Trip Number Four

Trying to compact an entire trip into one blog is going to be difficult, but here is my attempt! Overall the trip was wonderful.  I am so excited that Blue Grass Baptist School is now involved with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission.  It was amazing to see what God did both in the student’s lives and in the Haitian’s lives through them.  My prayer is that this relationship between the school and the mission continues.  I know everyone on the trip had their lives changed and were impacted in different ways.  They were all stretched out of their comfort zone, but they did everything they were asked without complaining.  I was so proud and impressed with the team. 

The trip was full of both good and hard moments like every trip.  I am going to write about a couple of them, and then write about what God did in my life the last day we were there. 

I absolutely loved being able to reconnect with all of my friends in Haiti.  That was one the highlights of the trip.  The bracelet bandits made me feel like a rock star the first day because they all started clapping and chanting my name.  I love those boys so much, and I am so proud of the young men they are becoming.  They have all grown so much, and I am so excited to see what God has in store for their futures.  We were able to do a Bible Study with them one day, and I was very impressed with how well they listened and paid attention.  It really meant a lot to me to be able to share and pray with these boys.  I also am so thankful we had the opportunity to spend time with Kenzie.  We were able to visit where he is now living and pray with the family who has taken him in.  Please continue to pray for him as he is still dealing with the loss of his mother.

All of this was wonderful, but my favorite part of the trip was watching Mark fall in love with Haiti.  As he wrote on the team blog (www.bgbsmissions.blogspot.com) , “it’s in the Karenbauer genes.”  Mark experienced a lot of new things from dancing with the elderly to spoon feeding special needs children who could not feed themselves.  He loved everyone with a true servants heart, and I could not be more proud to call him my brother.  One moment that will stay in my heart was one of the first days we were there.  I was downstairs playing with one of the special needs boys, Markenly.  Mark came downstairs and Markenly’s face completely lit up.  He jumped out of my arms and ran to Mark while yelling his name.  It was at that moment when I saw the impact my baby brother was having on the people I love.  What a special moment. 

Being in a third world county is not always fun and games.  There are hard moments that you do not always wish to remember.  One of those moments happened at House of Hope.  We did our VBS and all the team members started playing with different kids.  I started going in some of the backrooms because there are usually babies in them.  I went in one, and the mom motioned me over to show me her baby.  This baby was so malnourished that its swollen skin had started splitting open.  I have seen plenty of children who are malnourished, but never one to this extreme.  I cannot imagine being that mother.  You could see on her face that she was experiencing her baby’s pain.  I know I will probably never see them again in this lifetime, but I will never forget that precious angel.

Another hard moment came when I was reconnected with one of my friends from last summer.  Jennica was a little girl who lived near the mission.  Last summer she was one of the happiest little girls ever.  She always had the biggest smile on her face, and it was one of the prettiest smiles.  When I saw Jennica this week, she did not have a smile on her face.  I asked her what was wrong and she said her teeth hurt.  Then she showed me.  Jennica’s teeth are rotting out.  This girl who’s gorgeous smile brought me so much joy last summer, is now suffering.  I did not know what to say, and I still do not really know what to say about it.  It always breaks my heart when I see suffering, but it is so much harder when it is someone you know. 

The hard times broke my heart, but the good things made being in Haiti worth it.  The whole week I was so glad I had gone.  However, I felt a little discouraged.  I knew I was there mainly to help to team, but I had done everything we had done.  I had been to Tortuga, house of hope, the bay, and everywhere else.  There were so many new experiences for the team, but I was not experiencing anything drastically new.  The night before our last day, I began praying that God would do something radical.  I prayed that He would give me an experience that would give me some reassurance as for my call to Haiti.

Boy does God answer prayers.  The next day we left for Ansefalour, the voodoo capital.  In the blog I wrote before I left, I wrote about my first trip to Ansefalour.  It was the place where God showed me He had more in store for me in Haiti.  Well we got to Ansefalour and started our day out with a VBS.  It was a bit disheartening for the group because one of the boys at our VBS was removed and beaten because he tried to steal a granola bar.  After VBS, the group was playing with the kids at the ocean.  Cameron and I went to see if I could find the baby from last summer.  Last summer, my mom went around this community doing medical hut to huts.  We stopped at this one house and asked if they had any medical needs.  The man said his wife had had a baby five hours prior.  My mom was able to check the baby and mother out.  For the rest of the summer, I visited this family every time I was in Ansefalour.  During one of these visits they asked me to be this precious babies godmother.  I have to admit; I was a bit nervous going back to the house.  The baby had been sick when I last saw him.  I was so scared something had happened to him, or the family had moved, or they had forgotten me.  It had been an entire year since I had last been there.  We got to the house and my precious godson, Richardson, was a healthy (and chunky) thirteen month old!  I asked if they remembered me, and the dad said, “of course, you are my son’s godmother!”  It was so good to check on them and pray for them.  The dad told me he always knew when I was not in Haiti because I do not come visit them.  He also wanted to make sure I knew they were Christians, which is such an encouragement considering they live in the voodoo capital.  The visit was such a blessing and encouragement to me.

Next we went to the voodoo monument that claims the city of Ansefalour for voodoo.  It is quite a hike, but an experience for everyone.  I have done this hike a lot, so I did not expect to get anything different from it.  I figured we would hike up there, take some pictures, I would explain the story of the monument, and then we would pray over it.  However, on the way up I had some children follow me.  This was not unusual, and it was not unusual that the children were asking for food.  I told them I could not give them anything and then they started talking really fast in creole.  It was too much and too fast for me to understand, so I asked my translator.  She told me they were calling on the spirits and putting a voodoo curse on me because I would not give them food.  While this seems a bit silly, it was a real eye opening experience for me.  When we do VBS in Ansefalour, and the children pay attention and know all the songs, it is so easy to believe that they believe what we are talking about.  However, hearing these children calling to the spirits really opened my eyes to the fact that voodoo has such a power over this city, even over the children.  There is so much work to be done in Ansefalour still.

At this point, God had already done radical things in my life, but He was not done.  Next we went to the voodoo temple, the place that houses the doll that the people worship.  I have been to the temple between 10 and 15 times, and the only time I was ever allowed inside was my very first trip.  Our translator knew the person at the door, and he let our group in.  For the first time since God had used this place to turn my world upside down, I went back inside.  I cannot accurately describe the inside of the temple.  It is a place of darkness and pure evil.  There are sick people laying in back corners, people praying, people crying, and people worshipping.  The people’s eyes are dull and almost lifeless.  There is alcohol, candles, and incense all over the place.  The smells are overwhelming, but the atmosphere makes it the worst place I have ever been in.  Even though I know God is always with me, the evil is so prevalent there that it is hard to feel Him.  I feel almost engulfed and choked by this evil.  The doll, Saint Anne, is upstairs in a glass case.  People sit in pews in this room and fervently pray to her.  Their dedication breaks my heart.  It breaks my heart because I know what they are putting their hope into cannot help them. 

I think the temple shook everyone on the team up a little.  I am thankful that they had the opportunity to see it though because it shows them what we truly are up against.  Voodoo does have a power over people, and we are called to break that power by spreading God’s word.  We are called to be His lights in the midst of darkness.  I truly believe that He did more than just something radical in my life: He did something radical in everyone’s lives. 

It was a hard day, but God blessed me afterwards.  I was able to take the group to Jim’s and Niason’s house.  We spent time with the family, and prayed over them.  By the end of the prayer, I was sobbing as was their family.  I love those children more than anything, and I am so thankful God put them in my life.  Spending time at their house was such an amazing experience because it showed me that I meant as much to them as they do me.  They have not had an easy life, and it breaks my heart to see the conditions they live in.  However, I am so encouraged by their smiles and joy.  They are some of the happiest people I have ever met. 

Saying goodbye to the family, to my bracelet boys, and my brother was extremely difficult.  I miss them all so much already.  My heart hurts for Haiti.  I know God has a plan for me in Haiti, but the waiting now is hard.  There is so much to do, so many people to love, I just wish I could be there already. 

This is not the end of me in Haiti, and I pray it is just the beginning of Blue Grass in Haiti.