Normal

Today might be the first day that has felt normal since January 12.  While the random days have been interesting and have crossed my path with many people I wouldn’t have otherwise crossed paths with, it was nice to have what felt like a ‘normal’ day. 

There were a few projects at the Guest House that needed to be tended to; a few window screens to fix, a few shelves to add, a few pieces of furniture to rescue from falling apart.  We didn’t have any guests there and didn’t expect any for several days (and the influx of random travelers seemed to be drawing to a close) so today was a good day to get some things done. I met Ti Louie, the carpenter, at 8am (read: 8:45am Haitian time) and needed to stay on site while he and his assistant worked.  While they worked, I cleaned and reorganized.  We have a food pantry that has two refrigerators and shelves for food.   As pieces have been added over the years, the room, which is very small, has become quite crowded and disorganized.  While the guys sawed, and sanded, and hammered and screwed, I emptied and scrubbed and reorganized, all morning long.  As I pulled cans and bottles off shelves, and rearranged the room, the sound of a saw filled the air.  It was a sound that most times would mean little more than a busy Saturday morning taking care of all the projects the week didn’t have time for.  But today, it was the sound of that which is mundane, and trivial, and normal.  And today the significance of normal was understood.  

Jenn was in Cayes this weekend visiting some other friends and so she came over this afternoon and we sat on the couch and ate sandwiches and played with her new phone and caught up on this weeks news.  One night last week, I asked Jenn, if she could have imagined that we’d ever be together laying on mattresses outside, under a tarp, after an earthquake, in Haiti?  While that moment was poignant in one way, today was just as poignant in another way.  It was poignant in the kind of way that reminds you that everything is moving towards being OK.  Its the kind of moment that reminds you that even after everyone has moved back inside, and life returns to a slightly more normal pace there will always be moments like this.  Afternoons on a couch, with a good friend, who just ‘get's’ you. 

And the morning and afternoon were the first normal day.   

Port

I’ve been back from Port for two days now and these past two days have been jam packed. And random.  But what day hasn’t been random sinc

e January 12th?  Every day is unlike the day before and everything you think is going to happen one way, doesn’t.  But aside from some of the expected stresses that go along with a crisis like this, I rather enjoy the randomness.  When each day starts we have no idea what its going to look like and at the end of each day we realized it looked like nothing we expected.  C’est la vie. 

I’m not making a long post tonight.  I’m just going to post some pics that I took while we were in Port on Tuesday.  All of the photos I took can be found at the Reciprocal Ministries Picasa Website, here. And while there may be many tragic things still unfolding in Port, let me encourage you to see these pictures through eyes that catch a glimpse of life moving forward, life moving on; you can’t see it in all the pictures but in many of them, you see a glimpse into the future that shows that in the midst of tragedy, the Haitian people as a whole are resilient and strong.  What pauses them for a day will eventually be what presses them forward for a lifetime. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking up

It’s Monday morning.  I’ve been in Christianville since early Friday morning.  I really don’t have much to report.  I didn’t sleep Thursday night since I had so much to do to try and get everything together to leave at 3am.  I was beyond exhausted when I got here so when Jenn went to work I took a nap.  I don’t exactly know what I expected before I arrived but whatever it was I’m not sure this is it.  They were busy in the clinic on Friday but in general the area has been pretty quiet. Friday afternoon, I helped put together a few food kits, which where given out to senior citizens in the area, something they do here regularly, even before the quake.  Beyond that, its been a pretty slow this weekend.  One of the missionaries, Sandy, commented yesterday, this was the first chance since the quake, they’d had time to even think about slowing down. 

Most of their buildings collapsed so most of the missionaries have rescued a few things from the former apartments and are now living out of their Guest House, just a few yards down the road.  They each have their own room and bathroom but only one couple is actually sleeping indoors.  Most of them sleep outside on mattresses on the front porch underneath a tarp, one sleeps in a small tent just outside the porch area, and one family sleeps outside, in their own front yard.  They are still experiencing small aftershocks, sometimes several a day, and so most of them feel more comfortable sleeping outside at night.  I’ve slept outside with them.  Its actually been quite comfortable. Jenn said they’ll probably do it for another week or so and then will move to their individuals rooms inside.  We’ve felt a number of small aftershocks since I’ve been here, little tremors that only last a few seconds.  Its a little unnerving for me; I can only imagine how it must be wearing on their souls as this has become a way of life.  Sleeping outside has to be getting exhausting too.  Its been fine for me, but I’ve only done it for three nights now.  Right now for them, it a choice.  Once they feel more like things have settled, they will move back inside.  I can’t help but think though of the hundreds of thousands of people who have no choice, who have no place to return to.  In general, in Haiti, your house is your life’s savings.  Any money you may have had was probably put into building your house.  Even those with steady jobs have little to no cash reserve.  Now many of those who had steady jobs no longer have them, so what does the future look like for them?  I imagine it looks the same as it does for those who didn’t have money to start with.  Sleeping on mattresses pulled out to the street under a tarp made of sheets, or in a tent in a field with others who may or may not be extended family. 

I went to the Leogane market on Saturday with Jenn, Pat and Ed.  They commented that it wasn’t as busy as usual but it was still busy.   Fruits and veggies, and spices, and butchered animals abounded. Vendors with rice, and beans, and ground corn sold their wares at reasonable prices.  On our way back we drove through more of the Leogane area.  House after house, business after business was completely demolished.  Building after building flattened building, the only words I could speak were “wow”, over and over again because, really, are no words adequate enough.  Yet, in the midst of all the destruction, proof of life was all around.   Cars passed, people came and went, children played.  I have seen piles of cement blocks stacked in front of former buildings as people salvage building materials.  I have seen families digging through the rubble to salvage what they can find to start life again.  What can they do?  What can anyone do?  Life has to move on.  You grieve what you’ve lost.  You hurt and bleed.  You question and even fear.  And then slowly, one day at a time, one block at a time. one moment at a time you march forward.  However slowly it may be, you march forward.

Here, in Christianville, life too goes on; a lawnmower hums, the washing machine runs, the house ladies chatter, birds chirp, and the baby of one of the missionary families coos.  The smell of fresh baked bread wafts through the air.

Its still so hard to imagine what life in Haiti will look like in the future.  While things here appear on the mend, there are still hundreds of thousands dead, missing and/or homeless.  There are probably thousands and amputees that will now face life in a broken country with no provisions of that sort.  Orphans roam the streets, the sick bleed, the hungry stand in line and everyone wonders what’s next.  But the thing we have to hold to as Christians, as people who believe in the sovereignty and graciousness of a merciful God, is this;  Haiti has not been forgotten.  We have not been forgotten.  The cries of God’s people have risen from the rubble and God has heard the prayers.  It is God and God alone who can redeem and restore and I pray that as a community of believers, we will put our hope and our faith in that.  It is not the UN, or the Haitian Government, or the US army, or any other army for that matter than can redeem and restore us.  So let us hold fast to that.  Let that breathe life back into a dying land, an impoverished people, a broken spirit. 

Let that cast our gaze upward. 

Last Minute Plans

Today was another busy day.  It was a day full of hurrying up to wait, and then rushing to make up the time.  C’est la vie.  That’s life; especially in these days. 

And guess what?  No update.  Sorry.  I had actually started it hours ago, and then……got busy…and now, I’m making last minute plans to go spend a few days with my friend Jenn in Christianville for a few days. I just felt like it was something I needed to do.  She mentioned that she could really use family or close friends near to her.  We’ve been friends for many years.  Truth be told, while I’ve got friends here and people I love dearly (the McLaughlins, a couple of the staff guys are good friends, a couple others) at the end of the day, I come home alone.  So I’ve been lonely too.  I think it’ll do me some good to spend some time with her as well.  I told her I could do whatever; take out trash, throw away stuff, whatever would help.  Hopefully I’ll be a blessing and not a burden. 

Right now, they’re still sleeping on mattresses outside under tarps.  They do have food and drinking water and I’m taking some stuff for them too.  I’m taking extra snacks and juice for me (I’m Type 1 diabetic) and extra diabetic supplies so I’ll be fine.  I’m not really sure what to expect other than that. 

I am so looking forward to seeing her but I’m not particularly looking forward to leaving again at 3am.  But, sometimes you only get two choices.  Do it when you can or don’t do it at all.  Gary’s going into Port again tomorrow.  That’s the reason this all came together so quickly- I just had the idea a couple nights ago and then Gary made plans to go in to Port tomorrow. I’ll be riding in with him.  Not exactly sure when I’ll come back but looks like it’ll be Monday, maybe Tuesday at the latest.  Enough people are now coming and going that I’ll be able to catch a ride with one of the missionaries if not one of our guys. 

Our water here on my hill has been out for almost a week; well, we’ve had water but the water pump was broken so its been as good as useless.  It came back on this afternoon but no one was here when I got back from today’s activities so I didn’t know until it was too late to do laundry.  Since we have to line dry everything AND the washing machine is right outside Beth’s room (and the door and windows are only made of screen) so I can’t do it now.  It’s been a while since I’ve done laundry so I might smell a little funny. But hey, whatever.  Nothing a little Febreeze can’t tackle!

I should have internet access there. She’s been on fairly regularly.  Hopefully I’ll be around to throw out a quick update.  But if you don’t hear from me, don’t be afraid.  I’ll get to the internet when I can.

I look forward to the next few days.  They won’t be easy though, I imagine.  Many things in life aren’t easy, but they’re the right thing to do.  I feel like this is the right thing to do and where God leads, His provisions accompany. 

A Night Off

I keep promising a more comprehensive update.  I shall fail to deliver yet once again.  I realize I keep saying I am exhausted but the reality is, I am.  Tonight is Wednesday night.  The missionaries have a Wednesday night Bible Study.  I normally go when I am in Cayes, but tonight I opted out.  I’ve been exhausted since I returned to Haiti on January 5.  The first two days I was back, I had major planning to do for events that would occur over the next three weeks.  I was up way too late (sometimes 2 or 3am) and then up early the next morning. Then I was out with the team; one night I couldn’t sleep because of the goats, dogs, and roosters another night it was the dog, locked in the dining room, right next to my room.  The walls were not finished and so only went up maybe 8 feet.  There was lots of empty space between the top of the wall and the ceiling which meant plenty of opportunity to hear the dog screaming and yelping and crying at top volume.  He finally got released around 12:30am.  And then there was the night that we were awakened at midnight by the shaking and then at 3:30am by the Pastor. 

The things that I lost sleep planning for never happened.  Instead, we had an earthquake.  Since then, days have been backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways.   And I’m just tired.  I have no reason to complain.  I’m just stating the facts.

Things are OK here in the city for the moment.  Nothing major to speak of that I know of, but sometimes I feel very sheltered here on the mission center and have to rely on what others in the area share.  I have heard nothing note worthy. 

I went and spent a little time at the hospital today.  I saw Fernel he looks good and is holding up OK.  I heard he may be going home soon.  I am happy to hear that for his sake, but will miss his sweet face greeting me when I walk in his “room”.  My roommate Beth works at the hospital and has befriended him as well.  He asked her today if she would bring him home- to live.   I also spent some time with my little friend.  I have to admit and apologize, I suppose for, something.  I had her name wrong.  Sometimes it’s really hard to understand and remember what they say because the names are so different.  I saw the name Molienne on her entrance papers but apparently someone had written her mother’s name where the patients name should go.   Today, I asked her dad to write her name down for me, just to make sure I was spelling it right and he wrote "Migline” and I heard him call her mother, Molienne.  I am glad God knows who we’ve been praying for.  She was supposed to have surgery today but when I made it to her bed to visit this afternoon she had yet to have the operation and her mom and dad didn’t know when it would be.  Her mom told me it was to help close up the wound so it could heal better.  If she had the surgery this afternoon, I imagine she’s in a lot of pain.  My friend Rita was there, too.  She’s holding up OK but is also in a lot of pain.  She’s in a partial body cast.  I hadn’t seen the torso part until today.  My friend Peterson was there as well.  His head is still quite swollen and painful but his arm appears to be going down a little bit.  The Dr. told his mom there was no internal head injury so there was nothing they could do but wait. 

Lots of food and medicine is still coming into the area and its gone almost as quickly as it comes in.    There’s so much need, its hard to comprehend and I’m sitting here somewhere in the middle of it all.

I was going to try and go to bed early tonight.  Looks like that could still happen.  Actually, I think I’ll make it happen.  I’ll try again tomorrow with more news from the past few days activities. 

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  They are coveted beyond my ability to express that to you.   God bless. Or as they say in creole; Bondye beni ou.  

Prayer Requests 1-25-10

The last few days have been extremely busy from sun up to sun down.  I’m trying to find the time to write a more comprehensive update b/c the last few days have been random and busy but God has done some cool things and I’ve met some interesting people and made some new friends.  But all the details of that will have to wait. 

For this evening, I am leaving you with a few matters of prayer;

1) Please pray for Gary and Marilyn McLaughlin, the other missionaries serving here in Haiti with RMI.   And please continue to pray for me.  We are busy and exhausted with no real end in sight.  While I am saying this, I will add, we will not complain.  God has given us life and he has given us the opportunity to serve Him in a real and tangible way, as many of my friends have reminded me, for such a time as this.  We are here to be Gods vessels and we trust Him to be everything that we need.

2) Pray for David.  He is a young Haitian man who is doing what he can to help his own country in time of need.  He, along with Pastor Malingo and a few of his friends have collected food, clothes, personal hygiene supplies and are distributing to those in need.  A few days ago, the team, a long with a couple of the missionaries here went out to a local area and distributed the supplies.  Along the way they shared the gospel with those they met and David and Pastor Sean (one of the Missionaries) were able to pray with a young man who prayed to receive Christ.  They have done another round of collections and will be leaving tomorrow early in the morning to do some more distributions in Leogane, one of the hardest hit areas just outside of Port au Prince.

3) Pray for Molienne.  I have visited her several times in the last couple days.  Each time our eyes meet her eyes light up and she breaks into a beautiful smile.  I do not say that to boast that I am the reason she smiles.  I only say that because I am honored to know that God has placed me in her life for a special reason and I am blessed to know her.  She is having an operation tomorrow morning.  I am not sure why.  I didn’t get to talk with the Dr.  or her family.  Only her.  I would venture a guess it has to do with infection in her foot but it could also have something to do with her broken leg.  I am hoping to get there in the morning.  I told her I wanted her to read a Bible Story for me and she said she would.  I hope the morning is free of interruptions. 

4) Pray for Jenn Rogan.  She is the friend I have mentioned several times on here.  I spoke with her very briefly on Sunday night and I could hear her exhaustion in her voice.  I spoke to her on IM this evening and she said she was tired…in so many ways.  Her area is finally getting food aid and they have enough to feed the people in the area.  She said they are still treating up to 15 new patients each day, many of them with complex fractures.  She also said they are still experiencing tremors and aftershocks.  Its is wearing on her soul.

5) Pray for Jeef and Peterson and their mother.  Peterson is at the clinic here on the center.  His arm is broken and he suffered a pretty severe injury to his ear.   The right side of his body from his arm up to his ear, including is face is still swollen.  He told me today he is still in pain. 

6) Pray for Dumesle and Cianie.  I met them on a visit to the Tent City set up in downtown Cayes.  They are cousins.  They are here from Port au Prince and they both lost family in Port.  They are staying at the Tent City while they regroup and find a more temporary place to stay.

7) Pray for my friend Amber, her son Ty and her husband.  They live in the states but I received word from another friend that they were in a bad boating accident this evening.  Amber is OK.  Ty was getting a scan on his head done and there was no word on her husband. 

8) Pray for my friends Scott and Katy.   And for the rest of Scott’s family; Ellen, Elizabeth, Shannon, and Jeff.  Scott’s father passed away last week after a long bought with cancer.  He is cancer free and rejoicing in God’s presence but the family is now working through the emotional process of loosing a loved one. 

9) Pray that the medical, physical and spiritual needs that come alone with an influx of quake refugees will continue to be met. Food is needed, medical supplies are needed, and comfort and grief support is needed. Although the physical supplies are coming in (food and medicine), they are still in great need as many people have (and are still making) made their way from Port.  The spiritual needs will be present for months and years to come.

10)Pray for the future of Haiti, the rebuilding of the government, and the infrastructure Haiti needs to move forward.  Pray for the long term effects that no one can yet see, the sickness and disease that can stem from the unclean conditions, the hundreds of thousands of people who are homeless, jobless, and hopeless. Pray that after the media has forgotten Haiti, that people will not.  Pray for spiritual awakening and revival. 

its late and i’m tired

I don’t have the energy to write anything of much substance today.  I am leaving for Port au Prince in the morning at 2:45am.  I am going with a caravan of other missionaries.  We are going in to try and help bring some of the refugees into Cayes who can’t afford to get here.  There will be our big F250, a bus, a couple other large pick-ups and perhaps a tap-tap.  But today was a busy, busy day and I am exhausted.  I’ll update you more tomorrow.

Pray for us and for our safety.  I don’t say that because I am worried.  From what we hear from some journalists who were there since the 14th, Port is safe and in the areas that weren’t destroyed life is slowly moving back in. There is gas in Port, banks have reopened, buses are coming and going.  People are far from ‘moving on’ but life has to go on.  People have to try and make a living and carve out an existence for themselves.   I’m looking forward to the day.

-Signing out.