Last Day, Saddest Day: Haiti Mission Trip, Day 8

For the last few days, the 4theVoiceless blog has chronicled the mission trip of a team from Illinois, Florida, and Mississippi to serve at the House of Abraham in Jacmel, Haiti.  Links to previous days of the trip can be found at the bottom of this post.  

Monday morning, our last day in Haiti, was another early day.  Most of our things were already packed, and breakfast was a quick bowl of cereal, but we had to be ready early if we wanted to spend a little more time with the kids before they left for school.  They were ready early, as well, and after they said their prayers together, the final goodbyes began.

               


And then,
just like that,
they loaded up in Fenel's truck...












...and drove away.










As soon as Fenel returned from taking the kids to school, we loaded up our luggage and began the long, winding drive through the mountains to Port au Prince.  Again there, the goodbye to Fenel was quick, and there we were in the airport, waiting to fly home. 

A delay in Port au Prince put Jacob and I in a rush to catch our flight out of Miami (We made it juuust before the doors closed!); because of that, our goodbyes to our new friends from Illinois and Florida were rushed, as well.  After a lengthy delay in Dallas for mechanical issues, Jacob and I finally greeted our wives in Memphis about 1 a.m.

Maybe hasty goodbyes were a good thing.  Somehow, though, I don't feel like I gave anybody a proper goodbye after such a purposeful and life-changing week.  Sure, our team here in the states can stay connected through technology (like the first of Gabe's promised Sunday morning texts!), and we can connect with Fenel through social media, but what about with the kids? 

My friend Stephanie (Jacob's wife) wrote about this very thing on her Welcome to Walley World blog just before we left for Haiti.  Sometime during the week during a conversation with Fenel, he told us that Haitians in general do not forget people who come to visit them.  I'm glad.  Because there's a certain photo that, when I look at it, I have to remind myself that they won't forget.



I'm not exactly sure what Tchikovsky is holding up in this picture, but as you can tell, he was very happy to show it to me.  He's also holding the football that we threw together so often throughout the week.

I wonder, will Tchi be as excited to see me again when I return to the House of Abraham as he was to show me this little scrap of paper? 

I will trust Fenel's assurance that, yes, he (and the other kids) will remember me.  But I think I will send Christmas cards along with photos and me and my family...just in case.  And learn a little Haitian Creole so that I can communicate more next time.  Next time...



You can read about the other days of our week of service in Haiti here:

Days 1 & 2
Day 3
Day 4
Days 5 & 6
Day 7

Tomorrow, I will have a few closing thoughts about our trip along with some photos and videos that didn't make it into any other posts and a video memory of our trip. 

Perhaps you would like to go, too.  Check out Isle Go's site for more information.  If you are part of a church that already goes to Haiti on a regular basis, make sure you find out the dates of the next trip so that you can begin to plan (and save) to go.  God's hands and feet on this earth are His people's hands and feet to "visit widows and orphans in their distress" (James 1:27).

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al