Gonaives

At the end of April, the four of us girls were invited to spend a weekend with some missionary friends in the city of Gonaives. Due to a busy weekend in the office, Rachel (far left) couldn't join us for our Jacmel trip, so we were very excited that she could come along this time. It was by far one of the best weekends of my entire stay here in Haiti ...

And this is the family we stayed with -Jan's clan ;)

On the far left, you have Jiffy (I forget his real name, but as you can see, he was nicknamed for a brand of tasty peanut butter!). He has been living with the Thompson family ever since his family lost their home during the flood this past September.

Next is Jan. She is originally from Kansas, and has an AMAZING testimony. I have not met many women who have faced the kind of hardship and tragedy that she has lived through and who have come out so strong on the other side. God is using her to do amazing things here in Haiti ... she is a rock, if I ever met one!

Then we have Jacob - the youngest of Jan's three teenagers. They were all adopted, as a sibling set, when they were quite young. But they've give Jan her share of headaches over the years ;) Jacob is the talker of the family now (though they all have the gift), and he made sure we never had a moment's boredom during our short stay with them.

Shelby - the drama queen, animal lover, artist and poet. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her. She showed me how to use Crest toothpaste to make a simple (but effective) face mask, she shared poetry with me, and even helped me pick out flowers for my wedding!


Amanda/Manda is the oldest of the three. She is much more reserved than the other two, but has a real wild streak in her! She is learning the guitar and hopes to start a worship band that can lead worship in the local park. She was also the daredevil who climbed the tower on top of prayer mountain with me ;)

Last but not least is Donald - family friend, translator, chauffeur, and body guard =) He was a trip. While he was born in Haiti, he spend most of his years living in the Bronx (which his accent quickly gives away!). We had a lot of fun with him, and we especially thankful for his good driving skills when he brought us home through a thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon.


This was a sight that we were not prepared for. Over 6 months after the floodwaters of Hurricane Hanna, this city was still full of mud! Disasters like this take so much manpower and time to clean up ... and he were are at the start of yet another rainy season. God, please spare this city from any major hurricanes this year.


On Saturday morning, the Thompsons gave us a short tour of the city and then brought us to the home of Christopher - a young autistic boy (who is also deaf) that they care for every weekend. They have recently started a ministry to help young children like him who need special care and education, beyond what the Haitian schools can provide. He was such a delight to meet! Full of joy, with a constant grin on his face ... he showed us the little bit of sign language that he's been learning at the deaf school he just started attending this year. But we all felt bad when we had to leave without him - he thought he was coming along, and had already started taking a bucket bath so that he'd be clean and ready to go! You can see him in the orange t-shirt on the far left of this picture =)

These are some the neighborhood children around Christopher's home. This area was one of the hardest hit during the floods and hurricanes. Most of the houses were under water and many had to be rebuilt or dug out after the mud dried.


Rachel and I climb up a hand-made ladder to visit some more friends of the Thompsons. This particular family was still living up on their roof, due to the severe flood-damage to their home. They were also housing several of their friends and family members, totalling 16 people in their small metal-shanty. At the time we visited, several of the young women were fighting off the chicken poxs. Thankfully, most of us had them when we were young, so we were able to visit with them without the fear of becoming infected ourselves.


Shelby and Manda are quite fluent in Kreyol, so they visited with the young women while the rest of us explored the flood damage from the vantage point of the roof.



This included some more exciting ladder-walking. Go, Esther - you're almost there!


At the peak of the flooding, the water level rose to the top of the porch railing of this home. It was over 15 feet in some places ...


Shelby, having some fun with what the flood waters left behind! Jacob found the neck of the guitar as well, which he took with him - he plans to clean it up and create a wall-hanging for his sister Manda on her birthday.


Lindsay brought along some of the Old Navy sandals to give to the families we met. This little girl was in love with her bright blue pair ;)


We then made our way to the prison, where Jan makes weekly visits to the prisoners. This particular day we brought along laundry soap, toilet paper, and sandals to give to them. They were very grateful for the gifts, and enjoyed seeing Jan and her clan (plus visitors). The gentleman to Jan's right in this picture is a pastor from Gonaives who has been imprisoned for over a year now, without any prospects of a court in the near future. He and the other young men in his cell sang a hymn for us in Kreyol before we left. It was beautiful ...


Lindsay and Jiffy handing out new sandals to the men through the prison bars.


After visiting the two cells where the men were being held, we stopped by the women's cell. We were greeted with a wave of steamy, putrid air. It must have been over 100 degrees in these cells - no wonder many of them women had stripped down to almost nothing! And I don't see how they could breathe in that stench every day ... some of us had to step back from the cell door just to keep our breakfast from coming up.

They were a strong group of women though. Many of them in prison simply because they were present when their husbands were arrested, and the police assumed that they might have been accomplices in the crime. When we first set foot in the prison, we heard singing coming from this cell. This led into a time of prayer, which we didn't want to interrupt. So we saved our visit with them until last.


After our visit at each cell, one of us prayed with and for the prisoners. I had the privelege of praying here with the pastor and his group of cell mates. But talk about needing the Spirit to intercede with groans that words cannot express ... how do you pray for a group of inmates who may or may not know God? Who may or may not feel conviction for their crime? Who may or may not even be guilty for that crime? I prayed that God would bring them true justice, and that he would give them strength to face each day, and that he would bless them - even in the dark valleys that they are walking in right now.

As I thought about Jan's faithfulness in visiting these prisoners, it made my heart go out to those who are incarcerated in my own hometown. I don't know many Christians who make a habit of visiting those in prison, as Christ commanded us to - to be quite honest, in the midst of my busy weeks, the thought doesn't even cross my mind! This is something that I hope will change when I come back home again...


After grabbing a bite of lunch and taking a short nap, we headed up to prayer mountain (one of the many large mountains surrounding Gonaives) for a hike. It was a beautiful day, with a strong breeze that kept us from overheating on our intense climb. The Thompson children have made this trip many times, so they led the way =)


A view of the city from our half-way point up the mountain.


And at the top! The young boy on the far right joined us for most of our hike, and he enjoyed posing for pictures as well ;)


Having fun with the late-afternoon sunlight and shadows. The message was common theme among this group, who have many loved ones at home that we miss ...


I joined Manda for a fun climb up to the top of this tower, where we wrote our names in permanent marker for the world to see. Stu's is there as well =) While he wasn't with me in person, he was definitely in my thoughts and prayers all weekend ...


The amazing view from the top!

On the hike up, we ran across some large Aloe-like plants that had become another place for people to leave their mark. We found Jan's name from a year before, when she made this crazy hike on her 40th birthday (her kids' idea!). So I decided to put our names here too ;)


Manda and her new friend - the young boy who joined us for our hike. Here he is having a great time sharing Manda's ipod and listening to her music (though I don't know how much of the lyrics he actually understood!).


After our hike, we came home to an amazing dinner of hot stew. Then, after a movie, we enjoyed some Haitian ice cream sundaes. They were delicious! The girls' faces might look a bit stiff here, due to the face masks we pampered ourselves with that evening ;)


Even Jacob joined in on the fun!


Playing Manda's guitar and having a little time of worship on the Thompson's front porch. Looks like Hurricane Hanna (their dog - found as a puppy during the flood) was doing a little dance to join in on the worship!


We attended church with the Thompsons that morning, and got to hear this group of young orphan boys sing a hymn, accompanied by some awesome dance steps. Jan was invited to share the message, and did a phenomenal job. She is a true mouthpiece for the Lord - I think every person in that church building left with a challenge to walk more closely with God and to become more like Him.



On our way home, we got stuck behind a funeral in the streets of St. Marc. What a way to end our trip =) But it was a wonderful get-away. A weekend full of fun, fellowship, refreshment, exericise, and ministry. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to go!