My trip to Cap-Haitien (by Dan)

To get to Cap-Haitien from Ouanaminthe, where we were staying at the pastors house, it was an hour’s ride in a pickup truck. Two benches running parallel inside the back of the truck and one small chair served as our taxi. We managed to squeeze inside with 13 other people! Yes, there were 16 of us total in the back of a small pickup truck (with a topper so the head space was really limited).Talk about a cozy ride! The lady squeezed in next to me fell asleep on my shoulder! The price was right though, about $2 per person.
One hour and 65km later, it was sure nice to stretch the legs when we arrived at Cap-Haitien.
The landscape of the city is brilliant and breath-taking. Towering mountains line one horizon while the opposite drifts away into an endless view of ships and sea. But for many locals, these would prove to be their own boundaries. The scenery far outweighs the quality of life; houses are falling apart or fallen, many people are trying to make a living by selling fruit or shining shoes. There are many people with some form of job, but very seldom do you find one with a career. Life is more about getting by day by day than planning for the future. For many, there is no future.
The main roads are paved and have massive gutters for water drainage, but all the rest of the roads are dirt. The gutters were used by many locals to throw their garbage in. Every once in a while a garbage truck would come around and a few people would grab shovels and shovel all the garbage into the back of the truck. We saw many fascinating sights; an enormous cathedral, the city square, the port, a few statues and lots of people including the UN police which patrol the entire country. What an incredible experience being able to visit the country of Haiti and the city of Cap-Haitien. It is one that I will not soon forget. Even with cultural, geographical, social, racial, language and economic differences, we were able to find something in common with many of the people….our religion. We both profess Christ as our risen Saviour in whom we have new life. Praise the LORD!

REALITY SAYS.....

One of the starkest contrasts that the river highlights is the fact that, even though both countries are poor, one is certainly worse. As we visited the schools and orphanages, we couldn’t believe the conditions of which these children were educated in but even more so, lived in.

When we appeared, you could see the expectation of many, searching to see if we were there to help and provide. Sadly the needs are so great that often you felt overwhelmed with the despair and shortages. Just going through the countryside, the evidence appears continually. One of the few bright spots was an orphanage we visited, which was started and is operated to this day by an incredible lady from the United States, Danita Estrella. She came in 1999 as a translator for a medical team and from there God moved in her heart to help the many orphaned and abandoned children in Ouanaminthe. http://www.danitaschildren.org This is truly a story of success and hope for these 500 children. While I am not one who gives up early or easily, maybe because of my Dutch heritage, I am certainly taken aback by the determination of people like Danita, others and the Haitians themselves. These very people continue to fight for and serve these children, against the odds, and with only meager resources at hand. Every one of them acknowledges that without God, none of this work can continue. What started as a “shock visit” to us has turned into another wakeup call to witness God’s faithfulness, regardless of what we may think otherwise. Just incredible! As I said earlier, not a visit that will soon be forgotten!

The River That Divides

Jane and I decided that while Dan was here visiting us, we were going to do a little side trip to either Santo Domingo or Haiti. It was Dan’s choice so off to Haiti it was. We took with us, our good friend Elmond Jean who is Dominican but from Haitian descendent. Being totally fluent in Creole, English and Spanish, Elmond took us to the border and through all the necessary paperwork to get into Haiti.
While there, the four of us had the opportunity to visit several orphanages, schools, churches and their pastors. This really was the main purpose of this trip. This adventure and discovery of a different people, culture and place will not be forgotten for quite some time.
The poverty was incredible, the needs obvious and the hospitality of all we met, Christ like! Since there is no electricity or running water in the entire town, the women fill their water buckets at the communal well.
Our hosts, Pastor Papouloute Onondieu, his wife and family, treated us like very special guests. Their home, a very modest place, is very well kept in Ouanaminthe, on the Haiti and Dominican border. Here they provided us a safe place to rest and lay our heads. It was quite cozy as the three of us shared the home with his family of 11 and yet we felt very much at home.

On Friday night we attended a Haitian church service and even though no one has electricity, worship continues with oil lamps. It was incredibly hot in the crowded little church but that certainly didn’t stop everyone from praising and praying in full earnest. The little congregation is alive and well and wanted everyone outside to know it. God was in this place and they wanted everyone to hear about it. What an awesome time and we were blessed to be there!

DAJABON – THE FREE MARKET

Last week our youngest son, Dan arrived for a 10 day visit. This is his 4th time coming here and since there were no mission teams working, we had a little extra time to spend with him and went on a 2 day trip to Haiti.
Little did we know that on Mondays and Fridays it is market day in Dajabon and there is an open border between the 2 countries.

More than 10,000 market goers walk for miles to freely cross the bridge or the river between Dajabon, Dominican Republic and Ouanaminthe, Haiti to buy/sell their wares in the FREE MARKET. The Haitians sell goods which consist mainly of shoes, house wares, clothes and tools that were donated from international agencies and many different organizations ..... .....while many Dominicans flock to the market to purchase these cheap items or to sell their vegetables. Thus an area of 20 square blocks becomes a crowded marketplace. After a 3 ½ hour trip to the border, we arrived in the middle of the market day and had to forge our way through the throngs of people, carts and goods since this was the only road to the border. The press of humanity and carts was incredible and very difficult to navigate until an entrepreneurial man pushed people and carts & wheelbarrows aside to clear the way earning some pesos for his effort. Dan & Jane waiting at the customs office in Ouanaminthe to get our passports stamped and legally enter Haiti. People returning to Ouanaminthe with their goods. How many can fit in?

It seems that there’s always room for one more.

.......to be continued

I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS SAY

Horatius Bonar wrote this hymn in 1846 especially for children based on 3 wonderful promises of Jesus in Matthew 11:28, John 4:14 and John 8:12. The first half of each stanza speaks of our Lord’s promise, and the last half frames our response.

I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS SAY
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary, worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place, and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold I freely give;
The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.

This week, the Lord took to Himself one of his own children who trusted and believed in Him, Ramon Antonio, age 14. This young man touched our hearts even though we only knew him a brief time, was diagnosed last December, has succumbed to liver disease and kidney failure. Please keep his family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of their brother and son.