He is FAITHFUL

Journal Entries from my second trip to Haiti:

Day ONE – Sweet Return

Oh what a day it has been! I was awake at 2:15am to pack up the last of my things from my apartment, roll up my sleeping bag, and get ready to meet up with the rest of my team. I got to the Hope office and realized I was 25 minutes early so after waiting in my car for a while the rest of the team began to arrive. We loaded up Jeff & Luke’s cars and took off for the Austin airport. We flew from Austin to DFW to Miami to Port-au-Prince in less than 12 hours. There was a lot of sleeping, a couple of meals, and lots of excited thoughts of the memories from spring break.

The airport in Port-au-Prince wasn’t so overwhelming this time. They now have moving belts at baggage claim which is a great improvement and made things less crazy once we got through customs. As we walked outside the airport there weren’t so many men tugging to carry our bags for us. We had to wait for probably 10 minutes outside the airport because Jean Alix was stuck in traffic trying to get to us. When the taptap finally arrived just ahead of Jean Alix’s car, we followed it down the road to a parking spot. Many Haitian boys & young men came up to me asking “What will you give me? I need food. My family has nothing.” That was still just as hard to turn away.

I road in the taptap from the airport with the rest of our team minus Luke & Lindsey who rode with Jean Alix in his car. The sights were no less heart-breaking – people living in filth & poverty, tent cities growing in any open area they can find. But the beauty of Haiti never ceases to amaze me. The whole country seems like an oxymoron to me – such a beautiful country with beautiful people yet they are surrounded by destruction and living in filth.

When we arrived to the house, Jean Alix greeted our team and was happy to see I had returned. Markley ran and jumped in my arms to give me one of the biggest hugs I’ve ever had. He told me he has missed me so much. Lori also hugged me and asked me how I’ve been. Oh, how sweet it is to be back!

Being back in this culture that I’ve missed so much brings indescribable emotions. I will hold every moment near & dear to my heart – every hug, every greeting in Creol, every bruise on my back from the taptap rides, every spoonful of rice, every cup of Haitian coffee, every conversation with Jean Alix, every laugh, every smile on a beautiful Haitian face. I will cherish it all.

Lord, thank you for giving me such a love for these Haitian people & their culture. Thank you for bringing me back to continue the work You’ve begun in me and through me. You never cease to amaze me. I pray you grow me closer to you in the midst of whatever lies ahead.

P.S. Tonight I accidentally used the tap water to brush my teeth. Still trying to get back into the swing of things. I hope I don’t get sick.




Day TWO – The Provider

Today was busy, exhausting, at times a little frustrating, but all together wonderful. The day began with cinnamon rolls from the Baptist Mission & Haitian coffee. Can’t go wrong there! Then came sunscreen and bugspray application which apparently I didn’t do well enough since the whole team says my chest is red – I don’t see it. The taptap ride to the boys’ home was rough. I think all the rain has eroded the dirt from the roads and left the rocks.
As the taptap drove up to the boys’ home I began getting butterflies in my stomach. The car stopped, and I could hear Mackenlay’s cry. I jumped down with my backpack in hand. As I stepped out and saw the familiar surroundings, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of comfort & peace as I thought to myself “You’re back. You’re finally back.” I knew that in that moment I was right where I was supposed to be.

It was hard to get out of the taptap and not see Mackenlay come right up to me. But he let me hold him for a while today. I didn’t see many of the boys today because they were in school. I saw Rony, Guerrier, Mackenlay, and a few boys from the village. I was surprised & overjoyed when some of the boys remembered my name, actually a lot of them. They all recognized my face.

We gathered our supplies of 2x6 boards, metal sheets, and tools, but before we set off to roof a house we got to see a completed home like the one we would be roofing. It was the house by the basketball court! Just 6 weeks before, I had taken pictures of girls standing on piles of rubble in that very spot – what remained of the home that had once stood there. Now there stood a new house – a simple, rectangular structure of 3 rooms with windows & a tin roof, but to one family their saving grace to protect them from the blazing sun and pouring rain, and to a community a promise of hope and better days to come.

The home we were told to roof today was about a mile hike down the mountain from the boys’ home. We carried all our supplies with us which made the trek down the mountain quite a workout. We arrived at another simple, rectangular structure with 3 small rooms but no roof. We had our job cut out for us.

The work was very slow to begin. Lots of measuring, planning, and thinking to be done. Jeff along with the rest of the team had never roofed a home until today so it took some time and a lot of patience to begin the process. I somehow became the designated cutter/driller after Jesse had taught me how to use the hand drill and battery-powered circular saw. It was a pretty fun job, and Haley & I worked together doing it really well. At some point amidst our moments of standing & waiting, I made a friend named Abigail (Creol pronunciation: AbE-gI-el) She brought Haley & me berries several times. She would run off into the forest and return with these wild berries that looked a lot like blackberries. First it was one, then another, then a whole handful! They looked delicious, but Haley & I both knew we couldn’t eat them so we politely replied “merci” when she gave them to us. The adults watching were trying to tell us we were supposed to eat them, and we knobbed our heads, “wi”. We could tell they thought we were completely clueless & ignorant, but I would rather them think that than tell them we can’t eat it & they think we are rude.

Later Abigail & I began a game of chase. I’m not sure how it started, but it sure was fun! Of course, I was the chaser every time, but I finally got her to chase me once. Let me tell you, running around in the mountains is QUITE the workout. I realized halfway through our game (that lasted at least an hour) that I hadn’t packed my inhaler in my backpack this morning, but I was having too much fun by that time to stop. We had a crowd of people watching us play chase. I’m sure they were certainly entertained watching an American woman chase a Haitian little girl through gardens, around homes, over rubble, up the mountain, down the mountain, through the grove of banana trees, and past startled cows. Every time I caught Abigail I would tickle her until she was rolling on the ground laughing. Her laugh was beautiful and so contagious. There is no way to stay in a sour mood when you hear her laugh.

When the roof was finally done at the end of the day – yes that’s right, we roofed a whole house in a day, our FIRST day – Jen gathered the team & the family in the house to pray. Jason (the father,), Christine (the mother), Wesley (the son), Abigail (the daughter), and their other 3 children piled in the middle room of the house with our team of 10 and about 25 other friends in their community. Jeff said a prayer of thanksgiving & blessing on the family. It was a beautiful moment. Christine’s face was lit up from the inside out with joy, relief, thankfulness, and gratitude for all the Lord has given her. What a blessing it has been to be a part of this family’s life and helping to build this house that they so desperately need. Their old home which sits right next to the new one is all but crumbled to the ground. Jean Alix strictly warned us NOT to go inside the old house because any amount of shifting or movement could bring it crumbling down. The walls had been blown out, and there were very large cracks in the remaining structure. It was a miracle that it was even still standing. The family is living in a small shack built out of cloth, sticks, and rusty metal like many others in Haiti. But the Lord in His provision is preparing them a beautiful home and touching hearts in the process.

P.S. We had goat at dinner tonight. Yummmmm!




Day THREE – Building Patience

I woke up this morning with really sore muscles. My back is sore, and my neck is stiff. There will definitely be a needed massage when I return home. But being sore makes me feel like I did some hard work.

Today we thought we would be roofing another house down the road from the boys’ home by the water pump, but as we drove by it this morning we saw that the top beams on the walls were just being poured. Plan change – the team split up into 2 groups, one to go help in building a home and another to stay at the boys’ home & build shelves. I was in the group that built shelves in the supply room. We were also told to organize, inventory, and label all the supplies once the shelves were complete. Well, that didn’t happen because we didn’t get the shelving unit completed. We had the framing close to completed & put together when we realized it was unlevel because the boards that the plywood shelves would sit on were not placed consistently. So we took it all apart, redid it, and began to put it back together only to realize Jesse’s remeasurements were off. So we took several pieces apart AGAIN. Like they say, third time’s the charm. Luckily that saying held true for us, and we finally got the framing of the shelves up. We only had one piece of plywood to make the shelf pieces so we cut in to make 3 of the 9 shelves. Jean Alix said he would get more plywood, but by the end of the day he still wasn’t back with any plywood.

The Lord was surely testing my patience today and building in me a heart of obedience. It was trying and would’ve been easy to fall to human frustration & anger. But pointing blame at someone would’ve gotten nothing done and only damaged relationships. Flexibility was definitely important in how today played out.

The difficulties of today were eased by chances to hold the boys, play with them, and have some good conversations with the older ones. Mackenlay was the only one of the boys that wasn’t in school during the day. He sat and watched as Haley & I cut & measured wood. When we cut off small wood scraps I would hand them to him to play with. By the end of school he had a huge collection of about 15 blocks. Those were soon dispersed between several of the boys and lost in the craziness. Mackenlay laughed for me several times and sat in my lap every time I saw down to rest. I played with Pouchon throwing a paper airplane. Jersino was glad to see me, and we had a good conversation. Isnold acted shy and ran away from me all day. Ronald & I played for a while spinning around and playing hide-and-seek. Marcedoine, Guinsly, Valery, and Desilien all talked with me and gave me hugs. It was great to know that I was loved and missed, but it is wonderful to be back so I can continue to love on them and share the love of Jesus Christ.