Author: GMSM

One day, maybe just one day God will provide us with some sort of transportation down here. I am tired of spending money on private drivers that in my opinion charge way too much. We can’t even catch a break from our
local bros. I know it’s a business but hey , cut me some slack. As much as I am starting to move around down here, good GMSM owned transportation will be crucial very soon. We wait on God. I guess we should concentrate efforts to get Harry’s house finished first.

So in the meantime I will switch from private transportation to the ever crazy local stuff. It is very cheap and can also be dangerous. So this morning Harry and tok off to Jacmel in a local tap tap. The last time I went to Jacmel it cost us $200.00 for a private driver. By going the absolute crazy scary way it only cost us $15.00 for the both of us round trip. Hey a brothers gotta do what a brothers gotta do. Two and a half hours in a 10 passenger van with 15 people packed into it going over a mountain range that rivals most that I have ever seen, steep and scary crazy. The reason I am writing this now is because we made it back. PTL.

We were in Jacmel to revisit the place were we ministered to about 15 children in December. This is where we bought food and left Christmas gifts at Christmas time. We had a meeting with Pastor Abel who is the man who is trying to help the children and also is planting churches in this area. This was the main focus of this day trip down south. We spoke of his vision for the area and tried to get a feel for how he was planning to accomplish this vision. Abel is tied closely with FBC of Provo, Utah. The Provo church is the one who asked me to help gather info and guide them in a relationship with this area. Our meeting went well and we bought some more food for the kids and then headed back toward Port au Prince.

When we arrived in Portay Leogone, which is not a real good area of Port to be in late at night, we had to get a tap tap quickly and get out of Dodge. Praise God from whom all blessings flow we finally did make it back. I would like to say safely but it was anything but safe. All is good, that is the Haitian way. When in Haiti do as the Haitians do.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. I caught a tap tap to Harry’s church and had a great time worshiping with his fellowship. After the service was over we had the Lord’s Supper. I was so stoked to have been invited to participate. It was such a beautiful thing and just confirmed how much God loves all people. What He did for us is for all and no one is more worthy than the next. We are all sinners like it or not and no one is excluded.

After all was finished at the church, Harry and his family, along with his brother James and church leader Adonai, went to lunch and had some serious food. We had a great time chilling and just hanging out. Harry took me to his house to see the slow progress. They say Rome was not built in a day and they also say good things take time. I was very impressed by what I saw. We are officially ready for the roof. There was much time and money spent on the foundation and walls and I am totally comfortable that we did what we needed to do to make sure that we have good strength throughout the walls and floor. Our next step is to start praying for the resources for a strong roof. God will provide I know and we will be patient. We head to Jacmel in the morning to check on the orphanage. Today was a great day.

Kenny

GMSM

 

What would a day in Haiti be like if you didn’t pursue something that was not gonna happen anyway. Big bummer, my internet connection has the windows boarded up and is no longer in business and as a good shop keeper. Sister Mary has a policy of not giving out the password to the holy grail. So I was totally bummed to find out about the closing of internet sanctuary.

There is a new company other Digicel that is called NapCom which has gotten good review from locals and blancs alike. So I figure hey what the heck let’s drive the 10 mile three hour trip to the NapCom store and get me all hooked up with a new air card for the IPad. First of all that sounds way too easy. I should have been skeptical but hey man it was a new day and I’m back in the saddle in Haiti ready to rock. Man I must be getting gullible in my old age. The NapCom dude tells me the air card won’t work on the IPad because mine is not the 3G version. That was not the answer I was wanting to hear, but he is right unless there is a 3G adapter. Sounds like I know what I’m talking about but trust me I am as lost as if I try to navigate my way through Port Au Prince by myself.

All is good, Harry had a beautiful baptism service at his church and it really confirms why I am here. Washing off the filth and coming out clean. What a true public profession of faith. Another very cool thing is, last night I met this cat named Brent Gibson here at the guest house. He is from NYC and works down the street from Jeremy. He has a PHD in…………can’t remember. Anyway as we talked it was pretty obvious we are both kinda traveling a similar path. We both are venturing into areas of grass roots type stuff. He has an organization called HaitCorps International. He is involved with a group called FAVILEK ( famn victim leve kampe ) or women victims get up stand up. This is a Haitian group that reaches out to rape victims and physically abused women. They have a headquarters where the women are taken to and they are teaching them to sew. Specifically to sew and make handbags. They are paid daily and have a lunch provided. Brent brought a purse designer from NYC to train the women. From what I understand she is a high profile designer. They bring in material from the states and they produce a nice product which is sold state side and the money pours back into the women. Harry and I had the opportunity to vist the house with Brent this morning before the rabbit chase. I am very moved and impressed with what we witnessed today. Awesome, praise God from whom all blessings flow. Give don’t take away !

Kenny

GMSM

It’s crazy the paths we take. GMSM has been blessed with some frequent flyer miles and the way they took me was Haiti via NYC, NY. The very cool thing was I got to spend time and the night with my dear friends Ava and Jeremy. They are not only tight friends but they also happen to be the first couple I married.. We took a tour of Manhattan at nighttime and I got to see the glitz and glamour of a world I’ve no clue of. I can see why so many people are there. I felt like I could be sucked right in and not even know it. I will say I thought it to be kinda’ cool. Jeremy produces and mixes music in a studio that has had some very famous bands cut tracks at. The Stones for one. Ava works at a vets office and loves on animals all day. What more can you ask for out of the city that never sleeps. They even named it twice.

So now I sit on a plane headed toward another city that will be far from glitz and glamour.  Instead it will have heat, dust and incredible need. Haiti is also a place that will suck you in and you better be ready for it. I have come to know many clues of what awaits in Haiti. I don’t always understand but I love this place and its people. As inadequate as I am I know I must keep pushing forward until God changes the path I am on. Trust me I would not be on this path unless it was God driven. I look forward to seeing my friend Harry, the school, the church and all our friends. We will have another busy 8 days here. A much different busy than the NYC busy but a 24 hr a day busy never the less. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. The outpouring of support for this year’s Christmas party at First Baptist Church Santo 25 Couix des Bouqette, Haiti was tremendous. Continue reading “Christmas Dinner in Haiti, 2011”

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. We had a great day at Pastor Harry’s church. A very busy day to say the least. We had two meetings at the church and what was so cool about it was neither one had to do with church. Our first meeting was with two dear brothers from a small village that we are praying about. Praying to see if God would allow us to get involved. We have great respect from these two men and have been building a relation for some time now. We have been very open not to make any promises. Our second meeting was with the Evangelical Baptist School of Trinity staff. A very productive meeting with introductions, visions,expectations and encouragement. After all the heavy stuff was over we got back to work on the gift bags. With some help from the church folks we were able to knock it out in a couple of hours. 260 total gift bags. We got done just in time for church to start. A very fruitful day indeed.

Kenny

GMSM

 

I think I would rather hit my thumb with a hammer than do what I had to do today. Harry and I went to PAP proper today to visit some government offices to start the paper work to become a registered NGO in Haiti. It went about like I expected. Absolute controlled chaos. We spent most of the day tracking down one paper that we needed to get the ball rolling. Praise God we didn’t need two papers or we would still be down there. I find it very interesting that no one knows what there doing. Oh well we did get our paper and a face full of dust. I am sure that once the paper is filled out that they will not know what to do with it. But hey, I guess I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I got back to the guest house at a reasonable time and was able to chill for a while. We have been very busy and tomorrow will be no exception. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM

I will say this for a fact. This is the best guest houses to date that I have stayed at. I am truly stoked that Harry found this for me. There is a freedom here that I have not experienced in other guest houses. Harry and JoJo picked me up at 6:00 A.M. And we took off for Jacmel. Jacmel is a town on the south coast of Haiti. Harry and I have been talking about going down there for years but never had a reason until know. Some months ago I met a pastor from Idaho who had gotten himself involved with another Haitian pastor who has a small orphanage in the mountains above Jacmel. The Idaho pastor, Russ had many questions and he grilled me for info while in the PAP airport awaiting our return flight. He was very interested in the school we were starting and wanted to know and understand some of the things that he was experiencing. We talked for some time and agreed to touch bases once we returned to the states. We did start communicating and I promised him that I would go down and check his place out and give him my two cents worth. So that is what took us down south. Once we arrived we made contact with a few point people Russ had put us in contact with. We ultimately made it up to the orphanage and witnessed a pitiful sight. Although the 15 children had shelter they had very little food, no water, nothing to sleep on and none of the children had ever seen a doctor. This situation is worse than I have ever seen so far and I have witnessed some pretty bad stuff. This is all to familiar. The jury will be out until we can start gathering some proper info on this place. We did get food and water to them, a months supply, but I to have many questions. I am not sure this is for us to be involved in but now that we have seen the place I feel a moral responsibility to help Pastor Russ see his vision and offer what I can to help him secure a healthy environment for these children. There are four adults up there that help out on a volunteer basis. They too struggle with what to do with little to no resources. I am happy that God allowed us to do what we could. As Harry always says “God knows”. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

 

Kenny

GMSM

 

Great night sleep even though I was awakened at 2:00 am by two gunshots right outside my door. The guards felt it necessary to run off a couple of unsavory characters that were hanging out so they gave a couple of warning shots to encourage them to move along. I wish they would have given me a warning shot before firing the two warning shots to run the bad dudes off. Scared the sleep out of me.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, we did have a fairly productive day once I left the shoot out factory. Harry and I went to the market Tebart which is a huge outside market. There we bought 260 bars of soap and 260 wash cloths. We meet this old sales lady who help us get fair market price on the goods. Almost every time a Hairian sees the blanc aka honky, the prices go up. So this lady was a God sent person for us. Harry even got in the o’l church invite to her. Once we had our chum we headed to the church to start putting together our Christmas bags. We got about 125 put together so far. We will make a total of 260 gift bags, 200 for Harry’s church and 30 each for two small orphanages. Tomorrow we head south to Jacmel to check out a possible school start and to deliver 30 gift bags to one ot the orphanages. I can’t wait. JoJo and Harry will pick me up at 6:00 am and then from there we will be road tripping for the day. God knows!

Kenny

GMSM

I did sleep fairly well and was stoked to have a room to myself. The lady who runs this place is Sister Mary. A very sweet lady who has been here for a while. This is a Catholic guest house and it seems to stay busy. It’s up on a Delmas 33 and a little closer to where we will be at. Harry came by with JoJo and we took off like a band of gypsies blazing down the oh so smooth roads of Haiti. Our goal today was to see the newly started school and check up on the ever progressing home for Harry. What a joy to see the fruits of your labor. God is truly very cool. And it was very cool seeing those children in school. It was also great to see the good work the builder dudes are doing on Harry’s house. It is taking shape nicely and looks like an incredibly strong structure. We accomplished pretty much what we set out to do today which is a big plus for Haiti. Oh yeah we wre blessed to sit in traffic for about an hour and a half. A very good day, praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM