Miracle Moments

Haiti/St. Marc’s, Trouin                           Miracle Moments

                                                                  Gail Moulton and Caroline LaBorde

January 30-February 5^th

Bishop Rob Wright’s devotional for the week of February 8^th, spoke to Gail as she reflected on her 10^th trip to Haiti. She has taken the liberty to use parts of  his comments, which are italicized, as she wrote for the two of us.

 

“Everybody wants a mountaintop experience with God, that shining moment of bliss and wholeness. But look at Jesus' life and you'll see that plain things like his baptism and prayer brought him to life-changing intimacy with God, ...while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Luke 9:29

With God, miraculous moments are often born of mundane practices: Stillness.  Service to neighbor. Generosity born of compassion. “

 



Since 2005, the Haitian Hope committee, the family of St. Francis church and friends across the country have been with us miracle by miracle starting with the feeding program for the students when we learned most of the students did  not eat at school. Keeping our eyes focused on God’s calling us to serve others, we stepped out on faith with your prayers and financial support. We thank you.

Caroline and I started in 2006 and 2007 going to Haiti. Each time we have flown in we have wondered, what will the airport look like? This time we were greeted with a brand new airport. The entrance was full of colorful Haitian art, and workers in attractive uniforms to welcome you to this tropical land called Haiti. It was so much fun to see the changes and how proud everyone was of this new airport.

 

 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”
 

We filled Pere Michaud’s truck and Wilson’s van. Most of us were pulling two  50# suitcases and wearing backpacks. The Virginia group was going to put up solar panels and do electrical work, so they had extra cases….piled high, up to Trouin we went and were greeted so warmly by Kercia, Pere Michaud’s wife, Georgette and many of our longtime friends.  Settling in we discovered new sleeping quarters, 2 new bathrooms , mosquito  netting and screens on the windows……mundane items  in the USA, but a mountain top gift for us. Living Waters for the World provided good drinking water. This is huge! Keeping hydrated and having clean water is a MUST.
 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”
 

Though roosters crowed and dogs barked all night, the cool nights for sleeping  were gifts.  Even though we stayed up late each night, we were ready for 6:30 morning prayer, breakfast and then  on to our jobs.

 

Three round beds of green plants enhance the flag pole where the students gather by grade, Mondays, for opening exercises. ….They sing the National Anthem, church songs and then are dismissed to classes grade by grade.  We had seen this done in Cheridant  back in 2006 and most recently at the public school in Trouin, so we were glad  to see this happening at our school, too. We hope that the staff will also use this time for a minute of teaching:

……importance of trash pick-up, importance of good hygiene , etc.  …..

Caroline and I worked on the library again, refreshing, reorganizing and did some reteaching as to how to use the library.  We visited classes, Caroline reconnected with students and teachers, we did some small group idea sharing with the Kindergarten teachers and spent time listening and watching life at St. Marc’s Episcopal School. The teachers now have uniforms also.

We got to participate in two of the trade school classes, cooking and sewing. It seemed so easy for them, but for us it would be advanced camp cooking and combining tailoring/sewing skills.  The director of the school is excited about the possibilities of a certified trade school developing.

 

 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”   
 

                 

The Virginia team with Haitian workers put in hours getting the equipment ready for the solar panels, wiring for lights in our new school building and working on getting the computer lab functioning . Setting the pole and raising the platform with the solar panels created a lot of excitement in the community.

 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”
 

Can you imagine ???????

• Having lights to read books we are providing-
• Students attending  the computer lab-
• Primary children interacting with computer learning activities
• Older primary students learning the keyboard and doing research
• Secondary students actually doing some word processing
• Trade school students attending an IT class on Saturday
• Parents learning on the computer at night-

Can you imagine????    It is all going to be possible!
 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”
 

 Saturday was time for fun for some of us .With Bishop Duracin arriving for the baptism of Lentz Fruitho and the dedication of the new  school  building many things had to be done:

• The school yard had been hoed all week in preparation for a garden
•  The street leading from Pere Michaud’s and the church was cleaned of weeds and trash   
• New School building was washed-
• Living Waters  For the World building needed  paint touch ups-
• Daughters of the King met and rehearsed for Sunday and updated their   activities with Gail-  
• Children’s choir… learned This Little Light of Mine from Nicole Hutt, Leeds, Markham, Virginia-  
• Gospel and adult choirs practiced-
• Decorating the church-
• Student moved desks/pews into the church, swept and cleaned-
• Band rehearsed-
• American clergy and readers practice their parts, some to be read in French and Creole  

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”

 

Sunday was a glorious day. Bishop Duracin, family and friends arrived.  We shared breakfast and then the procession of clergy, acolytes, servers, choirs, baptismal family and friends walked from Georgette’s house to the church.  This was a real photo op.  About 275 people filled the church, stood outside at the windows and doors to hear, The Word. We started around 9:00 and finished around 11:30. 
 

Daughters of the King

 

The music was magnificent. Nicole did a great job with the children.  She is a French middle school teacher and we called her the energizer bunny. She did some teaching and singing like she uses in her classroom.

 

Kercia and Baby

 

A representative from each church received a plaque, similar to the plaque placed on the new school building.  Our classes are filled with children who are desperate to learn.  Some still walk 2-3 hours each way to school, do homework by flashlight and keep a spotless clean uniform.

 

 Pere Michaud and Plaque

    Bishop Duracin 

The Bishop blessed each room…miracle moments

 

We had lunch, that I am sure had been cooked during the night at different     

stages.

A beautiful table was set with potatoes in all forms, beet salad, hard boiled eggs, lettuce and tomatoes, bananas, plantains, beans and rice, bread, peanut butter, piklis, chicken, and goat served with soft drinks. All cooking was done over small fires with  many pots….advanced, advanced camping.

 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”

 

Then a late afternoon and evening trip for” Kanaval” 2013 in Jacmel.  Amos got us seats at a second floor balcony so we could see the hordes of people swaying and marching, tooting horns following the floats. “Kanaval “ is the expressive culmination of the Haitian soul”, declares Minister Duputy.  The energy is like electricity, powerful.

Monday, our final day pushed us to finish up, pack, take our final pictures and give our final hugs for we would be leaving at 5:00 am for the airport. Our new Virginia friends and our Haitian friends have strengthened us, given us mountain moments  as we continue to walk through valleys calling God and saying, we are here Lord, what will you have us do?
 

“With God, miraculous moments are often born…”