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Once again a beautiful warm sunny day dawned in Haiti. We were up before sunrise to fix breakfast for the team from Holland. They came at 6:00 a.m., around 6:45 we were cleaning up. Suddenly I heard someone say, "There's a top-top here!" What?? It's not even 7 AM yet!! It was the children from Rusty’s Orphanage. These precious children had heard that Bettie was ill and had come from Port-au-Prince to pray for her. Bettie was resting because she had been struggling with insomnia. While they were waiting for Bettie to come out to the Choucoun, the director fed them their breakfast he’d brought, boiled eggs and chocolate milk, and they happily sat at the table to eat. They were some of the most well behaved, sweet children I have ever met. I am very grateful for being there that morning and was so blessed to see such love in action.
Carol Baker — Grandville, Michigan
Happy Anniversary GLOW - 10 Years
Happy Anniversary GLOW - 10 Years
February is a special month. There are a lot of birthdays coming up; a brother, several of my kids, a niece, a great, great aunt who passed away decades ago and two former presidents, Washington and Lincoln. February is the “month of love,” ushering in Valentines Day, offering the nation’s florists a chance to get back in the black. Here’s a suggestion for Valentine’s Day. Instead of buying your sweetheart a diamond, rent the movie “Blood Diamond” and watch it together. Caution: strong violence and some potty mouth. And yes, stuff like that does happen. My favorite line in the movie was, “It’s a good thing they didn’t find oil here…” Or here’s another suggestion: instead of a bunch of roses, send me $50 and I’ll feed one hundred hungry kids in Haiti. I’ll even put a bouquet of roses somewhere on the internet, you can download it, with a special thank you from us to your sweetheart, who knows; this might start a new trend.
February is unique in that it is the shortest month of the year. I like short months, especially short months spent in frigid Michigan winters. One particularly special day this month will be February 7. This year the Chinese New Year’s Day will fall on February 7, the beginning of the Year of the Rat. How apropos is that? I’m going to write a lot about rats this year; rats are one of the faithful constants of living and working in Haiti. Many a Kingdom principle can be drawn from the life and times of a rat, I’m surprised Jesus did not expose the rat more often in his parables. The Chinese name their years for animals primarily because they have a hard time remembering how old they are, but we won’t get into all that now. Maybe I’ll ask my brother Pete to expound on it since he lives in China and often can’t remember how old he is either. Maybe it has something to do with the noodles.
Speaking of China… I’m going to lead a group over there. I haven’t been there in about 15 years and I want to see if Pete really has all those schools he talks about, and I want to eat some noodles, maybe I’ll forget how old I am, and I want to talk to some people about rats, after all, a folk who would name a year after the rat must know something about them. If you want to come along I can guarantee you three things: 1: it won’t be cheap, 2: the trip over and back is LONG and 3: the noodles are fantastic. Check the website, e-mail me or call me if you’re interested. (November 4-14)
Let’s get back to February 7… a very special day. Yes, it’s my brother Jack’s birthday, he’s hitting 55, finally making the speed limit as posted on many a State Road and Highway. But more to our interests here, February 7 is the 10th Anniversary of GLOW Ministries International. This is the day, ten years ago, that Bettie came up to me while I was visiting her in Haiti and said, “GLOW, G… L… O… W.” My heart was ready and I said, “OK, let’s glow!” I immediately started the paperwork for the corporation while many of you helped build the Grande Gode church. The inheritance Papa Jack left us was re-invested into “enabling” and a new era had begun.
Another new era is beginning today. I am so excited I can barely sit still. Our gardens are blooming with the beauty and fruit of forty years labor. The seeds we have planted over the years are thriving under divine rain. Last week I was in an attorney’s office in Port au Prince with the Four Horsemen, the primary directors in Haiti. We were there to inquire into our potential application to become a recognized Non-Government Organization, a legal hurtle which provides some benefits in Haiti. After spending several hours, each of us describing who we are and what roles we fulfill as individuals in the organization, the attorney responded. “Phillip,” she said, “what you folks have here is ‘extraordinaire,’ don’t change a thing.” Extraordinaire in French is a pretty impressive word, and the way she said it carbonated my blood.
I see new growth as well, shoots and sprigs that are growing wild, some even now blooming, promising exotic new fruit we can only imagine, planted and nurtured by divine intent, to be revealed in their season.
And yes, there will be tares as well, the weeds that grow among the flowers. We will have a row or two to hoe, there is no doubt about it. This new era will bring new challenges, new battles and new threats. We will face them as we always do, a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, just as Nehemiah did. We will stay “on the wall” and continue the work until our Jerusalem, the children we cherish, the aged who are forgotten and abused, the “least of these,” are protected and nourished until the shepherd comes to lead us home.
Be prepared for some interesting and exciting twists and turns coming up.
And speaking of birthdays and anniversaries, I celebrated my 51st birthday last month. I always figured hitting 50 was kind of like reaching the summit, and after that it would be “all downhill.” I believe that, but I do not use the word “downhill” in a negative context. The last year was the worst year of my life, but it was a year of searching. I’ve been looking for my “sled.” The next 50 years will not be about reaching any new summits. No, it’s time to start navigating. Give the sled a little push over the edge and navigate. I woke up on my 51st birthday with fresh anointing and healing rejuvenating my life. I’M FREE.
As we bumped and bounced along the rough mountain road toward Savannah au Roche last month, I hit a particularly nasty hidden dip that unceremoniously kicked those of us in the cab of the truck into a brain jarring encounter with the roof. As we crawled on in four-wheel low, the stars slowly dissipating from our eyes, Maite Fero leaned over toward me and in his deep, raspy toad voice said, “Pou le gloua de Dieu,” our mantra in Haiti. For the Glory of God!
In the past several months I have written about recent visits to two of our main schools in Haiti, Evwa and Fonde Baptiste. As the year progresses I intend to add a different school profile every month until I have presented every village we partner with in Haiti both officially (9) and unofficially (3). Our trips to Evwa and Fonde Baptiste took us up the rocky Chaine Mattheaux Mountains to an elevation close to one mile above sea level. Fonde Baptiste is perched at the top of these mountains as a hub, a central point from which Evwa, Lacoline and DoCoUn are fixed as smaller satellite schools. Today we will visit one of our most remote villages, Savannah au Roche.
Savannah au Roche is located on the North Eastern edge of the Artibonite Valley. It is unique in its location in that if one could hit a golf ball in a straight path from the back yard of our home base at Kalico, directly over Fonde Baptiste in the Chaine Mattheaux Mountains, and have it fly over the Artibonite River, it would land very near Savannah au Roche. To get there, however, we must drive North through St. Marc, turning right at Ponte Sonde and choosing one of two options for crossing the Artibonite River. We usually take the short-cut, driving paved road deep into the valley and then 4-wheeling a few muddy miles to the river. From there we hire pole driven boats to ferry us across and walk the remaining mile or two into the village. The 4-wheel portion of this road has been flooded and treacherous for months now.
The other option is a vehicle crossing at a water diversion project. From the crossing at the dam the road becomes all 4-wheel drive low and usually takes two hours or more for about 8 miles. It is brutally bumpy, crosses several minor rivers and in the rainy season has areas that become mud traps. Although this road leads to the front door of the school, it is my least favorite route and I usually avoid it like the plague. The road was fairly dry when we went in last month so it wasn’t too bad, just horrendously bumpy.
The children were assembled in precise order in front of the school, waiting as we entered the grounds. It was a beautiful sight to see several hundred children in uniform, smiling with the anticipation of our visit. I slipped off to the side to take a few pictures while the group was led to the front of the assembly. The teachers led the children in several songs before dismissing them back to their classes. The group, from Calvary CRC, Holland MI, followed the school director through a class by class visitation/inspection. The students would stand to attention as the group entered each class. Each class in turn offered singing and smiles. Cameras flashed and children smiled, giggling at the special attention from the foreigners.
There are about 350 kids in this school. It is a primitive structure consisting of a long post and lintel building covered with rusted, corrugated steel. The interior and exterior walls are made of woven palm leaves often called ‘brush arbor.’ There are several rectangular areas on the grounds marked out by rocks which serve as open air classrooms. Despite the humble facilities, the children are excited to come to school here every day.
School lunches are cooked over charcoal in large pots usually setting on three rocks. The food is dished out and set on a table where the children line up class by class to pray and receive their noon meal. Feeding 350 children daily alleviates some of the food scarcity problems at home and contributes to the general health of the whole community.
There were a number of elderly folks hanging out on the school grounds. They are members of the church here and know they are welcome to a meal if they are hungry. Some of them are so poor they sleep in the school at night.
Top Left: Traditional Haitian Stove - three rocks.
Top Right: The dump truck loaded up with a group form Calvary CRC, Holland, MI
Right: Smiling kids, we love to see our kids healthy and smiling. That’s what this is all about.
Below: Group shot at the school in Savannah au Roche