2017 Haiti Mission – Week 6 (Nov 30 – Dec 2)

THURSDAY morning I joined the group of missionaries headed to the school. We spent an hour or so interacting with the pre-K students. They were a lively bunch who enjoyed the various learning activities we presented. After that I took a different group to the soup kitchen. Although it was their first time serving there, it was also the last opportunity we will have to do this in 2017. As a matter of act when I shared that message with Lenice she grimaced at the reality of it. The group spent a pleasant hour serving food and cleaning up the kitchen area before we headed back to meet the entire team. After lunch two groups from the team headed to the Children of Grace where we spent an enjoyable afternoon. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see bossy Ms. Julie one last time. She took a nap when she came in from school and never came out before we had to leave. During our evening debrief we learned that a mother delivered a baby at the clinic earlier in the day. It turned out to be one of Cullen’s “ladies” named Gailine who suffered from placenta previa. She had two previous miscarriages and, in fact, the doctors at the clinic sent her to a hospital because of the potential complications with her diagnosis. It was a joy to hear both she and the baby had fared well.

FRIDAY was the last full day the team would spend in Haiti. We went to the Haitian cultural museum and then stopped at a nearby resort to have a late lunch. When we returned to the guest house the teens were already having a great time. We joined them at the beach and spent the remainder of the daylight hours just having fun. The goodbyes were a little tough. One teen tearfully was clinging to a missionary not wanting to let her leave. Ms. Faviola gave me the biggest hug and said she was really going to miss me. It was tough holding back my own tears after that. My son Paul came from Port Au Prince once more to visit. We spent the evening talking and playing pool. I did not sleep very well the night before so I had to call it an early night.

We rose to bright sunshine on SATURDAY morning and enjoyed a delicious breakfast outdoors. The team packed their suitcases the night before so we were able to leave on time to head towards Port Au Prince for our flight home. We stopped by the 2010 earthquake memorial on the way. There are reports that up to 300,000 people were buried at this site. Our travel to the airport was completely uneventful and we were able to board our plane to return to the U.S. We are grateful for a rewarding time in Haiti and traveling mercies back home.