From wind on a roof to the Windy City…

I had the privilege of spending the weekend in Chicago Illinois. My friend Anthony and his wife Andrea just recently moved there. Anthony is the new Worship Arts Pastor at a church in Downers Grove. The message was based on 1 Peter 1:6-9 and was called The Value of Proven Faith. I decided that if the speaker would have said the “proof is in the pudding” I was going to walk out. JK. (For those of you that don’t attend Ginghamsburg that was in a message a few weeks ago).

Also I need to confess my heart hardness. While walking on the streets in Chicago there was a man that had a sign asking for money with a cup in front of it. The sign even ended with God Bless You. I have been to Haiti a few times and I’ve been to enough large cities that I have seen a lot of homeless beggars. Even in Troy, Ohio I’ve seen it. I felt nothing and to be honest I don’t even think I saw him. I didn’t feel anything and wouldn’t have thought anymore about it if it weren’t for Anthony. We went back and Anthony told the man we were going to the store and asked him if he needed anything. The man asked for deodorant and orange juice. Anthony even asked if he had a tooth brush and a few other things. The man replied that he had everything else; all he needed was deodorant and orange juice. That is all he needed.

I prayed, “God, you need to soften me.” I’ve been around to much to not even notice these things any more. I have another story of my heart hardness from this trip, But I’ll spare you for now.

"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deut. 15:11

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." (Prov. 14:31)

To make it even worse, I was talking about this very topic to our college group last Thursday. I was talking about service, not just over seas or in the gulf, or even in our own church. We talked about serving those around us and in our communities. One of the guys said he doesn’t like giving money away to people with signs at the interstate exits. I gave them all some advice that I myself have gotten away from. I use to always have at least five dollars of gift certificates with me, from McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, somewhere, to give them. God was speaking through me but I completely missed it myself.

Yes, I know that some of these people are con artist and some really don’t need your help. But, some do. And to quote a country song… “What if he's an angel sent here from heaven. And he's making certain that you're doing your best to take the time to help one another. Brother are you going to pass that test?”

I have been praying for God to help me. To help my hardened heart. To break my heart of stone. To recognize when I need to step up to the plate. To be an agent of change in this kingdom, the Kingdom of God.

The roof, some wind, deep seas, beautiful skies, burning sun and a few bugs…

My living quarters were a little unusual in Port au Paix. Our team slept on the roof over the kitchen and eating area. The ocean water was also right against the building. There was no beach. We had tents up on top of the roof but most of us sleep outside. The wind was insane. I woke up a few times thinking that the tents were going to fly away. On one night one of the kids was sick and when he woke up he forgot to put something on his air mattress so it wouldn’t fly away. Well it did. But, it hit me first. Luckily enough I wasn’t in a deep sleep I woke up just in time to grab it before it went over the wall.

We were only 5miles from Tortue Island. If you look at the picture above you can see many beautiful colors. It goes from brown, to blue green, to a blue, and then to a dark purple. The purple is one of the deepest parts of the ocean. And it is said that there are at least three pirate ships on the bottom.



On the shore in Haiti, really in most of Haiti, there is no light pollution. I stayed up many nights looking at the skies. I could see the big and little dipper every night. I counted a total of five shooting stares through out the week. It was amazing just to be able to see what we should always be able to see.

Even though the sky was beautiful at night it was a smoldering by day. My arms were burnt. My forehead was burnt. My neck was burnt.

All week long no insects bothered us so, I hadn’t put on bug spray. The last night the wind stopped. I woke up the next morning with bites all over me. Mostly my feet and arms were covered. I even had what looked like a toe ring. A sand flea just marched and munched around my toe until he went all the way around.

As I think more and more about it that is most likely the way Jesus slept. As he traveled around ministering to people he would have slept wherever there was something available. He ministered to the poorest of the poor in the poorest of poor areas. He would put up with bugs but enjoy the sky. Suffer from the sun but take pleasure in the colors of the water. He would take care of the least of these and play with the kids.

My new life mission statement: Life is a Mission Trip!

Currently the quality of Haitian human rights is very low

1. Bloody conflicts between opposing political parties, sparked by demands for fair elections frequently occur
2. Police brutality and extrajudicial executions (executions without a trial) are numerous.
3. The ability to speak freely is limited by conditions placed upon the freedom to speech laws
4. Mob violence and armed gangs pose severe security threats in urban areas. Former soldiers and others linked to the former military regime, as well as common criminals are responsible for much of the violence, including political assassinations. A lot of the violence is directly tied to increases in both the drug trade and local narcotics consumption
5. The judicial system is corrupt, dysfunctional and inefficient, especially in rural areas. Like the courts, the Haitian prisons are not large enough to handle backlog. The largest prison, designed to accommodate no more than 1000 prisoners routinely holds approximately 2200 prisoners. It is estimated that 80 percent of inmates are in pre-trial detention, roughly one-third of them have been held for more than a year. Due to the overcrowding and poor conditions, getting sent to prison in Haiti is usually considered a death sentence
6. People trafficking (slavery) is a serious issue in Haiti. Currently there is no Haitian law to prohibit the trafficking in persons and the numbers of people who are sold is frightening.
Taken from http://www.earthyfamily.com/H-issues.htm

Wall's Guest House

We stayed in Port au Prince, the countries capital, our first night. We slept at the Wall’s International Guest House. It was a great transition into this third world country. I’m use to stepping right into Haitian life. But, this trip our youth had an easy transition into the culture. Instead of counting sheep I counted who the fan was hitting as in oscillated around the room. Ken got very little. And one of our students had ants in his bed. I personally thought it kinda funny (sorry Brodeo). We also met our friends from Bowling Green at the guest house. We had our first night of teaching about Paul. I also had the privilege of talking to a medical mission team that was staying there as well. They were from various churches, mostly Methodist, from Texas (I want to say Dallas but I don’t remember). They had planed on teaching and leading workshops. But, in Haitian style things were changed and they did mostly clinics in the mountains. Serving God was their top priority, which was very evident when talking to them. It was great to meet them and talk about mission in Haiti, at home and all over the world.

Lashbrook Family Ministry

I figured the best possible thing to tell you about is where we spent our time on this trip. We teamed with Active Christians Today (ACT) on a trip to help with Lashbrook Family Ministries. We helped with a basketball camp for the boys. I have also decided that if anybody wants to paint...Don't call me if it is white paint. LOL! We did many other projects around as well. Some of the group spent time with children at the orphanage. And of course we loved all the children. Below is a video of what the Lashbrook family is all about.


Lashbrook Family Ministry...The first decade
by Ashley Pell

Beniswa Bondye

My first blog post, oh my. As many of you know one of my passions is mission. Most recently mission in Haiti. I just returned from there last week from helping lead a student ministry team from Ginghamsburg Church. This was my third trip into this very poor country. I will also be returning in November with an adult team to help my brothers and sisters of that country. I will use this blog to share some pictures, stories and things that God has placed on my heart. Not just from Haiti but from anywhere I am. Life is just one long mission trip. Please feel free to leave a comment, ask questions and definitely pray. I look forward to hearing from you.