We are staying at a hotel in Gonaives and it’s pretty nice and reasonably comfortable for us Americans. And the staff was amazingly gracious since they apparently did not have our reservations. They allowed us to stay after all was said and done. I began thinking- what was our back-up plan? There are not very many options for us to stay in safe and secure locations. Thanks God!
I had a pretty good night of sleeping- the room air conditioner worked really well- almost to a point of being too cold- that sounds crazy I know. Exhausting day yesterday- I’m able to find my bearings in adjusting to the heat and humidity
I’m processing the situation before us and the possibilities in Gonaives. The major hurdle I see is getting up here from Port-au-Prince- a 3 ½ hour drive- and effectively ministering here. The other thing I’m thinking about is that the health of the church= the health of the project. It’s too early to tell, but I would like to see how healthy the local church is here.
HOT- man it is hot! We visited Phaeton and the project really feels like it’s in the middle of the desert. The place is located very close to the water- I thought that it may be a bit cooler- but no. There are no real shade trees present on the property and the place seems barren. Until you hear the singing of over 125 children at this place. Then you realize the life that exists here is wonderful! We were greeted by a chorus of singing kids. Overall the health of the kids seems a little better than what we saw yesterday.
Back in June when we had our VBS we call Kidz Day Camp we had a mission project. We were encouraging kids to bring a dollar to help send blankets to Haiti and the kids would help finish these blankets that my team would personally deliver to the kids in Haiti we would visit. In addition I hid two parrots each day for the kids to find and then keep for themselves. On a Wednesday morning after the opening time a 10 year old boy came up to me with the parrot he found the day before and asked me if I could take this parrot and give it to a child in Haiti. Wow- this kid gets it! He was willing to give up something so that another less fortunate child could have it- way to go Brayden! So when we visited Phaeton I had a little girl instantly cling to me for the duration of the day- I gave her the parrot Brayden gave to me for this little girl.
We squeezed in a visit to our third project- Bienac. This project is located in the city and is a tough location because it is land locked and there is an incredible amount of dust from the passing traffic. This dust is presenting the children with respiratory issues. The dust is a result of the two hurricanes that swept over Gonaives two years ago. Overall the kids were great and they took care of their project really well.
At the end of a long, jam-packed day we had dinner with an American missionary and her kids and the pastor of her church. What a blessing the evening was. The pastor is Filipino and has an incredible story about his ministry there in Gonaives including running a school for the deaf. He has been there 15 years! He has seen a lot and experienced a lot in a city where it is said that every rebellion has had its roots in Gonaives and recently the city has been run by gangs. I pray for this man and his ministry.
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