Waiting at Home
A hot shower, a great dinner with my brother and my family, a softball game,a huge stack of mail (including bills),over 200 unread emails, a long list of “to-do’s”, a messy house, a very happy dog, no food in the refrigerator (that’s edible), a warm bed, two beautiful children and two relieved grandparents.
This is what I returned to – some good, some more wonderful than words, some unpleasant. I feel swept up in the craziness of our hurry,hurry society and as I get ready to go to bed, I sort of miss crawling into my sleeping bag, under my mosquito net and reading my book by the light of my headlamp.
I pray that God will keep fresh the feelings and images that moved me this last week and that I remain open to hearing His Word for me as I re-enter a culture unlike most in the world.
What do you get when you add 5 Brazilians, A German, A Canadian, Some Americans and a whole bunch of Haitian Kids and Stir Well?
We had a great time at Pastor Absolon Joseph’s School on the way to drop most of the medical team off at the Airport. Corrie is staying for one more week, and we get joined by the Construction and Water team on Wednesday.
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Looking For a Person of Peace
Yesterday, TouchGlobal sent out the Brazilian team along with Sara Ambler into the communities surrounding our mission house with local translators to seek out the needs of our neighbors. Their goal was just to make connections and to better understand the area that this ministry is going to be calling home for at least the next five years.
I was at the house when they returned, finalizing the Bill of Materials for our water project after surveying the sites and making connections of my own and was invited to sit in on the summary session and debriefing. All of them found similar things, that the needs of the local community are similar no matter what direction you go. They need shelter (homes rebuilt), food, clean water and latrines. These needs were identified by the residents themselves, which was the goal of the teams, as they did a community-based needs assessment. It read like Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs except it was established by people who had never heard of such a thing, they themselves were living it and they never identified any needs beyond the most basic safety and security at the very bottom of the pyramid.
To be fair, these people were already living in a community, so many of their social needs were probably being met. Indeed many formal and informal social structures were identified in the various communities whether they were tent cities like “Bethel City” up the road or villages in several directions that sustained different degrees of damage during the earthquake.
Most impressive to me was the fact that Gis, one of the Brazilians told us that they specifically worked to identify who in the community was the “Person of Peace” in the community and they thought that it was probably their translator, Berni based on how he diffused tension around the team’s entering the village as well as another disagreement that arose.
When Jesus sent out the 70 to preach to Good News he told them: “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. … Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you. … Do not move around from house to house. … Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you,'”(Luke 10:5-9, NIV).
Finding and befriending the “person of peace” is one of the key concepts that is taught in the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class that our church has offered twice in the last few years. It is a great community builder to hear a believer from another hemisphere speak of pursuing the same goal when you are both 5000 miles from home and have to use translators to reach even a third group of people.
What a joy it is to serve with a mission team that is truly world-wide, serving in to bring the Gospel to Haiti through service. I am truly grateful to those of you who have been our senders and facilitators of this trip.
The Orphanage
Sometimes in our worship service, we sing a song that says “Break my heart for what breaks Yours”. Today I had my heart broken into a million pieces.
We started the day on a mini-tour of Port-au-Prince to see various neighborhoods and look at the damage from the earthquake. I had no idea how huge this city is! It’s just mile after mile of tiny houses. As the city rises up from the bay, the roads become steeper and steeper. Some houses are , some are huge. We actually saw some houses that were like something you would see in Del Mar perched on a cliff above the ocean. We were told that the rich of PaP live there.
There were millions of little vendors lining every street selling everything from fruits and shoes, clothing, medications – almost anything you could think of. People are changing tires, cutting hair, exchanging money, making phone calls with the Digicell vendors. They are these guys in red aprons that have wi-fi phones -they can add minutes to your phone, or you can use their phone to make a call.
Then we went to the orphanage. Before the earthquake, this orphanage had housed 130 children. But when the earthquake hit, 80 of those children died – the building pancaked, which is what all the buildings did. As we arrived, we walked through the gate and into the driveway where the children are living. We were greeted by children with smiles who ran toward us with open arms. Little ones as young as one or two wanted to be held. Older ones came a little more slowly, but eventually all of the children were playing on the swings and the one merry go round on the property.
It was eery to know that just a few hundred yards away, all of their little friends were buried in a concrete tomb that was once their home. Apparently in the weeks just after the earthquake the stench from that orphanage was almost unbearable. We didn’t smell anything other than dirty children. The children are in terrible health. Nearly every child had a chest rattle and cough. They have bad rashes and skin infections on their scalps, legs and arms. All of them are malnourished and have large, round, hard bellies – many have worms. I was struck both by the devastating conditions juxtaposed with the smiles of the children. They crave attention and affection. We spent about an hour and ½ just holding them and playing with them. There were two children there who had lost legs from the earthquake. One was a baby about 18 months old and a little girl about 8 who had lost her lower left leg. She still had bandages on which were filthy dirty. There were a few babies who were extremely ill and lethargic. They wanted to be held, but made no eye contact and could barely hold up their heads.
What really shattered me today was a little boy who glued himself to me for the entire time I was there. He was probably 2 but was the size of a 12 month old. He had an issue with his left eye, either a cataract or glaucoma, but it didn’t open fully. As we prepared to leave, I tried to put him down and he turned right around and put his arms around my thighs. This was the case with our entire team. As we walked away, the children were throwing themselves on the ground crying hysterically. We had to walk out the gate quickly, leaving them in their squalid conditions. Oh, how I wish I could have taken them with me. If the Haitian government had allowed it, I would have left with two children today. I know I was not alone in this thought.
I want desperately to help these children in some way. The thing that made me the most sad was that these are only a few (30 some children) of thousands orphaned in Haiti. It’s overwhelming to say the least. I know God will use this in the lives of those who visited the orphanage today. I don’t know how he will use it in mine. All I know is that my heart is desperately broken for the things that surely must break His.
Please pray for Cassie – she has been very sick all day today with some kind of gastrointestinal illness. She stayed home and took it easy but is still feeling ill. Tomorrow we all travel home – I’m sad to be leaving. It has been an amazing trip. I know that I will come back, soon!
Waiting….
“I’m just waiting for …” filling in this blank is easy in Haiti. Medicine, vehicles, cell phone cards, food, water, information, electricity, a breeze. Waiting comes easy, there is no option. Patience does not come easily to many of us from the rest of the world. Ministry to places like this requires the cultivation of certain self-disciplines that you don’t even consider when you are at home.
When I pray for patience under normal circumstances, I am thinking about patience at work, or at home with my children or family, Patience to endure a few moments of some inconvenience, or irritation without becoming too intolerable myself.
Patience under the circumstances here requires more than endurance, it is obedience, trust and faith all rolled into one. Obedience to the call that we are responding to, trust that we will be able to live up to the commitments we have made and that others, some of whom we have met only very recently will also live up to theirs.
Finally patience here requires faith, and lots of it. I have got to have faith that I have responded to the right call, so it requires a little faith even in myself to continue to listen well to the One who continues to speak to me. My faith in God to provide is not shaken, His provision is amazing and we see it everyday here, how he has continued to provide what is needed, when it is needed.
Many of us here are in worldy roles as strategic thinkers and planners, so sometimes there are conversations that start with “You know what we need is….” or “We could really use a….” Those conversations are good, and we are using them to build request lists, and forward them to you who support us, and who are coming after us.
I have to resist the temptation to out-strategize God, and remind myself that we are here now, as part of His strategic purpose for not only the nation of Haiti, but the world.
We learned this Haitian proverb last night from our Creole Teacher: “Piti Piti Zwazo fe nich li”
Translated to: “Little by little the bird does it’s nest”
There’s a lot of truth in this…
A Visit to a School with a Powerful Friend
The water station at the end of our street.
The road to Obinson Joseph’s school was once dirt. It still is partially dirt, but is being slowly covered in the relatively large debris of the collapsed homes that used to line the dirt lane. The homes are being demolished brick by brick, and stone by stone into pieces about the size of an orange. Local residents are doing all of this work, by hand with sledgehammers.
This is part of a program by the government to get Haitians back to work and to revitalize the economy. My understanding before I left the US was that this work was going to pay the equivalent of about $5 dollars a day. I tried to get a photo of some of this going on, but the workers on the one house wouldn’t let me take the photo without paying, the price kept changing, but it started at $10. Haitian, or US, I don’t know but it would have been pretty pricey relative to a days wage. It’s bad ministry and would have gotten me on the next flight home per TouchGlobal policy.
We met with Rick, a retired missionary who had known Obinson for 20 years before he retired. Rick is back volunteering to rehabilitate the well at Obinson’s school which was decimated by the earthquake. Not one of the two story school buildings, where 800 students were educated and discipled will remain standing, The second story of all of them was destroyed, but class was being held in one of the 3 walled classes as we surveyed the water project.
Several of the wells that we’ve encountered seem to be full of silt, sand and dirt, this one was no exception, and Rick was raising the pump in 4 foot increments from it’s original depth of 65 feet in an attempt to keep it from fouling and being destroyed.
I can only imagine if you took a fishtank and shook it up and let it settle that might be what the aquafer would be like all around this area so near the epicenter of the January 12 earthquake and all of the aftershocks.
We also encountered a fairly high ranking member of the Canadian Army who showed up to take photos of the school and to meet with Obinson. After he left, Obinson came up with a huge smile, and hands clasped to tell Rick “We’ve got the attention of the most powerful man in the world, Barack Obama” He’s told the UN about us and they’ve told the Canadians to come and help us out with demolition. They will bring their equipment next week to start!”
There are signs like this all over.
These faithful believers, ministering to little children, in a small country on a little island, in a corner of the Caribbean – which in reality most of us had forgotten has now gotten the attention of the world.
I do pray that the world does not forget, and that I don’t forget. I am convicted that I am a forgetful person, of the places that I have forgotten as well …. I know that my heart is not broken by what breaks God’s heart, because it was not broken for Haiti on January 11.
Another Day in Haiti
A day of hot and frustrating. That was today. We returned to the clinic this AM as we have done the last 3 days. The American physician who we have been working with was ill all last night and didn’t arrive until 9:00am which left us with a mob of anxious people who wanted to be seen. Once we started clinic, it seemed like it was one rash or eye problem after the next. Many children must sleep on the street and as a result end up with many strange rashes and bumps. These are also the children who are the most ill. People also have many eye issues. In addition to needing glasses (which we cant provide, do not have) many people have painful, itchy eyes due to all of the dust and debris. People here burn everthing to get rid of it – there is always the smell of smoke/burning in the air.
The saddest case today was a little girl of 3 who came in with her aunt. She had a huge swelling on the left side of her face – about the size of a golf ball. It was red, hot and very painful. The physician wanted to do an incision and drainage of this infection – getting all of the infection out is critical since this is so close to her brain (by proximity). When she heard that she needed “surgery” (not really a surgical procedure but to Haitians, any cutting is surgery) she said that the Mother does not want her to get operated on. We tried to explain the procedure again and how important it would be but the Mother said no. The aunt left with the child and said she would try talk to the Mom and come back. We never saw her again.
I pray that the things we are doing are helpful. There are not the right medicines, very few tools and lots and lots of sick ones. We are giving medicines that are no longer given in the US. All of the team has played an active role in the clinic. Today, Carrie finished her huge organization project of all the medications that had been sent from around the globe (many are not useful in this setting). Cassie was the shot nurse today and gave injections and started IV’s. Cori became a history taker and medication prep person. Sarah helped with triage at the front door and learned lots of Creole phrases. I spent another day as Dr.’s helper. It’s been a challenge. The doctor is a little difficult to work with and gets frustrated easily with me. So, I have had to use my 20 some years of Dr. diplomacy skills. When those don’t work, I just try to hold my tongue. Ah, what are you going to do? She is working hard to try to do the best for the patients.
We had Creole lessons tonight! I learned how to say My name is Chris
“MWen” Rele Chris”
We love you all and miss everyone at home. We cannot thank you enough for your prayers and your support – we feel it continuously!
Haitian Life and Ministry
We got a taste of both life and more ministry today, the nursing team returned to Light Ministries and treated another 100+ patients with 2 doctors. Carrie helped to categorize and organize all of the donated supplies that have poured in since the earthquake from around the globe. Medicines have come in containers in all shapes and sizes, with little organization and in every language imaginable. It was a total pharmaceutical Tower of Babel. Now physicians and nurses know what is available, and where to find it. Chris and the doctors continued to treat patients for conditions that they have only read about in textbooks like mumps, a variety of worms, fungi, and the same -itis’s and otis’s that Chris described yesterday. Cassie spend the day screening patients and learning Creole from her new friends. Cori and Sara continue to deliver all the treatments ordered anything from ear irrigation to draining wounds and praying for comfort and healing.
I “spent my day running around Port-au-Prince.” We visited two pastors who are partners with TouchGlobal. Pastor Absolon Joseph and Pastor Heder, both of these men have developed holistic ministries to the neighborhoods that the live in and have a real heart for the Lord. What a blessing to be a part of those discussions! I also had a last minute meeting with a pastor from Jesus in Haiti Ministries right in the Missions Aviation Fellowship terminal. We basically drove right along the tarmac and up to the back of the terminal and behind the terminal. The rest of the day was spend going to two hardware stores looking for supplies for various projects. One called Eko Depot is a dead ringer for Home Depot, down to the uniforms and the font on the signs. The other called AB Hardware is a dead ringer for ACE Hardware. Both take an immense amount of time to buy anything from their very, very willing and helpful staff who are burdened by some process that is totally undecipherable.
Everyone is exhausted at the end of the day, when we gather around the table with a whole different kind of short term team than we’ve ever served with. Many of the people in the house are career missionaries who are recently retired or are TouchGlobal staff. Some here are moving from one extended assignment to another. We are truly honored to be sent by our churches, friends and family to be serving and representing Christ in Haiti for such a time as this.
Thank you for your prayers and your support. We are so aware of being prayed for while we are here!
Jeff
First day of Medical Ministry
This morning we loaded up into a pickup truck and we set out for the clinic in Carrefour (pronounced Car – foo). We arrived on a busy, dirty street and were greeted by a huge crowd of people waiting for the clinic to open. Once inside we were oriented to our posts and the flow of the clinic. We worked with a team from another ministry. Everyone took their posts – Cassie did triage and intake, Carrie did medication prep and organization, Corrie and Sara filled prescriptions, gave injections and started IV’s! Chris did more detailed histories and physicals and worked with the MD to prescribe meds/teach. We were all super busy.
The patients we saw today had a multitude of problems. Headaches, stomachaches, pain in their back, fevers, runny noses, asthma, wounds, vaginal infections and even worms! One of the most amazing things was how patient these people were and how grateful they were for the care provided. We all hated leaving at the end of the day – there was still a line of those who had waited many hours. We definitely saw and felt God at work as we talked with, prayed with and laughed with these patients. Some we could fix with a shot or a bandaid, some we could only refer on and pray with. There were medications for some, none available for others. Only two doctors to work with but we saw over 150 patients. It felt to me as though God really used us in a multitude of ways – we are really looking forward to going back tomorrow!
We are Here!
We finally arrived yesterday in Port-au-Prince – Praise God we are here. We were met by our hosts and whisked off on a whirlwind tour of PaP before we headed out to Gressier where we are staying.
The devastation is hard to put into words – people everywhere, living on medians in small tents, living in large tent villages. Tarps have been placed over existing structures to make shelter. The people watch you drive by with big, hollow eyes that ask “Why are you here? What are you doing?” It made me feel very self concious as we drove around in our nice vehicle outfitted in the latest REI clothing and gear while thousands walked without shoes or appropriate clothing.
Many people were selling things on the street, everthing from a woman carrying handfuls of bra’s to vendors selling medications, food, water, mango’s, corn, rice and beans.
As we got closer to our destination, you could see the water of the bay/ocean. The buildings became more spread apart. Our neighborhood is rural with plots of land between houses where people are growing crops.
We finally arrived at the house. It is so much nicer than I imagined. It’s a large, 2 bedroom house with two bathrooms and a shower in each (cold water only). The people who have been here are wonderful. There are young missionaries from New Orlean’s (Katie) and Galveston as well as Thelma, a retired missionary from the Congo and Steve a missionary for 20 years in Brazil. The house manager, Trinity, is a young woman headed for a long-term mission assignment in Rome in a few months.
Our team is doing great! Tomorrow we head out to a clinic to see what we can do to help. Apparently the Red Cross is handling the most sick/ill patients, but many Haitians need normal care and treatment. We don’t know exactly what we will be doing but we are ready, willing and able!
Jeff and I will post later today about our days and the worship experiences we had. Love to all (especially Joseph and Jessica)!
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