Category: Haiti2018

Today is the last day of mission work for the team. It’s also one of the toughest because the team and residents at mission have bonded over the past few days and both realize their time is coming to an end.

We send teams to the orphanage, clinic and the school this morning. Team Hope is doing the final food delivery today while Team Faith has its turn serving up lunch at the soup kitchen. After our lunch break, Team Faith heads to the Grandma-Grandpa House to pamper and shower them with love one last time. One of the funniest and most endearing moments happened when one resident insisted she wanted a back massage. She was wearing a blouse which didn’t have a button so she boldly removed her top and told Paul to get to work. One of the matrons came out and covered her up a little but there was no denying this grandma of what she wanted. It is a joy to see many of the residents have donned the tee shirts we made for them yesterday. Below are pictures some of them modeling their new apparel:

And here are pictures of them enjoying their final moments of pampering with the team:

Team Hope and Team Love joined forces in the afternoon at the orphanage. After the children completed their homework the teams “opened” a nail salon to pamper the young ladies, broke out some bubbles and PlayDo, and played catch with a football. It seemed everywhere I looked kids had a lollipop in their mouth. It is very apparent from the pictures below that everyone really had a great time.

Today we will host a party at the Grandma-Grandpa House to celebrate the October birthdays of the senior residents. While Team Faith is decorating for the party, Team Hope heads to the clinic to pray with those awaiting treatment, and Team Love stops by the orphanage to pour some love on the babies.

The entire mission team converges on the Grandma-Grandpa House later in the morning for the party. When we come together we are given assignments: I am working with a group decorating tee shirts we will present to all of the residents. Others are praying with the seniors or putting up batting and balloons for the festive occasion.

I leave the party around 11:30 am with the group who will be serving at the soup kitchen. We get word that the party turned up and turned out AFTER we left.

In the afternoon, teams head out to do construction, distribute food in the village, and pamper the elderly. No one answers at the first two homes where Team Faith attempts to deliver food. Unfortunately we can not leave the food so we find other people in the village to bless.  At each stop we take the time to talk with the residents, ask them if they know Jesus, and pray with them before we leave. Team Faith heads to the orphanage after the deliveries but have to chill out for a little bit because the school-age children are in the midst of completing their homework which is a must BEFORE they can have playtime.

Judith, one of the older girls who lives at the Teen Girls Home asked me to take her picture…how could I resist.

 

 

Splitting the mission team into 3 groups means we need an additional interpreter. It is a blessings that Paul, the young man Judy and I had been sponsoring, is available and willing to come from Port Au Prince to be with us this week. Paul is truly a wonderful person who is kind and compassionate. It’s fortuitous  that he speaks English very well. Our relationship feels more like that of a father and son and I am so happy we will have time together this week.

This morning I elect to hang with the group which will be delivering four sacks of food in the village. You may recall we packaged this food on Sunday.  At the first two homes to which we deliver we encounter older gentlemen. We talk with them and pray with them before we present them with the food. One of the men shares with us that he wants to be baptized. The local pastor who is traveling with us this morning assures us he will see that the man’s wishes are met. At the last two homes we encounter a mother-to-be and a young mother, respectively. We again form a circle to pray for the families and the life growing inside of the pregnant woman before we present the groceries. This group is headed to the soup kitchen after making the deliveries but take a detour and encounter another family along our journey. We take a moment to speak with the young ladies there and pray with them before going to the soup kitchen.

Before we head to our afternoon assignments the entire team accepts an invitation to visit the home of Ms. Didine, one of the ladies who run the soup kitchen. Last year’s mission teams helped with the construction of her new home. She wanted us to not only see her new place but invited us to pray for her home and her family. We were more than happy to grant her request.

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere! After school ends Team Hope descends on the orphanage to spread joy, laughter ,and love to all four corners of the orphanage compound. Towards the end of their visit they hand out candy. I sneak to the back of the line HOPE-ing they won’t notice I am not one of the children.

SUNDAY: We crashed hard on Saturday night and awaken to a warm and sunny Sunday. After breakfast we head over to the Grace Community Church for service. Half of the team rides to church but a few of us elect to walk. It’s exhilarating to take in the familiar scenery and faces as we make our way up the mountain. The service is already going on as we come in the sanctuary. I must tell you that Kevia sang her face off with Linda translating her words into Kreyole, and Rev. Bruce Goode gave us an inspiring word.

Immediately after service we receive warm greetings from many of the worshipers and the head back to the guest house. Before lunch we spend time preparing goody bags for a party we will attend later in the day. After lunch we package food we will distribute in the Village during the week. The 10 packages we made up contain 10 pounds of rice, 5 pounds of corn meal, 5 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of beans, 2 bags of pasta, sauce, veggies, garlic, onions, flavoring, herbs, and a few other items. It may not sound like much but it is a welcomed offering which could feed a family of six for about a week. To the families who will receive this blessing during the week, it may mean the difference between starving and having something in their stomach.

Today the mission is celebrating the birthdays of the children born in October. It is a wonderful production featuring the children singing, reciting poems. When the formal program is over our team serves them cake and drinks. Before we leave the children we give them the opportunity to participate in an art project. Our time with them ends with a dance-off as one of the team members cranks up the music and the kids go wild.

 

SATURDAY: The DC contingent of the 2018 Haiti Mission team is scheduled to fly from National airport to Haiti by way of Boston. I am happy as the doors of the aircraft close on time. My elation turns to concern after we pull away from the gate and sit on the tarmac for what seemed like an eternity.  After about 10 minutes the pilot announced there was a mechanical issue and we needed to return to the gate. I am concerned now because we only had 20 minutes between the time we landed and the next flight started boarding. The problem was resolved rather quickly but, as we lift off we were wondering whether we would make our connecting flight. Even though we ended up leaving 35 minutes later than scheduled, our pilot announced that we would arrive a mere 8 minutes later than originally planned AND they were holding the connecting flight for us. Talk about the favor of God!

We hang around the airport in Port Au Prince waiting on the arrival of two additional team members who are arriving in an hour. One was flying in from Los Angeles and the other from Atlanta. I realize just how long a day our traveler from LA had when she shared with me her first flight left at One AM. That meant she was in the air hours before the clock struck midnight on the east coast. Wow!

Once we are all together we gather our bags and “run the gauntlet” of people trying to “help us” as we leave the airport. One of the first faces I recognize when we get outside is the effervescent smile of my adopted son Paul and that’s when it really hit me…I am HOME once again. Paul and I embrace for a minute before I put him to work (really) helping my fellow missionaries with their bags. We elect to unwind a little and have dinner in Port Au Prince before making the 2 hour ride to Carries. After dinner we stop by the grocery store to pick up a few items and then head out of the city.

It’s close to 9 pm by the time we get to the guest house in Carries where we will be staying for the week. We are warmly greeted by the staff and long term missionaries who will serve as our hosts and guides. Once more I am overwhelmed by that warm feeling of coming home because these committed men and women who will serve us this week are like framily (a hybrid word) to me. We are given our room assignments and then we eat a late night meal before we all turn in.

I can tell this group of missionaries is excited to be here. It’s not just what I see in them but the energy I feel. I am looking forward to a blessed week.

 

As the 2018 Haiti Mission team from the Alfred Street Baptist Church prepares to embark upon our mission in Carries, Haiti, I am reminded of a choral benediction my friend Demetrius Brown wrote. The lyrics are:

Let Your presence go with us. As we leave this place of worship. Let Your power overflow. God be with us, as we go…God be with us, as we go.

It is my prayer that as we leave the comforts and familiarity of our homes in the States, that God will not only be with us, but that He will go before us and prepare the way He wants us to go. I pray we are so caught up in serving the Master that His glory is all we see and seek.

I ask you to lift up our team as we do what He has called us to do “unto the least”.

GOD BE WITH US, AS WE GO.

On Saturday October 6, 2018 a spirited group gathered in the garage of the Alfred Street Baptist Church to sort through and pack 55-gallon drums with donated items to benefit the Mission of Grace in Haiti and the surrounding Village of Carries. Thank you to all who donated items, provided financial support, and/or who came out to help pack the drums. A special thanks to Rev. Bernard Fuller and the Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church of Raeford, North Carolina, Deacon Ralph Taylor and the St. Timothy Church in Baltimore, Maryland, the Grace United Methodist Church of Fort Washington, Maryland and their Pastor Rev. Robert Slade, as well as Pastor Howard John Wesley and Rev. Marcia Norfleet of the Alfred Street Baptist Church for their generous support and donations.

Pictured above are Pastor Robert Slade, Willette Warner, and Iris Rogers loading one of two car loads of donations from Grace United Methodist Church in Ft Washington, Maryland

 

First we sorted all of the donations and put them into categories: shoes, men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, school supplies, medical supplies, etc.

 

By the time we were finished, we filled NINETEEN 55-gallon drums with love for Haiti.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY