Planting a new crop

     Just like farmers rotate their crops, it’s time to rotate “crops” in Haiti.  Out with vegetable seeds, in with emergent readers.  Wait… in a country with thousands of hungry people, why stop donating seeds?  Great question.  One for which I don’t readily have an answer, other than to say David has identified another pervasive need – education.  Let’s face it, Haiti’s problems won’t go away over night.  And no matter how much aid you give them, they will still remain poor and impoverished.  But does that mean you stop helping them?  No!  If you can make a difference in one person’s life, you can spread hope and change to countless others.  Never give up even when the task looks insurmountable.  God calls us to help, He promises to do the rest.

     On my last trip there, in Jan. 2011, we met a young Haitian man who was educated in the U.S.  Jean returned to Haiti to help educate his countrymen.  His English is so good that he does a mean, spot-on imitation of East Coast and Southern accents.  Scary.  He knows, as do all the Haitians, that education is the way out of poverty and a step towards self-sufficiency.  Between him and David, they created a plan to educate Haitians adults and teach them English.  Knowing how to speak English opens many doors of opportunities; for example getting a job with foreigners (and there are plenty in Haiti) as a cook, driver, laundress, or interpreter.

     Jean’s classroom is in the rented house in CAP.  In a small, sun-lit room on the main floor, ten Haitians will attend his class to learn and perfect their English.  This is where we come in – those students needs materials to learn from, books that have simple words in English, emergent readers.  These are the books your kiddos learn to read from when they were developing their literacy skills.  “The dog is black.  The ball is round.  This is my house.”  Think Dick and Jane.  Basic vocabulary.

      Fast forward to June 2011.  Another trip to Haiti; I was unable to go.  People continued to donate veggie seeds, which were dutifully packed up and shipped down there along with various other supplies.  But one anonymous donor gave me $220 to spend as I saw fit.  I found a store where I could purchase emergent readers, and for X amount I spent and paid for in cash, I would receive X discount.  I shopped, I ordered extra copies, I prayed over what to buy.  When I brought everything to the cash register and the sales gal rang me up, my total came to $220.49.  How cool was that!  Yet another example among many how God is in the details.

      The books were delivered, the first class started this week.  I am eagerly waiting to hear how it’s going.  I’ll keep you posted.  If you want to help the Haiti relief efforts, please contact me at card_file@hotmail.com.  100% of donated items and / or money are sent to Haiti for relief efforts.

You know you’re missing Haiti when...

...you look in your cupboards and think of how many people you can feed with the food on the shelves.
...you see excess in your city everywhere you look.
...you stop complaining about the 30 min. wait in your doctor’s waiting room.
...you can’t remember the last time your stomach growled from hunger.
...you see colors and clothing that remind you of special Haitian friends.
...you look in your closet and think “What can I give away next time I go back?”
...you seek out the ruts and bumps in the road and take them at full speed.
...you want to drive without a seat-belt on.
...you want to weave in and out of traffic.
...you monitor airfares for cheap flights.
...you didn't completely unpack your suitcase from the last trip, leaving just enough in there so it's packed and ready for the next trip.
...you tell God, in nearly every prayer you pray, "I'm ready to go back... just say when..."
...you reconsider frivolous purchases, knowing how you can spend that money on Haiti.
...you're on a first-name basis with the FedEx guy who picks up your shipments to Haiti.

The Abundant Provider

     I wrote letters to various seed companies, soliciting vegetable seed donations for Haiti.  Another day, another letter, another 44¢ stamp.  Call me crazy, but I prayed over every letter as I slipped it into the mailbox.
     Fast forward one month.  I receive a call from someone at a seed company here in town.  “I was going through my letters looking for worthy causes to donate to, and your cause sounds very worthy to me.  We are going out of business.  Would you like to come by and see if there is any seed you can use?”  Heck, yes!!  I completely forgot I had written to this company.
     Long story short, I went.  I looked.  I wished I had borrowed a van!  My car was packed full of seeds; so much so that my car looked like a tail-dragger going down the highway.  The front seat, back seat and trunk were loaded with bags, sacks, and containers of seeds.  360 pounds worth.  Yep, 360 pounds.  That’s a lot of seed.
     A 44 cent stamp yielded nearly $7300 worth of donated seed.  You’ve heard of “R.O.I.” – Return on Investment?  This is “R.O.P.” – Return on Prayer.
     When God provides, He provides abundantly!!

God in the details!

     Every trip to Haiti is different.  Places visited, team members, situations encountered, the purpose for going.  Yet one thing remains the same – God.  This was my second trip to Haiti, a place that feels very much like home to me.  So much about this trip was quite different from my first - except God!  God was all over this trip, in every little detail. 

     Our truck broke down.  Even thought we all ate the same food, two of the team developed very mild tummy troubles.  Wondering why she felt led to bring a particular medication, Lee, our medical person went ahead and brought it.  Thinking he might need clean clothes for a dirty day ahead, one guy packed extra clothing.  I had to buy some hardware for the house, yet I found myself purchasing 2 Sharpie markers.  Huh?  God in the details….

     Our first truck, the one that broke down, was large enough to accommodate the entire 15 member team and all of our supplies needed for the day’s work.  The day the truck broke down and we realized we had to find other transportation, 2 team members stayed behind due to mild illness.  The replacement truck could only accommodate 13 people + supplies, not all 15 of us.  Coincidence or God in the details?

     We visited a hospital and dropped off some donated supplies and medicines.  Shortly after that, Lee ran into a doctor who specializes in Urology, the same field in which she works.  They talked shop, the doctor mentioned a troubling case.  “If only I had “X” medication….”  Lee perked up.  “I brought that with me!”  Coincidence or God in the details?

     If you think you might need it during the day, pack it.  Don’t question it.  He thought he might, so one guy packed extra clothing.  Later on out in the back country, a situation came up with a Haitian who was in dire need of extra clothing.  Guess which team member had that exact piece of clothing to give?!  Coincidence or God in the details?

     David went to Haiti before our team left the States.  He emailed me a list of various hardware items needed for the house.  “Go buy it.”  I did.  But as I walked the hardware aisle in Walmart, I felt this strong urge to go buy Sharpie markers.  Ok, that is definitely not hardware,  but ok, I’ll go with it…  Shortly after arriving at the house, Lee had to break medicines down into smaller packets for distribution.  She needed something with which to write on plastic baggies.  She asked, “Does anybody have….?”  “…a Sharpie marker???”  I replied.  Coincidence or God in the details?

     And these are just some of the God stories that happened during our trip.  I could go on about the well-furnished house we stayed in, the food we ate, friendships made and renewed, amazingly inspiring worship services we attended, the love the Haitians showed us, the peace and security that surrounded us as we traveled and worked, and especially about the bonding amongst the team.

     Sometimes you just have to go on a mission trip to experience all of God’s incredible provision and protection for yourself.  Others can tell you about it, but until you experience it for yourself, firsthand, you won’t understand.  When God calls you to go, He will equip you for the journey and watch over you in ways you’d never dream.  God is real!  And He’s never been more real to me than when I’ve followed Him to Haiti.                                   

Love God|Go love people

Where is everyone?

Traffic on a typical day.

     Driving home from the airport, I noticed how empty the streets were.  It was Saturday night, 6pm.  Lots of cars driving around, but where was everyone?  In one short week in Haiti, I had grown accustomed to seeing people everywhere.  City sidewalks were crammed with people, so much so that sometimes they had to pass each other by walking in the streets.  Not a good idea when those streets were also crammed with every mode of transportation known to man – buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, tap-taps, even push carts and the occasional donkey.  You always ran the risk of running over someone, and yet, all the traffic meshed and merged and moved along.  Usually.

     But now the streets at home remind me of the aftermath of a nuclear war.  Not a living person in sight.  Just lots of vehicles driving around, seemingly under their own power.  Where is everyone?

Seeds for life

     I decided to blog about my first trip to Haiti while I was there.  Only two problems - I didn't have a computer and the power was sporadic (I thought that was pretty cool!).  So I did it the old fashioned way, I journaled.  Notebook and pen.  Scribbling furiously whenever I wasn't mopping sweat from my face, bouncing around on the roads, taking pictures, trying to speak French and learn some Haitian Creole, eat some of the best Carribean food or lounging in the pool for hours (yes, hours!) on end. 
     But what to call my blog?  A friend came up with the best title, "Seeds for Life."  After all, this first trip was about teaching the Haitians the principles of composting and Square Foot Gardening. 
     I happened to see the phrase "A flower grows through the dirt before it blooms" on a church sign.  Perfect subtitle for the blog!  And boy does that ever fit the situation in Haiti to a "T."  Those poor people are pushing their way through the dirt and dung of life trying to survive. 
     My hope is they bloom one day.

Contrasts

     My bags are packed, I'm ready to go....  I can't help but think of all the contrasts I'll encounter on the trip: 
- weather  Currently it is 2 degrees F. above zero with a -11 degree wind chill; in Haiti the high is 78 degrees with a low of 69.  There is about 5" of powder snow on the ground, none in Haiti.
- food  Well-stocked shelves at the grocery store, tons of variety of just about anything you'd want to eat.  Haiti?  Rice and beans.  Maybe your only meal of the day.  If you are lucky.
- dogs  I gave my pampered pooch a pat on the head today; she all snuggled in her blanket.  Dogs in Haiti are left to scavenge for food, and from the looks of their protruding ribs, they don't appear to find much to eat.  We hit a dog once, it cried out in pain and limped off to the side of the road.  I only saw two dogs that I would consider to be lucky.  They were being led around by a piece of chain link, the kind you hang a swing from on a swingset.  At least the guys on the other end of the "leash" were keeping them out of the way of our truck.  Oh, and I saw sacks of dog food at the American store.  Which lucky dogs would get to eat that?  Not the scrawny dead dog I saw lying in the street, most likely hit by a car.
- clothes  I buy clothes for my Haiti trips at thrift stores.  I'm picky - it'd better fit, zippers working and all buttons in place.  No suspicious odors or stains.  In Haiti, the clothes may or may not fit, might be missing one or all buttons and zippers, boys sometimes wear dresses because that's all they have.  All body parts are covered.  Sometimes.
- medical care  Call ahead, make an appt., pull up in front of a shiny, clean, modern building.  Then I have 15 minutes with the doctor and access to whatever care I need.  Flashback to the hospital in Haiti I visited:  empty medicine vials strewn on the ground, crowded clinics and not everyone was seen, people begging for funds from us to pay for medical care, animals roaming the hospital wards.  Sanitary?  Hardly.
- roads  The only ruts and bumps and bounces I experienced while driving today were from the snow and ice.  Stay in the tracks made by the cars in front of you and you weren't likely to get stuck in the snow.  In Haiti, you constantly zig and zag all over the place dodging pot holes that would make a car parts salesman squeal with delight, if the holes didn't outright total your truck first.
- water  Anytime I want it, cold fresh tap water.  I can even drink from my garden hose.  Not so in Haiti.  Better make sure you are drinking the filtered, bottled water from the Coca-Cola plant.  Or if you are feeling chancey, go ahead and buy one of those little bags of water.  It's only been handled by a billion dirty hands before landing in yours.