2017 Haiti Mission – Week 2 (Oct 29-Nov 4)

Life is a little slower now that the team has headed back to the U.S. After church I change clothes and stop by the soup kitchen. It is really hitting home that most of the people I see here would struggle to find a meal or simply not eat if it wasn’t for this ministry at Mission of Grace. My heart is deeply touched at what I see. Each individual, and it’s mostly children, know that they must wash their hands before they go take a seat. Everyone is quite orderly as they eat their plate of rice and beans. When they have finished it is my job to remove the plates and hand them to the dishwasher so they can be washed and used to serve the next group waiting to eat. I enjoy being here and the staff seems to have grown accustomed to my presence. Each day I make it MY mission to be stop by at 11:30 to help serve. I am greeted with smiles, hugs, and cheek-kisses, and receive the same when my shift ends…that’s more than enough payment for me.

Sunday night I can hear the waves crashing very hard on the beach. At times it’s so loud and forceful that it wakes me up. The turbulent seas continue most of Monday but calm down later on. I find out later that there was some sort of tropical disturbance off shore but it didn’t get close to us…we were simply experiencing its effects.

 

 

 

On Monday I am asked to “teach” mathematics to students at the school. I am too excited…math was one of my favorite subjects and I still get a little giddy when I am asked to solve a math problem. During the first of my three classes I can see that being a “teacher” is not going to work out well. God placed on my heart later that day to see if there were a few students who could benefit from having a

tutor and more specialized, individual instruction. This is a much better fit for me and the school so on Tuesday morning I am greeted by 4 smiling faces. Three students tell me they are having a problem with division. After spending a little time with them I discover their biggest problem is they don’t know their multiplication tables. All math students know that you MUST have these tables memorized in order to do division so I have them write out the tables and give them homework assignments to memorize them. My 4th student is a 13 year old named Shiena who is in the first grade. As I am working with her I discover that she can’t count to 100…she doesn’t know her numbers. I realize quickly that she will need dedicated time so I carve out an hour or so each day to work with her. She absolutely loves the attention. Lol

Dr. Earl Armstrong arrives on Monday afternoon. Dr Earl is from the DMV and we served together in Haiti in 2013 and 2014. He is a medical doctor and, if I may say so, quite a “colorful character”. He is here for 2 weeks and his primary focus will be serving in the clinic. Wednesday schools are closed so Cullen, who is a long term missionary here, Dr. Earl and I set out to “go up the mountain” on a hike. On our

 

way we come across a young girl with cerebral palsy and stop to pray for her. This disease can be fatal because it is not treated and sometimes the children are shunned. Cullen tells us her mom passed and she is being raised by her aunt. He is praying that she will be taken in by the mission so that she will at least have a fighting chance of survival. As we move along on our journey we stop to talk with several people and pray for them. Cullen is a missionary’s missionary…everyone, everywhere we go knows Mr. Cullen. He routinely walks these hills talking with, praying for, and blessing people.

Schools are closed Wednesday through the remainder of the week as they celebrate Memorial Day in Haiti, or the day of the dead. So, on Thursday I arrange to take 12 young

 

men from the village to visit the Haitian cultural museum. This is the first time any of them have been here and they are fascinated. They ask intelligent question and engage the tour guide in a very lively discussion. It’s a joy for me to witness this interaction. Afterwards we share a meal together and they are all very appreciative.

In the interest of full disclosure I started feeling ill on Thursday afternoon and spent the next few days in my room resting. I started feeling better on Saturday. That afternoon Pastor John Joseph, Momma Lynn’s husband, came to my room and asked me to deliver the sermon for church service on Sunday morning. My spirit said “yes”‘ but in my mind I was shaking my head “no”.

You’re going to have to wait until the next installment to see what happens. Lol.