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10 DAYS IN HAITI Marion man shares dispatches from mission trip

MARION - I never really envisioned this six years ago when I went on my first mission trip to Haiti. That year, I was reluctant to go. This year, I'm going by myself? That's just crazy!

Well, crazy it was. From July 15-25 this summer, I went on a mission trip to Port au Prince, Haiti, to a pair of smaller communities called Damien and Bigarade. It was the sixth summer that I've gone to see these wonderful people. Each time, I've been blessed to visit the same two churches to participate in a Bible School for the children there. Here is a day-by-day account of my trip.

July 15, Day 1

In order to get the most economical travel cost, the last couple of years I have included an overnight layover in Miami. This year was no exception. I left for the Nashville International Airport about noon Monday headed there for a 7 p.m. flight. The trip was Nashville to Atlanta to Miami, and I arrived in Miami just after midnight local time. After spending the night in the Miami airport, I was ready for Day 2, the day I arrived in Haiti.

July 16, Day 2

My flight from Miami to Port au Prince left at 9:05 local time (EDT) and arrived in Port au Prince shortly befor 11 a.m. (ahead of schedule). When I go with a team, normally our first day in Haiti is spent collecting our thoughts, settling in and preparing for our Bible School to start the next day.

This year was different. In preparing for the trip I learned that a mission team from Hillcrest Baptist Church in Nederland, Texas had included a Bible School in Bigarade as part of their trip, and it would be going on during the time I was there. So I was excited for the opportunity to change my trip schedule just a bit to simply be a part of the Texas team for a few days. It was awesome!

So Tuesday, with nothing to prepare for the next day (except how to listen to someone else's instructions), I simply dropped my bags at New Life Children's Home and Rescue Center where I stay, and headed on out to Thomas' School in Bigarade where the Bible School was taking place. It was another day to spend with precious children who just want to be loved and to hear the Gospel.

July 17, Day 3

This was my first full day in Haiti. Again I was part of the team from Texas, and again we went to Bigarade for what was the second day of their Bible School.

Watching how someone else does things on a mission trip, to me, is a great education. Even at 56 years old, I can learn a lot, and I certainly did. One of the things I learned is how much children remember from year to year.

Members from this team had been to Haiti previously, but don't go each summer. Yet the children still remembered the ones who had been there before and quickly bonded with newcomers as well.

I was also bombarded with questions about people who had been to Haiti on mission teams with me before, and why they weren't there. The impact made on a single short-term mission trip is tremendous. When you return a second time, true relationships are born.

July 18, Day 4

One of the things I learned from the Texas team was interesting ways to share the Bible story they were teaching. I'm sure each mission team does things differently.

This team taught a lesson that team members prepared of a popular Bible story. Then, after a craft time, they went back and reinforced that lesson by performing a skit. The skits were often times designed to include some sort of audience participation in order to help the kids engage and retain what was learned in the lesson.

The Bible lessons while I was there included ones on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; Moses leading the Israelites out of bondage and through the parting of the Red Sea and Paul and Silas being imprisoned and the earthquake that loosed the shackles and opened the jail cells, just to name a few. In all, they did eight Bible Stories for the children over the four days they were there. Each story had an accompanying craft and many had the skits.

July 19, Day 5

While several of the 18-member Texas team was putting on a Bible School, a few others took on different roles. One of the most important ones was school construction. During the two weeks that concluded in the week I'm describing, several mission team members partnered with local laborers to build an additional building for Thomas' School, the one where Bible School was being taught.

Thomas' School, officially known as Institution Mixte Communiautaire de Village Sam, started after the earthquake in January of 2010, and on my first trip in 2013 had about 75 students. It has now grown to more than 300 students and has outgrown its current landlocked campus. So another site has been added a few blocks away.

The original school will house younger students while older students attend the new campus with a building more than twice the size of the original structure.

It's important for children to have schools, and more important if people can help support those students. Ninety percent of all schools in Haiti are private (run by Canada, France or the United State) or are church-run schools. In Haiti, 80 percent of primary age students (up to age 11) attend school, but only 20 percent of students older than 11 can afford to continue their education.

Haiti's literacy rate is just 61 percent, making it difficult for many Haitians to get work because the job market for laborers is oversaturated with workers and an unemployment rate near 80 percent.

July 20-21, Days 6 and 7

The weekend is a time of relaxation and recreation. Saturday was an opportunity for me to take some of my Haitian workers (translators and other assistants) to the beach in Haiti to have some fun.

By the way, the beaches and the Caribbean Sea are beautiful.

Sunday I went to see a dear friend from Canada who now lives full time in Haiti and works at a malnutrition clinic that helps Haitian families restore malnourished children back to health and learn how to feed them properly with limited resources to prevent them from having to return.

July 22, Day 8

Monday was my first day in the field flying solo. It was the first of three days of Bible School at Damien Baptist Church, also known as Eglise Baptiste de Damien, a church that meets in the yard of our main translator and my nonprofit's only employee, Valmy Fleuranvil. The church was originally destroyed in the 2010 earthquake, and is being rebuilt.

However, limited funding results in slow construction, and while the church to house nearly 300 people is slowly coming together, the congregation meets in a structure that is mainly posts and a tin roof with a concrete stage on one end and old benches for people to sit on.

My first day at Damien was much like my first day in Bigarade, reuniting with many children I had seen before, meeting new children eager to be loved and answering a lot of questions about where previous team members, especially the younger ones, were and why weren't they on this trip.

July 23, Day 9

I can't thank the Hillcrest Baptist team from Texas enough for allowing me to tag along with them the first part of my trip, and that gratitude continued since I used their Bible lessons and leftover craft supplies to teach Bible School at Damien. Monday was a lesson on Creation, and Tuesday was Moses parting the Red Sea (I'll tell you about Wednesday later).

One of the things that I did since I was by myself, and we are trying to help Haitians become more self-sufficient, was asked Valmy if he would find young people in his church to teach the lessons. So the church selected three young ladies to teach each of the three lessons for the three days I was there.

Monday was Rosenie, a 16-year-old who I have seen every time I was in Haiti. Tuesday was a shocker for me. The teacher was Shessmaerly, who did an exceptional job of teaching more than 150 children a Bible lesson that lasted between 12 and 15 minutes. And Shessmaerly is 9 years old!!! I couldn't believe it.

Tuesday was also a day where I got to provide a gift to the church that allows us to meet there. Because I was blessed with donations for my trip, I was able to purchase 200 stainless steel plates and spoons for the church. This is important because part of Bible School includes feeding the children, and there is added expense with purchasing disposable plates and spoons. Not to mention, Haiti has a sanitation problem, and now we won't be adding to that in the future by putting hundreds of Styrofoam plates into the trash piles.

July 24, Day 10

This was my last day in the community of Damien. The lesson today was about Paul and Silas being arrested, put in prison and the earthquake setting them free. Valmy and some of the young men in the church at Damien got together and performed their version of the skit originally done by the Texas team in Bigarade the previous week. They did a tremendous job and it was very well received by the children.

The teacher was Ritchama, a 13-year-old young lady who is the older sister of Shessmaerly. Not to be outdone by her younger sister, Ritchama took charge of the gathering and kept the nearly 200 children quiet while she presented her lesson.

This day we also used the stainless steel plates and spoons for the first time when we fed the children. We actually ran out of plates and had to re-use some of them for the people at the end of the line after the first children had eaten.

There were lots of hugs and high-fives as the children left, and several lingered knowing that it would be another year before our group returned to see them again.

July 25, Day 11

This was departure day. My flight was scheduled to leave Port-au-Prince just before 9 a.m. It actually got pushed back to 9:04, but left close to on time. I got to the airport before 7, but barely made it through all of the security lines in time to get on board. Whew!

That was the last time things were on time all day. Our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Nashville was delayed by seven hours and I got back home around 2:30 a.m. instead of the 8 p.m. I had projected.

Either way, it was an amazing trip and I can't wait to get back.

• Editor's Note: Tim Petrowich is a Marion resident who serves as general manager for WGGH Radio and is a former editor/publisher for the Marion Republican.

Petrowich was busy serving lunch the first day in Bigarade with members of the team from Nederland, Texas. Photo courtesy Ralph Dorneval
Tim Petrowich helps children with their Bible School craft. Photo courtesy Ralph Dorneval
9-year-old Shessmaerly Athur teaches a Bible story at Damien. Photo courtesy Ralph Dorneval
Some of the Haitians perform the skit of Paul and Silas on the final day of Bible School. Photo courtesy Ralph Dorneval
Children eat lunch during the final day at Damien on the newly purchased stainless steel plates. Photo courtesy Ralph Dorneval