Okay, friends, here's the deal:
No, I haven't found a way to watch the Olympics here yet.
No, I DO NOT WANT ANY SPOILERS.
ESPECIALLY not for the girls gymnastics team. I want to watch us cream China with my own two eyes. PLEASE don't tell me what is happening. I will cry.
Depressed and Deprived in Haiti,
Melissa
PS I already got the "Ryan Lochte creamed Michael Phelps" spoiler. Literally jumped on a table in celebration.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Extreme Makeover: Haiti Edition
A common first impression upon arriving in Haiti (my own included) is "I can't believe how much trash is around!" There's no garbage man to take the trash to the dump, and there definitely aren't $200 littering fines. People throw their trash in the streets, on the beach, in the water, wherever they are. I often have to resist the urge to start picking it all up like some unorthodox community service worker--as Jason Mraz would say: "It's like picking up trash in dresses!"
Something strange happened to me this past week, though, while I was at Beauchamp. We were walking down the path to the soccer field one day when I saw a styrofoam take-out box. My first thought wasn't, "Ugh, trash on the road again." It wasn't even, "Styrofoam never decomposes! Ah!" My first thought, I kid you not, was, "That would make a great sail for a toy boat!" We kept walking and soon I saw a whole trash bag hanging off a cactus. "That would be perfect for making kites!" I thought.
(Look on my Dropbox page to see some sweet examples of these cools toys: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2tll4qpjbq9d1us/9R9t95DDnz)
Somehow during my time here, my perspective has shifted. I stopped seeing disgusting trash and started seeing the potential for something beautiful. The same Jason Mraz song might call this a "Beautiful Mess."
Isn't this how God sees us? A beautiful mess. We are so messed up... so dirty. And yet in God's eyes, we are beautiful treasures. He makes beautiful things out of us, just as Haitian children make beautiful things out of garbage.
There are lots of ways you can make something beautiful out of something ugly. I call this "Extreme Makeover: Haiti Edition!" Here are some before and after snapshots of makeovers this week.
Before: sand and rocks
After: a delicious beach picnic
I was playing with some kids at the Anse a Foleur beach last week and thought it would be funny to put a small rock on one kid's head. "Chapo!" I said. "Hat!" The kids thought this was hilarious and began giving me and each other "chapos." From there, we turned sand into rice and beans, shells into plantains, seaweed into spaghetti, and ocean water into juice. It was quite the feast.
Before: a concrete classroom with wooden benches
After: a stage
So after the church filled up, there were still some kids on Tortuga who didn't fit
inside. So my group decided to improvise a little... We took the extra kids into
the schoolhouse: a concrete building, empty besides some wooden benches.
There they picked out some future actors from the crowd to perform Daniel and
the Lions' Den. Super cute. And the kids that would have been left outside the
gate still got to hear a message.
Before: an awkward situation
After: a beautiful ongoing relationship
So we tried out something new at Beauchamp this week... something different. "Community Meals" they called it. Basically Odinas (the director at Beauchamp) chose some families he knew in the area. The mission provided the food, and each family cooked the meal and hosted us for lunch. At first the idea sounded awesome!...
It was awkward. We walked in and the woman seemed uncomfortable. There were five of us: three group members, a translator, and myself. There were four plates. She told us we could serve ourselves and then left. Well... this is not what we had in mind.
We asked her to come join us. The point was to eat WITH the family, get to know them, etc. So she came in awkwardly and watched us eat. I tried to start some conversation, but she was shy... When we finished eating, we passed our plates over for them to reuse. I didn't give up.
I kept talking to her and learned a bit about her family. She told us she had seven kids, and when we asked their ages, she said 12-14. We looked at each other... seven kids in two years? So we asked. It turns out that this woman had taken in orphans along with her own kids. A woman who only had enough plates to feed four people at a time took in extra kids.
It turns out that her oldest adopted kid is 20 and going into his junior year of high school. When I asked, she responded, "He wants to be a doctor but, of course, no opportunities." This started a whole converstaion about possibilities to help him out. I made it clear that I wan't making promises, but that I would talk to some people. I got to talk to the group there who are partnered with Beauchamp (Neighbors Project) and also John and Christi about how he can apply for the House of Moses. Please being praying for opportunities to open up for Dalson!
The next day in Beauchamp, we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do... Some people wanted to do hut to huts and some wanted to check out the market. We decided to do both: get groceries from the market and take them to our Communitiy Meals family.
So we got to see our famliy again. We thanked them again for lunch the day before and gave them some food. Then we prayed with them. Rosadette and Shelda have both had miscarriages (the latter not even looking old enough to have a baby at all...). Please pray for these women and this famliy that I have grown to love.
Thank you God for turning the original awkwardness into a beautiful new relationship.
Before: a wall and a kid who "can't walk"
After: Date Night!
The wall outside the Miriam Center was painted white so that they can project movies on it now (without a blue tinge...). So it was movie night downstairs! I went with my date, Steven, who shared his popcorn with me and held my hand. When Elf finished, we danced to the credits music. First, I carried him and we swayed... later he put his feet down, and I held him up as he danced.
Sorry, Max. I may have found a new dance partner. He's my little "sweetheart," as they say in ASL.
Prie:
I've been trying to be intentional about writing down specific names to pray for and help. You've already heard about Dalson, Rosadette, and Shelda. Here are some other people I met doing groceries ministries:
-Nandy: a girl with special needs that we are trying to get into our outreach program
-Odalus Olondieu: a man with one blind eye we are trying to get onto the eye surgery team list
Please pray for them by name!
Loue:
There is a Christian-run hospital in Beauchamp! I didn't know it existed before... A girl had a bad asthma attack while we were there, and they were amazing. We are being taken care of over here. No worries. :)
Creole Lesson:
The Basics
Koman ou rele?: What is your name?
Ki laj ou?: How old are you?
The Answers:
"I don't know my last name."
"I don't know how old I am."
I guess I shouldn't be surprised... but these were some responses to our questions when we were working on sponsorship pictures at the orphanage.
You make beautiful things.
You make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things.
You make beautiful things out of us.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Saying "Yes" to Eyedroppers
"Sometimes working in a Third World country makes me feel like I am emptying the ocean with an eyedropper." -Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie
Katie Davis moved to Uganda and started her own non-profit organization right after she graduated high school. How? She "simply said yes" to God.
This week I learned how to say "yes" to God. I learned to let go of the "hows" and the "whys" and the "maybe laters" and just say "yes." And because of that, God took all my plans and turned them upside down. He said, "You think that's good? How about this?..." And then continued to open more and more doors to more and more opportunities.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
This past Wednesday, I got to finally visit the House of Moses again with everything moved in. Do you remember John and Christi and their work with teenagers? Well, they had us (the interns) over for lunch at their beautiful new house, all moved in. They always ask questions like, "What had God been doing in your life this summer?" or "What has God been teaching you?" So I got to tell them all about working with the Neighbors Project groups and how God has been truly making the program grow in my heart more and more and more.
Sometimes it really does feel like emptying the ocean with an eyedropper... but how do you say no to that? God is holding my hand every step of the way, clearing a path for me to follow his plans for me. And if those plans include an eyedropper, then so be it. It'll be the adventure of a lifetime!
Here are some random cool things that happened this week:
-Some of us interns went on a hike again. Not a crazy 8-hour hike, but a good one all the same. We went to what we call the "Infinity Pool." I'll get the picture up on my Dropbox ASAP because it's BEAUTIFUL.
-On Friday, I got some friends to help me teach the Deaf community English. I've talked about this before, but that was when Mary was still here. She was the intern who was fluent in sign. This was the first time I tried to teach the class without her. It was interesting and a little out of all of our comfort zones, but it was pretty good.
Prie:
There's a boy in the Miriam Center I've fallen in love with this summer. His name is Steven, and he understands both English and Creole but uses sign to communicate. He doesn't talk well and doesn't have full control over his arms. He also can't walk... yet. He's eight years old and still crawls on his knees awkwardly to get around.
I want Steven to walk. So badly. To be completely honest, I usually don't have much faith when it comes to healing. I put my trust in medicine. "Sure we can pray over her, but if she doesn't take those meds, too, she won't get better." I would never tell someone, "God will heal you." What if He doesn't? But for some reason, I couldn't stop telling Steven, "One day, you are going to walk."
So I begin helping him practice. But above all, I began praying. A lot. Begging God to give his legs the strength to walk. Will you join me?
Loue:
Neighbors Project... It's happening guys!
Creole Lesson:
"Ba'm bo!"
Every time I say this to Steven, he gets embarrassed and yells "No!"
Every time, though, he relents. And gives me a kiss on the cheek.
I love that kid.
"Give me a kiss!"
PS Sorry this post was super vague... but I feel like I should wait to tell you the more specific details in person!
"I believe there is only one truly courageous thing we can do with our lives: to love unconditionally." -Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie
(Max, this one reminded me of you. Love is not a college major!) :)
Katie Davis moved to Uganda and started her own non-profit organization right after she graduated high school. How? She "simply said yes" to God.
This week I learned how to say "yes" to God. I learned to let go of the "hows" and the "whys" and the "maybe laters" and just say "yes." And because of that, God took all my plans and turned them upside down. He said, "You think that's good? How about this?..." And then continued to open more and more doors to more and more opportunities.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
This past Wednesday, I got to finally visit the House of Moses again with everything moved in. Do you remember John and Christi and their work with teenagers? Well, they had us (the interns) over for lunch at their beautiful new house, all moved in. They always ask questions like, "What had God been doing in your life this summer?" or "What has God been teaching you?" So I got to tell them all about working with the Neighbors Project groups and how God has been truly making the program grow in my heart more and more and more.
Sometimes it really does feel like emptying the ocean with an eyedropper... but how do you say no to that? God is holding my hand every step of the way, clearing a path for me to follow his plans for me. And if those plans include an eyedropper, then so be it. It'll be the adventure of a lifetime!
Here are some random cool things that happened this week:
-Some of us interns went on a hike again. Not a crazy 8-hour hike, but a good one all the same. We went to what we call the "Infinity Pool." I'll get the picture up on my Dropbox ASAP because it's BEAUTIFUL.
-On Friday, I got some friends to help me teach the Deaf community English. I've talked about this before, but that was when Mary was still here. She was the intern who was fluent in sign. This was the first time I tried to teach the class without her. It was interesting and a little out of all of our comfort zones, but it was pretty good.
Prie:
There's a boy in the Miriam Center I've fallen in love with this summer. His name is Steven, and he understands both English and Creole but uses sign to communicate. He doesn't talk well and doesn't have full control over his arms. He also can't walk... yet. He's eight years old and still crawls on his knees awkwardly to get around.
I want Steven to walk. So badly. To be completely honest, I usually don't have much faith when it comes to healing. I put my trust in medicine. "Sure we can pray over her, but if she doesn't take those meds, too, she won't get better." I would never tell someone, "God will heal you." What if He doesn't? But for some reason, I couldn't stop telling Steven, "One day, you are going to walk."
So I begin helping him practice. But above all, I began praying. A lot. Begging God to give his legs the strength to walk. Will you join me?
Loue:
Neighbors Project... It's happening guys!
Creole Lesson:
"Ba'm bo!"
Every time I say this to Steven, he gets embarrassed and yells "No!"
Every time, though, he relents. And gives me a kiss on the cheek.
I love that kid.
"Give me a kiss!"
PS Sorry this post was super vague... but I feel like I should wait to tell you the more specific details in person!
"I believe there is only one truly courageous thing we can do with our lives: to love unconditionally." -Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie
(Max, this one reminded me of you. Love is not a college major!) :)
Sunday, July 15, 2012
"Come further in! Come further up!" -Aslan
I feel like not much has happened and yet everything has happened since I last blogged. So I guess I'll give you the highlights as appetizers to the main dish.
3
Tortuga! Got to see my buddy! That always makes me happy. :)
2
Melonnie, a full-time missionary here, focuses a lot of her ministry in the brothels here. She gets to know the girls, and the men, and does Bibles studies with them. Being the princess that she is, Melonnie likes to end her Bible studies series with a "Princess Party." Basically, they do crafts (like decorating tiaras) and eat snacks and talk about how they are daughters of the King. They are loved just as they are. They are princesses.
Long story short, I got to go to a Princess Party, and guess which princess was there? My sister! Teshmidrine. Two of my favorite girls in two days. I'm a lucky girl.
1
We have these awesome ladies that cook for us every day of the week, all three meals. The interns had been talking for awhile about how we wanted to do something nice for them, like cook for them for a change. Well, one of the short-term trippers apparently had the same thought and asked that a collection be taken up to take them out to eat.
So on Saturday, we gave the ladies the day off. We made random food for ourselves (including pizza for dinner. Yum.), and ordered out for them. They came in around noon, and We got to serve them lunch and take their pictures. We even made a super fun photo booth for them--which I'm pretty sure convinced them that we are crazy. :P
Blast off!
Okay, you ready for this? I totally climbed to the top of a mountain. TOP OF A MOUNTAIN. Pretty dang sure it was the coolest thing I've ever done.
We started by following the stream up the mountain. There were waterfalls and little pools and caves and huge rocks and waterfalls INSIDE caves (that was cool).
And we just kept going. Further up! Further in! We never stopped long enough to get tired. We were determined to get to the top. And of course, me being me, I never let the guys help me. I scaled a dang mountain by myself!
The way home was a little rougher. Skipping the details, let's just say that after 8 hours of hiking, I was pretty sore... (It may or may not still hurt to go up and down stairs...)
Prie:
I didn't get to see Wencha's mom at Tortuga because she was at a friend's funeral. Please pray for her and her friend's family.
Loue:
During our crazy mountain hike, we decided that there was no way we could return the same way we came... So we had to find an alternate route home. We ended up following a woman who said she was going to St. Louis. She was carrying plantains on her head and was probably going to the market. She told us that she walks that far every day. Not only did she keep us from getting lost, but she took us on the safest and easiest path.
Creole:
Okay, funny story. You ready?
One of the interpreters one day made a comment to me in Creole that I didn't understand at first. Finally, after he repeated a couple of times, I realized he was saying, "How are you so beautiful?"
I laughed and responded, "Paske Bondye te fe mwen!" ("Because God made me!")
He answered, "But God made me, too, and I'm ugly!"
I paused... How do you respond to that? So I smiled, shrugged, and said,
"Se lavi!" "That's life!"
Bahaha! All of the Haitians sitting around bust out laughing! I think I've reached a new level when I can be funny in Creole. :)
*NOTE: I asked my mom to post new pictures on Facebook! Check them out!
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.... Come further up, come further in!” -The Last Battle, C. S. Lewis
Monday, July 9, 2012
From Tarps to Tin
If you want something to start at 3:00, you had better tell people to show up at 2:00. Why? Because people here run on Haitian Time. This means that no one has a watch, so they show up whenever they want.
Thus is my thinking as I talk to Jackinson, back in St. Louis, on the phone... again... with a another new change in plans for our little lean-to church:
"The new tarp you bought for the roof is too small. Can we get three more to sew together?"
"Actually, can you just by one bigger one?"
"On second thought, how much does tin roofing cost?"
"Wait! Not 45 sheets, just 40!"
"Don't leave the shop yet! Did you get nails?"
All of this back and forth calling happened within the hour, and before lunchtime, there are the tin roofing sheets and nails dropped off and ready to go. Wow. Everything we need is here before lunch? Well, don't get your hopes up, Melissa. We got lucky this once. But how long before they even start the actual construction?
The answer came soon after lunchtime when three Haitian men were hired and started a roof. Long story short, within 24 hours, the church in Berger had a new tin roof over it. No more muddy church services! That was the fastest moving Haitian project I've ever seen.
Man plans. God laughs. It was frustrating to find out that the tarp we bought was not going to work. But God had other, better plans and now we have a real roof! Just as God turned water into wine, He turned tarps into tin. Here are some other "Tarp to Tin" moments from the past few days:
T2T
My group started off by just wanting to do a program for the kids, but soon discovered that ther are so many forgotten "genres" of people, if you will. (Excuse the book lingo...) So we made a list of the types of people that we wanted to focus on this week.
Friday, while the roof drama was going on, we worked with the teenagers. Before lunch we hung out with the guys, and let me tell you--the Human Knot game with Haitian teenagers is pretty dang hilarious. (They cheated a little bit, but we let it slide... We were pretty tangled up--literally.) After that, we talked about working together and how a rope of three cords isn't easily broken. It was like Haitian youth group! (Made me miss COEO just a bit... PS Heard you had fun at camp! Love you guys!)
Anyway, after lunch we hung with the girl teenagers. We played a yarn game where one person starts with a ball of yarn and says something about themselves. I said, "My favorite color is green." Then I had to pass the ball, while holding onto the string, to someone else that had that in common with me--someone else who likes green. It continues until you have made a web of connections between everyone in the group. It was pretty cool to see everything that we had in common with them.
On Saturday, we focused on women. It was originally single mothers, but we ended up inviting a couple more in because not many came. Not surprisingly, a lot of the women said that they get lonely a lot, so we encouraged them to continue to come together like this and keep each other company and grow. Maybe they can even start their own Bible study... one of the women was the pastor's wife, after all!
Today our goal was to focus on couples, married or not. We chose today for that group because another group was doing a marriage seminar at 4. So we brought the pastor and his wife and some other Berger folks along for the ride.
We planned a small little children's program, and God expanded it to reach so many more people!
T2T
Earlier in the week, as we walked around Berger, we found several different medical needs within the community. Not having anyone medical on our team, we began to just write down problems we saw and names. "Maybe we can grab a couple of medical people and have a clinic?"
Well, this idea turned our 8 person group into a 20 person group! Doctors, nurses, and medical students came to help, along with some extra people who just wanted to help run the clinic, pray, or even just paint the nails of the ladies who were waiting. It was quite the shindig. We gave out 98 numbers and took shifts for lunch to see them all, plus some extra people that we let in without numbers (especially those whose names we had already written down earlier in the week). That number also doesn't include mothers with four kids that went in together with one number. Let's just say, lots of people were seen!
T2T
My group brought several buckets and filters to give to families in Berger. You put the water in the bucket and pour it out through the filter... pretty cool. Anyway, our translator, Ulrick, really wanted one for the family that he is staying with. So we went to the pastor to ask him how many families we were giving buckets to. He had a list of 12 names. We had 13 buckets.
Needless to say, we got to visit Ulrick's friends and bring them a filter bucket.
T2T
Instead of a 10 minute call home, I got a hour long Skype call. Love you, Mommy and Papa and Nick!
Prie
Gilbert is a boy who lives in the Miriam Center, although he is not mentally disabled at all. In fact, he
s super smart. He can understand and speak both English and Creole and is learning to write French. He is 12-years-old and comes up to about my waist, walking awkwardly on club feet.
A couple of days ago, I found out that he couldn't read in Creole, so I asked him if he would like me to teach him. So the other day, I went down to find him and saw that he had been crying, but he wouldn't tell me why. Eventually I found out that he had been able to call his mother and found out that she was sick. We're currently trying to plan out a day for him to go see his mother, but in the mean time, please be praying for him and his mother.
(PS The next day, he was up for reading lessons. Boy catches on fast, let me tell you!)
Loue:
Whoop whoop! Roof for church!
Creole:
Okay, so when was the last time you were reading your Bible and something you read totally blew your mind? It had been awhile for me... so let me share with you my new favorite verse:
Whoa! Slaves of goodness!? Does that not blow your mind?! What does that even mean? What do you think, audience?
Anyway, I was supposed to do devos the next morning. For devos we are supposed to pick a Haitian proverb to share and a Bible verse to go with it. Well, I was so excited about this verse that I did the opposite: I picked a verse and found a proverb to go with it. I searched the entire proverb book until I found this:
"Chanje met chanje metye."
"Change masters; change trades."
Sin isn't our master anymore, so neither is sin what we do. Change trades! Goodness is your master. Go do good.
Have you had any Tarp to Tin moments this week? I'd love to hear about them!
-Melissa
Thus is my thinking as I talk to Jackinson, back in St. Louis, on the phone... again... with a another new change in plans for our little lean-to church:
"The new tarp you bought for the roof is too small. Can we get three more to sew together?"
"Actually, can you just by one bigger one?"
"On second thought, how much does tin roofing cost?"
"Wait! Not 45 sheets, just 40!"
"Don't leave the shop yet! Did you get nails?"
All of this back and forth calling happened within the hour, and before lunchtime, there are the tin roofing sheets and nails dropped off and ready to go. Wow. Everything we need is here before lunch? Well, don't get your hopes up, Melissa. We got lucky this once. But how long before they even start the actual construction?
The answer came soon after lunchtime when three Haitian men were hired and started a roof. Long story short, within 24 hours, the church in Berger had a new tin roof over it. No more muddy church services! That was the fastest moving Haitian project I've ever seen.
Man plans. God laughs. It was frustrating to find out that the tarp we bought was not going to work. But God had other, better plans and now we have a real roof! Just as God turned water into wine, He turned tarps into tin. Here are some other "Tarp to Tin" moments from the past few days:
T2T
My group started off by just wanting to do a program for the kids, but soon discovered that ther are so many forgotten "genres" of people, if you will. (Excuse the book lingo...) So we made a list of the types of people that we wanted to focus on this week.
Friday, while the roof drama was going on, we worked with the teenagers. Before lunch we hung out with the guys, and let me tell you--the Human Knot game with Haitian teenagers is pretty dang hilarious. (They cheated a little bit, but we let it slide... We were pretty tangled up--literally.) After that, we talked about working together and how a rope of three cords isn't easily broken. It was like Haitian youth group! (Made me miss COEO just a bit... PS Heard you had fun at camp! Love you guys!)
Anyway, after lunch we hung with the girl teenagers. We played a yarn game where one person starts with a ball of yarn and says something about themselves. I said, "My favorite color is green." Then I had to pass the ball, while holding onto the string, to someone else that had that in common with me--someone else who likes green. It continues until you have made a web of connections between everyone in the group. It was pretty cool to see everything that we had in common with them.
On Saturday, we focused on women. It was originally single mothers, but we ended up inviting a couple more in because not many came. Not surprisingly, a lot of the women said that they get lonely a lot, so we encouraged them to continue to come together like this and keep each other company and grow. Maybe they can even start their own Bible study... one of the women was the pastor's wife, after all!
Today our goal was to focus on couples, married or not. We chose today for that group because another group was doing a marriage seminar at 4. So we brought the pastor and his wife and some other Berger folks along for the ride.
We planned a small little children's program, and God expanded it to reach so many more people!
T2T
Earlier in the week, as we walked around Berger, we found several different medical needs within the community. Not having anyone medical on our team, we began to just write down problems we saw and names. "Maybe we can grab a couple of medical people and have a clinic?"
Well, this idea turned our 8 person group into a 20 person group! Doctors, nurses, and medical students came to help, along with some extra people who just wanted to help run the clinic, pray, or even just paint the nails of the ladies who were waiting. It was quite the shindig. We gave out 98 numbers and took shifts for lunch to see them all, plus some extra people that we let in without numbers (especially those whose names we had already written down earlier in the week). That number also doesn't include mothers with four kids that went in together with one number. Let's just say, lots of people were seen!
T2T
My group brought several buckets and filters to give to families in Berger. You put the water in the bucket and pour it out through the filter... pretty cool. Anyway, our translator, Ulrick, really wanted one for the family that he is staying with. So we went to the pastor to ask him how many families we were giving buckets to. He had a list of 12 names. We had 13 buckets.
Needless to say, we got to visit Ulrick's friends and bring them a filter bucket.
T2T
Instead of a 10 minute call home, I got a hour long Skype call. Love you, Mommy and Papa and Nick!
Prie
Gilbert is a boy who lives in the Miriam Center, although he is not mentally disabled at all. In fact, he
s super smart. He can understand and speak both English and Creole and is learning to write French. He is 12-years-old and comes up to about my waist, walking awkwardly on club feet.
A couple of days ago, I found out that he couldn't read in Creole, so I asked him if he would like me to teach him. So the other day, I went down to find him and saw that he had been crying, but he wouldn't tell me why. Eventually I found out that he had been able to call his mother and found out that she was sick. We're currently trying to plan out a day for him to go see his mother, but in the mean time, please be praying for him and his mother.
(PS The next day, he was up for reading lessons. Boy catches on fast, let me tell you!)
Loue:
Whoop whoop! Roof for church!
Creole:
Okay, so when was the last time you were reading your Bible and something you read totally blew your mind? It had been awhile for me... so let me share with you my new favorite verse:
Romans 6:17-18
"17 In the past you were slaves of sin--sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed the things that you were taught. 18 You were made free from sin, and now you are slaves to goodness."
Whoa! Slaves of goodness!? Does that not blow your mind?! What does that even mean? What do you think, audience?
Anyway, I was supposed to do devos the next morning. For devos we are supposed to pick a Haitian proverb to share and a Bible verse to go with it. Well, I was so excited about this verse that I did the opposite: I picked a verse and found a proverb to go with it. I searched the entire proverb book until I found this:
"Chanje met chanje metye."
"Change masters; change trades."
Sin isn't our master anymore, so neither is sin what we do. Change trades! Goodness is your master. Go do good.
Have you had any Tarp to Tin moments this week? I'd love to hear about them!
-Melissa
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Over the River and Through the Woods
Over the river and through the woods...
to Berger (bare-jzay) we go!
Quite literally, my group drives straight through the St. Louis river and through some woods to get to Berger everyday for their Neighbors Project.
Into the church...
where one wall was shared with the pastor's house and the other three were tarps pulled around bamboo poles. The tarp roof tried in vain to keep rain off of the dirt floor, resulting in more than one muddy Sunday. Boards were laid across cinder blocks like a rickety bridge--these were the pews.
This was the atmosphere of our first meeting with Pastor Agenour in Berger. My Neighbors Project group came in with practically no plans, so our first day in Berger (Wednesday) was spent talking to the pastor about how he has been doing and what his dreams and needs and concerns are for the church. From there, we made a plan for the week, which lucky you get to hear about in bits and pieces. :)
Under the tree...
you'd find a group of kids sitting cross-legged, staring up at the crazy blan who's trying to speak Creole.
Today, Thursday, I was put out of my comfort zone a little bit... My group wanted to do a Bible lesson with the kids about growing strong in God. We talked about splitting them up into two groups, but we only had one interpreter. "Melissa, why don't you take the second group? You speak enough Creole..." *insert 'are you crazy' face here* But I went. We were going to tell the story of Jesus using a cloth that changes colors when you flip it inside out--black represents sin, red is Jesus' blood, white is our sins cleaned, gold is the streets in Heaven, and green is growing with God. The pastor came with me, but he wasn't comfortable using the little cloth as a teaching tool, so I told the story in my broken Creole to all the kids. I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary. Sometimes they got it. Sometimes they looked at me like "Who is this crazy blan butchering our language?" But when I explained the basics, the pastor took over. When we switched groups, the pastor felt comfortable teaching the whole lesson by himself. It was beautiful to watch him take ownership over what may grow into a strong children's ministry.
Prie:
In the arms of nurse...
falls a woman, collapsed from her own uncontrollable sobs. Lisa holds her tightly as the woman cries out in Creole, "That's my baby girl! That's my baby girl!"
Though I wasn't there to witness the scene, Lisa told the story pretty vividly. A woman had noticed some strange injuries and bruises on her 9-year-old daughter's lower half... After bringing the girl to the mission's clinic, it was discovered that she had been raped. A 9-year-old girl. Please be in prayer for both the mother and daughter... All we can give is prayer, but God can heal hearts.
Loue:
Through the back door...
of the church, you can see a flag. It's red and waving in the neighbor's yard. From the pew in the church, you can see the Voodoo flag marking it's territory.
Pastor Agenour told us that the Voodoo priest has been complaining. Ever since the church was built, business has been bad. So he's moving.
Ironic, isn't it? That just earlier in the day, we told our interpreter: "Would you ask the pastor, what kids of jobs are available in Berger?" And it took him a minute to be able to answer because he was laughing so hard. At the pure ridiculousness of the question. Ironic that now we are praising God for the lack of "business" someone else is having...
Creole Lesson:
In the home of the broken...
where woman feel trapped into a life of selling their bodies and children don't know who their father is, I met my sister.
While some groups were talking to the women at the brothel, I found myself having a conversation with two of the little girls there. I found out that they were 7 and 8 years old, the older was Speranda and the younger Techmigine. They were sisters, with the mother at the brothel and two different fathers. I continued to talk to them as we were leaving. One of the older girls, who had noticed us talking, pointed at Speranda and then me and said, "Ou sanble li!"
"You look like her!"
I laughed. I couldn't help it. Excuse me? I look like an 8-year-old Haitian girl? I looked down at Speranda, and then at the other girl and smiled as I said, "Li se mwen." "She's my sister."
They're not so different after all, you know?
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken.
I'll follow You into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God.
I'll follow You into the world.
to Berger (bare-jzay) we go!
Quite literally, my group drives straight through the St. Louis river and through some woods to get to Berger everyday for their Neighbors Project.
Into the church...
where one wall was shared with the pastor's house and the other three were tarps pulled around bamboo poles. The tarp roof tried in vain to keep rain off of the dirt floor, resulting in more than one muddy Sunday. Boards were laid across cinder blocks like a rickety bridge--these were the pews.
This was the atmosphere of our first meeting with Pastor Agenour in Berger. My Neighbors Project group came in with practically no plans, so our first day in Berger (Wednesday) was spent talking to the pastor about how he has been doing and what his dreams and needs and concerns are for the church. From there, we made a plan for the week, which lucky you get to hear about in bits and pieces. :)
Under the tree...
you'd find a group of kids sitting cross-legged, staring up at the crazy blan who's trying to speak Creole.
Today, Thursday, I was put out of my comfort zone a little bit... My group wanted to do a Bible lesson with the kids about growing strong in God. We talked about splitting them up into two groups, but we only had one interpreter. "Melissa, why don't you take the second group? You speak enough Creole..." *insert 'are you crazy' face here* But I went. We were going to tell the story of Jesus using a cloth that changes colors when you flip it inside out--black represents sin, red is Jesus' blood, white is our sins cleaned, gold is the streets in Heaven, and green is growing with God. The pastor came with me, but he wasn't comfortable using the little cloth as a teaching tool, so I told the story in my broken Creole to all the kids. I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary. Sometimes they got it. Sometimes they looked at me like "Who is this crazy blan butchering our language?" But when I explained the basics, the pastor took over. When we switched groups, the pastor felt comfortable teaching the whole lesson by himself. It was beautiful to watch him take ownership over what may grow into a strong children's ministry.
Prie:
In the arms of nurse...
falls a woman, collapsed from her own uncontrollable sobs. Lisa holds her tightly as the woman cries out in Creole, "That's my baby girl! That's my baby girl!"
Though I wasn't there to witness the scene, Lisa told the story pretty vividly. A woman had noticed some strange injuries and bruises on her 9-year-old daughter's lower half... After bringing the girl to the mission's clinic, it was discovered that she had been raped. A 9-year-old girl. Please be in prayer for both the mother and daughter... All we can give is prayer, but God can heal hearts.
Loue:
Through the back door...
of the church, you can see a flag. It's red and waving in the neighbor's yard. From the pew in the church, you can see the Voodoo flag marking it's territory.
Pastor Agenour told us that the Voodoo priest has been complaining. Ever since the church was built, business has been bad. So he's moving.
Ironic, isn't it? That just earlier in the day, we told our interpreter: "Would you ask the pastor, what kids of jobs are available in Berger?" And it took him a minute to be able to answer because he was laughing so hard. At the pure ridiculousness of the question. Ironic that now we are praising God for the lack of "business" someone else is having...
Creole Lesson:
In the home of the broken...
where woman feel trapped into a life of selling their bodies and children don't know who their father is, I met my sister.
While some groups were talking to the women at the brothel, I found myself having a conversation with two of the little girls there. I found out that they were 7 and 8 years old, the older was Speranda and the younger Techmigine. They were sisters, with the mother at the brothel and two different fathers. I continued to talk to them as we were leaving. One of the older girls, who had noticed us talking, pointed at Speranda and then me and said, "Ou sanble li!"
"You look like her!"
I laughed. I couldn't help it. Excuse me? I look like an 8-year-old Haitian girl? I looked down at Speranda, and then at the other girl and smiled as I said, "Li se mwen." "She's my sister."
They're not so different after all, you know?
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken.
I'll follow You into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God.
I'll follow You into the world.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Proud to be an American
Well, I promised I'd tell everyone about my first Neighbors Project experience, so here it goes, I guess! I don't want to go into too many gory details, but let's just say that last week was not as great as I was expecting.
For anyone that has ever considered coming to Haiti (I know I make it sound like a Caribbean vacation...), here are some things you should not expect:
-perfect plumbing
-endless water
-working vehicles
-electricity
Some people have what I call the AEC, or the American Entitlement Complex. In other words, "I'm an American, therefore, I deserve this this and this." In Mountains Beyond Mountains, the author tells a story of when Dr. Paul Farmer met another young American doctor in Haiti and had the following conversation after finding out the young doctor was leaving:
Paul Farmer: Isn't it going to be hard to leave?
Young Doctor: Are you kidding? There's no electricity here. It's just brutal here."
PF: "But aren't you worried about not being able to forget all this? There's so much disease here."
YD: "No. I'm American, and I'm going home."
Later, Farmer asked himself, "What does that mean, 'I'm an American'? For some people, it means "I am the rich white person here to lavish gifts upon you poor people with nothing... But, by God, there better be water for me to shower tonight!"
For me, it means "God has given me much, so much is expected of me."
That being said, I don't regret my time at La Baie, even though it was horribly difficult. I see both good and not-so-good examples of ministry, both of which I can learn from. And I did!
Anyway, the weekend after groups left was fairly eventful. One of the interns had a birthday, so we all ate lunch at the Mountain Breeze, which is a beautiful hotel. After that, we each caught a moto to the beach--check that off the Truck-It List!
Sunday was mostly spent recuperating. (That's code for taking a two-hour nap.) But Sunday evening I was given the amazing opportunity to Skype with Max! We got to talk for a whole hour, and I got to translate when one of my Haitian friends peeked over and said he was cute in Creole. :)
Prie
New groups are coming in five minutes! Literally! Please pray that everyone comes in safely and we have an awesome week!
Loue
After my rough week in La Baie, another group on campus decided to wash the feet of the kitchen ladies, so I helped them get everything they needed. Little did I know that they were going to wash mine as well. After a hard week, you have no idea how much it means for someone to be willing to scrub three days worth of deet of your feet and massage your back. Thanks.
Creole Lesson:
"Moun yo bay anpil, y'ap mande l anpil tou." Lik 12:48b
"People who have been given much, much is asked of them also." Luke 12:48
Or, as Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Love ya!
Melissa
For anyone that has ever considered coming to Haiti (I know I make it sound like a Caribbean vacation...), here are some things you should not expect:
-perfect plumbing
-endless water
-working vehicles
-electricity
Some people have what I call the AEC, or the American Entitlement Complex. In other words, "I'm an American, therefore, I deserve this this and this." In Mountains Beyond Mountains, the author tells a story of when Dr. Paul Farmer met another young American doctor in Haiti and had the following conversation after finding out the young doctor was leaving:
Paul Farmer: Isn't it going to be hard to leave?
Young Doctor: Are you kidding? There's no electricity here. It's just brutal here."
PF: "But aren't you worried about not being able to forget all this? There's so much disease here."
YD: "No. I'm American, and I'm going home."
Later, Farmer asked himself, "What does that mean, 'I'm an American'? For some people, it means "I am the rich white person here to lavish gifts upon you poor people with nothing... But, by God, there better be water for me to shower tonight!"
For me, it means "God has given me much, so much is expected of me."
That being said, I don't regret my time at La Baie, even though it was horribly difficult. I see both good and not-so-good examples of ministry, both of which I can learn from. And I did!
Anyway, the weekend after groups left was fairly eventful. One of the interns had a birthday, so we all ate lunch at the Mountain Breeze, which is a beautiful hotel. After that, we each caught a moto to the beach--check that off the Truck-It List!
Sunday was mostly spent recuperating. (That's code for taking a two-hour nap.) But Sunday evening I was given the amazing opportunity to Skype with Max! We got to talk for a whole hour, and I got to translate when one of my Haitian friends peeked over and said he was cute in Creole. :)
Prie
New groups are coming in five minutes! Literally! Please pray that everyone comes in safely and we have an awesome week!
Loue
After my rough week in La Baie, another group on campus decided to wash the feet of the kitchen ladies, so I helped them get everything they needed. Little did I know that they were going to wash mine as well. After a hard week, you have no idea how much it means for someone to be willing to scrub three days worth of deet of your feet and massage your back. Thanks.
Creole Lesson:
"Moun yo bay anpil, y'ap mande l anpil tou." Lik 12:48b
"People who have been given much, much is asked of them also." Luke 12:48
Or, as Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Love ya!
Melissa
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