Tues, Wed & Thurs in Haiti April '09

I learned a new creole word on Tuesday. It is La Kanciel, which means rainbow. As Diane and I were leaving the missionary’s house, one of the orphans was pointing at the sky and yelling over and over to us, “La Kanciel, La Kanciel.” We had no idea what she was trying to tell us until we saw the most beautiful rainbow in the sky! Yet another sweet kiss from Jesus. He made the same covenant with all of His people, and He loves to remind us of that covenant no matter where we live or travel. The little girl who taught us La Kanciel is a new resident at the mission. Her aunt dropped her off because she can not longer provide for her. It in not common for children to be raised by someone besides their parents. It seems like it is the normal for fathers and mothers to just up and move to the big capital city of Port-Au-Prince and leave their children behind to fend for themselves.
Wednesday was a busy morning in the minor room. The afternoon and night was spent with a pillow over my head thanks to a migraine!
Ah, the rising of the sun and the setting of a headache! Thanks to my miracle drug, Treximet, I woke up feeling great! Thursday was a day for some of us to get off the mission and go to the island of Tortuga. I have never muster the guts to go to Tortuga in trips past. All I can envision are the Haitian boats you see on the news that try to make it to Miami, but sink! Yep, that is exactly what they look like!



And the best part (not!) is Haitian men put you on their shoulders to carry you to the boat! Talk about feeling uncomfortable, and ready to drop at any time! Our ride to the island was absolutely beautiful! The water was so many different shades of blues and greens. Once we got on the island we were greeted by a handful of children. They were so happy to see us “blancs,” which means, white people. The children that go to school took a break so we could do a little VBS for them and fed them lunch.




















They sang us a couple of songs and then we told the story of Noah and the Ark. As the story was being told, a boy drew a picture in the sand of a big boat, a sunshine a rainbow (La Kanciel!) and water. How priceless to watch him draw us a picture of the story he was hearing!











I saw something I will never forget. A little boy sitting beside me was picking skin off the bottom of his feet and eating it. It made me so sad and made me feel sick at the same time. I suppose when you are hungry enough, you will eat anything. How is it, I can go to any restaurant I want and order what I want, and this child is eating his own flesh?


When we got back to the mission, I had a visit from a couple I met almost 2 years ago when they brought their 18 month old daughter to the mission. Her name was Lovely and she came in to have a hernia repaired. Unfortunately, Lovely ended up dieing 2 days after her surgery. I spent the entire day of her death and burial with the family. I witnessed the very different way their culture deals with death than how we deal with it. I visited Lovely’s home before I left that year and promised to keep in touch with them each time I come back to Haiti. Last year they asked me to bring them pictures of Lovely the day she died. Word had gotten out that I was back at the mission, so they came to see me. It was great to visit with them. They seem to be doing better financially than they were last year.














It is nice to meet up not only with friends that come from all over the U.S. each year to serve at the mission, but also the Haitian friends made over the years of serving God in His country.