A winding journey

Saturday we packed up and left Big Woods, eager and excited to begin this next chapter. Seventeen members of Team Haiti went to mass in town. In Scripture and in song we heard God’s invitation:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?"
"Here I am," I said; "send me!"

-        - Isaiah 6:8

Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.

-         -Luke 5: 11

Lord, you have come to the seashore,
neither searching for
the rich nor the wise,
desiring only that I should follow.

O, Lord, with your eyes set upon me,
gently smiling, you have spoken my name;
all I longed for I have
found by the water,
at your side, I will seek other shores.

At mass I had an overwhelming sense of spiritual protection and angels surrounding us. It was as if I could feel the love and prayers of all our family, friends and mission partners strengthening us and propelling us onward.  

After mass we drove to a hotel across from New Orleans Airport to settle down for the night. The next morning the single guys took the early flight out ahead of us. We rose at 6am, ate breakfast and drove across the street to the airport terminal. We checked 12 heavy bags and then went thru security and easily found our gate. Our first flight to Miami was completely full so we crammed our carry-on bags under the seats in front of us. The plane took off on time and Daniel soon fell asleep. Gloria peered out her window and seeing the puffy clouds, declared: We’re flying in heaven.

We landed in Miami and easily found our gate for our next flight to Port au Prince. At our gate we met up with two more members of Team Haiti, Anna and Amanda. Minutes before boarding was to begin our Team Leaders received an update about on-going protests in Port au Prince. The airline was offering us the chance to postpone our trip and we all agreed to accept. Our luggage was pulled off the plane and we began looking for a place for all of us to stay in Miami. Thanks Be to God we heard from the single guys that they had arrived safely in Port au Prince.

We ended up taking a shuttle to an Inn near the airport and quickly fell asleep. The next morning the single ladies moved out of the Inn to university housing. Matt and Dave went and rented a 15 passenger van so we could make a grocery run. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at Amelia Earhart Park. The kids ran around and climbed on the playground until nightfall. Things hadn’t improved yet in Port au Prince, so after the kids were tucked in bed we looked into other places for us to stay. A dear friend found a few options and we tried to book a rental house that was nearby. It took several attempts but we finally received our reservation confirmation.  

The next morning we piled all the luggage into the rental van. We drove to the rental house just to take a peek at the neighborhood and see if we could possibly check in before 3pm. The owner was there when we pulled up so Matt and Dave went out to talk to him.

Somehow there was a mix-up on our reservation because he was only expecting one person to be staying at the house, not 11. He said he would text us when the house was ready. It was lunch time and this rental house was right in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami. We drove around looking for a place to eat. The first place was only for carryout, the next place wasn’t open yet, but the third place had ample seating and delicious Haitian food. During lunch we got a message from the house rental guy. First, he wanted us to pay more and then, he asked us to cancel because the home is not safe for small children.

Thanks Be to God the rental company handled the mix-up and gave us a credit for all the trouble.  

We still had the other lodging options our friend had found and quickly pulled up another rental house. It was in Fort Lauderdale but looked to be a good fit. We booked it for 3 nights and made sure we communicated the correct number of adults, children and one baby. We made another grocery stop and then drove over to the house.

As soon as we pulled up the kids began squealing with delight. There is an expansive playground right outside the front door and a pool in the side yard. We left most of the luggage in the van, but grabbed our swimsuits and overnight bags. On the wall in one of the bedrooms is a plaque announcing:

Your journey is unfolding EXACTLY as it should be.