Yesterday

“So Don, tell us about three key events in your life.” Don was a guy on the mission trip I led to Haiti in June. He was one of the first ones on our team to volunteer to tell his story. Story-telling is something I’ve learned to be very important to the team dynamic on a missions trip. Once people’s stories come out, it really helps them connect quicker and deeper. So during down times, I ask people to simply answer three questions: who are three significant people in your life, what are three key events in your life, and what are three special places you like to go.

Don’s answer to the “significant events” question took me by surprise. The predictable responses usually revolve around a wedding, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, or a job offer. But Don said with a sigh in his voice, “Well, I have to say… yesterday. Yeah… yesterday was one of the most significant events in my life.” Our entire team collectively laughed because we had all shared “yesterday.” “Yesterday” was the first day of the trip and it didn’t go as planned.

We landed in Port-a-Prince with a fairly large group that included lots of extra luggage as we brought items from the ABC Giving Tables. In the hot, stuffy luggage and customs area that resembled more a pole barn than an airport facility, we navigated the chaos finding all our belongings. Our next step was to proceed as a group through one more customs check, then walk out through a narrow walkway lined with aggressive Haitians begging to carry our bags for a tip. At the end of this long walk, we’d find our host Marcel. As we began to gather together to walk what is known as the “gauntlet,” we got word that Marcel was not outside and was stuck in traffic. We certainly didn’t want to stand outside the Port-a-Prince airport as we’d be big targets for mischief. So, we settled in to wait to hear from Marcel.

Several minutes later I noticed a strange sight. A white man was walking into the luggage area from the exit door. He walked right to our team, introduced himself, and began to give us orders. He said, “I’m Rick and I’m here to get you out of here. There are protestors north of here that are blocking the only road between here and St. Marc. Marcel is stuck on the other side. I’m here with another American team and we are stuck in Port-a-Prince too. So we’re going to join together. Follow me. We’re going to find a place to get some food and water to wait this out.” It was obvious that Rick was legit and he was our best and only option. We would need to trust him for the next leg of our journey. Later, I would learn that he was missions pastor of a large church in Ohio. His church sends teams to an orphanage near St. Marc several times a year. For an American, Rick knew his way around Haiti. But in the moment, we knew very little about Rick and what was going to happen next.

As our team and all of our bags made it out of the airport, we realized we were about to become tight friends with fourteen people from Columbus we had never meant. Their truck was going to be our transportation until Marcel could break through the protest. We were a team of 13 people. We also had six members of Marcel’s family with us: his wife, his one-year-old, five-year-old, nine-year-old and two college-age sons. All toll, 33 people and all our luggage would need to travel in Rick’s oversized truck. I don’t know how we did it but everyone made it on that truck. A couple of Ohio guys rode outside on the bumper and some of our people sat on the side rails.

Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves in a fairly nice restaurant, comfortable in Haitian terms. Rick got on his phone with Marcel to find out what his and our next step would be, then came to us and said, “The protests have turned for the worse. They’re more like riots right now. Usually these last an hour or two but this one is getting big and may last through the night. It looks like we need to find a place to settle for the night.” It’s funny—I didn’t see any Holiday Inns or Super 8s as we left the airport. Rick explained that Haiti did have hotels but we’d need to be prepared to sleep on the floor and some will need to sleep on the truck to guard the luggage. Another option he talked about was finding a safe place where we’d all sleep near or on the truck. But Rick had one last option that seemed much better than the first two. Rick said that he knew a guy who ran the Church of God compound in the city and if he could get a hold of him, if he had a place for us, and if he could find it, we may have a place to stay.  As Rick worked his phone, we prayed and waited as the sun began to set on Port-a-Prince. No one wanted to be on these streets when it got dark.

As if God were listening to our prayers and cared about our situation, Rick came to our team and said we’d be welcome at the Church of God and we needed to load up immediately. Rick seemed to know where he was heading as we went down some narrow, bumpy, and hilly roads. And, just as it started to get dark, our truck stopped in front of a huge metal gate. The gate opened and we pulled in to see two heavily armed men standing watch. As we piled off the truck, an American man from the compound said, “Hi, I’m Jimmie Hudson. You are welcome to stay as long as you need. I have a bed and shower for each of you. We’ll find a way to get you food if you need it. Please know… you are safe here.” Early the next morning, we would make our way through the riot area and to Marcel’s house.

So, I asked Don, “What made yesterday so significant to you?” Don replied, “I’m a guy who thinks I have my life under control. Yesterday, nothing was in my control and I didn’t like it a bit. I had to give everything to God. I had to trust him in a way I never had to trust him before. And, God took care of us in ways I could not imagine: Rick from Ohio and that dude, Jimmie. Who were those guys?”

Everyone resonated deeply with Don. What he was articulating so well was God’s care and provision for us when we really couldn’t take care of ourselves. He could have used words like, “we sure were fortunate.” Or, “man, we dodged a bullet.” Or, “good thing Marcel has connections.” Those words may be somewhat true, but they don’t describe the whole truth. God acted to care for us. He provided and protected. He gave us care and relief in a time of need. Don’s faith in God grew enormously that day. Everyone’s faith grew enormously that day.

“I give everything to God and therefore I never have a problem. If a problem arises, it’s God’s problem, not mine.”                                                                                           Marcel Destine (Haitian pastor)

Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our Lord!  Psalm 111.1-4 NLT