Haiti Trip - Special Thoughts

Odd but interesting happenings...

• The White Persian

• Unusual animals – lizards (everywhere), lightening bugs, large spiders (one with an egg sack), a tarantula, goats (cut up in a bowl for dinner), chickens, cows, frog (in the bathroom), ants (strangely unorganized), mosquitoes

• Dinner conversation – Poop and parenting

• Unusual “God Sighting” times – various conversations and evidences of God

• Temperature – 80-90, but extremely humid – always hot!

• Touching Karen with a stick and someone else saying “Karen, there is a lizard on your back” and Rodne almost jumping out of his chair when she screamed.

• Food was unusual, but mostly delicious. Breakfast for dinner, dinner for breakfast, lunch was usually a very large meal (followed by nap time)

• I have now played soccer in another country – although it was with a tennis ball, and I played hacky sack with a small “sock” ball.

• The truck ride - “a little rain won't hurt”, the water running out of Dr Lonas' shoe, the water running out of his shirt, the puddles we were sitting in, the people laughing at us.

• Warm showers in the evening – because it was so hot, they were a little too warm, cold showers in the morning – because the water on the roof had cooled over the evening.

• Snapping Lovelie's guitar string.

• Singing with the kids that came to the clinic on Sunday afternoon.

• Rebecca winning at Rage.

• Great theological discussions over meals, during breaks, just about anytime – interesting discussions about other things as well...

• “What is your name?” “I am Ken” “Noooooo” - it was hilarious!!!

Haiti Trip - Day 8

Haiti Trip – Day 8 (October 11)

What a wonderful day – we had a great time at Camp Coq, we visited Rodne's Bible Institute that he graduated from, and enjoyed some time together at Rodne's home.

Highlights of the day...

1 – going to Camp Coq and visiting the school. They have 600 students preschool - 4^th grade. Next year they want to add a 5^th grade, but they need $10,000 to complete the rooms.

2 – giving Shenyada her gift from the Sunday School Class that sponsors her and taking pictures of her for them.

3 – playing with the kids at recess – it was an ocean of children. You gotta see the pictures!

4 – feeding the kids lunch. Listening to them pray, and watching them eat! It was thrilling to be part of it for the day!

5 – Going to Rodne's School. We met his teacher and heard much about this Baptist School in Limbe that is training Christian young men and women in theology, English, agriculture, music, etc. to launch them out into the society to share Jesus with others.

6 – Meeting with the team at Rodne's home and encouraging each other with the things that we have seen God do in and through them this week. We talked about godly traits we saw in each other. We talked about how we were encouraged in our walk with God based on knowing the others this week. It was thrilling to hear. It really was a great team.

7 – Tonight is my last night in Haiti – I am looking forward to seeing my lovely wife and family. I miss them all dearly – this not being able to talk with them thing is really not my favorite way to travel. I pray that God makes a way in the future for me to interact with them more frequently.

Tomorrow we head home – we are leaving here at 4:30 in the morning, and will hopefully arrive in Chattanooga around 8:30 PM. It will be a long day, but just like giving birth, it will be worth the effort!

Haiti Trip - Day 7

Haiti Trip – Day 7 (October 10)

Today started as most others – I jumped in the shower to cool off (I took a shower in the middle of the night it was so hot). As I was looking around, I realized I had a friend in the shower – a large frog. Of course I had to get a picture of it for Harrison – I took a lot of pictures of animals for him.

Highlights of the day...

1 - Preaching Sunday Morning – spoke on Phil 2 – used the idea of the kids asking “What is your name?” everywhere I go. To remind them that we are to be about promoting the name of Christ, because His name is above every other. We also sang “Lord I lift your name on high” with Sanchez and Jimmy for the congregation.

2 – Saying good bye to friends of Grand Bassin – kitchen staff, children, Lovelie, Leis.

3 – Driving in the back of the truck again – this time we spend most of the time in the rain! It was hilarious. People thought we had lost our minds – that we didn't have enough sense to get out of the rain. Even the goats were out of the rain – but not Dr Lonas and I. We were soaked – but it was a lot of fun watching people, and it was nice being a little “cold” - we hadn't experienced that for quite some time.

4 – Visiting with Pastor Rodne and his family – we are staying at their home until we leave for the airport on Tuesday afternoon. They are wonderful hosts.

Haiti Trip - Day 6

Haiti trip – Day 6 (October 9)

We woke up early because Dr Dean was heading out He left for the airport around 5. taking the same flights we are going to take on Tuesday. We heard from him periodically throughout the day – telling us how things were working out. He was supposed to arrive early Sunday Morning.

Highlights for the day...

1 – We saw Charles again today – Karen is going to sponsor him in the program. We did a home visit and met with some of his family. While we were going down the street, we took pictures, talked with kids, talked with other people, in all, we had a great time. We also saw Wanda Sykes – you just have to ask.

2 – We saw more patients today – 2 finger injuries, a leg injury, and some other random things. The doc did well, and the rest of us just tried to help.

3 – We spent the afternoon getting rid of expired drugs that cannot be used. We took the out of the bottles, and tomorrow they are going to burn them in a pit. They were going to do it today, but it rained again – much more than yesterday.

4 – We are constantly inundated with kids that are wanting us to give them food. I found a way to allow the kids to “earn” some food by having them catch lizards for me. It was hilarious playing with the kids and helping them (or really they helped me) to catch the lizards. I think it was good for them to learn to not just ask for food, but to do something to get it.

5 – We played rage this evening – it was a lot of fun. Jimmy and Sanchez played with us, so it was interesting to say the least. Dr Lonas was helping Sanchez, but I am not so sure he wasn't helping himself :-) We didn't get to finish because, as always, the lights went out. We completed the last hand (round 5) by flashlight, and headed for bed.

6 – The animals were off the charts this evening. Goats, chickens, roosters, frogs, dogs, cats... The noise was constant, and extremely annoying. Needless to say, I did not sleep well again this evening. It was okay though, I got enough sleep.

Haiti Trip - Day 5

Haiti Trip – Day 5 (October 8)

I called Harrison first thing this morning to say Happy Birthday. He sounded a little tired – I am hoping to call again if I can use Jimmy's phone.

Highlights of the day...

1 – We were able to see more patients today – I say we – actually, they saw the patients, I just took pictures talked with people, and helped out wherever necessary.

2 – We saw a kid yesterday who had an infection in his hand – he returned today to get it checked up on. Karen is taking a liking to him because he has no mother or father to care for him. His name is Charles, and he is 13 years old.

3 – I was able to talk with Harrison and Dee today – it was the highlight for most of the team to be able to connect with their family today. Harrison seems to be having a great birthday, I just wish I could be there.

4 – It rained today for the first time since we have been here, but it was just a little rain. Enough to make it feel cooler, but eventually it just became more humid.

5 – We were able to finish the pharmacy clean up – tomorrow we will be emptying the outdated drugs that cannot be used.

6 – Dr Dean is getting ready to go home, so we spent some of the evening encouraging him and talking about how he has encouraged us all week. We took pictures with “Kevin” (the extra bag that came from the airport), and laughed together for a while. It was a great send off.

Haiti Trip - Day 4

Haiti Trip – Day 4 (October 7)

Highlights of the day...

1 – Woman that Dr Dean Lenz worked on 2 years ago (removed a growth from her side) is now employed by the clinic to clean – her scar looked wonderful – she is very thankful for God allowing Dean to help her.

2– Michelle and Karen are gaining a vision for training and helping the woman of Grand Bassin in educating them about sex, child birth, labor and delivery, etc. They are excited about gaining equipment and supplies to help Lovely with the women here.

3 – We took a trip up the local mountain, and were able to see the whole area at once. What a view. We could see for miles. The walk was about a 3 ½ hour walk, and we finished about 6:30 in the evening. It was dark by then, so we used the camera to see to cross the creek. Interestingly enough, I had packed my flashlight just in case it got dark, but forgot that I had packed it. Anyway, it was a good illustration for speaking in church.

Tomorrow is Harrison's birthday – Jimmy said he would try to get me a phone card to be able to call him. I do miss the family – I especially miss talking with them. It has been 3 days since I talked to them – much too long!

Haiti Trip - Day 3

Haiti Trip – Day 3 (October 6)

Highlights of the day...

1. We began treating people today – the doctors worked together to care for the people, the ladies helped out in various ways with Lovely the nurse. I spent the morning handing out candy, taking pictures, and helping at the pharmacy.

2. We went to the school next door around 10:30 to visit the kids at school. We were able to see all 700 + fed and were asked to hand out vitamins to all of them. We were allowed to talk with them – many are learning English and Spanish, so that was a lot of fun to be able to interact with them.

3. We took a tour of Gran Bassin today and went to the Catholic church/school/clinic. It was pretty impressive, but I am glad for the ministry of AMG and Rodne Romeus to give the people here the truth of the Gospel.

4. I was able to play “soccer” with some of the area kids – it was with a tennis ball, but it was soccer nonetheless. We had fun – they were surprised that I could even play.

5. Michelle gave her shoes to Donaldson – a kid we met today – I am thrilled about the way she is catching a vision for helping the people of Haiti.

6. Conversation with a medical team is much different than a usual team. Medical discussions throughout the day – very interesting. However, eventually, they talk about things like “White Persians” that I am not as interested to hear about. :-)

It's been a great day – tomorrow we are supposed to do the same thing, and then go to church again. Hopefully we will be able to address the people during the service. We will see what God allows.

Haiti Trip - Day 2

Haiti Trip – Day 2 (October 5)

Four o'clock and the telephone rings, “Good morning, this is your wake up call.” Actually, that call came about 1 ½ hours after I had already awaken. For some reason, at 2:30 I woke up thinking that I needed to e-mail my Sunday School class, and do a few other things. I waited until the alarm sounded before actually getting up to do it, but I never did fall back to sleep. I am in for a long day!

By 5:00, the team was assembled by the front door waiting for the shuttle. We were able to make it to the airport by 5:10, and were checked in for the flight by 5:30. We had breakfast before going through the security checkpoint, and by 6:15 we were sitting at the gate. Keep in mind the flight wouldn't leave until 8:30, but the airline requested we be at the airport by 5. The team has responded very well to the waiting period, so I am very thankful for that. I was able to call Dee, and eventually Harrison called to say, “hi”. We boarded and made our way to Haiti.

The plane was mostly empty, so we spread out around the plane. The flight went well, and soon enough we were flying over Haiti.

First impressions - it seemed like a pretty nice place from the air, but a very needy place when we hit the ground. We were surrounded by people that wanted to help us move our bags – just so we would give them some money. They were relentless. They kept grabbing at my bag, and I kept telling them to leave them alone. The rest of the team was having the same problem, so I stepped in to help out. Eventually the woman from Florida Coastal came to our aid, and we were on our way to the other terminal.

We arrived at that terminal and had to wait until 11:30 (about 2 hours) to board our next plane. The plane held about 20 people, and rocked and shook as we made our way above the mountains from Port Au Prince to Cap Haitian (on the north side of Haiti). Over all the flight was fine, but Karen was a little nervous (to say the least).

They could only take 5 of our 11 bags with us on our flight, so the remainder of our bags went on the 2:30 flight – arriving in Cap Haitian around 3:00. It was just a matter of an hour or so after we arrived in Grand Bassin (where the Bethesda Medical Clinic is) that our bags arrived, and we were completely there.

Key things that happened today...

1 – bags flew on a separate plane – everything arrived just fine.

2 – We were swarmed everywhere we went with people asking for money and wanting to help us.

3 – While riding in the back of a truck with my legs hanging over the tailgate, a kid ran out into traffic to grab my leg – just for a joke. It was rather funny.

4 – The kids at Bethesda are adorable, and are wanting to play. We didn't have time yet to hang out with them – maybe tomorrow. They are constantly asking for money/stuff, I hope to teach them to give to others – not always asking for themselves.

5 – We went to church – the service was swaying – literally. People clapping, swaying, singing - it was all in Creole, so I am not really sure what they were saying. Jimmy and Sanchez were translating for us, but I was too far away to hear most of what they were saying.

Haiti Trip - Day 1

Haiti Trip – Day 1 (October 4)

The morning began with running around to finish plans for the trip. Last week I was at Grove City College at a missions conference, so I feel ill prepared for this trip. So many details that I feel like I did not remember the week before I left for GCC. However, here we go...

At 10:00 we left AMG International, Karen Farney joined us for the ride to the airport so she could drive my car back to Chattanooga. Karen Myrick, Rebecca Long, Michelle Shrum and I headed to Justin Lonas' home to pick up Dr Bobby Lonas (his father). By 10:30 we were on our way to Atlanta.

The ride was uneventful, but it was interesting to watch the interaction of the team. I think this group is going to get along well. Bobby has been to Haiti once before, so we quizzed him about what we were to expect as we arrived there. He told us that the food was pretty good – which is exactly the opposite of what Pete and Roger had told me. We will see.

Speaking of food, we stopped at Subway a few miles from the airport, and grabbed some lunch before finishing the journey to the airport. We arrived, unloaded and 2 hours later we were on our way to Miami.

The flight was smooth and we met with Dean Lenz at the baggage claim and we headed off the the La Quinta Inn. After supper at Bennigans (where I ate a Monte Carlo – great story about this sandwich) we walked back to the hotel to prepare for an early evening.

We repositioned all of our stuff to make sure that our checked luggage was under 44 lbs, and our carry on luggage was around 8 lbs. That's right – 8 pounds! Needless to say, we did not have much in the carry on.

Before going to sleep, Dr Lonas, Dr Lenz and myself spent a few minutes talking about things we have been learning about God, and then took some time to pray for the week. I think this is going to be an excellent trip.