The First Few Days in Haiti

 Hey, it’s Chan, blogging for the team tonight. I’ll try to sum up three days of non-stop action into one entry… and trust me, that is no easy task.

Day 1: Imagine a 6+ hour bus ride… 90+ degrees, no air, rock roads, and driving 60 mph on one lane roads with your life in the hands of a bus driver you have never met. To keep this short, that is basically what happened. But on that bus ride, I grasped what exactly it means to be a third world country. Whatever image you have about a third world country, throw it out the window. It’s worse than what you think (from a poverty aspect). However, it is so much better than I could have ever imagined (in terms of how nice the people are and how genuinely happy they are in absolute poverty).

Day 2: We survived our first night of mosquito and bed bug infested rooms and woke up to endeavor on a journey to Ansefalour, aka the Voodoo capitol of the world. We drove to a point where we climbed up a mountain to see a monument designated to voodoo. On the way up, you get the sense of how dedicated these people are to voodoo. On the way up, we passed three different altars of sacrifice. Whenever I saw this, I realized how serious these people need Christ. After getting to the monument, we prayed for the people of the town, and for Haiti as a whole. We left the monument, where we went to go eat at a restaurant. It was awesome. We held a VBS with kids afterwards on a soccer field. We had about 90 kids show up and it was quite an experience. After we had completed our trip to Ansefalour, we went back to the compound where we had dinner and night devotions.

Day 3: Let’s get one thing straight: Haitian worship is how worship should be. The church service was amazing, even though we couldn’t understand a “lick” of what they said.  Seeing these people so overjoyed about Christ, despite having absolutely nothing was amazing. Well, let me restate that: seeing these people overjoyed about, having EVERYTHING was amazing. They’re relationship with Christ was more important than anything else… We came to minister to them, and in turn, they have ministered to us. The rest of the day we spent hanging on the compound and enjoyed good games of soccer and rap battles with the “Bracelet Bandits”.

That’s about the shortest I can sum up all we have seen and done. We appreciate all of the prayers during this time. Pray as we travel to a different city tomorrow that God we give us traveling safeties and that the gospel would be taught.

Hey it’s Mark, Chan summed up what we have been doing as a group so I have decided to tell you all about what I have seen from everyone individually.  First, I just want to say I am really proud of the new people. Zeb, Chan, Hannah, and Elizabeth have really fit in and been a great servant for God. The five others that have been here, we definitely feel like celebrities, everyone knowing our names. We get the opportunity of building on relationships.

Zeb- he is the yes man. He cannot say no to anyone. So he has spent a bunch of money on bracelets. He says hi to everyone, and gives fist bumps to everyone he is close to.

Chan- he has really reached out to everyone. At the beginning of the trip, he would not go into the Miriam Center and would always stay around me. Today, he left and said he was going to the Miriam Center so that was awesome to see.

Hannah- she is starting to open up a lot to the boys especially. She is talking and hanging with the orphans so much and it is a blessing to see.

Elizabeth- she is so giving and has just an amazing heart. she talks to everyone and makes jokes with them. The kids absolutely adore her.

Shannon- as being her second time, everybody knows her. They all hang around her and hold her hand. She tries as much as she can to remember their names.

Me- last time I did not get to see gilbert because he was away. Today, he took my ipod and took a couple pictures. Then he turned on “our God is greater” and he sang with it which was just amazing.

Dad- he is the old man. All the kids look up to him and respect him.

Tore and Cameron- Cameron is doing her normal thing in the Miriam Center which is a God-given gift. Tore is speaking Creole and connecting with the kids once again.

They have not forgotten about Rodney, Lauren, Mary Kate, and Danielle. They ask about you all all the time. Eventually, everyone will being going places independently, and that is the best thing and when you really make relationships.

Side note from Cameron: Mom if you’re reading this, call my eye doctor and order 2 boxes of contacts please! (Sorry I forgot. Love you!)