Haiti Trip #11 - March 24, 2012

New Panels at Blanket Baptist Church & School

Prayer Partners of the Day - Becky Field-Ross & Becky Memmelaar

With Pastor Evens

Every day in Haiti is better after a good night's sleep! Perhaps it's because UNC lived to play another day? Perhaps it is because it wasn't quite as cold and humid last night? Perhaps it was because my prayer partners lifted our team to God's care? Whatever the case, it was good to wake this morning and feel refreshed.

Mark is an exceptional teacher.

After breakfast (mango & pineapple...mmmm!), we took down our tents and began packing up our belongings. We took off to Blanket, and as we came over the ridge, the brand new solar panels were atop a new pole and shining brightly! You see...in February, we received terrible news. The solar panels in Blanket were stolen in the middle of the night. They were no longer able to produce clean water, as there is no electricity available in the community, and they did not own a generator large enough to operate the system. It was heartbreaking. Thanks so faithful members of Herndon UMC and a little gift from Green Energy Solutions, four new solar panels were bought for Blanket. Our team this week is here to hook up the panels to the system and get the system back up and running. It was a perfect teaching and training opportunity for our rookies, as the project ended up being much more technical than originally expected.

Sometimes you need a cuddle.

While Mark was hard at work teaching, I was, of course, playing with the kids and talking. My friends, Fedo and Maxon, stopped by to say hello, and dear Maxon sat and wrote a note to our friend Sally Block. An hour or so after the work continued, Pastor Evens Cherenfant arrived. He was given a car from a Baptist missionary group, and from the looks of it, he is still perfecting the art of driving! We enjoyed a nice reunion, as we've been friends now for years. He, Ancy, and I talked for the rest of the day, and before I left, Evens gave me a Bible written in Creole! It was the one thing I had been wishing for during my last trips, and I was so honored to receive it from him.

Ashley with one of her kids!

In other news, the goats came by for a visit! If you think back to January 2011, the group purchased four goats for the Blanket church, and they were sweetly named Ashley, Ancy, Leo and Sam! Now, there are NINE goats, as Ashley & Ancy have had two children and Leo & Sam have had three children. Ashley is once again pregnant... And the strangest thing... Ancy & Sam have gone missing! Perhaps they were ready to leave the "kids" to the gals! :)

Our time in Blanket was much longer than expected, and we finally packed up our tools and headed back to Arcahaie to gather our belongings by 3:00pm. Once we loaded our bags on the Kia, we took off further up the road to Montrouis. The Episcopal compound is literally right on the water, and for the last two years, this has been the site of our Operators Conference. We were all in awe of the beautiful still ocean.

Tonight we sat by the water and answered the question...what brought you hope today? It was started to bring on many feelings and questions among the group. As I said before, only two of us have ever been to Haiti before, and this was the first time seeing the country, the surroundings and the people up close. One can read about it, but until you see Haiti for your own eyes, one can never really understand it. Unlike many countries with pockets of poverty, Haiti is a country where one simply cannot get out of it. As I continue to tell the team, Haiti is hard, and you must allow yourself time to process... And one must not fall victim to being overwhelmed and thinking the work they are doing is in vain. If you can touch one life, if you can bring hope to just one person, if you can give love to one child, if you can give clean water to one community, then you have succeeded.

May God grant us strength to be the Light of Christ to all those we encounter and bring joy and love to our neighbors and family in Haiti.

(From L to R) Arachaie Operator, Valdes, Ancy, & me