Haiti Trip Report - Lindale Mennonite Church, July 1-7, 2008

We planned for a trip to Haiti from Lindale in 2004 and actually fund raised for it but weren't able to go because of the instability caused by the political unrest. When groups started going again last year, I began to promote the trip from Lindale again. When we had a meeting to test the idea, about 40 persons from across the generations expressed interest. Several men from a Thursday morning men's group that I participate in said they would come. Six members of our Church Council signed up. A very active young married and singles Sunday school class also showed interest. One set of sponsors and several MYF were very excited about the trip. We knew that we would need to fund raise nearly $1,000 a person if we were going to fly from DC through Miami to Port-au-Prince, plus pay for food, water, ice, transportation in Haiti and materials. I thought we might get 25 or 30 people that would actually commit. Much to my surprise, more people started signing on and we had 42 people pay a $100 deposit last February. John and Annamary Kennel committed to help lead the trip. John Schaeffer, the co-chair of our Mission and Service Commission, went on the trip from New England where he was for the summer. John had spent about 4 years in the last 8 years in Haiti and spoke Creole. He was an incredible asset on the trip. Galen Lehman, member of Lindale and Caribbean Director for Virginia Mennonite Missions, also came along and videoed our trip and worked on electrical things. John and Annamary went down about three days early and had the mission house opened up and things ready to go when we got there plus helped in getting us all from the airport.

Forty of us boarded the Cross Tours bus at EMU's parking lot at 1:30 am on Tuesday, July 1. We made it to Reagan Airport in DC in by 4:00 am for a 6:05 flight. Our first miracle began when we were told that the Rubbermaid tubs containing all our food, paper goods and some painting supplies would not make it to Port-au-Prince because of a box embargo on Haiti for the summer months. This was after 15 of the 16 tubs had already been checked. I appealed to the lady who was telling me that they couldn't go on the basis of our being on a mission trip. She was not impressed but went ahead and checked the last one and promised me that I would not see any of the tubs in Port-au-Prince. Of course, that made me pray harder. We all made it through security and boarded our plane for our flight to Miami. I was hoping that God would give us favor and no baggage handlers would take the checked tubs off but would simply put them on the plane to Port-au-Prince as they were tagged. We ate an early lunch in Miami and boarded the Airbus 300 for Haiti. We sat in Miami an extra hour because someone checked a bag and then didn't show up for the flight. The bag had to be found and taken off the plane before we could depart. There were two other mission groups on our flight. One was a group of Mennonite Brethren from Canada and another was a community church from Jacksonville, FL.

We arrived in Haiti to the familiar sights, sounds, smells and heat. It was wonderful. For several of the persons on the trip, it was there first international travel and for many it was their first trip to a "4th world" country. They unloaded the first set of baggage trams and none of our stuff was there. The second set came and still none. The third set came with only a few of our suitcases and I was getting very nervous. Finally on the last set of baggage trams, our tubs began to come - all sixteen of them. PTL. We loaded up on 20 carts and made our way out of the airport. Someone said that he knew who we were looking for and began to push my cart. I was anxious about it till I saw Claude and then everything was fine. John Schaeffer actually knew all the men working at the airport from having picked up around 500 different persons for an agency called New Missions when he lived in Haiti. Oxy, Claude, John Kennel, John Schaeffer who had come in earlier, and our driver where all there waiting and everything was loaded.

We unpacked at the mission house and everyone staked out their territory. The place was great with space for everyone. We went to look at the girl's orphanage and the boy's orphanage on Tuesday afternoon. We came back to the mission house and settled in while supper was prepared. We were going up on the third story for worship when a thunderstorm prevented us so we had worship under the carport the first night. Oxy arrived as we were finishing and shared a bit of his testimony with us.

Our group was divided into three teams. The MYF and two JYFers plus sponsors were team 1. Team 2 was made up of young adults in the 20s (with a couple of honorary members). Team 3 was made up of folks from 43 to 79. On Wednesday, team 1 and 2 went to the orphanage and began to paint a second coat on the inside of Oxy's house and the trim for the ceilings and doors. Some people began to work on painting the restrooms on the church. Some of the MYFers painted the new kitchen and the dining room on the orphanage. A few others worked on the lights and fans and electrical in the church. Team 3 stayed at the mission house and began painting the exterior. On Thursday, we finished the trim in Oxy's house and began to paint the church at the boy's orphanage inside and out. We ran out of paint on Thursday which gave many people a chance to interact with the boys. On Friday, most of team 3 came over to the orphanage with a few person finishing the grills over the windows and the exterior doors. The exterior doors need one more coat of oil base paint that is in the generator room.

On Friday, we painted the exterior of the orphanage and the trim and painted about half the wall in the afternoon. There are about twelve gallons of light blue paint for the remaining half of the wall around the orphanage compound in the generator room. The exterior doors were put on Oxy's house and new door locks were put on those doors and the doors for the kitchen and dining room. A set of wooden shelves was built in the orphanage kitchen. A new steel pole for a basketball goal was put up next to the concrete where the chicken coops had been on the back of the orphanage property. The concrete slab needs to be expanded to complete the court. We also purchased a new stove and gas bottle for the orphanage kitchen. A clothes washer was purchased with previously donated money and a lean-to roof was built over it. The Dodge van was serviced. The restrooms were finished except for the correct supply lines to the water closets. A plastic cistern was put on the room and a water line was put in from the pump. The cistern was filled. The pump was re-plumbed and some of the wiring was worked on. All together, we applied between 55-60 gallons of paint.

On Saturday we got up early and headed for the Wahoo Beach club. We stayed till about 4:00 and had a great time. On Sunday morning, we went to church at the orphanage at 9:15 or so. The church was full when we arrived. Room was made on the front rows and the platform. We had a couple persons who needed to leave because they were overcome with the heat and crowding. The worship was wonderful and we had a very good service. Oxy and I preached together and John Schaeffer said that about 95% of what I was saying came through very clearly. We went to the Visa Lodge for dinner and had a great meal. Then we changed clothes and went to the market by the post office for souvenirs. Oxy, Claude and some of Oxy's nephews were very helpful. From the post office, we drove by the Palace and went up to Fort Jacques. I had forgotten what a long and difficult drive it is from 200 ft above sea level to over 4,400 ft at Fort Jacques. It was cool (relatively speaking) and everyone loved the view.

On Monday morning we headed to the airport early (9:00) for a 12:35 flight. We made it through check in without a hitch. Our plane came in on time (unlike the one we arrived on) and I felt like we would be close but we'd make our connection in Miami back to Reagan in the two hours. For some unknown reason, we sat on the tarmac for an extra 45 minutes and then finally took off. Of course I realized that this meant we would have trouble making the connection. We got off the plane and needed to take a tram to immigration. Galen Lehman went to the first person with a radio and told them to call their supervisor and tell them to hold the flight to Reagan for 40 persons coming from Port-au-Prince who needed to clear customs. We made it through immigration fairly easily and then had to wait on our bags. This took over 30 minutes. When the last bag came through and the last of us cleared customs we found out that they were, in fact, holding our flight. Miracle #2. We made it back to Reagan with no problems, except for 6 lost pieces of luggage. The bus was there to take us back home. We arrived at EMU parking lot at 11:40 pm to many happy parents and spouses.

Galen put together a 6 minute DVD which was shown during the sharing time of the worship service the next Sunday and the local newspaper ran a very good article with several excellent pictures on the religion page the first Saturday we were home. We also had a debriefing meeting for those interested this past Sunday over lunch.

I believe that God smiled on us with great weather and a wonderful team spirit for the entire trip. We worked along side many of the boys at the orphanage and the Charles family at the mission house. The impact of the trip has been a major topic of conversation at Lindale ever since we returned. Several persons are willing to go back to finish up the plumbing and electrical if we need to do that in August or September. We had some funds left to help that happen. Another thing that made this trip very special was that it was truly intergenerational. One family of five went and several other parents of MYFers came along. The age range was from 9 to 79.

The part of the whole thing that thrills me the most is a significant percentage of my congregation now knows from first hand experience why I love Haiti and the people that CFM touches in Haiti. That is invaluable to me as a pastor. They have also been touched and moved toward mission in a way that they couldn't have been otherwise. Some of them will go back and many others from here will go when they can.