Mission Blog

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What would a trip to Haiti be like without American Airlines throwing me a curve. The flight attendant in Pensacola called in sick so we were delayed waiting on an attendant to fly in from Dallas. This was going to totally mess up the timing to meet Deborah and Aiyana in Port au Prince. Deborah is a medical doctor from New York City and Aiyana is a high school graduate from New York City.

Deborah will be doing focus groups in the village and Aiyana will be assisting her. With a little devine intervention an attendant showed up and we were only behind about an hour or so, which will be a hassle when I get to Miami to make my connecting flight. I barely made my connecting flight and got to Port au Prince on time to meet Deborah and Aiyana in the baggage claim area.

From there we headed out of the Port au Prince airport doors like lambs being lead to slaughter with hopes of meeting up with Fede. As always Mr. Dependable was right there waiting to save us from the uncontrolled chaos that awaits anyone stepping out of PAP doors.

After a brief intro we bolted off to get groceries and to meet Harry. When we left the grocery store we grabbed some killer grind at a nice little restaurant on the way out of town. After we ate we headed off to, my home away from home, Peligre.

It was dark by the time we headed up the mountain. I am glad Fede is now the proud owner of a good vehicle (thanks to IUMC). It makes the trip safer, faster, and easier. Once we arrived in Peligre Harry and I helped the ladies set up camp, made more introductions, and got situated for the evening. I am stoked to say that Deborah and Aiyana were the first gringos to use the new latrine, another nice addition to Peligre School of Hope since the start of partnerships for this mission. We all hit the rack in hopes of getting a good night sleep and as usual Harry and I spent hours catching up on life. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

 

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With an early morning wake up, we began the process of getting our chum together to climb the mountain to Dos Pilon. Fluids are a must and we had plenty of them for this climb. Fede, Curt, Bob, Harry and I walked to the base of the mountain to wait on some other men who would help us find our way. Fede was not going on the trip with us; he was making sure that we connected with our tour dudes. This is a very difficult climb, but hey, I think most that know me know that I am always ready for an adventure.

As we discussed the difficulty of the climb, Curt who was feeling a little under the weather decided that it might be best for him to go back to the village with Fede and take it easy. So it was Bob, Harry, the Haitian guides, three horses and me. The village at Dos Pilon is absolutely cut-off from any other place. The only thing at the top is a small church/school with small homes dotting the countryside. This is my second trip up here and the need in almost unimaginable. The closest source of water is over an hour walk away and any other supplies other than natural resources have to come from Peligre which is a least four miles down the mountain. The school has about 125 students with four teachers who make (when they are able to get paid) around $7.50 per month. The students have to pay tuition of 350 goudes a year which equals to about $8.75 and most can’t even afford this.

We were met with the sweetest singing from the hearts of the children. They were so stoked to see us! I must say that as we worshiped with these beautiful children, the director, pastor and deacons the Holy Spirit was almost unbearable. God continues to break me while in Haiti. He is only worthy and He allows me to see the real world. I shared from I Samuel 10:10-12, about when Samuel anointed David. I told them that no matter how small and cut-off they were that God had great plans for them. God laid it on our hearts to help the church and school. We were able to assist with unpaid salaries for the teachers, food/water for the children, school supplies for the coming school year and gave an offering to the church.

We stared our descent by being invited to the director’s house to share a meal of goat, plantains, rice and beans. Talk about sacrifice! This family has nothing that the carnal world would see as fit for anything, but they do have what a lot in this world don’t have….the love of Jesus. Time and time again this is revealed through “the least of these”. The trip down the mountain was glorious and our time spent up on the mountain could not be touched by anything. It was a special time with Harry and Bob. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Tomorrow will be spent reunited with our families and our “over the top” country. Much to learn many miles from nowhere only if you have eyes wide open.

Kenny

GMSM

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Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Today was a slow day but not by design. Curt stayed involved with the kids today while Bob and I took a long walk by the river. I must say that this trip has been a strain. There is definitely a constant learning curve, but there also has to be a lot of give and take amongst the vision and mission. As far as I am concerned we are here for the children. The other needs will fall in line as God sees fit.

We had a meeting with the members of the church this afternoon at 3:00. We finally made it to the meeting at the church after a little miscommunication. We were trying our best to share with the church council about Kristen’s goal and vision to raise money to help with renovations.

As some know, there is something about that church that exudes the Holy Spirit. I shared that I was only the messenger and read Mark 12:41-44. I told them that the amount of money that is raised was not important, that God is looking for what comes out of the heart. It was so beautiful and God was all over that place, everyone was truly blessed! The church council are very sweet people, we all left totally stoked!

Fede seemed to have something on his mind and I attempted to make sense out of it, but not to much avail. There is much to work on here as far as a true understanding of who we are serving and one must keep “eyes wide open” as we seek God’s guidance in all things.

Tomorrow is another day and I’m stoked because we are going to Dos Pilon, the village that I visited in April. It is a death climb up three mountains; this place is totally cut off and I can’t wait to go. God never promised that things would be easy and sometimes I think that He is testing me to the max! Oh well, here I am Lord use me as You will.

Kenny, GMSM

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I know that all blessings come from God, but I must admit that I don’t understand all blessings or recognize all blessings at times. We are constantly put through many trials in Haiti and today was no exception. If I lived in this country for 100 years I would still be considered an outsider. Praise God that I have Harry by my side to help me understand the Haitian culture. I guess we are really a whole lot different from each other in many ways. Trust should be gained by earning it, and sometimes I am too trusting in that I usually allow someone to burn me before I make a true character judgment. It breaks my heart to have to feel like we must continually prove ourselves, but on the flipside I understand and respect the leadership on the ground at the orphanage.

Today was a slow day all plans were changed, welcome to Haiti! That’s the way it goes sometimes. It was a good day to do “gut checks” and rest.

I thank God that GMSM has partners who do see the bigger picture that God has for us here in Haiti. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Kenny

GMSM

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God knows all things and does all things. He did provide me with a good night’s sleep and today would prove that I needed it! Fede took us to Mirebalais to the World Vision office to meet with one of the field personnel who is involved in all operations in the Central Plateau area of Peligre and surrounding areas. Although it was a short unannounced visit it did open a door for Fede and I to make an appointment to meet with him.

We were going to go and meet the bank dude but the bank was closed so we went to a small restaurant and ate some rice and beans. Fede went and bought a few supplies for the orphanage, he went alone so that the price of things would not jack up because of the blancs (us). We headed back to Peligre to find refuge from the heat only to find that there was none to be found.

After much fellowship, I got my shower and Harry and I walked to the dam to use the phone and have some much needed conversation about GMSM, Savon Blonde Baptist Church and Peligre School of Hope and Harry’s personal issues with the house he is trying to build for his family. God only knows how much I truly love this man and his family and how much I want to help them. After about two hours we walked back in the dark to the orphanage to find Curt in his new element playing with the kids. He is normally clicking away at his camera so it was nice to see him without it around his neck. He was doing a skit about David and Goliath and the kids were digging it! My brother Bob was leading the children in some songs and all were blessed. Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

Kenny

GMSM

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Fede arrived right on time, when he says something you can always depend on him to keep his promise. I told Kelly that Fede was coming to the guest house at 7:00 a.m. and she said “you mean he might be here by 8:00, I know Haitian time” Wrong! 6:45 and he was here as promised.

Fede hired a tap-tap to take us to the deli-mart to buy groceries and then take us up to Peligre. We had such a pleasant stay at God’s Planet Guest House. Joe, Kelly and the children were a blessing to us. We prayed with them and then took off for the adventure that God has laid before us. The warriors that God has placed with me are hand picked by Him and all will be blessed through Him. After the groceries were bought we headed up the mountain. We stopped in Mirebalais to buy food for the orphanage and got the local rip-off of foreigners, which really angered Fede. Unfortunately, Haitians look at blancs as bundles of money not help. We took our rip-off graciously and headed off to Peligre.

Once we arrived I felt like I was at home, we re-grouped got our chum organized and began the long process of getting caught up on Peligre School of Hope stuff. The latrine that IUMC has sponsored is almost complete and the shower floors have been re-worked to drain better, although it is still slow. The Haitian do the best they can under the circumstances they live in and that is all we can expect. If you want perfect drainage stay home and pay a plumber 125.00 an hour….it is Haiti no matter how you look at it. Praise God for our partnership with IUMC!

It rained like crazy tonight which stopped us from going to the cell phone spot by the dam. Darlene, Fede’s wife treated us to a wonderful Haitian meal of chicken and pikliz. After more rain and a lot of conversation we called it a night. Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

Kenny

GMSM

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Praise God from whom all blessing flow! I had a really good nights sleep, with God all things are possible! Most know that a good night’s sleep in Haiti is hard to come by. The only thing that we have planned today is to exchange some money (drug deal style) and go to Harry’s revival tonight.

Harry picked us up around 8:30 or so and we met the money dude at the restaurant to make the exchange. Once the deal went down, we went by Harry’s property to show Curt and Bob the vision that Harry has for a house. God has laid this on my heart and I know we will eventually find a way to raise the money to turn this vision into a reality. Harry is such a beautiful patient man. We picked up Harry’s wife and went back to the restaurant and had a great meal of fried turkey, plantains, macaroni, rice and sauce. More food than we could eat and it only cost five dollars per plate including a drink. With full bellies we took off to Harry’s church where we stayed the rest of the day. We did stop and buy eight bags of rice for Harry’s church.

It is always a joy for me to introduce people to places that are dear to me and Harry’s church and property are two of those places. Tomorrow we will go to Peligre another one of those places. We hung out in the heat at the church where Bob would eventually lead in worship, I would preach and Curt would take pictures. It was a beautiful service as always and I was stoked to be able to speak from Harry’s pulpit. After the service we got back to the guest house where Joe and Kelly had prepared a great meal that included my favorite Haitian dish picklees. All three of us were about maxed out, after eating Curt and I took count of our goudes. I then headed off to bed for what I hoped would be another good night.

Kenny

GMSM

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I’m not sure if I ever really get used to the same old gig of getting to Pensacola at 5:30 a.m. to get checked in. This trip is special though because I am going with 3 people who have never gone to Haiti with me before. Bob Browning of FBCFWB and Curt Meadows from Destin are traveling with me. We are supposed to hook up with Chuck Grueber from MN in Port Au Prince.

Normal trip as always PNS/Miami and PAP, even the baggage claim at PAP went smoothly. Bob has never been here before and I always love to see how people react when they first get to Haiti. We collected our chum, met up with Harry my dear Haitian brother, got in a tap-tap and headed toward God’s Planet Guest House. When we arrived we were met by Joe and Kelley and their six kids. This family is here for 11 weeks to run the guest house.

We dropped our stuff off at the guest house and headed back to the air port to get Chuck. When we got there he was no where to be found. We found out that his flight from Fort Lauderdale had been cancelled. We then had to find a cyber café to check and see if I had any messages. Sure enough he was stuck in Ft. Lauderdale and eventually was not able to get a flight to Haiti until Tuesday. So he decided to go back to MN. God knows all and I guess it was not the time.

When we arrived back at the guest house they were cooking chicken on the grill for supper. So, while we were waiting Curt, aka “David Copperfield” put on a magic show for the kids that brought much joy, curiosity and laughter. I love to see people take time to recognize opportunities to minister. Bob and I talked to the proprietors and got to know then a little bit. I really enjoyed this time here, these are really sweet people. Tomorrow should be awesome as everyday in Haiti has the chance to be. Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

Kenny

GMSM

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to a need for water that we were told about shortly before we left for Haiti. With your help we purchased and delivered much needed water to the children in the school and orphanage in Peligre. Continue reading “Thank you from Haiti!”