I’m flying towards Philadelphia. It’s been a memorable time, but I’m exhausted and ready to be home and back to work tomorrow. I had some excellent conversations coming in Friday morning with a Haitian businessman as well as the leader of a ministry in Port de Paix. I learn a lot from hearing other people’s experiences and perspectives on the current challenges in Haiti.
Mezou picked me up and we went directly to Madam Tabitas. It seemed one of the washers was lost while servicing the water system. She has used the system to provide water for the children, the church and low-cost water to the local community. Now that she has electricity, she bought a freezer to make a small business selling drinks.
Just as Mezou verified everything was functional, the clouds completely let loose on us. We were all soaked through by the time we made it to the pickup. Tito was dragging the unwilling goat, a gift from Tabita. Eventually he had to put it on his shoulders in the pouring down rain…was just hilarious! The rain stopped and Mezou took a break to service the vehicle. Just ahead was a group of Voo-doo practicers. Aschille and Richecard engaged them in a lively conversation. I’m told this type of spiritual debate is generally avoided in Haiti, but not today!! It ended in handshakes and an understanding that we disagree, but we are not enemies. We must all work together to better Haiti.
We got home and I unpacked my bags to let things dry out. We had a good group meeting preparing for Saturdays seminar and I shared from Luke 2, how Simeon lived with the desire of seeing Jesus, and once he did, his life was complete.
Saturday – For the seminar, we found a medical professional to teach the 70 plus attendees CPR. As I detailed two weeks ago, 30 young people were killed from asphyxiation during a stampede crush at the Citadel. In one video, a girl was rushing from body to body briefly pushing on their chests, but clearly in vain, not having the knowledge to perform life saving measures. Days later a man near our house drowned during heavy rains. Again, I received a video of him as he lay dying, surrounded by people untrained on how to help. The directors really appreciated the training, and we all laughed as the teacher demonstrated on Figaro. Watson also did an excellent job sharing on how our traditional Christian values are under attack. We must stay in the battle for the hearts and minds of the young people we work with as they are pulled astray by secular agendas.
As usual after the seminar there was a group of a dozen or more uninvited directors. Even though I have nothing more to offer them financially, I do my best to allow time for each of them to share their desperate situations. I have yet to meet a school director that wasn’t truly sincere in their request for help, and we have never exposed any exaggerations during our unannounced onsite visits. By God’s grace they usually leave encouraged, knowing that they are not alone in their struggles. As the needs of the children in each of these schools are extraordinary, and my ability to help is limited, these meetings are definitely the most difficult 2 hours of each trip. The evening was relaxing and we got some heavy rain again.
Sunday- This day was special, so special that I made an entire update on it two weeks ago. To summarize our whole team visited Pastor Richards church at his house. It is a beautiful small congregation. They made a meal for us and we relaxed and fellowshipped. In recent months our team of about 12 has REALLY grown together. I feel my connection and understanding of each of them deepen each passing month. It was finally time to head home…we thought. The pickup broke down in the road. We were stuck in a location unfamiliar to all of us, but as Haitians do, we turned lemons into lemonade. The whole team became a part of the local community, playing soccer and socializing. As previously detailed, God led Richecard and I to two beautiful little girls with their father. He said he had left his faith in Jesus after he got his girlfriend pregnant and began living together because having a wedding was financially not possible. After some truly Spirit led conversation, he asked as to pray with him in his home that his family could return to following Christ. If you missed the update, please check it out or ask me for it. Finally, the car was fixed, but I was convinced that even in car breakdowns, God has a plan.
Monday is now our primary school visit day because I don’t fly until 5 o’clock. It has been a while since I had been in Camp Louise. We made surprise visits to 4 schools there. I love to connect with these kids again and meet some for the first time. As always, I’m amazed at their individual beauty, but also the sheer number of them. At David Augustines school there was room after room of children, totaling over 350. We also visited New Generation and the public school we started to support in the absence of the government support for their own schools. We also realized there was a second public school that was in the same declining status. Teachers were unpaid for most of the year. They were hoping to find some help rice for lunches, as some children had left this school primarily to find food at the IOCH supported schools nearby. I included a video of the bathrooms just to give you an idea of what is now normal in Haiti.
We also stopped to visit the mother of a 7-year-old boy named Jay who died last week from a brief illness. IOCH helped with funeral expenses as usual. The kids club also went to see the family last week. This was devastating to the entire community. IOCH helped to cover funeral expenses for her.
So often there is a final gut punch experience before I leave Haiti. A man who operated an orphanage in Plane du Nord has been attending monthly seminars and asking for an onsite visit. The conditions of this orphanage that 25 children called home were heart wrenching. I’ve grown accustomed to seeing children go to school is these nearly empty, unfinished block structures, but to realize they lived here too, was truly sobering. The kids are so sweet. I may try to buy some extra rice for this situation. For all the “help” in Haiti, I have been shocked how many of the Christian Haitian people who are sacrificing for those in the most extreme need are left to serve alone.
IOCH is called to be the hands and feet of Christ, an extension of the body of Christ, ministering to the ministers in Haiti. Once again, this month, 612 teachers from 50 schools throughout northern Haiti were paid and over 10,000 lbs. of rice were made available for school lunches. We thank you for your prayer and support which enabled this work to continue.
God bless,
-IOCH Founder David Garman
“UNITING THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO WORK FOR A BETTER HAITI”