The Highway to Haiti

A few months ago I (Matt) was riding with another missionary named Bill. Along the way, Bill was telling me about his family’s experiences in their first year in Haiti. He told me about strange noises they used to hear. He said every night they would hear something walking on and in their roof. Whatever it was would walk from one end of the roof to the other, and stop right above their bedroom. The tin roof would crunch under its weight and the wooden rafters would shiver and creak as the prowler moved through them. Night after night, they would hear it, but they could never see it.

Bill told me his family began praying over their house—and they prayed with their son who was in elementary school at the time. Sometime later, Bill was talking with another missionary named Ray and the topic of strange noises came up in the conversation. Ray told Bill that the same thing happened to his family in another town pretty far away. Ray said that he had some relatives visiting and they actually tried to trap whatever this roof-walking creature was. In the daytime they planned how they would stakeout the corners of the roof as well as access points, such as trees. In the evening, like clockwork, the intruder began making noise. Within minutes, everyone had a flashlight and got into position. They found nothing. Ray told Bill that in Haiti there is actually a spirit being that is believed to walk on rooftops.

Later that day I came home and told Pam about my day and recounted some of the things Bill and I talked about. I told her about the roof-walker. Just then, she reminded me of something unusual that happened to us when we lived among the Haitian community in Miami last year—something I had totally forgotten about.
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The following letter was handwritten by Pam, and sent to her sister, Jen, about a month ago. I, Matt, had looked at it prior to it going in the mail—it was very well written. After Jen received it, I asked her and Pam if they wouldn’t mind if we post it on our website:

Hey Sis—

Well…Silas just went to bed, Matt is out watching a soccer game with the guys, and I thought it would be a perfect time to write my sis! I’ve been wanting to write you for a while ‘cause I’ve been missing you so much. What I would really like is to be sitting with you at a Starbucks right about now, drinking Frappucinos and just talking…but I guess I’ll have to wait a bit for that! I love catching up on life when we get to talk on the phone. The time just goes too fast though and it’s all we can do to just catch up! So I’ve been wanting to write you to be able to tell you more about life here, what I’ve been learning, etc, etc. Sometimes I feel such a distance between us because it’s just difficult to explain what life is like here, but my hope is that by writing I can close that gap a bit.

Oh…where to begin? The past five months have been some of the most humbling days of my life. Since being here, my desire to be like Christ, to walk as He walked, has continued to deepen—yet so has my realization of how far I really am from being like Him. Thankfully though, God does not give up on us and his Spirit continues to mold and refine us. The first couple months we were here, I was really struggling with frustration, bitterness and was having a difficult time loving others. May seem strange after finally getting here after years of preparation, but nonetheless, I struggled. After our whole shipping fiasco I was (we were) feeling cheated, lied to, abused and taken advantage of. Then, on a smaller scale, the ceaseless interruptions throughout the day—people needing this or that—furthered kindled my frustrations. (I don’t know if any of this is making sense, but I’ll just keep rambling and hopefully by the end you can make some sense of it.) Thankfully, God gently reminded me of His infinite love and our responsibility to be ambassadors of His love and grace to a dying world. We are to model His love by loving as He loved, despite ourselves, our feeling or struggles.

Since we’ve been here, I’ve realized how it is easy (easier) to love when people’s physical needs are met. But…what about when you live among the poorest of the poor? When, not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask you for money? When, ten kids are standing outside your door asking for food. When, someone asks you to be the “godparent” for their wedding—which really means they are asking you to pay for the wedding. When, you sometimes wonder if people are just trying to be friends in hopes to get something out of you. When (you feel that) people think you have an endless amount of money…and everyone needs something. When you feel used and taken advantage of. These things, and more, can begin to wear on you…and I have at times found myself frustrated and annoyed, and most of all…all the more challenged by the life of Christ our King, desiring to be like Him! In the midst of these difficulties, He gives us Himself. Christ, who was pressed on every side with the physical needs of others. Christ, who was used, abused and crucified by the very ones He came to save. I have to believe at times He felt taken advantage of, and yet He loved so deeply. His compassion never ceased. Even on the cross, in the midst of unfathomable pain, unspeakable grief, He has compassion for the lost, asking God to forgive them. Wow. I have come to love Him all the more…and need Him all the more in striving to love as He calls us to do. So…that, in a nutshell (a very large nutshell), is what I have been learning, challenged by and wrestling with. Learning to be patient as this process of overcoming the flesh is a lifelong process! I am also trying to see “interruptions” throughout the day not as interruptions, but as opportunities. This, I know, will take time as well. I think these things are all a bit magnified now as our days are spent moving-in and learning the language. I’m sure as we transition into deeper involvement we will at least know that we are working toward helping the vast needs of a desperate people.

So…moving on. Matt and I are doing well. I have been deeply grateful for his example and leadership. He loves people so beautifully and never seems to struggle with this as I do. Though we’ve had some ups and downs I know this time of transition has brought us closer. We have been enjoying our evenings a lot…after Silas goes to bed we often sit and talk, sharing ideas, observations, perspectives and dreams for the years ahead. We’ve been playing some 17-point Settlers of Catan…but I’m sure Matt misses online Settlers with Jeremy. So yeah—we’re doing well. In the midst of everything we really haven’t felt stressed by the transition. I’ve had my moments, but Matt always helps me keep things in perspective.

Silas continues to be our daily delight! I really can’t imagine this transition without him! He keeps us laughing and helps us to slow down and keep family time a priority. And best of all…he is a constant reminder to us that no matter what happens, at the end of the day, we all have each other! Family truly is one of God’s sweetest, most precious gifts. I am loving being a mom, as you are too. Some days are long and lonely, but I try to get out as much as I can and try to be creative with different things I can do with Silas.

All in all…this place, as crazy, corrupt, complicated or difficult it sometimes feels, is starting to feel more and more like home. (Thought it will never completely feel like home without my sister!) In some ways, life is more complicated here, but in many other ways, it’s so simple: riding my bike around town with Silas on the back to go “grocery shopping”; market day on Saturday morning; walking across the street to church; falling asleep to our neighbor’s Bob Marley music every night; waking up to the roosters, donkeys and goats; mangoes and avocados for pennies; and not having much to invest your time in except people. So much time, and so few things pulling for it…kind of nice for a change. I have really been enjoying our Sundays. I feel like for the first time in our married life, Sundays have finally really become a day of rest. After church we come home, have lunch and then just relax—take naps, read, then go on a bike ride in the late afternoon. (I just ran out of paper! I better wrap it up or be creative!) Anyway…Sundays are real quiet around here which is a nice change in pace from the rest of the week.

I’ve been also thinking a lot about what kind if a person might I be if I lived in such desperate poverty like the majority of people here. Day in, day out, working so hard just to keep yourself and your family alive. I just wonder what kind of person I would be? Would I be content? (Probably not, being that even with all that we have I struggle, at times, with contentment.) Would I be like the people here that are constantly asking for money? Would I get on a boat and try to escape this mess? Would I have honesty and integrity? Would I love our Lord or resent Him? Would I care about the needs of others? Would I be generous or greedy? (Again, I don’t know if I’m quite explaining this well, but I’ll keep trying). Pondering such things has helped to deepen my compassion and extinguish frustrations because I cannot fathom enduring the endless hardships that people here face. I’d like to think that I would cling to Christ and the hope we have in Him, but then again…I’ve never gone to bed hungry, slept on a dirt floor, worn rags, lost a parent or sibling to AIDS…on and on the list goes. Anyway…just some humbling thoughts I’ve been thinking about and have been reminded of Luke 12:48, “…everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required…”

Well Sis…I’ve been writing for hours and am growing very sleepy! I feel like I’ve been talking to you for hours though…which is a great feeling! (Hopefully I haven’t been boring you to death.) I miss you so much sis and can’t wait to see you again…and see Jer and my adorable niece! I wish we could still talk on the phone everyday. Hopefully someday it won’t be so expensive. But…we’ll just keep on doing our best with what we’ve got for now! I love you so much sis and miss you lots.

Talk to you again soon!
Love—
Pam

So what’s life like on a Caribbean island?

As mentioned previously, our household goods and vehicle had been shipped to Haiti in February and March. The shipping company put them on separate vessels and both were heavily damaged. Sorting this out has been time-consuming, but fortunately insurance has already paid us for part of the damage.

One of our priorities was to get the kitchen up and running. When we arrived, there was a room for a kitchen, but we still had to do the installation. In our shipping container was a prefabricated kitchen that we bought from IKEA. However, two obstacles stood in the way of this project: First, there was a steady drip falling from the bathroom directly above the kitchen. And second, the water damage to the prefabricated kitchen made assembly into somewhat of a salvage job. Our ministry partners live in the apartment above us, and for a number of reasons, it took a long time to isolate the problem and fix the leak. Matt ended up gutting the bathroom, reinstalling all the drainage and water supply, tiling the floor, and making sure the sink, toilet and shower were reinstalled in working order. Since our ceiling is the underside of a concrete slab, we waited a couple weeks to make sure everything dried out. Today, we have a kitchen!

Until just a couple years ago, the town we live in did not have electricity. Thanks to Rotary Club International, a large industrial generator provides electricity to the community at cost. However, of the town’s 35,000 residents, less than 100 consumers are on the grid. This means that the subscribers as a whole are only able to afford 4 to 5 hours of power each day. Typically, we have electricity between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.. On one occasion, we had a 10-day power outage, and the answer we were given was, “people aren’t paying their bills.” Hopefully this doesn’t become a pattern. After 10:30 p.m., we consider any electricity: bonus time. On a number of occasions we’ve been stranded in total darkness as BT ran out on us while we were rushing to finish something. We enjoy the evenings when we turn off the lights on our own and get into bed, rather than have the plug pulled on us.

Pam enjoys getting out for a run or a bike ride regularly. One Saturday morning, she thought it would be perfect to take Silas out in his child seat on the bike. She didn’t anticipate the high volume of traffic there would be on market day—donkey traffic, that is. Scores of people were carrying their produce to market to be sold, but Pam figured the morning was too nice to pass up. On the way home, for no apparent reason, a galloping donkey, complete with saddlebags and driver, charged at her, and a head-on collision ensued. And it turned out to be a hit-and-run! The onlookers who gathered verbally abused the assailant and kindly carried the bike and helped Pam back home. A little boy took it upon himself to follow Pam and Silas all the way and announce to everyone what had happened. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.

About twice a month, on an irregular schedule, a plane from Florida flies into our town. This plane is a courier service that brings passengers, mail and cargo for missionaries and Christian organizations in and around town. At least 50 or 75 people gather for this social event! Everyone gets there early to socialize, kids watch the DC-3 land on the grass airstrip, we unload everything, everyone gets something, guests arrive, and we all leave happy. So a couple months ago, an MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) plane landed. Now, it’s not uncommon for vehicles to drive right up to the plane and load or unload passengers, luggage and cargo. On this particular day, however, the mayor was driving his truck, and he hit the airplane! Now, they are posting one of the town’s two policemen at the airport when flights come in, and everyone has to park outside.

If you ever get steamed over the rising prices of gas—ask yourself if you’ve ever paid $7/gallon in your life? That’s what we pay in town. It’s slightly cheaper in Cap-Haitien (three hours away), but it always costs us $100 just to fill up the tank. On the bright side, a 50 lb. sack of mangoes sells for less than $3—total! Avocados are about a nickel apiece, if you like guacamole.

After we had been here for 89 days, we needed to renew our 90-day visas. Unfortunately, because of all the hang-ups with the shipping damage, we haven’t had the time to begin the process of getting long-term residency paperwork. To renew the visa, it’s as easy as driving to the Dominican Republic (exiting Haiti), and then returning on a new visa. This trip we needed to make, also coincided with Silas’ birthday, so we decided to make a little vacation out of it. A week before we were going to leave, a tornado (yes, tornado) went through the town, four hours away from us, where we would cross into the Dominican Republic. The tornado knocked down a tree that fell on the only bridge between the countries at the northern crossing. The impact of the fall actually damaged the bridge, and made it impassable to all motor vehicle traffic! And this is one of only two border crossings between the two countries—both are major arteries. It took almost a month to fix the bridge. We ended up having to drive to the southern crossing, and it took us 17 hours to get to our final destination—which is only 100 miles away from us as the crow files.

Once we were at the resort, we were looking forward to several days of uninterrupted family time. But lo and behold…in the town where we live (in Haiti) there is a battalion of UN peacekeeping soldiers that are from Chile in South America. We’ve gotten to know them since Matt speaks Spanish, and they have extended their services to us, if we ever need anything. Apparently, they get a month of vacation during each six-month rotation in Haiti, so they all go to the Dominican Republic (another Spanish-speaking country) and have their families flown up from Chile. It’s great for them, but it was funny for us that a bunch of the men from our local battalion happened to be at that resort for those days, and let’s just say our family time incorporated their families too. Since the UN also guards the border—where the tree damaged the bridge—they have special military crossing privileges that are not normally extended to civilians. They said they could probably get us back across, which would get us home in 6 hours. But if it didn’t work, it would have taken 25 hours to double back around. We decided not to risk it, and settle for the 17 hours—tried and true.

These are a few of the extraordinary happenings of recent. On more ordinary days, Matt tries to stay on top of e-mails and the shipping damage from the Internet café in town. As opportunities arise, we work on the house and unpack boxes somewhat simultaneously. Slowly but surely, things are getting done room-by-room. Pam spends a lot of time simply containing and maintaining Silas—who is all over the place now. We circulate through town regularly and take time to get to know people. We’re also getting to know other pastors, missionaries and ministries in the area, and listening and learning from the different ministry philosophies. We use Creole language constantly, and there are days that we feel like we have a good handle on things, and there are others when it feels like we don’t understand a thing!

God continues to expand our vision for, and understanding of, discipleship and sustainable development. We have been encouraged by others who have been here a while, that it is wise that we’re taking the time to lay a firm foundation, rather than rush into things—which is often a tendency. We’re happy with the progress that has been made in the past months, all things considered.

In a recent report on Forbes.com entitled: The World’s Most Corrupt Countries, Haiti had the unfortunate distinction of topping the list in 2007.

click here to read The World’s Most Corrupt Countries at forbes.com

click here to see In Pictures: Most Corrupt Nations at forbes.com