Shade Of The Tree Report of Haiti Vision Trip 2011
By Ernie Rice, Texas Baptist MenTraveling to a foreign country is ...well... so foreign. There are so many new things to see and to experience, often all at once. It comes at you in a barrage and attacks your senses, especially in a country suffering from a disaster. My memory of Haiti blurs like a fast forward film filled with people and sights and smells and sounds. There are so many stories, so many people in trouble, so much pain, so very little hope to be found.
Our little group was there a full year after the earthquake. Tents and make-shift homes from rusty metal roofing and tarps still fill every available space. Rubble is still in every thoroughfare along with garbage and human waste. Smoke seeps out of garbage piles and dumpsters as students pass by in fresh clean uniforms as they make their way to school. Street vendors pack along the roads and streets offering brightly colored art, food, shoes, clothes, cd's, and hardware. Evidence of relief groups are found in lettering on the tarps or in the new shower and restroom huts built for the tent cities. Tap-taps, vehicles for public transportation, are loaded well past capacity as the bumpers nearly touch the ground with people clinging on. Heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow dangerously close to each other and emit dust and choking smoke in a mighty effort to live the day.
I realized early on that a generalization of the people of Haiti would be as wrong as someone looking at people in group and drawing a conclusion about the United States. It is more complicated than that. It is true that life is cheap there. Even before the earthquake, people would discard babies in the name of convenience. Orphanages we visited tell of finding babies on their doorstep or in the gutter or in the river. It makes me wonder what life would be like there if abortions were available. Think about that before you judge too harshly.
There is a heavy influence of the voodoo religion upon the country. Children are offered to Satan and then abandoned. Groups of men invade the orphanages to molest the women and children there and have to be beaten back with clubs and machetes. The government offers very little in the way of infrastructure, order or hope. Corruption, hedonism, and immorality rule.
It is no small irony that my Bible reading brought me to the book of Jonah the day I left for Haiti. I was not looking forward to the trip. I had already made my mind up about Haiti. How could I love a people that were so obviously evil? Wasn't it obvious that they had brought this entire catastrophe on themselves? Wasn't this God's judgment on them for their lifestyle and for abandoning Gods laws? They don't "deserve" to be blessed by God.
Oh how easy it is to get into that line of thinking! How quickly God's word corrects such wrong thinking! Listen!
James 2:10-13: 10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. 11 For the same God who said, "You must not commit adultery," also said, "You must not murder." So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. 12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. So I was challenged to 'throw the first stone'. "There but for the grace of God goes me" for me has now become "There goes me"!
How can I not love these people? They are in the same desperate need of a savior as I am. May God forgive me of my Jonah attitude! We are being asked to help in God's name.
So how is that to be done? What is the Lord asking us to do? How can we be faithful and obedient in God's invitation to join Him in the work in Haiti?
As we toured the country I began to see a theme in all that we were exposed to. We saw orphanages in need of food and facilities. We saw schools that need buildings and resources. We heard of leaders making plans to invest in young men for future leadership. It is not all bad news. There are a number of valiant believers who are on the battle lines for the Lord in Haiti.
There is a Chinese proverb that says "One generation plants the tree; another enjoys the shade." While there may be those the Lord is calling to minister to this generation, it seems He is placing a call on TBM to "plant a tree". I believe He is calling us to help prepare and bring up in knowledge of the Lord the next generation in Haiti through the orphanages and schools. It is so much like our Lord to use the cast-offs that society views as valueless to be the venue in which He works!
Children, their care, and their training in the Word were threads that ran all the way through the trip.
An invitation that is accepted
...and one that is given
A conclusion of all this is that TBM has committed to support orphanages and schools that are run by Bible believing, Bible teaching believers as our task in Haiti.
We will do this in several ways. Texas Baptist Men has as its mission to get men and their families involved in missions and ministries so we are facilitating team trips to:
1. Construct facilities for frontline orphanages who receive the orphans from the community.
2. Construct facilities for Bible teaching resident schools as well as day schools.
3. Provide water purification systems for orphanages and schools.
4. Provide unusual support services.
TBM will begin by facilitating teams to go rebuild classrooms at a Baptist Church near Petit Goave. The Croix Hillaire Baptist Church and School is run by Pastor Neance Odera and has 340 students enrolled. The school lost many classrooms as some of its buildings collapsed during the earthquake. Final plans are currently being put in place to send in rebuild teams to help Pastor Odera and the church restore their school.
This is an invitation to you and your church and association to join God in His work in Haiti through this project
This project will take several team trips to complete. Each team will need to have a team leader/superintendent who will oversee the project. The team will also have someone who will work on installing and maintaining the water purification systems we have committed to provide. The first few teams will need an equipment operator who is familiar with the backhoe and skid loader.
The work at Croix Hilaire Baptist Church and School will include constructing a building that contains 8 new classrooms and installing a new roof on the existing church building. The classroom building will be built of concrete blocks on a slab foundation. All concrete will be mixed in an on-site mixer loaded by shovel. The team should include those who are familiar and able and willing to work building forms and pouring and finishing concrete and carpentry work. Each team will have up to ten members including Ernie Rice, who is TBM's Haiti coordinator, a team leader, a water purification man, an equipment operator and 5 or 6 others who are willing and able to do construction work. We will be joined by those members of the Croix Hillaire Baptist Church who can work as part of the team.
All flights to Haiti will be through the DFW airport in Dallas. Team members should plan to meet at the Dixon Building the day before departure for a day of orientation, training and planning. They will stay at the Dixon building overnight and then be taken to the airport the next morning. Team member vehicles will be left in a secure area at the Dixon building. Upon returning the team will be picked up at the airport and returned to the Dixon building where they will spend the night and return home the next day. Teams will be scheduled to fly into Haiti on a Tuesday and return on a Thursday for a nine day stay in-country.
Following are flight schedules for the trips.
"Team 3" July 26th- August 4th.
"Team 4" August 9th-18th
"Team 5" August 30th- September 8th
"Team 6" September 13th-22nd
"Team 7" September 27th- October 6th
Please. Prayerfully consider how God is calling you to participate in this project. The total estimated cost of the trip for air fare, lodging, meals, etc. is $1,600.00 per team member. The Texas Baptist Men, as well as Baptist General Convention of Texas, are each offering one-time grants of $300.00 per person for those who go to Haiti on this project. This leaves a balance of $1,000.00 that each person is responsible for, whether it is from his own funds or from support by his church and/or association. If your church or association does not have someone going on this project you might consider giving a grant or scholarship in order to help others to go or to contribute toward the costs of the building materials needed.
All purchases for tickets, lodging, meals etc will be handled by TBM through Ernie Rice. Any financial support that you or your church or association wants to contribute toward this project should be forwarded to TBM and should be labeled "Project Haiti". For you prayer warriors who want to engage in this effort please
contact Rae Jones to be placed on an email distribution list for regular updates on the needs and victories of this project.
For more information or to register to go on one of the teams please contact Ernie Rice at 830-534-1211.
