Kevin O'Brien - Reporting from Haiti - Friday, January 29, 2010

  • Kevin O'Brien
  • Feb 1, 2010
  • Series: Reports from Haiti

I want you to know I am doing great. 

I don't know where to begin, there have been so many things I have learned and experienced.  Maybe I should just start by telling you it is such a joy to be meeting so many people who are here because they love Jesus.  When I meet someone new, I ask them their story - how they ended up here.  The common thread is a love for Jesus - wanting to serve him in some capacity.  Most of the people I have met have had a connection to YWAM.  I gotta tell you this ministry produces some fabulous disciples.

It is pitch black outside.  The only lights are from generators.  There is no running water but I have an internet connection out in the parking lot where the makeshift medical clinic is located.  Go figure.

There have been teams of doctors and medical staff flowing through here pretty consistently.  Just enough is always the case - the way God seems to provide.  Those that leave are replaced by the next team who had no idea that their timing was perfect.

The day is over and there is a worship service going on outside the tent.  The music just draws these people like a magnet.  Frankly, the sound is terrrble, I think the speakers are cracked or something but that doesn't seem to matter.  They are enjoying themselves and the Word is being preached. Last night the chief of police took the microphone and sang a beautiful song of worship almost acapella.  I didn't know who he was until afterward, he wasn't wearing his uniform.

There is a Dominican serving here who just loves to sing praises to God and has the voice of an angel.  I learned that he had been mute most of his entire life,  He could hear but just couldn't speak.  He was healed from it miraculously not too long ago.  His normal speech is sort of slurred sort of like that of a deaf person wearing hearing aids.  You can understand him - it is just not quite normal.  However, in his singing the words are perfectly clear and he loves to sing praises.

It is quite a barrier breaker to have Dominicans serving here, there is a lot of animosity and prejudice between the two nations.  Mostly it is the DR looking down on the Haitians.

It was the Dominican Republic YWAMers that came in immediatley and started offering aid afer the earthquake.  It started off small - offering basic medical attention on the sidewalk along side the police station.  They were told initially that they had to have permission to do so and were looked at very suspiciously.  Now they have total endorsement from the authorities, they/we (this is where I am at) have full access to the entire police station. We are sleeping on the roof and showering in the commander's office. The police are even giving us police escorts when going out into shady areas. Frankly, I don't think it is necessary but they seem to want to do it.

The other half of my days have been spent looking for property for a YWAM base of operations here in Port au Prince (PAP).  It is very tedious trying to drive in the city -  traffic is horrible, traffic lights are only suggestions, the exhaust fumes make your hair crusty, and it is hot (no AC).  It is very easy to lose focus and get distracted.  However, I feel we are getting close to something - I just feel it in my spirit.

Today, I drove with Peterson and a "realtor," a guy who knows people but does not speak English.  Perfectly normal looking guy, nicely dressed.  I asked him if his home was effected by the earthquake and he said yes it was destroyed. 

Kevin: Where are you living?
Realtor: In the tent city across from the palace (next to the clinic where i am at).
Kevin: How do you bathe?
Realtor: I have a 1 gallon bucket i fill with water.
Kevin: Where do you go to the bathroom?  I walk back to my house (i kind of doubt that one based on the smells). 
Kevin: Food? Water? 
Realtor: From the relief services.

I would have never guessed he was one of the victims.

Sorry for cutting this short.  My time on the computer is over. so much more to say.

Read Kevin's Next Haiti Report.


NOTE:
Kevin O'Brien, owner of Agape Construction in Kirkwood, Missouri and a member of Greentree Community Church, left St. Louis on Monday, January 25, to work alongside YWAM (Youth With A Mission) to quickly resolve unique technical challenges in construction, logistics, and machinery with limited resources short term and/or be a part of reconstruction long term.