Mission to Haiti – January 30, 2011
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| Pam having a little fun with the Hubele family |
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John and Gerry |
This past week has been funny, not in the ha-ha sense, but that the three visiting professors, John, who is in the final stages of his Masters program at Asbury University, Gerry, who holds a PhD in Engineering and pastored a small rural church for 15 years, and Pam, who is a retired school teacher from the UK who holds a Masters Degree from a Bible College in Vancouver, arrived We are now doing what we have been planning and preparing for many months. We are up at 5:30 AM each morning preparing breakfast and are literally falling into our beds after cleaning up the supper dishes and spending a few minutes catching up on the day’s activities. We leave the professors to prepare their lessons and mark papers and tests for the following day.
This past Sunday we went to Faith Evangelical Church unannounced. The church was packed to overflowing with a number of the congregation sitting outside. Some of the children we recognized from prior visits and were quick to grab our hands to say hello following the service. After the service we received a tour of the school building. The Joy and Hope of Haiti group from Hamilton provide some funding each time they have a work team in Haiti. All three 
kindergarten classes have been outfitted with funding provided by St. Andrew’s and we are told that in total there are 125 students attending up to grade three. We are hoping to visit the school when students are in attendance although I am sure that many of the children attending church on Sunday were students.
kindergarten classes have been outfitted with funding provided by St. Andrew’s and we are told that in total there are 125 students attending up to grade three. We are hoping to visit the school when students are in attendance although I am sure that many of the children attending church on Sunday were students.We also heard that the well at the Grison Garde School has now been repaired. A spoon was found at the bottom of the shaft and it can only be assumed that someone must have dropped it down when they were first drilling the well while the well drillers were otherwise occupied. But for a spoon the well was dry sounds a bit like the verse “but for a nail the shoe was lost, but….”
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings we were out for dinner. Tuesday was our turn to share our testimony with a visiting team from Michigan. Because this same group had been in residence the previous week we took the opportunity to have our 3 visiting professors do the sharing. In this way we were also able to learn about the life’s experiences of our guests without seeming to pry. Wednesday was our regular weekly prayer meeting with all the missionaries. To our surprise we were to find out that another of our missionaries, is leaving the field in mid-February. She will be missed as she has spent many years here in Haiti and her knowledge of the Haitian people and culture are something that cannot be easily replaced.
Little has been heard this week regarding “Baby Doc” Duvalier. While his arrival created quite a stir he has been largely absent from the limelight since he moved from his hotel to a private residence.
The election picture appears to be clearing somewhat with the announcement that the Unity Party candidate, Jude Celestin, will be withdrawing from the election leaving Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat to participate in a run-off election on March 20th. However, the candidate must do the actual withdrawal, and a time of writing, while it had been reported on the CBC that he had withdrawn, there is no indication locally that this has in fact occurred.
We continue to trust in God’s plan for this nation. We were reminded yet again at prayer on Wednesday, (How many times does God have to do this until we get it?) that He DOES have a plan and we just need to trust Him every single day more and more.
