A few weeks ago we hosted, well not really... maybe we partnered with, or better yet we tagged along on an adventure to deliver hope to Haiti. It's always a joy to be able to be where God is working and play some part in it even if it's just the tiniest of roles.
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| Joel with Pastor Wallace and Eleanor Turnbull May 2015 |
Meet Joel. Joel Troyer is a friend of BGM/a door to hope. He became inspired several years ago, I think in 2011, after being on a team trip with
a door to hope and having a conversation or two with the Lord and also Madame Wallace (Eleanor) Turnbull (who has served Haiti for over 70 of her 90 something years), to do something more than be a team member on a trip to help Haiti. After much prayer and consideration he decided to start his own non-profit calling it
Foundations of Hope and raise funds specifically to help improve the safety of buildings in Haiti. He began raising funds to provide pastors with a cement mixer to help improve the integrity of the concrete mixing and to help educate builders in the country.
Meet Merlin. Joel brought his cousin and friend, Merlin Bontrager to share in the experience. It didn't take long for us to see the overflow of Merlin's heart. He shared with us the two most sacred stories of loss he has encountered in his lifetime. He lost his first wife to cancer many years ago after she had been rid of it. She died from the affects of treatment on her heart. It was a complete surprise to them as she was healthy one day and gone the next. His eyes leaked streams of tears of sorrow and gratefulness. He was grateful for the gift of her life and how it was joined with his and how they had made their life together. He then shared with us how their oldest son, Brett was always on mission. Always sharing the Good News. And how just last year Brett was overseas preparing to smuggle Bibles into a country and suffered a heat stroke and died at the age of 21, I believe. Chris, Merlin and I sat in the Caribbean supermarket cafeteria waiting on our dinners with tears staining all of our faces. We had just met at the airport, traveled half way up the mountain and stopped for food. As quickly as they entered the country he began to pour out his heart about the backstory of why he chose to come to Haiti.
Earlier that morning, our friend and driver, Francky picked us up and we headed to the airport to pick up our guests (Joel and Merlin). They were not staying with us in our apartment, but were renting a little apartment for five days on the campus of the Baptist Haiti Mission. We had a packed schedule that week. We were to travel up to Calebasse to check on the mixer that Joel had already placed with Pastor Echelette and borrow his truck to help deliver a new mixer to Pastor Lejean in Grand Goave. We were to meet with Pastor Ezekiel from Kenscoff and share with him that he was next on the list of pastors to receive a mixer. It was an exciting week packed with good, good stuff.
But, on the way down the mountain to the airport we found ourselves behind a tap-tap that had only one boy and a momma in the back. The boy was sitting on the floor on a green blanket with some contraption on his leg and it was hard to tell what was exactly going on with him. But, we knew it was something and it wasn't exactly what you'd call good. Francky waved them down, stopped the tap-tap and asked the momma what was going on. She explained that the boy was in the hospital for 5 months and they finally sent him home because they could not fix it. The accident happened on Christmas day. He had somehow broken it and then it would not heal properly. It keeps swelling up. So, they put this contraption on him that seems like traction, maybe? We're not completely clear about the details. We assume that they were unable to set his leg properly after it broke and it has healed and it's just a mess. She explained that the father of the boy left her after only a few weeks because he couldn't afford to help pay for his hospital care. Francky pulled out a mil goude (1,000 goude equalling about 20 US) and handed it to the momma. Chris pulled out two tens (US) and handed it through Francky to her. We exchanged phone numbers to follow up and see if there is any way to help in the future. We asked if we could get a picture of the boy. So, Francky and Chris got out of the car and talked with the boy and then started sharing the gospel with the momma. She had never been converted and decided today was the day she wanted to leave everything behind and follow Christ. She understood her need for a Savior and had heard the Good News years before, but today was the day of her salvation. She prayed out loud expressing her heart full of repentance and need for Him. I snapped this picture of Pastor Chris and Pastor Francky. The momma is in the yellow dress with the tap-tap "chauffeur" listening over her shoulder.
