I Can't Wait For The Movie!

Day 7

This was our last full day in Haiti. I woke up after a great night sleep in my own room. I did, however also wake up with a little upset stomach. I put that aside and went down to the gazebo at the retreat center and watched the sunrise.  Chrissy, Alissa and Nicole were already down in the ocean.

I figured, morning swim, that sounds great. So Art and I changed into our swim trunks and headed for the ocean. The water was fantastic. In fact, it was the warmest water I felt all week. The only bad thing about it was the "piranha" that kept nipping at us.  Well, at least Alissa was convinced it was a piranha. (Last time I checked, they were fresh water fish.)

Then some of us decided to take a hike into the surrounding hills. Six of us set off along the beach. I carried the Edna (my camera) along with us. It was quite a climb as we headed up the hill. At the top was the most breathtaking view of the surround mountains and ocean.

We stayed up there in the sun for a bit and then decided to head down the other side of the hill and wrap back around. Then it hit me. I began to get light headed. Gary, the RMI rep gave me his water and I sat down under a tree.

That was the first time I have been dehydrated since I was ten years old! If it has never happened to you, it's not a fun experience. I had to sit there for quite a while.

Here I was, looking down a long path back down the hill. Gary decided that he would go on ahead and bring the car to the bottom of the trail to drive us back. I tried to stand up and saw stars. It was pretty obvious to me that I was NOT ready to move on.

The one bright spot was that I had a Wawa clerk and an associate from Kohl's, so I was in good hands. (Note from Darcie - this apparently is an inside joke...I still don't get...but it's not meant to insult 2 of my favorite stores! In fact, I sit here drinking my Wawa coffee wearing my shoes I bought at Kohls!)

(Side note - Woody found a bull tied up on the hill right below us and got it very irritated. Well thought out Woody!)

After several bottles of water and a quick prayer, I was good enough to go on. So we walked down the hill and Gary met us at the bottom with ice water. Well, at least the footage from up there is pretty sweet!

After lunch we headed back to the RMI guest in Les Cayes. We had a great dinner at the local RMI missionary's house and then back to the guest house. I know, not very exciting. Sorry.

We will be leaving here at 6 am to travel back to Port Au Prince to catch our flight back to Miami. I am already sad to be leaving this place. This really has been a life changing experience. What was great was that I got to experience it with some old friends and develop some new friendships that will last!

I learned a lot about God, travel, love, hospitality, food, friendships, Woody and myself. I learned that there are people in this world who have such love for the Lord that they will band together and give you something better than they have themselves. The people of Dame Marie searched the town and anyone who had a mattress gave it up so that we would have a comfortable bed. They made more food for us then they will see in a month. The ladies were outside every morning at 5 am preparing breakfast. Not even my mom does that!

There is this saying that when you go on a missions trip you will actually learn more from the people to whom you are missioning then they will from you. And it really is true. I got so many ideas to bring back to my church, so many thoughts about what praise really is. These people made a huge impression on me and I can't wait to go back!

So from Pastor Glass, Joe, Emmanuel, Art, Chrissy, Alissa, Nicole, Woody, Ryan, Jeremy and myself, thanks for following along on this journey. Your prayers and well wishes were just as important as what we were doing. This has been a great blog to write, but I CAN'T WAIT for the movie!!!

Kris King
www.EVideoProductions.net
kris@evideoproductions.net
www.twitter.com/evp_kris
www.facebook.com/evideoproductions

Don't forget to read Jeremy's blog too! http://jeremystephens.wordpress.com/

A Messed Up Family Vacation

Day 6

Today was a travel day. We started out with a very early breakfast at 6 am. After going to sleep around 2, the ladies who cooked our meal began cooking at 4! God bless them!

After breakfast, we began to load the trucks in the first light of the morning. We loaded to the beautiful music sung by the early morning worshipers.

Once we finished, we piled into the church with the pastor, his wife and the important people of the church. We all formed the "goodbye circle", which was actually more like an amoeba. The pastor gave us all blessings and wished us Bon Voyage and we all said good bye.

We didn't sleep much this week and it finally caught up with us today. Several of us, including myself, got pretty car sick. The terrible condition of the roads was the main culprit.

If you read yesterday, you know that we had to leave early so as to pass a section of the road where they would be doing blasting after their lunch break. We made it.

We stopped for lunch on top of the mountain to eat tuna fish sandwiches made for us by the ladies of the church. I have never had tuna fish sandwiches made with mayo AND ketchup! That was interesting especially because Haitian ketchup is spicier than its American cousin.

After lunch, the ride was much smoother. We arrived at Zongalay, the RMI retreat center, at around 3. It's a beautiful place that overlooks the Caribbean Sea. We unloaded our bags and found rooms. I am in the "motel" section where you get your own room. Pretty sweat!

As some of the team went for a dip in the Caribbean, I promptly feel asleep for 2.5 hours until Jeremy woke me for dinner. We had beef, mashed potatoes and green beans. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the goat, but this was heaven. Oh, by the way, half of Don Gone came back with Emanuel Paul, a Haitian born American citizen.

After diner, we convened in the gazebo to "debrief". We talked about the low and high points for each of us and what to expect when we get back home. My low was the first night when I just couldn't sleep even though I was dead tired. My other low was my first bucket shower. (I quickly got over that.) My high point was the grand welcome we received when we got to Dame Marie.

After that, a few of the guys, including myself, and Alissa sat and played poker right up until I started to write this, which is technically day 7 already!

Tomorrow, we leave here around 1 and head back to Les Cayes to the RMI guest house where we can visit local vendors. I can't wait to see what I can pick up.

Until then, I leave you with the quote of the night:

"I feel like I am on a messed up family vacation."
- Alissa

My view at the retreat center:

Haitian Coastline:

Kris King
www.evideoproductions.net
kris@evideoproductions.net
www.twitter.com/evp_kris
www.facebook.com/evideoproductions