What we take with us from Haiti

This is Ron Stohler, who led the trip with Joe. While our team arrived in Haiti with 31 plastic totes full of supplies, we left Haiti with even more -- 19 changed perspectives.

1.       “I am taking from Haiti the earthquake wasn’t the start of Haiti’s problems. Poverty has been here before and continued after. Keep that at the forefront of my mind.”

2.       “I am taking from Haiti a heart for the poor.”

3.       “I am taking from Haiti the look on kids and mom’s faces in the medical clinics, especially when they were told they were pretty or prayed with.”

4.       “I am taking from Haiti hope for Haiti.”

5.        “I am taking from Haiti the smiling faces set against the deplorable houses, the house to call a permanent home.”

6.       “I am taking from Haiti a new outlook on social justice. A new sense of what is important in life.”

7.       “I am taking from Haiti faith and trust in God’s work.”

8.        “I am taking from Haiti my eye-opening experience and perspective.”

9.        “I am taking from Haiti my tote-full of obedience in the Kingdom of God to know the poor by name.”

10.   “I am taking from Haiti joy and humility.”

11.    “I am taking from Haiti the friendships I have made, the hope of the Haitian people and the longing to come back.”

12.   “I am taking from Haiti an understanding of people of joy, hope and justice, and an understanding of poverty as a condition of the spirit – not an economic state.”

13.   “I am taking from Haiti memories.”

14.   “I am taking from Haiti the question from Aaron: ‘Do the poor know your name?’ as well as the Haitian kids’ smiling faces.”

15.   “I am taking from Haiti a service-minded heart.”

16.    “I am taking from Haiti hope and faces the love for two ‘Nadines.’”

17.   “I am taking from Haiti change in action.”

18.    “I am taking from Haiti the hopefulness that Nehemiah Ministries brings to a very disturbed area. Like drops of water in a sponge, eventually the sponge becomes saturated.”

19.   “I am taking from Haiti God’s Kingdom is here. I’ve seen evidence.”

That last one was mine. I have seen evidence of the light of God’s Kingdom breaking through darkness. I saw:

·         healing of men, women and children by in the clinic,

·         justice for the marginalized through job-training and education,

·         reconciliation between people groups through cooperative ministry or simply playing soccer,

·         and the whole Good News of Jesus Christ lived out through Pastor Pierre, his staff and you!

Things I hope I never forget!

While our visit is still fresh in my mind I wanted to share memories, in no certain order.

1.       The beginning of a school day at NVM.

2.       Walking the path to Chambrun.

3.       Arriving to Port-au-prince at the same time as President “Sweet Mickey”.

4.       Watching fellow team members facial expressions on our drive to campus.

5.       Finding many “Ronalds” at the airport.

6.       Being welcomed by Aaron and Shelli at the airport.

7.       The wonderful meals.  Shepherds pie, enchilada casserole, spaghetti..etc…

8.       Debriefs: Worship led by Will and Rose/Thorn time.

9.       Morning devotions with Kirk, Marion and Doc Brian.

10.    Pastor Pierre’s testimony of God’s faithfulness and grace in his life.

11.     Pastor Pierre’s mantra. “… From Darkness to Light… to help Haitians become what God intended…”



The future of Haiti!

      12.  The nice surprise shared by NVM staff and our team : Good WI-FI !

13.   The progress of campus.  Hospital, children’s homes, dorms, new dining hall, etc…

14.   The roof of the clinic.

15.   Euchre.  Except for the Ambien induced semi-coma!  Sorry Wyn. J

16.   Tia is a “Doktor” in Haiti.

17.   Learning kreyole “un petite”.

18.   Mobile Clinics:

a.       The quality of care provided by Shelli, Brooke and our team members.

b.      “are Tylenol and Ibuprofen different?”  asked by yours truly!  J

c.       “jo, giveme ball!”

d.      “pune, pune, pigeon” or DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE

Dr. Schlueter in chase!

e.      “tampiatee” or Temparature?

f.        107 year old woman and a 97 year old man.

g.       Zaccheus story translated by Clerice.

h.      The “common” diagnosis and remedies.

i.         The Hand Slapping game.

19.    The trip up the Mountain and the view.  From Ocean to Dominican Republic.



Marion, Kirk and I.



20.   Unlimited amount of Kool-Aid.

21.   Private showers.  Tiled bathroom floor.  Great improvement!

22.   Thomas or “toma”.  Excuse me while I go cry again! 

Tia and I with Toma.

23.   Sanding, varnishing, working. 

24.   Trip to Wahoo Bay. 

25.   Blue Tent communities.

26.   Worshipping with Haitians and singing "every move I make".

27.   “un photo”

28.   “foo-bebitte”  or “strong muscles”

29.    “Bon Jour, Bon Swa, Como ouwo? Tres Bien.”

30.    Comical occurrences we all have shared and enjoyed at each others expense. J

31.   Our pre-trip meetings.

32.   Sugar Cane in a BIG Tap Tap!

33.   The Haitians quick smile and acceptance of us blans.  Even while sick.

34.    Journaling.

35.   GOOOOAL!  A “friendly” game of soccer vs. Haitian staff in the rain on a basketball court.

And Finally. 

36.    “toma” waving hi, then running to his “cas” and pouring water on his head.  Then returning to give me a hug and a smile and then taking me to meet his “mama and 3 older siet’s”

Now excuse me again as I go have a healthy cry! J

I would like to express my appreciation to all of you.  It was a privilege to Co-Lead such a wonderful group of people.  Thank you for your Christ-Like attitude and your willingness to go through this experience with an “open palms up” posture.

To God Be the Glory!

Amen.

Thorns & Roses

Our Internet service has been down for 2 days so sorry for the long delay…. 

Wednesday – by Steve Haigh.  Every night the team circles up some chairs to unpack the day.   As a way to do this, Ron and Joe ask us to share a “rose” (good thing) and a “thorn” (troublesome thing).   Today, I’ll share my rose and thorn with you:

Rose:   I had the privilege and honor to sponsor a child right here in Haiti today and meet him.  He is a 7 year old boy named Pierre and, Lord willing, will now be able to go to school next week.   NVM has a wonderful sponsor program that provides food, clothing and healthcare to needy kids plus pays for the child to attend the NVM School right here on property.  Many families can’t afford to buy the uniform, black shoes, books and book bag required.



 I met with the principal, Alexandre, to find out which boys still needed sponsors and which were the most needy.    He said his assistant principal, Judith, knows all the families and he would talk with her.  After lunch, I stopped by the school again and met with Judith and Alex who told me about Pierre.   His family lives in Despinos, about 3 miles (?) from NVM and cannot afford school.  Judith said they would send someone to bring him to the school.  Here in Haiti, we talk about “Haitian time”, which means he might come today, tomorrow, or who knows when.  So I went back to work wondering if I’d meet this boy at all.   About 20 minutes later a messenger found me and said he’s here!  Wow, so much for Haitian time.  Turns out Judith called someone in his village that was able to find him and tell him to come.  I tried to envision the scene there in his village with that neighbor tracking them down, the hurry to find a ride, to put on a good shirt, the excitement about attending school, and to get here in 20 minutes was truly remarkable.    So I ran to the school to meet this little guy.  

He was sitting in the Principals office with his Aunt.    He was very cute, dressed very nicely, and once I smiled at him, he never stopped smiling back.   With Alex translating I asked him if he believed in Jesus – Wi!   Did he want to go to school?  Wi!  Does he have brothers and sisters?   Wi, one younger sister.   Does he like Cool aid?   It took Alex a while to explain that I had brought a can of drink mix as a present for him (it’s all I could scrounge up in my things I brought from US).   Once he figured it out what cool aid was, he began shaking his head up and down – Wi, Wi!!  I gave him the can of cherry cool aid and showed him how to lick his finger, stick it in the sugar, and pop it in his mouth.   His eyes got as a big as saucers with that first taste as he exclaimed, “mmmmm!”   I gave him a hug and prayed with him, asking God’s blessings on his mother and father and little sister and aunt who brought him here.   It was a poignant moment for me and Rob Sadler, my official cameraman and fellow Friday morning men’s group member back in Indianapolis, who documented the encounter.   “Orevwa Steve”, he said as we parted company cradling his can of Cherry Cool Aid.

Thorn:  before dinner, our group walked into Chambrun to visit friends and the children’s home there.  The squalor and abject poverty of the place are startling.   These people live in stick and mud huts, wear flip flops or just go bare footed, and often just wear a shirt and no pants.   There’s dung from donkeys, sheep, goats and whatever else might wander around town everywhere.  Most of the kids are pretty dirty and many were completely naked.   We brought a soccer ball which was an instant hit.   The minute we put the ball on the ground the soccer began in earnest as the boys orchestrated a “futball” game shouting “You, blond!” as they put us into positions.   And let me tell you, these kids can play!  I was assigned goalie and several times caught a ball covered in stuff I cared not to think about too terribly much.



Even in their abject poverty, there was incredible joy on the faces of these kids.   Haitians are extremely communal and social people – they have to be, living in such close proximity.   As we were leaving town, a little boy ran up and said “Blond!” and held my hand, a very common thing for a boy to do.  We exchanged names as we walked by a black voodoo cross not 20 yards from the children’s home.   I motioned to the black cross and said to the boy the only Creole word I could think of that might even quasi describe my thoughts – “Malad”.  Just then, an older man who I didn’t notice before, popped out and waved his finger at the boy, seemingly scolding him. Was he the witch doctor?  I don’t know.  It was eerie, to say the least.     As we neared NVM, we parted company and left me with a joyful “Bye, Steve!”.

Tonight Aaron (on staff here for a year), asked us a great question.  Do the poor know your name?   His scripture reference was Matthew 25:31-46.   Do the poor know your name?   It’s a great question and one that I can now answer, “A few.  Yes, a few”.   

Saw the glory and the sadness of Haiti

Wednesday 10/12/11The last 24 hours has been a study of the contrast between the beauty of God's creation and the sadness of our humanity.  These last two days (for me) consisted of two trips with the medical team to the village of Trou Caiman, where we looked abject poverty in the eye and held its child in our arms, wrapped around a journey up to the mountaintop where we could see the ocean and Port Au Prince to the west, and the beautiful Lake Azuie and into the Dominican Repulic to the east.



Mountaintop view toward Lake Azuie and the Dominican Republic

 From that perch on the mountain, one could only see the beautiful foundation that God laid for this tropical island. Rocky mountain peaks overlooking green valleys and shining lakes.  This is what he gave us.

It's not until a closer inspection, where we can contrast the divine influence with the human influence of this island, and see how mankind has sometimes served as a less-than-worthy steward of Creation.

Had several emotional swings on this trip, but probably not as stark as this.  The glory of the mountain scene turns 180 degrees when one looks at the malnourished villagers. Then it turns another 180 when we see the joy of the children when we play with them and witness the godly spirit of the missionaries and interpreters.

Here's your reporter with "Zaccheus"

Our medical trip ended on a real high note today, as Joe told the story of Zaccheus to the children who were still in the medical tent as we wrapped up.  He took some volunteer actors from the group to reenact the scene of the diminuitive Zaccheus (played by a feisty little boy that I only know as "Garcon."  I got the feeling that little Garcon is quite notorious in his 'hood!) who had to climb a tree (played by 6' 4" Dan McCormick!) to see Jesus, but was able to overcome his short stature and make a personal connection with the Lord. (Clerice interpreted Joe's story into Kreyol for the children.  Seeing the way the children responded to Clerice was another highlight -- they adore him.) 

The high's & low's of the trip seem to be the literal translation of Pastor Pierre's vision of "moving the people from darkness into light."  We can only imagine how "dark" things are in general for the villagers of Trou Caiman, Chambrun, etc.  But it's an amazing privilege to be able to shine the light for them just a little bit, and move them just a little further out of the darkness, and a little closer to the light.

My first reaction when we arrived last Friday was "my gosh, they have so far to go."  But one of the doctors who had been here several times, marveled at how far they had come since his first trip five years ago.

This evening, we will walk from the NVM campus over to the village of Chambrun. This likely will be our last chance to visit them on their turf before we head back to Indiana. As we walk over, I'll be praying that we can shine just a little more of that light, give the people just a little more hope, and bring the Kingdom just a tiny bit closer to these children of God before we leave them.

Head to the Mountains

Dan McCormick here. One of the highlights from our day today had to be the evening trip to the mountains. I've been looking forward to getting up there since the moment we arrived because of my favorite activities is hiking. Looking down over the valley that spread before us made me stop and realize how big and great God is.

Haiti really is a beautiful place. Many mistakes have been made on this soil, but God has not given up here. The work Nehemiah Vision is doing has great potential to impact this country for Christ. Being a part of it for a short time has been eye opening. It puts the truly important parts of life into clear perspective.

Day 5

Greetings from Haiti! This is Brittany McCormick writing this post. I started my day out by making bead necklaces and bracelets with some of the Haitian women. I learned that this is their only source of income, but it is enough for them to provide the things they need for their families. A typical salary in Haiti is less than a dollar a day, however, these women made twice that amount.

NVM is really focused on helping the Haitians become more independent instead of handing everything out for free. While these women are learning how to make jewelry, they are also learning from the Word of God. This morning we read in Ephesians about kindness and challenged the women to act this out in their own lives. It was really great to be a part of these women's lives today and to be able to come alongside them for  just a few hours of their day.



Jesus and Wilmy

Wilmy Lissage is motivated. He really shouldn’t be. Growing up, it would have been easier for him to fade into hopelessness and been greeted with a collective shrug from his family.  But today Wilmy, a 26 year old linguistics student starting his third year at State University in Port au Prince, is working the line, translating basic information for the 150 sick people in front of the Nehemiah Ministries medical tent in Troucaima

In a country where one more misfortune added to the grind of daily Haitian life would almost certainly derail hope, Wilmy has confronted many.  He doesn’t remember his mother.  She died when he was a baby.  His father, who he mostly remembers wasting what little money there was on alcohol, died when Wilmy was 15.  Quiet and unassuming, he humbly recalled that even before his father’s death,   “I was the man of the family and responsible for my two sisters.”

Despite the difficulties, Wilmy had a plan.  “When I was eleven, I was thinking about life.  I looked at the birds in the sky and realized that God took better care of them than my father took care of my mom and me. I decided to go back to church.” Wilmy made Jesus his focus and was baptized five years later.  “I felt like a new man.”

In addition to Jesus and the support from his church family, education was key and Wilmy knew it.  “Without education I would be nothing,” he said, recalling his strategy for his life.  And it wasn’t just education, but English. He wanted to learn English and be able to read for three reasons.  The first, to be self-sufficient.  The second, to serve as a role model for his fellow Haitians; to help educate the uneducated in the country. And finally, so he could help illiterate church goers know that what the preacher was preaching was true and based on scripture.  “If someone questioned what the minister was saying, I could point to the Scripture and say, ‘It’s right here in the Bible.’”

He loved school and was very good at it.  Aunts and uncles provided enough emotional and financial support allowing Wilmy to get back to class.  He graduated from classical education – high school – when he was 21.  From there, Wilmy was one of between 20,000 and 30,000 to take college entrance exams.   Less than 1,000 were accepted that year.  Wilmy was one of them. 

And then the earthquake.  Wilmy had just left class despite his classmates wanting to continue with a study group. Wilmy didn’t see the need and left.  As he was walking home, the ground began to shake.  By the time Wilmy got back to the University, fifty of Wimy’s friends – many who were in that study group, died. 

Wilmy works for Nehemiah and medical remote clinics and facilitates communication between patients and doctors and nurses.  But it was eleven years ago, just after Wilmy’s dad died, that Nehemiah and Wilmy first connected.  Seymour Indiana native Russell Burgess was on a missions trip with Nehemiah on the North side of the Island.  Russell met Wilmy and began supporting him financially.  Today, that relationship continues.  Russell helps Wilmy pay living expenses, allowing him to stay in school.

“My people do not want to be hopeless,” says Wilmy.  “They want to see hope.  They want to see that they can do what I have been able to.”

Random Pictures

 A group of the men run every morning.  They run past the village and the kids love to come out to see them, I think the guys love it just as much!

 Walking to the clinic. Notice the tent city in the background.

Children as young as 6 are left to take care of younger siblings often.

Super sweet kiddo waiting in line to be seen at the clinic.

Our day at the mobile clinic

Today found us on the way to Troucaima (to-ki-ema) for a mobile clinic. The countryside was beautiful. What a contrast to the sights we would soon see in the village. We were met by over a hundred mothers, children, grandparents waiting to be treated by our medical staff. Some of those were the permanant of NVM and 4 of our own team.



With the amazing help of our translators we got each of those waiting registered, temperatures taken and assigned to one of our nurses or doctors. We saw children as young as 1 month and grandmothers as old as 65. We were taken with the nutritional deficits in many of the patients. Yet they had hope because we were able to give the medicine they needed as well as vitamin supplements.

Brooke Smalley, Joe Bennett and Shelly Elliott serving at the pharmacy table

After a long day of helping medically we also helped them remember to play. All of the children in the village came out to play soccer, duck-duck-goose (poul-poul-pidegon for the Creole speakers) and red light-green light. One of the delights of the children was beating the Americans at any of the games.

What a privilege it is to anticipate 3 more days of helping, playing and praying with these beautiful people at similiar mobile clinics. We are the blessed ones to receive as much as we give. A example of that giving was seen in an older woman who caught our eye. She was the only one wearing eyeglasses. Through the translator we found out that she had received them at one of the previous mobile clinics. This has given her a huge blessing.

Worship, Chambrun, and Kids

Bon swa from Haiti.  This is Jon Hughes, a member of the Grace Group, and it is my privilege to provide you my prespective on our time here with NVM.

The girl in the pictures above is about 16 months old, or roughly the age of my son, Nolan.  Her face speaks volumes to me and her life will impact mine forever.  Her young story is one of trial, tribulation, and yet, simultaneously, joy.  From the town of Chambrun Haiti, this young girl has survived the threat of persecution from the very life that God used to create her. In fact, she was left for dead on three occassions.  However, God, through His people, has given her hope, and in her hope, I find my own.   I put her picture here to give us all hope.  The hope that is in Jesus Christ.  I hope for new life.  In Luke 9:10-17, we are given the picture of God feeding the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread. That stoy is one we have heard over and over and can often recite it as a miraculous sign that confirms that Jesus was and is the Mesiah.  But today, as we as a team reflected on that verse, I was reminded that Jesus' miracles of creating something out of little, multiplying what we his people can bring, is what gives new life to the people of the World.  

We started the day today with another very powerful image -- worship. Although I knew it to be true even before I arrived in Haiti, I was reminded this morning that we Worship the God of the Universe.  His Truth is THE Truth.  It is the truth for those of us in the United States, and it is the Truth for people all across this globe.  As I sat in Church this morning, and we worshiped in Creol I was blown away by how the God we worship is one God, the same God for all who teaches the same truth for all.



 Above is a look inside of the church before service.  As you can see it is totally packed.  Most of the children you see in the picture left prior to service to go to their own sunday school, and then our team was able to join the Haitian people for worship.  Below you can get a glimpse of some of our team prior to service. The building behind us is the church here on NVM's campus.

It was amazing to watch the people walk in from town (which is maybe less than a quarter mile away from the church).  They walk along a dirt and rock road, and they come in wearing their sunday best.  The women wear the most beautiful dresses and the men (though there were few) wore, in some instances suits and ties.  It was quite a scene to behold.

During service, we worshiped in song in both English and Creole.  Pastor Pierre (the head pastor here at NVM, and the one in whom God planted the vision for NVM) introduced the mission teams that were on campus and asked us each to sing a song.  We sang "Every Move I Make."  My friends in little one's way at Grace will be proud to know that those of us who knew the motions did them proudly!! The Church band joined in and we rocked out for a while.

After church, the kids hung out with us outside of the church, and we took lots of "photos."  They all ask "photo" "photo?" and then pose.  Then they take your camera and take about a hundred pictures on their own.  Below are some of the better ones from after church.

The kid on the right in the picture above is Josie, which is Joshua in English.  He showed me several times where his name is in the Bible and then asked for my name.  When I said "Jon" he showed me where John was in the bible. Amazing to know that God is teaching these Children His Word.

If anyone was worried, Ron is in normal form :).

After Church we went to the Village of Chambrun, which is about 1/4 of a mile from the compound.  We walked to the village over the same rocky path that I mentioned above.  When we got there, we visited the orphanage first and played soccer with the kids.  They were such a joy to play with, and really touched my life more than I could ever hope to touch theirs.

I took a few pictures of the inside of the children's orphanage, but the one below said the most to me.

NVM is currently constructing two buildings to move the children's home/orphanage to the main campus.  Pray that these buildings get completed soon so that the Children can have more of the things that they need.  For now, they have three bed rooms, and this is the only one that is painted.  Praise God for the toys and stuffed animals they have to call their own.



After playing soccer for about an hour we went further back into the village and, amidst mud huts fellowshiped with the villagers and spoke mostly with the Kids, who again wanted their "photo."  They love to pose.  This picture was taken by one of the kids who wanted to use my camera and these two posed for him probably 10 times.  It is quite the experience.  I hope you, like I, can see the joy in their face.  I wish, though, that you could see the despair they live in.  The place they call home, in most instances, is nothing mroe than a house made of mud.  Currently it is raining, and we were told that tomorrow most of them will have to rebuild their entire homes.  I was also told that they have a saying here in Haiti:  "A leaky roof can fool the sun, but it cannot fool the rain."  Pray for these people.

I leave you with this final photo.  A young girl at the orphanage whose smile and eyes simply lit up my day.  How a young girl can find joy in the midst of despair is beyond me, but I hope that the joy she shows fills your heart.  In the love of Christ, the Grace Team.



Day 1

Our medical team went to Onaville and served in a tent camp all day.  Scroll down to find that.

The rest of us stayed on campus and worked.

Some worked in a store that NVM has organized as way to provide clothing to the surrounding community at a good price.


We also had to, " Sand some boards, wait for the welders, drill some holes add some varnish... or in otherwords make some Church Benches".  This is a new venture for NVM.  They want to start a church in the tent city in Onaville.

overall we just spent the day working/partnering with NVM.

We also got to hear Pastor Pierre's personal testimony this evening.  It is an amazing story of God's faithfulness.