Haiti 2011

October 23 – 29. 2011
Haiti – Re-Building Missionaries: Donnie and Debbie Daniels; and Richard and Kelly Green

Travel and Accommodations

We had 22 members on this team representing about a half dozen churches from the Potomac District. Three of us, Thom Clement, Nelson Rodriguez, and I, Henry Weigel, represented Centerpointe Church at Fair Oaks. Bobby Basham, the Men's Ministries Director of the Potomac District of the Assemblies of God (A/G) organized this trip in cooperation with Donnie Daniels. Donnie and wife Debbie are the A/G missionaries posted to Port-au-Prince to organize work teams that would come into Haiti to help with the re- building projects.

We were excited when we heard about the possibility of going to Haiti on a construction missions trip. Here is an excerpt from Bobby Basham's announcement of this opportunity.

"We have all seen the devastation that occurred this year in Haiti. I have been told repeatedly that the needs will exceed anything I have seen in the world. The infrastructure before the earthquake was fractured at best, now months afterward, it is still in complete disarray. Many of you, like I, gave to help the relief efforts. Now attention is shifting from relief to rebuilding. To that end we are planning a Men's Ministries Missions trip to Haiti in October 23-29, 2011. Our earlier trip that was set for January was postponed due to civil unrest. The good news is now we can bring 24 rather than 12. We will be staying and eating in an Assemblies of God guest house and aid in the rebuilding of Haiti. The trip will cost $1,150 and we will fly out of Dulles Airport to Port-au-Prince, Haiti."

Richard and Kelly Green are Missionaries-in-Training. Richard directed the work effort. We stayed at the home of Missionaries Bill and Dorothy Smith who have been in Haiti for 22 years and are associated with Latin American Child Care, the A/G ministry to the Latin American children. The Smiths are greatly respected in Port-au-Prince. The accommodations for 22 guys in one moderate-sized house were adequate and the food was good. A couple of the local ladies did the cooking, so we got a little taste of Haitian cuisine. Right outside the missionary compound was a dirt street with two small goals set up for "street soccer." Some of our team members joined in the fun with the kids.

Haiti

Haiti shares an island in the Caribbean Sea with the Dominican Republic. It is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere with a population of about 9,000,000 people. The unemployment rate is about 80% and about the same percentage of the population lives in poverty. Forty-five percent of the people have access to potable water. The life expectancy is 55-60 years. The rate of AIDS is among the highest in Central America.

During the horrific earthquake in January 2010 about 300,000 people lost their lives. The devastation was great and tent cities sprung up throughout Port-au-Prince for people who lost their homes. The first priority was to provide aid to the people. The Assemblies of God emergency-response arm known as Convoy of Hope came in to help. A good bit of the devastation has been cleared up but considerable work remains. Some tent cities have already been cleared up but there still are a number in existence. It is a pitiable way to live. Now we are in the re-building effort.

The Project

Missionaries-in-Training Richard and Kelly Green were there to assist in the construction efforts. Richard was in construction work in the US but he left his business to go on the mission field and work on re- building Haiti. They are delightful people and Richard was excellent in not only directing the work but also participating.

Our project was to work on a church building and the adjoining school building. Our team laid concrete blocks and did steel structure work. We got up at 4:25 AM, ate at 4:45 and tried to get on the road by 5:30 to beat the heavy traffic. The trip to the worksite took about 40 minutes. We left the work site at 3:00 PM, again to beat the traffic, and returned to the missionaries' home where we stayed. We did well in spite of the heat and humidity. Of course we drank plenty of water or other suitable drink. Our lunch at the work site was very simple, sandwiches, e.g.: peanut butter and jelly at break time and ham and cheese and cookies for lunch.

Driving through the city was a dusty experience, even in the early morning hours. There had not been much rain and the roads were dry and dusty. We were transported in two large trucks with wooden benches in the back. Sitting on those benches, sideways to the direction in which the truck was going was an unsettling experience. The truck was enclosed with steel mesh – presumably for our protection and for the protection of goods being carried on the truck. This made it look like we were in a paddy wagon. Team members tended to go to the same truck they had been on the day before. It wasn't until the last day that I discovered the "other" truck's benches had cushions on both the seat and the back rail. Oh, if I had only known!

Thom, Nelson and I all did a good bit of block laying. Thom and Nelson usually worked together and I worked with another team member, Bob – a policeman. He had no experience in laying blocks so I showed him the basics and he soon became fairly proficient. I had done block or brick-laying work in something like seven different countries while on mission trips. Being in fairly good health for a 73 years old, I tended to hold my own in this area. At a team meeting the missionary, Donnie, referred to me as a block-laying machine. Fortunately he said that before the end of our stay, at which point I was very tired and could barely pick up another block.

One thing we did that was not in the plan was to build a slightly elevated concrete area for the pulpit. When the Pastor, who came by from time to time to view the progress, saw that additional effort he was delighted. I had seen him sitting on one of the low walls we had completed and his lips were moving in what I took to be silent prayer of thanksgiving. It was a delight for us to have been a part of blessing that Pastor and his flock that would come. In the end all the work we did, under our God's blessing, translates into souls.

Richard and Kelly Green left Haiti a few days after we departed to go back to the States and line up some support. They hope to return to Haiti when they get their support, hopefully in January 2012.

Ministry Opportunities

We had a number of pastors on the team and they mostly gave the devotionals at evening dinner time. These moments were encouraging and inspiring. We were encouraged to hear one another's stories. "Every one has a story." So, in small groups we got to share what the Lord had done in our lives. On a personal note, as usual, I had taken along Gideon New Testaments (with Psalms and Proverbs). The official language is French in Haiti, but I did not have any French ones but only English. I gave out about 15 of them. People that are learning English tend to want to get an English New Testament. I was delighted to give them out. Some of these instances open conversations about the Lord. Really, that is what all this is about, to communicate the Gospel through action, or talking. May His Name be praised!

At the end of our stay we went to the school, now overcrowded, that would move into the building adjoining the Church building. We had been working on both of the buildings. At the existing school our team members gave out little gifts and candy to the children. I had already given mine out to the kids in the neighborhood of the new Church and school buildings. I thought this would spread good-will and perhaps encourage them to come to the Church and school when the buildings are finished.

Conclusion

Mission trips have a four-fold benefit.

1. We go to bless people with our work and witness.
2. Our coming blesses the missionaries.
3. At the same time we receive a blessing from the missionaries and the people of the mission field.
4. We go home and share that blessing with the Church family.

– Henry Weigel, December 2011