Evangelical Cars Delivered

My youngest son, Keegan, and I carried the evangelical cars with us on our trip to Haiti in late April.

Here is a Keegan (sitting on the wall) with the other members of our work team as we were leaving the international airport in Port au Prince.

Had it not been for the Lord's grace, who saved me from losing my suitcase at the airport, half of the cars wouldn't have made it.  The man he used to help me hang onto my suitcase was Nadir Elioner, who is pictured driving his bus, below:

Nadir is a Haitian Christian who speaks English and who shuttled us in his bus from the international terminal to the terminal for in-country flights.  He witnesses to everyone and has quite the personality.  Based on our experiences in Colombia, I was very worried about keeping track of our luggage during this transfer, because Nadir's helpers had hoisted all our bags onto the roof of the bus for the trip.  I would have preferred to have it in my hands.  After I got my bag back upon arriving at the second terminal, I hauled it inside, and put it on the belt at the security checkpoint.  Somehow, after passing the usual screening rountine, I forgot the bag on the belt coming from the x-ray machine and walked on into the terminal.  Everyone else was ahead of me, and they put all their bags together while we waited in line to check-in.  Maybe 10 minutes later, Nadir came up to me and asked if I'd left my bag behind, because he saw it on the end of the belt.  Talk about feeling foolish, I did, but I went back and retrieved my bag.  Evidence that God is gracious to idiots, too!

We were in Haiti to help put the roof on a rural church in northwest Haiti.  We decided to deliver the evangelical cars to the leadership of this church, to support their position of authority and leadership, rather than play the role of gringo Santa Clause.  The pastor was delighted and said he planned to give some of the cars (and some small balls we brought along) to the children of the congregation, and also use them as gifts in a evangelical campaign they are planning.

Here is a photo of me delivering the evangelical cars and other goodies to the pastors.  Left to right, Pastor Sito's wife (sorry, I can't remember her name), me, Pastor Sito, and Pastor Willy.

The church runs a private school and has a small vocational training program teaching young women how to sew tablecloths, etc.  They have a big vision for their church, including starting an orphanage for kids who have been abandoned by their families.

If you would like to see all the pictures of our trip to Haiti, just click on the following link:

Haiti Trip May 2010