I knew when we started this journey of helping this tent city that it wouldn’t be easy. If it were – everybody would be doing it. The little boy in the red shirt led me to a zone right in the heart of Port-au-Prince. Across from the palace – this is an area where there is a lot of violence. I have been teased that I wasn’t content with just picking a zone in PAP – but that I had to pick one of the poorest zones in the most dangerous area. I blame it on the little boy.
Understanding that I might not have picked the most logical area to start helping – I realized quickly this would be a battle. Go to any church in Haiti – between songs and even in the middle of the sermon – you will hear the preacher yell – Satan Pedi Batay – and they stomp their foot. Basically they are saying – Satan you lost the battle and I’m stomping all over you.
I was hoping to post pictures today but the internet here in the hotel is too slow to upload them.
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Day 1/Day 2
Day 1 was a complete wash. Plan A was to start feeding on Tuesday but the truck didn’t arrive until midnight. So Plan B (Day 2) – We’d just feed them the next day. Well we spent ALL of Wednesday trying to get the food (250 bags of rice and 2000 jars of peanut butter) into a warehouse. The warehouse we were going to use just lost a wall. We were supposed to deliver food at 4pm but we didn’t even secure a warehouse until 4pm. The warehouse ended up being a 40-foot container. There were people living in this container. So we gave the family some tents and some food and they let us keep the container as storage.
I had Maurice, Reginald, Antoine, Jacques, Exalus, Jose, and two mission drivers with me all day long yesterday. Ever so often – just as we would hit another wall – – they would stomp their feet and say – Satan Pedi Batay.
So we went to the tent city Wednesday evening – just before sunset – to tell them that Plan C is to bring the food there early in the morning before everyone wakes up. Right before we left -we actually witnessed a cross-fire as a few of the gangs were now coming out to “play”. I’m not going to lie – my heart was racing. We realized in that moment – God had been protecting us. Had we come at 4pm with a truck load of supplies – we probably would have been attacked. Reginald stomped his foot – Satan Pedi Batay.
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Day 3
So we decided we were going to be smart about all of this. Plan D – Instead of bringing the food to the people we were going to bring the people to the food. We met with the team leader this morning at the hotel. We explained to him that we will go right off this list. We will call the names – load up 15 people at a time. Then we take the people to our warehouse – give them their gifts – take down all the important information we need and then send them back and pick up the next 15 people. We all agreed that this was a wonderful plan.
We knew that people would try to get on the truck even if they weren’t from that zone. So – I typed up the list that he had given me. I sent him back with this paper and said if their name isn’t on the list then don’t let them on the truck. These are the 50 families in your zone – so those are the 50 families we are working with. He said no problem – but could we give him a few hours to organize everything and send a truck at 1pm. So we all prayed together and he left.
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In the meantime – we got a phone call from Go Ministries which is an organization that helps Haitians in the Dominican. We were SO BLESSED with a plane load of supplies. We got cooking oil, milk, soap, and shampoo. Again we felt like this was all apart of God’s plan. We were not supposed to give out the food yesterday because now we could give them supplies from the plane PLUS the rice and beans. We were SO excited!
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1pm
I’m little miss organizer. I have all the sacks of rice out, got the peanut butter and all the plane supplies lined up just perfectly. I brought my special little stamp – so I can stamp all the cards. I have my notebook so I can write down all the names of everyone and find out the ages of all the kids in the household. I have my Bible and devotion ready to share with the groups of 15 when they arrive. I’m so on fire – just ready to make this happen.
I get a phone call at 1:30pm saying that I need to go down to the tent city right now. What? Why? Well apparently a riot has broken loose because supposedly the names on my list aren’t the names of the people who live in the zone. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
So we go downtown. Mind you – there is NOTHING on the truck. Yet I watch as 100 people are trying to load up on the truck – pushing and shoving and there is complete chaos. The people on the truck are lying about where they live and saying that the sheet of names I have aren’t really the correct families. I’m so frustrated I want to scream and quit- and yet out of the corner of my eye I see my beautiful little boy – STILL IN THE RED SHIRT – crying. The lady that was sitting on the bucket that day – who wouldn’t let me take her picture – looked at me and said, “Please – don’t punish us for what others are doing.We are so hungry”. She pulled up the boy’s shirt and showed me a little rope tied around it. In Haiti when you’re hungry you take rope and tie it around your belly because the tightness makes you feel like you’re full. She said, “Please – do not give up on us. Do not forget us. Do not let satan win.” I sat there and wept with the lady.
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I’m still crying right now as I type. These are HIS people. They are so hungry. I see the flies that hover over people as if they’re already dead. It’s blazing hot -there are still places reeking of rotten bodies – they have little to drink – they don’t own a pot to cook in – – and my precious little boy has a rope around his belly. Do their children not cry all night in hunger? Do the parents sit around and wonder how their life ended up this way? Every tent zone we passed today you saw people just sitting there – staring out into space – nothing to do – no place to go – in complete despair.
We are here to help them – I do not understand what happened today? I felt completely defeated. We made everyone get off the truck – and we left. As we pulled into the hotel to call it a night- Antoine yelled out – Satan Pedi Batay…..and stomped his foot. All the men on the back of the truck yelled out again -Satan Pedi Batay – and stomped their feet. Then they told me – see you tomorrow with Plan G. While I felt like I had nothing left to give- they smiled and simply said – we try again tomorrow!! Wow!
These people here – they’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met. You cannot hold them down. I know everyone on my team had hit their limit today and yet gladly they signed up for it again tomorrow!! These people have been hit with everything imaginable and yet – they will rise again. God kept laying this song on my heart today……
“I Will Rise”
There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say “It is well”
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
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Tomorrow we begin Plan G.