Haiti Trip - Sunday

My family and I just returned from a week-long trip to Cap-Haitien, Haiti to provide electrical distribution installation for equipment.  We had arranged and designed for a new generation system and underground distribution system for the OMS campus.  Other teams had gone before us and installed the underground cabling and the new generator building.  The generators had been ordered and shipped as well as the distribution gear.

The trip was from June 6th through the 13th.  This is the first day's journal entry.  None are as long as this one.

Sunday, June 7th, 2015

We unfortunately had to get up and onto the 6:00 AM flight from Pensacola to Miami as it was the only flight from our area that allowed for us to make the 2:30 PM flight from Miami to Cap-Haitien in the same day.  This caused for a 4 hour layover in Miami.  While no one likes a long layover, we were blessed to find an American Express lounge there and that made the time pass much better.

The American Airlines plane to take us to Cap-Haitien arrived to Miami two hours late on Saturday and thus, two hours late to Cap.  But Jeff with OMS was just happy it landed in Cap.  He related that planes have landed in Port a Prince or Dominican at other times.  So, although we were very late arriving, there was a great blessing in that it landed in Cap-Haitien.

We all seemed to sleep pretty good the first night since we were all so very, very tired from the long day of travel on Saturday.  It had started at around 3:15 AM in the morning and didn’t end until around 9:30 PM (EST).  We almost didn’t notice how hot it was – almost.  Julie and I had a very small fan on us, but Jasmine’s really small fan stopped working during the night.  The boys had a nice oscillating fan on them.  The next night we moved Jasmine’s bed to the boy’s room so they would all have a fan on them.  We were able to get an oscillating fan on Tuesday night.

It is so hot here.  It is the very first thing you notice, especially at night.  Although you might be dead tired after a long hot day of work, it is hard to want to lay down on hot sheets, because you sure don’t lay under them.  I’m sure we’ll get somewhat acclimated by the time we leave.  When I compare the temperatures to our home in Florida, there only seems to be about a 7 degree difference between day and night temperatures.  The difference is obviously that there is never a time to cool down.  The only exception is taking a cold shower at the end of the day.  But I find that I am almost sweating before I can even towel off afterwards.

We went to a Haitian church service this morning.  They were celebrating the 65^th anniversary of Radio 4VEH.  Radio 4VEH stands for “Radio For the Voices of Evangelism for Haiti”.  The anniversary, while just a number to many, was extremely important for those with some background or behind-the-scenes knowledge of just how close to closing the radio station had been just 18 months earlier.  Even when the station was non-operational during the oil embargo years in the ‘70s, it had never been so close to extermination. 

We got to the First Baptist Church of Cap-Haitien at about 9:00 AM and we left at 12:30 PM.  When we left the service was still going on.  The music, which Haitians take lots of time to perfect, was absolutely heavenly.  While I could not understand the message, I was brought near to tears many times.  There were at least three different preachers with messages with much music and prayer surrounding the worship service.  Attendance estimates were between 2,500 and 3,000.  Every doorway was 8 to 10 people deep.  Every window was 1 or 2 people deep.  There were so many chairs out that there was barely enough width to walk down any aisle.  The hallways not in the auditorium were lined on both sides with people sitting.  There simply wasn’t a space in the church not attended.  All without air-conditioning, without padded pews, without sophisticated lighting systems, without modern sound systems, and most of all, without a single complaint.  Everyone worshipped, everyone sang, everyone listened patiently.

Unfortunately, Jack got really hot and almost got sick.  I took him out of the service and was eventually led to a small room in the back where there was air-conditioning.  This space is a health room for anyone with a health concern.  A young girl with asthma was there using an inhaler until she could breathe well again.  They gave Jack a cold bottle of water and he drank some and put the bottle on the back of his neck.  The Haitians mothers are so motherly.  The woman there was named Carmen.  Even with language barriers, it is so very evident that she were genuinely concerned about him.  Jack got cooled off after about 30 minutes and we returned back to the service.

After lunch, Julie and I got to hear the story of the radio station and it’s near death from Storly and Kate Michel.  Storly is the radio station’s director and Kate is the central fund raising leader.  I had met them through phone and email conversations, but never in person.  I was so surprised to see them when we got to Haiti and it was just a great blessing.  Julie and I had taken a small part in a God-sized effort to resurrect the station and that is how I had come to know the Michels.

The story includes and was supported by Brett Bundy in a later conversation that the radio station was on the chopping block as a ministry tool.  The station had run in the red for years and was consuming about $80k more in operating costs than was being donated for its operation.  Then when the tower site was robbed and the AM signal was non-operational, OMS was rightfully taking a very serious look at whether the station should remain as a viable ministry tool.  The station was not self-sufficient and now non-operational. 

There were an unknown number of solar-powered radios across Haiti that were silent.  Many villages whose homes are dirt floored without running water or electricity, and now no signal to the solar radio – their only source of daily Christian influence.

Enter Storly and Kate Michels.  Storly determined that he would in the next three months show OMS that the station could be self-sufficient and in December of 2013 did just that.  The station was in the black.  But the transmitters at the tower site were still non-operational.  He then submitted to OMS a request to seek funding through contributed gifts and pledges to replace the 40-year old towers, cabling, and equipment for the AM signal so it could be back on the air properly and appropriately set for the next 40 years.  After much deliberation and prayer, OMS approved the project but only gave Storly and Kate TWO months to raise the estimated $450k needed for the project.  Two months.  A definite God-sized task.

After a lot of long nights and lots of conversations, it is two days before the due date and the project is 56% funded.  There was only two months and now there is only two days.  Storly retries to contact someone in Chicago they had previously tried several times to contact with no success, but this time they make contact.  The family goes to Chicago to meet this person with a sick child in tow.  After a quick meeting, the person makes the donation, not a pledge, of the remaining amount on the spot.  God delivers at the right time with the right amount.

Today there are two new towers, new cabling, new security and new equipment at the AM transmitter site.  Today all solar powered radios transmit the hope of Christ to everyone who will listen.  Today 4.5 million people are able to hear the gospel message, the power of God to all who believe.

We went to a banquet at the radio station further celebrating the anniversary in the afternoon.  There was a nice array of food that we were able to try (including goat – Thomas tried it but it wasn’t that good).  We discovered a watermelon soda drink that was good. 

Afterward, we took all our tools and equipment we brought to the new Generator Building.  We used a 3-wheeled half-motorcycle half-dump truck vehicle.  The manufacturer is Haojin and it seemed most of the motorcycles used in Haiti are by this manufacturer.  Reed and Jack (and Dan) had a great time learning how to drive this vehicle.  They had to learn to use a hand clutch to switch gears and how to maneuver the vehicle with the wide rear end.