2nd Year Anniversary

Ok, so this is a little late, but yesterday was really busy and hectic, so I didn’t do any writing.  But the 12th of January for Haitians and those that were in Haiti during the Earth quake is all about a day of remembrance and reflection.  Remembering those that we lost, rejoicing with those that were spared in the earth quake two years ago now.  Haiti and Haitians have taught me so much about how to deal with devastation and death. 

I am still amazed at how the vast population take something so devastating and see the good, and remember the good, and make the day of remembrance about good, and not about self-loathing or mourning.  Our lost and hardship on that day was really nothing compared to those around us.  The cracks in our home, Ticarlis’ injury to his foot, and the emotional trauma of course, was really nothing in comparison.  Looking back the hardest moment I remember as a family was days earlier, Leann’s miscarriage, and we JUST bought tickets to go to the US the night before, to get seen by a doctor and take some time to process and grieve our loss.  Remembering going to Leann literally within the hour after the Earthquake saying that we had to stay, we had to move past our loss.  Our family needed us, our community needed us, our Church needed us, our employees needed us, our missionary team needed us.

Honestly even now, I am so proud of my family, or our missionary team, of the families we lived with and served with and worked under us.  God used us in amazing ways, within minutes and hours after the devastating quake.  We immediately went into action, first evaluating the damage of our other homes, getting the kids from afternoon school, and getting a hold of all our employees to make sure the immediate families and friends were ok, then immediately serving the communities in which we lived, by offering food, housing, setting up refugee camps literally outside our homes for our families and for the families around us.  Having internet still working, and generators in the homes, we were contacted by literally hundreds of requests concerned for homes, family members, team members, etc, so we immediately went to “check up” on the requests and follow back immediately with the families.  Then the airport, being responsible for the airport for weeks, bringing in hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, water, medications, and medical supplies, then the people coming in.  Helping set up operation rooms, clinics, feeding centers, etc.  Distributing the food and supplies day and night to local pastors and leaders to get it out to the population as fast as we were getting it in.  The flight to Leogone delivering needed supplies and people to an area that was completely cut off, the stories are endless. 

Many other stories, some of which I have forgotten, or have tried to forget, when so I choose not to write about.  Some of the rescues the success and the failed.  The smells, the death, the high stress environments, and the grieving of tens of thousands.  Honestly I take no credit, and give all the credit first and foremost to God, for using us in amazing ways, for my family for choosing to step up in major way, for my friends and partners in ministries, couldn’t have been nearly effective without them.  To the support of the Canadian military, the UN, and many other local government officials.  Watching mission groups come together for the same cause was inspirational and life changing for me.  Grateful and proud to be a part of something so much bigger then myself.

The earthquake put Haiti on the map.  The estimated deaths well over 300,000 people, it was considered one of the worst devestaions per capita that the World has ever seen.  The support flooded in, for every organization, including ours.  For the first time ever our organization was not living month to month, and we were able to buy the new vehicles, the new motorcycles, we partnered with several other organizations, moved into our new office, and built an infostructure for ourselves and other ministries.  We were doing more and more ministries and outreaches, serving and helping our community more and more.  In the refugee camps, in the hospitals, ministries I only dreamed about.  We led over 135 employees, it was exciting.  We grew fast, probably too fast.  I think it was one of the reasons our ministry was taken away.  With growth, with success, also comes jealousy, greed, and selfishness.

Oddly my reflections yesterday was looking back over the past year.  And my memories focused on the good, not the bad.  Last year January 12th we had one of the biggest “Church services” worship times in the prison.  It was exciting to see other cells get involved, doors were opened literally that day, and lives were changed.   Another highlight for me was news coverage locally in Jacmel covered the revival and march in Jacmel, which our ministry and family helped host and participated in.  So I literally got to see EVERYONE of my kids and wife on TV in the prison.  It was SO exciting for me, the highlight of my month.  It was three months that I was in Prison by then, and it helped me withstand the next two months.  Sounds silly, but most of my kids I never even saw before that moment, so it was a joy, and they replayed those clips over and over, a joy.

This year our family participated in the revivals and march again.  This was of course the first year I did the walk with them, and it was A LOT of fun, and thousands swarmed the streets and marched, prayed, sang, and shared in the memories of 12th of January.  We attended the evening revivals leading up to it, but then the march began at 2:00p.m with a prayer and worship service, then at 4:00 until 7:00 marching through the city of Jacmel.  It was fun and exhausting!!