The mission team is so large that we split into 3 groups of six and go to different places in the village. Today, Tuesday October 24th we spend time on a construction project, in the clinic, at the orphanage and the elderly home. The team that went to the clinic had the opportunity to pray with various patients waiting to see the doctor and helped organize the office area. The team that visited the elderly home got to work on arts and crafts projects, paint fingernails and toenails for the residents and even gave massages. They also spent time praying with people. The orphanage visit was a time of straight up fun. The team blew bubbles and played games with the children. Many of the little kids found a pair of arms or a lap to cuddle in. I heard that one of our missionaries was captured on camera asleep in a rocking chair with a child in his lap…how very precious.

I went along to assist the construction team. The projects involved building a set of wooden steps leading into the church and demolishing an outdoor shed on a nearby home. I was truly impressed with the tenacity and willing spirit of this female-dominated crew. Many had never used a power tool before but, after some brief instructions, they became masters of measuring and cutting lengths of wood for the risers and treads of the stairs using a tape measure, speed square (I bet you don’t know what that is), power saw, cordless drill, a hammer and nails. This was truly a Black Girl Magic moment!

On Wednesday our assignments are to spend time in the clinic, at the school, the orphanage, the teen girls home, the “little” orphanage and another construction project. Wednesday is “mother’s day” so our team gets to see the “clinic in a can” in operation and they are awed by it. They also shared that an elderly man came into the hospital complaining of a pain on his leg. It turned out he has skin cancer but there is little the doctor can do for him because they lack the medicines to treat this disease. One of the team members gave him some money so that he could go to another hospital about 3 hours away for possible treatment. The group that went to the teen girls home reported that they had a great time playing Jenga and line-dancing. And the team that spent time at the orphanage had a ball playing board games and Uno with the children. In fact I got to witness the end of one very rambunctious game.

I spent the first part of the morning with a Pre-K class at the school. We went over the alphabets in both Kreyol and English and then focused on vowel pronunciations and counting from one to ten. After attending school a couple of us dropped in on the construction site.

Today a team is helping to build a home for the lady who cooks at the soup kitchen. This person is hard working and sacrifices a lot to help her fellow man. She cooks for an average of 200-300 people daily who show up for a meal. Home construction is very labor intensive utilizing cement and concrete blocks. It involves sifting sand to remove the rocks and pebbles, and then mixing in cement and water to make the concrete. Our team helps out where we can but the 84 year old “boss” is doing most of the intricate work of making sure the blocks are laid down perfectly straight and plumb. Take a look at her existing home in this picture below and the construction process in the succeeding ones.

Wednesday afternoon a group visited what we call the “little orphanage”. It is a very small house which is home to 21 children. It was adopted by the mission a little over a year ago although it is managed separately. Mission of Grace has provided beds for the children there, and will occasionally give them food and other assistance when asked. The children attend a school associated with a nearby church which sponsors the orphanage. I enjoyed my time there last year and insisted it be a part of our agenda this year. The team brings arts and crafts projects, coloring books, bubbles, and some board games. We also treat them to some candy. There is one little girl who is obviously suffering from prolonged malnutrition. She scooped up almost immediately by one of our team members who did not put her down until it was time for us to leave. I will definitely make this a stop on our agenda again on Thursday and I will also put ask our mission administrators to look in on this child to get her some medical attention.

We have to pass by the Mission Of Grace orphanage on our way back home and decided to go inside to give and receive some loving.

 

VERY EARLY in the morning on Saturday October 21, 2017, 18 missionaries representing the Bates Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Herndon, Virginia, Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Glenarden, Maryland traveled to Port Au Prince, Haiti to begin our missional journey in Carries, Haiti. This represents the coming together of people who hadn’t met each other however, each had purposed in their heart to be a blessing to the kingdom of God. The sunrise I captured from the plane made the early start to my day much more palatable.

After church service on Sunday thirty excited teenagers and young adults from the village came over for a time of fellowship. We brought printed photos of them from last year’s mission and they mounted them on foam boards. They then decorated the borders. It was truly a fun time for them AND us. I feel what mattered most to them was not what we did, but rather that WE shared our time together.

On Monday the team visited the various ministries which make up the Mission of Grace. They include the church, a school, clinic/hospital, soup kitchen, elderly home, orphanage, teen girls home, young men’s home, and a single mothers home. Haiti does not have a public school system so most schools are privately run and charge tuition. The Grace School charges $200 and the children get two uniforms, books and supplies, a backpack and they are fed two meals a day. The school has 250 students from Pre-K to 7th grade.

There is new technology at the hospital. It is a self-contained unit which allows the doctor to perform sonograms and other diagnostic treatments on the patients. This donated “clinic” was not originally intended for Carries but God saw fit to bless them with it. They perform tests using this equipment on Wednesdays and our team is anxious to see it in action.

After the visiting the hospital, we visit the school and the elderly home. The Grandma/Grandpa House, as it is affectionately called is home to 15 people. Most are elderly but some are there because they were abandoned and have no where else to go. Mission of Grace is committed to making sure the elderly in the village who don’t have relatives are cared for and, when they transition, they have a proper burial.

We end our “tour” at the orphanage which is home to about 65 children. They are excited that there are missionaries in the village and we spread out so that we can love on as many of them as possible. We end our day leading bible study with the men in the village.

Today is bittersweet. If you ever go into the mission field you will understand the feeling you get on the day you have to leave. There is joy but it is laced with sadness. I have been blessed in that I have had the opportunity to stay in country longer than most of the Lott Carey missionaries but even for me the last day is tough. I don’t usually sleep well the night before and I am usually very tearful. I try to temper some of that this time because I have five other people I have to look out for. Each of these individuals is ending their first missional journey today. I am so very thankful to and for them. They made “leading” easy and effortless. They were enthusiastically willing to “do” whatever was asked was of them.

We say our goodbyes to the staff. While we leave a generous “tip” to be shared by all of the hotel staff, some of us bless individual staff whom God has placed on our hearts. We bless some of them with a few dollars, we gift our shoes, clothes (including undergarments), toiletries and even our luggage. Many of the people who served us this week earn $5 or less per day. That sounds outrageous doesn’t it? But when you consider that the median annual income in Haiti is $2,000 and you divide that by 310 (6 days/week for 52 weeks) you come up with a daily rate of $6.40. And that’s just the average. I have to explain this to the team because
I know first-hand they may be experiencing a feeling of guilt that they haven’t done enough. My words to them yesterday was that WE have done all that God has called us to do during THIS weeks journey…and don’t let the devil tell you anything different.

As we drive towards the airport in Port Au Prince, we visit a memorial near the City of Hope. Early I shared that the area called “City of Hope” was virtually untouched during the earthquake in 2010. Just west of here is an area where hundreds of thousands of people were buried in a mass grave.

I know collectively the thoughts are “I can’t wait until next year”. There is already talk among the team about next year’s mission and I am already beaming about how these now “experienced missionaries” will prove to be so valuable to those who will follow in their footsteps.

Many people ask how they can get involved with mission work or how they can help Mission of Grace advance God’s agenda in Haiti. You are welcome to email me, hit me on Facebook or leave a comment on this blog site and I will share what I know. I am pretty sure Alfred Street Baptist Church will participate in a mission next year. We also have an ongoing effort to send donated items to Haiti. You can contact the Missions Ministry at the church for more information. I know Lott Carey has several teams going to Haiti in 2017…you can contact them directly for more information on opportunities to serve using the link above. And I am positive Ms. Lynn would welcome any and all direct support. You can find information  on educational sponsorship, child (orphanage) sponsorship, or other financial support on their website at Mission of Grace, Haiti.

In these postings I have provided just a glimpse of what I experienced while doing what God called me to do. It is a joy to share with you what my eyes and ears took in. I pray it blesses you. I pray it inspires you. I pray it wets your appetite and desire to serve God more in some capacity. I thank my Lord and Savior for this opportunity to share…to witness to you about His love, His grace and His favor. Please share this with your family and friends. You can even share it with your enemies…may be it will bless them to be a blessing to other just to spite you (lol).

(I am) Blessed to be a blessing to the Body of Christ…Vernon

This is the team’s last full day in Haiti. It’s also the culmination of my two weeks here. As I’ve stated before, this last day is one where we, the missionaries, debrief and de-stress before heading back to our regular lives in the US. After breakfast we get into cars and head to a former sugar plantation-turned museum which is about 20 minutes west of here. The curators have gone to great lengths to capture and recreate the history of this region. The museum is on the grounds of what used to be one of the largest plantations in the Haiti…more than 100 acres. They used slave labor to cultivate and harvest the sugarcane. After touring the museum we head over to a nearby resort for a relaxing lunch before our ride comes back to pick us up.

The ladies on our team are anxious to return because the teen girls are coming over for some fun and swim-time this afternoon like they did last week with Team Trinity. We stop to purchase ice cream and cookies for the girls who are arriving at our hotel as the last vehicle returns. It’s good to see the bonding between the two groups of women…greetings, hugs and smiles are exchanged before they change into swimming attire. Kevia comes with the idea to do a mannequin-challenge. Once it’s explained to the girls they are on board and we shoot the video…too funny! After swim time the A-Team gives each young lady a tee-shirt dress we brought with us and a bracelet purchased from one of the local vendors. We also present a laptop computer to them for their home. In private discussions the girls expressed an interest in a computer. We were blessed to make that happen for them and they were overjoyed to receive this blessing.

Later that evening Ms. Lynn and the staff at Mission of Grace serve us cake and thank us for our enthusiastic service this week. I have the opportunity to thank them for their service to us. The mission staff and hotel staff’s attention to our needs and requests made our time in country very delightful. I share with them that this team contributed almost $4,000 towards the work and ministry here. This includes cash contributions in excess of $1,300 to be used to pay the salary of the nurse who works at the clinic. Additionally, the team brought 165 tee shirt dresses, two laptop computers, baby formula, hearing aids, batteries and various other items in our suitcases to leave with them (I found out most of the team had to pay overage fees to the airline because their bags were overweight). I also remind them of the eight 55-gallon drums with more than 1,600 pounds of donated items are in route. Ms. Lynn shared with me that the first four drums had arrived in Haiti late last week but she had not been able to arrange for a truck to retrieve them from the dock yet. She is super excited about the items in the drums. She said most of these items will be delivered to Plaisance where Hurricane Matthew struck. “The dresses and clothing you sent will be the only thing some of these people have because they lost everything in the hurricane”, she shared.

We round out the evening by singing songs and finishing off the cake. Of course we strike up a game of spades with Camille and Michael finally joining in the fun before we retire for the evening.

 

The reason why Lott Carey sends missionaries to Carries, Haiti is because of a mudslide which occurred in August 2015. After a deluge of rain, the mountain, which is home to this remote village started to give way. The resulting mud, rocks, and water cascaded down the mountain destroying twenty-nine homes in the process. I will never forget this picture I took last year…the entire structure of this house was washed away by the mudslide however the door with its pad lock remained intact. Vegetation has sprung up in much of this area however most of the residents who lost their homes cannot afford to rebuild and have not returned. It is the vision of Mission of Grace to relocate these residents to a different area of the mountain which is more stable and not prone to mudslides. The Lott Carey home featured in the 12/01/2016 article is located in this desired area. Prayerfully many of the residents will be moved to this area in the coming months.

We spend the morning at the Grandma’s House. It’s such a joy sharing the love of God with these seasoned saints. Anita lovingly spends time putting polish on the fingers and toes of one of the wheelchair-bound residents while Kevia goes around giving hand and foot massages to the others who are sitting on the porch. We sing songs and pray with many of those we come in contact with. I can tell one of the residents name Papi is smitten with Kevia…he simply beams whenever she comes near him. Before we leave we present the ladies of the home with a tee-shirt dress which the Sewing Ministry of Alfred Street Baptist Church graciously made. They are so appreciative of this gesture.

We round out our day with two more stops. We first go by the old Grandma’s House which is now home to two families. One of the families now living here was visiting the church on Sunday. At the end of service, the girl pictured here with Cheryl took Michael by the hand and led him outside. Through an interpreter we determined that the family was homeless and hungry. They had come 20 miles from another village because they heard of Ms. Lynn and what she is doing this community. Ms. Lynn arranged for the family to stay in this house and will provide food for them until more suitable and permanent arrangements can be made.

Our final stop is at a home the mission has dubbed the “Little Orphanage”. It is not a part of Grace but has been adopted by the mission. We stop through and bring the children there some candy, color with them and play games. Anyone who knows me, knows I enjoy playing Connect Four. The A-Team brought this game for them and we showed them how to play (we left it there for them to enjoy). Several of the kids caught onto the strategy of the game rather quickly. I defeated most of my challengers but must admit I lost a couple of games.

I’ll give you one guess what we did that evening after dinner! Yep…SPADES!!!

Most of the team spends the morning at the clinic today. There is also a small painting job at the orphanage. We plan to meet up at the soup kitchen around 11 am and then have playtime at the school during their lunch hour. The team brought jump ropes to share with the students and a bag full of candy to share. The team is mobbed as soon as we arrive at the school, and I mean pandemonium. I don’t know if the kids could smell the candy or not but they swarm all over Michael and Camille. I actually have to call a halt to the candy distribution to regain some order. I can tell you that the jump ropes were a big hit.

It was an extremely hot day so we needed some time to recover after being with the kids so we headed back to our hotel for lunch and a little chill time. The team arranged for the nannies at the orphanage to have manicures and pedicures this afternoon. So while they were being pampered WE were the nannies. We got out coloring books and crayons to entertain our charges for a little while. They really enjoyed this time. Michael chose to spend his time with the little babies and every time I looked up, he had several of them in his lap. We helped some of the older children as they are tasked with making Christmas ornaments. I was given a pair of scissors and told to cut one inch strips of red and green construction paper to make a wreath. I had no idea what I was doing but I was obedient in doing it.

It turns out that Cheryl is a health care advocate so she is tasked with speaking to the ladies at Mission of Grace about women’s health issues. The word goes out in the community that there is a meeting on this subject at the church this evening. The doctor and nurses from the clinic were also in attendance.

One of the things I’ve learned over the years I have done missionary work in Haiti is that WE come to serve, and serve in whatever capacity we are called upon. I have poured concrete, carried heavy loads, used power tools, painted and, swept and cleaned up more times than I would have dreamed in a lifetime. I’ve had the joy of holding babies and feeding them, and I have playfully chased little ones in circles, played games with the older kids, and even help them with their math homework. I always try to do it with God’s love and grace. Most importantly I want to embody the spirit of the Lord in all things…that is I want to personify Christ. I attempt to be as gracious to the young men and women who cook, who serve us food and drinks daily, who clean our rooms, and who provide transportation, as I am to those at the top who are manage the operations here. If God is no respecter of persons, then neither should I be.

After breakfast we head over to the orphanage to do some more painting. As we arrive we can’t help but smile at the babies who are out and having a good time. We again jump right into our task with vigor. The room is going to be two-toned so we have to first measure and mark off the areas for the bottom color and top color. Using a tape measure and level, first Camille and I work on a wall, then I show Cheryl how to do it, and finally I leave it in the hands Camille and Cheryl. I am not sure whether they have done this kind of thing before but the horizontal line is perfectly aligned around the entire room and we begin painting.

There are two older kids (5+ years old) in the area we are painting, a boy and a girl. Both have bumps and lesions on their skin. I am not sure whether it is chicken pox, the measles, or something else that is highly/moderately contagious but I can tell these guys are lonely so we spend a little time with them. The girl started clinging to Kevia and I chuckled as I noticed a couple of times later in the day she was sitting in her lap. The little boy gravitated to me and loved having his picture taken. I pray whatever they have our entire team is immune to it.

As always, when the children come back to the orphanage from school and there are “visitors” they are excited. Truth be told, so are the visitors and we enjoy an afternoon of loving on each other.

Today is Tuesday and the church holds a bible study for the women. Michael and I decided to spend some time with the teen boys. Last week, the men of Team Trinity did the same thing and while we were talking with the young men we asked if there was anything they needed. After some prodding, they shared a list of things. High on that list was a laptop computer. To show you how awesome God is, Matthews Memorial Baptist Church in Washington, DC blessed Michael with some money to be a blessing to the people we were visiting in Haiti. With those funds he purchased two laptop computers. We didn’t know ahead of time that these young men needed a laptop but obviously God did and the team was able to bless them in a mighty way (the girls get the other one later in the week). I am so grateful to both Team Trinity and the A-Team for your willingness to be used by God in a mighty way.

When the ladies return from bible study the only report we get is that there were four extraordinary testimonies from four exceptional women. Anita and I crushed Cheryl and Kevia in a game of spades later that evening. THIS was a wonderful nightcap to an exhilarating day.

On our agenda today is to visit the Grace School, the clinic, view the home being built by Lott Carey volunteers, and conduct bible study for the men later. I’ve been through most of this last week so I watch intently as the A-Team (Alfred Street) takes it in.

We arrive at the school around 9:30 am during the morning recess so there are quite a few students outside. They devour our team, smiling, getting and giving hugs, and posing for pictures. We don’t have an interpreter with us this morning so Mr. Billy, the principal talks about the school in broken English. He apologizes often but I assure him his English is very good. He shares with the group that the school goes up to 6th grade and that they will be adding a seventh grade next year. It is the vision of the school to keep adding a grade each year until they have a full high school. With the new school building 60 percent complete this is doable.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before but a couple of the classes are held in the church. This is common in Haiti. Most, if not all schools are “attached to” and supported by a church. After service on Sunday, the sanctuary is literally converted into a classroom(s). So our first stop is inside where two 2nd grade classes are in session. We then go from class to class and each time the students have a greeting or welcome song for us. Mr. Billy next takes us to a building adjoining the church where younger children are being taught, then we head over to the new buildings where older children take classes. As is so typical of “older kids”, they greet us but with less enthusiasm and more “I’m doing this because I was told to” attitude. As a matter of fact I stop the sixth graders and make them start again because it was so lack-luster.

The new school will comprise two buildings, side by side with four rooms each on two levels. Currently only one building is occupied and the second story has not been constructed on either building. There are no windows or doors, there is no electricity, and no plans for indoor plumbing. Currently construction has halted because funding has dried up. This is also typically “Haitian” but I have no doubt that they will complete the construction at some point in the future AND fulfill the plans God laid out. Pictured above is one of the partially completed school buildings. The small single-story structure also pictured above is the kitchen which prepares and serves meals to the kids everyday.

We next walk over to the clinic for a tour. Because it is a Monday the clinic is rather busy with quite a few people in the outer waiting area which they use for triage. We go inside and greet people in the inner waiting area and move through to the clinic itself. There are four examination rooms, an office area, doctor’s office, and a pharmacy. Anita gets excited and shares that her parent was a pharmacist so she can’t wait to return and get busy. The pharmacy recently received a large shipment/donation of drugs and other medical supplies which need to be inventoried and cataloged so there is much work to do here.

We complete our tour of the different “ministries” here a Mission of Grace by visiting the home which is under construction. The A-Team wants to delve into this project but skilled tradesmen are needed to do most of what’s left to do. They, like me, are mesmerized by the view. We head back down the mountain and enjoy lunch before we get into our work assignment for the day. We are tasked with doing interior painting in the “transition center”. The team is enthusiastic about their work assignment and can’t seem to get started fast enough.The vision for this building is to train people to make them employable and provide temporary housing in the process. This is one part of the mission which has not taken root yet. The plan right now is to use this for Sunday worship services as the “church” is busting at the seams.

Michael and I conducted bible study for the men later that evening. We take our text from 1 Samuel 17 and have a lively discussion about the “giants in our lives” and how we can slay them.  As most bible readers know, this is the passage about how young David was able to slay Goliath, the giant of the Philistine army with God’s help. We shared that, just like David, your friends and relatives will try to dissuade you from doing what God called you to do. We also shared that when you are going to battle against the “giants in your life”, you can’t use the conventional “tools” of warfare…that you must take God with you. We had a fairly lively discussion and answered a few questions before it got too dark to continue. I feel it was well-received. I can only pray that someone was blessed by our time of sharing.