The Great Haitian Tennis Ball Retreat/Giveway of 2010

After lunch we headed up the coast to an orphanage closer to the mountains. As we drove I noticed the farther from the coast we got the worse the conditions were. The crowds of people were less but the conditions of the homes, clothing, water supply and health were much worse.

A 45 minute drive ended up being a 2 ½ hour drive. We finally turn onto a dirt road filled with pot holes the size of a plastic kiddy pool. Rice fields as far as the eye could see, lined with mountains and blue sky. As we travel dawn the dirt road the holes get bigger and deeper. I think the pot holes were made to act as gullies to drain onto the fields. Occasionally workers would walk by, men and women, with machetes. Comforting, I know.

After travelling 10 or 15 minutes, we stop at a pond of mud puddles and all of the Haitian guys with us get out. We all sit in the van wondering what is going on. When our translator comes back we bombard him with Why?’s. He tells us that the drivers are worried we won’t be able to drive through the mud. Besides getting stuck, car repairs in Haiti are harder to do than in America. There are no tow trucks and tires and parts are scarce. Carefully, dodging the larger holes we make it through but the road doesn’t get much better. Shortly we stop again and the drivers get out checking another questionable path. The driver decides the conditions are too bad for us to drive through. The orphanage was not far and we had come so close. This is what we came for. This is what we traveled days and miles for. This is what we left families and jobs to experience. We were not about to stop just miles short. So we’ll walk. We all pile out of the van to start our journey as people from the community begin to gather. Our team leader notices most of us had flip flops on and questioned the safety of walking through the mud and was it “not far” American or Haiti “not far”? By this time, more people had ventured out and surrounded us.

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem; and in all Judea; and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We had packed some things to give to the children at the church and orphanage. We thought it was a good idea. We thought they would love it. As the crowd grew, Alice decides we stop here. We can give the stuff to the people crowded around us then we’ll leave. Just like that, the next few minutes turned into the most dangerous memory we had all week…. Not one of us thought back to Wick telling us, just the day before, not to give things out. We had been handing stuff out all week at VBS. Sometimes you have to get burned before you learn the lesson.

Isaiah 25:9
In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord; we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation”.

As I stood with Alice contemplating what was best for the group, I felt a body over my left shoulder. Slowly I turn to look behind me and it was as if time stood still. Three things popped into my head.

· A short conversation I had with a friend before I left the states, “If I don’t come back, use your skills to get me out.” There was no way anyone would find us out here.
· I am cornered between the van, brush that surrounds the village and the mob of people that had now surrounded us.
· No Haitian security guy anywhere nearby. They couldn’t even see me over the crowd of people.

“Oh, crap.” As I turn, I see a giant. Ripped, 8 pack Haitian guy with no shirt and his pants so low I can see the entire 8 pack. I could feel my eyes scream a hundred “HOLY CRAP”’s. The worst part, his eyes… and that he was WAY too close. His eyes were piercingly hateful. The most hateful eyes I have ever seen. A gun would have been more comforting than that guys eyes. I don’t know if Alice saw the guy or just felt the vibe. She tells me in the most momma bear way “Get in the van NOW”. She tells the rest of the group to get in the van but some had already been over powered handing out stuff. Tennis balls. They were about to mob us over tennis balls.
To sum it up… we all live to laugh about “The Great Haitian Tennis Ball Retreat/Giveaway of 2010”, but we would all agree we were scared to death.

John 14:1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

8 pack guy walked to the front of the van and glared in. We would roll forward a few inches and he would move to the front and glare in. He did this for what felt like forever but was only about 5 or 10 minutes while we waited on the pastor of the church to meet us. So many faces I have forgotten but 8 pack guy, his face will take a little longer.