One week in!

“From the ends of the earth I call to you,

        I call as my heart grows faint;

       Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

   I have officially been in Haiti for a week and I definitely forgot how very much of my heart is here, in this country, with these people. Normally this would be the point where I would be packing up to go back to the States, but I do not have to anytime soon and that thrills me.

    We spent the first half of this week in a remote mountain area named Marchasse I have wanted to visit this part of Haiti since college, but the logistics of getting there precluded it. We drove most of Sunday, spent three nights, and came back to Ti Goave yesterday. The verse I quoted above is from Psalm 61, which I read daily, and that verse became my heart’s prayer for my time in Marchasse, as in many ways it felt like the ends of the earth.

  One of the first things that was brought to our attention when we got to Marchasse was the drought. Rain has been minimal for months, so now people have to walk very far to get water. Lack of water puts people on edge, and people were quite fearful about going outside at night. The fear was related to a voodoo belief that groups of people were going around killing other people in the dark. No one could say they had seen it for themselves, but many were afraid. That fear and the lack of water in and of themselves had me aching for the villagers, but here’s the kicker. The church and school had a dry cistern, which had not been utilized during the rain for reasons that were not made clear to me. So, there was a dry well that should have been full as the people suffered. It breaks my heart how poor or short sighted decisions of those with power or responsibility can cause suffering for so many.

  After that, what did our time in Marchasse look like? Our group stayed in a building on the church and school property and in the mornings we would play with and talk to the children while they waited for school to start. Any actual Creole-speaker will tell you that I have a long way to go in my language learning, and I am certain the kids were applying a not small amount of grace in their listening, but I had short conversations with them. Questions like how old they were, where their house was, if they had brothers or sisters.  I have always loved being with the kids, but it is a lot more fun when I can talk with them.

   In the afternoons we visited houses and families in the village. Kids walked with us to different houses, generous people brought out chairs and we sat and chatted with the people around us. I believe this is where a lot of the relationship is built, and I really believe that this is the most important part of what we did.

On the medical side of things, I’m still learning what to bring to the places we go, and how much of it.  I had a little backpack with very basic medical supplies. I mainly treated worms and fevers and made mental noted about all the things I want to remember for next time.

  I know this is getting long, but I want to take a moment to talk about one particular little girl, Darline. I met her at the school on our first day and we visited her part of the village that afternoon. Darline escorted me down the rocky mountain road and was very clear about my need to say hello to everyone we passed by. She also insisted on carrying my backpack and made sure I had a chair everywhere we went. As the afternoon went on we began joking and telling the kids she was my mom. I loved it. Her bossy kindness made me smile, and the ability to chat and sing with her made my day. The best part of the whole thing is that I can reasonably hope to see her again later this year!

  When we left Marchasse the people sent us with a suitcase full of grapefruit and two chickens. That may sound weird to readers in the States, but it shows the incredible generosity of the people there. These are people who more often than not are at least undernourished, where as I mentioned above even getting water is a struggle, and to show their gratitude they gave back to us. I was so humbled.

   Well, if you’ve made it this far reading my update, thanks for the perseverance! Join with me in praying for the people of Marchasse? Pray that rain would come, watering the land and hopefully easing some of the tension of the people. Pray that they would continue to grow in discipleship, that the words of James 2 would be true in their lives, that even though they are poor in the eyes of the would they would be rich in faith. Thank you!