Haitian Experience

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven. Matt. 5:14, 16

On March 6, amid the beginnings of covid19 epidemic and a level 4 travel alert, I left for Haiti on a medical mission. I joined a team from my brother’s church in Shelburn, Indiana and in Miami we joined a team of college students and doctors from Nebraska, to make a total of 32 team members. Upon arrival in Port Au Prince, we were checked for fever as we left the plane and then proceeded to customs where we paid $10 to enter the country. After loading luggage and boarding three vehicles, we went on a wild and crazy ride through town, weaving in and out of traffic, rarely stopping. The wild ride came to halt twice. Once to repair a leaking radiator hose and once to replace a clogged fuel filter. Satan was working to prevent us from arriving but we prevailed. It made me wondered what God was going to do through us that Satan wanted to prevent it. While waiting for repair to truck, I had a good conversation with Willem, founder of Mountaintop Ministries. He is proud of the heritage of his country and his goal with Mountaintop Ministries is to transform Haiti from a country of poverty, corruption, and voodoo through the power of Jesus Christ and education of the people.

We were well cared for at the mission house. Breakfast and dinner was prepared daily. A generator provided power to charge 16 car batteries which would provide electricity for lights, charging electronics, and running the water pump. Guard dogs patrolled the property and we even had a police officer on our team assigned a shotgun for additional protection. By American standards we were somewhat primitive. Diligent to not flush toilet paper, conservative with the flushes, no hot water or showers. Baths were taken by filling a plastic tub with a small amount of water, using a small bowl to splash yourself to wet and rinse off. And we slept under mosquito netting. By Haitian standards we were staying in luxury.

Each day we would traverse down one mountainside, across a dry riverbed- where Haitians were digging for water to drink, bath, and wash clothes – and up another mountainside to the village of Gramoth. We held 6 days of clinics, along with a small construction team who worked on projects around church and school. The clinic had a well stocked pharmacy, set up similar to a retail pharmacy. I worked alongside a pharmacist from Indiana, a veteran volunteer from Arizona, and a Haitian interpreter, Angela.

While on this trip, I had the opportunity to perform some tasks I have been desiring to do – compounding a medication from tablet form to liquid form, and reconstitute a medication along with preparing a syringe for administration.

In 6 clinics we saw 1206 people, averaged 950 prescriptions filled daily. Each person who came to clinic was given a salvation tract and a Creole translation of the gospel of John and book of Romans.

On Thursday evening, before we even arrived in Haiti, we heard people were already lining up for clinic. Each evening, people would spend the night to be seen the next day. One of the ways I saw God’s hand during this trip was the weather. I heard the people were waiting on rain to plant their crops. It was rainy and cool on Sunday, when we held no clinic, and it rained again the night of our last clinic. All days of clinic when people were waiting outside and spending the night outside it did not rain. Some highlights from clinic: a baby was born, minor surgeries performed, besides blood pressure meds and diabetes meds we treated scabies and sexually transmitted diseases.

God is transforming the village of Gramoth and consequently the country of Haiti through Mountaintop Ministries. The village has a fresh water supply from a Mountaintop spring. The ministry has piped the fresh water to the village for drinking and irrigation. Because of this they are able to have multiple crops annually and with the fresh drinking water, water born diseases have been reduced. Willem has established a school and every child that attends school must also attend church, where they hear about Jesus Christ. Along with elementary and high school grades, a trade school has been established. When Willem first came, the night air would be filled with the beating of voodoo drums. The drums are now silent. Voodoo temples no longer exist on the village. When the last voodoo priest left, he gave his property to Mountaintop Ministries. He said his demons would no longer come when he summoned them. That’s the power of light over darkness!

If you would like to be a part of transforming lives in Haiti from poverty in voodoo to prosperity in Christianity, you can sponsor a child’s education at http://www.mtmhaiti.com