The Haitian Nation (Walgina)

Perhaps my favorite part of our trip to Port-Au-Prince Haiti was watching Kristi love on a girl named Walgina.

The bond that Kristi and Walgina developed began at the church where our team put on a Vacation Bible School throughout the week.  The first day of VBS, Walgina was dropped off at the church and timidly stood at the entrance of the church, unsure what to make of it all.  Kristi noticed her hesitation to join the group, so she took her by the hand and brought her into the church.  From that point on, Walgina always sought Kristi out.

Each and every day, Walgina would come to the church and look for Kristi.  When we would walk down the street, Walgina would peek her face out of her home and smile when she saw her.  I can remember one instance when Walgina was literally crawling over people in order to get to Kristi's lap during one of the revival services at the church .  Here we have no way of communicating with this child except through our facial expressions, hugs, and laughter, and yet she felt comfortable enough with Kristi to fall asleep on her lap multiple times during the week.

 

Sometimes ministry can feel overwhelming.  In the country of Haiti, there are an estimated 10 million people.  No one knows for sure because the resources are not there to have any kind of census.  Their unemployment rate is over 40%.  The average Haitian generates $1,200 a year.  The percentage of people living under 2 dollars a day is 78%.  It is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  In 2009, Haiti was ranked the tenth most corrupt country in the world.  There are an estimated 3.5 million children under the age of 14.  Overwhelmed yet?  I know I was. 

And yet in our state of being overwhelmed, God provided ONE child for us to consistently love during the week.  ONE child to fall asleep in Kristi's arms.  ONE child who actually loved back on us.  ONE child who made us feel loved on by our heavenly father.

It is a unique experience to love someone without the possibility of communicating through words.  Our final interaction with Walgina was the afternoon before we left Haiti.  The previous time Kristi had seen Walgina was passing her off to her mom while she was asleep, so we were hopeful to see her one last time as our group took a walk past the church.  Walgina was not out playing in the street, but as we walked away Kristi looked back one more time and saw Walgina poke her head out from behind the tarp that made up the front of her home.  As Kristi waved one final time and blew a kiss goodbye wishing she had the words to tell Walgina she loved her, Walgina stood at her home smiling and nodding, as if to say she understood.  It was a moment that we will remember for a long time.

We believe that God brought Walgina into our lives both for us and for her.  We will continue to pray for her in the years to come.  

When statistics, ministry, and life overwhelm us, let's find our joy in loving the people who God places right in front of us.

The Haitian Nation (Answered Prayers)

Answered Prayers

In our preparations for our trip to Haiti, we asked our supporters to pray for us.  Here is what we asked them to pray for, as well as the answers to them.

- Pray for the Adventures in Missions organization.  Despite our main project leader having to fly back to the U.S. mid-week because of an illness, the other AIM staff were able to problem solve and put us in places where we could minister.

- Pray for spiritual growth and unity with the Goss team of 12.  Not only was this answered for the Goss team, but also for the entire team of 35.  Imagine sharing 2 bedrooms, 2 restrooms, and a shared living space and having ZERO arguments.  That is what happened!  Praise God for the unity he provided!

- Pray for Pastor Anouis, the Haitian pastor who we will be partnering with during our trip.  Although we were not able to spend a lot of time with the pastor, we were able to meet him and hear a little bit of his heart.  He is certainly passionate about the Lord and his community.

- Pray that God would work in and through us.  God certainly worked in us, and we trust that he also worked through us as we obedient to Him during the week.

There were also many prayers during the week that we had not anticipated beforehand.  Additional prayers that were answered during the week include:

-Prayers for the health of the entire team.  The 35 of us had no serious health issues during the week despite no relief from the heat and sleeping on a concrete slab.  The awesomeness of this can't be underestimated!

-Prayers for the healing of one of our teenagers.  One night we prayed very specifically for one of our teens as she was feeling very ill (fever, chills, and stomach upset).  She woke up feeling 100%.  God answered within hours of our prayers.

-Prayers for a diabetic team member.  One of our team members who is severely diabetic had NO problems during the trip.  God controlled her sugar levels and health throughout the week.

-Prayers for shoes and lemons.  One morning, one of our project leaders felt like God impressed the words shoes and lemons on her mind.  She thought it was strange because they are two very different things.  Later that week, one of the crews had a conversation with a family that sold shoes.  They invited them in and, unprompted, the family offered them lemons.  The family later came to where we were staying and visited with us.  Amazing.

-Prayers for a pick-axe.  That same morning, one of our team members felt like God showed him a pick-axe during his prayer time.  Later that day, he was the only one on our team who was handed a pick-axe during our construction time at the church.

We don't often reflect on our past prayers and acknowledge the answers to those prayers.  I hope you are encouraged that we can say with confidence that God heard all our prayers during our experience in Haiti.

The Haitian Nation (The spiritual impact of the earthquake)

The spiritual impact of the earthquake 

Most, if not all of us, remember the images of the Earthquake that rocked the country of Haiti in 2010.  We remember the news coverage, the images of fallen buildings, and the statistics of thousands of lives lost.

To be honest, had the earthquake not happened, we may not have gone on this trip.  I think most of us felt so deeply for the people of Haiti that when the earthquake happened that we wanted to do something, but just didn't know how at the time.  When the opportunity came for us to go this summer, we took it.  One of the reasons we went was so that we could just learn from the Haitians how the earthquake impacted them individually, as well as the country as a whole.  The stories we heard and the way the Haitians explained why the earthquake happened changed our perspective on the event.

Here are a few things we learned about the spiritual impact of the earthquake.

1) The Haitians we spoke to believe that the earthquake was an answer to prayer.  Yes, you read that right.  One of our translators told us that the Haitian president several years ago renewed a pact between the country of Haiti and Satan.  He said that lots of pastors got together and began praying and crying out to God.  He said they specifically asked God to "shake the country of Haiti".  Although I don't think this is what the pastors had in mind, they see the earthquake as an answer to the pastors prayer for God to wake up the Haitians to their need for Him.

2) The Haitians we spoke to accept it.  Simply put, they just accept that the Earthquake happened, God caused it, and God can use it to turn people to Him.  We did not notice bitterness or anger toward God.  Some of the people we talked to had even lost legs in the quake.  One of our translators was one of only a few who survived when the school building he was in collapsed.  They still believed that God was good, and are trying to serve Him with their lives.  Very powerful and challenging.

3) The Haitians we spoke to believe there has been a spiritual awakening since the earthquake.  After the quake, our translators told stories about how there was only one word heard on the streets.  "JESUS!  JESUS!  JESUS!"  Believers and non-believers alike cried out to Jesus Christ in their moment of despair.  Since then, the churches have been overflowing.  For the first time in the country's history, they cancelled their Carnival celebration (the equivalent to our Marti-Gras).  Even despite many people turning back to God during the aftermath of the earthquake, many Haitians' prayer is for more and more people to turn their lives to God.  There is still work to be done, but God is active and moving in the country of Haiti.  We were reminded that even the best of media coverage does not tell the whole story, and completely leaves out what is happening spiritually. 

As the saying goes "The night is always darkest right before the dawn".  The earthquake of 2010 was certainly a dark day in Haiti, but a new dawn has come, and we are grateful for the chance to learn of it.

The Haitian Nation (Social and Spiritual Openness)

Social and Spiritual Openness

An aspect of the Haitian culture that stood out to us was their openness.  One of the first things we were told in preparation for our time in the Haitian culture was that we should throw personal space out the window.  More than just a higher comfort level when it comes to personal space, we experienced a higher level of social and spiritual openness.  Now, I'm no expert in Haitian culture from visiting Port-Au-Prince for one week, and my general observations are going to be a result of my experience.

As foreigners, we wanted to try our best to follow the social norms of the culture.  We were a bit concerned about how we were interacting with the Haitians we met on the street and the children at VBS.  We wondered to ourselves, what does a Haitian man think if an American woman starts a conversation with him?  What does a parent of a child think if their child is sitting on a strange American's lap?  So we asked one of our translators when it is appropriate to talk to someone and when it is not.  His response clarified much of the Haitian culture in our minds.  He said that you can go up and talk to anyone at any time!  It doesn't matter if you are a man talking to a 3 year old girl, or a woman speaking with a single man, it is socially acceptable and people do not read into the interaction (as we in the U.S. probably would).  In comparison to our American culture, the Haitians are much more comfortable in conversation with each other, even with strangers.  

Not only do the Haitians have an openness when it comes to social interactions, they also have an openness about their spirituality.  It was very common to see buses, tap-taps (pick up trucks used for transportation), and signs that were blatantly God-focused.  "Thank You Jesus", "Merci Jesus", and other simple praises were all around us.  Could you imagine the fuss people would have in the states if people plastered their praises to God on their vehicles?  By walking the streets, you would certainly think that Haiti is a "Christian Nation" with all the praises and scripture references.

When we talked to people on the streets about God, EVERYONE engaged in conversation with us and was very quick to have a spiritual conversation.  People were very open to sharing their faith in God, as well as personal prayer request with complete strangers. 

The Haitian Nation (The faith of the Haitian believers)

Kristi and I had the opportunity to travel to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, last week with the Adventures In Missions organization.  We were able to spend a week with 10 other members from our church family, as well as 23 other people from all across the United States.  As we process our time in Haiti, we will be blogging about specific aspects of our trip to share our experience with all of you.  We hope it will give you a glimpse into another part of the world where God is actively at work.

The faith of the Haitian believers

Throughout the week, we partnered with a local church to put on a Vacation Bible School for the children, attend their revival services, and invite the church's neighbors to attend the revival as well.  A benefit of partnering with the local church was our ability to observe and interact with how the church functions, as well as observe the faith of the Haitian believers.  From our observation, the Haitian believers were much more visibly passionate and excited about their faith.  I think they are much more desperate for God, something we are lacking in the states.  As Americans, we have so many other things to find our comfort in, whether it be our busy schedules or all our 'stuff' that fills our homes.  Since we have so much, we often forget that we NEED God.  We have much to learn from our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Above you can see the outside of the church building where we put on the VBS and attended revival services.  Believe me, it is nothing fancy.  Concrete walls and tarps for a roof.  There were minimal decorations, no uniform seating, and even electricity was spotty.  But none of that mattered.  When the Haitians came to church, they were both emotionally excited and physically reverent.  With as little as they have, they put on their "Sunday best" and their focus was the worship of God.  Services would last for hours, and they would sing with passion and gusto.

One Haitian believer that had an impact on me was the man pictured in the photo above on the far right.  This man was at the church 45 minutes before the service began, on his knees, literally crying out to God in prayer.  He sang songs all on his own.  He begged and pleaded with God.  He yelled his prayers.  He visibly shook so much during his prayers that he was dripping sweat off of his face.  He thanked God over and over and over.  Even though I had no idea what he was saying, it was very clear that he had a deep, intimate relationship with his God.  He was desperate for Him.  He knew the power of prayer.

 

 (Vacation Bible School)

The last story Ill tell about the faith of the Haitians is about a man in our neighborhood.  As we were drifting in and out of sleep in the muggy 80 degree weather during our first night, we were awoken before the sun rose at 5:00 a.m. by a man walking the streets and shouting at the top of his lungs.  "Welcome to Haiti," we thought.  The next night, we slept much better, but were awoken before the sun rose by the same man, yelling at the top of his lungs.  This was getting aggravating.  We noticed that the man was saying the same thing each morning, so we asked our translator what he was saying.  Our translator explained that he was shouting, "Wake up!  It's time to get up and go to church to pray!  Wake up!  It's time to go to church and pray!"  

This man did this every day of the week.  As aggravating as it was, he was fulfilling a conviction he felt to call everyone in his neighborhood to start their day in prayer.  Could you imagine someone doing this in the states?!?!  What would you and your neighbors do if someone knocked on every door on your street at 5:00 telling everyone to wake up and pray!  I'm thinking a strangling is a strong possible outcome of that situation.

I want to be bold in how I live out my faith in my neighborhood.  I want to worship deeper.  I want to pray with passion.  I want to be more desperate for God.

We are grateful for our interaction with some of the Haitian believers, and come away encouraged and challenged in how we live out our faith as believers in America.