Manna man oh man!

Kris' trip to Haiti will produce around five or so videos. Here is the first one. 

2012 Haiti trip with Calvary Baptist Church - Pemberton, NJ - We delivered over 100 boxes of manna packs to the people of Dame-Marie, Haiti. Manna Packs provide all the nutrients in one meal pack for a family of six for a price of roughly 7 cents a pack.

 

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

Bondje Beni Ou! (God Bless You)

Day 5

Today was the hottest day of the trip by far! And the longest shooting day of the trip. I think it was around 98. The day began as a group of people were sing the most beautiful song at 5:00. I just laid there in bed listening. I knew I should have tried to at least jump up and get audio of it, but it was a little early for my taste. So I just enjoyed the song.

The first thing we did today was visit one of the other churches in the district. It was a short ride so we sat in the back of the pickups. That was a bad idea. Very rocky roads without cushions does not a comfy ride make.

The name of the church was Malaya. It's a very small church but it has a lot of heart. From a video perspective, it was a beautiful church. They are about to begin to build a new building, though, because the one they have is very close to breaking apart.

The people in the church greeted us with open arms and wide smiles. We all did our greetings again. This time I remembered my daughter!! (See honey, told you I'd make it up to you!) After the service, we handed out candy and toys to the kids. Never under estimate the power of a pixy stick.

Do you remember the goats I talked about yesterday? Well, there was another goat that was already at the church. All the goats we donated were female. But this one was a man and he was out of his mind. The poor guy was tied up, and there were 20 female goats just out of his reach. He seemed a bit frustrated.  With the look in his eyes, he was dubbed "Don Juan de Haiti".

Later on, a group of us went out to another district church to install one of the water filters. Now, I thought that in Dame Marie, we were in the middle of nowhere. Turns out that I was wrong. We were actually 40 minutes east of nowhere.

At the pastors house, we installed the brand new filter. These filters can supply the water needs of a family of 10 for 10 years! That's efficiency!

While we were waiting for the first bucket of water to filter through, we were standing outside under a papaya tree. I looked up and saw a ripe papaya. I casually mention how yellow and ready it was. Next thing I know, a guy comes over with a pole and knocks it down for us!

That was the single most incredible papaya I have ever had. Jeremy took a picture of me with papaya all over my face! Thanks pal!

One of the other members of our team had been saying he wanted a fresh coconut all week. Pastor Glass mentioned it after seeing ripe coconuts around. Then we hear a few thuds. So I grabbed the camera and ran towards the sound.

Up at the top of a 75 foot coconut tree was a 70 year old man knocking down fresh coconut! They sliced them open with their machete creating a small hole, trough which we drank the coconut water. (A side note....Kris has ALSO always wanted to go on Survivor. He wanted to audition for the first season. I (Darcie) talked him out of it!)  All I can say is "ridiculous"! Once the water was gone, he fully opened them and we ate the meat. Best coconut ever!

By the time we got back, we did not have enough time to go and visit some of the widows who live in town. That was very unfortunate because Pastor Glass has a huge place in his heart for them.

Around 5, some one noticed that Don Juan was missing. Then dinner rolled around and we found him again. Don Juan is now Don Gone!

Later that evening we started our farewell service. It was a bitter sweet service. They were very happy to have had us for the week. But we were all sad to be saying goodbye. We each got up and gave our thank you's and goodbyes. Plus we, as a group, sang a few songs for the people of Dame Marie.  We all discovered throughout the week that we all love to sing. So we thought that it would be nice to share God's gifts to us, with them.

Pastor Glass' message was fantastic. I felt bad, though, because it was late and most of the kids conked out. One of them fell asleep on Jeremy.

After the service, we were greeted by most of the congregation. They all gave us there goodbye and "Bondje beni ou" (God bless you!)

It's sad, it's our last night in Dame Marie. Tomorrow we shove off at 7 so we can try to get over the mountains before they close the roads for blasting from 12-6. We are headed for the retreat center in Zongalay. We will be there for one night, then a night in Les Cayes, then we jet on home.

I will miss everyone here and all the things we did together. But I am, however looking forward to seeing my family, a hot shower an my own bed. Until tomorrow, Bondje beni ou!

Lunchtime!

Jaka, or stinky fruit - tastes like fruity gum!

Last morning in Dame Marie.

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

Fé Travay Li - Make it work!

Day 4 - Rule #2 - Learn to run with your camera!

I woke up this morning after the sun came up for the first time this week. So I had renewed energy which was good because today was a full day of shooting.

The ladies making Pumpkin Soup for Breakfast:

After breakfast we went out to the courtyard to begin the building project. This year's project was building benches for the school. Best part was, we actually had power tools. As the team began working on the benches, I had to break off and go with Serge, one of the Haitians who work for RMI, plus two others, to go pick up the 20 goats for which people in the states had donated money.

We started our 1 hour trip, back over the mountain to Chambala where the goats were. The guys would grab each goat, tie their front legs to their back legs and wing them into the back of the pickup. Now, I have heard a goat make its "baaaaa" sound, but I've never heard one scream. That was a new experience. The footage is pretty interesting as well.

A typical Haitian road:

The view from along the way:

Once they were loaded, we began the hour trek back with the goats bleating and scream all the way. That was something i wasn't ready for. I hate to be cruel, but it was actually kinda funny. We started up the mountain when Serge came to a dead stop, the doors behind me opened and the two guys began to run!

One of the goats had come loose and had made its get-away! (Thanks Pat Tanis - i blame that on you!) The goat ran about a quarter mile down the mountain before the guys caught her trying to go over the edge - all the while with me running with the camera behind them. I felt like I was on an episode of Cops. (Note from Darcie: Kris always said he wanted to be a camera-man on The Amazing Race.)

A cow along the side of the road:

Once we returned we were able to get back to helping the team with the benches. By this time they were painting them. I figured that it was time to put the camera down and help. Problem was, having no running water makes it really hard to wash your hands.

After lunch, Pastor Guy Glass had a meeting with the teachers of the school were he presented them with two suitcases filled with school supplies. He also gave them maps and charts for their classrooms.

At about 3:00 was the children's service led by Pastor Jeremy Stephens from First Baptist Church of Toms River. The kids began the service with songs and readings. I had to get pretty close to pick up some of their voices because some were kinda shy. Needless to say though, they were extremely cute!

After that, we had the presentation of the goats to the families. They were very happy and very thankful. So on behalf of them, thank you very much to everyone at home who donated!

We ended the night with a wonderful meal and a nighttime stroll down to the water front. It's kinda of an eerie beauty to walk through a town where there is no power and if you don't have a generator, it's all candles. The pastor of the Haitian church lead us around town. There is an outdoor movie theater that runs first run bootlegs. You wanna see it, we got it!

We also took a walk through the old church that this congregation used to use. As we walked through the streets, we saw kids out reading under the solar powered street lights. After all, it's free!

We only have one more full day here and when we think about it, it's sad. These people are great and life here, although it can be tough, is simple. It makes you realize how much "stuff" you have and how much of it you probably don't actually need.

It's really easy to fall in love with this place and with these people. They are a hearty people who know how to survive. If you don't have exactly what you need to get the job done, Fé travay li - make it work!

Kris King
www.EVideoProductions.net
kris@evideoproductions.net
www.Twitter.com/evp_kris
www.Facebook.com/evideoproductions

As an addendum, here's the video that Kris showed in Haiti of our son Ryan.

Rule #1: Always Carry a Flashlight

Day 3

I woke up today at around 5 am to the bleating of sheep, crowing of rosters, clucking of chickens and the banter of the Haitian women who prepare our meals, in the dark, outside, with just charcoal. They are a cheerful bunch who are full of the Holy Spirit and a zest for life unmatched in my 36 years.

It was dark as I went outside. It's amazing just how many stars you can see when there is no light pollution.

Breakfast consisted of a pumpkin based hot soup. Not what I would normally have ordered out, but man it was good!! There is also fresh squeezed lemonade at every meal. Kinda like boardwalk lemonade only WAY better.

Then it was off to Sunday morning church service. This was something I wasn't prepared for. I knew it was coming, but it knocked me over like a strong gust of wind. At the start of service there had to be 400 people in the church. Then more came, and more, oh, and more! They kept bringing in chairs to keep up with the arrivals. They filled the aisles and people even sat in the window sills.

The Haitian people like their service loud!!! Rocking band and loud singing. Just imagine what 500+ people singing in a language you barely understand is like. Hands waiving, people feeling the Spirit and general love and happiness. Just amazing... and the footage is incredible.

Then we were asked to give our personal greetings. This is something that is a tradition in Haiti. Each one of us stood up in front of all those people and introduced ourselves and gave greetings from our church and families. I have got to give Krissy props though, she did hers completely in Creole! She got a standing ovation for her efforts.

Note to self: learn Creole.

When I did mine, I gave my greetings from my church, my wife Darcie and then I played the message from my 7-year-old son Ryan that I recorded on my iPhone. The congregation loved it! I got so caught up in listening the the translator repeating what I was saying, I forgot to mention my daughter!!! Sorry honey! I'll make it up to you at the other district churches we will visit.

The service lasted three hours. But it was so engaging and emotional, I didn't even notice the length. I only realized it was going that long when my battery on my camera began to get really low on power. Somehow my arm never got tired holding the camera for that long.

After a tremendous lunch where we exacted our revenge on the chickens, roosters and goat, we took a couple of footballs and frisbees out onto the street. Within seconds kids were coming out of the woodwork! They were everywhere! One of the group members, Joe, seized the opportunity to talk to the kids about Jesus. Then we chucked the footballs and threw the frisbees with the kids for a while. It's actually easier to teach a kid how to throw a football without speaking the same language than you'd think it would be. When you speak the same language, you tend to over complicate your direction. When all you can do is pantomime, there is a lot less garbage in the message.

The one thing I have noticed is that Haitian people's eyes are so expressive. When I zoom in tight to these children's faces, you can almost see what they are thinking. Then when I turn the LCD panel around, their faces light up and they giggle.

Then we took a stroll down to the beach where I was able to get some great footage of the shoreline and some of the tin houses that are typical of Haitian architecture. The shore is littered with conch shells. Conch is a staple food here and it's really quite good! It's kinda like shrimp and scallops got together and had a tasty delicious kid.

Sunday afternoon we were on a break and we were sitting in the shade relaxing when we heard drumming off in the distance. It was getting closer so we ran out to the front of the church to see what the ruckus was (can you describe the ruckus sir?). And that, my friends, is why I always have the camera in my hands.

Turns out their Carnival (car knee val) is coming up soon. It's actually a voodoo carnival. Voodoo is the biggest religion in Haiti.

Sunday evening brought us our second service of the day. This time there were more people if you can believe it! Best part of the service was when the generator that supplies the church and parsonage's power, took it's ball and went home. Everyone just kept on singing a cappella.  It was really cool. Little cell phone flashlights started popping up all over the church plus I had my flashlight in my pocket. (Thanks honey!!) You tend to start carrying it around when the power comes and goes as it pleases. Just ask me about seeing the footage when I get back.

This place just blows my mind every time I turn around. I could live here. It's that awesome. Although I can't wait to take a shower that doesn't consist of a bucket of cold water and a cup.

Kris King
www.EVideoProductions.net
kris@evideoproductions.net
www.Twitter.com/evp_Kris
www.facebook.com/evideoproductions

If you have a message you'd like to get to Kris, please email darcie@evideoproductions.net and I will get it to him! 

Bonsoi!

Day 2

After a rough night sleep because of intermittent power and a stuffy room with 11 people in it, we set off for Dame Marie. We had four trucks, 18 people and a ton of stuff.

There is only one road to Dame Marie and there is only pavement occasionally. It is mostly very rocky and dusty. The truck I was in was a Toyota Hilux. I am guessing that most of you have never heard of that model. That's because it's not available in the US - it wouldn't pass emissions. But, its the only truck to have ever made it to North Pole! So it's fine here.

The truck carrying all the supplies has four tires on the rear axle. About half way to Dame Marie, at the top of a mountain, the two tires on the passenger side went flat - no spare of course!

It was fixed by taking one tire from the left side and putting it on the right. That took over an hour. Just going to prove that God never gives you more than you can handle.

The rest of the trip had so many things to see - beautiful green forests, Caribbean Sea views from the mountains, the mountains themselves, random goats and cows tied up on the sides of the road and naked people bathing in the river.

It took over 6 hours to get to Dame Marie but it was worth the wait. When we finally arrived in town we were greeted by, well, the town! The children's brigade was in full uniform with a color guard and drum line. The ladies from the church were all dressed up and each greeted us with a "Bonsoi" (good evening) and a hug and kiss, all 50-something of them.

It was truly overwhelming! All of us were almost in tears with the amount of love that was pouring out of the residents of Dame Marie! We all walked a mile back into town together lead by the youth brigade and ladies of the church, singing the whole way!

We all piled into the church for a greeting from the pastor and the deacons. Even though there is a cultural difference and a language barrier, we all worship the same God and believe the same things and THAT is awesome and all you need.

We then sat down to a fantastic meal that consisted of (all homemade from scratch) rice and beans, fried plantains, lobster, conch, cabbage, this amazing fish and a scalloped potato-like dish. All in all it was a fantastic day.

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

Kris also texted me today something that I wanted to share. He said "a parade for the upcoming Carnival just went by the church. It was pretty awesome. After it went by, I turned to Ryan (another Forked River Baptist Church member on the trip) and said 'and that is why the camera is always in my hands!' He was joking earlier that he hadn't seen me when I wasn't shooting with either the NX5 or my cell." Now, that's the Kris we all know & love! :) Just further proof that he will have some AMAZING footage when he gets back! Below is a collection of some of the stuff he's sent me.

Before he left, he asked our son, Ryan, to make a video about himself to show to the kids down there. Ryan asked for Kris to get a video of someone down there for him to see. Here it is:

Kris and the team also got some down time to sing together. You can see Jeremy playing guitar, Elyssa singing and you can hear Kris in the background singing.

Darcie King
www.Evideoproductions.net
darcie@evideoproductions.net
www.facebook.com/evideoproductions
www.facebook.com/12monthsofvideo
www.twitter.com/evpDarcie

A View from Up Above

Kris sent this video to me from the air on the way to Haiti! I forgot to post it yesterday in my rush to get his other blog post up.

He texted me last night that he sent his Day 2 update, but I haven't received it yet. He said he would have connection and power issues after he left Les Cayes, and I guess that is proving true! The one update I did get briefly was that the truck carrying their luggage on their 6 hour ride to Dame Marie had 2 flat tires on the side of the mountain! They were stuck there for over an hour in the 90+ degree heat. When I talked to him, he was at a stop along the way, about an hour from Dame Marie.

I can't wait to see his footage! The stuff he's sending is just what he shot on his iPhone. The good stuff is on a hard drive. :) We'll all have to wait to see that!

Darcie King
www.evideoproductions.net
darcie@evideoproductions.net
www.facebook.com/evideoproductions
www.facebook.com/12monthsofvideo
www.twitter.com/evpDarcie

A Different View

Haiti Trip Day 1.

We left Newark Airport at 6 am today.  After two very uneventful flights - Newark to Miami then Miami to Haiti we landed in the 93 degree 90 percent humidity.  We left the jet way to go collect our bags.  We were greeted with a Haitian band singing songs to us as we walked in the customs area. Customs was normal and baggage claim was routine.  Then we left the airport and that's where my view on my life changed forever.

There were people everywhere going in every direction.  It was like rush hour in NYC except the chaos was magnified 100 times.  One of the people in our group was almost run over by, or he backed into a car.  I am not sure which.  The fact is, the airport parking lot was only the beginning. We all piled onto our, thankfully, air conditioned bus for the 6 hour ride to Les Cayes where were going to spend our first night.  I knew that Haiti had massive devastation from the earthquake and the hurricane that followed.  But I was not as prepared as I thought I would be, to see it up close.  Thousands of people are still living in tent cities throughout Port au Prince.  And most of the island still has intermittent power. I am just glad that I wasn't driving.  The traffic was unbelievable.  Think of the traffic you see from clips from India - it was like that - only less motor bikes and more trucks with smashed windshields and wobbly tires that are about to fall off.  There were pickup trucks with 15 people in the back, a bus with a guy on a kitchen chair on top of it, another bus with a guy texting from the roof and another bus with three goats on top. The Trip to Les Cayes was 6 hours through the mountains.  It was sad to see the landscape because after decades of corruption and environmental devastation from over harvesting, there is nothing left for people to find naturally.  They have stripped the land of almost everything usable. We had a bathroom stop about halfway to our destination at a little bar/restaurant/store/gas station.  The men's room had no door and there was a woman in there.  That was weird.

A few hours later, we arrived at the missionary guest house.  Thankfully we have AC tonight - last for the week.  We leave for Dame Marie Saturday morning at 8:30 am and then the real work begins.  Over all the people here are very nice, very kind and really just want to know - Comment allez-vous - or How are you doing?

Kris King
www.EVideoProductions.net
kris@evideoproductions.net

For more details on this mission trip to Haiti, read Jeremy Stephen's blog!

Video with a Mission

E Video Productions is making our first international trek.  From February 3rd through February 10th, I (Kris) will be in the country of Haiti.  I know, I know, you're saying to yourself "Haiti, who in their right mind would want to go there?"  It's a missions trip with my local church.  I have been asked to go along and document the entire trip.  We have also been asked by the overall ministry that is supporting our church, RMI (Reciprocal Ministries International), to cover some of the other things that they do in Haiti for promotional and fund raising purposes. 

This will be, by far, the most exciting and nerve racking shoot I have ever been on.  But the funny thing is, I was more worried about how I was going to charge my camera batteries than the fact that I have to look for tarantulas when I go to shower in the morning.  The spiders don't bother me, but the lack of power does.  Is that weird?

I won't just be shooting video while I am there, though.  First and foremost, I am there on a missions trip with a purpose.  We are bringing along water filtration systems to the people of Dame Marie, Haiti.  Each system, which runs about $95, will fill the water needs of a family of 10 for 10 years!  That's impressive.  We are also, with the help of many generous individuals and corporations, providing 16 goats to the families there, not sure how they are gonna fit in the overhead compartments! Thank you to everyone who donated.

Well anyway, keep checking in on this blog through out the week for more updates on all the things that we see and so while we are in Haiti.

Kristopher King
http://www.evideoproductions.net
Facebook: evideoproductions
Twitter: @evp_kris
Youtube: evideopr