Outside we could hear other friends gathering to help us with our gear. They grabbed suitcases and cots and hoisted them onto their own shoulders, saving us from using our own. Pastor wanted us to go visit the church one last time. I think he just wanted us to remember what it looked like...he feared us never returning. We waved our last goodbyes and headed back down the mountain one last time. There, at the bottom, near the shore, was all our belongings. Friends had carried it all there for us. Several of our closest brothers, Jean Gary, Dino, Pastor and others, stood there shoreside with us as we waited for our boat to arrive.
Jaime and I ventured out into the water, around the shoreline and back again. Incredible tree roots embedded in solid rock. Entire eco systems living among the roots. Trash caught in every crevise. Beautiful and sad all at the same time. So much education needed to save their natural resources. So many other necessities will come first. The cycle unending.
Off in the distance is our boat...so we climbed out of the water and prepared to load. Again, our friends lifted all our luggage, simply gesturing for us to load the boat empty handed. We obliged with a smile. We hugged one last time before stepping out into the water and then were pulled up into the small wooden boat. We waved...and then we waved again...the shore kept getting smaller...the waves kept getting bigger...we waved once more.
Our long journey reversed and we entered the trash dump of the port in Les Cayes once more. From there we were taken to Les Cayes Eglise Methodiste Church for a "layover" of sorts. The next bus to Port Au Prince was several hours off. Children swarmed around us, as Cooley excited them with his camera. Milord gave us a tour of his home church and the students that studied there.
Milord also walked us into the town's square to see the incredilbe towering Catholic Church. We unexpectedly ran into a Haitian friend there...Samuel. His mother we had just helped with some financial gifts to keep Samuel and his brother in school. What a gift that we would run into him in Les Cayes. It is a very large city. Amazingly still a small world. Milord shows us a plaque placed in the heart of the city...it honors the dead from the earthquake of January 12th.
We arrived back at the church to say more goodbyes. Jocelin, our cook, peeked his head in several times. This too is his home church. About the third time he handed me a small bag. I opened it and about lost my breath. It was a hand made table cloth with hand embroidery all around the edges. It also had a map of Haiti hand emproidered in the center. Even the fringe all around the edge was hand pulled and tied. Amazing. It was the only thing I had wanted from this trip to take back home. I saw none this trip, with the earthquake disrupting merchants so much. But here was one placed right in my hands. I asked Joselin "How did you know? How did you know I wanted one of these so bad?" He just looked at me with no answer.
I hugged him deeply and thanked him for the gift. But after he left, I knew the cost was quite high and asked Milord if it would offend Joselin for me to leave a gift of money to help pay for it. Milord said he thought that would be fine. I asked if he would just give it to Joselin after we leave, so he couldn't return it to me. Milord called Joselin instead! So in walks Joselin one more time, just a few minutes later. I gave him the gift and once again asked "How did you know?" Milord interpreted this time only for me to find out that Joselin had not purchased the table cloth for me...he made it for me!! WHAT??!! Jerry asked Joselin, "What don't you do?!" Joselin answered, "nothing"... humbly. We all smiled. So again I asked "So how did you know I wanted one so bad..." and Milord interpreted this question this time. Joselin said he didn't know. He just wanted me to have it. :-) I realized at that moment that God wanted me to have it, as well. It covered my dining table at home for our family's Easter meal the next week. What a blessing. What a joy. What a Savior.
So we loaded up once more and headed to the bus stop and began the long 4 hour trip to Port Au Prince. Once again we saw collapsed building after collapsed building all the way back. Sad. Quiet. Empty. We had left paradise and returned to reality. We just looked out the windows without knowing what to say.
We stayed at the United Methodist Guest House one more night and took our last trip back to Port Au Prince airport in the morning. Soon, we would be looking at Haiti from God's view. I wondered what God was thinking. The same we were, I suppose.
"Oh how I love them.
How precious they are.
I will never abandon them.
I love them."
Next chapter: February 2011...Port Au Prince, Haiti...the recovery begins.
If you would like to join our team,message me for details.
The work is much.
The laborers are few.
The rewards...
priceless.
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