Miracle.

   So there is one story that I have told over and over again about Haiti.  I haven't written about this story here, because...it seems to big for words.  My typed words cannot describe what I saw, experienced.

It started the day we went to see Evansbord in his tent. (If you havent read about him, please check out my entry entitled "Invincible" before reading this entry.)  His condition moved us and we agreed that our great big God could touch this young man's life.  We prayed for him every time we entered his tent.  One day, our physical therapist, Tiffany, went to visit him hoping to give his mother some exercises.  As she examined Evansbord, she soon looked bewildered, telling us that she couldn't find anything physically wrong with him.

   The next day, Thursday morning, several members of our team went into Evansbord's tent with a brand new resolve.  As we talked to his mother, we soon learned that after Evansbord had suffered from a seizure at 2 months old, she had taken him to a voodoo doctor to stop the seizures.  The doctor had given her some steps that would "help" his situation, but after another month, her baby was sicker than before.  Evansbord's mother then took him to a medical doctor.  His diagnosis?  There is nothing physically wrong with her son, the problem is spiritual.

  It was then that we realized that God had saved Evansbord's life in that Earthquake for a larger purpose than we had realized.  We began to pray and intercede for Evansbord.  We prayed for 2 and a half hours.  We felt strongly that this young man needed to be baptized, so we grabbed a large tarp and filled it with all the water we could find, using the water from our water bottles.  We baptized Evansbord and then went to lunch.

  When we returned from lunch, Evansbord's mother was glowing from ear to ear, "The evil spirit has left my son!"  Evansbord was laughing and his eyes were focusing on objects, he was mimicking noises and motions with his hands.  By Friday morning, a boy who has never left the fetal position, crawled across the tent to look outside!  By Friday afternoon, Evansbord was speaking full sentences in Creole and playing catch with a ball!  Many friends of the family came into their tent and celebrated with Evansbord's mother, they were witnesses to what God had done.  THIS WAS A MIRACLE.  God healed Evansbord.  I was so honored to be there.  Thank you, God for using me.

If you want to read this story from another perspective, check out: 

Young Haitian Delivered from the Hands of a Witch Doctor

This is written from the perspective of my friend, Stephanie.  There is also a short video clip of the baptism.

Tent City

Ghost Town
   We ministered this week in a tent community.  On Monday as we walked to the field where the tents were, we passed through the neighborhood where most of the people living in the tent city, used to have homes.  It was very green and private, low walls were present covered by vines and flowers.  It was a Caribbean ghost town.  Some houses stood, while others were leveled.  There was the faint outline of three walls with a cracked sign in the front reading "Baptist Church" in Creole.  In this community there was an elementary school that was still standing, in the field nearby was rows of tents.  I was nervous to go in at first, after all, the people we were about to personally encounter had been homeless for the last four months, and I knew the spoiled life that I live.  My nerves were soon put to rest, the Haitian people were warm and welcoming.


Community
   We brought a soccer ball and some other games for the children.  We brought our prayers and support for the adults.  Adam, a few other members of our team, and I walked around the community with a translator, talking with people about the earthquake and their lives since.  We heard dramatic stories of life and death.  Many heroic stories of mothers saving the lives of their children while suffering great injury themselves.  Over the next several days, I found myself laughing and crying with my new Haitian friends.  I couldn't hide my sadness as I listened to tales of hunger, loneliness, and physical pain.  Several teenagers and young adults expressed their need for schools to be rebuilt, and education to be started again.
   As the week progressed, our AIM team compiled our skills into a fairly organized visit each day.  Members of our team constructed a VBS (children's teaching time) each day and the children watched Bible stories being dramatically acted out, learned scriptures and made crafts.  At the same time, Adam delivered a word of hope and encouragement, with the help of an interpreter, to the adults under a large tree at the entrance to the community.  In the midst of our language barrier, our relationships deepened and we became very close the people in this community.

Meeting Needs

One day we brought loads of medical supplies and set up a tent at the entrance of their tent city.  We created a make shift clinic where we met the physical needs of nearly 100 people in this community.  We brought simple tools like band aids, antibiotic ointment, baby wipes, pepto, aspirin, ace bandages, crutches, aloe vera, etc.  One of our team members is a physical therapist and she worked hard diagnosing issues and giving people exercises to help them heal. After we "doctored" them, we gave each family a bag filled with soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and similar things.  For those we could not help with the tools we had, we prayed for God's healing. 

   As we prayed, we saw some pretty amazing things happen.  There was a man who had been suffering from severe stomach pain for 4 months.  He was laying on the ground and his wife told us that he was rarely able to move from that position.  We prayed for him and went on our way.  When we came back the next day, he was sitting on the ground talking and laughing with his friends.  I almost didn't recognize him.  When our interpreter asked him how he was feeling, he said he felt great, God had touched him.  While we were praying for needs, a young man approached me.  His name was Sanon.  He explained to my translator, Dorly, that his soul had been sold to a voodoo priest and now he had been marked for human sacrifice.  I worked hard not to show my shock at what Dorly was translating to me. I held my composer, but I saw the fear and vulnerability in Sanon's eyes as he waited patiently for my prayer.  I asked Dorly if this was common and he said no, but he was aware of the practice.  He also shared that outside of the safety of Jesus Christ, there was no escape for Sanon.  After I prayed with Sanon, it was hard to move on.  My heart was broken for this young man living in fear, but I was (am) confident that God would rescue him.

UN
   One day we were surprised by a visit from UN Military.  Apparently, one of their helicopters had flown by our tent city and saw a large mob gathered (in line for medical care), so they sent troops to check it out.  They walked around our community for a bit with their large guns and ammo, but left when they were satisfied that we were holding a peaceful gathering.  It was nerve racking having so many soldiers from all over the world so close with such dangerous weapons.  That was the ONLY time in Haiti that I was fearful for my safety.  And they were the good guys.

Invincible

Wednesday 4/28

Even as I sit here and write, I am sitting in the midst of 30+ beautiful Haitian children who are learning a Bible verse, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life."  It's a beautiful sound.  I've been hugging and kissing these precious kids all day.  Today Adam and Mark (our team leader) talked to the community leaders about our organization buying chickens for them.  When we do, they will be provided with fresh eggs regularily and they will reproduce, giving them a financial and substancial source.  We won't be here to see them delivered, because the process will take a few weeks.
   Today I visited a very special young man.  His name is Evansbord, we nicknamed him Invincible.  His family of seven lives in a tent of probably 15x15.  Evansbord had a seizure when he was 2 months old that left him nearly braindead and paralyzed.  At 15 years old, he makes a few noises, his eyes jet around side to side, he has little use of his limbs.  We call this young man Invincible, because when hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in the earthquake, "Invincible" survived more than 24 hours under an enormous pile of rubble.  His mother found him with only a broken hand and a few bruises.  Even so, meeting Evansbord broke my heart.  Until today, I've never really seen skin and bones.  His shin was about the size around of a silver dollar, maybe a quarter.  He layed curled up on a blanket on the ground, and this is how he lives.  My heart was moved for Evansbord, and also for his mother who suffers with Malaria, is criticized by her community for continuing to care for her invalid son, and who is the sole provider for her 6 children and her orphaned and sick nephew.  Yes, my heart was moved to say the least.



This journal entry was recorded on Wednesday.  Please see my blog entitled "Miracle" for more on Evansbord.

Glimmer in the Rubble

Tonight on the way home from ministry in the tent city, we were surrounded by gems of hope - fresh construction in Port-Au-Prince.  Originally I was so distracted by the mass amount ot destruction that the totallity of the project seemed extremely overwhelming, even impossible.  Even so, tonight our eyes were opened to the physical progress that the Haitians are making.  On the way back to our base, we passed trucks full of wood beams, pipes, and rock.  We saw men on the side of the streets shoveling rubble and clearing sidewalks.  Our team observed more men rebuilding roofs and crushing rocks by hand to make cement.  Our eyes were opened to some things we hadn't seen before, beyond the trauma, there is a resiliance in the Haitian people that will help them see their land restored.

A Deal With the Devil

We were told a story today that changed my whole perspective on the earthquake.  Once upon a time, Haiti was owned by France. Much of Haiti was enslaved by France and greatly desired their freedom, which the French would have no part of.  The Haitian government made a treaty with Satan, that if he would help them gain independence, he could have control of Haiti for 200 years. Haiti gained their freedom and enslaved their souls.  Their national religion became voodoo.  Most Haitians believe that 2009 marked the end of the contract Haiti had made with the devil.  As the dark age came to the end, Pastor's and Missionaries all over Haiti came together praying that God would "Shake whatever is shakeable".  And God did that.  What we see in the physical is God having mercy on His children, shaking off this curse and giving His children new life.  From every report we have heard, the church of Jesus Christ is exploding in this country.

Acts 2:47 "And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved."

First Impressions

   As we flew into Haiti, the destruction was immediatly evident.  As soon as I could see land, I could see hundreds of tents.  Some formal looking, donated by the US or other countries; many made of sheets of metal, tarps, and bed sheets.  In many places, streets and walkways were unrecognizable because of the immense amout of debri.
   We got off of the plane into the muggy Carribean climate. At 7:30am, it was already 85 degrees.  Stepping off the airplane we were greeted by the sound of a local Haitian band playing for tips.  It was pleasant and several of the airport personel were singing along quietly.  As we traveled through the airport, I became immediately aware of the presence of military, many different countries were represented. I felt proud to see Us military men and women, a part of a worldwide effort.

   We were met outside the airport by one of our trip leaders, Marcio.  He apologized for running late, sharing with us that he had been stopped by the Haitian police.  They tried to take him to jail for not having a certain permit, but he refused to go stating that that the government is crooked and trying to get his money.

   As we rode through the streets of Port-Au-Prince, the poverty was overwhelming.  It was unreal to see the effects of an earthquake that lasted only 45 seconds.  There were buildings that were missing a balcony or pillars on the outside.  Buildings that were cracked down the middle and half or more of the building was missing-an unlivable mess.  Sometimes, we saw only a plot of gravel, the ghost of someone's home or business.  We passed through and area of town where many donated clothes from all over the world were put in massive piles on the ground.  For an entire city block or more, this scene went on. Men, women, and children rumaged through the generous donations.

   When we finally arrived at our base, I could ponder - this whole earthquake thing was worse than I thought.

Haiti

Over the next few blogs, I'm going to write about my time in Haiti.  I wrote in my journal there, but some of my days are a little out of order.  Please keep this in mind as you experience this trip with me.