Extreme Poverty

On the return trip back to Port-au-Prince, we traveled through the other side of town. We thought we had seen poverty the day before, but we were wrong. These pictures don't do justice to the scope of the homelessness and the vast shanty-town dwellings that spread as far as the eye could see, nor to the scope of dire helplessness and hopelessness that you could see on the faces of people as we drove down the street. We were told that Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and that it rivals that of many African countries.

The image of people washing clothes and collecting water from the murky, dirty and undoubtedly unsanitary water in the canal and gutters in the streets was absolutely heartbreaking.

For those that may wonder, the average annual income in Haiti is $350 us dollars per year. To put that in perspective, most americans spend more than that on their car payment each month, or on cable or internet in 1 year.

You can click on the pictures for a closer view.

More from Haiti trip

Well, we did make it back home safely on Tuesday after a prolonged stay courtesy of American Airlines :) They were nice enough to put us up in a hotel in Miami for about 5 hours since we had a 6 hour delay due to mechanical issues in Haiti and then missed our connecting flight out and had to reroute on Tuesday. I couldn't help but think of the people we had left in Haiti, and how grateful I was to be returning to so much, so how could I complain! We kept a positive attitude and enjoyed some down time in the airports.

But, on to the important things - our visit to Value Baptist Church on Sunday to spend time with our new extended church family and see the building that our church family was able help them build was the highlight of our trip. The people were such a joy to be around -



Try to picture people who are so poor they live with no running water or electricity, with no transportation climbing a steep mountain 5000 meters (several miles uphill) on foot - I thought it was a rough journey in the back seat of a 4x4 truck - one guy with only 1 leg comes up with a crutch & a stick - Oh what I would pay for video of that! They all dress up in their finest clothes and gather together for the highlight of their week.

Watching them for 3.5 hours, truly and passionately worshipping God together was amazing - and nobody got up early to leave or walk out during the last song! Wow. they could teach us all a few things.



They were so hungry to learn and so grateful for a meal that they could share together - I couldn't help but think of the early church in Acts 2:

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.




For all who gave to Palm Valley Church as part of the vision of the Seize the Moment campaign, which helped to also build Value Baptist church in Haiti, thank you for your gift to God and your love for others - I hope as you view some of the pictures you will reflect on the joy of giving as truly "it is more blessed to give than to receive" Acts 20:35

Haiti Pictures, take 2

Some new friends from Haiti


Part of the daily grind for women (all ages)


New definition of a "Buyers" market

Daniel speaking to 1st year theological students at the Port-Au-Prince Christian Ministry Center


U.N. "Peace"-keepers giving the intl peace sign. Interesting to note that this vehicle was "manned" by young females for other nations, probably in early 20s.

Hello from Haiti

For those that don't know, I am in Haiti for a few days with Daniel Conner, one of the pastors at Palm Valley Church. We are visiting Value Baptist Church in Value, Haiti where Palm Valley Church has helped them to build their church building, to visit and encourage them and to see what is happening in the community and surrounding areas. Yesterday we visited the Christian Ministries Center in Port Au Prince after arriving and got to meet some of the theological students and pastors/leaders, as well as tour the facility to learn about the other vocational training classes they have there.

Today we spent the day in downtown Port Au Prince and the surrounding communities. I was reminded time and again of the many things that we take for granted living in America, from our freedom and security, to basic sanitation, electricity (which went out several times in the 1 hour visit to the ministry center as well as last night at our hotel), to the convenience of clean & running water that we don't have to go and purchase and carry uphill several miles on foot to our home, to paved roads, not to mention luxuries like"High-speed" internet, cell phones that work (Verizon could make a great commercial over here - Can you hear me NOW?)etc. Daniel thinks the worst thing is that ESPN over here covers only Cricket, Rugby and soccer - they had a 20 second byte on 1 NBA game and it was a hoot listening to French & British broadcasters trying to report on it - That was Jolly-good 'ol chap.

Well, too much to share in a short time - we are so blessed with all that we have.
Here's a couple pics - hopefully they will load before the power goes out... 5 minutes and counting, don't hold your breath. Seems Haiti is a little cleaner and safer than even 6-9 months ago - not many U.N. left around, but we did see a few - including an armored vehicle full of soldiers driving by the Haiti Palace (where the President it) taking pictures.

Love you all at home - you all need to get skype as any other type of communication just isn't feasible and/or cost effective. Daniel got a prepaid cell phone when we arrived at the airport - we (he) had to ask the waitress to interpret the instructions (French) for us this morning at breakfast and she explained that the reason our call wasn't going through is that we had about 2 gouldes of talk time left (1 dollar = 36 gouldes... you do the math) (not sure where all our minutes went, obviously lost in translation but I'm sure the salesperson had a good laugh at us tourists)??