Waiting

There wasn’t much to do last Saturday so I decided to take a trip to see Lucson the man I met on my first trip to Haiti. He lives right on the beach. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I wanted to visit him..lol. Honestly, he’s a wonderful friend and I’ve really miss him lately. Working a full time job that’s about an hour drive away from him makes it almost impossible to be able to visit him regularly. So last Saturday was a real treat. I saw his family and I was very pleased with the fact that I was able to communicate with them a lot more then the last time I saw them. His wife and children can’t speak any English so I was forced to try out my Creole speaking skills. I think I did ok. I still have a long way to go but I’m farther then I was.

Lucson and I went and looked at the property that Soul Harvest Church has purchased. He’s been doing a lot of work on it. The land is almost entirely cleared off. We have two huge mango trees on the property, and the land is a lot bigger then I remembered. We set under the mango trees and talked for a long time about what our dreams are for the land. Lucson wants to have Bible study classes. He’s concerned about the fact that most Haitian preachers haven’t been taught enough about the Bible. They need help interpreting the scripture. I can understand his concern. I recently found out that one of the senior pastors at my church doesn’t know how to read and he has never been to any kind of Bible school. I think it’s kind of scary that a group of Haitian people are being lead by a man who has never read the word of God. I can only pray that the Holy Spirit is guiding people like that.

Personally, I don’t know what God’s plans are going to be for that land. I would like to think that it’s something so awesome it goes beyond anything I can imagine. For now I’m forced to sit back and wait for God to move. I know he will open the right doors for us at exactly the right time. In the mean time I will study Creole, play with my kids, and sit under a mango tree and day dreaming with my friend.  Sometimes waiting on God can be the hardest part……

“A task without a vision makes a drudgery;

A vision without a task makes a visionary;

A task and a vision make a missionary.”

Getting Out More Often

The children are so loud! I feel like I’m living in a house full of wild elephants!! I can’t think!

Sorry, that was just a random moment of frustration I thought I would share.

Anyway…….

Today in class I could not get my students to pay attention. I felt like I was talking to the walls. Many times I had to yell at them for doing other homework in the middle of English class. After about 15 minutes of aggravation and wanting to beat my head against the wall I came up with a plan.  They teach me Creole. I’ll teach them English. Every time they said the date in English, “Thursday January 19, 2012”. I would try to say it in Creole, “Juedi 19, Janvier 2012”. It’s difficult! Remember they have different words for the numbers too. We went back and forth like that for the remainder of the class. They kept laughing at me because I couldn’t pronounce anything right. I don’t care. I may have looked like an idiot but at least they learned something and I did too.

I’ve started taking a Creole class in town three days a week. I’m paying a Haitian teacher to tutor me for an hour each time. He’s seems pretty good and I’m sure he appreciates the extra money. Plus, it gets me out of the house for a little while. It drives me crazy being stuck in the same place day after day. For a profession that is supposed to be about traveling; I sure don’t go very many places. I guess it’s safer that way but after a while some things are worth the risk.

I plan on visiting Lucson this weekend. He lives about 45 minutes from me in a town called Grand Goave. The first time I came to Haiti I stayed with him. I wish I was able to visit him more but the gas money is expensive. Maybe when I can speak Creole better I can take a Tap Tap (Haitian Taxi) to visit him. They’re really cheap because they are really uncomfortable. It’s basically paying a man to ride in the back of his truck. Most of them have seats welded to the truck bed but they are normally so overcrowded you can’t find a seat to sit down. I guess you just hang on and pray you don’t fall off. When you want the guy to stop you just tap on the top of the truck, hints the name…Tap Tap. The day I can hop on the back of one of those and pile in with a crowd of Haitians I won’t be a tourist anymore. I’ll be 100% Haitian ;) 

Psalm 37:4

I’ve noticed over the last several months my prayers have changed drastically. I used to pray for money to pay my bills, a day off of work so I wouldn’t kill my co-workers or patience at my family reunions. Not that there is anything wrong with those prayers it’s just my surroundings have changed and so have my prayers. Today I couldn’t finish my bowl of rice and beans at lunch so I prayed God would send me someone that was hungry so I could feed them. When I walked outside the teacher’s office where I had been eating there was an old blind man standing right in front of the door. Had it not been for the look of his eyes and the cane he held I would have thought he was staring right at me. I walked up to him and placed his hands around my bowl of rice and then handed him my spoon. He whispered, “Merci, Cheri.” (Thank you, Honey).

I suppose God will give us anything we want as long as what we want is in his will.

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

What a blessing!

Jan 12, was the two year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti. It killed an estimated 300,000 people and made millions homeless. Little has been done to fix the damage that was caused that day. The National Palace is still in ruins. Tent cities still consume every extra inch of space inside Port Au Prince. Help from the government is nonexistent and the aid money that was promised never arrived.   Last Thursday school was cancelled and everyone in the village gathered in our church to fast and pray. We prayed for the souls that were lost that day and for the families that remained. I silently prayed that my Haitian friends would trust God and stop living in fear. Many people are still terrified it’s going to happen again.  In fact, the following Friday only ten kids showed up for school because they were convinced an earthquake was going to hit again around the same time as before.  Nothing happened. I played color bingo with the children that did come and then I sent them home early. You would think a free meal would be an incentive to come, but I guess fear can be even more powerful than hunger.

Yesterday a mission’s team from Illinois came to stay with us for a few days. One of the girls plays violin and she played for us during our church service last night. One thing I love about being a missionary is how much I notice and appreciate things while I’m here. I’ve probably heard the sound of a violin being played a thousand times in my life, but nothing compared to the sound of it last night. I’m living in a country full of poverty, disease, and idol worshipping but hearing that violin being played took it all away for a moment. It sounded so clean. It was truly a blessing. I know the Haitian people thought so too. Even the children were awestruck by it. Anything that can keep my kids attention for more than two minutes is obviously a gift from God; not to mention a miracle….lol

  

Close to Home

For two days straight I’ve been hearing the constant beat of Voodoo drums coming from my neighbors’ houses. They’re in the back ground of every class I teach and every conversation I have. They are a constant reminder that I am not only far from home but also living in a country ruled by the enemy. I’m living on the front lines of a spiritual battle. When the drums pause I can hear the peaceful sounds of familiar hymns being sung by a nearby church. In Haiti, the battle lines are clearly drawn.

Though I have never witnessed a Voodoo ceremony for myself I’ve been told from my Haitian friends what goes on during the rituals. They continually beat their drums and dance to a strange fast paced rhythm for hours. They serve food and drink alcohol while dancing. It sounds to me like it’s just one big party but for one exception. The sole purpose of these ceremonies is to bring a possession onto a member of the party. They pray to many different “Gods” for this to take place. Once the person is successfully possessed they dance and beat their drums asking for favor and protection from the “God” who is possessing the individual.  I was told that at these ceremonies there is a constant spirit of fear in the air. I can sense it even in the Haitian Christians talking about Voodoo. I mentioned to one of my friends that I wish these people worshipping Voodoo Gods could come to know Jesus, the one true God. He said to me that if I led them to Jesus I would then be responsible for destroying their idols. By his tone I could tell he was not up to the task. Of course, I told him that God is stronger than any stupid statue. The statue consists of only medal and hollow prayers. There is nothing to fear.

 I was tutoring one of my kids this afternoon. His name is Wilson and his mother was killed during a Voodoo ceremony when he was 6 years old. While we were doing our lesson he become very quiet. After some time he looked up at me and said “Carrie, Jesus not like Voodoo.” I smiled and said, “Yes Wilson your right. Jesus doesn’t like Voodoo.” I’m so thankful that even though the enemy can be encamped all around us he still doesn’t have the power to reach my children.

Thank you Jesus for your protection!

By the way, while we were learning our colors and that apple starts with the letter “a” Wilson looked at me again and said, “Carrie, Jesus likes red apples.” Hahaha. I said, “Yes, Wilson Jesus probably does like red apples.” You may be laughing right now but I was impressed he said a complete sentence in English! Wilson’s first English sentence. I’ve never been so proud.

“Jesus likes red apples”

I wonder

We went to the market today and I got to drive home! You can’t appreciate what an awesome task that is until you come to Haiti for yourself. There are zero traffic laws here. I remember the first time I came I said I would never drive. Even if I lived here for ten years I would never drive. Well, I guess I proved myself wrong today!

Before I got behind the wheel we spent an hour waiting on a man to sell us a tire for our truck. I don’t know what was taking him so long, but that’s just how it is in Haiti. While we were parked on the side of the rode waiting I noticed a little boy watching me from the other side of a large trash ditch. He was a pitiful sight. He was so skinny. His little arms looked like tiny branches from a tree; no fat, no muscle, only bone and skin. His clothes were too big for him and very dirty. They were more like rags then clothes. He didn’t have shoes.  His hair was filthy and matted to his head. His face showed the signs of malnutrition. Signs I’ve become very familiar with in the last four months. I sat in my car watching him for a long time. He had what looked like a crude version of a kite he had made out of trash. He sat alone surround by filth trying in vain to get his kite to fly, but there wasn’t in wind in Haiti today. I turned my head for only a second to change the radio station and he was gone.

I wonder what his name was. I wonder if he had parents. I wonder if any one loves him. I wonder if he knows Jesus loves him. I wonder…….

My work begins

Everyone on the week long missions trip that I traveled with to Haiti left this morning. Their work is finished but mine has just begun. School starts Monday. Honestly, I'm not exactly looking forward to it. There is so much to be done to get that school running properly. When I think about all the challenges I'm going to face it makes my head spin. These are the times when I am most grateful I serve a God that is stronger then me. I know he makes all things work together for my good so with that promise I can relax and trust that things will get better. I know he has his hands on this country. I continually feel his presence. My job is to only remain obedient and marvel at all his wonders. Our God truly is an awesome God!!

Three Hundred More

I arrived safely in Port Au Prince yesterday morning after a two week Christmas break. When I stepped off the plane the smell of the city immediately hit my nose. This was once a smell I found revolting, but now it’s so familiar to me I can only associate it with home. When that warm tropical air surrounded me I was all smiles on the three hour car ride to the orphanage even though I spent most of that ride in the bed of the truck. It was defiantly an uncomfortable ride, but I was more than happy to be home.

Today, another group of missionaries and I packed up a grill, a ton of ketchup, and 300 hotdogs. We went to a nearby beach and cooked out all afternoon. The children came by the hundreds once the smell of cooked food was in the air. When we started someone made a quick head count and was grateful we would have enough hotdogs for everyone there. However, as soon as word got out that we were giving away free food the small beach we were at quickly became overcrowded. We had to tie ropes up to keep the huge crowd of people in order. We began passing out the hotdogs but as soon as the people saw we were out they started getting upset. I could hear the noise of the crowd growing louder as the children began yelling for more food. No one was hurt, but my heart breaks every time I’m forced to send someone away empty handed. “Mwen pa geyen” is one of the first phrases I learned in Creole. It means, “I don’t have”.  There’s never enough for everyone. One girl I was working with started to cry. It’s such a helpless feeling, but I think if we would have stood there all day giving out hotdogs we would have still turned some people away. When we got back in the truck to leave I tried reminding people that we did feed 300 kids. That’s a lot! You have to keep your mind on the positive here. It’s so important.

I remember when I first came to this country I was afraid that if I spent a lot of time here I would eventually become numb to the things I see. I thought, maybe, I would stop noticing all the suffering. I would get used to it somehow. That’s not the case. The more I’m here the more aware of it I become. My first trip I didn’t realize that all the people standing around me were seriously hungry. I didn’t know what malnourishment looked like. I just thought the children were tired. Now I know.  It’s more difficult to know, but it makes my determination to help that much stronger.

Three hundred children were fed today. That’s three hundred more than yesterday…..