Andy and I feel so fortunate to have been going to Haiti and this particular mission with people that had already been. They were able to give us first hand advice about what to pack and what not to bring. For instance, I needed to pack skirts for several days as it once was a sign that you were a prostitute if you were to wear pants. I learned that is a mentality that is fading away, but we didn't want anyone left wondering. Andy was pretty free to wear what ever he pleased except for a pair of long pants for church.
Anyway . . .
I was starting to get really nervous in the days before we left. So many people had brought us to this point of going through prayer and financial support. I was afraid of letting someone down. Plus, the two primary purposes of the mission are a clinic where the tend to the ill and injured of this rural village and the rescue center (RC) where they take in children that are very ill or simply very malnourished for one reason or another. In the RC they nurture children back to health and often combat kwashikor , which is brought on by malnourishment and a lack of protein. With kwash, these poor children are swollen due to kidneys failing and are hurting. I wanted to handle any death or pain we might see a little less emotionally than I tend to handle my everyday life. I felt a huge calling on my heart to minister to the missionaries as much as we could. I wanted to do exactly what I was supposed to. Silly me got caught up in thinking and not surrenduring those fears to the Almighty. I eventually did and felt much better. As a side note . . . poor Andy got sick two days before we left. I was so scared he wasn't going to be able to go! But The fever passed and he felt better. It like the last of many things that might have prevented our trip.
Well, our whole communty got together for a special service to commission us the day before we left. The three churches in Burnettsville have services together often throughout the year, but this service felt all the more special. We were ambassadors for Christ and the Christian community we had supporting us. It was beautiful. We had a wonderful worship and were prayed over. Most of my anxiety left.
We left our house at 4:45 am. Our team of five plus Jim (Lynn's husband), John and Pat (Andy's parents), and my good friend, Pat (who brought us goody bags) prayed together and then we were off. It was an uneventful trip to Chicago and a smooth flight to Miami. Everything seemed simple to me. Then we boarded the flight to Port-Au-Prince. I was so excited and nervous. I had never been out of the country up until this point. We filled out paperwork on the plane. When we arrived we were taken by "bus" to the location where we would go through immigration, baggage claim, and customs. This is where it all became a little more real for me. The building was a giant metal structure with fans in a couple of key locations. There were 3 booths with long lines where we went through immigration and a similar set up for customs. I felt like we had stepped into a movie . . . like a spy thriller that involved a bad guy hiding in a third world country . . . I thought it was pretty cool. (Please see images above. I haven't figured out how to put the pictures where I would like them) At the airport we learned that we had been on the plane with some Haitians that were injured in the earthquake that were returning. They came with an entourage of a camera man and people to help them. It was wild!!
Thankfully, we had very little trouble getting through the airport to Zach. I had been warned about all the people that would want to "help" with our bags for money and God spared us that anxiety for the most part. I was so glad to see Zach and his truck. We loaded our suitcases full of supplies and ourselves into the back of the truck. This was how we travelled our entire trip. the bed of the truck was caged in so we wouldn't fall out or anything of that nature. You'll see it in many of our pictures.
I learned that the airport isn't really in the heart of Port-Au-Prince, but we took in a lot of the devastation immediately. There were tent cities everywhere! No one could have prepared us for the sites and smells that immediately met us. (Again, the pictures are up top. I am open to suggestions as to how to post them where I want them) Of course, halfway to Cazale we were met with a rain storm. So, we spent a good part of our journey under a tarp. The adventure had begun!!!
We arrived to the mission and basically met people from another team and settled into our sleeping quarters, ate dinner, and took in all we could see. This other team was made up of engineers and such that were making plans for buildings for the mission to build on land that had been purchased. I was amazed at what this team of 22 ( I think ) accomplished in two weeks from surveying the land to floor plans. We also met, Anna and Jess. Anna is the teacher for the Licia and Enoch's three boys, Carmelo, Henley, and Trey. She has also taken on many other jobs throughout the mission. Jess is in Cazale for the summer to help as well. Anna's mother and sister were also there. I think they came to see where it is that Anna has been living and help "take care" of this large team that is helping the mission in such a big way. It's all fantastic, really. We enjoyed meeting everyone and tried to get some good sleep before our work began.
No comments:
Post a Comment