It was a very blessed day…

Words cannot describe how excited I am that Ken, Debbi and Kenny Kennedy are with me for this trip to Haiti. They lived in Haiti for 2 ½ years and after they returned to the U.S., their daughter Shelby, would come to Haiti with me as my interpreter. She was such a wonderful example and so loved by the teams we served together. Our Sunday service at the Village, was a memorial service for Shelby Kennedy. We had well over 300 in attendance which was beyond the capacity of the church.

With this team we are installing a church bell which will serve to inform the community of the time of day, when church services are starting and when the community needs to meet for business. The bell will be rung in memory of Shelby’s fervent love for our Lord and her love for the Haitian people.

It was a very blessed day.

I blogged Wednesday about the man that I found almost dead at the side of the road and what is took to get him to the hospital. I went back to the hospital yesterday and met his wife Nadege. They have two small children and he was a taxi driver. She believes that he was beaten. As there was no blood, I question that.

The sad news it that he is in a coma and not expected to live. They are living in a tent nearby. Nadege says that they do not attend a church and are not Christians. Although being a Christian is not a requirement, I’d sure like to keep our village mainly filled with Christians. The community is unified and peaceful at this point so I surely don’t want to disrupt that.

I talked with Pastor Etienne as to whether we should offer her a home here in the Village. We came to the same conclusion at the same time. There was a reason the Lord brought me to the side of the road and into this man’s life. I believe, at least in part, it is to offer his wife and family a new home in our Village. Praise God for His mercy.

I am always intrigued at what and who God will use to share the gospel.

A belief of Voodoo is that Lougawou, spirit beings, live in Mapou trees. A Mapou tree is a gorgeous, very large tree, usually found near water in Haiti. Luogawou are blamed for most any death in a family, especially an infant death, so to keep them out of their homes, believers in Voodoo tightly close and lock their homes every night, even in the extreme heat of the summer. (This creates a perfect mechanism for the transmission of TB. As the TB patient exhales TB bacillus, everyone else in the home inhales it.)

We just happen to have a beautiful Mapou tree in the Village. This has led to some very interesting conversations. Some want to cut it down, others say they don’t think we should build near the tree as this might upset the Lougawou. At least annually there are ceremonies under Mapou trees in an attempt to please the Lougawou so that they don’t become mad and visit someone’s home and take a life. And I really don’t want any Voodoo celebrations in our Christian Village!

So, it is encouraging to hear the Christians from the Village discuss and debate with some of the outside workers that they have no fear of the Lougawou because they have the Holy Spirit protecting them. It has turned out that our Mapou tree has become a great witnessing tool. I am continually amazed at how the Lord uses even the Mapou tree to bring people to Him.

It is never boring in Haiti….

I’ve been told by Missionaries and Haitian friends for years that there are two rules to be sure to follow if you drive in Haiti:

1- If you get in an accident and someone is hurt. Leave the scene and go to the nearest Police station.

2- Never take an injured or sick person you find along the road to the hospital as you will then be responsible to pay the bills, feed them and care for them afterwards. And should they die, you are responsible and could be held accountable to the Police.

So, my day starts out heading from HCRM orphanage heading to the Village, down a rutted dirt road. I am driving behind a vehicle that stops in the road. A young man is lying in the road unconscious. His breathing is labored and pulse is weak. People standing by tell us he has been laying there over two hours and that the Red Cross was summoned (which has a satisfactory hospital in Gressier) but they refused to transport him as no one knew him. (See rule number two) They didn’t want to be responsible for him. They were going through his pockets as he lay there. I don’t know if they were looking for an ID or if they were intending to rob him. They found nothing.

As the Lord provided, the car that stopped ahead of me was driven by the Chief of Police for Gressier (see rule number 1). I asked him if he would transport him but he said he would not for the same reason. I told him I would, with his help.

The Chief refused to allow me to put him in the cab of my truck but would allow me to put him in the truck bed. I asked for help lifting him. No one came forward. The Chief pointed to two men and told them to help me. We loaded him into the bed of my truck and the Chief instructed the two men to ride in the bed with the dying man. He then led me to the Police station where he had a Police escort ready. As I didn’t know where the hospital was, the patrol car led the way on a twenty minute ride over somewhat paved roads to a Doctors Without Borders Hospital, where he was taken into the emergency department (a tent) and doctors started caring for him. It’s now 10 am and my day has just begun.

It’s never boring in Haiti.

I will have to give you the rest of the story as it unfolds. As to the question “when do you break the rules?” In Haiti, it is when God provides.

2014 will mark the 40^th year since my first trip to Haiti in 1974. 2014 should also mark my 100th trip to Haiti, Lord willing, as I’m about to take my 97^th team September 4^th of this year.  So, in an attempt to catch up with technology, I hope to start blogging about the amazing events and blessings that seem so commonplace during visits to Haiti.  I want to ask each of you to “like” this blog site so that you and others might be aware of what is going on..

During this team we will build eight homes for families living in desperate conditions. These are generally families of six to ten people and the cost to build them is $5,750.  I’ve also been given the opportunity to put smaller families, usually a Mom and child, into another organizations village homes for $1000. These homes are valued at much more than that. If you are led to bless and be blessed in one of these ways, please visit our web site at MercyIntl.org, where you can donate and see more information about our Village.  As funding is low now, this is the first team I’ve committed to building and don’t have the funds available. Please pray for us.