Diary of trip to Haiti June 14-21, 2012 Day five

Monday June 18, 2012
Monday we got up and then went to visit Albert Sweitzer Hospital. Our first stop was the Hanger clinic where they make prosthetics for amputees and those with physical handicaps. Justin was very interested in this. Then we walked through the hospital wards on our way to visit James Arbaugh. James is in charge of the computer systems for the entire hospital, but also is a film maker on the side. He has written and produced two films in Creole that really relate to the youth of Haiti: One is called “Vre Sekurite” (True Security) and the other is called “Vre Padon” (True Pardon). Both films follow a family and the thieves that ruin their materialistic lives as their lives intertwine and both find God.


After we purchased several copies of these films from James, we walked back through the hospital and were troubled by all the people on gurneys crowding the hallways. Some looked very sick. It made us realize how blessed we are in the US to have good health care for most people.

Then we started out to return to Port-au-Prince by way of Mirabalais, which would take us on a mountain road with some stunning views. It was a rainy day and because of this was not as hot as the previous days had been. So when Ed asked if he could ride in the back of the truck for the 2 ½ hour trip, I didn’t think twice about it after I told him to put on some sunscreen. The trip was uneventful, and we arrived for our meeting in Mirabalais on time.




In Mirabalais we met with three local leaders who want us to start working with four schools there. One of the leaders is the coach of the professional soccer club in Mirabalais and also the coach of the amputee soccer team we work with: Coach Andre Pacombe. They have organized a board of 5 members to oversee the work and now are just waiting for us to do a training for the schools so they can start the teams in the fall.

On the way back to Port-au-Prince we stopped at Life Ministries to pick up some books and tracts we use in Creole. They gave us lots of Bible story books and other material for evangelism that we will use at the new schools where we are starting teams. Ed and Justin were a big help in loading them in the truck.

Diary of trip to Haiti June 14-21, 2012 Day four

Sunday, June 17, 2012

I got up early in the morning, put on my bathing suit, grabbed my snorkeling stuff and jumped in the water. I really did not expect to see much, but God had lots of surprises for me!

As soon as I reached the pilings holding up the dining room over the water, I was surrounded by thousands of little fish. It seemed like it was snowing fish! As I worked my way through the fish, I found a line of large cement blocks and started to see many other types of fish swimming around them. As I followed the blocks I came across something that looked like a ball made of feathers. I dived down to get a closer look, and found a fish that had blue and white “feathers” sticking out from it on all sides, so it looked like a ball of feathers. I had never seen anything like that in Haiti. On the next dive down to look at this extraordinary fish, I found a puffer fish!

I went back several times to make sure I knew the location of the “feather fish” because I wanted Ed and Justin to see it. So I swam back to shore and excitedly told Mark Bradley to go and wake up the boys so they could see the fish. Mark came back in his bathing suit and tried to find the fish, but by that time we were running late for church. Ed and Justin did not have time to put their suits on.
I told Mark that snorkeling is like a worship service for me as I marvel at God’s creation under the water!

Then we went to church in Archaie with Mark Bradley’s team. Pastor Kelly greeted us warmly and gave me the chance to introduce the entire team. He also gave me the opportunity to share the story of how I got shot. Then just as I was about to start speaking, Pastor Simon and his two children, Jude and Barbara walked in. They had come to see the progress on the school. My story was well received and I felt empowered by the Holy Spirit as I spoke.

Then a guest pastor spoke. He spoke from Galatians 1:1-9 where Paul talks about false doctrine. He spoke pretty slowly and clearly and I was able to translate most of the sermon for everyone. Ed and Justin were particularly pleased with the strong Gospel content of the message and even wanted to invest in this pastor’s ministry.
After church, we went to Pastor Kelly’s house for lunch and had a great time of fellowship. Jean Paul met us at the church to join us for the rest of the trip. Then we said goodbye to Mark’s team and set out for St. Mark. We stopped in St. Mark to talk to the newly appointed coordinator of the St. Marc regional committee. He received us warmly and we set up a training for June 30th and talked about the tournament we want to have in August when a team comes from Canada.

The Church in St. Marc:





Our second stop was in Liancourt to talk with a Pastor who was started a new work their in 2009. He said he started with a Bible Study with 3 young men. After six months they trusted in Christ and his church began to grow. Now they have 50 baptized members and 130 who have trusted in Christ. We will work together with this pastor when we have games in Liancourt and will also provide him with Christian literature and help train his leaders.

He lives right across from the town’s soccer field and so I told Ed and Justin they could play on the field while we met with the Pastor. When we went to get them, we found that they were talking with Liancourt’s second-division professional soccer team: the Black Panthers. They wanted the soccer ball they were playing with and were trying to manipulate Ed and Justin into giving to them. I told them that if they would pay attention to me for 5 minutes, I would give them the ball. So I told them the story of how I was shot, and how God assured me that if I was to die, I would go to heaven. We also gave them some tracts, and the Pastor we had met with earlier was there and I asked him to follow up with them. I also gave the pastor some tracts for the other team that was playing.

We finally arrived in Borel at 3:45 PM and found a funeral in progress. The Father of one of the boys on our teams had died after a long illness. I lent my leaders my pick-up truck so they could take the soccer team to the burial.
After the funeral, Ronald, Jean Paul and I met with the new committee for the Department of l’Artibonite. Everyone on the 5 member committee is very sharp and committed. I was very encouraged by their commitment and eagerness to share the Gospel through soccer.




As we sat around the table after dinner, I asked Jean Paul if he wanted to say anything to Ed and Justin. He said that he had benefitted greatly from working with me and AIS. He said I was like Paul and he was like Timothy. He also talked about some things he was learning through his marriage.

Diary of Trip to Haiti June 14-21, 2012 Third Day

Saturday, June 16, 2012:

On Saturday morning we got up early to do a training with Amputee soccer team. When we got there they told us that they had no shorts or crutches to train with. So I felt I had to go and get some shorts and crutches to that everyone could train. This meant I had to leave Justin and Ed with a young translator at Quisqueya Chapel to do the training. Justin and Ed did a great job showing the team some warm up and strengthening exercises, and they even asked him for more. Meanwhile, I had trouble getting into the office where the crutches were stored, but did find some shorts and purchased some lunch for them.

Imagine my surprise when I got back and found every one of them practicing with crutches and shorts! I guess they wanted to practice in AIS shorts and not their own! After practice, Ed gave his testimony as I translated and then they sang a song that Orima, the team captain had written named “ Jehovah ye ye” for us.
Saturday afternoon we packed up and went to meet Mark Bradley’s team so we could visit the school that Mark Bradley’s congregation “Church of the Savior” had built in Archaie near the beach. It was great to see a US church partnering so well with a church in Haiti.





That evening we all stayed at a beach hotel together and talked about our time so far in Haiti. It was nice to get a little break in the midst of a busy week.

Diary of trip to Haiti - June 14-21, 2012 Second day

Friday, June 15, 2012

Ronald had made contact with Mercy Corps so that we could partner with them in their program to use soccer to train youth in health practices as well as civic education. They are having a training program in August, and we explained to them how if they train some of our coaches, we would disseminate their message to the schools we work with.

After that we went to a meeting at the Haitian Soccer Federation. On the way we stopped for lunch and it was a good thing because we ended up waiting an hour for the meeting to start. Finally Carlo Maslin, the General Secretary of the Federation invited us into his office.

During the meeting we talked about our plan to organize a national tournament for boys under 14 years old. As we talked about the training we wanted for our coaches, he told us that he wanted all of our coaches to have level 2 Haitian coaches training before we could start the tournament. In addition, we did not feel we had enough qualified referees in the areas we work with. Therefore, we talked about the best way to train our coaches and some referees over the next year. These factors combined with the fact that fund-raising for the tournament has been going slow has lead us to the conclusion that we need to start the tournament in the fall of 2013.

After the meeting we saw a team of young boys outside the office. So I went out to talk with them and found out that it was the U-14 National Team. I quickly asked Justin if he would be willing to show the boys some warm up exercises, and he did a great job doing this. After the exercises I introduced Ronald and Jean Paul our Haitian staff. When they learned that Jean Paul was a chaplain, they asked him to talk with them. So while Ed and Justin and I went to visit the four girls AIS Haiti has on the girls U-14 team, Jean Paul talked with them. It turned out that four of the young men trusted in Christ with Jean Paul and that he made arrangements to follow up with them in a few weeks when he has a Bible study with the girl’s team.



In the meantime, we talked to the four young ladies from our girl’s soccer program in Verrettes that made the U-14 team. It turns out that one of them is now the captain of the team. We have been supplying them with equipment during their time they have been in the residential program at the Haitian Soccer Federation’s campus.



They told us a sad story: One day they were told by their coaches to leave all of their cleats outside of their dorms, probably because they got wet and smelled. That evening someone stole the entire box of cleats! The next morning the coach was so mad she made the whole team practice in bare feet on a rough field full of rocks. When the captain of the team from our program protested and refused to practice because of the chance of injury, she was sanctioned and they threatened to kick her off the team. Ronald William, our head coach, had to go out and talk to the coaches and the Federation about the situation and managed to get everyone reconciled.

That evening we went to visit the tenants who rented our house and see Ecdes who lives at the house. Ecdes is the 18 year old young man that does the yard work, etc. in exchange for us paying for his schooling.

Ecdes told us he strongly suspected that one of the young men that used to play soccer with us, and who also attended a few of our Bible studies over the years, had stolen about 40 soccer balls and several basketballs from our soccer depot. So Ecdes and his cousin Paules and I talked about how this had happened, and how we could prevent it from happening again. We also talked about how best to confront James. Unfortunately, we did not have time to talk to James before I headed back to the US. In the meantime, we put up more barbed wire around the house to prevent future thefts.

Diary of Trip to Haiti July 14-21, 2012 Post #1

Diary of Trip to Haiti Post #1

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Arrived a little late to the Newark airport thanks to a small traffic jam. I used a skycap because we had 8 suitcases and were late. I didn’t realize that Jon Ortlip had upgraded all 3 of us to first class or else we would have taken 9 suitcases. Just before we said goodbye to Ed’s Dad outside the airport, we prayed together. The Skycap saw us praying, and asked me to pray for him, so I told him I would after we got settled. It turned out he was from Ghana. He did a good job getting us in quickly and then I took a minute to pray for him before we headed to the gate.
When we arrived at the gate, we found Mark Bradley, Andrew, Chuck and Bill waiting for us.




Upon boarding we were shown our first-class seats thanks for Jon Ortlip upgrading us all to First Class. We were in the first row and pretty happy to sink into our cushy seats since we had all been up since 4 AM!

The flight was uneventful and when we arrived and stepped out of the plane, it felt like a sauna. We got all of our luggage and when questioned about it, said it was for our soccer teams and the let us go. Ronald and Kerby were there with my pickup to receive us and we loaded all the stuff in and were soon at the guesthouse where we were to stay.





Then we went out and purchased some food for the week before heading over to Quisqueya Christian School to play on their new soccer field. The field had just been re-done with new artificial turf and was beautiful. All the guys I had played with regularly on Thursday nights before I had left for Home Ministry were there so we had to wait over an hour before the three of us could play. But when we did get to play, it was great! So ended our first day in Haiti.

The Trip in Pictures

From June 14-21, 2012, Rich, Ed and Justin took a trip to Haiti for some of the following reasons:

1) Ed and Justin wanted to experience Haiti and see the different things that Rich does as a missionary.

2) Rich had to clear up some issues with his Haitian staff, and also the business "Ambassadors Communications" that sells cell phone time.

3) To bring down 8 huge bags of badly needed equipment after a thief stole over 40 soccer balls from the soccer depot.

4) To encourage some Haitian friends who have been through a difficult time lately.

5) To prepare for two mission groups that are coming in early August just after we get back: A delegation from Ambassadors in Sport, Int'l and a small group of 7 from New Brunswick, Canada.

Below are some pictures:



Packing to go



Arriving in Haiti



George's guest house



Quisqueya Christian School's new turf field!



Rich, Ed and Justin - the A team!

Tuesday update

"Got stopped this morning by the police who wanted to give me a ticket because I did not have the proper sticker on my windshield. I pleaded with him not to give me a ticket since I had US visitors, and he didn't!

Then I took Ed and Justin to the only museum in Haiti while I went to the bank. They had a good guide at there.

Then Ed started to feel sick. By the time we got home, he was really looking bad. So I made an appointment with the Dr. who helped me after I was shot. He said that he was dehydrated. So Ed spent a few hours at Dr. Jeudy's clinic getting rehydrated through IV liquids. By the evening, we had him back to the guesthouse and he was feeling a lot better."
Rich

Saturday, June 16th

Saturday, June 16th we started out early to do a training session with the Amputee soccer team. It was so great to see them all again! We hugged and jumped up and down when we saw each other. There were 18 from the team there which was a great turnout.

When we arrived at the field they said that they did not have shorts or crutches to train with. I asked Justin and Ed if they were ready for a "missionary test" and they said "yes". So I left them alone with 18 Amputees to teach them some warm up and strengthening exercises. Meanwhile, I went off in search of the equipment and also to get lunch for them.

When I came back after more than an hour, I found the team playing a scrimmage, and really enjoying themselves. Justin and Ed had such big smiles on their faces that I knew they had passed the test with flying colors. They said a young boy they had met the day before helped them translate, and also that the team didn't want them to stop showing them exercises!

Ed also shared his testimony with them and they listened intently.

After the training we went to an orphanage to meet up with the other team we had travelled to Haiti with. We stopped at the school the team had helped build on previous trips and were excited about all the progress. Then we all went to the beach together for the afternoon.

Thanks for praying!

A few pictures...

Sometimes you just have to laugh!

Early this morning (Friday) before the two most important meetings of our trip we decided to stop by and see Ronald's wife and new baby. I was delighted to be able to hold the bouncing baby boy named Emmanuelson, but then I heard a loud noise and looked down at my pants. They were covered with baby poop and so Iaughed and handed the baby back to his mother. It was all over and I stood in the bathroom with soap and water and cleaned myself up. I reflected on the peace God gave me as I was doing this, because normally I would have been pretty upset. Here I was just before two important meetings with poop all over my pants!

Rich

Emmanuelson safely in the arms of his Dad!

It came out pretty well, and didn't smell, which was a good thing because I did not have time to go home and change my clothes.

The two meetings went well. One was with Mercy Corps that want to include us in their program that uses soccer to build self-esteem and transmit information about health and conflict management.

The other was with the Haitian Soccer Federation. After this meeting we had a chance to show the U-15 boys team some warm-up excercises. Justin did a good job with this. Then, while we were visiting with the U-15 girl's team, Jean Paul shared the Gospel with the U-15 boys we had just worked with. He said that several of them trusted Christ, and that he would follow up with them in a couple of weeks when he had a Bible study scheduled with the girl's team!

Pictures coming tomorrow, Lord willing.

Trip to Haiti

A few weeks ago Richard decided it would be best if he took a trip back to Haiti to help the guys who are keeping AIS-Haiti going. He decided to ask someone to go with him. He asked Ed, who has shown some interest in the ministry to come down on a vision-trip. Ed asked his friend, Justin, to come along, too. The trip was arranged fairly quickly but our AIS Director was able to upgrade the guys to first class so that they could take some equipment down, too.

Last night the floor of the youth ministry game room was covered with soccer balls, cleats, uniforms, trophies, and more that they stuffed into suitcases to carry to Port-au-Prince.

They arrived safely in Haiti this afternoon. Here's what Richard sent me about their first day:


"When we arrived at the airport, a Skycap saw us praying and approached
to help us. After he helped us he said he would like us to pray for
him as well, and so we did.

Then as we were going through security, I was able to help out a
Haitian woman who did not speak very much english. We helped her get
to the gate, etc.

Ronald and Kerby met us at the airport and all of our bags arrived fine.

Then we went food shopping at Megamart for the week.

Then at night we played soccer on the new turf field at QCS. I got to
say hello to Mr. Hersey who says hello!

Tomorrow we go to PV and also Croix de bouquets to see the soccer federation."

Helping people grow in Christ wherever we are

Helping people grow in Christ wherever we are

Since we have been back to the US, Carol and I have had the opportunity to minister to a variety of people. Carol has spoken with woman’s groups and talked about Francoise and how she makes jewelry. Now someone here is interested in selling it for us when she does conferences for her other business.

The Pastor of Crossing Community Church asked me to lead a Bible study once a week at an addiction recovery program in poor section of Philadelphia. I did this for 5 weeks and am still in touch with some of the guys who hope to graduate from the program soon.

Then I met a young man at church seminar named Ed who has a discipleship group of 4-5 young men. It is so exciting to see these guys so excited about applying the Bible to their lives and holding each other accountable. I shared my ministry with them, and some stories of Haiti.

Recently I decided that I had to go back to Haiti for a one-week trip to properly prepare for two important teams that are coming right when I get back in August and address some other issues.

One of my discipleship principles is to always try and have someone with me so that I can expose them to real-life ministry and also have an accountability partner. Since Ed had expressed so much interest in my ministry in Haiti, I decided to ask him if he would consider going with me to Haiti from June 14-21st. Not only did he agree to go with me, but he also recruited a friend named Justin who is interested in missions to go along. So in just a few days we are heading down to Haiti together.

Over 50 and still playing soccer!

Over 40 Soccer

This summer I found an over-40 league to play in. This was the first time over 20 years I had played organized soccer on a full-size field. We played lots of our games on the new Astro-turf fields and my knees didn’t even hurt afterwards!



My biggest accomplishment was playing for 90 minutes in the last game. We stared the game with only 7 players!

A trip to the midwest

From Friday, May 11 to Friday, May 25th I was on a trip to the Mid-West. First I visited my sister in Chicago and did some handy-man stuff on her 100-year-old house. I had a great time with my niece and nephew who are both in college. One day we went to a park on a beautiful day and played pick-up soccer with a bunch of kids. Another day we went to a great rummage sale at their church: the fill-a-trash-bag-for-$5 kind!

The next stop was Twinsburg, Ohio where Ambassadors in Sport’s International Headquarters are. One goal of this visit was to meet with the Director of the AIS ministry in South Africa. They have started several non-residential soccer schools in several countries in Africa and are looking for ways to make these schools sustainable.

We also discussed the visit I will make to South Africa to see first-hand how they run their soccer academies as well as their prison ministry. In August, one of the leaders from South Africa will visit me in Haiti to see how we organize our 90 soccer teams.
After that Carol met me in Kansas City to attend a 5-day training at Crossworld. It was the first time we had seen the new headquarters, and it was exciting to meet new people and hear about what God is doing all over the world.

There were missionaries from Senegal, France, Germany, the Ukraine, and Ecuador in our training group. After we presented our ministry one of our fellow missionaries got so excited about what we were doing that they sponsored a team in the tournament! This was very encouraging to us!

Graduation Day!

We're so glad to be here in Pennsylvania for Ricky's graduation from Calvary Christian Academy!

When did he go from this:

to this:

More pictures to come...when we get back from graduation!