The Goats are Happy

(Today's post is provided by Dolores.)

The goats are happy.

Actually, the goats are happening. But when Dolores was dictating to me, I was sure she said "happy," and I'm sure they will be once they arrive at their new homes.

A while back, money was donated for the purchase of goats in Haiti, to help families in need. Dolores has been toting that money in her carry-on for the past few days, wondering where the goats are. We had no idea how the details would come together.

This afternoon, a small group of determined ladies decided to pray for the goats. Well, not pray for the goats, but for the purchase of them. In only a few short hours, God has answered their prayer, and within the next several days, those goats (or the families that receive them) will, indeed, be very happy.

What else happened today?

We had the privilege of worshipping with the Haitians in church tonight. It was so meaningful to see the joy of the Lord in the people as they worshipped, in spite of all that they’ve gone through. There were a couple older women waving their hands and dancing back and forth in front of their pews, and their celebration brought tears to the eyes of more than one team member.

The message, in a nutshell, was "stop complaining," be filled with the joy of the Lord, and "God is able." (Please tell Pastor Dan that he really ought to preach a little longer on Sunday mornings! We're rather fond of the two-hour church service.)

The children are beautiful! We’re enjoying every opportunity to be with them. As we walk through the community, small, partially-clothed children find us wherever we are and follow along. It's like an odd procession of the Pied Piper. The children are especially fond of our younger team members, Alex, Lydia, and Melissa. Probably because they don't bring out the "mother voice" when the children get out of hand like the rest of us are prone to do.

Day two...or maybe it's actually day one...was great!

P.S. Blanche wanted to mention that it's a toasty 28 degrees here. ;)

Total Assault

Port-au-Prince was nothing less than a total assault. Every sense was overwhelmed.

Heat and humidity, thick and fresh, greeted us when we first disembarked the plane. Fourteen of us entered the chaos of the customs building (shack is really a more accurate description) filled with excitement. We were greeted by Officer Price, who came from Haiti Arise to serve as security for our team.

Time passed, bags were slowly gathered and stacked, nerves took over and anxiety stepped in. Stale air, crowded with humanity, and being approached at every angle by someone who wanted to help with our luggage quelled our excitement somewhat. To add to the stress, we were informed that nothing less than a tip of $20 for the three men who helped us would suffice.

Eventually, shy just one bin (out of 28 pieces of luggage, total), we trekked through the front doors to be met by Chris and Marc Eddy from Haiti Arise. The outdoor breeze was refreshing, but the exhaust fumes it brought was not.

We drove for about three hours, dodging potholes, speed bumps, and other vehicles as if we were dropped straight into a game of Frogger. The crazy ride was both exhilarating and terrifying. We made it through with only one small fender bender…

Along the way, the sensual assault continued. At one moment the smell of rotting refuse and standing sewage was strong enough to elicit the gag reflex. The next, the smoke of burning trash choked out our chatter.

Children, so beautiful in their clean school uniforms with freshly bow-wrapped hair teemed in the streets. Some small ones walking hand-in-hand with Mommy or Grandma. Many walking in groups of two or three on their own.

The heartache brought on by the vision of acres of miniscule tent homes was soothed by the picture of dump trucks, shovels, wheelbarrows, and Haitian men hauling away the garbage lining the streets.

My meagre words cannot possibly do justice to this experience, so we’ll upload a post chalk full of photos later. Suffice it to say that it was more beautiful, more terrible, and more overwhelming than most of us expected.

Want to ask me which phase of culture shock/stress I’m in tonight?

A couple highlights…

Team leaders running late and forgetting the keys that would gain us access to the bins. (Yes, I am the half responsible for the oversight.) But team members with the skills necessary to break in and retrieve the imprisoned supplies.

Team members (Jim & Dolores) meeting up with a Haitian friend outside of the airport, giving him a care package, a hug, and prayers.

The fender bender. Well, the guys all found it pretty exciting. The girl sitting in the back right corner of the van, who saw a massive construction truck scraping up against the thin, metal fender that separated her from the huge truck – not quite as excited. (Yep, me again.)

Getting our “Welcome to Haiti” tour of Grand-Goave and encountering a number of children gathering water to bring home to their parents…Those children falling instantly in love with two beautiful young ladies (Alex and Lydia), holding their hands and skipping down the lane.

My most profound moment…

As we drove through the mass of humanity that makes up PAP, I was snapping photos of anything I thought our friends and prayer partners might be interested in. There were three handsome little boys walking along in their school uniforms. As I lifted the camera to my eye, I noticed them scowling at me and shaking their heads “no.” Before I clicked the shutter, their backs were turned.

In that moment, I felt terribly thoughtless, inconsiderate, selfish, and more. Here I was snapping photos of children living in devastating circumstances, completely violating their right to privacy. Showing myself for the true westerner I am…

Don’t worry, I did eventually stop beating myself up and began to snap more pictures. However, I paid close attention to the people around me and tried not to click the shutter when I got the “no” vibe from people.

Things I learned…

Siham speaks French with excellence and is a blessing for our team!

The children of Grand-Goave are nothing like the children of PAP when it comes to taking their picture. (Probably because these children are used to foreigners coming to their community.)

Although I claim I can eat mystery meat with confidence, the reality is that I can’t get it much past my lips. I’m not sure if it would be a help or hindrance to inquire of the amazing kitchen ladies.

Things change, and what you expect to happen probably won’t. For example, if you promise your children you will Skype them, you will probably not be allowed to use Skype and you will probably get in touch so much later than you intended that your children will need to be pulled out of bed.

There’s nothing like living with a group of people (even if only for 24 hours so far), to make you comfortable discussing personal issues such as bowel movements.

And that, my friends, is the thought I’ll leave you with today. ;)

Fill us up and Send us out, Lord

This past Sunday, we had the honor and privilege of being commissioned by our church family...



(Click on any of the photos to enlarge.)







(If you're reading via email, you may need to click through to the post in order to watch the video.)

Counting Down

Twenty-three sleeps. Three short weeks. Suddenly, it's very real. We're going to Haiti!

Here are some commonly asked questions…

When are you going? January 29 to February 9

What will you do there? To be honest, we don’t have a lot of specific details yet. (If you’ve ever been to Haiti or another “warm culture” climate, you’ll understand! Things move more slowly and can change at any moment.) What we know for sure is that we’re going to build relationships, to pray for the people and the country, and to serve Haiti Arise in whatever way they need. Chances are good there will be a building project, and we’ll likely work with children, too. (After all, we’ve got a team chalk full of construction/trades people and teachers!)

How can we help? There are three very important things you – our friends, family, and church family – can do:

#1 – Pray for us. We appreciate your prayers as we prepare, while we’re in Haiti, and even afterward. Please pray for team unity, for the faith and strength to persevere when things seem hard, for the work that we do in Haiti, and for the work that we expect God to do in each of our hearts. If you want to be kept up-to-date with our team, please subscribe to our team blog. (You can subscribe on the right, through email, a feedreader, or as a follower.)

#2 – Fill our bins. You’ll notice some Rubbermaid tubs in a couple locations throughout the church, just waiting to be filled. We will be taking items for the people of Grand Goave. Some ideas are: skipping ropes, deflated soccer balls, air pumps, first aid supplies, small containers for medicines and creams (i.e., old 35 mm camera film containers), school supplies (back packs, pencil cases, small water bottles, rulers, geometry sets, scientific calculators, crayons, small notepads/notebooks, coloured pencil crayons, pencils, blue and black pens, glue sticks), French/English dictionaries, Bibles in French and/or Haitian Creole, hygiene items (tooth brushes, hair brushes, etc.)…

#3 – Financial support. We are a large team, with a number of couples going together. It costs approximately $2,000 per team member to make this trip. If you feel called to support the team financially, there is still time! Please get your donations (marked “Haiti Outreach”) to the church office no later than Sunday, January 15^th. If you’d like your support to go toward a specific team member, please include a separate note indicating who (please do not write names on the cheque); otherwise, your support will be divided amongst the team members.

When are you being commissioned? Our team will be commissioned (sent out and prayed over by our church family) in all three services on January 8, 2012.

Will you tell us about your trip? Yes, we will! We don’t have a date, time, or location yet. But we have definite plans for a coffee/dessert time where we’ll share some of our experiences.

Our thanks go out to our friends, family, and church family, for supporting and encouraging short-term missions trips. We move forward fully expecting our lives and hearts to be changed!