What's next

 I was sitting at the rockpools on Wednesday morning when I got a message on the Bethesda staff whatsapp group which said 'Now the problems are worse, they have assassinated President Jovenel Moise.'  My initial thought was that its probably wasn't true.  There are always rumours and deception going on in Haiti so I don't always believe everything I read but just a few minutes later an official report came through and then I checked the BBC news and there is was on the breaking news.  The next message was 'take a lot of caution before you go out today.' 

I had no idea what to think, no idea what this meant for Haiti, no idea what this meant for us. 

Right away the borders were closed and the prime minister declared a state of siege for two weeks. This means that Haiti is under martial law. 

As the day went on people were sending me the news and I talked to a few friends in Haiti, all hurting, all grieving and all SCARED.  Scared of what this means and what will happen next. 

Thankfully things have been quiet especially around Cap Haitian, many people are staying home and waiting.  Just watching and waiting for what will happen. Obviously the situation has the potential to turn very volatile. 

If you want to stay up to date with what has been happening what we have been reading on the news is pretty much what we are also hearing from Haiti.  But I do want to try and answer some questions people have asked me. 

How are things in Haiti?

This is a massive question which we get asked often and its difficult to answer but I will try my best from what I know.  Things are calm and quiet. Everyone is appalled at the murder of their president and they want justice.  So far the Haitian police force have worked hard and out of the 28 people they believe to be involved twenty of them have been arrested, three are dead, which leaves five on the run.  

Who is in charge now?

According to the Haitian constitution the supreme court president should take power if the president dies, unfortunately the supreme court president died of COVID 19 just a few weeks ago. The prime minister has stepped up and taken power but the difficulty is that President Jovenel had chosen a new prime minister just days before he died who was due to be ratified in parliament on the day he died.  As you can see it's complicated. As far as I understand now the original prime minister is leading the country, however this could change. 

 What will happen now?

No one really knows.  President Jovenel's term was due to finish and a new President was to be sworn in on February 2022 so this is an election year.  In September there was also supposed to be a referendum on the constitution.  It is unclear what will happen with either of those things. 

Was he a good president?

There is a lot of information which travels through Haiti very quickly particularly on whatsapp and it is extremely difficult to know what is truth and what is not. So as a disclaimer I cannot tell you what is truth and what is not. I can just share my perception living there and getting information from friends, both Haitian and missionaries. 

In order to understand if he was good I need to share a little more of the history.  President Jovenel was elected in 2016 and took office in February 2017 and many people in Haiti thought he would finally bring change.  He worked hard on building roads, providing irrigation and electricity.  But right from the election the opposition did not want him elected, in fact the election was done 3 times.  He won every time.   

In summer 2018 protests started against him and his party saying they were involved in stealing money from aid which came from Venezuela.  This was the beginning of more than 2 years of political unrest which has destabilized the country, played havoc with the exchange rate, made everything more and more expensive, and life much much more difficult for the average Haitian...and of course making President Jovenel look like a terrible president. 

Most of the protests were called for by the opposition claiming they would not stop until the president chose to step down.  These protests were called 'peyi lok',  Shut the country down.  And the methods they used were extreme.  Schools were closed for weeks at a time, in fact from September - December 2019 children across Haiti were not able to go to school.  Threats were being forwarded around on whatsapp making parents very fearful of  even attempting to send their children to school. Fuel in gas stations was rare but could be bought on the black market for an extortionate price, road blocks were frequent and just a mile down the road from us they actually cut a hole in the road so no trucks or vehicles could get past - especially not fuel trucks. We didn't leave Emmaus for days sometimes weeks at a time.  Life was getting more and more difficult for the people of Haiti and many people were blaming the president and of course he did not step down because as he said he was fairy elected and he believed in democracy. 

But the whole time Jovenel was claiming he was trying to root out government corruption and it looks like that is exactly what he was trying to do.  It is no secret that a very small percentage of people own most of Haiti's wealth, meanwhile 60% of Haitians live below the poverty line. It makes sense that he was making some very rich and powerful people very angry by not letting them do what they have always done. 

So I think yes he was good, he tried to do the right thing and improve the lives of the people of Haiti and he lost his life over it when he was murdered in his own home. I just pray that his death was not in vain and maybe finally this will be a turning point in Haiti's history. 

Are you still going back?

Short answer yes. The airports were closed for a couple of days after the assassination but have now reopened.  Things are quiet, particularly in the North so we are still moving forward with leaving at the end of this month.  We will keep in close contact with people we trust in Haiti to see how the situation develops and as long as we are still able to do our jobs we will be returning to Haiti. 

Are you scared?

It is easy to allow yourself to be scared. To create scenarios in your mind of what might happen.  It is true Haiti is not the same place it was when we moved there in 2016 and because of that there are certain things which we don't do.  We don't go out in the dark anywhere, never really have, actually, not just because of safety but it is terrifying to drive with no street lights on the same road as cars and motorbikes who often have no head lights. I don't go into Cap Haitian or the market alone.  We probably won't drive to the airport alone.  Let me put your mind at ease a little (mum), our campus where we live has 24 hour security.  Emmaus has a great relationship with the people in the village we live in.  We know lots of people who live there.  The boys school also has 24 hour security.  The shop at the petrol station on the way home which I stop at sometimes has an armed security guard (its funny what you get used to - we don't even notice anymore!!).  If people tell us not to leave the house we don't.  During other periods of unrest I waited until Junel, who works at Emmaus and travels from Vaudrieul (where the clinic is), arrived and let me know if the road was ok, then I would go. A lot of what you will hear from Haiti will be in Port au Prince (100 miles from us) and it is a lot more dangerous than the rest of the country. 

For those of you in Northern Ireland you will understand when I say you have to think of it like the Troubles when there were certain places you wouldn't go at certain times. The Troubles affected many different people in different ways and some of it depended on where you lived or what your job was.  I have memories of being in a bomb scare and of my mum getting her handbag searched before we went into a shop. 

Are the boys going with you?

A personal favourite of mine which I think you know the answer to. 

I am more than happy to answer any other questions if you have them. 

Yesterday I sent out our monthly prayer update and I want to finish by sharing the prayer requests with you. 

Please pray for peace and stability.  The situation obviously has the potential to turn very volatile.  So far things in the North of Haiti are quiet, many people are too scared to leave their homes.  Bethesda has remained open for those who do need medical care. 

Pray for a smooth transition of power.  The process is not simple.  The government has not been functioning well for quite a while and the judge who should have taken power died from COVID 19 just a few weeks ago.  The prime minister has taken control, however, President Jovenel had appointed a new prime minister just a couple of days before he died but he had not been ratified yet. 

Pray that this will be a turning point in Haiti's history and that finally government corruption will end.  

Pray for those who planned, financed and carried out the murder that they will be brought to justice. Haitian authorities have already arrested 20 people. 

Pray for the Haitian police force as they try to catch those involved.  The PM has requested support from the United States and it is reported that some FBI personnel will arrive in Haiti to help with the investigation. I believe they arrived today (Sunday). 

Pray for the Haitian people at this extremely difficult time.  Everyone we have spoken to is scared of what may happen next. 

Pray for us as we pack and plan to leave at the end of the month. 

John 1 v 5 
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. 

 

Isaiah 43 v 2 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.

A part of life

Last week Altidor messaged me to tell me that one of the guys who translated for our last physio team in December 2019, had died.  He got married just under 2 years ago and is probably in his late 20's.  I tried to get a little more information but all she could tell me was 'he was sick and then he died.' 

It's so sad and so typical of Haiti.  No explanation, no reason,  he just got sick and died. 

It's a tragedy and no doubt if he lived somewhere else with better medical care he either still be alive or his family would at least know what was wrong with him and why he died. 

Back in February Claudin (Emmaus staff member)  lost his wife.  Again with no explanation. She has been unwell since the birth of her third child last August and couldn't get any answers anywhere. Then in February after a week of feeling awful, she had a seizure and died, leaving behind 3 little kids and a wonderful husband.  With no specialists, MRI's or CT's scan in the North of Haiti Claudin really has no idea why he lost his wife. 

And we hear stories like this so often in Haiti.  Death is such an integral part of life. 

My worst experience with death in Haiti was in 2010 when I was working in the cholera clinic.  One morning a man arrived with at 8 am with his 5 year old daughter in his arms, already dead.  It was too late.  She had started throwing up just 6 hours before and by the time he brought her she had died in his arms.  It was so tragic and so sad and it should never happen.  But the terrible truth is that it happens and it happens all too often and it happens with so many not only treatable but preventable illnesses. 

Why am I telling you this? To be honest I am not really sure. I guess with us going back so soon part of me is preparing myself for the suffering we will see and the feeling of helplessness we experience probably on a daily basis (Here is a post I wrote about returning to Haiti).   Another part is because so many people have asked us 'How are things in Haiti?' and its an extremely difficult question to answer because things in Haiti are bad. 

Since I first visited Haiti in 2018 things have always been bad but over the past three years things are definitely worse. 

The past three years has brought with it long periods of political unrest, affecting the price of food, the security in the country (particularly in Port au Prince), an increase in gang violence (again mainly in Port),  the already fragile medical care, the already poor education system, the availability of fuel and therefore transportation and electricity and honestly every area of life.  Haiti's people are so tired, so discouraged and in despair.  When I talk with Altidor she is just so hopeless for her generation.  She can't see a future which is going to be any better.  The problems are complex, the issues run deep and the solutions feel beyond reach right now. 

Please take a few minutes to listen to Dr Guenson's message and call to prayer for Haiti. 

We have a date

 Normally when we are home whether that's Canada or Northern Ireland we get an opportunity to speak in churches and share what has been going on in Haiti, obviously with COVID we have been unable to do that and we haven't been in Canada since 2019. 

So we have put together this video to share with you a bit more about what's going on in Haiti and what our plans are.  I hope you enjoy it 😀

In other news we have booked flights! We got Jacob's passport a couple of weeks ago and have been waiting to see if  the US border is going to open.  So far this has not happened and doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon so we have booked our flights to leave the UK on 29th July where we will fly to Nassau in the Bahamas - I know one of the downsides to Haiti being in the Caribbean 😀 from there we will fly to Haiti. 

We are looking forward to going back but at the same time it will be hard to leave. Some of the things we are looking forward to are, teaching in person for Bill, seeing our friends who we didn't even get to say goodbye to, going back to our house, getting back to the clinic and the never ending sunshine.  The boys are looking forward to seeing Bello Bello - our cat who has miraculously survived all this time with us away, playing outside in barefeet all day everyday, going to the beach and getting back to school to see their friends. 

Some of the things we are going to miss are our family, our friends, playgrounds, forests, rockpools, smooth roads, and availability of certain foods! It's definitely going to take some time to get used to life in Haiti again - it is just so different from life here in Northern Ireland and with most of our OMS team gone it is going to be different from when we were there before. 

The next two months will be spent getting our house ready to rent out, packing up our stuff, buying stuff we need for Haiti - the boys have grown a lot in the last year and spending time with family and friends and saying goodbye!

Although this time at home was completely unplanned and even with all the restrictions it has been good.  We are thankful that Bill was able to continue his job at Emmaus and Julie has still been involved at Bethesda.  Jacob has made so much improvement in the last year and having access to speech therapy which we don't have in Haiti has come at exactly the right time for him.  We have been able to get done all the things we needed to get done which are impossible from afar.  So although this was not our plan the Lord has worked everything out and let's be honest - whose life ever goes according to the plan anyway? Ours certainly haven't! 😂

Think about it....

 

From 1-30th June you can join us as we travel virtually  around the perimeter of Haiti,  moving however you like to move which could be walking, cycling, swimming, running, I mean the possibilities are endless really!  

The journey around Haiti is 1323 miles and of course we don't expect you to do that whole journey on your own.  You can set your own goal and we will collectively 'move' around Haiti.  Or you can get a team together, this could be your own family, or small group or anyone really, then set a collective goal. 

We are using a great platform called Race Roster where you can register and keep track of your miles.  Once you have registered with Race Roster you will be able to create your personal fundraising page which you can share with friends and family to sponsor you. 

The event will take place from 1-30th June and throughout the month of June you can post pictures and we will take you on the journey around Haiti through the facebook group.  You will get to see more about Haiti, learn a bit of the culture and maybe even pick up some Creole along the way.  

I would love you to get involved. 

I know that I ask a lot of you (whoever you are, I really have no idea who reads this).  I ask for your prayers, your money,  for goodness sake, I have even asked you to come and live beside us in Haiti! 

But if you take part in Move for the Move don't think about doing it for me. 

Think about doing it for Yvelinda, who comes for physiotherapy because she has cerebral palsy. 

Think about doing it for the twins, whose lives were saved (if you haven't read the story you can read it here) by coming to Bethesda and who still come for formula and food. 

Think about doing it for Christine* (not her real name) who was close to death when she first came in 2019.  After completing her treatment for TB she now attends our HIV clinic and is doing great! Read her story.

Think about doing it for Nurse Ketlye who desperately needs a new consultation room which is clean, up to date and fit for purpose. 

Think about doing it for the new moms who often don't even have a place to sit with their babies when they bring them to well baby day for check ups and vaccines because of the lack of space.  In a new Bethesda we will be building a women's center where these moms and caregivers can come with their babies. 

Think about doing it for our director, Dr Rodney, who left a job and a life in the Dominican Republic to come back to Haiti to serve his own people.  Whose vision has always been to have a clinic where the care and facilities are the best for the people of Haiti. 

We have an opportunity to do just that, but we can't do it alone, we need your help.  

www.bethesdamedical.org/moveforthemove 

Five years at Emmaus

 Last Friday was the last day of finals at Emmaus and it means Bill has officially been teaching at Emmaus for 5 years.  When we moved to Haiti Bill had visited three times (I think) he didn't know any Creole, any French and had only taught one two week intensive at Emmaus. 

This was not 2013 - I am guessing Bill never even took a camera on that trip! 

The past five years have been stretching, now Bill can speak, read and write in Creole, mark papers in French (with a little help from google translate 😀!) and He understands much more about Haitian culture which helps him to apply what he is teaching to his students. 

I asked him to summarize the past five years at Emmaus here is what he said 

' In the past 5 years I have learned a lot more about the bible than I had before because when you have to teach it you have to understand it at a deeper level.  Living and working in Haiti has been very stretching and hard. But it has given me a little bit of an insight into how difficult life is in Haiti.  

Poverty is such a overwhelming problem which affects all areas of life and society and if Christians are going to deal with poverty then it has to be addressed in all kinds of different ways.  I have come to understand the simple preaching the gospel is not enough to change a country.  The preaching of the gospel needs to be backed up with real Christian action. 

The last thing living in Haiti has shown me is the limitations on what a foreign missionary can do.  Missionaries need to be empowering national people to do the work because they can understand language and culture much better.  I have seen this first hand.  I was in a Masters class on finances for non profits and the professor was Haitian. He was describing how in his church the pastor did not have the power to sign cheques for the church.  The idea was for the church to be financially responsible so the power was not all with one person.  The students said ' That's just not how it works in Haiti.' which is a typical response when someone says something different. But the professor responded ' I am Haitian, my church is in Haiti and this is how we do it.'  And the students had no response.  Whereas in my classes when I am teaching the students have said to me 'That's not how we do things in Haiti.'  and I, as a foreigner cannot respond in the same way. 

To summarize through these last five years I have come to understand the bible and Haitian culture in a deeper way and I've seen that the role of a foreign missionary, in Haiti, is to empower Haitians to do the work of ministry and Christian service themselves instead of trying to do everything for them.' 

On a different note, Bill does love to write and has started his own blog, if your interested in sci fi, politics and theology then check it out ! 

This time last year Emmaus was closed, the staff were trying to figure out how to finish the school year given that our students don't have the option of online classes, and Matt, the president was finishing up his time at Emmaus.  The possibility of completing the 19/20 school year did not look good never mind moving into a new school year! 

But they did! And the 20/21 school year has even been a record year! The total enrollment was 210 students which was made up of 118 undergraduate students and 92 masters students. 

Pastor Guenson Charlot took over from Matt in the summer and the school year began in September.  Donations were down, there were no visiting professors but with God's help and faithfulness the school year has now been completed. 

Bill is very much looking forward to being back teaching in the classroom and not over a screen! I know I don't talk too much about Emmaus on here (I will change that!) but there really are some wonderful things happening and we have some amazing students.  Stacey is really good at keeping their website of student testimonies up to date and you can read about them on the  Emmaus website or facebook page. 

When are we leaving?

 Well I wish I knew the answer to that question.... There are a lot of variables which lead into actually having a date to go. 

We hope to go sometime in July to give us all time to settle back into Haiti before the Emmaus semester starts on the 16th of August and the boys start school at the beginning of September. 

BUT 

We applied for Jacob's British citizenship in November and after an issue with his biometrics (long story what should have taken 2 weeks took 8!) which for Jacob is just getting his photo taken, everything has been completed and we are just waiting on a final decision from the home office.  Until we get a final decision the UK home office has Jacob's passport, birth certificate, adoption order and our marriage certificate making it impossible for us to leave or even book flights until all of those documents are returned to us. 

Well I started this post a few days ago and I am so excited to tell you Jacobs British citizenship came today! Which means we not only have all his documents back but we never have to worry about immigration ever again! When we were evacuated from Haiti last year it was pretty stressful travelling home through France not knowing if Jacob was going to be refused entry on his Canadian passport.  At that point we decided getting Jacobs British citizenship was at the top of our list of things to do and was really one of the main reasons we decided (not that we really had a choice) to stay home for this past year.  It is such a relief to know that Jacob now has the same citizenship as the rest of his family.  I literally feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. 

About a week ago we were looking at the possibility of asking the home office to return his documents and when we looked into it it said your application may take longer if we return your documents or if you are subject to immigration control you application may be cancelled.  We decided to wait until the end of April, pray and re evaluate.  God answered our prayer and today Jacob is a British citizen!! We now have to wait for the certificate and the apply for his passport but that should only take a few weeks. 

Secondly the US border is still closed to anyone coming from the UK however there are other routes through Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic but these routes are either more complicated or more expensive. So it is possible for us to get there we are just not sure which way to go yet. 

In the meantime we are preparing as much as we can so when we are able to book and travel we are ready to go! This year has been the year of sorting out many things. Jacobs citizenship, getting everyone's travel vaccines updated, writing a will, updating our life insurance and making changes to our mortgage (actually we haven't done that one yet!) yet we still have not been able to do to the dentist! 

With things looking so uncertain you might be asking why are we even trying to go back?

This is a loaded question to answer but let me be really honest and explain a few things. 

Life would be a LOT easier if we didn't go.  

We wouldn't have to pack up our house and move....again. 

We wouldn't have to say goodbye to our family and friends....again. 

We wouldn't have to stock up on all the things we miss and try to bring them with us....again. 

We wouldn't have to adjust to language, culture, food, driving and climate....again. 

So why are we going?

Well there are many reasons, we haven't finished the work we went to do, we left with less than 24 hours notice and didn't get to say goodbye to anyone, Haiti is really the boys home and they didn't get a chance to leave well but even above all of those reasons we are going because we are trying to be obedient to what God has called us to do.  

So at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what we want, what really matters is that we are being obedient to what we believe God is calling us to do. 

You might then ask - how do we know?

Isn't this a big question that Christians always ask....how do I know God's will for my life? This is a very short summary of my experience on figuring out what God has for you. 

2016

For Bill and I moving to Haiti in the first place was not because of some big event or dream or vision it was a simple process of being willing to go anywhere and figuring out where in the world God could use our skills and abilities.  We decided to stay within OMS as we knew the organisation and we knew if we went with OMS we would have great prayer support.  The place which needed a physiotherapist and a seminary teacher was Haiti so that is where we planned to go.  We knew if that was God's plan he would work out all the details.  And He did. 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 

Matthew 28 v 19 

Now fast forward 3 years to early 2019...We had returned to Haiti 6 months before after being in Canada for Jacob's adoption.  It was a very difficult year.  Jacob cried, what felt like all the time, I was working 3 days a week and the political unrest started in Haiti.  I felt like I was just about keeping my head above water, most nights I was so exhausted I fell into bed at 8pm right after the boys were asleep.  I really wanted to go home. 

2019

And that is what we decided to do.  Except we decided and said we would sit on the decision for a month and not tell anyone, just pray about it and wait for confirmation.  The evening we were going to tell the rest of our team, they got in there first.  Matt asked us to stay behind after a team meeting and he asked Bill to take on the role of register.  Something he had been doing as the president but Emmaus really needed someone who could take over the role. We said we would think and pray about it. 

Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, 

let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, 

but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.' 

Matthew 16 v 24 & 25 

Unknowingly to either of us we both felt uneasy about the decision to leave, even though I really wanted to, I knew then that this was not what God has for us.  As soon as we made the decision to stay, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt peace. 

I don't always think you should make decisions based on how you feel. Feelings change, ask me today I will say I want to go to Haiti, ask me tomorrow I probably won't but having God's peace is different.  I did not want to stay in Haiti - that is how I felt, but I had God's peace when we decided to stay so that's what we did.  Although I did make some changes to make life more manageable- one of those being dropping a day of work. 

And the peace of God which surpasses 

all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus 

Philippians 4 v 7 

Now fast forward to now...we have been out of Haiti for just over a year, through different circumstances most of our missionary team have moved on and its going to be hard to move back but we firmly believe this is what God is has for us....for now. 

For me the bible is clear, this is why included these verses above.  The Christian life is one of sacrifice and that looks different for every person but we do need to figure out our role in the great commission and be willing and obedient to be used by God. 

So the short answer is we don't know but were getting closer! 

Urgent needs

 As I have already shared our missionary team in Haiti has greatly reduced over the past couple of years and when we return to Haiti we will be the only missionaries living on campus. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing as we do firmly believe in the 'work yourself out of a job' philosophy by training up nationals but we do have some critical roles which need to be filled by missionaries or have missionaries come and do training. 

One of the critical needs Emmaus has is for an English teacher and it is always better to have a native English speaker to teach English! 

Emmaus offers 4 levels of English classes to Emmaus students but we also have outside students come  to learn English.  Classes take place twice a week with tutoring on the days in-between. 

We desperately need an English teacher for the 2021/22 academic year which begins mid August.  Here are the responsibilities and requirements. 

Responsibilities 

• Prepare and deliver lessons for English levels 1-4 
• Meet with students in small groups for English tutoring 
• Grade weekly English books 

Requirements 

• Native English speaker 
• TEFL / TESOL qualification or willingness to complete the qualification 
• Flexibility to work and live in a cross cultural environment 
• Work as part of a team 

Emmaus also has a need for an IT manager, right now one of our students is taking on most of this responsibility. 

Responsibilities 

• Maintain the campus network 
• Helping students with technology 
• Setting up student accounts 
• Managing the IT lab 

Requirements 

• Experience working in IT 
• Flexibility to work in a cross cultural environment 
• Willingness to learn Creole 

These are the two critical needs, which means we need someone to fulfill these positions as quickly as possible with a view to moving to Haiti in August. 

We also have a need for theology teachers, a Maintence manager and hospitality.  

If you have ANY questions about any of these roles, about living in Haiti, about anything to do with living at Emmuas about anything really related to this post please email me and I will try to answer all of your questions, if I don't know the answer I will find out for you. 

If you have never considered going overseas maybe now is the time to consider it, it may not be Emmaus in Haiti which is ok too, but considering the idea that God may be calling you to serve him somewhere else is important. 

Please pray with us for God's leading and for people to come and fulfill these urgent need so Emmaus can continue to train up Christ like leaders for the transformation of Haiti.