On February 18th, 2011. Br. Simon Beaubrun and I arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We were met by members of Br. Simon’s wife’s family who delivered us to the domestic airport for our flight to Cap Haitian. While many problems still exist in Haiti, we were blessed to find some help to get us on a plane to Cap Haitian. Br. Simon witnessed to the man who helped us arrange the flight and will contact him for a follow-up.
There are many people still living in tents. The infrastructure is terrible which makes ground transportation difficult and slow.
Once in Cap Haitian we were met by Br. Simon’s cousin, Pastor Beaubrun of the SDA Church, and some of his family. We ate a late lunch every day at his house; he also pro-vided us transportation while we were in Cap Haitian, even lending us his car when he went to Port-au-Prince on church business.
By the time we checked into what seemed to be the only hotel in the city with any security, it was Friday evening, just in time for Sabbath opening. So the first thing we did was to thank God for His providences, for traveling mercies and for a safe place to stay.
On Sabbath morning we were met with joy and song at our little rented school, where we had our church services. We were also presented with the candidates for baptism. After lunch we confirmed those ready to make a covenant with the Lord. The next morning three dear souls were baptized in the sea. After the acceptance meeting, we received a report from the school. There are four teachers and approximately 65 students, ages 4 to 12, divided into four classes. Most of the students have parents who pay some of the cost of their education; the school is also subsidized by the Good Samaritan Department of the General Conference.
On Monday we went back to the school to take pictures of the students and teachers before leaving for the airport. Again we had difficulties with our tickets, but the Lord helped us and we were able to fly back to Port-au-Prince where we took the bus to Fond Michael.
Several things struck me about Fond Michael in contrast to Cap Haitian. First it is much more arid. In fact there are no ground water wells in the area. All the houses contain cisterns, provided by a foreign relief project. During the rainy season, these cisterns catch rain water from the roofs of the houses and store up to 20,000 gallons of water. When we were there this water had been used up, and therefore each bucket of water had to be carried for approximately one mile to the house. Under these conditions a bath is a luxury. Another thing is the spirit of the people. People in the city seemed to be living in noisy desperation. Those living in the country were, for the most part, tranquil people, though some were feeling a kind of quiet desperation because of poverty or sickness. While the place was limited in water, they did farm and store their crops, so that food was available. I enjoyed sorting beans for one meal, cleaning and separating husks and foreign matter from the seeds.
Our primary purpose in Fond Michael was to take measurements of the ground for the building project there. Br. Dan Tran of Jupiter, Florida works in an engineering firm. One of the engineers there has volunteered to help design the building in his free time. We thank him for his cooperation. He needed information, such as the layout of the land, wind direction of strong storms, and general con-struction procedures in Haiti, before starting the design process. This all was accomplished and the information is now in their hands for the next phase of the project. All funds for making the blocks for the project have been pro-vided by a donation from one sister in West Palm Beach, Florida.
We were also privileged to pray for some of the sick. On Wednesday afternoon we met with some of the members from Fond Michael before heading back to Port-au-Prince early Thursday morning. We had no ride arranged to re-turn us to the city. Finally after a 2-hour wait, a man gave us a ride in the back of his pickup truck. It was a wild 12-mile ride back to the city, through back streets and alley-ways during rush hour. He left us at the airport without charging us.
The plane ride out of Haiti on Thursday was much better than the trip to the city, for which I praise the Lord. Br. Simon was able to contact souls in Leogone whom Br. Theodorou first contacted last year. Bibles were given to at least five souls and much instruction was given on how to conduct Sabbath services. They were also established as a branch Sabbath School.
There is much need but also much promise for the work in Haiti. We thank those who have donated to the work in Haiti, especially for the support of the children there, many of whom have either no father or mother or are orphaned. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, *and+ to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27
Larry Watts, GC North America Regional Representative