Turns out if you are in an auto accident in Haiti, everyone just assumes the white guy was at fault. And, since there are no road rules at all, it can be difficult to access.

A motto hit us. We were making a turn in the road and he was flying along as mottos do, and didn’t have time to stop. In addition, it had been raining so he slid a decent way too. I heard a loud crunch by my door and saw someone lurch forward and into the ditch. Brandon jumped out to check on him, and before he even reached the guy a mob of about twenty yelling Haitians descended upon the car. So, Brandon immediately helped him into our truck and we drove away. Not before his “cousin” jumped in with him (who the entire way coached him on how to get the most money out of us-little did he know we spoke enough Creole to understand him!)

We looked him over, and thank the Lord, he was okay. He was freaked out, and a bit dazed, but only had a scratched knee. Right then and there we thanked the Lord it wasn’t worse, cause of course he wasn’t wearing a helmet and he could have easily died. We drove to the Milot hospital, and even though there was another hospital closer, we wanted to go to this one because we know some of the staff there. We called our good friends on the way, and they talked us through everything. What to do, not do, all that jazz. They then offered to meet us at the hospital just to make sure we were okay. In addition, we called the Haitian doctor we know who runs the hospital, and he ‘happened’ to pick up his phone. He met us outside, and took us to where we needed to go. Usually if you show up at the hospital with a white person, the bill instantly triples-so it helped that we knew the main Dr. and he made sure we didn’t have to wait too long or pay anything outrageous. Brandon went inside while I stayed in the truck with Rosco. Yes, the poor dog was in the car when it happened, and he already hates the car. We were taking him to our friends house to introduce him to their dogs cause they are going to watch him while we are out of town.

So, they guy got checked out, and he was okay. We paid for some medicine for him, and then drove him back to his motto, and then dropped him off close to his house. We paid him some money-to fix his bike and for him personally. He was certainly expecting money, but thankfully,what we gave him seemed to be more than what he had in mind-which wasn’t too much. We just hope we don’t hear from him everyday after this, asking for more! Not a great day or experience, but we are so thankful it wasn’t worse. It really could have been so much worse, and we really felt like the Lord had his angles around our car, protecting that guy, and in the whole situation. Glad that day is over! Oh, and wouldn’t you guess we were just telling our Mississippi team how shocked we are that we hadn’t been in an accident yet!

There is something about living in a foreign country that has made me a lot more patriot than I used to be. The last time I went to the states to visit my sister, it had been about six months before I had been in the good ol’ US of A.  I actually cried when I saw US soil, and when the plane landed I held my hand to my heart and hummed the national anthem! What a dork huh? Well, living in Haiti I have never been more thankful for America. Yes, we still have our  issues too, we all do, but I sure am thankful for the land of the free and the home of the brave.

This is our first Fourth of July ever not being in the States. We happened to be visiting last year at this time, and so we got to enjoy the usual bbq, family and friends, and of course fire works. Funny too, cause it’s the pry the first Fourth of July that I have felt so patriotic, so blessed and grateful for being an American, and really sitting down to ponder how much was sacrificed over 200 years ago that made us the nation we are today.

I have yet to visit the South. I’ve heard such sayings as “Southern hospitality” and I have heard how everyone there can be so welcoming and sweet. And I’m here to tell you-it’s true. Every single word of it. We might be exhausted, and  have taken two naps already today trying to recover, but our spirits are renewed. My heart is overflowing. The fruit of the Spirit flowed out from each and every person and they spoke truth and love into our lives. This particular team was like a big 7-11 slurpee in 100 degree weather. Brandon and I can’t stop talking about them, and we can’t stop thinking and reflecting on the amazing week we had together. The interesting part was they were supposed to go to Port au Prince, but got sent to us by ‘accident’! God clearly had a divine appointment in mind, and it was clear every single day-from the community we were able to work in, to the different people they met, the Haitians whose lives they touched, and the way they loved on us.

They all live in Mississippi (except one sweet girl who actually works for LWI in Texas, so fun to meet a co-worker!!) from a church called Crossgates. They arrived a week ago Saturday wide eyed and ready to go. We drove them home from the airport and sat them down for a bit to talk about Haiti, guidelines, rules, do’s and don’ts and all that. They were very respectful and listened to every word we had to say. At one point I said something like “our house is your house, but our kitchen is ours.” The goal being to keep everyone from getting sick, but little did I know, when you are from the south, all the fun happens in the kitchen! They love to gather there, chat as they cook, and work together, help do dishes, clean and everything. My resolve went out the window when I saw their hearts. They didn’t ask to help just to be nice, they really wanted to be helpful-and it showed all week long. If someone noticed me slip into the kitchen to do anything, they were right behind me to ask for help. Men and women! They would wash their hands, wipe ’em with bleach and stand there until I let them help! It only took one day for me to cave and let them in. I woke up to them cleaning dishes one morning, and putting things away. They would wipe tables down, and pick up after each other. I have never seen so many servants hearts together, loving on each other and me at the same time.

Truthfully, Brandon had some trepidations about the week. The old organization we partnered with brought in over 2,000 people into Haiti last year, and to say it was hard and rough would be an understatement. It only took one day with this group to see that they were different. First of all, there were only nine of them. And even though we were packed into one small house, they made it work. We had one room for guys and one for gals, and the poor girls had to share a bathroom with the guys! And yet, they never complained. Rather, at the end of a hot, sticky, dirty day they were argue over who could go first-while the rest of them sat there sweaty and sticky waiting their turn.

Saturday June 25th…

We went to a community pretty close to Fort Liberte-about an hour away from us. We found this community about a week ago, as we have been mapping pumps and figuring out where all the pumps are that LWI has fixed. This one said it had not been repaired for four years so we went to check it out. Turns out it was still working, but a few pieces were old and rusted out, and it was starting to deteriorate.  But it was shocking to see that it had lasted four years-when we are finding some pumps can break as quickly as six months!!  (It all depends on how many people are using it, and how well the community takes care of it) So needless to say, it was refreshing to see that this community had taken such good care of the their pump. They have no other source of water close by, and because of that, they very much understand, value , and appreciate clean water. And so we brought this group back to change the pump. Even though it was still pumping out a little bit of water, we wanted to reward the community for taking great care of the pump by fixing all the parts so it would work better. Needless to say, they were so excited we did!!

Don’t worry, there are plenty more photos and amazing stories to come!!