“Lighten up on the Insulation!”

“I began to realize how many petty, useless things in my life were getting in the way of God’s plan for me.”  So says Tyson who came to Haiti to serve with JUST MERCY in October of 2015.  This is often the reaction of folks who visit Haiti.  It is an eye-opening trip.  Three team members share their thoughts and experiences below.

Tyson said, “To experience the life of the Haitian people first hand definitely puts our life into perspective. I don’t think that any of us here will come back without being changed in some way.…. Driving through the heart of Port-au-Prince was not a pleasure ride…. The smell is probably the first thing that hits you, trash everywhere and if it’s not rotting, it’s burning. It became very clear, very quickly how my understanding of normal life is vastly diluted. For the next five hours of driving, I began to realize how many petty, useless things in my life were getting in the way of God’s plan for me. I began questioning my desires and goals, and the real importance of them.

… For the next few days, it became evident how the simple life of the Haitian is helping us draw closer to God. As our hearts changed, we began to understand how we weren’t meant to come and radically change Haiti in 10 days. Although showing God’s love for a moment in time, in one person’s life, could possibly open the heart of that person to allow God to do His work.

 

…. There was a lady who stopped by with a nasty cut on her hand after washing something. BJ, Ms. Maribeth, and Skip attended to this without hesitation. After sanitizing, scrubbing, cleaning, scrubbing some more, and bandaging, this lady was on her way free of infection and possibly worse.

The girls just returned from visiting a lady named Yolene whom they had visited a couple days ago. Yolene has severe back trouble and chest pain. The girls said that they gave her a massage to help alleviate her chest pain that she felt better then –just another opportunity to spread love and comfort in some way. Today she heads to the hospital; now our prayers take precedence.

There are always so many opportunities to bless our neighbors of the village of Kakok. Playing with the children, giving medical help, visiting the sick in their homes, really getting out of our comfort zone, all make being in Haiti a time of stretching our souls.

On this trip, we paired up two team members with two Haitian fishermen on each of five different Haitian fishing sailboats. The team members visited the fishermen in the homes, went out on their boats with them to learn to sail, and at the end of the week they had a sailboat race!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caleb wrote:

“My favorite experience so far this trip has been the sail boat race idea. The cool thing to me is the blending of the cultures. It has done a great job of showing that there’s no difference between us and them. We’re all humans made and designed by God and we can work together and not have to make a distinction.

When a team wins it’s not Haitian against American, it’s Haitian with American celebrating ansanm (together)!! So it draws all of us closer.

We went over to what they call Pelentin, a little fishing Island where about one hundred people live and fish for a living! This island is not a big island by any means! It may be two hundred yards long and maybe one hundred yard wide. Anyway, we went one evening with a little projector and a speaker and showed them the Jesus film and popped them pop corn. It was a blessing to see them all watching a film about Jesus. After the film papa (my dad) preached a mini sermon and we sang with them and it was just pretty cool!”

 Maribeth Samenus shared the following:

“First thoughts of folks hearing my 15-year-old son and I went to an isle in the Caribbean centered on… (what one usually thinks of when hearing the word Caribbean) — pristine waters, sail boats, picturesque vacation territory with mixed drinks decorated with umbrellas.

An upclose look reveals what many areas of the Caribbean truly look like at the heart — beauty is there but it’s cluttered by trash, leftovers, brokenness.

This truck was built by Frankie, a 10-year -old lame boy that uses his noggin’ to put the excessive trash in his corner of the world to use.  Toys came from the hand – many a child could be found playing with a stick and a tire rim along the sand “roads”. I saw not a doll, not a phone or screen in front of a child. Sticks, songs, a ball, or running games occupied the kids time.

Coming back the United States from the only 4th world country in the Americas, I’m struck by the excessiveness of toys and playthings in my own home, let alone the bombardment of excess ”toys” online, in magazines, and on the black box some call TV.

First morning back in my Missouri home, sun was streaming through the shades somewhat. It was quiet. Too quiet. No storms blowing spits of rain into my room.  No roosters crowing about every 20 minutes from 4 a.m. on. No squealing pigs and tropical birds that sounded like monkeys. No buzzing of mosquitoes or No-See-Um bugs, no Creole bantering.

Just quiet in my room. Carpet under my bed. Circulating air, manufactured by machine, no hot morning ocean breeze with the sour smell of the sargossa grass coming in.

It would be easy to miss what the world looks like a plane ride away. You choose to construct how you see the world. Lighten up on the insulation.“

Lighten up on the insulation?  Good advice.  Come join us in Haiti.  Check out www.adventuremission.org.

Coming soon:  Beautiful spoons are being hand made in the wood shop!  WE’RE EXCITED!!

We are grateful to God for those who come to share life in Haiti.  Thank you for your prayers and support.