Easter thoughts from Haiti

We are enjoying our Easter in Haiti. As we reflect, we are reminded of how much God loves us.

Easter is the day Jesus died on the cross for us. Many people take this for granted or chalk it up to tradition or religion, but let's think about it for a minute. This man named Jesus that people all over the world are still talking about over 2 THOUSAND years later claimed to be the living God; "God on earth";  God's son. The bible claims that God loves each one of us (not just Christian's but everyone (yes even murderers, adulterers, alcoholics etc)) so much that he sent a living part of Himself (His son) to this Earth to die for us. What does this mean really?

Well, let's think about it. Our teacher Diana related a story similar to this to our kids in school on Friday and it really puts things into perspective. It is a story of a dad who has a choice to save a train full of hundreds of people that is barrelling down the track to sure destruction; or to save his son. He has a desperate choice to make, 1) either pull the switch and save the train thereby directing it onto his son that is stuck on the other track, or 2) save his son and let the train crash on the track it is currently on. He chooses to sacrifice the life of his son to save multitudes of others. How many of us would do this? I know that I could not. Whether you agree with his decision or not, this is what God does. He sacrifices his son and saves the train. Now picture yourself on the train. That is where you are...... on the train. God has the power to save you or let you continue to sure destruction. What would you want Him to do? What would you expect Him to do?

Most of us would want Him to save us but most of us would expect a dad to save his own son not us. How could you expect a father to sacrifice his own son to save you? This is the point. You should not expect it. It is a free gift that you do not deserve. It is a love that runs so deep that the God of the universe should love you so much that He was willing to sacrifice His own son; he was willing to let His own son die for you.

Many people do not understand why they need this saving. What are they being saved from? The bible teaches that heaven is living in peace with God for ever and ever and it is perfect. It is eternal and it is more awesome that anyone can imagine. The creator of everything lives in perfection. Nothing that is imperfect can enter this space. Nothing. The world that we live in is not perfect. It is anything but. We are not perfect. Man made the decision a long time ago to break from God in order to make his own decisions. Man was deceived by Satan and decided to go his own way. By following this imperfect way that we are all thrust into, we are heading to spend eternity with Satan....in hell.

So where does this leave us? We are not perfect, the world we live in is no longer perfect yet heaven is perfect. Therefore, we can never enter heaven. Even those of us that try to live our best and do good things are not perfect. Every time a judgemental thought enters our brain, every time we think we know better than someone else, every time we complain, every time we think badly of someone, every time we depend on our prideful selves, every time we do not let others go before us, every time we buy things we do not need. All of these things are not perfect.

This brings us back to the brutal reality that we can not enter heaven. I remember the first time I had this realization. Up till then I always thought that good people go to heaven. This is not what the bible says. No one who is not perfect can go to heaven. Yikes. I remember staring down the hell barrel thinking, "that is really where I am headed; where all of us are headed?"

Well, here is the good news. This is what Jesus (God's son) died for. The penalty for sin (doing things short of perfect) is death. Hell. Not being allowed into a perfect heaven.  Jesus claims in the bible to be the living God, the son of God, and He claims to die for our sins. He claimed that He came to live among us to take all of our sins, all of our imperfections and take our resulting death (hell punishment) upon Himself. He died to absorb all of it for us. He thrust it upon Himself, God sacrificed His son, so we could live. God poured all of the judgement we deserve as imperfect beings on His son, therefore saving us.

Why you may say, does the world have to be so imperfect? Why does God not just fix it all? You have to know that it is not God's will that the world is like this. It is because He loves us that God has given people free will to choose how they want to live. He does not want us to live like robots under His spell. Because of the fact that Satan (a fallen angel) deceived the world and man to make choices outside God's plan, the world is not as it should be. The bible promises that bad things will happen. It promises that because of this, there will be bad people, bad situations, sickness, earthquakes and trauma etc, but it is not God causing it. God is the one that loves you so much it hurts. God is the one that pulled the switch on the train because it hurts His heart so bad to see you barrelling towards destruction. God is the one that is with you every step of the way even when you have turned your back on Him.

How, you may say do I know that this self proclaimed Jesus is the living God, God's son? Well, Jesus made many bold claims about being God in His time. He radically claimed to save the world and die for people's sins. He claimed that it was God's plan that He die for all sins. But the key is that He claimed that he would rise (come back to life) on the 3rd day. This people call the resurrection. It would be one thing to claim you are God and you are going to rise on the 3rd day (to prove you were actually God) and not do it. It would also be one thing to claim that you will take everyone's sins and then never rise again. But is is a whole different story when you claim to be God, you claim to die for everyone's sins so that they can live with God forever and then actually rise on the 3rd day to prove it. Without this resurrection, Jesus is just another false Messiah, false profit or cult member. But with this resurrection, one must think that maybe Jesus is the living God. Maybe God really does love me this much. Maybe God really does want to restore the world to a perfect heaven with me in it. Maybe, just maybe everything he said and did was the truth. Jesus tells us that upon believing that He is the living God, and upon accepting that He died for you and that by deciding to live your life out of eternal gratitude to Him, you will enter heaven, perfectly. There is not other way in. None.

Christianity (Jesus followers) is not a religion (a set of rules and regulations to follow). It is a faith that what God talks about in the bible is the truth. It is a life of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us and a way of following Him as a compassionate loving father.

Now what? Where do we go from here? Is it worth looking into? Is it worth learning about this guy Jesus? Is it worth thinking about Easter as more than just Easter bunnies? You may say. No. It is not for me and that is your choice.

But what if Jesus' claims were actually true, what if he really did rise again, what if He really is God, what if He really does love you that much. What if God does not want you to spend eternity in hell? What if God really did pull the switch and let His son die to save you?  Are you willing to ignore Him?

A Chapter Turns

This is one of the hardest things we have had to write during our time in Haiti. 


After three awesome challenging years, God is leading us back to Canada full time this summer. After a lot of thought and prayer, we feel that there is a reason that God has given Laurens a three year leave of absence from the OPP and we feel that it is time for him to return. We also feel that our older children need to come back to receive further high school education in Canada. In addition, one of Mission of Hope's core values is indigenous leadership. We have worked hard over the last 3 years setting up programs, teaching, training and equipping our Haitian counterparts. We feel that we have accomplished many of these goals and are happy to say that many things are running well indigenously. If this is the case, no matter how difficult it is, then it is time for us to pull back and let them fly on their own. 


We have changed so much these past few years as have our kids. We have grown in the Lord and have come through many trials. We have grown closer as a family and now depend more fully on God. We have made amazing cross cultural friends and we have learned a new language. We have shown others Christ and others have taught us what He is all about. We have seen destruction and we have seen hope. We have lived with those that are so poor materially but who are so rich spiritually. These past 3 years in Haiti we will never forget. They will forever be a part of us and we of them. We have made friends for life. We love Haiti and Mission of Hope and all that it stands for. We will continue to be a part of Mission of Hope and help anyway we can to the advancement of the programs for the Haitian people from Canada. 


Over the past fews years we have been a part of the clinic growing from newly open, to services such as outpatient, lab, pharmacy, dental, ER room, ambulance services, surgery, patient ward, prosthetic lab, mobile medical clinics, a medical supply program and community health programs. We have seen our student body double in size, our orphanage grow, our church explode and our facilities improve. We have been part of well drilling, windmill projects, water systems, facility projects and too many construction projects to mention. We have seen homes and lives rebuilt, miracle healings, death and hope restored. We have trained, lead, facilitated, built relationships and empowered people. We have been blessed beyond measure through all that God called us to do in the little country of Haiti. 

I have to admit, a big part of me is scared. Scared that we are moving back into a world that is so very different. One that we can put on a good front with, but one we no longer feel comfortable in. A world of intense materialism and one where people try to "keep it all together" as if our challenges should be faced all alone. One with large expectations and big questions such as "what are you going to do for work?", "where are you going to live?" (because "obviously the little townhouse you bought is way too small for you") A world where no one can be expected to "get it" and life bolls you over. A world that does not have God at the forefront and one where it is not politically correct to mention Him. A world that has SNOW in APRIL (come on people!!) and I have to check the weather before getting dressed. Ok I just started to cry. 


My heart yearns already for the kind words of the hospital cleaning lady or the hugs of my patients. It yearns to hang out with one of my unlikely 50 year old friends to whom I teach English. To laugh when it comes out as "Goot job" or "plese, come sit down" and is followed by him trying one on his own to get someone to stand, "plese, come sit up?" My heart aches to lose experiences like having a flat tire and sitting down amongst mango trees making new friends while it gets fixed by every local man who all think they know everything about tires. Sorrow surfaces to know that I will miss the wash lady's 3 year old daughter every day singing "wouj wouj, lat tomat" which should be "wouj wouj, pat tomat" (red red, tomato paste). I already miss the smell of the dirt, my pants sticking to my skin and worshiping in Creole. I already miss driving like a maniac (not by choice) in Port-Au-Prince, narrowly missing other cars and them me, dodging potholes, broken down cars, school children, motorbikes..... and it being normal (we have already started our driving offence fund for Canada). I shake my head when I realize that casual conversations people have with us about which family member of theirs died in the quake, in a motor vehicle accident, from cholera, a "criz ke" heart attack or voodoo curse, will not be normal conversations anymore. I yearn to continue to save the souls of those dying in the ER as they turn their eyes to Jesus before passing.



My heart breaks when people tell us with tears streaming down their face, "this is NOT good (that you are leaving)" "this does not sit well with me" or "you are not like the others, you are supposed to stay forever", "you are like family, you can not go" or still, "I have no reason to be here if I lose you, my friend". It cracks when I think about not hearing the children from the orphanage playing outside my house all day, not seeing the babies grow and not being able to get quick hug or a sassy smile. I tell you it is tough.


However, despite all of these emotions, God has clearly spoken in our souls that He has always has a plan for us. For now, that plan moves forward in Canada. God's plan for our life is not one that ends with one season and begins with the next, it is a continuum of His call for obedience to His perfect will. God has not changed His plans for our lives, He is moving us continually forward to His ultimate goal. Our calling is to follow Him wherever He may lead and we must be faithful to that calling. We know that he will walk with us always.


Haiti will forever be part of us and "si Bondye vle" (If God wants) we will be back. It is part of us, part of our kids and part of our souls. 

We finally made the visit!

In 2007 God stuck a spark in us for this country. We felt in our hearts that we needed to be a part of these beautiful people. Back then we sponsored children through an organization in Haiti called New Missions before we even knew about Mission of Hope. Pierre and Djenica have long been in our hearts and we have on many occasion thought we needed to visit them and it never worked out. We tried to see them once before but it was a Sunday and it was not meant to be. This past month we finally made the trip out to where they live to see the children and their families that we have prayed for all this time. It was AMAZING. Let me tell you though, God had his reason's for us not being able to go until now since in the beginning we just did not know Haiti and the language nearly good enough for what we would have to go through to find them! We will tell the story though a series of photos.

We first showed up at New Missions compound to find our children. After a long wait, they did not show up like they were supposed to (not surprising for Haiti :) so a Haitian pastor took us to their school in rural Haiti outside Leogone. After a bit of a drive and a walk down to the school, the teacher said they were not there that day as they were sick. Thus started our trek with Frantz, a high school student that thought he knew where they each lived. 

We first set out to find little Pierre. Pierre we first sponsored when he was five and in kindergarten. Now he is is turning 10 and his birthday was coming up. First we went into the country to a small village settlement to find Pierre and waited for an hour for the family to come home. True to Haitian hospitality, a sweet old lady came out of no where and gave us chairs to sit on in the dirt. We waited and waited. Finally a little child walked up and they said, there he is. We took one look at the child and knew it was not our Pierre. After a discussion, we found out this was Pierre's cousin and Pierre himself lives a little further. 

After that our trusty Frantz was pretty sure he knew where to go so this is us traipsing through the field to go to the next location.

Once we emerged from the field and out the other side, we saw this beautiful scene. It was so lush and gorgeous it took our breath away. This is a small part of the Haiti that has not been cut down and instantly I was reminded how much I love this place.

After the field and the beautiful mountains, we passed a river and saw houses through the trees. Could this be the houses we thought? Would we finally get to meet little Pierre?

It was!!!

Here is Pierre (the one in the front with his head tilted to the side) with his mother, big brother (on the left) and his baby brother with mom in front of their house. A cousin (in the blue) stood for the picture too.

After we met them and explained who we were, Pierre's mom ran into the house and pulled out a family photo of us we had sent to her 4 years ago. This photo below is of us comparing the kids now to their photo back then. It was so touching to see she still holds that photo in her hands. This is quite amazing and let me tell you why. Pierre lives in this lush valley but this valley is also one of the areas hit the hardest by the earthquake last year. The house you see is a temporary house built by the Red Cross. There original house fell into rubble on the ground right here in this spot. The wood frame shelter they now have sits on the same footing. It is amazing that amongst the rubble, our family photo is something they pulled out and kept. Luckily the family ran out and all survived with minor wounds. 

We were able to see Pierre's dad too before he had to run off to work but here is a final picture of our two families together.

Pierre (next to me in the photo below) came with us on our trek back to the truck and we had a chance to chat. He is a sweet boy with a quick smile despite the fact that he had an infected tooth. 

Past the mountains and temporary houses with Frantz

Back at the car we showed Pierre his birthday present and read him his birthday card. 

And off he went one happy little kid and a some new friends made. Praise God for this little boy in a valley beside the mountains.

Then it was off to find Djenica. who was 6 when we started sponsoring her and is now 11. We had quick success with this as the little steep climb up the side of a hill next to the road led us directly to her house. Here is her broken house from the earthquake more than one year later. The inner rooms are still intact but the outer rooms stand open, a grim reminder of the past. 

Here is Djenica with her only sibling a little brother. 

Her father explains how the house broke and how they narrowly escaped and we talk about their family. 

Here we give her photos of our family while her excited father and Aunt look on. Our kids had a big part of choosing things to bless her with and so were excited to share some of their things with her. 

Here is a family photo of us all (except her mom who was washing at the water hole) before we left. Poor Djenica who was feeling ill that day stood for the photo but found it hard to break a smile, not that Ana did much better :)

It was such a blessing to be able to see these two children that we have prayed for all this time. Not only did we get to meet them, but we got to meet their whole families and visit their homes too. We wanted to not only sponsor them but also build relationships with them and let them know God cares about them so much he brought us together across the globe. It was fantastic to be able to speak their language and connect with them in that way. 

Praise God we finally made the visit!