Joy and Mayhem in Blessing People

The latter part of September was spent doing several things.  JUST MERCY once again had the joy of distributing Operation Christmas Child gifts from Samaritan’s Purse.  We did one in the mountain village of Ballisage where two of our Pelerin school teachers live and then three on islands.

Transporting the Samaritans Purse big boxes that hold the little boxes from the big boat to the little boat.

A truckload of the gifts were delivered to Les Cayes along with the follow up Greatest Journey courses and the Bibles the children will receive upon completion of the course..  We ferried the boxes out to the boat, loaded them up, and sailed back to Ile a Vache.

One of the distributions was done on the small island of  Kalalou.  We had visited the island before in preparation of the distribution, finding out the number of children, ages, and telling them about the Greatest Journey course to follow to teach the children about Jesus.

Unlike other distributions, there was not a building to do it in.  So we stacked up the boxes under the trees.  We tried to organize the children into their age groups.  The adults of the island were crowded around the outside of the large circle of children, constantly pushing inward.   Bill walked around the outside of the children’s circle several times, trying to have the adults step back and stop crowding.

Receiving

We did the distribution, giving the gifts to children who have never had a gift in their lives.  The people on this island live in thatch huts, working at fishing to feed themselves with little else to help them survive.

When we finished distributing the gifts to the children, we had a few boxes of presents left and as we had more distributions to do other places, we picked them up to take them back with us.  But….the adults descended on us, grabbing at the boxes.  Sherlie ended up nearly being trampled.  It was mayhem.

You have to realize, these people have NOTHING.  We in the U.S. don’t realize how desperately poor people can be.   If you lived somewhere isolated, eking out an existence, owning nearly nothing but a pot to cook rice in, and the ragged clothes on your back, you can imagine how hard it would be to stand by if someone brought gifts to your isolation and then saw them leaving and taking some away.

Yes, the behavior was bad, but it shows the great need for us to come back with God’s love to share.   This is a small island not far from Ile a Vache and we plan to spend more time with them.

Back on Ile a Vache, we did another distribution to the children of our village, Kakok, on the deck of the base.  We are glad to be getting to know the people of the village on a daily basis.

The village bakery that Just Mercy helped get back in business.

So  many interactions with people take place each day that can make a huge difference in those lives.  One important thing this month was the problem the local bakery had.  (We believe it is the only bakery on the island.)  For months, there had not been any bread available on the island unless it was brought from the mainland even though we knew there was a bakery.  Bill finally went to inquire about the problem and found that the bakery’s generator had broken some time before and they had been unable to operate their oven.  JUST MERCY’s small generator was loaned to them and once again, bread was being produced locally!   In one way a very small thing.  In another, absolutely huge!

Pulling the engine of the hard working faithful truck.

Bill was due to return to the states on Oct. 1^st but wanted to spend a few days in Fonds-Parisien, working on getting the schools in the mountains going again this year.  Unfortunately, when he left Les Cayes, the truck broke down.  After some phone calls, someone put us in touch with another mission in Les Cayes who came and hauled the truck back to a shop they knew of.  They had to pull the engine.  (Imagine doing this in Haiti!)  Bill spent the next four days working with the mechanics, running back and forth for parts, etc.  The truck was finally fixed and we are grateful to MEBSH for giving us a place to stay while the truck was being repaired.

Nono and her baby Lohan

When Bill finally arrived in Fonds-Parisien, he met our new “grandbaby”, Clenold and Nono’s precious new baby girl, Lohan!   We are praising God for this new life.  Both mother and baby are doing well.

School did start in the mountains in October.  Both Pelerin and Chapelle started classes.  Chapelle is meeting on a new patch of land purchased for the school.  Books are being bought, repairs are being done on benches, etc.  In a few days, it will be time to pay the teachers for October.   If you could help us with a gift this month, it would be a blessing.  We are so grateful for your prayers and support.  May God bless you all.