Going Back: Haiti Trip January 25-February 16

Written Friday, January 25....

Right now I'm en route to Miami where the team I'm traveling with will spend the night before we depart for a wild week in Haiti tomorrow morning. Before I left we got a hearty amount of snow and being the warm weather person I am I think snow is the most depressing and ugliest form of weather. We took off from a runway covered in snow and set off into the clouds and emerged into open sky. As I write this I am watching the sun set, a mixture of orange, yellow and pink in a vast amount of majestic blue. 

Watching the sun dip over the horizon of clouds made me think about how sometimes the most beautiful things are hidden in the most obscenely ugly things. Haiti...the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is inhabited by millions. A place where approximately 360,000 are still displaced and living in horrible conditions from an earth quake three years ago. It is a country where voodoo sweeps across the nation like wildfire. However, there's the other side to Haiti. It is an island in the sun, inhabited by some of the most hospitable, happy, and energetic people I have ever met. A place  where you can see God's hand at work through the relationships you form with one another, the good he does through Pastor Pierre's mission, and the hundreds of school students who have a sponsor who pay for their education. Most people think of Haiti as the snow, but to me Haiti is a magnificent sunset, made by the graceful hand of The Lord.

Darby, Norm, Chad at the packing party

This first week will entail numerous projects, over 20 suitcases were packed to 49.5 lbs with supplies for the projects--including medical, eye glass distribution, vitamin distribution, landscaping, carpentry and electrical work, English lessons with the preschoolers, and baseball clinics. I have never traveled with anyone on this team before with the exception of Dave who was on my first trip (but I didn't see much because he's such a hard worker!). I am excited to form new relationships with this team as well as the Haitians. This week will kick off the first of my three weeks in Haiti, I am beyond exited to be back to what I call my second home. Thanks for your prayers and watch the blog for updates!