Haitian Firsts… As Experienced by Cody.
October 30, 2009
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- Walking into any store in Port Au Prince and passing by security guards toting loaded machine guns
- Having it take over an hour to get about 5 miles up the main road in Port Au Prince because of the insane amount of traffic, which is a daily thing. I’m telling you..its worse than anywhere else…New York City, Los Angeles, etc. It is insane, especially when you can’t run your A/C for fear of the car overheating.
- Being called on by my wife to kill the tarantula that is in our closet. We’ve seen several so far.
- Learning to eat with just one hand since the other hand is now used to constantly wave over my plate to ward off the flies.
- Realizing that a tiny gnat here or there landing in my drink is not worth the sheer effort of trying to dig it out with my fingers, therefore down the hatch it goes.
- Going to sleep at night when the temperature in the room is still over 90 degrees…man this place is HOT!!!!
- Drinking about 8 glasses of water and still not needing to go to the bathroom because my body is absorbing it all due to the heat.
- Creole language training – Day 1 baby! – Map apwan pale kreyol tres bien– “I’m going to learn to speak Creole very good.
- Randomly meeting the Livesays (world famous missionaries in Haiti via the world wide web) at the local grocery store…that was cool.
- Praying outside in the parking lot of a store in Port Au Prince with another missionary that we just met. She is a young girl who is serving at an orphanage for a year here in Port Au Prince. We enjoyed getting to know her.
We are so very excited to be living in Haiti and beginning to learn the culture and language, but we are even more eager and excited to be getting to our ministry destination and begin ministering to the orphans and poor children. Right now, we are staying on a mission compound just outside Port Au Prince in a very desert like area called Titanyen. It is a nice compound and we have a nice little apartment to stay in, but it doesn’t represent what we believe God has called us to in Haiti…living among the orphans and the poor daily and sharing the love of Jesus with them. The missionaries here at the compound are doing some amazing things for the people of Titanyen. They drill wells for several villages. They operate a burn clinic. They fund several schools and provide sponsorship programs. They provide a feeding program for the elderly. They are doing amazing work, and each missionary plays a specific role in those ministries. But much of that work is outside the compound in the nearby communities. But so far we have mostly been on the compound, aside from a few drives into Port Au Prince to run errands. Therefore we feel like we are kind of on a nice vacation in Haiti since the compound is so nice and set apart from the rest of the community. A nice vacation in 100 degree heat with no A/C anywhere, and an unlimited amount of bugs, flies, and an occasional tarantula here or there…a nice vacation in Haiti
This was nice to have some vacation like days for the first few days just to get settled, but now we are ready to hit the ground running and getting out into the communities to reach the people. Next week, we will go over to the burn clinic and just lend a helping hand to the nurses who are treating many burn victims daily, many of which are children. I may also try to go out with a well drilling team in order to learn about how to drill and repair wells since that is just good knowledge to have when we now live in the most water impoverished nation on earth. And of course, language training is a great priority which we do not want to rush through. So, even if we are not just YET where our hearts desire so much to be (living among the poor and reaching the orphans and at-risk kids), we know that God is preparing us through language training and just getting acclimated to Haiti. But oh how our hearts burn within us to reach those children.
Things about Haiti that I quickly learned
October 30, 2009
- A pack of two T-bone steaks costs about $3.50.
- A pack of Oreo cookies is about $6.00 and it is not even the Double Stuff kind.
- A medium size bag of dog food costs about $30.00. Time to put the dog on a diet.
- The Great Value brand from Walmart is more expensive that the brand name food
- 1 liter of whole milk is the price of a whole gallon in the USA. Yikes!
- Goats are afraid of a dog.
- People are afraid of a dog.
- There are tarantulas crawling in my closet. Shhh!! The girls don’t know it yet.
- There are more tarantulas crawling outside the house too.
- If ants get in your food, such as an unopened bag of lollipops, just freeze the whole bag. The ants will eventually leave.
- Cold showers actually feel really good given the right conditions.
- There are about 200 different species of bugs on my bed. The more I kill them the more they come back.
- You can quickly spend $8100 at the supermarket without guilt. Of course, it is $8100 Haitian dollar.
- Haitians know how to cook. And they do everything they make is good even when they have no “recipe” for what they make.
- Unless you are professional wrestler you should not drive in Port-au-Prince.
- The largest supermarket is about one tenth of the size of Walmart, but it takes about two hours to find what you want and when you find it you must determine how badly you want it.
- Port-au-Prince has two kinds of roads: bad and worse.
- In Kreole, all unnecessary words are left out. The shorter your sentence the better. –Maria
Safe Arrival in Haiti
October 28, 2009
Haiti is our new home. It is so surreal. Flying in yesterday was a serious blast of reality. As we are flying over a country that is poor and desolate in many places, and then poor and overpopulated in other places, it was a strange feeling to realize that this is our new home. We are not here for a short term missions trip…we are here for a long term mission. It was quite a moment. Things may never be the same for us…ever. That is not bad at all, it is altogether good.
We arrived safely in Haiti yesterday morning and afternoon, including our dog!!! We praise the Lord for answering prayers in allowing our dog to fly with us. As most of you were aware that there could have been the possibility that they would not allow her to fly if the temperature was above 85 degrees in either Miami or Port au Prince Haiti. For that reason, I had my flight changed to an early morning flight in hopes of arriving in Haiti before it started getting really hot. The temperatures recently have been well over 85 on the “feels like” index that the airline uses. So, when I brought Casey up to the counter and they started looking at getting her checked in, the attendant had to call another attendant over because there was an apparent problem and the system was not allowing her to be checked. Then I overheard one of them talk to the other one about the temperature and that there could be a problem because of the temperature. I signaled over to my wife who was standing with the luggage and the girls and I motioned her to pray, and I too prayed, and I asked the Lord to move the mountains and allow our dog to come with us. After several minutes of them talking to each other and suggesting ways of entering it into the system in a way that it would be accepted, they finally were able to get her on. So, I know that it was the power of prayer that moved this mountain…so thank you to those who were specifically praying that we would be able to take our dog.
I got sick the day before we were to fly out. I don’t know what it was, but I had the worst headache, my bones ached so bad, had zero energy, and I just felt horrible. Not a good time to get sick. Even on the plane the following day, I felt miserable and I was just praying that God’s grace would bring healing to my body. Upon arrival, I was picked up by a fellow missionary and was brought back to the base where we will be staying temporarily. Maria and the girls were coming in on a later flight, so I was able to crash for a few hours in the baking hot heat. When I woke up, I felt horrible and I feared that I would soon get worse. After picking up Maria and the girls at the airport, we went back to the base and I crashed for another 3 hours or so. When I woke up, I felt much better. Then we all met at one of the missionaries house on the compound and had a fantastic goat dinner. The food was amazing! We had a great time hanging out with the other missionaries who are here and getting to know them. Our girls instantly made friends with the other kids and we all had a really fun time.
It is soooooo hot here!!! We are frying like eggs. This will certainly take some getting used to.
Well, today we just spent the early part of the day relaxing and catching up on some much needed rest. Then I went with one of the missionaries into Port au Prince to pick up the mail from Agape Flights and run some other errands. I have never experienced so much traffic ever. It was insane…and hot!!! Maria stayed back with the girls and started in on some homeschooling routines. It was a good day.
Well, please continue to pray for us. We are here in Haiti, but we are not yet at our final destination. We will be staying on this base only a short time as we get language training. But we are most excited to get into our intended ministry of working with the orphaned children, We are so excited and eager to minister to these people that we are coming to know and love. Please continue to pray for all of us.
Remember the stones…
October 14, 2009
I wish I could be more creative in my post tonight, but the truth is that I just plain don’t have the mental or physical energy. We have been so incredibly busy getting ready for the big move to Haiti that I barely have had time to think, let alone blog. I was in need of and really looking forward to taking some extended time alone with the Lord today to just read my bible, pray, and seek Him with all my heart. I got in my car with those wonderful intentions, but before I was just minutes into my drive, my wife called me and told me a few things that needed to be done immediately regarding our new vehicle registration and such, and so my envisioned long alone time with God turned into a mere 5 minutes of reading Deuteronomy while I was waiting for my rental car to pick me up. (He said that he would be there in 20 minutes, but ended up showing up in just 5) So much for the extended time alone with God today. But I just prayed in my car as I was driving from one thing to the next that the Lord would just give me the grace and strength that I need to get all these things done and to keep my heart and my mind fixed on Him. Tomorrow does not look good either as far as having extended time. We will be extremely busy from the time we get up until late at night. The busy-ness certainly is exciting though as it is not just busy for the sake of busy, but rather busy because God is bringing to fruition the plans that He has laid out for us from the beginning of time that He would call us as missionaries to the orphaned and poor in Haiti. So, I know that the presence of God goes with me even amidst all the busy activity. But I just long for that alone time with Him where I can just share my thoughts and reflect on His promises in His word.
We just purchased a 1997 Toyota 4Runner yesterday, which took the entire day for traveling and looking at SUV’s. Thank the Lord that He led us to the right one. This is a serious truck!!! I feel like I can run over anything in it…not that I wanted the truck to run over things…but you know…its just nice to know that you can run over stuff such as smaller cars or annoying people should the need arise:) So, now that we got the 4Runner, we have been going like crazy trying to get it registered, insured, titled, etc so that we can ship it to Haiti. One thing I am learning about the DMV…its never in and out…there’s always a problem…and a need to come back again another day and do it all over again. Such was the case today. So, hopefully tomorrow my odds increase.
Tomorrow, we get the 26ft. Penske rental truck and load it up with all our stuff. We have been amazed at the Lord’s provision, both for us as a family and also what He has provided for the ministry, not that those two are really separate anyway. All that I can say these days is that God is soooo good. I am amazed every day as He continues to provide for us in the most AMAZING ways.
I was sharing with some friends tonight about the need to remember all that God is doing for us. I keep saying to the Lord that I am thankful to Him for giving us these “memorial stones” that will help us remember just how good and faithful He was in providing for us. We will need these “stones” to remember during times where we experience hardship, stress, fears, doubts, pain, etc. When those times come, it may be difficult for us to hold strong in our faith, and it is there that we will need to remember the memorial stones…to look back at where God has brought us from and to reflect on His miraculous provision, promises, grace, and faithfulness. Just like the Israelite children were commanded by the Lord to set up big white stones on the banks of the Jordan river, so that when the children’s children asked their fathers the meaning of the stones, they would be able to recall how it was there that the Lord dried up the flow of the Jordan river so that the Israelites were able to pass over into the promised land, thus reminding the Israelites once again of the faithful provision of the Lord for His children. I am so thankful for the stones that the Lord has given us. May we remember always His amazing provision for us. He has left each and every one of us with many memorial stones. What are some of your stones? (yes, this is an opportunity for you to leave a comment:) – Cody
Amazed, Overwhelmed…Humbled, Hectic
October 3, 2009
These are the words that describe my life at this very moment…less than one month before we move to Haiti as missionaries to work with the orphans and the poor.
The Lord is so amazing and I am so AMAZED by His goodness and love. His love for me is amazing!!! I am understanding that so much more these days, and that just sets my heart free to worship Him and live my life for Him. He has been so good to us. He has been blessing my marriage and teaching my wife and I so much about what a Christ centered marriage is all about. He has blessed me with 2 beautiful little girls who are growing up learning to love Jesus above all things. He has given us a call and desire like none that we have ever had to move to one of the poorest countries in the world and take care of orphans and at-risk kids and share the love of Jesus with them. He is so good…and I am amazed.
I am OVERWHELMED by His provision. He truly will provide for all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He not only provides forgiveness for my sin…He provides a free dinner for my family when we don’t have any money. He not only provides joy to my heart…He provides us with a generator so we can power our house in Haiti. He not only provides me with the security of being with Him forever in eternity…He provides us with a new couch and dresser for our home in Haiti. I am realizing this more and more, that if God who provided us with things that we need for eternal life with Him (forgiveness through the cross of Jesus, reconciliation, redemption, adoption into His family, etc), then how easy is it for Him to provide us with everything that we need for life here on earth. Why do I trust Him in providing me with eternal salvation, and yet doubt Him that we won’t have enough money to buy a vehicle before moving to Haiti. This doesn’t make sense. And so, Jehovah Jireh (The Lord our Provider) shows me once again that he is truly a God who lives up to all His names. He will provide…and I am overwhelmed.
I am HUMBLED by His choice. I am very, very far from a perfect man, just ask the person who knows me best…my wife. I am flawed BIG time. But God loves me so much…why? Simply because He chooses to do so. There is no other reason. It has nothing at all to do with me, how good or bad I am, how faithful I have been in going to church or serving, how much I am tithing. No, none of those things cause God to love me. He loves me simply because He chooses to love me. He has made His choice…and I am humbled.
Things are HECTIC in this house!!!! The blue blob is taking over (see previous post for explanation) and nothing seems to stop it. Things have been so incredibly busy as well. In the past 3 days we have been researching on-line like crazy about things such as generators, propane refrigerators, low wattage washers, what is wattage, what is a generator. Several people have donated furniture and supplies to us that we will take to Haiti. As a result, we have now called the Penske Truck Rental office 3 times to change the size of the truck that we need. We started at a 16 footer and are now at a 26 footer. We have ordered a propane refrigerator after several hours, if not days, of researching what is the best propane refrigerator to get. Our shopping list grows by the second. We are trying to buy an older Toyota 4Runner or Nissan Pathfinder. We just gave away our car this morning to a single mom who was in great need. It was an absolute miracle from God for this woman. The whole deal was so filled with Christ…it was awesome. It caused her to see how much God loves her and it has brought her back to her faith in Jesus. I have never been more overjoyed in giving something away and seeing how the Lord touched somebody’s life in such a deep way. He is awesome. We just got back from a fundraiser that a friend of ours put together at Chick-Fil-A where from 4-8PM 10% of all the sales were donated to our ministry. It was a great time. So, as you can tell…things are hectic – Cody