Reflections from Dakotas School of Missions last summer -

Why do I choose to live my life in poverty?

 

In the afternoon of July 12th I found myself sobbing in my car. We were learning about poverty in the world and Haiti. And I just got a text message saying if I didn’t pay my cell phone they would shut it off. I had to take a break between learning about Haiti and hearing more about poverty to run to the bank. First I checked my bank account and I had about the amount of money that would cover the cost of classes I was taking. I didn’t have enough money to cover the cost of the full cell phone bill.

 

Why do I live my life in poverty?

 

I then realized I had just the right amount of money to cover the amount needed to keep the phone on from selling some artwork from Haiti and some of my own jewelry. As well as a donation that I received that week so I could deposit that to cover the cost of my gas home from the classes.

 

Why do I live my life in poverty?

 

After having a good cry in the car and talking to my mother; I pulled myself together and prayed for it to be ok.

 

• I went back to hear more statistics on how women and children are affected by being poor more than men.
• We learned how children around the world are beaten and work without food and water to make 8 cents an hour for their families to eat.
• I learned that there are children in Haiti still enslaved legally, cleaning and cooking for families of those that have more; they are called rasticfecs. If they are lucky they are fed and maybe go to school. If they are not lucky they are beaten and barely fed the scrapes you would give a dog.
• We learned about people who lose everything in the United States their homes, their jobs, and their hope.

 

Why do I live in Poverty?

 

After listening and listening and sharing a few tears and seeing my neighbors in the room and neighbors across the world live.

 

I thought about my own life.

 

I don’t choose to live my life in Poverty – I choose to live it with God!

 

I trust that God will take care of my ‘daily bread’. I know that God will provide and give me guidance to make it through. God will put people in my pathway that also see how amazing God works in the world. Sometimes God doesn’t work on my time. I would rather God didn’t wait until I had no money in the bank to take care of my needs. But you know something – that is when I felt closest to God this week. I cried out! I sat in my car and sobbed and cried, “Please God, Let this be ok. Let me get through this. Put people in my pathway so I don’t feel like this. I trust you will take care of this. Give me strength.”

 

As I left the car, I felt a sense of relief. I felt a sense of confidence back. I didn’t know how it would be ok. But I gave up trying to control it myself and knew God had it under control. I went back to learn more about the poor in the world.

 

I felt selfish learning these stories of others. I felt guilty for crying out to God about my empty bank account. After all I knew I was eating dinner that night and breakfast the next day. I knew I had a place to sleep – several really, if I needed it.

 

We sang a song – “Walk Humbly with your God”, one of my favorite songs. I was spending too much time looking up, thinking about the Jones, looking at what others had in the room, thinking about the large beautiful houses that surround the campus. I was not walking humbly with my God. I needed to continue to do that and seek justice and love kindness. Thinking of what I do have and not what I don’t have.

 

Again God taught me peace. I listened to the stories of the Haitian people shared by others and thought about all I knew of them too and I was asked to share my experiences. After I walked back to my table of Haitian products and my own jewelry, I felt the table becoming bare. I had sold so many things.

 

Thank you, Jesus.

 

Why do I choose to live in Poverty with God?

               because it has taught me the beauty of others - my neighbors.

 

After a quick dinner before heading on the road, I packed up what things I still had left. The tote that was full to the brim plus extras in a neighbor’s hands when I came but was now just full. Then another neighbor came and bought another load full of stuff, leaving me with ¾ of a tote of artisan’s goods. Amazing God.

 

Upon leaving, this neighbor gave me inspirational words. She told me as a Grandma how amazing it was that I was doing this work. How she was delighted and blessed to have me there this week. I felt foolish again when I thought back, to crying out alone in the car to God; praying that God would show me and let me feel people with me. But I also gleamed with a smile and expressed how I could not do this without people [neighbors] like her who support my living in Haiti. I raise all my own funds through sharing with others about Haiti and selling the Haitian artwork as well as my own. She hadn’t known that I didn’t get ‘paid’ from some source. Nope – I trust God. And maybe I need to do a better job sharing that part of the message of my life. But it is tough to admit when you need money, no one likes to ask that sort of thing. We are taught in our culture not to talk about money. But I trust in God and continue living faithfully, even if it means some tears.

 

Why do I choose to live in Poverty with God?

 

I have stayed in a different bed every night this week to go and share about Haiti. – thanks to my neighbors.

 

I am able to drive a more economic car around to these places while in the US – thanks to a neighbor.

 

This week I was able to raise over $700 for artists in Haiti and myself to live. – thanks to my neighbors.

 

I was able to not only speak at School of Missions, but hear and learn more about people I love.

 

– thanks to my neighbors.

 

Then I shared at my local church in Vermillion that gives me an amazing amount of support and love, as well as the church in Gayville.

 

– amazing neighbors.

- Amazing God.

 

I remember when I knew I had to go into missions. After having gone to Haiti on the Solar Oven Partners I knew I had to go. This is not the first time this had happened you understand. The first time I felt a ‘calling’ was at my mother’s ordination service 15 years earlier. But it just seemed impossible to do, mostly because of the money – how would I live!? But after my trip to Haiti, it was as if God was standing there at the door, holding it open and waiting for me to step out. Waiting and waiting. Actually I remember when I finally made the decision I was living in the church apartment at the time, serving as the campus director. I was thinking and praying and had an image of standing on the top of the church on the second floor getting ready to jump of the building. I was terrified. But finally I said, “ok, ok, God let’s do it, I will trust you.” And as soon as I did I saw my whole congregation below me on the lawn right there to catch me. And now – 2 years later – that whole lawn is full of people. It is full of people from across the Dakotas conference as well as folks in Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Minnisota, Colorado, New Mexico, Canada, and England and many others I maybe don’t even know

 

– my neighbors.

 

My neighbors here in the United States take care of me so I can help my neighbors in Haiti. And you know it works the same right back. That is the beauty of God’s love. My Haitian neighbors help me and show me how to love too so I can continue to show God’s amazing love to my neighbors in the United States.

 

 

 

 

 



Making Coffee

This is a much more difficult task in Haiti then it is in the United States.  First you go and pick the beans from the plant or buy them from the market.  Then you let them dry out in the sun for a day or two depending on how humid it is at the time.   Once they are dry you take off the outer coat to roast the coffee bean inside.  Roasting them - this is a long process; you stir and stir and stir the beans in a large pot over charcoal or wood.  After they have made a crunching, popping noise you know they are finished.  Then you put them in a large pedestsel and pound them into a powder.  After you have pounded and pounded, often times the person makes a lovely rhythm.  It is quite beautiful when you have two people working together to make the music, I mean the coffee grounds.  The powder is run through a strainer several times to make sure it is fine enough.  You then have the grounds to make coffee in the morning.  In the morning hopefully there is water to boil, if not you head to the well to fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water to start your work for the day.  Then you start the water boiling over charcoal or wood.  It takes a bit of time to get it started.  The boiling water has lots and lots of sugar, to make it rich and wonderful -Haitian style.  Then you pour the boiling sugar water through a small cloth sack.  They often do this pouring of boiling water with nothing in their hand to protect themselves, such as a pot holder or other barrier.  The coffee pours out of the small cloth sack in a lovely stream of rich black coffee.  The coffee is sweet and dark!  The mama’s often put it in a large metal cup at first to mix it back and forth.  Then with that little bit in the metal cup; they swish it around cooling it so they can have that first sip of the morning.   I am sometimes there for this long morning process and other times I may still be in bed.  I am always thrilled to hear those magic words from Mama Philomen in the morning – “Café, Angelica”.  I try never to take this for granted.  I greet her with a big smile and say “Mesi!”  Being very grateful for the couple day process she went through to make coffee for the family and myself.  Sometimes I think about brewing up my coffee in the States - opening my cupboard, putting a couple scoops of grounds in the filter, filling up the pitcher with water from my sink, and pushing the button.  After I have had time to get dressed for my day – and magically my coffee is ready.  Ahhhh – and then the magic did happen – as I sat on my bed early in the morning writing this – I didn’t hear Philo but heard the noise of the coffee pot and cups hitting my table and then Papi brought me in a cup of coffee.   Shortly after that Jerzie ran in for her little sip of coffee too.  Oh moments to cherish.

Reflections on Port au Prince

Oh, Port au Prince I don’t even, know what to do with you.  But you make me think and wonder and cry a bit.  We came in this morning and the city is beyond words.  The best and simplest way to describe it is ‘yucky’.  But that is not who you are, your people make you beautiful.  I arrived at the ‘house’ passing dirty, dusty roads, bouncing on potholes and brown water flowing through the streets of trash.  We were greeted with warm happy faces to see us; kisses on the cheek and a warm handshake saying ‘Bonswa’.  We enter the home to relax down a walking alley way through a narrow hallway to enter two dark rooms.  It feels good to be back home in Haiti.

Being Reminded of Haitian Hospitality After Arriving

I forgot a few things I guess about family and the Haitian system while I was gone. We arrived safely in Port au Prince. We were at the back of the plane so we took the second bus in. All of our luggage was there we just had to hunt it down. They remove it from the rack when it comes off the baggage carriage. But we got them all found and out the door. We had to wait and wait for our ride to come they were stuck in ‘blokus’ traffic jam. I walked across the parking lot to find them and got a double embrace from my two friends. The truck was there so I hopped on the back of it and directed them to the place of our luggage and other friends. We jammed all our luggage and us on the truck, barely fitting on. But still there was room for 2 Haitians plus a child and their things to head out of town.


As we headed through Port au Prince I was not feeling well and decided it was because I was hungry and of course tired. One of the American gals with us said she had she had a granola bar and handed it to me. As I looked up at the faces with me; I thought oh yeah I cannot eat this myself and not share. I forgot. In Haiti if you have something to eat you share in with those around you. So before I started eating I started digging for my other granola bar to share with the 4 people there; the 5 of us shared 2 granola bars. Later our driver, my friend Tigo bought plantains (potato chip style) for all of us to share. When we got to the turn off of from the road we all shared 3 plates of food for lunch. In Haiti we just share. If you have something you share it with those with you.

This Haitian hospitality, this notion of sharing everything you have, bit me later again when arriving at my house. I was going to sleep in my bed and the two college students that came with me brought air mattresses to sleep on. But my Haitian family insisted I had to give up my bed. They were guests and they would have a bed to sleep in. I still had a bed to sleep in, the family took one of the air mattresses and gave me their bed. But I think about how often that happens in the United States. And this is not to say we don’t have great hospitality in the United States. And I experienced great hospitality while in the states!! I am also more than happy to sleep on a couch or an air mattress when someone is willing to have me stay at their house. And I have many, many a soul to thank for this while in the U.S. I even think about when I have house guests in the states. I love my comfortable bed and don’t really sacrifice too much to have friends or family stay with me. There is only one time I gave up my bed for company and that was for my mother because I didn’t have a spare bed so I slept on the couch. There has been several occasions while visiting PaP that a Haitian family member has given up there bed so that I might sleep there and they would be sleeping on the floor. It has always been curious where I might sleep when visiting other places – but I always know I will be well taken care of.

I am continually learning from my brothers and sisters in Haiti. And sometimes I admit I don’t like it!! [I say with a smile and a wink.] This is what Jesus was teaching us too. “Love you neighbor as yourself.” And really one of the greatest lessons we can learn in school is to share. But as we get more and more stuff for our comfortable lives, it becomes harder and harder to share it. It seems like an odd thing. But they say that often in giving trends in the United States; often times those that give the most don’t have as much to give. I have witnessed that many times both in the United States and in Haiti. When people are generous, sharing, and giving you feel the presents of God, especially in those moments.

Morning in Haiti - Reflection

I arise to the sounds of the world around me.

Chickens peeping and crowing that it is morning.

Close your eyes and imagine that nature surrounding you.

You hear pitter pattering of feet as they head to the well and still the sun has not rose yet.

More voices are added as neighbors come and buy a small amount of sugar.

Sweet coffee and a piece of bread for breakfast.

 The family has woken up and you hear a baby crying in the distance;

Then the sound of the men working in the field,

Now the other birds have begun their morning song.

Haitians singing with the birds gives joy to my heart.

It is morning in Haiti.

Just Some Observations on Differences in US and Haiti

I have been thinking a lot about quantity and quality lately. I was wandering around Sam’s Club twice in the last week with my mother, shopping for things for the new house. I found myself memorized by all the choices of things to buy and the size and quantity of various items left me speechless. I used to shop at Sam’s Club sometimes but now the thought of a double 24 oz of ketchup just seems silly. Now obviously there are business reasons for shopping this big or maybe you have a family of 8 who love their hotdogs and French fries.


But as I wandered through the aisles a small smile came to my face as I think about my neighbor Edna who comes over to the ‘grocery store’ every morning around 6 am or earlier and says “Pa gen moun” – [Is anyone there?], “Vini achte” – [I have come to buy.] She comes over every morning to buy sugar or rice or 1 bouillon cube for the day. Many people come and buy that days food. I used to think maybe it was because they didn’t have enough money to buy 2 days worth of food. But that is not it. It is just the way they do it in Haiti. I don’t understand it, but know I also don’t understand buying a year’s supply of ketchup.

I hear so many people say “we are so blessed in this country” when they hear me tell stories of Haiti.
I am not so sure that I would call a year’s supply of ketchup a blessing.
Are we blessed?
Maybe we are blessed with ThinGs!
Too many things maybe, maybe spoiled with all the comforts of life we lose sight of what is really important. When you have an over quantity of stuff when do you lose sight of quality of life.

Oh Water.

I tried to thoroughly enjoy running water while in the states. I also really appreciated having it for about 2-3 weeks, when I first came back to the states. I was sort of amazed and said a little prayer every time I turned on the faucet. But after a good month I lost some of the gratitude and amazement of this magical thing called water. I still was pretty impressed with water fountains and with ice cold water, hot showers and of course ice makers. The last few days I was trying to prepare myself for the return to no running water again in Haiti.

I fell right back into the rhythm of Haiti though. I filled up the 2 gallon jug, to put in the cooking pot to wash the dishes in. I filled up the gallon jug by dipping it in the large drum of water and using it to fill the 5 gallon bucket to take a sponge bath. As the water level in the drum gets lower and lower, I wonder when someone will go and fill it up and if we will have it in time for showers later in the day. I know we will and if we don’t someone will go get it when we arrive. Water is such a blessed thing! It really is, I don’t even think we give it a second thought in other countries. So the next time you turn on your faucet say a prayer for the people in the world that walk for miles to get a gallon of water. And see what you might do to help all people of the world have clean drinking water.

Last Spring our ‘Group of 20’ Poverty Intervention team wrote grants for water distribution and wells in their communities. Whenever you ask Haitians what one of the greatest problems they see in their community is; they will respond ‘lack of clean water’. This summer the artists in the area did a art show based on water. These are some of their paintings.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150848063272434.381405.171990932433&type=3

Artist: Jean Baptiste Gere


Artist : Georges Dinipy


Artist:  Astrel Joseph

I will keep you updated on what becomes of the grants. There was also a water filter distribution too made from donations from a team in the U.S. Thank You to all who think about their water and do something about water for everyone in the world. We have to continue to work together on this problem so everyone can have water and have clean water to drink.