Pastor Jeremy Stephens

Haiti- Day 6/7

6:20am

I’m on the road again. I can’t believe the amount of travel this trip has required. Because Dame-Marie is so remote, travel has been one of the biggest features of this week. Thankfully, our road today is relatively smooth. Instead of cramming into several pickup trucks, we are all in a mini-bus.

Yesterday was really nice. We left Zanglais a little after lunch. Members of the team got to swim in the Caribbean and hike a few trails. I enjoyed the peace and beauty from the retreat center, got a little sermon prep in for Sunday, and discussed theology with others.

Then we left for Cais. When we got in, everyone was instantly transformed back into their technology-loving selves with the reintroduction to wifi. I got to FaceTime with Kim and Molly-I can’t believe how much my daughter has grown in a week!

After just a few minutes, many of us piled into the pickup “Haitian style” -we had 11 people in the Hilux. We drove just a minute or so to a place where RMI had invited a few vendors to spread out their wares for us to purchase as souvenirs. Each vendor had roughly the same inventory, but they all wanted us to come see what they had. After walking around for a bit, I decided on a few things to try to get. I have very little space in my luggage, so all of my purchases had to be flat and pack-able.

I love the game of negotiating with people, so the bargaining process was a lot of fun. I was able to get souvenirs for a few people for a price I was happy with, so I headed back the meeting area to wait for everyone else to join us.

When we got back to the guest house, we had a good conversation about the bargaining process. One guy in the group rightly questioned the appropriateness of us haggling with people who really need all of the money we can give them. While I agreed with him to an extent, I also know that they wouldn’t sell me anything if they weren’t making a profit on it. I also remember a good conversation I had with my friend Joel while I was in Cambodia. He’s a missionary there and spends most of his days living in exactly the same conditions as the people he ministers to. His response about bargaining was comforting-he’ll argue a price to the dime, knowing that he earns respect by purchasing the same way they do. It was a healthy conversation yesterday, and a good check on our consumer tendencies.

You know that feeling you get around 2am where everything is hilarious? That happened to us at 9 last night. I think we are all a little tired.

Today is going to be a long one. Or trip to Port au Prince is going to be around 5 hours. Then we get the plane to Miami, where we will sit in the airport for 5 more hours. Hopefully we will make it through customs in Newark in good time, because we are on track to be home and in our beds by 2am. Pray for us!