Hello friends and supporters,
"Make your plans in pencil and give God the eraser." That has been the motto for the last two days. The three relatives of Kathy and Alice were set to fly out this morning... that was before their flight was cancelled due to problems with the MFI airplane. They were all packed up and walking to the truck to load their stuff when they found out. God has a plan that is greater than our own.
Another major change... as of three days ago, I was planning to go to Pastor Peyot to stay with his family starting this morning. That didn't happen. I am still at EBAC for one more night and will be leaving early tomorrow morning for the Dominican Republic with Pastor Cebien. I will be gone until next wednesday, and really have no clue what ministry work I will be doing. Pastor Cebien is a very trustworthy and extremely knowledgeable Christian. Kathy and Alice toured Haiti over 30 years ago with Pastor Cebien when they first arrived. They completely recommended going on any trip that he offered to take me on... so here I go.
We will be staying in Santiago I believe, which is about four hours from here... I think. It will be a great few days and a fantastic opportunity to be exposed to new ministries that are going on both in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Two events from the last two days that I wanted to note: First of all, I had a chance to go through what is called the "Iron Market" in downtown Cap Haitien. This market is a huge, bustling metropolis with vendors filling the streets all over the place. We only went through a small part of the market, where we picked up fresh peanuts that we had hand roasted last night. It was an experience to go through the largest open market in Cap Haitian. It is nothing like what you would ever see in the states.
Secondly, today I had the opportunity to go out to the "Black Beach." This beach is about 40 minutes outside of EBAC and is a beach that is covered in dark grey sand. It is a beautiful place that was pretty clean in comparison to most of Haiti. Myself and Kyle, one of the members who was supposed to leave today, got to swim out in the warm waters of the Caribbean. It was a nice break away from the work here at EBAC.
It has been a great trip so far and I will keep you posted on all that will be happening in the next week. I am not sure what I am getting into over in the Dominican, so I don't know if I will have internet... just letting you all know. It may be that I don't update the blog until next thursday. I will do my best to update before then.
Have a great night and thank you all for your prayers and support!
-Garrett Luck
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
"The Great Days"
Hello to you all,
I am having a fantastic time here in Haiti right now. I am really, really enjoying staying with Kathy and Alice. They have done so much for me and I greatly appreciate the ability to stay with them. They are fantastic and caring Christians who love the Lord and love the people of Haiti. I have had a great deal of time to sit down and talk with them, and really, I commend them for all that they have done in service to the Lord here. They have some fantastic stories too.
I am not alone here at EBAC. I am staying in the upstairs apartment. There are two separate dorm rooms. One side I have entirely to myself, and the other, three relatives of Kathy and Alice are staying in. There is a Pastor by the name of Paul, and his wife that are there. Paul is a retired Physical Therapist who is now an Associate Pastor. He is a great man of God whom I love to talk to. His wife is a retired nurse, and loves to serve the Lord in Haiti. They have both stayed a great deal in Haiti in the last year, spending several months staying at EBAC while teaching at a local university. The other man who is here with them is named Kyle. He is 26 years old and is from Dallas, Texas. He is a paramedic and is another great Christian man to talk to and hear his story. This is his first trip into Haiti. I am so thankful that they are here and I am able to join them in the ministry work they are doing the week or so that they are here. I really praise the Lord for having the opportunity to get to know them.
The last few days have been wonderful. On this last saturday, myself, Pastor Paul, Kyle and Pastor Cebien hiked up into a village in the mountains. We drove about 30 minutes from EBAC up into the mountains until the road ended. We unloaded from the vehicle and began to hike for an hour and a half up the mountain in the blistering heat. This village which is up there, has absolutely no road access, and the only way in or out is by hiking. We hiked up and over the mountain, then just down a short distance on the other side towards a church that was being constructed there. Pastor Cebien has been leading the construction effort for a new church in the village. All of the materials... sand, cement, rebar... everything... it was all carried in up the mountain by hand... carried the long hour and a half journey through the heat up the mountain.
Just the sight of us three white people in this small village led about 70 children to come from all around and gather by us. Wherever we went, all 70 children would follow. We walked down to a stream close by, having all of the children follow us, watching our every step. We brought in enough candy to go around so all of the children there could have a piece. The people in this village live secluded from everything. They live simple lives, growing crops and feeding their families. Bringing a new church into this community is a huge thing for this village, and I appreciated the ability to pray alongside the pastor of the small church that is currently there.
Each of the mornings here during the school week, I am here helping to teach school and assist Kathy and Alice. They are so worn out to be honest of all the work that is needing to be done, combined with the constant stream of people that are asking them for a handout.
I am also inserting a section here that is from the journal that I am keeping. I have kept a very in depth journal that now totals over 35 pages, single spaced in a word document. Here is what I wanted to share:
"About these street kids… there are maybe ten or fifteen kids that we constantly see here that are not orphans. Kids come right off of the street and stay at EBAC all day and sometimes all night begging and just hanging around. Everywhere we go, these street kids will follow just looking for some kind of handout. There are even adults that hang around each day and make there presence known by asking for money and food about every hour at the door to our apartment. About every three to five minutes during the day, either Kathy and Alice or us will have some kid or adult ask us for food by knocking at our door. No joke, it is a nonstop stream of people… and it starts as early as 6:00 AM.
There is one kid in particular that now it is likely will be adopted by the orphanage. He is a kid off of the street that is about ten years old. From what we have seen, he has no home at all and shows up all day, every day here as a beggar. He does not have any real parents from our knowledge, and he often has been noticed to spend the night on the street. Kathy and Alice have been talking with Pastor Cebien about adding him as an orphan.
Today, I took out the trash that I had about mid morning. I was met at the door to the apartment immediately by three or four street kids who were so happy to grab my bag of trash, run off and dig right through it. Anything at all that was left, the took and were eating. There really was nothing in there, but I did notice that somehow from the other team that was here, a loaf of moldy bread had made it in that trash bag and the kids sat there eating it… and fighting over it. Most of the kids here have no home to go to and no food to eat. They are just kids off of the street.
This brings me to my next point. It is a very fine line between giving somebody a handout when they really need it and not giving somebody a handout or even work. I am very hesitant, despite the need that I know exists, to give out food or money to any of these kids that are beggars here. First of all, they are welcome to be on the site as of now during the day, but they are always a constant harassment while they are here. By giving them exactly what they are asking for, the number of kids who come off of the street multiplies to many, many more. They are constantly asking for things everywhere that you go… and I mean everywhere. I feel much more comfortable having Kathy and Alice make decisions on food to give out, though I know they are overwhelmed with people every few minutes already. I realize that here, it is not always my place to give food or things because it causes a problem by having those kids here.
Secondly, I am hesitant sometimes to help the kids because they are becoming solely dependant on us giving them food. The spend all day asking us for food and money, to the point where that is all they do during the day… that and play here at EBAC. They will become dependant on teams giving them things rather than trying to do something productive.
Thirdly, the kids off of the street here are intrusive by nature and steal. If you walk up to the apartment, unlock the gates and doors and walk right in, several street kids will automatically follow you in uninvited unless you stop them and lock the gate behind you. They come in and they will steal things when you are not looking. There are many examples so far, even a few from when I am here where especially the other apartment next to mine has been stolen from. I am very cautious to not let any kids in and lock all doors every time I leave. To my knowledge so far, nothing has been taken.
I am not in any way against giving to the poor where there is a need. I really want to find the people who have a great need and support them… give them the means to buy food. I want to share the love of Christ and the hope found in Him through my actions. The best solution is to offer work to a Haitian. Rather than give them a handout, offer them work for the money or food. Even better yet, give them a means to start making money themselves. That is what I want to do. It is just hard here because I know there is a need with these kids, but it is not my place right here to support them heavily at all. They are leading to more problems by them being here and I don’t want to encourage them to keep coming."
I am having a fantastic time here in Haiti right now. I am really, really enjoying staying with Kathy and Alice. They have done so much for me and I greatly appreciate the ability to stay with them. They are fantastic and caring Christians who love the Lord and love the people of Haiti. I have had a great deal of time to sit down and talk with them, and really, I commend them for all that they have done in service to the Lord here. They have some fantastic stories too.
I am not alone here at EBAC. I am staying in the upstairs apartment. There are two separate dorm rooms. One side I have entirely to myself, and the other, three relatives of Kathy and Alice are staying in. There is a Pastor by the name of Paul, and his wife that are there. Paul is a retired Physical Therapist who is now an Associate Pastor. He is a great man of God whom I love to talk to. His wife is a retired nurse, and loves to serve the Lord in Haiti. They have both stayed a great deal in Haiti in the last year, spending several months staying at EBAC while teaching at a local university. The other man who is here with them is named Kyle. He is 26 years old and is from Dallas, Texas. He is a paramedic and is another great Christian man to talk to and hear his story. This is his first trip into Haiti. I am so thankful that they are here and I am able to join them in the ministry work they are doing the week or so that they are here. I really praise the Lord for having the opportunity to get to know them.
The last few days have been wonderful. On this last saturday, myself, Pastor Paul, Kyle and Pastor Cebien hiked up into a village in the mountains. We drove about 30 minutes from EBAC up into the mountains until the road ended. We unloaded from the vehicle and began to hike for an hour and a half up the mountain in the blistering heat. This village which is up there, has absolutely no road access, and the only way in or out is by hiking. We hiked up and over the mountain, then just down a short distance on the other side towards a church that was being constructed there. Pastor Cebien has been leading the construction effort for a new church in the village. All of the materials... sand, cement, rebar... everything... it was all carried in up the mountain by hand... carried the long hour and a half journey through the heat up the mountain.
Just the sight of us three white people in this small village led about 70 children to come from all around and gather by us. Wherever we went, all 70 children would follow. We walked down to a stream close by, having all of the children follow us, watching our every step. We brought in enough candy to go around so all of the children there could have a piece. The people in this village live secluded from everything. They live simple lives, growing crops and feeding their families. Bringing a new church into this community is a huge thing for this village, and I appreciated the ability to pray alongside the pastor of the small church that is currently there.
Each of the mornings here during the school week, I am here helping to teach school and assist Kathy and Alice. They are so worn out to be honest of all the work that is needing to be done, combined with the constant stream of people that are asking them for a handout.
I am also inserting a section here that is from the journal that I am keeping. I have kept a very in depth journal that now totals over 35 pages, single spaced in a word document. Here is what I wanted to share:
"About these street kids… there are maybe ten or fifteen kids that we constantly see here that are not orphans. Kids come right off of the street and stay at EBAC all day and sometimes all night begging and just hanging around. Everywhere we go, these street kids will follow just looking for some kind of handout. There are even adults that hang around each day and make there presence known by asking for money and food about every hour at the door to our apartment. About every three to five minutes during the day, either Kathy and Alice or us will have some kid or adult ask us for food by knocking at our door. No joke, it is a nonstop stream of people… and it starts as early as 6:00 AM.
There is one kid in particular that now it is likely will be adopted by the orphanage. He is a kid off of the street that is about ten years old. From what we have seen, he has no home at all and shows up all day, every day here as a beggar. He does not have any real parents from our knowledge, and he often has been noticed to spend the night on the street. Kathy and Alice have been talking with Pastor Cebien about adding him as an orphan.
Today, I took out the trash that I had about mid morning. I was met at the door to the apartment immediately by three or four street kids who were so happy to grab my bag of trash, run off and dig right through it. Anything at all that was left, the took and were eating. There really was nothing in there, but I did notice that somehow from the other team that was here, a loaf of moldy bread had made it in that trash bag and the kids sat there eating it… and fighting over it. Most of the kids here have no home to go to and no food to eat. They are just kids off of the street.
This brings me to my next point. It is a very fine line between giving somebody a handout when they really need it and not giving somebody a handout or even work. I am very hesitant, despite the need that I know exists, to give out food or money to any of these kids that are beggars here. First of all, they are welcome to be on the site as of now during the day, but they are always a constant harassment while they are here. By giving them exactly what they are asking for, the number of kids who come off of the street multiplies to many, many more. They are constantly asking for things everywhere that you go… and I mean everywhere. I feel much more comfortable having Kathy and Alice make decisions on food to give out, though I know they are overwhelmed with people every few minutes already. I realize that here, it is not always my place to give food or things because it causes a problem by having those kids here.
Secondly, I am hesitant sometimes to help the kids because they are becoming solely dependant on us giving them food. The spend all day asking us for food and money, to the point where that is all they do during the day… that and play here at EBAC. They will become dependant on teams giving them things rather than trying to do something productive.
Thirdly, the kids off of the street here are intrusive by nature and steal. If you walk up to the apartment, unlock the gates and doors and walk right in, several street kids will automatically follow you in uninvited unless you stop them and lock the gate behind you. They come in and they will steal things when you are not looking. There are many examples so far, even a few from when I am here where especially the other apartment next to mine has been stolen from. I am very cautious to not let any kids in and lock all doors every time I leave. To my knowledge so far, nothing has been taken.
I am not in any way against giving to the poor where there is a need. I really want to find the people who have a great need and support them… give them the means to buy food. I want to share the love of Christ and the hope found in Him through my actions. The best solution is to offer work to a Haitian. Rather than give them a handout, offer them work for the money or food. Even better yet, give them a means to start making money themselves. That is what I want to do. It is just hard here because I know there is a need with these kids, but it is not my place right here to support them heavily at all. They are leading to more problems by them being here and I don’t want to encourage them to keep coming."
Yesterday, we all went with Pastor Cebien to his church that we attended on sunday. We went there to teach a class on basic first aid. I had the opportunity to be the victim while they were training the 40 or so Haitians who were there to learn. It was a great experience.
Everything is going well so far. Many of you have asked if I am healthy, and my answer is yes. I have not been sick yet and am eating well with Kathy and Alice. I praise the Lord for all of your prayers and support. It is a challenge at times to get internet consistently in Haiti, which is what makes posting often hard. We do however, have internet at EBAC right now.
On thursday I will leave EBAC for Pastor Peyot's house, and a lot of the details on what the next month will look like are still up in the air. I will update you on plans as soon as I know. Thank you all for your prayers and support.
In Christ's service,
-Garrett Luck
Thursday, April 22, 2010
First Few Days in Cap Haitien
Hello Everyone,
I am at a Cyber Cafe right now getting internet. There is no internet at the EBAC orphanage as of right now so it will be hit and miss at least for this next week whether I can get on the internet again. I don't have pictures of the last few days now to post, but I will have a few I think that I will post later.
The trip from Cap Haitien was fairly good. About 80% of the road is paved now which was very surprising to me. About half of that pavement is pretty poor with potholes every hundred feet or so to slow you down, but still, I was surprised at how good it was compared to what I thought it was. A company from the Dominican Republic has paved the first 30 miles out of Port Au Prince in the last month or so and has done a very good job. It is very nice road. The road passes through a hot, flat desert, then to a steep mountain range before dropping into a lush hilly landscape which leads towards Cap Haitien. It took seven hours to complete the trip.
On Tuesday, I joined a team from Pennsylvania that was staying at EBAC in going out to the town of Milot to a hospital. The hospital is being run primarily by American Doctors right now and has several hundred earthquake victims, specifically amputees that are there. We as a group prepared 200 large meals that can serve two people each and brought them to the hospital. We had the chance to pray alongside many of the victims. These people are getting some of the best care in Haiti right now, which was great to see, but most of these people will never be the same physically again after the earthquake. We just pray that many of them would come to know Christ as their savior though this terrible tragedy.
I have spent the last two days helping with school in the morning at EBAC. I am teaching second through fifth graders, helping check their work and help with teaching English and Math. School gets out here at 1:00 so I have plenty of time in the afternoon to rest up, relax and talk with the many Haitian friends I am getting to know. I am staying in a large apartment now that is above the school. It is a really nice setup and I enjoy staying there. Kathy and Alice, who run the orphanage have been very hospitable and I have really enjoyed having conversations with them each night after dinner. They are wonderful Christians with a heart to serve the children of Haiti.
This weekend, as of now, I will be working with Pastor Cebien, who is the pastor that started EBAC almost 40 years ago. Myself, him and possibly another 26 year old American who is staying at EBAC as well, are going to hike into a village in the mountains on friday with food and supplies. I don't know a lot of details, but I think that we may be doing that tomorrow. As of now, I will be working with him the rest of the weekend going out to another place in the countryside as well, staying a night. I really don't know a lot of the specific details yet. I just know he is a very trustworthy man who Kathy and Alice know very, very well. Whatever we end up doing, I will do it with everything that I am to serve the Lord.
I don't have too much time left on the internet, so I won't say much more. I thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I really appreciate everything that so many of you have done in praying for me. The trip so far has been great and the Lord is working in my heart right now in many ways.
Thank you and God Bless you all!
-Garrett Luck
I am at a Cyber Cafe right now getting internet. There is no internet at the EBAC orphanage as of right now so it will be hit and miss at least for this next week whether I can get on the internet again. I don't have pictures of the last few days now to post, but I will have a few I think that I will post later.
The trip from Cap Haitien was fairly good. About 80% of the road is paved now which was very surprising to me. About half of that pavement is pretty poor with potholes every hundred feet or so to slow you down, but still, I was surprised at how good it was compared to what I thought it was. A company from the Dominican Republic has paved the first 30 miles out of Port Au Prince in the last month or so and has done a very good job. It is very nice road. The road passes through a hot, flat desert, then to a steep mountain range before dropping into a lush hilly landscape which leads towards Cap Haitien. It took seven hours to complete the trip.
On Tuesday, I joined a team from Pennsylvania that was staying at EBAC in going out to the town of Milot to a hospital. The hospital is being run primarily by American Doctors right now and has several hundred earthquake victims, specifically amputees that are there. We as a group prepared 200 large meals that can serve two people each and brought them to the hospital. We had the chance to pray alongside many of the victims. These people are getting some of the best care in Haiti right now, which was great to see, but most of these people will never be the same physically again after the earthquake. We just pray that many of them would come to know Christ as their savior though this terrible tragedy.
I have spent the last two days helping with school in the morning at EBAC. I am teaching second through fifth graders, helping check their work and help with teaching English and Math. School gets out here at 1:00 so I have plenty of time in the afternoon to rest up, relax and talk with the many Haitian friends I am getting to know. I am staying in a large apartment now that is above the school. It is a really nice setup and I enjoy staying there. Kathy and Alice, who run the orphanage have been very hospitable and I have really enjoyed having conversations with them each night after dinner. They are wonderful Christians with a heart to serve the children of Haiti.
This weekend, as of now, I will be working with Pastor Cebien, who is the pastor that started EBAC almost 40 years ago. Myself, him and possibly another 26 year old American who is staying at EBAC as well, are going to hike into a village in the mountains on friday with food and supplies. I don't know a lot of details, but I think that we may be doing that tomorrow. As of now, I will be working with him the rest of the weekend going out to another place in the countryside as well, staying a night. I really don't know a lot of the specific details yet. I just know he is a very trustworthy man who Kathy and Alice know very, very well. Whatever we end up doing, I will do it with everything that I am to serve the Lord.
I don't have too much time left on the internet, so I won't say much more. I thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I really appreciate everything that so many of you have done in praying for me. The trip so far has been great and the Lord is working in my heart right now in many ways.
Thank you and God Bless you all!
-Garrett Luck
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A Look From Above
Hello to you all,
First off, I wanted to post a picture of the house we have been working on the last two days.
Today was a great day. It was a relaxing day, and at least for the mission team that I am staying with, very much deserved. They have been working non-stop for almost two weeks and needed a day of rest. This morning, we all went to church in Santo, Port Au Prince. It was a Haitian service completely in Creole, but it was still good. Even though it is in a different language, we could still try to follow along and study the passage being referred to.
I had another chance to go into downtown Port today. The entire team loaded up onto a truck and I went along with them into the city. They were going to make a few stops in Port and then go to a lookout overlooking the city. We drove towards the east road along the waterfront and entered the inner city from the east near where the palace is. Along that road, there was a US Marines base that we saw and waved at, as well as one of the poorest parts of the city. There is an entire area of Port Au Prince in there that is extremely poor. People are living in tight quarters, on top of large trash heaps and next to ponds of raw sewage and debris. Their homes are nothing more than scraps thrown together. It was an extremely poor part of the city, probably the poorest. We could not stop at all along there, as it is also one of the most dangerous. The prison where 3000 inmates escaped from during the quake was also visible in that part of town.
We drove through the city and up to a lookout point. This isn't just any lookout point overlooking the city. It is at the top of a very steep mountain that rises from the city up 6,000 feet. We were at the top and overlooked the entire valley and city below.
On the way back, we made a quick stop at the "Hotel Montana" site. This hotel was the nicest hotel in Haiti. President Bush and President Clinton both had stayed there along with many other "high level" people when visiting Port Au Prince. During the earthquake, the several story hotel collapsed killing of 60 US citizens.
The other thing that happened today was we got in a traffic jam. About 2/3 of the way back from Port, we got stuck at a light for about 30 minutes... yes just one light. Cars had disobeyed the signals when things slowed down and now they were all stuck facing different directions and couldn't move. A convoy of ten or fifteen UN vehicles and over a hundred UN fully armed soldiers was trying to get through this intersection as we were. We had the joy of watching four or five of these UN guys try to sort out the entire mess so traffic would move and they could get through. What was worse, is as they are trying to direct traffic to clean up the mess, the Haitian drivers just start ignoring what the soldiers were saying, making it worse. About a half hour later, we managed to get through the light which was about a hundred feet up from where we stopped.
I am back at the compound now and we are just relaxing. It has been a long week so far... staying up late and getting up early, so it was good to just relax today. I am doing well... no health issues so far which is a praise. We got gas today and will be leaving for Cap Haitien at 5 AM tomorrow. Praise the Lord for the gas and please pray for safety on the seven hour dangerous journey.
Thanks all for your prayers and support. There is sooo much more I would want to tell you all, but I have already written far to much this week. I will try and keep most of my postings shorter so you don't spend an hour reading them. Thanks and I miss you all.
-Garrett Luck
First off, I wanted to post a picture of the house we have been working on the last two days.
Today was a great day. It was a relaxing day, and at least for the mission team that I am staying with, very much deserved. They have been working non-stop for almost two weeks and needed a day of rest. This morning, we all went to church in Santo, Port Au Prince. It was a Haitian service completely in Creole, but it was still good. Even though it is in a different language, we could still try to follow along and study the passage being referred to.
I had another chance to go into downtown Port today. The entire team loaded up onto a truck and I went along with them into the city. They were going to make a few stops in Port and then go to a lookout overlooking the city. We drove towards the east road along the waterfront and entered the inner city from the east near where the palace is. Along that road, there was a US Marines base that we saw and waved at, as well as one of the poorest parts of the city. There is an entire area of Port Au Prince in there that is extremely poor. People are living in tight quarters, on top of large trash heaps and next to ponds of raw sewage and debris. Their homes are nothing more than scraps thrown together. It was an extremely poor part of the city, probably the poorest. We could not stop at all along there, as it is also one of the most dangerous. The prison where 3000 inmates escaped from during the quake was also visible in that part of town.
We drove through the city and up to a lookout point. This isn't just any lookout point overlooking the city. It is at the top of a very steep mountain that rises from the city up 6,000 feet. We were at the top and overlooked the entire valley and city below.
On the way back, we made a quick stop at the "Hotel Montana" site. This hotel was the nicest hotel in Haiti. President Bush and President Clinton both had stayed there along with many other "high level" people when visiting Port Au Prince. During the earthquake, the several story hotel collapsed killing of 60 US citizens.
The other thing that happened today was we got in a traffic jam. About 2/3 of the way back from Port, we got stuck at a light for about 30 minutes... yes just one light. Cars had disobeyed the signals when things slowed down and now they were all stuck facing different directions and couldn't move. A convoy of ten or fifteen UN vehicles and over a hundred UN fully armed soldiers was trying to get through this intersection as we were. We had the joy of watching four or five of these UN guys try to sort out the entire mess so traffic would move and they could get through. What was worse, is as they are trying to direct traffic to clean up the mess, the Haitian drivers just start ignoring what the soldiers were saying, making it worse. About a half hour later, we managed to get through the light which was about a hundred feet up from where we stopped.
I am back at the compound now and we are just relaxing. It has been a long week so far... staying up late and getting up early, so it was good to just relax today. I am doing well... no health issues so far which is a praise. We got gas today and will be leaving for Cap Haitien at 5 AM tomorrow. Praise the Lord for the gas and please pray for safety on the seven hour dangerous journey.
Thanks all for your prayers and support. There is sooo much more I would want to tell you all, but I have already written far to much this week. I will try and keep most of my postings shorter so you don't spend an hour reading them. Thanks and I miss you all.
-Garrett Luck
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