Summer Haiti Mission Trip - Day 9

Prayer Partner of the Day - Jay Horstman


(Written in the air, somewhere over the Gulf Coast, on Tuesday, July 5!)


The days in Haiti continue to get earlier and earlier. Though I was in my bed by 7:45pm last night, the alarm was still a shock at 4:00am this morning. The cold shower got my blood moving, and soon our bags were packed and we were saying farewell to Olizard before the sun even arose.

Ancy met us in Carrefour, and to our surprise, Hans, his older son, was with him! It was good to see my Haitian brother and catch up on the week's events on our drive to the airport. Traffic was fairly light, but it still took the better part of two and a half hours to arrive. On the way, Chuck, Bob and I continued to envision our "million dollar idea." For anyone who has been to Haiti, you know you take your life in your own hands each time you get in a car and drive, even if it is just a short distance. The tap-taps, the motorcycles, the roads with no street signs or stoplights, the pedestrians, the market days, the speed bumps, the potholes, the unpaved roads... There are so many obstacles one faces when getting behind the wheel to drive in Haiti. So...imagine if you were to put all of this into a video game! Our creativity was going overboard... Now I just need to find a video game developer! This would be the best-selling game of the year, especially to those who have worked in Haiti!

The airport was the slowest I have ever seen it. Only three men tried to grab my bags, and the line inside was the short. Three people in line...that's it! I arrived at the counter, presented by passport, and told the lady I had two bags. Apparently American Airlines is now charging for the second bag, even on international flights, and because of this, she deemed it proper to duct tape my bags together to make one bag. Yes, there I stood, watching a man duct tape my two bags... I tried to stop them. I tried to tell them I didn't mind paying the fee. But they kept on taping. Even worse, they taped the two bags together so the wheels were facing inward. I could just envision customs in Ft. Lauderdale...

Fast forward through three security checkpoints, two pat-downs and an upgrade to an exit row, and I was on my way home to the US. My seat mate turned out to be quite an interesting fellow, and we made a quick connection and talked through the entire two hour flight. I foresee a beautiful friendship between his company and Solar Under the Sun. There are great possibilities for the two to work together in Haiti.

Once arriving in Ft. Laurderdale, I breezed through the checkpoint. After that, you have to collect your bags. So I waited, waited, waited, and sure enough, here comes my bags...err, bag...taped together, though most of the tape had come off. This proved to be a good thing, as I was able to barely wheel them through the rest of the checkpoint, through the terminal, outside to terminal three, and to the American Airlines counter. They looked at me and laughed, and when I explained what happened, they happily took off the tape and checked BOTH bags...at no cost. Bless them.

The flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas was uneventful with a row of seats to myself. In Dallas, three gate/terminal changes and one delayed flight later, I made it home. Clearly, Jay was praying me through the day. In fact, if I know him, he was praying without ceasing, and throwing up Hail Mary after Hail Mary! I can always count on him to intercede on my behalf and I know God hears his prayers!

And thus ends another wonderful, fruitful, successful, Spirit-filled trip to Haiti. Thank you all so much for following along with me on this journey and holding our team in prayer. Again, we know we are not the only team members; each of you are just as important to our success, and I am thankful to share the experience with you. God bless you, and I will look forward to our next journey together....in less than four weeks!