission’s dime), and the eldest is paid to help with the maintenance and various projects around the mission. I am near tears as these young men share with me how special they feel that I came to spend time with them exclusively. We talk about the importance of standing up tall and doing what’s expected of them. I remind them of what we talked about in the bible study the day before. We each commit to praying for each other and holding each other accountable for our actions. We end our time together with prayer and two of them walk me back to the guest house.

WEDNESDAY evening I was asked to do lead devotions prior to the start of the monthly staff meeting. I chose Psalm 121, my mom’s favorite…(All of) My help comes from the Lord and talked about why we should rely on God. I’d say they are getting some serious mileage out of me while I’m here. Ms. Lynn is already talking about not letting me leave in a few weeks. Jesus, You better not listen to her!!!!! I found out at the meeting that there is a medical mission headed to the Village of Plaisance next week. The village is on the southern tip of Haiti and Mission of Grace has a sister mission there. It’s also the birth place of Ms. Lynn. In fact her mom and brother still live there and are involved in the mission. Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc in that area last year destroying many homes. Fortunately some of the donations we sent to Haiti last year made it to Plaisance. We were told that some people escaped the wind and water with just the clothes on their backs. I hope I get to go there with the mission team next week to help out even for just a few days.

While I am at the soup kitchen I notice a little boy about 2.5 years old running around having a ball, chasing chickens and goats…just having a good time. It turns out his family is staying at the single mom’s house which is next to the kitchen. His name is Billy and he has been eyeballing me since I started working there. Well this week we broke new ground and are now best buddies. He enjoys being held and loves it when I tickle him. One day this week he was in a bad way and was crying. His mom wasn’t paying him any attention at all so I scooped him up and walked him around until the tears subsided. Before long Billy was back to his normal giggly, happy-go-lucky self. Who knew working at a soup kitchen paid such wonderful dividends.

The students I tutor on a daily basis at the school are excited and exuberant about our time together. Sometimes they are so excited that they get a little too loud which draws a crowd, but who said learning couldn’t be fun? The only available place for us to meet is on the front porch of the church (which functions as the school building for the younger students). It seems like everyone who passes by stops and wants to be a part of these sessions. I have to constantly shoo people away. I must tell you though by FRIDAY I realize most of them understand the concepts I have been showing them and they get it! It warms my heart to know they really understand. However I am beginning to think Ms. Shiena is acting like she doesn’t comprehend just to keep me coming around.

On SATURDAY I get up early and get a ride into Port Au Prince. I want to go to Lambi Village in the Carrefour section of the city where we did work in 2012, 2013, and 2014. All toll there were several hundred missionaries who came to help build homes in this village. I also look forward to spending time today with Paul and David, the two young men we have been sponsoring from the village. It takes about an hour to go the last 15 miles once we get into the city proper. It’s a joyful time seeing people we worked along side back then, like Edson who was 11 or 12 then and an original member of my posse. He is all grown up and proudly tells me he is in school and getting good grades. And I finally get to meet Paul’s mom. I tell her that they have the same beautiful smile. She keeps thanking me and Judy for helping Paul with his education but I tell her it’s God who gets the credit since it was He who opened that door, with a little help from Randi Pascal Drewery. I walk around the village visiting and greeting folks but I can’t stay long. There is a mission team coming at 2pm and they are my ride back to Carries so I have to get to the airport. I bring Paul and David along for the adventure. It took us more than two hours to make the return trip but we still had enough time to stop by one of our favorite restaurants for lunch. Including the 10 people we pickup from the airport there are 21 new faces at the guest house today. Some of them will be working at another mission a few miles away but the Lott Carey team which flew in from Louisiana will be working on a construction project in the village. This has been a great week and today has been long and tiring. I look forward to a good night sleep. Next week should be an exciting one.