Haiti Missions Trip
February 2013
Once again Christian Mission to Restore Haiti had a blessed
experience ministering to our Haitian brothers and sisters. Pastor Andre, Melissa and I spent 8 days in
Cap-Haitien at Pastor Andre’s house and travelled from there to the other
locations.
Monday February 4
(first day)
I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 11PM on Sunday night. I knew that if I waited until 1 AM to leave
home, I would be very sleepy driving across Alligator Alley from Naples. I tried to sleep for a few hours in my truck,
but I couldn’t, so I took the shuttle to the airport, arriving a 2 AM. The plane was scheduled to leave at
5:30. As it is with most, if not all
things dealing with Haiti, the airline, IBC, which is an American owned company
that operates in Haiti, operates on Haiti time, which means it may or may not
be on time. It wasn’t. We were 4 hours late taking off. We had to stop in Exuma, Bahamas for
refueling due to the weight of the aircraft, a two engine propeller plane. We arrived about 1 PM. Pastor Andre met Melissa and me at the
airport and immediately suggested that we go to Mont Joli, an American hotel,
for something to eat. Good idea. I had
been up since 7 AM Sunday and was not feeling too chipper. We did and then went to Pastor Andre’s house
in the middle of Cap-Haitien.
That afternoon we met with the nurses who operate our
medical clinic in Dubre. They have been
very patient while waiting for the clinic building to meet all of the Haitian
government’s standards – which mainly means plastered walls and paint, dead-locks
on doors, bathrooms, a well (which we drilled in July) and a wash room. They have all been completed. We decided the clinic would reopen on
Thursday this week.
We needed to resupply the clinic with medicines, so we gave
Methelus, our in country administrator, the money needed for him and the nurses
to buy enough medicine to get started again. We decided that a $10 Haitian fee
would be charged to all patients. There
are approximately six Haitian dollars to one American dollar, so it would cost
the patient about $1.40 U.S. per consultation.
The charge for any medicine dispensed will depend on our cost to buy
it.
Also, the nurses are in desperate need of support. We must not only provide their transportation
to Dubre but also give them living expenses.
On a motorcycle, the preferred mode of travel, it takes about a half
hour to get from Cap-Haitien to Dubre.
The road is worse than anything you have seen in the USA. In a car, it takes an hour, shaking your body
down to the bones. You are exhausted
after that trip. The nurses agreed to go
there each day for $600 Haitian per month ($100 U.S.) plus their travel
expenses of $600 per month. As you can
imagine, this figure is far below the expected income for a professional nurse
(between 2,500 and 4000 Haitian dollars per month), but they are Christian
ladies and their hearts are tender to the needs in Dubre, which is the most
medically needy village we minister to. They
are willing to sacrifice to go there and serve the needy. If you are at all sensitive to this need,
please give what you can for their monthly support. Please make any support a monthly commitment,
for their needs are ongoing. But, if a
one-time gift is what you want to do, then we will gratefully receive that.
We had a second meeting with them that evening to iron out a
few more details. By 9 PM I was ready
for some much needed sleep.
Tuesday
In the morning we headed off for Bas Limbe (pronounced BAA’ (short
“A” sound) lim bee) to check on construction work we were doing on the
church. The church walls have been in
need of plastering. For about 25 years
it has just been rough cinder block walls.
The men were working on them when we arrived.
School was in session there and the administrator, Felix,
immediately greeted me with a question regarding needed support for the school.
He was under the impression that since we took pictures of the school in July
it automatically means money is coming.
I tried to explain to him that taking pictures does not mean money is
going to flow into the school. I told
him that we are waiting for support to come in and cannot at this time send
money. We have many other projects
underway and that any money people give is given from a heart that God has
touched to give. Since they are under
extreme economic stress, they do not understand that America is experiencing
economic pressures at this time. I
understand completely why he feels this way and sympathize with him and his
concerns.
And, yes, we in America do have so much more than they
have. The videos I have posted on my
youtube channel (pjnaples) does not adequately show the desperate conditions
there. You must see it with you own eyes
to understand it. When you do see it,
you will never again criticize them for what they do. I know that some of you have seen the poverty
in third world countries first hand, especially in you have served in the
military or have been on mission trips.
After our visit with the church, we set off to visit a
medical clinic on the beach in Bas Limbe.
We had to drive through a stream that crossed the road and there was a
question as to safety, but the bus made it with no problem. The driver headed down the beach and about
ten men came running out waving their hands to stop, but it was too late. We were stuck. We could not move either forward or backward. Thankfully, the men pushed us out
backward.
We then walked the beach to the clinic. Melissa fell in love with the area. I said “Gee, this looks just like a Caribbean
island…Oh! That where we are, isn’t it?”
Directly across the bay was Labadee, the area that is owned by Royal
Caribbean Cruise ships. If you ever go
there, you can easily see the beach we were on.
The clinic gave us a tour and a few pointers, then we headed back to
Cap-Haitien.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning was uneventful. We had reserved the day for the Cap-Haitien
Health Network meeting at the King Christophe Hotel. This is the reason we had postponed our
scheduled January trip until February.
Dr. Ted Kaplan, who Melissa contacted via email several months ago
regarding our clinic in Dubre and whom Pastor Andre and I met in Naples a few
months ago leads this network of doctors, nurses and other health professionals
in the Cap-Haitien area. He is an
American doctor who travels to Haiti several times per year to help there.
Since Carnival was being held in Cap-Haitien this year, with
an expected influx of over a million additional people to the already
overcrowded conditions there, the cholera potential was raised
considerably. This problem, along with
other health issues, were addressed.
Thursday
We travelled to Dubre to reopen the clinic. As we got close
to the church, some children saw our bus and began to jump up and down. Dubre is a special village. The people there are very tender toward us
and show enthusiasm when we come. They
have had the same pastor for 27 years.
Pastor Lucien is a Godly man who is dedicated to God and to serving his
people.
In July we drilled a much needed well there that has
adequately served their village of 4,000.
We witnessed many people pumping water and carrying it away. Also, it is the first place we chose to build
and supply a medical clinic.
Thursdays mornings in Dubre are set aside for fasting and
praying. The church had a group of
people gathered who were singing and praying.
Each week someone different leads the group with songs and prayer. They would sing a few songs, pray out loud,
sing some more, pray, etc. This
continued all the time we were there.
The sign painter was putting the finishing touches on the
name of the clinic. It is painted the
official color of all clinics that are authorized by the government. That shows all people that we are registered
with and approved by the Haitian government.
It gives us significant credibility.
While Melissa was videoing the clinic, she saw a
spider. The following link shows her
reaction while the church kept on singing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Rz4p2ckEY
Fred, our technology expert, could not travel with us this
trip due to health issues. Pastor Andre
announced this to the church and he led those present in prayer for Fred. Here is the video of the prayer for
Fred. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45jwxXFH6FE
After the prayer we walked to Pastor Lucien’s house to see
if he was ready to plant some seeds that we brought for gardens. We are attempting to teach the people the
importance of growing their own food and how to do it. Several months ago Melissa sent instructions
to them for making a compost heap to mix with the soil. Pastor Lucien had his heap and his garden
ready for planting. We supplied three
villages with hand tools for planting and enough seeds for a great harvest of
vegetables.
On the way back to the city we stopped at an orphanage that
Melissa had contacted. They have been in
Cap-Haitien for 25 years and have an average of 47-62 orphans at any given
time. A young couple from Tennessee are
running it now. They are to be commended
for their dedication to serving in a hard environment, one which most Americans
would not even consider doing.
Friday
We met with many of the leaders of the churches for another
seminar on leadership. The concept of
Biblical leadership has been foreign to them.
The Haitian way is every man for himself. We are teaching them the Biblical way. They are receptive when they hear how God
wants them to lead, but many times they forget.
So we keep reiterating it to them.
It is beginning to sink in.
Saturday
The institute met at 8 AM for prayer with most of the
students present. One pastor had an
emergency that he had to attend to and two others could not be there for other
reasons. Overall, the institute is
progressing well. There are a few minor
problems, but Pastor Samuel, our institute professor is a well trained teacher
and pastor and is doing a great job.
They are currently studying the book of John with emphasis on the I AMs
of Jesus. There are several other
pastors and leaders who do want to join our program but we are holding off
admitting anyone else until finances make it possible. We do not charge any tuition; it is totally
free. Should you sense a burden to help with the
institute, your monthly support is greatly needed and appreciated.
Sunday
At 8 AM Melissa was taken to the airport to catch her plane
back to Ft. Lauderdale and eventually Kennebunk, Maine where 3 feet of snow was
waiting for her. After dropping her off
we went to the church in Cap-Haitien where I preached the morning service. We hurried off to Dubre where I preached
again at 11. At each service the people
were enthusiastic in the worship and in their “amening” the sermon. A preacher always like to hear an “amen” when
he preaches. It demonstrates that he is
getting through to the congregation.
The church lingered for additional music and praying as we
boarded the bus for Cap-Haitien, the sounds of music drifting through the open
windows as we slowly left the church.
Dubre church is a wonderful place to worship. Come and see on our next trip.
What I have not told you yet is that Pastor Andre had been
sick all week with a cough and stuffy nose and headaches. He was feeling miserable the entire week. I was scheduled to preach again Sunday evening
in Cap-Haitien, but due to him not feeling well, we did not go.
Monday
Nothing was scheduled for today, but early in the morning
Pastor Samuel showed up and I had several hours to get to know him much better
as we sat on the roof of Pastor Andre’s house.
About 1 o’clock I suggested that we all go to Mont Joli for something to
eat. I had been eating MREs every day
and needed something different.
Driving to and from the hotel took 5 times longer than
normal because of Carnival that was being held in Cap-Haiten this year. There were between 2 and 2.5 million people
crowded into the city for this 5 day party that has its roots in voodoo. At one intersection, we could not navigate
through for 15 minutes due to the crowd of people and vehicles. There was literally not a square foot of
available space to occupy that was not taken up by someone. Voodoo still has a hold on so many here, but
the Lord is breaking that stronghold in many.
Please pray for continued evangelism among the people here.
Tuesday
Our driver was supposed to pick us up at 8 AM to take us to
the airport for our flight home, but at 8:30 we called him to find out why he
was not here. His bus would not start,
so we had him call a cab for us, which he paid for out of his earnings for the
week since we were paying him for 8 full days.
I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Pastor Andre, who stayed until Friday, was
not allowed through the security because he did not have his passport with him,
so he went back home.
As you can imagine, we have many and varied needs that you
can help in supplying. See our web site www.cmrh1.org for further information.
I was grateful, as always, for how God worked in and through
us to serve others. I again offer you
the opportunity to come and see what God is doing in our mission. Our next trip is scheduled for July. You just might be blessed more than you can
imagine.
