day 5

So this is my first time blogging for the team. My name is Deidrick, and I guess I’ll just be updating you with where we are at so far. To start off I want to say thank you to everyone that has been praying for us. We can definitely feel your prayers. The relationships that we have made with the kids have been so amazing. It feels like we are finally being accepted in this culture. They believe us when we say we love them. Even though the language barrier is very present, we are able to show them through our actions and smiles that they are important and are not forgotten.

VBS has been a huge hit. The numbers aren’t quite as big as the first day, but the people that come back over and over are definitely hungry for what we are saying. Yesterday we had a chance, after the study, to take the whole group from the church to the ocean and just kinda walk the shores. I think the walk to the shores was more of a bigger deal for me than anyone else, because of the person I was able to talk to on the way. One of our new Haitian friends Elizah and I talked the whole way to the beach. I can’t really remember what we were talking about…I was probably asking him a thousand questions about their language like I always do. But as we were walking we passed an old lady sleeping on the side of the walkway. This stood out to me a little bit because this was the first time I had seen anyone asleep on the side of the road especially during the day. Elizah noticed that she had caught my attention and he began to explain to me that she was “out of her mind”. As we walked closer to the beach, I saw another old person sitting on the road with his hand extended to us waiting for us to place money into it. He said nothing to us, as he looked straight into our eyes. Elizah began to explain to me that this man was also “out of his mind”. By this point I was very curious and wanted to know what he meant. He told me he had seen both of them several times do crazy things. Run around at night naked and screaming, causing themselves physical pain, picking up trash off the ground and eating it, he said the voodoo made them crazy.

Later that night at the soccer fields, a guy gashed open his head playing soccer. One of our guides Alan, was asked to take him to the hospital, and I somehow managed to make it into the back of the truck before rushing down the busy streets of Haiti. When we made it to the hospital, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. There was no check in area, only a guy at a gate that would let you in if you honked long enough. As I walked in, I could hear a screaming lady in the room next to me. There were no doors and there was dirt everywhere. We were directed to a room where I saw a man getting his slit wrist stitched up while sitting on a bench. As the blood dripped off his arm, I noticed his face and it made mine grimace. I immediately realized that there was no pain medicine for him. Poverty first hand and up close. I felt bad for anyone who had any serious injuries. On the way back to the fields, I was explained, that’s just how things go around here.

Regardless of all of this, we are still energetic. We don’t want anything to get in the way of our joy when we are with the kids. Tomorrow is a big day for us, pretty much the reason we came. Tomorrow we will be sharing with the kids the story of Christ and encouraging them not only to pray a prayer, but to make a life change. Our spirits are all heavy tonight. We can see the resistance of the enemy in this country. One of our teammates is sick, and while we were praying for the souls of those that will be saved tomorrow we could hear the voodoo drums for some ritual start up off in the distance. I can actually hear them right now as I’m typing this. Tonight and tomorrow morning we will be warriors in prayer. We know we are here for a reason, and we refuse to give in to the attacks of the enemy. We just ask that you join us in prayer. Pray for our teammate Stephen, who we hope is just really dehydrated. I guess we will see tomorrow morning. Also pray that the story we try to communicate tomorrow is received without any opposition and that lives are changed. This is what its all about for us. We are eager and ready. Thank you again for your prayers.

I guess that’s all for now. Sorry if it was long, I tried to keep it as short as I could. At this point everyone has a story. I’m looking forward to sharing more when we come back. Goodnight everyone. Hope everyone else on the other mission trips are doing well. We’re praying for ya’ll daily.