Port au Prince tour- Haiti final day

This morning we flew back to the capital and were given a tour of the capital. Needless to say, the quake devastation was depressing. Many buildings were destroyed and many more were damaged to the point where they can not be rebuilt. Tent cities are in some of the nicest areas of the city.
Above is the famous photo of the Presidential Palace, where people were killed and are still buried.
Many of the main government buildings were destroyed, and many workers were killed, which has massively hurt the rebuilding effort.

Day off- Haiti day 8

Today was a day off, and we went to a beautiful island off the coast of Les Cayes. The resort was as beautiful as any I have seen anywhere, and is a picture of what Haiti could be. It is Abaka Bay resort, and was pristine.

I got into a discussion with the daughter-in-law of the owner, who was about 30, and was a graduate of Wheaton College, where my daughter and son attended. It was weird to be talking about an American college at a Haitian resort, but this shows the long arm and Christian influence of Wheaton college.

The umbrella- Haiti day 7

Today was the most unusual spiritual experience of all for me. We had a last medical clinic in the mountains. Right before lunch I looked at the crowd waiting, and one girl stood out. She was about 12, and was a pure albino. She had pale skin and white hair, though she was racially black.

She received sunglasses and medicine. Then the doctor asked, "can anyone give her an umbrella?" She really needed one, with the intense sun she got in Haiti, and her ease in getting a sunburn as an albino. I suddenly remembered that I had brought an umbrella in case it rained hard again. I had just gotten this beautiful umbrella before the trip, and now God was asking me to give it to a poor person. This was so hard! I hoped someone else would come up with one, but no one did. I am embarassed at my indecision, but after a few seconds I went and got the umbrella, and gave it to her. I felt such a relief when I parted with it- "he who gives to the poor lends to God."

The girl left the clinic crying for all her gifts, and the kindness shown her (in contrast to the abuse she often endures). I felt such a release in my spirit. It is hard to let go of things, but an incredible blessing to give.

The land of mountains- Haiti day 6

Haiti means “land of mountains”, and today we drove through some of them on the way to our clinic. This is a beautiful part of Haiti, with beautiful beaches that beg to be developed as they have been on the other side of the island in the Dominican Republic. The Haitians on our team complain that only the bad things and not the good and beautiful about Haiti are ever reported. They have a very good point- when was the last time you ever heard something good reported about Haiti? And there are many good things here.

In the clinic we had a woman come in with vague pains who was 103, and looked pretty good. She passed her medical exam with a good report. She said her secret was working in the fields and eating lots of fruit. She has great-great grandchildren!

Culinary dream fulfilled- Day 5

It was truly a great experience of my life to see the appreciation of lambi is (this is the Haitian version of conch, popular throughout the Caribbean). We ate it for dinner with fried plantains and avocado, and it really was terrific- the best meal I have had here yet.

In the morning we experienced one of the worst storms I have ever seen. Rain fell torrentially for a long time while thunder burst over us, which was so loud that it sounded like bombs going off over us.
The electricity here goes off several times a day, always in the early morning for a few hours, and usually in the late afternoon. Many people have generators to supply electricity in their homes, which uses a lot of gas. I have always taken a steady flow of electricity for granted until now, but no longer. Funny how a missions trip helps you to look at things differently.

Clinic- Haiti trip day 4

Today we had a medical clinic in a small town. We treated some people with great names- Johnny American was my favorite, followed by Kenlove. Every other woman here seems to be named Marie, so much so that they go by their middle name often..

At night we went to a Christian school which is supported by the Pierre’s Children Heritage Foundation (www.childrenheritage.org). The children waited for us for over an hour in a dark room. When we got there, they had a special assembly to thank the
Pierres. Jose made a great speech exhorting them to work hard. It was truly a great experience of my life to see the appreciation of the staff and children for the support.If this country is going to turn around, it is going to happen with the next generation.

First medical clinic- Haiti trip day 3

Day 3- First medical clinic

Today we had our first medical clinic day at the American University, which is an old CIA building, large and massive (some say there are bugs planted in the walls!). About
150 people came, and were treated, according to the records, and maybe many more.
I did “spiritual counseling”, and a doctor, physician’s assistant and nurses diagnosed, while a dentist treated and pulled teeth. Bernie Pierre and I had the best job, as we prayed with 6 people to accept Christ, and 3 to rededicate themselves. We spoke and prayed with everyone after they were treated. We saw countless unwed mothers, one as young as 17 (apparently it is very common and acceptable here for women to get pregnant without a husband, and not to expect the man to be involved with the child). Women who were married were the exception- very sad.We also saw many quake refugees, one of whose foot was broken by it. Many people lost jobs and homes, and went to other places in the country. They are homeless throughout the country.

Church in- Haiti missions trip day 2

Haiti missions trip- Day 2- Church in Haiti

Church in Haiti was very similar to the many Haitian AG churches in NJ. I spoke at a church here today which met under a metal roof, as its building was cracked by “ January 12” (as they call the big quake down here), and later had to be pulled down. The church is a pile of rubble now, which our construction team will pulverize and move into one big pile (this is their project for the week, we are calling them the “destruction team”).

I spoke on Bartimaeus the beggar stopping God by his faith and persistence, and there was a great response at the end. A number of people wanted prayer for deliverance from spirits, much more than in America. Half our team is Haitian, so they related well to the people,and vice-versa.
We had Domino’s pizza for lunch- yes, they do deliver even in Haiti. And then me and our medical team flew on a small 16 person plane to the southern city of Les Cayes, and left our destruction team for the week

He brought a tent- Haiti missions trip- day 1

Haiti missions trip- Day 1- He brought a tent

We had a smooth trip down to Haiti. The Port-au-Prince airport terminal is still heavily damaged, with cracks through the concrete buildings rendering many of them unusable.
US helicopters are in the airport, and US troops still live in tents at the airport.
Several people wondered why one of our party carried a Coleman tent down. It turns out that it is for his niece to live in, since her home was destroyed. The tent cities are everywhere, blue and white tents amidst lots of hot and dry dust. Houses and their rubble are everywhere. Some people have an address in the tents, but don’t live there, since you can get free food and other things by doing this from the relief groups. But many people do live there, and it looks squalid.

Shady Maple

You haven't lived until you have eaten at Shady Maple Smorgasboard in the Lancaster, PA, area. It has an enormous buffet, and must seat near a thousand people or more. On Monday night, there were huge lines just to get into it. We went there to celebrate my daughter's birthday (keep praying for a job for her), and to see my son Timothy, who lives nearby.

Shady never ceases to amaze me. I learned that they have a senior discount (10% off), but also a super-senior discount (over 90 years old- 50% off), and a gastric bypass discount (also 50% off). Maybe I will take my mother to Shady for the super-senior discount some time!

Trenton makes

How many of us have ever visited the capital of NJ, Trenton? We went last week to it. First to the NJ state museum, which is a nice 2 hour visit, with a planetarium. They have a room highlighting all the things which were invented in NJ (including baseball, the cranberry picker, and football). Then we ate at Rossi's in Chambersburg, the old Italian section (now mostly Latino). They claim to have the best burger in NJ, and after tasting it, they might be right. The suburb of Trenton, Hamilton, has the best thrift store in the country, "Red, white, and Blue", bigger, better and different from any other store you have seen. You can get clothes and all sorts of home stuff at ridiculous prices there.

Trenton has a bridge crossing the Delaware with a sign remembering its industrial heyday, "Trenton makes, the world takes!"

Sci-fi dream

Last night I had a dream which reminded me of an Asimov science fiction story I read when I was about 17 (yes, I do remember it well). In the dream, I was in a basement in a place which had incredible fatal storms constantly on the surface, except for about an hour break every few days. At those times everyone went out onto the soaked surface and celebrated.

At the weather break I went out with about 5 people on to the surface. With 5 minutes left before the fatal storm came in full we began to run back to shelter, as the winds intensified. Suddenly the woman next to me collapsed. I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder.
She was surprisingly light, but I could barely run. The winds reached a dangerous pitch, and I was panting for breath. Everyone else was back in, I had maybe a minute before the storm became fatal. My heart was pounding- would I/we make it in?

Then I woke up! This would make a good TV show.

Any ideas what it means?

From the foundation of the world

Matthew 25:34 really grabbed me last week. It says that God has prepared His kingdom for us
"before the foundation of the world." This is amazing- before we were created, or the world, God had created heaven for us! I am looking forward to it enormously, sometimes I think about it before going to sleep. God has made a personal paradise for you billions of years ago.

Haiti missions trip

Thanks for praying for our trip to Haiti. We are leaving Sat, and returning next Saturday. We have 28 people going, with about half doing construction in Port au-Prince. Pray for their safety and protection. It is supposed to be as hot as 100 degrees this week, fairly typical for this time of year.

I will be with our medical team, the other half, in the southern city of Les Cayes. We will set up medical clinics and share the Gospel in 4 different towns. Pray that we will see supernatural healings!

About half our team going is from a Haitian background, so we will be well translated. I have wanted to see their country for many years, though I am sure the earthquake impact will be depressing. They are wonderful people.