After Haiti

     We have been back home for one week.  I can't seem to get rested.  It was different this year.  Harder. 
      Looking back at my pictures (there are lots and lots of them on my FB page) I become even more aware of the ways God used us and blessed us.  Three years after The Earthquake, the front wall of the church in Dano is finally back up.  Assuming, that is, that the men in Haiti were able to finish what we didn't get done.  We ran out of supplies but they were still working when we left.  The Pastor's Conference led by our own Pastor Sterling was intense and full of great fellowship.  My third time teaching the women of Haiti was the best time I have had so far.

In Dano we were told there wouldn't be any women to come for the conference.  Thirteen women showed up!  We had a wonderful, very close time of sitting together and sharing from God's word.  My friend, Lucien, translates for me, and he is always encouraging and fun to be with.  When we got back to the city we spoke to over 100 men and women at the church on Thursday night.  That was the night that I knew without doubt that I was exactly where God planned for me to be, doing exactly what God planned for me to be doing, and enjoying doing it more than I ever have before. 

     It was a very emotional and heavy trip for me this time.  I don't know why.  Before I left here there was some medical drama here at home.  Maybe that sent me off with a buried burden.  As I went, I knew in the depths of my soul that there would be a test for me.  And there was. But God got me through.  When I was talking to my daughter last week and said, "That would almost cause me to not go again," her response was, "Really?"
(Insert sarcastic tone of voice.)  And again, "Really?"  No.  Not really. 
I will go.  I look forward to next July and can't wait to get back! 
     What was different this time?  We had church every night while in the village.  On Monday night, two young men accepted Christ.  On Tuesday night, our pastor prayed for healing for two women with ailments.  They were back the next night healed!  There were over a dozen children express a desire to accept Christ at the children's service on Wednesday.  After church Wednesday night another lady prayed to accept Christ.  Jesus was busy this trip!  Before we have just gone to do work.  This time souls were saved and lives were changed. 
      On Tuesday night after our team had finished dinner, we had a lot of food left.  I was alone in the dining room.  My friend Nahum, who is Haitian, came in and said, "Vicki, are we finished?  Will anyone want more?  If not, they have told me there are two boys here who are hungry.  Could we give them this?"  I said sure and that I would be happy to serve them.  When he returned, Nahum had a look of surprise on his face.  He said to me, "I didn't know who it was."  That night I had the extreme honor of serving left-over rice and whatever else we had, I honestly can't remember, to the two young men who had accepted Jesus the night before.  They had on the same clothes as the night before, but they were clean.  They had looks of appreciation on their faces, and even though we couldn't communicate through language, the love of Jesus leapt all boundaries as I offered them all that the Americans had left.  They ate it all.  It was a lot.  Then they came to church and sang and worshiped with abandon. 

As you remember this story, will you pray for Joshua and Jonah?  Here is a picture to help you remember.  Can you see the glow on their faces?                                             Life after Haiti?  Forever changed.  They are.  I am.  Praise the Lord!

 

 

     

Wilson

      I will write more about my trip to Haiti later, but today I want to tell you about Wilson.  We took our two friends, Moses and Wilson with us to Dano. Dano is the village where we went to work last week.  It is isolated and remote, a beautiful place to spend a few days.  These two young men work hard at the orphanage in Port au Prince cooking and providing anything we need when we are there.  They needed a break and a time to rest.  There were women in Dano to do the cooking and providing. 
     Even though we can't communicate with them because of language barriers, it is sweet to walk around and hear your name called only to turn and see a huge smile aimed your way.  The hugs they give will crush your ribs.  The love they have for us is evident in the way they seek to serve. 
     On our last night in Dano I watched Wilson prepare fresh Mango for us.  He had a bowl of water and put the two fruits in it.  Gently, ever so gently, he put his hand in the bowl and rubbed the water over the fruit for several minutes.  Then he peeled it and cut it into slices, covering it with a paper towel until he passed it around for us to eat.  He was there to serve. He never assumed the fruit was for him.  He was doing this for us.  (Of course, we shared.) He did it with obvious love and care.

     During the week Wilson would come from behind, link his arm into mine and say my name.  We would laugh and talk, somehow understanding one another and getting our message across.  I sat with him on the bus ride back to the city.  It's a rough ride up and down that mountain.  At one point I heard Wilson call my name as he placed his hand on top of my head and push me down so that the tree limb coming through the window did not slap me in the face. When I needed my contact solution to clean grit out of my eye, he dug for my backpack and found it for me.  I have to tell you it was funny to see his reaction as he called for Moses to look as I removed that contact from my eye.  I heard three words in what he said that I understood:  Moses, Vicki, contact.  The looks on their faces were priceless!   
     Anyway, as we were saying our goodbyes on Friday night he said, "When you come back you will not see me here.  I live with my mother now."  The most natural thing in the world is to see those kids who work so hard to cook and clean.  They are always there.  They are the first people we see when we get off the bus.  Why does that have to change?  He began to cry and I did too.  He told us how much we had meant to him over our visits there.  I wonder if he will ever know how much he has meant to us.  The good news is that he is in college and studying business.  He had a statistics book that he was studying last week.  Wilson is smart.  He is steady.  He will succeed.

 

 

Me with Wilson (R) and Moses (L)

     Change is hard.  There were many changes in Haiti last week.  Most of the children had gone home for the summer.  Some will return for school in the fall.  Many will not.  While I am thrilled for Wilson that he has graduated high school and is attending college, I am jealous that he will not be there next July.  Then I wonder how hard it will be for Moses.  He is there alone now without his constant companions.  All of them are gone right now.  Will they return in September? 
     I am very thankful for Facebook!  As soon as Wilson accepts my friend request we will be able to keep in touch.  Well, I am going to have to learn to read and write Creole, but maybe Google can help with that!  And I am going to hope that he will do next year what he did this year -come spend a few days with Moses when the Americans from Shelter Church come to Haiti.  May God bless these two special men.