A Haitian Saturday

Saturday:
We landed in Haiti and were picked up by Chris Lieb and other members of his family.  The Liebs have lived in Haiti for the past 7 years and work with Baptist Haiti Mission.  Pastor Baker also came with Chris to the airport, he is Chris's father-in-law.  Pastor Baker has been in Haiti for 8 years.  He works to train Haitian pastors and plant churches.  


Travel in Haiti consists of piling as many people as possible into a truck bed and driving as quickly as possible.  Trey and the men sat inside the truck on our drive and I volunteered to climb in the bed of the truck with Grandpa and Abby.  Below is a picture of Grandpa doing an activity I named "Air Surfing."  There are no speed limits in Haiti.  When riding in the bed of a truck the goal is to hang on and avoid getting flying objects in your eyes.  Grandpa has officially figured this out...

Grandpa Lenny was quite the gentleman and volunteered several times to allow me to borrow his mask.  I politely declined.  He said the only bad thing about it is when you breathe it tends to get foggy.

After about an hour drive we arrived at a camp property by the ocean.  I was very glad to first of all be on the ground and safe and also to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL Haitian waters.

           

Posing in the clear waters at the camp!

Trey and I have spent SEVERAL summers at camp.  We have grown to LOVE everything about camp ministry.  We have both grown leaps and bounds in our relationship with the Lord through our times at camp.  It is incredible to see this same experience being brought to the people of Haiti.  There is a lot of work to be done on the property.  We serve a GREAT God who is able to get his work done in his timing and not ours.

Background Information:
Crossings Ministries has been camp home for ourselves and others for many years.  A primary focus of Crossings is Missions.  They take the call to go to the nations seriously and seek to equip students to follow in this direction.  They have plans to come along side Baptist Haiti Mission and provide summer camp for students in Haiti.  This goal truly captured our hearts and now months later we visited Haiti to see just what all this international camp ministry is about.

Trey checking out the incredible view!

Right:  The Lieb family move from the mission in the mountains down to the camp property during the summer to host camp for two weeks every summer.  This is a picture of what the "cabins" look like on the inside.

Left:  This is a picture of one of the grounds keepers standing in front of the home that the Liebs and other volunteers stay in during their time at camp.


There are about 5 buildings on the property.  Future plans include basketball and volleyball courts.  Improving the conditions of the buildings on the property.  A concern of the camp is being able to provide fresh drinking water for the students on property.  There are wells on the property for plumbing and showers but not for drinking.  In previous years the drinking water has been brought out to camp throughout the week, this will get quite pricey and difficult if it must be done for several camps throughout the summer.

Right: After our tour of the grounds we were off to lunch.  However, the keys to the truck were missing.  This picture includes Pastor Baker, Chris, David, Trey, and Grandpa trying to break into the truck to get the key...boys, boys, boys.


Side Note:  The key was not locked in the truck, it fell out of Chris's pocket at the entrance to camp.  After a long time searching we borrowed a truck to drive to lunch and found it after lunch.  (I'm just glad it was not Trey or myself who lost the key)

Left:  Abby and I watching from the side as the men do their thing to attempt to save the day.

Riding in the back of the borrowed truck to go to lunch.  The pictures cannot capture this experience.  Did I mention...THERE IS NO SPEED LIMIT IN HAITI!

The remainder of Saturday consisted of an ocean side lunch and then a drive up the mountain to the mission.  After several hours of riding in the bed of a truck in Haiti I was left looking quite pink and found that my rear end was rather soar the following day.  There was car trouble on the way up the mountain which put us a couple of hours behind schedule.  From the beginning we were reminded that the key to a Haitian lifestyle is flexibility!

We were greeted at the mission with homemade pizza provided by the Lieb family and warm (ish) showers.  The sun goes down at 7 in Haiti.  By 8:30 p.m. we truly had no energy left and it was off to bed.  We fell asleep to the sound of crickets and something that sounded like a bird chirping right outside our window.  The Lord was good to us and enabled us to fall asleep quickly.  There were big plans in store for our Sunday in Haiti.  The Haitian Sunday will be coming soon!

Weekend of Change

Thursday May 12, 2011

-The day began with many errands and packing.  The Salter parents and Ballou family traveled to Louisville for a Thursday night dinner celebration for my Graduation.  We ate at Captains Quarters.  It was truly a blessing to get to have everyone around to celebrate this occasion.  It meant so much to me that in spite of busy schedules they all set aside the time to reflect with us over the crazy and life changing times the past four years have been.

Friday May 13, 2011

-Boyce Graduation began at 10 a.m.  It was incredibly surreal to be in a cap and gown and graduating from college!  I fought back tears as I sat overwhelmed at all God has done even just within the past four years.  I have grown so much and would not trade all the things I learned at Boyce for the world!

-12:30 after many hugs and lots and lots of pictures Trey and I were checking bags at the Louisville International Airport preparing to fly to Haiti...

No you didn't miss anything, let me fill you in:

Several months ago Trey and I were approached with the opportunity to move to Haiti. We have a heart for the nations and truly desire to see the name of God proclaimed to every tribe and every tongue.  We also love camp ministry and the opportunity in Haiti includes International Camp Ministry.  We are open to making a move to Haiti and were able to take the opportunity this weekend to visit and try to get a clearer picture of where we would serve.

-6:00 p.m. We were having dinner with David Melber in the Miami International Airport Hotel.  We enjoyed a great meal and good fellowship.  We then were off to our rooms to try to get some rest before meeting at 5:30 a.m. to fly to Haiti!

-6:00 a.m. We were sitting at our gate waiting to board our 2 hour flight and land in Puerto Prince, Haiti!

-Yes we were sleepy but don't worry by the time we landed in Haiti we were too excited about all that was in store to allow an early morning and a busy few days ahead to hold us back!

The blog tomorrow will contain pictures and stories from our weekend to Haiti...see you then!