HAITI TRIP JAN 16TH – 25TH, 2003
"A LOVE STORY"

Matthew 22; Verses 36-39

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"

Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

There is always speculation as to whether God is in all the details of our lives. I can tell you with full confidence, God chose the team of nine that went to Haiti on January 16th! He called each of us and was with us during our time of travel, worship, fellowship and service. We traveled together as a team anointed with a love for each other and for the people we went to minister to in Carre four Feuilles and Fond des Blanc.

What a blessing it was on the first day in country to travel to Pastor Jerome’s to see the facility where he lives and works. We went with several important items on our agenda and one primary goal was to meet with the teachers and discuss the conditions of the school. We met on the roof of the church under a makeshift awning, with the sea breeze from the Caribbean Ocean to cool us, to hear the teachers share their hearts. Principal Ronald Benoit gave his report, which spelled out the details of the needs of the school. Then the teachers, one after the other rose to give thanks for their salaries and especially their Christmas bonus and to share with us their vision for the school.

There are many serious needs at Good Shepherd School. The government of Haiti will not give them certification because the entire school meets in one large room with no wall divisions between the classes. The requirement for individual classrooms is new this year. The third and fourth grades meet in a space about 10 x 12 feet with forty-two students, two teachers and one chalkboard to be shared. The need for benches and desks has become critical, as many of the children have a place to sit but nowhere to write. Often they are crowded five or six onto a four-foot long bench. The enrollment is now at 150 and there is not room for another student. The potential could be for a school enrollment of easily twice that number of children, but there is no space! We were thankful to be able to provide funds so textbooks could be purchased for each student while we were there. We were also able to give the school a donation for ongoing needs sent from the Sunday School class taught by one of the team member’s wife. Once again I was impressed with the teachers and staff of this small school. The children are getting a remarkably good education for such primitive conditions. It was a blessing to have a time of fellowship after the meeting and feel as if we have established a personal relationship with this faithful group who are working so hard in the classrooms and the school.

Also on our agenda was a two-day medical clinic to be led by in-country medical missionary Dr. Dale Heule, on the roof of the good Shepherd Church at Pastor Jerome’s. This was the first time a medical clinic had been held for this group of people and they were excited. We had four young men, who are members of the church, volunteer their time to help us and to be interpreters for us. Without their help, the clinic would have been very scary and difficult for the nine who loved much BUT knew very little Creole. Our thanks go to Dr. Heule’s helper who was responsible for telling the patients how and when to take their medications. Because of the team’s organizational skills and the advance preparation of the medications, we were able to have a smooth running clinic that worked well. The first day we saw a good number of the members of Good Shepherd Church and the group who came from the church plant in Fond des Blanc. We worked until three, cleaned up and left the hill around four. We arrived back at the Guesthouse around five, had dinner and devotions and no one had to be rocked to sleep! The second day we began again around ten o’clock. The difference in the two days was that we saw many more seriously "sick" people on the second day. We had a case of malaria, and we also saw John Claude Pierre, a diabetic who cannot afford his monthly insulin. We saw many patients with extreme high blood pressures and had patients with infections and wounds. There were two desperately ill people for whom we could do nothing but pray, and we certainly did pray for them! There was a steady stream of patients with digestive disorders and many others who were severely anemic. The one disappointment we had was that we were not prepared with a big enough supply of vitamins. Many people required a prescription for vitamins, which we were able to fill but after clinic many more came to us begging for vitamins. Begging, actually begging for vitamins! We gave them away until we had no more. Next time we will know how to plan for this desperate need. At the present time we are asking churches to do a donation box, marked Vitamins for Haiti, which we will ship home with Pastor Jerome after the mission conference the first week of May.

We not only experienced love in the school meeting and love in the medical clinic, we were carried to the mountaintop with the great "Praise and Worship" services we attended. We went on this trip knowing it was God’s and we held daily devotions with prayer and times of sharing our hearts with each other. BUT we also went planning on attending several worship services. On Sunday morning at six thirty am we were seated in The Church On The Rock with 1,300 plus other worshippers. The service lasted until eight o’clock and we were greeted by another 1,300 plus waiting to come in and worship their Lord. This large church also holds a third service on Sunday mornings and the attendance for that one is around 1,200 people. Our host for our trip at the Fishers of Men facility, is the director of music for this large church. What a blessing Smitty was to our group and what a blessing this worship service was to us. We left and went directly to the Good Shepherd Church at Pastor Jerome's. Once again we experienced an overwhelming move of the Holy Spirit as they sang, we sang and our two Pastors Jim and Richard preached. The service started at ten, and ended at twelve, EXCEPT for those who came forth to accept Christ as their Personal Savior and for those who wanted us to pray for them. We prayed until one forty five, until the last person who wanted prayer came forward. What an anointing fell on this service as the prayers of the team, with the help of those who could interpret for us, soared heavenward! Fifty-six, some from the school and some from Good Shepherd Church I and II, came forward to accept Christ as their Savior, during this spirit filled trip.

Working with my interpreter Leonce I could feel the love and concern these Christians had for one another. The Good Shepherd church meets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at four am for Praise and Prayer service. Their ministry to both the men and women’s prison is a challenge to us, and the sacrificial ministry of the ladies who cook for the sick at the tuberculosis hospital should spur us on to lives of service. Blessed with the thousand Bibles we were able to bring to them, the church is already planning a mission trip to Cayes to share the "WORD".

On Wednesday it was time for three of our team members to leave the trip. We had become more than a team, we had become a family, and we knew we were going to miss them. We had experienced a time of giving and a time of receiving. I was so proud of this group as I had watched them in action. At the clinic not once did anyone pull away or hesitate to reach out and touch the sick and dirty people who came to us for help. I had seen compassion and pain in the eyes of the team as there were those who desperately needed help that we could not give. I saw hope in the eyes of the sick as this team reached out to touch them and pray for them. They walked away with a greater gift than medicine, they walked away with hope and the knowledge that the team who had come from such a long way to minister to them, also loved them. I saw this family of nine hug and kiss the dirty, hold and comfort the sick, laugh and play with the children and adults alike. I saw them make new friends and become involved in the lives of the people at Carre four Feuilles. I saw them reach out to help every time a need arose! I saw them grow each day in their understanding of why God had called them to be a part of this long and difficult journey. I saw their courage as they rode exposed in the Tap-tap through throngs of humanity and filth! And I heard their hearts as they shared so willingly their observations and their overwhelming love for the people of Haiti. I saw crackers and cookies given away, gifts shared and personal items left behind with newfound friends. I saw love grow as we began to understand what Jesus meant when He said "Love your neighbor as yourself", because I saw this group do something greater then that, I saw them LOVE the people of Haiti even more!

The rest of our trip report "On to Fond des Blanc" will be sent later. I trust you feel you have been a part of our experience, and I pray someday God will call YOU to go with me to Haiti. Great and mighty things happen EVERY trip! May God bless you for the prayer covering you so lovingly and faithfully provided for this team, without your love we would not have had this great time serving our Lord! We, you and the team, truly did this one together!

Each month you hear from me, and now I want you to hear from another perspective. The following are answers I received from the team, to some questions I asked them, upon returning home from their trip to Haiti. I am sending one question this month, there will be others to follow with the next reports. I am sure you will be blessed hearing

Called to HIS Service,

Elizabeth (Liz) Seese

Director