Friday, January 14, 2011

Adventures of a missionary on a mission trip.

A group of neat men that God brought together to share a story & and an adventure in Haiti.
So I finally got Internet connection, yesterday I found internet in a big room filled with reporters for AP, so I made my self at home, Skyped Lucas, but after about an hour, they realized I wasn't a "real" AP reporter and they kicked me out of the room. I finally found the hotel business center, and here I am. Anyway, Tuesday and 9:30 PM We left a chilly cold LAX and arrived 12 hours later in a hot and muggy Haiti. My first impression as we entered the airport was CHAOS, even though it's been a year, things are still pretty primitive at the airport. We made it outside and immediately we we're almost mobbed with people asking to help carry our luggage, for money, food, anything we could give them. I was a little overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of tents of the people who have lost their homes, all crammed in very close to each other, they are all over the city. We arrived at the hotel, which felt weird because inside it was like and oasis, nice pool, restaurant, AC and etc. and right across the street is a large tent city with people barely surviving. There are armed guards at the front of the hotel. Because it is the 1st anniversary of the earthquake, every news outlet from all over the world is here, from CNN to German News. Even Bubba Clinton was in town for the ceremony.BUT, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but it's still pretty dire. After checking in we went and met a missionary to the deaf here, his name is Leny Funtecha. He and his wife have a deaf church and are starting to build a school for the deaf since the local school collapsed. He took us to the "Friends of deaf Haiti" camp that I mentioned in my previous blog.  It was very cool. They were so happy to meet me, and eager to  converse with me. Wilder, one of the camp leaders showed me around. they had just moved from tents into small wooded houses on Friday, so they were pretty happy with their new homes. There are about 400 people living here. Tthey are helping with the building of their new homes and at the same time learning a new trade  in construction. I should point out that most of these homes were a result of Friends of deaf Haiti and the International Red Cross, and they can still use more money to build more homes (www.friendsofdeafhaiti.org), I want to thank Richard Cohen from FDH for his help in not only being a part of FDH but for helping me make the connections. It was a special day, I know it has been hard for them. I met a young man who lost his leg in the earthquake, many others told me their stories. One after one they would come up to me, sigh their name. After a couple of hours of visiting and talking with them it was time to leave. I did not want to go, I could have stayed there all day, all week if the group would let me. So they all got together and I shared with them that the deaf children (and adults) of Mexico  knew about them and were praying for them, they were encouraged by that. I prayed in front of the group then almost every one of them came up to me, hugged me and said goodbye. What a day.  Stay tune for day 2; Luke and the gang digs a big hole.

Some of the deaf who lived in FDH camp.

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