By Ronnie Yoder, CFM Board Member

• New Roof and Addition to Citi Soleil Church
• Medical Team sets up Clinic in Citi Soleil

On Tuesday October 4^th, five men left Greenwood, Delaware to make the journey through Washington’s Reagan International Airport and Miami to Port -Au-Prince (PAP), Haiti.  Bobby Aycoth, our trusted American Airlines pilot, although not on duty led us through the maze of airport check-in and security and showed us the way to a fine coffee shop in the Miami International Airport.  First timers to Haiti included David Chupp, Dennis Bryfogle and his son Bo.  We were met in PAP by Marion and Nancy Coblentz and I was immediately thrust into the exciting role of driver since there were two vehicles.  At the mission house we were met by my daughter, Evie,  and her special friend Glenn Wenger from Harrisonburg, VA, who had arrived earlier in the day.  Then there were lots of handshakes and hugs with our Haitian friends and since there was no time to go to the job site in Citi Soleil we went to the Visa Lodge for a delicious dinner/supper, term of the city folk or country folk, take your pick.

Wednesday morning after devotions and a breakfast of cereal we were off to the Citi Soleil church to remove the old roof and put on the new.

Getting there is always an exercise in excitement and delicate driving with kids climbing onto and holding onto your vehicle yelling “Hey you” and “Give me money”.  I don’t think we ran over anyone’s toes and safely made it inside the gate.  Gary, Glenn, Bobby and David immediately started taking off the roof while Dennis, Bo and I started building the two trusses for the addition.

That was a real challenge because the addition was a foot wider than the old building. To make matters worse, one end of the addition was three inches wider than the other in a length of just thirteen feet. We did our best to match the new roof line with the old.

The new trusses were approximately thirty feet long and quite heavy so getting them set up on the wall was a little tricky. Plenty of Haitian help was needed for that.

Meanwhile back at the mission house, Evelyn and Lois, Papa Charles’ daughters, were busy preparing a chicken creole meal.  And yes it was absolutely delicious!

On Thursday, the rest of the medical team from Delaware arrived as did more people from Hartville, Ohio.  That brought the total to 24 people staying at the mission house, a few too many for a kitchen that can only handle about half a dozen people.

A medical team set up in Citi Soleil with Haitian Dr. Nono and was a success with many people having their aches and pains attended to.

The medical team consisted of Dr. Aaron Green, Michael and Andrea from Delaware and Evie Yoder from Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Friday evening six of us guys went to the Citi Soleil church to spend the evening with some of the Haitian young men and church leaders discussing spiritual things.  That was a high-light for them and us both.  The Haitians just soaked up the camaraderie and the insights that we shared with them.  This was a good way to build relationships.  We spent the night there sleeping on benches and three of us older guys were fortunate enough to have been given mattresses.

Saturday was pretty much a free day and we visited the old palace and walked through the tent city directly across the street.  There was such hopelessness on their part and helplessness on our part, it was a very emotional experience.  I told several in the group that I do not believe God ever intended for humans to live like that.  But because of sin in the world we experience the consequences.

Saturday afternoon we scurried out to Croix de Bouquet to check out the metal art at the Iron Market.  Totally impressive!   Everyone who goes to Haiti needs to see this market.  Haitians taking scrap metal and making something beautiful out of it.

As we ate our last evening meal with team members from other communities, I cherished the opportunity to share together and build relationships.

Sunday morning we made our last trip to the Citi Soleil church to spend an hour in their service under the new roof.  And then it was on to the airport after saying goodbye to our Haitian friends.

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