Hello from our first night in Haiti! (Written by Calais Watkins)
Just in case you were wondering, yes, we have already sweat A LOT, but we’re finally here and I couldn’t be more excited to share the first of our many adventures with you. With a night of sleeplessness spent on a plane, two days blurred into one super long, exhausting, yet completely wonderful day, so let’s just start at the beginning…
After two plane rides (with a rushed coffee run in between), our team finally arrived in Haiti’s capitol, Port-au-Prince, where we proceeded to share many hugs with Pastor Sam and his team before loading the bus and beginning our drive to the South. Along the way, we stopped at Sam’s father’s church in Carrefour and saw a church building that seats 1,000 people, a school that educates 900 kids, and a functioning well that Mariners helped build after the earthquake years ago. This is where it all began. This is where 365 families took refuge after the earthquake hit and where Sam rounded up 52 children who would be the start of a family made in the Glory Glory Center. We had to take it all in quickly, as a 4 hour bus ride awaited us still, but this was the perfect beginning to the story that is to be told on this trip – the story of Pastor Sam’s faith and obedience, and how these things, combined with his incredible leadership, is capable of transforming Haiti.
Almost immediately after getting to the hotel, Sam shared that he was on his way to watch the boys from Glory Glory compete in their third round of a soccer tournament, so it was off the bus and into the bed of Sam’s truck as 5 of us girls set out to be the best cheerleaders F.C.G.G. has ever known. This all seemed like a casual shindig at first, but we quickly realized that it was anything but. Refs were put into place, announcers turned on their speakers, teams ran onto the field, the entire neighborhood turned up to watch, and the game began. Sitting on the sidelines in the shade with kiddos in my lap and a cheering crowd behind me, I was completely content as I watched our boys dominate the game in their brand new uniforms*. Their 7-1 win was celebrated by everyone cheering and rushing the field, followed by a victory ride home. Who knew that 20 kids fit so perfectly into a truck bed? The entire experience was a surprise, yet what surprised me the most was how perfectly at home I felt, despite it having been almost two years since I’ve been in Haiti – it was like I had never left.
This feeling of being at home is an example of how the love of God creates one community that spans the globe. Throughout the entirety of our first days’ adventure, I continued to think about what it means to be a part of the capital “C” Church, and the fact that this Church only exists because of God’s universality. He makes it possible for us to belong to a universal church, allowing us to tackle cultural divides in order to achieve a like-minded goal. I could cheer on the sidelines of a soccer game alongside my Haitian community, both of us with the goal (no pun intended) of encouraging our team. Education in Haiti looks very different from education in the States, but because we both believe that education leads to a generation of leaders, we can work together to make this happen. We can build a school in Haiti.
*Special shout out to Bethany and her family who provided the kids’ new uniforms. She and her family were part of the Evolution Haiti trip to visit Sam a few weeks ago. Due to luggage restrictions at LAX, they had to leave the suitcase of uniforms behind. We were happy to bring the suitcase with us, and the kids literally put them on the minute they arrived and ran onto the field to play their game.
P.S. Sorry there aren’t any photos! It all happened so quickly, no one had a camera!!
Mariners Faith Adventures 