It's been hard trying to figure out how to write about our trip to Haiti - it is no small, insignificant experience. I think I, Kait, must start by saying that I never expected to go to Haiti. Not that I didn't want to or refused to, it's just that I never had the opportunity and never pictured myself going, but this January Cody and I found ourselves there. Our whole experience has been hard to process because we barely had a chance to process what we were about to do before we left. Cody's dad was putting this trip together while we were in Italy and asked us if we were interested in joining him and Nancy and several other members of First Reformed in Sioux Center. We prayed about it for a few weeks and thought we sure didn't have much to tie us down, if we were going to keep traveling, now was the time! Since we were in Italy until Christmas we failed to mention to many people that we were planning to go to Haiti and we were only able to make it to one meeting. So seemingly without much thought or planning we took off to another country again!
We went with a group of 14 with a ministry out of Sioux Falls called Mission-Haiti (the dash is essential because there are TONS of missions to Haiti and several variations of that name) a woman named Pam started this ministry in Ti Rivier, "Little River" and she travels back and forth as often as possible, leading teams to help.
It was a long trip to Haiti, including a couple flights that led to a night spent in Florida, then a flight to Port Au Prince where we hopped on the bus that was donated to the mission for a six hour ride to the village where we would be staying. Pretty crazy road conditions... a little frightening at times but we had a great driver.
I wasn't sure what to expect and we didn't know a lot about what we were going to be doing exactly, but I knew that Haiti is among the poorest countries in the world, so I don't know, I must have thought that meant the country was a mud hole or something, so one of my first realizations was that the land was sooo beautiful (once you get past the tragic scenes of Port au Prince) Our village was not much affected by the earthquake and cholera had not been seen there yet. I also think the affect of Pam and the ministry being there was evident. Their way is much simpler, and though it is obvious that the people could use more necessities and things that would make their lives easier, but I have to say we shouldn't "pity" them so much. Who's to say their way is wrong and ours is so much better with all of our possessions and technology? We got to see the way the Haitians live in a simpler world and how they Love God and praise him better than we do with all of our blessings and comforts. Our brothers and sisters in Haiti have amazing hearts and spirits for the Lord and for working hard.
We did several different things for Mission-Haiti, but I have to say this is probably the first "mission" trip I've ever been on, all the rest would have to be called “work” trips. I think we all came to Haiti with our NW Iowa work ethic in gear and expected to do a lot of tangible work and feel the great sense of accomplishment we are accustomed to. So when we found ourselves asked to just “hang out” with the children at the orphanage or the schools or the young men and women that came for youth group every evening, we felt like we could be doing so much more to help. But this was real ministry, I think, for the first time in my life, it was more important to talk to and get to know the people on this trip than to build them something to have. - We did a lot of that too and they have many tangible needs, but there was a sort of still, quiet ministry that was so unlike anything I had ever experienced. There was more of a language barrier in Haiti than we ever had in Italy, so our conversational, relationship-building ministry was so hard and frustrating at times because you want to love them and learn about them but there are too many unfamiliar words getting in your way.
This is something I didn’t much prefer to talk about before our trip to Haiti, but voodoo and the like spiritual forces are something very present in the country and something we had to come in contact with a little bit. We had the opportunity to pray for a young girl Stairlahn (I have no idea how to spell Creole names so I’ll just type it how it sounds) who was demon possessed. And I must say that is the last situation I ever wanted to find myself in, but God gives you the kind of strength you need in order to feel His power over the situation and fills you with Love for the victim and a great desire to free her, at least that is how I felt and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as peaceful about such spiritual things before Haiti. It was hard to tell if we were able to help Stairlahn, nothing “freaky” really happened while we prayed for her and her family, but we will continue to pray that her own faith will bring her freedom very soon.
As far as those hands-on projects we helped with, the mission was nearly finished completing a new preschool buidling which some of our members helped with and did some painting there. Karsyn and I painted big, white sheets to be used as classroom dividers in the one-roomed building. Some members of our group poured cement for sidewalks on the mission property. We sorted a huge donation of several different soccer shirts from the city of Sioux Falls to be handed out at the school so their teams could have uniforms. We went on a couple long and scenic mountain hikes to visit schools, teach VBS-like lessons and hand out sponsor gifts. This meant for some careful and exhausted climbing, but totally worth it for the view of the land and the kids’ smiling faces. Cody even got to ride a "tap-tap" on the way back from one of these hikes. Tap taps are the very colorful vehicles that tend to be filled to over-flowing with passengers using their taxi-like service. I'm sure this was a crazy but exhilerating experience.
It was very easy to become excited about the work that is being done there, as far as short-term missions go, I was more affirmed than I have been on past trips. I felt like I was an essential piece of the puzzle in a working long-term ministry. The mission is progressive, they have many goals: from supplying hundreds of students with school uniforms, to already expanding their mission property to include more room for new ophange buildings. You can see how every donation and group that comes for a week, really helps the mission make steps toward completing these goals and minister to Haiti.
View our pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=280111&id=502812788&l=6049852d96
Historic Center of Florence
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