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In March, the Rev. Gayle Annis-Forder, of Loch Raven UMC, led a Baltimore regional team on a mission trip to Les Cayes, Haiti. She reflects on the trip:

We arrived in Haiti around noon, the day after Ash Wednesday, almost unable to believe we were finally there. Though Lent had just begun, we had planned to go during Advent, but the unrest after the election results were announced began a couple of days before our travel date, and our flight, along with many others, was cancelled.

It seems that politics in Haiti are unpredictable, and with the return of former president Duvalier (Baby Doc) and the anticipated arrival of former president Aristide, along with the upcoming run-off election…well, let’s just say we thought it a good idea to have trip cancellation insurance this time.

Our team was organized as a Baltimore Regional team. We had 10 interested people, but lost five along the way to work and family commitments and fear of cholera, so five of us finally made the trip.

We were assigned to work on a church building project in Les Cayes, a small city in southwest Haiti about 110 miles from Port au Prince. It took more than four hours to get there. Roads were few in number and crowded before the earthquake, but now include buckled places, unsafe bridges that must be avoided and huge potholes.

Volunteers in Mission to Haiti work on projects identified as priorities by the Methodist Church in Haiti, and in the Les Cayes Circuit of 21 churches (Yes, I did say 21), the Torbeck church is a priority.

The building is very small, and Pastor Ablame’s wife Donnette, our hostess, describes it as dilapidated. The benches are rickety, the concrete floor is uneven and broken in places. It has seen better days. The new building, already begun by three previous VIM teams, is three times the size of the current, tiny, facility, and the plan is that it will serve as a hub for the several churches in this part of the larger circuit.

We arrived to find the foundation dug and laid, and the walls constructed about halfway up. Our job that week, working along with local Haitian folks, was to continue the work of putting up the outer walls of this rectangular building.

Truth be told, we had absolutely no experience or knowledge of how to work with the simple ladders and crude homemade scaffolding they had, or how to implement the simple but precise building techniques required, but we learned that we were pretty good pack mules.

Supplies, dirt, wood and cement, were dropped by the road and had to be carried down a path to the church. We became quite accomplished at every facet of implementing a bucket brigade; keeping the buckets from getting too heavy, putting tree branches with leaves on top of buckets of water carried from the nearby river to keep the water from sloshing out, and pacing ourselves in the heat and humidity of the day.

I was asked to preach the Sunday sermon in the Torbeck church, and our able translator, Patrick, made that possible, since I don’t speak Creole. The week flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to make the journey back to Port au Prince before heading back to Baltimore. We arrived back in PaP the same day that Aristide arrived in country, but were glad to find that the reaction was peaceful and without incident.

What would we say to you after this experience?

• We were proud to be connected with UMCOR/UMVIM in the work that is happening in Haiti. Much good is being done in the partnership between the Methodist Church in Haiti and volunteers who come bringing a willingness to do whatever is asked and project funds which enable things to happen.
• The staff on the ground, both Haitian and consultants/missionaries from the United States hold the safety of all as the highest priority. To that end, they maintain practices that provide safe food and water and secure accommodations for all volunteers. Despite the scare and the reality of too many Haitian deaths, the efforts of the Methodist staff have been successful in that no volunteers have gotten cholera. We asked.
• While some folks show some signs of disdain for the “blanc” (Americans, particularly white), most are warm, welcoming and eager to work with all who would come to assist in meeting the needs there.
• God is at work in Haiti, evidenced in passionate worship, life enhancing ministries, and the will to rebuild. It was a great privilege for us to join with others in this movement of God’s Spirit, and we will never be the same.

There is much to be done in Haiti. Teams and resources continue to be needed. We encourage you to be guided by God’s call to you to serve, rather than by fear. Please contact me with any questions, or if you desire someone to come and share with your church about the ministry of our church in Haiti. We’ll be going back again. Perhaps you’d like to join us in this adventure.

Gayle Annis-Forder
Pastor, Loch Raven UMC
Team Leader, Baltimore Regional Team to Les Cayes, Haiti, March 10-17, 2011

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