In Port-Au-Prince Haiti, choking dust, smoke, foul odors, and mounds of debris stood in sharp contrast to the smiling faces of Haitians that greeted Fort Gibson Christian Church’s Pastor Brian Hill and Youth Pastor Josh McDonell early this month.

Hill and McDonell traveled to Haiti March 1 with five suitcases brimming with over-the-counter medications and toiletries and $23,000 raised by individuals and churches from across the United States.

Alaska’s Wasilla Community Church donated $1200, Longview Christian Church of Texas donated thousands and sent three men on the trip, and York Street Christian of Muskogee sent a large suitcase full of medicines.

“We’re very thankful to all that donated,” Hill said.

Although the Haitians suffered tremendous losses, their faith carries them through.

“Amidst all the turmoil and chaos there, at a church service, the Haitians sing so loud and so joyfully they put us in America to shame,” he said.

The Haitians are joyful people, he said, despite the fact that so many Haitians are living in tent cities and simply struggling to survive after the Jan. 12 earthquake that destroyed 60 percent of the city and surrounding area.

The Fort Gibson Christian Church historically has a strong connection to Haiti. They’ve made numerous mission trips there, helping one area obtain clean drinking water and building a restroom for another.

Both Hill and McDonell have made the trip in the past, but said this time was far more amazing.

They saw thousands of tents, an inaccuracy from the media, McDonell said.

They are really built from bed sheets and sticks and stretch for miles.

“We looked for tarps for days,” McDonell said. “March is the rainy season in Haiti.”

Though the roads were largely cleared of debris, they were still pockmarked with craters and cracks, and the two men had many miles to travel while there.

“We surveyed the damage at all these churches (11) hoping some churches back here might take some on as a project,” Hill said.

The damages varied from leveled buildings to cracked walls, but all were in need of some repair.

A church in Haiti is far more than simply a place to meet on Sunday mornings, Hill explained.

“It’s almost a community center,” said McDonell. “There’s something going on for them every day of the week.”

Most of the money the men took to Haiti on their trip went toward purchasing 7,400 pounds of rice, beans, and medications.

Some will go toward major repairs, transportation needs, and other necessities.

“We left behind $2,000 for a micro-loan program,” Hill said.

That program enables a Haitian to borrow a small amount of money, purchase bread-making supplies, use the communal bread oven to bake, and sell their bread for profit in market.

Such a simple thing, and to most Americans, not a lot of money, but that micro-loan can feed a family and produce some income to help keep them afloat.

The men witnessed several feats of ingenuity from the Haitian people during their stay.

Once they saw a group of men carrying a metal house roof on their heads.

“The guy in front was blowing on a conch shell,” McDonell said. “Another was clacking two machetes together as they sang.”

About 25 men balanced the roof on their heads and marched down the street. They were moving the roof more than a mile in this fashion.

When Hill and McDonell helped deliver the rice, they witnessed a man balance five 90 pound bags of rice on his head while unloading.

Pastor Franz Previl of Haiti, known as Fan-Fan to Hill and McDonell, hosted the men for the 10-day visit.

Previl heads the 11 churches that are part of Haitians In Crisis Ministries.

He sent Hill an e-mail shortly after the men returned home last week.

“Thank you so much for the big help that you brought to our churches and the people of Haiti,” Previl wrote. “I have never seen our Christian people so happy in my life.”

According to Previl’s report, the donations helped to provide medical care to more than 500 people, hire a pediatrician for four days, order tarps from the Dominican Republic, repair a truck used for transporting people and supplies, and buy more rice and beans and distribute them, plus fund several other projects still in the works.

“It was our greatest joy to have you with us in Haiti,” Previl wrote. “The need was here before the earthquake, and it is even greater today.”



If you go

A slideshow and speaking presentation on the March 2010 Haiti Mission Trip will be given at Fort Gibson Christian Church, 601 S. Ross St., at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. All are welcome to attend.