River bed

These pictures are discouraging. They show the brokenness of a nation. One of the things I do while I am in Haiti is spend some deliberate time picking up trash. I am so proud of our people at our property. They have really stepped to the plate and keep it pretty well cleaned up now. It wasn't that way when we first started working there. I am working to teach them the value of valuing what God gives them. It may not seem like much, but we are stewards of everything we have, and when we don't take care of it, how can we expect God to allow us more. Or something better. These pictures are riverbeds, and in the rainy season overflow their banks. All that trash you see in there gets washed to the ocean. I want to cry when I see this, this is hard for a water well driller concerned about pure water. I am glad to see as a country this trip in, that work has begun to set up an infrastructure to get rid of the trash. But this is going to take time to change, bad habits and no instruction have left these people bankrupt in understanding anything about the eco-system. And when your starving to death and dying of thirst, it's a hard transition to contemplate where you drop your trash, and that it should even matter. After all, you won't be around long enough to worry about it! Patience, prayer, and proper leadership will hopefully continue to bring change. We are trying to purchase a burning barrel for the property for a place to burn the trash. We discovered while we were there that there is really no place decent to go with it, so the training continues!

"Advent Conspiracy"

What a great name! This Christmas past a group of committed Christians at the Keswick United Methodist Church decided to spend less on themselves and save for a special missions outreach. To get fresh water to some third world country. This is a huge problem for the impoverished and destitute. Many, many children die each year because of water borne diseases, or the simple lack of water all together. Because of a God appointed connection between a family at that church and our work in Haiti well drilling among other things, was that this gift was sent to Robinson’s ministry in Saint Marc. One of the goals of this team trip in was to get the well drilled while we were there. Fighting against mountainous obstacles through the course of the week, especially with regards to getting the well drilled, it is the one disappointment of our journey that did not get completely done. However, just because it did not quite get done while we were there does not mean it is not getting done. Sometimes God gets greater glory by setting aside our plan and gifts to make sure He gets the credit. Many of you know that my profession outside of the pastorate is ‘water well drilling’. And I can promise you that I was looking forward to fulfilling this charge on this trip into Haiti. But it seems God had other plans for me. He seemed to have been more taken with character development and relationship building rather than running water before I left. I must confess, I was looking forward to the significance of this accomplishment in bringing water to these people as a water well driller. But guess what... that’s right... not my plan but God’s plan is what gets done in His time. So in the aftermath of this trip, I have to let you know that as I discussed getting this well finished with Robinson, and trying to contract help for him, He said to me the last day before I left, “Brother, it seems you are to leave this to me, you have done your part, now let me do mine!” Whoa! What a way to be told to sit down by God! Since we left Saint-Marc, things do continue to be done. The sidewalks are finished, the hungry are fed, and the well will be finished too. I have another drill bit to send and am just waiting on a couple of other items to be sent and the package will be on its way. What is yet to be realized by the “Advent Conspiracy” is that they had hope for one well, and the net result is going to be more than one well from their sacrifice. It still amazes me the way God works. I don’t have time to spill all the details here, but just know that God uses the most unusual circumstances and people in the most fascinating ways when we commit in faith to Him. I was fortunate enough to be blessed to be a part of this amazing work by these amazing people. “Advent Conspiracy” may you be blessed today and in the future as you realize the amazing things God does through those who stand up to be counted for Him! Blessings today!

Hair

Did I mention how the Haitians loved to do Caucasian hair. I don't know, not for sure on this one, but I think this qualifies as a spa treatment?:-) And all the girls got in on it! We saw some pretty wild styles. They are crafty with their fingers.

Happiness Is

A little craft, a little candy, and they are content. This picture says volumes.

Snow?

No this is not snow, it's dust. Haiti is in the dry, windy season now. You cannot imagine the dust. It looks like snow on the trees until you get close. There is no rain to wash it away, and no sprinklers or water to water the yard. Gracious, hardly any to drink, let alone to use it to water grass. Oh, that's right, there is no grass. I have never seen a lawnmower in Haiti. The closest you will come to a lawnmower is a goat, or a cow.

Gifting

One of the joys of the trip was passing out gifts to the children. And you could draw a crowd in a hurry. Here is a glimpse, we are in the middle of the street. We were the only bus in this village the day we visited. We were quite a sight where most walked, and a few biked. In we came in a big yellow bus! It wasn't fancy, don't get me wrong, but to a village not used to traffic, we were quite the attraction. And on top of that, we were mostly white! It was awesome. We had fun. I have included a picture of us on the bus as well.

The End (Thoughts by Rick R.)

It’s about 7:50 p.m. as we board our Miami to Detroit connection on our return from the Haiti mission. I find my seat, and I see that I will be sitting next to a tall, slim man in his late fifties wearing a leather jacket and looking very annoyed as he stares out the window. As I sit down I feel awkward because he is one of those guys that gives off the impression “don’t talk to me or touch me” and he has positioned himself with his arm on the divider and his leg encroaching in my leg space. I think to myself, “This is going to be a long flight.”
The flight has been delayed a few minutes and we sit there in silence waiting. The captain says over the intercom that a seat malfunction is just about wrapped up and we will be on our way momentarily. The guy next to me speaks up in a loud voice, “that’s just great; every flight I’ve been on during this trip has had problems.” I try to break the ice and jokingly ask him if he is starting to loose confidence in the airlines. He responds without making eye contact, “No, I’ve got 2 months to live and I don’t want to spend it sitting here!” A little stunned I tell him that I’m sorry to here that to which he doesn’t respond and continues to stare out the window.
A million thoughts race through my mind as I sit there, the main one being that I know that as a Christ Follower if I have compassion at all for this stranger, I should before I get off this jet ask him if he knows where he is going in two months. I asked him if he had been traveling to visit family to which he replied, “No.” He had left his wife and kids and didn’t want anything to do with the rest of them. A few minutes later I asked him where he was headed and in another short sentence he said, “I don’t know.” I’m sitting there, hoping he would say something to help me in this one sided conversation, thinking “wow this guy is so angry and hurt and only has 2 months to live.” I turned slightly to glance at him and though his face was hard, he was crying.
As the thoughts continued to race through my mind I struggled with the fine line between respecting this stranger’s privacy and not getting too personal, and the sense that I might be able to help him. I decided that I had nothing to loose and that I am a spineless Christian if I don’t prod on. I said, “If you don’t mind me asking, why does a guy who only has 2 months to live not want to spend those days with his family?” He responded, still not making any eye contact, “If you were in my situation you wouldn’t want to be around them either. They’re all liars. Everyone on this planet is a liar; I don’t want them around watching me die!” Not knowing all the details and not wanting to be confrontational I just said, “That’s sad.”
I later find out that his name is Joe and that he’s from Ohio.
He doesn’t say anything else and just sits there staring out the window at the night sky. Joe eventually falls asleep and I reflect on all the experiences I just had in Haiti and how God was so real in the people’s lives down there. I decided that when he wakes up, some how I would find out where he stood with God because now I truly feel sorry for the man. This normally would not be that hard of a question for me to ask someone, but this guy was so hard and I already had a good idea what his answer would be.
Near the end of our 3 hour flight I finally ask him if he believed in heaven; a round about lead in question to the God one. He abruptly replied, “No.” Then I said, “Does that mean then that you don’t believe in God?” He said even more harshly “no” and that everything in his whole life had always been messed up. I took that to mean he was saying that if there was a God he didn’t want anything to do with Him because his whole life had been messed up and didn’t want to believe in a God that would let that happen to him. I wanted to tell him that God loved him, could help him and about salvation if he only would believe and accept Him... but I didn’t. His heart was so closed and he seemed so defensive all I could say was that I would pray for God’s peace to come on him. He shot back, “Don’t bother!” We got off the plane at 11:30 p.m. and that was it.
The whole thing kind of rattled me as I tried to process why God had me cross paths with Joe. Naturally, I would have loved to be able to see Joe receive Christ and have a happy ending but that wasn’t the point. The point and reason I tell all of you this is because God reminded me of what the real reason is that a person should go to Haiti or any other part of the world. The Gospel... God’s love, forgiveness of sins, and the salvation of souls. There are lost people all around us that will die and not spend eternity with their loving creator. As the body of Christ we are commissioned to take that good news to all the world.
My prayer is that through our support to Robinson and the rest of the church family in St. Marc they will be a witness of God’s love to the lost people in their country.

Pray for Joe.

Your Brother in Christ,

Rick