Chapter 4 Getting to Know You

A year has passed since I first hit the beach at L’Acul. It has been a fast and wonderful year for me. For the first time in my missionary career I feel I am using the talents that God has given me. Being 61 has its advantages too. The kids see me as a hip grandma figure and their parents accept me as the mother they never had. It gives me all kinds of opportunities to witness and love. Time has produced a lot of patience that was absent earlier in my life and my age alone causes me to be urgent about God’s business.

My work has taken some unusual side tracks, but seems to be producing some fruit. My time is spent mostly with the precious “tribe” of kids who wave to us each morning as they go to bathe in the sweet water that empties into the ocean at our back yard. After school they hit the beach as soon as they have changed from their uniforms into their recognizable old clothes. They play close by just in case we have visitors or if by chance I have an extra activity for them in the back yard. They walk the beach reciting their weekly memory verse out loud for all to hear. I am pleas­antly surprised to hear old women, moms, and little siblings recite the verses that they have heard repeated in the lakou (yard). God tells us that the Word will not return to Him void, that it will have an effect on whoever hears it. I am counting on that!

Wednesday is kid’s day. At first we divided into 3 age groups for one hour each, the last group being the older teens. I soon realized that this group needed more of me than the others so I regrouped after a while. I know now that these older teens are the key to change in L’Acul and that I needed to prepare them for leadership and holiness in their lives. No one else is doing that for them. They are like sponges, wanting to learn everything about life and still love playing like children.

We made homemade instruments to play: milk can drums, shakers from plastic fruit cups and rocks, little tam­bourines from wood, wire, and coke caps, and sticks with bells tied onto them. It is more noise than mu­sic, but at least they are learning to stay with a beat. (I had 2 plastic flutes but couldn’t tolerate the high pitch along with the other noise, so those got lost somewhere). Months later someone donated some really nice primary instruments and our noise now sounds more like music.

Each child comes with lots of what we call “baggage.” To a Haitian it is just a normal life. Most have only one, or often, no parents. Most live in a simple, one- or two-room cement house, although a few are still in mud houses with no floor. Some share a mattress with other people, but many sleep on a mat made from their clothes or rags. Rubenson sleeps on a piece of carpet, although he was very proud to show it to me one day. Their furnishings might include a couple of chairs, a small wooden table, and possibly a cabinet for dishes. That’s about it. Meals are cooked outside over charcoal in the family’s one cooking pot. Their personal belongings are just their clothes and anything they might have gotten here at the mission. They eat once a day and might buy a little something from the vendor at school. They all suffer from worms and water-born skin diseases. Their favorite treat is either shampoo or a bar of soap.

They successfully executed their 2nd annual Christmas pageant including all 35 kids. This time they had speaking parts and also sang. The moms helped with the costumes and it was a huge success with a full house at Epiphany church. They really buckled down and worked hard to put on an exceptional play. This year I went over the basics of the Christmas story every Wednesday from October until December 24th so that they would better understand what it was all about. Most of them had their “ah hah” moment in church when Pastor preached the story and they recognized their lines in the play. You would have thought he was preaching about them! It is hard to conceive that these children (and their parents before them) know so little about the most ordinary things. Every concept must be approached slowly and deliberately, never assuming that once is enough. This is the hardest thing to convey to short-term visitors who want to come in for a few days and train or teach. It is easy to assume that the Haitian culture has all the multi-media information and educational opportunities that we Americans have always had. Haitians are not lazy, nor are they stupid. Just the opposite, they are very resourceful and long-suffering. I have learned so much from them. Perhaps God brings missionaries here to teach us these valuable lessons. And on top of everything, they are happy!

There are days that make my heart heavy. Little Esteve broke his arm at the elbow. That was December 30th. It hasn’t been set yet and may not be able to be re-broken and fixed. I am working on it. He is only 9 years old and may spend the remainder of his life with a stiff arm.

Pastor Obinson is coming to have a seminar for the kids prior to Easter so they have an understanding of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. With all the Voodoo so common and Rah Rahs (a traditional Haitian version of the Easter Passion in which Judas is mocked that now has Voodoo elements in it) it is no wonder that they have strange notions of what Easter is. They have a sense that these Voodoo things are wrong, but have no one to guide them which way to go. The older kids face all sorts of difficult choices. I have had the chance to show them that they can change the future of L’Acul and Bellvue by what choices they make now in their lives. I am teaching abstinence without apology.

The change that has taken place this year in the beach kids has been spoken about far and wide around here. The casak, the official for the area, spoke briefly at a women’s meeting at Epiphany Sunday. He thanked me for the gifts I had donated to the meeting. He urged everyone to support and protect me and the mission whenever they could. I was humbled and reassured that God was working here.

I have been able to worm my way into the hearts of the elderly here too, since I really love old people. Old, such a relative term! Anyway, they seem a lot older than me. I especially love the pipe-smoking grandmas and the old dried up fishermen. We gave them harmonicas one day. They were so happy to get anything. They know that if I get something to share I will. It is amazing how I seem to have the right thing at the right moment. I learned a long time ago that there is no need to hoard stuff. Our God can provide anything and always when we need it.

We are now preparing for the 18th of May, the biggest celebration day in Haiti, “Flag Day”. The older teens are in practice with a trainer to march in form, a Haitian tradition. They are practicing every Sunday afternoon here at L’Acul, behind walls so no one will see their routine. They are marching for 2 hours, barefoot…on gravel!! Oh what they could do with good tennis shoes! They are extremely proud of their accomplishments so far. It is very hard work and leaves them really tired. (Part of my strategy for abstinence!)

God willing, we will have another VBS program in June. The kids will be better prepared this year and I am sure their behavior will be better too. God has filled my heart with love for these children. I miss my own granddaughters so much, but I know this is where I am supposed to be right now. Being in the Father’s will is a really satisfying feeling!

Stay tuned for more…….. Kathy

(Editor’s note: During the past year as Kathy has worked with the families along the beach, the change has been astounding. She is too modest to take credit, but the people’s lives have truly changed for the better. The kids are no less energetic, but they appear well nourished, caring for one another, better behaved, and at ease with “blanc” strangers who frequent L’Acul. Her classes group kids by age, and the older youth supervise, participate in the teaching, and care for the ones whose attention spans wander. It is truly God’s work that Kathy and Rick are doing; this one segment is a fine example and the same claims can be made for the whole of CODEP).