I have had one of the worst headaches of my life all day today, and I know I have never been more exhausted in all of my existence—and it’s been a great day. I’ll explain why in a bit, but before I do I want to express that I am completely re-inspired to keep up with my journaling and bloggification. In the past couple weeks I have heard from so many people who I would not expect in a million years to read my blog, and have gotten so many compliments that I have been really blown away, and want to give more accounts of what’s going on!
I’ll give you the overview of what I’ve been working toward. The focus has been in the 5th Section, a region outside of the city of Saint Marc where a few thousands of people live in poverty you can only grasp when you see it yourself. We have been working on preparing for two things: a school/church in a village called Lubin (which has never had a school or a church before), and we’re preparing for a four day “Crusade”. On a side note, it makes me feel very uncomfortable calling it a Crusade considering all the corruption, and death, and shenanigans that happened during those middle ages. During this—we’ll call it a Bondye-beni-ou-sade (Creole for Godbless you-sade, its all I could come up with)—during this Bondye-beni-ou-sade we will be evangelizing, and preaching, and putting on skits and dances, and giving gifts, and my favorite aspect of it all- staying out there under the stars all four nights! I have spent many moments here daydreaming of staying out in the 5th Section for longer than just an afternoon. I wish I could express better how beautiful this place is, and how much I love these people. siiiiighhhh. I forgot to mention that this Bondye-beni-ou-sade is happening April 5-9 and my flight is scheduled for April 4. BUT… I’m one step ahead of you, I change my flight so I Claiti will be extended till April 17. Booya!
Back to my day today. It started off so awful. I woke up and was ready for work at 8 and right away we were gearing all our trucks and vehicles to go out to the 5th Section. We were bringing out cement and supplies to pour the supports for the church. Unfortunately, the truck pulling the trailer with the skid loader and concrete mixer had a crack in the frame on the bottom. So I went with Terry to go get that welded. Right when he gets there he drops the truck off and leaves to go to the bank and tells me to watch over the stuff in the bank. No problem right? It wouldn’t be a problem if he returned promptly, but you learn that nothing happens promptly in Haiti. He didn’t come back until an hour and a half later, I had nobody to talk to, nothing to do, and no shade in sight on a 90 degree day. He finally came back and we set off for the 5th Section… for two minutes and we got a flat tire. Luckily we were still in town when it happened so we could get it fixed at the local tire shop. Again I had to wait out in the sun, and we had to set off at least three hours later than we wanted to.
I then was lucky enough to have more heavy dosage of the sun! I had to stand on the back of the flatbed truck to make sure that the shovels, concrete, gasoline, and water pump all stayed on. This is no easy task when the roads are worse than any B level road you could possibly find in the Iowa countryside. The drive out to Lubin takes about a half hour on motorcycles, but with carrying 30 bags of concrete, a skid loader, and concrete mixer it takes an hour and a half… under the sun (hahaha I sound like Solomon writing Ecclesiastes—please tell me somebody understands that lame bible joke).
We finally got there, but by this time my small pint water bottle was baron two hours ago, I had developed a debilitating headache, and I had sunburns on top of sunburns. I swear though, if each person has a Heaven on Earth I know that mine is Lubin. Right before I got there I prayed that God would somehow rejuvenate me so I could give my all in the ministry to the beautiful people of Lubin. Within five minutes of getting there the leader of the village could tell I was not doing so well and insisted on bringing me not one but three liters full of filtered water. In addition to the water they later gave me milk (which I have missed soooo much), a mango, and more water. Thanks leader of Lubin, but thanks more God!
Have I mentioned I have an extreme fondness of Lubin? The instant I ever enter the village any villager child or adult while yell “Clay-tone!” My friend Jude and I have gone there enough times that they have picked up on my name, Jude says they’ll remember it forever, and whenever he goes out there without me they always ask about me. Can I be honest and vulnerable for a minute? I may not always outwardly show it, but I struggle with being overly prideful. Let me tell you, when you are greeted like a returning king anytime you are seen even near certain villages then it is an instant shot into the ego-veins. I really can’t describe the feeling and how amazing it is. I truly know though that I don’t find all of this joy in coming here for the adoration I feel. As much pride as I have I promise that’s not why I love it. I am filled with joy for Lubin because the adoration is met with full reciprocity from me. I love them so much, I want to live among them and pull together any resource I could possibly muster in order to make life easier for them. I’m not going to try to describe why I love them so much, give some time and energy to people who make the projects of New York look like the Hamptoms sometime, and I have no doubt you’ll know exactly how I feel.
I have a bad habit of abandoning work to love on people. I blame my college chaplain Joe Brummel for this. On all mission trips he always talks about people before projects. I’ve taken that to heart and I always spend my time with the children, or hilarious mothers of the village. Today was no different and I can say in all honesty that I didn’t poor a single bucket of cement today. Luckily there was an abundance of help! It was great though, I am so pleased with how my Creole is coming along. Children find the funniest things to talk about. Today I talked about why my armpit hair is longer than theirs, why I want to wait a few years before I have children, and how to say fingernail-clipper in English. That’s not even close to all we talked about though! My favorite part was when I taught them the two songs I know in Creole and they sang some different songs in Creole for me. I think tomorrow I’ll ask them to teach me them.
Am I painting an even somewhat clear picture? When I reflect back on my times in places like this I really feel like I’m in Heaven. I think it might be true. These people who have “nothing” materially have so much in their community, have such an unhindered pathway to God, and a more acute sense of true happiness and true pain. I’m sorry for the cheesy paradoxical phraseology, but these people seem so “real” in that they make their survival happen themselves, that it is “surreal”. Does that make any sense? Ask me sometime to explain it to ya if you want. I can’t wait to come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and then the Bondye-beni-ou-sade. Please pray for these people, pray that people will be placed in their lives to disciple them, pray that the canal will be completed so their rice patties won’t look like the Serengeti, pray that the fear of Voodoo will leave the land, pray for anything for the 5th Section or any place you know of like it. The Bible makes it clear the poor are so very close to His heart, what kind of Christians are we if they’re not close to ours as well?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
I AM STILL ALIVE!
Yes, it has been two weeks since I have posted anything… but I can explain! Try putting yourself in my size 11.5 (although I often wear size 12) shoes: Your best friend in the whole wide world; the person who knows you better than anybody else in the whole wide world; the person who you have the most fun with in the whole wide world; but who you would trust more than anybody in the whole wide world with all of your secrets, fears, and worries big and small; the person who you knew within a couple of months of dating you wanted to be married with and travel with all over the whole wide world; this person, who has been away from you for six months to serve God across the whole wide world; when this person, my fiancé, Taylor gives up the best comforts in the whole wide world (Pella, Iowa home cookin’) to be with me in Haiti, writing a journal is the very last thing on my mind. I hope you can understand my absence, but I look forward to filling you in, come join me!
The last two weeks have been a rollercoaster to say the very least. Things started off so perfectly. Tay and I picked up right where we had left off in our relationship, and there was no awkward, “getting reacquainted stage” from being apart so long. We were among the poor, serving in ministry together where we belong. She loved everybody on base and everybody on the base loved her (obviously). The two weeks she was here she taught pre-school in the mornings and either helped out with the 3rd graders or hung out with me. She experienced the wrath of those 4-year-olds just as I did, but they were so cute it was rewarding as well.
At the pinnacle of her falling in love with this place, the place we love didn’t return the favor. With about four days left in her trip she came down with the wretched Dengue Fever. One night she came to my apartment at about 3 AM telling me she had diarrhea and nausea throughout the night. The next day she had the cold shakes, and a very high fever with continued diarrhea. Her joints were also very swollen and achy, and it hurt her so much just to walk from place to place. She even developed the rash that comes at the end of the tropical disease. Wikipedia Dengue Fever and you’ll get the exact same symptoms so we can’t help but conclude on that!
I did my best to take care of her and keep her in good spirits, but on the last night together I got a very high fever and cold shakes come on me very suddenly as well. I had a relapse of the froozin’ Dengue too. I had headaches a few days before, but couldn’t have imagined I’d get it again. The funny thing about it though, we were both physically miserable and had to take turns attempting to destroy the toilets from the inside out, but despite these setbacks we still had a great time together as only we could. We had a ridiculous photo op, cheered each other on during our battles in the bathroom, and even did some dancing at a pizza party (even though our bodies were very angry with us for doing that). To make things worse Tay’s flight from Port-au-Prince was delayed 4 hours and she wasn’t able to catch any connecting flights from Miami to Chicago and had to spend the night in Miami all by herself. What a terrible end to an awesome trip. I wish I could have had double the Dengue in order for her to not have it at all. Shoot dang if only it worked that way.
She’s been gone four days now and it’s so hard being apart. I’m here in my new favorite place on the planet, and she’s in the town she’s lived in for the past six years having to soon get back to work. It doesn’t seem fair, and this is one of the many times where I wish there were two of me so one of me could be with her in Pella. Once again it doesn’t work out that way so we’re going to have to do our best to get through this.
It’s been a busy new week though. We our preparing to build a church/school/community center in the 5th Section in a village called Lubin 4. This is in my top 2 of favorite villages in the world. It’s been so difficult for me being sick still because this week there is actually an abundance of work for me personally to do which isn’t always the case. I’m still having extreme exhaustion and diarrhea and the mornings are really hard for me. It’s getting better daily, but it’s still a setback to get through. Today we went to Lubin 4 to bring out supplies for the church and I didn’t realize how much I missed the 5th Section until being back. Lubin 4 is where my friend Jude and I go each Sunday to do ministry with them, and I hadn’t been in two weeks due to sicknesses. I was so blown away when all of the children remembered my name and were so eager to talk with me and hold my hand. I even got a cut on my leg and some of the villages ladies insisted on cleaning it with me. It’s days like this where I seriously feel like I’m in Heaven.
We then had a surprise and went to the village of Bas Lalle (pronounced Ball Luh-Lay) my other favorite village. This is the village I’ve talked about before that has no rice crop to speak of because of the broken canal, and had 60% of its houses destroyed. This village is time after time where I see the most joy when we come. We brought some digging equipment for when we build an irrigation system for them. Two of the village leaders are these sisters who love giving hugs so much. Ahhhhh I love going there! One of them told me that next time we come out she is going to provide me with milk. I almost started to cry that she would offer such a thing when they have so little. Not to mention the fact that I haven’t had real milk in almost three months! I love having ministry at these villages. The whole time today all I could think about is how amazing it would be to learn Creole fluently (I am coming along better with it) and spend time living with them and sharing community and sharing the Good News with them, while providing as much aid as I can. Who knows maybe someday this could be a reality for Taylor and I! I’ll certainly be open to it! Well time for this little boy in the candy shop to go to bed. Again I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, well actually I don’t apologize because my time was better spent with my favorite person ever! I’ll make sure to be more prompt with my updates from now on! Godbless!
The last two weeks have been a rollercoaster to say the very least. Things started off so perfectly. Tay and I picked up right where we had left off in our relationship, and there was no awkward, “getting reacquainted stage” from being apart so long. We were among the poor, serving in ministry together where we belong. She loved everybody on base and everybody on the base loved her (obviously). The two weeks she was here she taught pre-school in the mornings and either helped out with the 3rd graders or hung out with me. She experienced the wrath of those 4-year-olds just as I did, but they were so cute it was rewarding as well.
At the pinnacle of her falling in love with this place, the place we love didn’t return the favor. With about four days left in her trip she came down with the wretched Dengue Fever. One night she came to my apartment at about 3 AM telling me she had diarrhea and nausea throughout the night. The next day she had the cold shakes, and a very high fever with continued diarrhea. Her joints were also very swollen and achy, and it hurt her so much just to walk from place to place. She even developed the rash that comes at the end of the tropical disease. Wikipedia Dengue Fever and you’ll get the exact same symptoms so we can’t help but conclude on that!
I did my best to take care of her and keep her in good spirits, but on the last night together I got a very high fever and cold shakes come on me very suddenly as well. I had a relapse of the froozin’ Dengue too. I had headaches a few days before, but couldn’t have imagined I’d get it again. The funny thing about it though, we were both physically miserable and had to take turns attempting to destroy the toilets from the inside out, but despite these setbacks we still had a great time together as only we could. We had a ridiculous photo op, cheered each other on during our battles in the bathroom, and even did some dancing at a pizza party (even though our bodies were very angry with us for doing that). To make things worse Tay’s flight from Port-au-Prince was delayed 4 hours and she wasn’t able to catch any connecting flights from Miami to Chicago and had to spend the night in Miami all by herself. What a terrible end to an awesome trip. I wish I could have had double the Dengue in order for her to not have it at all. Shoot dang if only it worked that way.
She’s been gone four days now and it’s so hard being apart. I’m here in my new favorite place on the planet, and she’s in the town she’s lived in for the past six years having to soon get back to work. It doesn’t seem fair, and this is one of the many times where I wish there were two of me so one of me could be with her in Pella. Once again it doesn’t work out that way so we’re going to have to do our best to get through this.
It’s been a busy new week though. We our preparing to build a church/school/community center in the 5th Section in a village called Lubin 4. This is in my top 2 of favorite villages in the world. It’s been so difficult for me being sick still because this week there is actually an abundance of work for me personally to do which isn’t always the case. I’m still having extreme exhaustion and diarrhea and the mornings are really hard for me. It’s getting better daily, but it’s still a setback to get through. Today we went to Lubin 4 to bring out supplies for the church and I didn’t realize how much I missed the 5th Section until being back. Lubin 4 is where my friend Jude and I go each Sunday to do ministry with them, and I hadn’t been in two weeks due to sicknesses. I was so blown away when all of the children remembered my name and were so eager to talk with me and hold my hand. I even got a cut on my leg and some of the villages ladies insisted on cleaning it with me. It’s days like this where I seriously feel like I’m in Heaven.
We then had a surprise and went to the village of Bas Lalle (pronounced Ball Luh-Lay) my other favorite village. This is the village I’ve talked about before that has no rice crop to speak of because of the broken canal, and had 60% of its houses destroyed. This village is time after time where I see the most joy when we come. We brought some digging equipment for when we build an irrigation system for them. Two of the village leaders are these sisters who love giving hugs so much. Ahhhhh I love going there! One of them told me that next time we come out she is going to provide me with milk. I almost started to cry that she would offer such a thing when they have so little. Not to mention the fact that I haven’t had real milk in almost three months! I love having ministry at these villages. The whole time today all I could think about is how amazing it would be to learn Creole fluently (I am coming along better with it) and spend time living with them and sharing community and sharing the Good News with them, while providing as much aid as I can. Who knows maybe someday this could be a reality for Taylor and I! I’ll certainly be open to it! Well time for this little boy in the candy shop to go to bed. Again I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, well actually I don’t apologize because my time was better spent with my favorite person ever! I’ll make sure to be more prompt with my updates from now on! Godbless!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
oooooooh yeeeeaaahhh!!
Taylor (my fiance) just joined me in Haiti for 2 weeks. I'm not going to even try to describe how happy i am because it wont even come close to capturing the immensity of my happiness. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh yaaaaayyyy!!!
Monday, March 2, 2009
haiti yay!
Once again I’ve been inconsistent in my chronicling of my time in Haiti, and once again I apologize! It passing day I’m here it gets harder and harder to do this! The reason it’s so difficult is not from laziness (I’m serious!), but because of the amazing relationships I’ve formed with people here. I have Mike my Canadian friend who I spend the most time with. I hope to keep ties with him and definitely invite him to the wedding. There is Mark my roommate from Missouri who I talk with about his love for a Haitian here on base, and we support each other so well in everything going on. Then there are the Haitians on base: Steve, Junior, Patrick, Anasias, Jude, Ronald, Peterson, Philipson, Yvenel, Bo and his wife Merline, Carline, Jonathon, Roberteau, Elage (Eddie Murphy), Alain, and many more I don’t have the time to mention. I love them all sooooo much I can’t put it into words. I truly have a unique relationship with each of them, and I cherish learning about their lives and their testimonies.
It is people like them that give me hope for Haiti. They are the new generation and their visions for the future have already brought me to tears. Speaking of the future, I must also mention all of my students that I teach in gym. I can’t come close to mentioning them all because there are so many of them with diverse personalities but I have to highlight some. There is Nathaniel the fat and pudgy goofball. He is the purest, most innocent child I have ever known. He loves to tell me I’m the best gym teacher EVER hahaha! Then there are the girls Dawna, Taloney, Mikaela, Krystal, Nora and on and on. They love affection and to be thrown in the air or hold hands. They can be divas but they’ll listen when they’re being wrong. Then there are the boys who love to act tough like Aaron, Davie, Harry, Geoff, Eli, and others but who are big sweeties on the inside. I’ll never forget how their toughness completely fled them when we had swimming lessons. I’ve never been clung to for dear life as when I was helping them swim across. They were nearly in tears as I was helping them along, but by the end they were loving it and they always look forward to swimming lessons.
I feel so truly blessed right now. Lately I’ve been feeling sorry for myself about various things and tonight I truly was lifted it. I am in my favorite place in the planet, my soon-to-be wife is joining me here in two days, and I can ride around the city on motorcycle taxies for 40 cents. That is Mike and my favorite thing to do. It’s fun because you never know if you are going to get a driver that is friendly, and likes to talk about his faith, or if you’ll get one that will see an opportunity to scam some money. It sometimes feels like that is the microcosm of the country, people seem to be opportunistic or exploitative, or open, loving, and hospitable beyond any United States measure. Then I realize that is too oversimplified and dangerous to assume about any sort of people group. The whole time here I’ve been trying to formulate in my mind what it is to be “Haitian”. Whenever I think I’m getting somewhere close to an answer, new Haitian people just destroy the mold. I love that though. I really really do! It means you need to take the time to know people and form relationships. That’s true of any place, anywhere. I had no idea where my ramblings this time around would go, but I think this is it. I love making relationships. The deeper they go the more rewarding they are, but more than that, that is how progress in any arena will be made. Change comes vertically; from people to people to people, not from the top down.
It’s pretty awesome how Jesus is like that too. In the book of Isaiah it prophesized that Jesus would suffer and be bruised and beaten for the world. He didn’t come to a thrown and rule by some “trick-down” scheme. He formed relationships with his disciples. These disciples after much learning and many mistakes and grown then went town to town not conquering, but conversing and healing. They showed compassion, they influenced people through perseverance in their actions, and strength in their character. I want my wife and I to do that for the rest of our lives. I want every meaningful relationship in my life; family and friends, to join me in this directly or indirectly. This is my prayer.
I spoke on Facebook with somebody that I haven’t talked to in basically a couple of years, and we’d barely consider ourselves acquaintances. There was by no means any bad blood, we just don’t really have a relationship. I started talking to her about a show that we both liked, but it ended up that I was lifted up more than I can explain here. She said she had read my blog (which means so much to me for ANYBODY who reads this silly thing) and she said in short that she was inspired by Taylor and my love for the nations, and passion for justice. This girl is mending and growing in her relationship in Christ, and she has been learning about inequalities and injustices throughout the world. I was so overjoyed, not for the boost to the ego she supplied (that is if I allow it to come to that), but because she is becoming impassioned as well. I was more overcome than I can explain, and I shared it with Taylor and we were overjoyed so deeply! So for all of you who have given us encouragements, or have mentioned you are praying for us, or praying for us without mentioning it, I want you to know that they mean more than anything in the world. Its so easy to feel bitter for the amount of wrong that is allowed in the world. I have a hard time deciding which is worse, having no clue what goes on in the world, or knowing it and perpetuating it or not doing a thing. I get renewed so quickly first of all from God, but also from the relationships here in Haiti, the relationship with my partner in crime, Tay, and from everybody back at home. Thank you all so much, thanks for reading my bliggity blogs, and thank you all for being you. I look forward to catching up and going deeper in our friendships and in the Lord! I love you all!!!
It is people like them that give me hope for Haiti. They are the new generation and their visions for the future have already brought me to tears. Speaking of the future, I must also mention all of my students that I teach in gym. I can’t come close to mentioning them all because there are so many of them with diverse personalities but I have to highlight some. There is Nathaniel the fat and pudgy goofball. He is the purest, most innocent child I have ever known. He loves to tell me I’m the best gym teacher EVER hahaha! Then there are the girls Dawna, Taloney, Mikaela, Krystal, Nora and on and on. They love affection and to be thrown in the air or hold hands. They can be divas but they’ll listen when they’re being wrong. Then there are the boys who love to act tough like Aaron, Davie, Harry, Geoff, Eli, and others but who are big sweeties on the inside. I’ll never forget how their toughness completely fled them when we had swimming lessons. I’ve never been clung to for dear life as when I was helping them swim across. They were nearly in tears as I was helping them along, but by the end they were loving it and they always look forward to swimming lessons.
I feel so truly blessed right now. Lately I’ve been feeling sorry for myself about various things and tonight I truly was lifted it. I am in my favorite place in the planet, my soon-to-be wife is joining me here in two days, and I can ride around the city on motorcycle taxies for 40 cents. That is Mike and my favorite thing to do. It’s fun because you never know if you are going to get a driver that is friendly, and likes to talk about his faith, or if you’ll get one that will see an opportunity to scam some money. It sometimes feels like that is the microcosm of the country, people seem to be opportunistic or exploitative, or open, loving, and hospitable beyond any United States measure. Then I realize that is too oversimplified and dangerous to assume about any sort of people group. The whole time here I’ve been trying to formulate in my mind what it is to be “Haitian”. Whenever I think I’m getting somewhere close to an answer, new Haitian people just destroy the mold. I love that though. I really really do! It means you need to take the time to know people and form relationships. That’s true of any place, anywhere. I had no idea where my ramblings this time around would go, but I think this is it. I love making relationships. The deeper they go the more rewarding they are, but more than that, that is how progress in any arena will be made. Change comes vertically; from people to people to people, not from the top down.
It’s pretty awesome how Jesus is like that too. In the book of Isaiah it prophesized that Jesus would suffer and be bruised and beaten for the world. He didn’t come to a thrown and rule by some “trick-down” scheme. He formed relationships with his disciples. These disciples after much learning and many mistakes and grown then went town to town not conquering, but conversing and healing. They showed compassion, they influenced people through perseverance in their actions, and strength in their character. I want my wife and I to do that for the rest of our lives. I want every meaningful relationship in my life; family and friends, to join me in this directly or indirectly. This is my prayer.
I spoke on Facebook with somebody that I haven’t talked to in basically a couple of years, and we’d barely consider ourselves acquaintances. There was by no means any bad blood, we just don’t really have a relationship. I started talking to her about a show that we both liked, but it ended up that I was lifted up more than I can explain here. She said she had read my blog (which means so much to me for ANYBODY who reads this silly thing) and she said in short that she was inspired by Taylor and my love for the nations, and passion for justice. This girl is mending and growing in her relationship in Christ, and she has been learning about inequalities and injustices throughout the world. I was so overjoyed, not for the boost to the ego she supplied (that is if I allow it to come to that), but because she is becoming impassioned as well. I was more overcome than I can explain, and I shared it with Taylor and we were overjoyed so deeply! So for all of you who have given us encouragements, or have mentioned you are praying for us, or praying for us without mentioning it, I want you to know that they mean more than anything in the world. Its so easy to feel bitter for the amount of wrong that is allowed in the world. I have a hard time deciding which is worse, having no clue what goes on in the world, or knowing it and perpetuating it or not doing a thing. I get renewed so quickly first of all from God, but also from the relationships here in Haiti, the relationship with my partner in crime, Tay, and from everybody back at home. Thank you all so much, thanks for reading my bliggity blogs, and thank you all for being you. I look forward to catching up and going deeper in our friendships and in the Lord! I love you all!!!
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