On Thursday morning, June 17th, 2010 I got up at 4:30 AM to take one of our Haitian leaders named Debreus to the bus station. Debreus is the president of AIS Haiti’s regional committee in Jean Rabel in northwest Haiti. He had come down to Port-au-Prince to help transport the video projector, DVD player, VCR, new cleats, and evangelistic booklets to Jean Rabel (a village in the north of Haiti) for our World Cup outreach. Jean Rebel is one of 7 towns where we showed the World Cup games and then shared the Gospel with the spectators during half time.
So Debreus and I made the uneventful trip down to the bus station and began to unload. Debreus found a few men willing to help us. I left the pickup’s doors open because we were unloading and the next thing I knew someone was opening the front door and grabbing the bag that had the video projector in it and I said “No, that bag doesn’t go now”. Then he lifted up his shirt and showed me his gun and grabbed my briefcase that had my cell phone, digital camera and flash drives in it. I simply said “No”, and then I heard a loud sound and my thigh felt like it had a bad cramp. In the meantime, the man and his buddy ran off with my briefcase and I started to shout for help. At first I thought it was just an electric stun gun, since I had trouble moving and feeling my leg.
A man in his thirties got in the car and offered to drive me to the hospital. He explained that he had seen the whole thing happen and had driven for the UN. In the meantime, I shouted to Debreus to finish unloading the stuff and get on the bus that was about to leave. As I painfully lurched out of the front seat to get in the back, I saw the severity of my injury for the first time: my pants were soaked with blood and I realized that I had been shot. Then I saw policemen with guns run after the thieves without bothering to stop and see if I was OK.
I applied pressure to the hole where the bullet entered, and stop the bleeding, but I could not see that the bullet had exited my thigh and that was where most of the bleeding came from (Thank God it was a small wound from a .22 caliber pistol). I knew that it would not be good if I lost consciousness so I kept talking with my driver the whole time while I was in the car. I found out that his name was Joseph and that he had been raised in Jean Rabel and had attended the Christian school of Pastor Bolivar, which is one of the schools where we have established a soccer team. I asked him if he was a Christian and he said he had been trusted Christ but had not been attending church lately. He told me he had a seven-year-old daughter who was living with his mother in Jean Rabel. Then he told me something I will never forget. He said he wanted to help me because he felt like he could have been the one to be shot. You see, he had seen the two gangsters looking around for a target and got out of his car, locked the door, and then walked away. A few minutes later he heard a gunshot and ran over and saw that they had shot me. He felt like God was using this tragedy to get his attention and bring him back into a relationship with him. I told him I was ready to die and meet my maker and asked him if he was ready and he said he would think about that question.
Joseph lent me his phone and I talked to my friend Elysee about which hospital to go to and he suggested we try one run by “Doctors without Borders” across town. This is where we finally ended up about 45 minutes after the shooting and received some good care. The hospital workers got me out of the car, onto a stretcher and then into a bed. The “hospital” was a tent with flies and mosquitoes buzzing around. I talked with Joseph while waiting for care and he said that he would stay with me as long as I needed him. I even gave him my wallet so he could help me look for my ID. Later when it was time for him to go, I offered him some money as a thank-you gift and he refused it saying he was content with whatever reward he would get in heaven! (Much later I found out that he had been kind enough to go to the police station and write a police report for me!) I have his phone number and will follow up with him when I get back to Haiti. I know God is working in his life!
The doctor told me that things did not look serious – I had not bled to death because the bullet had not hit an artery or a major vein. Then they took X-rays to see if it had shattered or nicked a bone, and that was negative as well. By this time my Crossworld co-workers David and Bruce had shown up and went into action.
They took my truck back to the Bolosse campus and after my initial care, took me to another doctor for a second opinion. His name was Dr. Jeudy and he told me he would have to do a small operation to “excise” where the bullet had entered and exited.
When we got in the operating room, I was still conscious and quickly realized that the shot for the anesthesia was more painful than anything I had felt that day. After treating the wounds, Dr. Jeudy told me I needed to spend the night in his clinic. He put me in a private room next to the operating room that had a fan in it and was relatively cool. I was able to rest comfortably until the fan stopped because we lost city power. Then the room got very hot and I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing around my head. I knew I would not be able to sleep that night if I stayed at the hospital and so instead I asked the doctor if I could spend the night at the Bolosse campus with my fellow Crossworld missionaries, which he agreed to. In the meantime, David had called Carol, who was in the US with our children, and told her what had happened. They decided that it would be best if I could get back to the US the next day, if the doctor cleared me to travel. So after the operation to “excise” the bullet entry and exit holes, Dr. Jeudy gave the “OK” for me to travel. Carol got on the internet right away and was able to find a flight the following afternoon.
After spending the night at Bolosse, my Haitian friend Lamour drove me back to my house in my truck to get my clothes and pack for the plane flight. That morning, God gave me Psalm 41: “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the Land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.”
Back at my house, I took time to say goodbye to the people who had been staying at our house since the earthquake and those who help us around the house. We talked about the summer and then prayed together and said goodbye for now. Then they helped me pack my things.
On the way to the airport we stopped by Dr. Jeudy’s clinic so they could change the dressing on my wounds and give me a pain shot. This time the shot burned like fire in my veins, but I felt no pain on the plane ride! We arrived at the airport and I was able to get a wheelchair so I didn’t have to stand in line. I got on the plane in the very first seat in First class and was never happier to have a big comfortable seat. When I arrived in JFK, Carol, Grace, Joy and Ricky were there to greet me. I was home at last!
As I reflected on this incident, I realized that I should not be surprised that this happened. All of us who are engaged in the Lord’s work and building his Kingdom on earth are in a battle. If we are not getting shot at, then we are not in the battle. Some of us get hit by Satan’s bullets and fiery darts and are wounded. Some of these wounds are obvious, like the hole in my thigh. Others are not, like the spiritual and psychological wounds of going through a church split, or dealing with an addiction problem.
Sometimes God’s soldiers die in battle. We call these heroes of the faith “Martyrs”. There have been more Martyrs in the 21st century than at any time in history. I am grateful that I did not die, and that God has given me more time to serve him here on this earth and to be with my beloved family.
Exactly 2 weeks after the shooting I got the OK from the doctor to begin Physical Therapy, and he said I should be fine. The only lasting inconvenience is that my left foot feels like it is asleep some times.
Thank you for your support and prayers during this time of trial. You are a great encouragement to us!!
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