Haiti in Review

It’s hard to believe I have been
back from Haiti two weeks now.  Time sure
does fly.  I want to begin by saying “Thank
You” to all of you who were so faithful in praying for me while I was
gone.  I know I was strengthened by your
prayers during my trip.  Without a doubt,
Haiti was the most intense mission trip I’ve ever been on.  To begin, this was the longest I had ever
been out of the country.  The previous
record was 15 days in Romania and Hungary. 
While that was certainly cross cultural immersion, for an American,
there is something somewhat comfortable and familiar about Europe.  Haiti is an entirely different world.  That is especially the case since the quake.

From the time you walk out of the
airport in Port-au-Prince you are immersed in a kind of ordered chaos.  In the last seconds of calm I found a
national holding an “Adventures in Missions” sign.  I later found out his name was Obed and he
was one of our translators.  We started
off for the official exit when another man tried to “help” me with my bag.  I was warned about this so I very clearly
said “NO”.  Obed said, “It’s OK, he works
for us”.  I relaxed just a bit.  Just before we walked out of the compound and
into the crowd I saw another man with an AIM badge.  He said his name was Tim and he told me to “keep
moving”, “don’t put your hands in your pockets”, and “give out nothing”.  I was then escorted through the crowd and we
walked about 300 meters down the road to the van.  All the while the occasional beggar would ask
for money.  I had been in country for about
an hour at that point.  It was an
experience and it was just the start of the trip.

Many of the areas where I worked
were on the fringes of Port-au-Prince where destruction was not as severe
though it was there.  In the outlying areas,
and even downtown, quake damage is hit-and-miss.  It is certainly more severe in the center of
town.  The Presidential Palace, the Ministry
of Finance, and the Justice Palace are all destroyed.  Those sites really hit home for me as I could
imagine seeing our government buildings in the same state. 

Though destruction is hit-and-miss,
everyone feels the effect.  Many living
in tent cities lost their homes but many are simply afraid to stay in their
homes.  Some have tents pitched outside
of their undamaged home.  They’ll work in
the house all day but will not sleep there.

Before the quake, Haiti was said
to be the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and had a 70-80% unemployment
rate.  Things are worse now.  There is food to be had
but the prices have gone up since the quake. 
The price issue, combined with an even higher unemployment rate, has
created a food shortage for many.  Clean
water, proper sanitation and medical care are also issues.

Despite all the hard things,
there is one gleaming bright spot.  The
Lord appears to really be getting a hold of the Haitian people.  Churches that had 20 people before the quake
now have 200-300 attending.  Often they
meet outside as the people are still scared to be inside, but they are there
none the less.  Many of these people have
nothing, especially compared to American standards, but the way they praise the
Lord is something to see…and hear.  They sing
loudly and well. 

It will be interesting to see what
happens over the long haul with the spiritual situation in Haiti.  I remember after 9/11 we experienced a sudden
influx of people into congregations.  That
has dropped off now.  Things are
definitely different in Haiti.  9/11 cost
us about 3,000 people over several hours. 
In Haiti, they lost nearly 400,000 (200,000 known dead and about that
many missing and presumed dead) in the span of 40 seconds.  To put it in perspective, that is just under
7 times the number of soldiers we lost during our entire involvement in
Vietnam.  I do believe time will tell how
much impact this tragedy has on the spiritual condition in Haiti and it could
be directly proportional to how the church throughout the rest of the world
responds.

As for me and the teams I was
with, the work we did spanned the entirety of the needs I mentioned.  At different times and with different groups we
handed out hygiene kits, helped put up tarps in the tent cities (many are using
sheets and blankets as tents), provided some minor medical help, and did some
food and water distribution.  We also
spent time with the hurting as some groups were able to walk through the
communities praying with and encouraging the people.  Groups also spent a lot of time with children
playing with them and running Vacation Bible School in different locations.

As I write, I did want to give
you the status of several of the things you were praying about.  To begin, I did get well. I had a stomach bug
that lasted about 24 hours.  One of the
groups picked up a highly contagious virus from one of the tent villages and it
spread rapidly to those of us taking care of them.  Fortunately, God had given me the foresight
to get some Phenergan before I left so I would have it on hand.  I was able to get through the sickness
without getting hit with the full effect which allowed me to recover and get
back on my feet much more quickly.  I
know that your prayers had a huge impact on all of us during that time.  It was a blessing that the virus didn’t
spread to more people.  No one in the
group I was leading came down with the bug.

The vehicle situation, at least when
I left, was OK.  All the vehicles in the
fleet were up and running.  The van we shipped down from the States is
still in customs and will most likely be there for a while. 

The other major prayer request
for the time I was there was the little boy with the burned foot.  In addition to the help I received from our
friends in the US, I also found out that I had a nursing student and a Nurse
Practitioner student who had just finished 10 weeks on the burn unit at Ohio
State.  We were prepared to do what we
could and I was going to work on the child until I left.  He had a third degree burn to the foot which
is very serious.  What I could have done
would have been limited at best.  As it
turned out we didn’t need to do anything. 
The day I went to tell the family what we wanted to do and to tell them
to come to our compound is the same day I met one of the medical relief
agencies coming into the community to do an assessment.  I walked in with them and was able to take
them straight to the child.  They took it
from there which was excellent as they have the staff and the resources to care
for the child better and longer than we could have.  That was a blessing and a half to have that
happen.  God’s timing is perfect!

Thank you again for all of your
prayers as I served in Haiti.  I know I
could not have done it without you.  I was
encouraged each time I spoke with Sarah when she told me about many of your
kind words and encouragement.