By Brian Heerwagen, CEO
Greetings from Haiti,
Water? Did I say we got the water pump fixed? Well I spoke too soon because near bedtime last night, the water disappeared again. Not only did the pump stop working but the water spigot where we could at least fill buckets was dry.
We do have bottled water at the Guest House and we take a case of water with us as we travel. But bathing is becoming an elusive privilege - one that we just can't seem to experience! Good thing we have an overnight in Miami on the way home and will be in a hotel (I'm dreaming about a long, cleansing shower already!) Our families will happy with that!
We were en route to La Victoire to visit another recently finished church and school this morning. Our hope was to catch school in session. But...once again we were plodding along in bumper to bumper traffic. We had time to do the math on yesterday's drive. Our five hour and fifteen minute journey was only 50 miles. If your quick math matches ours, it shows that we averaged 10 mph!
Ok, back to the La Victoire story. School gets out at noon for lunch. We arrived at 11:58 - we made it but barely. Our visit there was such a highlight. This church and school was the first project our teams began to work on. I hardly recognized the finished product. 230 students flock to this place for school, lunch and water each day. Some come from a nearby tent city that I will write about next. But here at La Victoire we saw so many cheerful kids, sitting in rows, following orders, doing school work, and enjoying a balanced hot meal. They practiced English by proclaiming to us in unison, "Good morning, how are you?"
We were impressed with the staff, the teachers, and the organization. This place was amazing. To add to the wonder of it all, there is a nearly completed water purification plant on the street side of the property. This is a brilliant addition to the church. It will provide purified water to people in the neighborhood at below market pricing, it will create jobs, and it will generate income for the ministry. Now here is the greatest part about all this ... the church is now the center for much of life and people are being drawn to it. The Pastor and other leaders are figuring out how to receive new people into the church - people who are not saved yet - seekers. Praise the Lord!
After La Victoire, we next visited Delmas 33 - a tent city with a reported 20,000 inhabitants. We were able to follow one of the students from La Victoire to her home (a family-sized tent) where we met her aunt and interviewed several others. I got to go into their tent. It is on a hillside and I noticed that the door at the uphill end of the tent no longer connects to the floor. Last night it poured rain for hours, and though the house was so neat and organized, I was preoccupied by the fact that the rain water would no doubt have rushed through the tent the night before.
Here's what we learned while there. People don't want to be there and long to be someplace better. BUT, food and water comes to them and there are public bathrooms - that's pretty handy. Since there is no where to go and no resources to leave, they feel circumstances and "the relief" system has caused these tent cities to become seemingly permanent. People feel trapped.
What a contrast between that and our next site today. We headed for the Village of Hope outside of town aways. We were thrilled by the calm and beauty of the countryside. And also by the opportunity that is being created in Bercy. Eighteen houses are about 3/4 constructed already. This is one of several communities we will helping to build. There will be a school, a clinic, a water purification plant, an occupational training center and of course a church. The goal in Bercy is 500 houses. The number on the other properties is still to be determined.
I can't for you to see images and videos of our experiences today. Many will be debuted at the January 12 event held in Portland and live over the internet. More info will be available after out trip.
Praise God for all the progress and for the faithful use of donations and team services. Thank the Lord, too, for our wonderful and visionary Haitian partners and Missions Door.
We have one more day, and more to accomplish then one day may be able to hold. Pray for success as we wrap up so many things here.
