This past Saturday started out like any other Saturday. We were all buzzing around Hope Center, cleaning the dorms for the next team, packing away the groceries the cooks bought in preparation for another week of team meals, reorganizing the clinic for another week of seeing patients, etc. when suddenly there was a loud rap on the back gate of the compound. When Tony opened the gate, there was a thin, young woman who could barely walk, obviously in tremendous pain, holding her hand that had been loosely wrapped in gauze but was quite saturated with blood. Two men held her up on either side, and they were all very much in distress. Tony quickly helped the woman to the clinic and began to check on the injury. She explained to him that someone came to her house that morning and when she opened the door, the person at the door attacked her with a machete and nearly sliced her hand off. Her hand was deeply gashed across her palm and on around to the top side. The tendon of her pinky finger was obviously severed because it was hanging to the side and she could not lift it. Tony was afraid bones were cut as well. As soon as he saw that the tendon was cut, he realized we needed to get her to a hospital. About the time he was headed to the house to check on some things, I walked out and could immediately tell by the look on his face and his three unfinished sentences started at once that something was terribly wrong. He explained to me what was going on and I rushed over to the clinic to see how I could help. As soon as I saw her, my heart wrenched for her and I knew I needed to go with her to the hospital. The two men with her wanted to take her to the hospital on a motorcycle tap-tap, and she clearly would not have made it to a hospital that way. She couldn’t even walk! I asked Tony if I could go with her to the hospital, and he said I couldn’t go to Port au Prince, but I could go as far as to Ganthier to help secure a tap-tap to get her to the hospital. We lifted her into the truck and she immediately fell back on my shoulder in tears. I held her and began to pray. On the way down the road, we passed Jacques’ truck near the orphanage. Tony asked Jacques if he could take her since he speaks good Creole as well as English. We switched over to his truck and off we went. She wimpered softly through the fog that the medicines had brought upon her, and tears continued to gently stream down her gaunt, ebony cheeks. Jacques proceeded to make phone calls to see where we needed to go. I continued to pray. He decided to take her to a clinic in Fond Parisienne that has an ambulance service and doctor on duty. We took her in to see the doctor. He decided to x-ray her hand to see the extent of the damage. Hallelujah, there were no severed bones, however, he confirmed that the pinky tendon was severed and that would need to be fixed before sewing her up. He wrote us a letter of admittance to the emergency care hospital in Tabar, gave her a pain injection, and off we went again, this time to Port au Prince. (He would not agree to an ambulance) I decided to sing to her to see if that would help calm her spirits. She slowly drifted off into a deep sleep as we jostled around in the back seat of the truck while passing over portions of the highway that were covered in pot holes, cracks, and rough terrain. After driving for about 45 minutes, we finally reached the emergency care facility. I took her in while Jacques parked the truck. The hospital staff had me take her over to a gurney in an open waiting area then communicated to me that I would need to wait in the waiting area where there were no less than 70 people. After praying with her one more time, I obeyed and waited for Jacques. He informed me that her family had called and that they were on their way to the hospital too. After being assured that they were almost there, we decided to go on out to the truck to prepare to head back to Hope Center. After a few minutes of waiting, Jacques said, “There’s more to this story than just a guy attacking her with a machete. This lady is involved with voodoo.” He explained that she had said some things to him in Creole that I didn’t pick up on. From there, we proceeded into a conversation about the voodoo culture and the things that are practiced and believed in Haiti connected with voodoo. It is truly something that most Americans simply cannot wrap our brains around. One thing is for sure. It is very sad, very violent, and very evil. I am praying that Marie realizes that Jesus loves her and that He is the reason she has survived this terrible act of violence. I pray that she will return to our clinic soon to see Tony and hear more about the love of our savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that she will be saved and healed and will no longer be tormented by the life she has been living under the curse of voodoo and violence. I pray that she knows she is loved. My heart is heavy for Marie tonight. I wonder if she is at home now. I wonder if she is thinking about the prayers she heard whispered over her. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give her peace tonight and that she will KNOW where that peace is coming from.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
House Painting Day
This has been a week of firsts for the team here. Today we painted our first house to be painted on the Hill. Earlier in the week, we took some paint samples to each family and let them pick the color they want their house painted. Ms. Martha picked Salmon. Since she is our oldest resident, we decided to start with hers.
First thing this morning, the team went up to Ms Martha’s house with supplies in tow. First they posed for a picture with Ms Martha in front of her unpainted house. Next, they wrote sweet messages to her before painting. Next, they let Ms. Martha apply the first roll of paint to her house, then they got to work! In no time, the whole house was painted and they started working on the trim. Look at what a difference a little color makes!! This Hill will transform in the weeks to come as we continue painting houses on the Hill.
God is blessing this village tremendously, and we are so very thankful that He constantly sends his people to be used in His blessings. What a wonderful two weeks we have had! Hallelujah!
The team posing with Ms Martha in front of her unpainted house
The team writes sweet messages of encouragement to Ms Martha before painting over them.
One of the sweet messages written by a team member to Ms Martha
Ms Martha applies the first splash of color to her house
Almost done!! We are now applying the white paint to the trim.
Filed under Haiti
By His Hands We are Fed
It has been an amazing week since I arrived back in Haiti. I wish I could share every detail, but I don’t have time to write it all and you don’t have time to read it all. However, today I just could not postpone writing another day. Today God showed up in a mighty way. This afternoon, about an hour before we were to walk back into the village to have VBS with the children in the back of the village, a young mother and her mother showed up to the clinic with a baby. As soon as Tony saw him, he thought the baby resembled the twins he has been taking care of for several months. This baby was very malnourished, just like the two he had seen a few months ago. Come to find out, his mother is the sister of the mother with twins. This child is fourteen months old, but he looks like he is three months.
This is Davenson and his mother Daena. His is fourteen months old but only weighs about fourteen pounds. Please pray for provision and improved health.
At first it seemed as if the mother didn’t want to feed him, but we soon found that she was just feeling helpless because her child wouldn’t eat. The reason he wouldn’t eat is because all she had to feed him was corn and he couldn’t eat corn. The nurses with the team who have been working in the clinic this week fed him some formula, and all he would eat was about two ounces. He immediately fell asleep.
The team felt led to give the family some food, so they asked Tony about it. Tony told them where he keeps the extra beans and rice for families who move in and Stan took the large ring of keys to the storage place to get the rice. There were about 40 keys on the ring and the door opened with the first one Stan tried. We got a 40 lb bag of rice, a gallon of oil, and a bag of dried beans and walked with Daena, Davenson, and his grandmother far into the village to deliver the food supplies.
The grandmother carried her grand baby along the trail through the village to their house. Soon he woke up and could actually hold his head up! It’s amazing what 2 ounces of food did for his energy level. Someone handed him a cracker and he held it almost the whole way home.
We all followed the grandmother and daughter through the brush down the long dirt pathways of the village all the way to their home. At one point, the grandmother took me by the hand and began to share with me how happy she is that God has brought us to her village. She said that she had prayed for God to provide for her family, and He sent Tony to the clinic of Hope Center and he gave them food to help her grand babies grow. (I was pretty excited that I was able to understand her as she said all of this in creole!) She and I began to sing “Mesi Jesi” (Thank you Jesus) over and over again. I put my arm around her and we walked and swayed as we sang together.
Standing in the grandmother’s home, we prayed for her family. We prayed for God to continue to provide for them and protect their health.
The grandmother showed us her home and told us that we were welcome. She asked us if we would pray for her home and her family. We stood in her little home made of mud and sticks and prayed for God to protect their health, provide food and safety, and give the grandparents wisdom as they continue to raise their family. After we prayed, we went back outside and made an exciting discovery. Daena was so excited that little Davenson was actually taking the bottle that he had refused earlier at the clinic! She was elated!
Davenson happily takes the bottle his mother is giving him. She was elated! Her baby was finally eating!
We visited a little while longer and took a few pictures then headed on back to Professor Soloman’s school to do VBS.
Here is the grandmother with her twin grand babies and Daena with her baby Davenson. All of the babies have been severely malnourished, but God is providing for them….by HIS hands we are fed!! Hallelujah!!
I was completely moved by this experience today. It tears my heart out every time I see children who are starving and their desperate parents and grandparents seeking any help they can find for their children. The thing is, we see this nearly every single day. But you know what? God is moving every single day too. The very reason we are here is by His hand. The very reason we have food to give to people in need like this is by His hand. The very reason people come here to help in the clinic and share the love of Jesus with our people is by His hand. God is providing in amazing ways, and the people in this village are so very grateful for the ways God is answering their prayers.
God is great. God is good….and we THANK Him for His provision of food. By HIS hands, they are fed, as He gives us daily bread.
“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
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