Haiti Team Update 5 – From Pastor Brent Kaser

Our plan today started with the hopes of purchasing some relief food for a village on the outskirts of Port au Prince… but this plan quickly changed. We went to the same location that we had purchased rice from a week ago to discover that they were all out. There was no rice, no corn, no spaghetti, not a single thing in the warehouse. This is becoming all to common here. When we asked if the owner was getting food, he laughed and said “who knows?” He recommended we try a different warehouse near a local market.

As we drove down the crowded, narrow, broken streets we were amazed that the cattle truck that our team pilled into did not crush any of the toes of the vendors walking dangerously close to our truck. Some moved baskets full of potatoes, onions, and spices aside to let us pass, and others, who were carrying their produce on baskets on their heads, turned sideways to let the truck go by. You would think a situation like this in Haiti would cause fear in the team, but all we had to do was give a little smile or wave at the Haitians and the hard look in their worn faces quickly turned to a smile or a wave back.

We finally made it to the warehouse, and rejoiced as we saw that the warehouse had thousands of bags of rice. We decided this would be a perfect opportunity to use some of the funds given to Promise Child and CCWG for food relief. We negotiated telling the local owner that we wanted to give back to the community and at the same time wanted a fair price. After about thirty minutes of friendly haggling, we came to an agreement and purchased 5500 pounds of rice! Now that we have formed a friendship with this man we can’t wait to come back and buy thousands of pounds more with the funds many of you have so graciously provided.

Because buying the food took so long, we decided to head into Port au Prince rather that go to the village. I watched the team respond to the scene of the devastated city. Some of them gasped, others pointed out destroyed buildings, some took photos, and many wept as they felt first-hand the pain the people of Haiti are going through. Tents cities are everywhere and our hearts wondered how all these people will be reached.

During our long trip through the ruins we had to stop for gas. As we filled up, some of our U.S. military boys came rolling up, and our team was drawn to them like magnets. They shared with us inside information about how they have been helping to guard food distribution being run by World Vision. They said things are slowly getting better, and more and more people are being reached with relief. The city is showing signs of life as vendors and people are once again selling and walking on the streets. Our military boys asked our team doctors what they could do for the stomach pain that the malaria medication was causing. They showed us how much they have been getting bitten by mosquitoes and shared how they just want to get back onto U.S. soil. It was a blessing to minster to them. Let’s not forget to remember our own military in our prayers.

Tomorrow we will be seeing patients in the medical clinic again, and will be able to pass out food to the people as well. We will go to the village on our last day here with food and a mobile medical clinic. As always, we are grateful for your prayers. Please pray that our team’s morale will stay high in the midst of all the sicknesses and hard stories that I am sure will come again tomorrow at our clinic. Also join us in praying for the Spirit of God to move as we minister the gospel of truth.

Until the last one hears,
Pastor Brent on behalf of the Haiti mission team.