Visit with Leaders in Gonaives

We met District Superintendent Roger Dufrene at the Texaco just past Bigot. Though the roadway was dry, houses along the road were a foot or so deep in thick mud. The water has receded significantly from its crest, but everywhere walls and roofs are covered with drying clothing, mattresses and linen.

Pastor Dufrene told us that the rain started at about 8:00 AM on Saturday morning. At about 11:00 AM flooding began, and continued through out the day as the rain continued. By the time people realized that the rain would not stop and that they should move to higher ground, it was too late. The worst of the flooding occurred during the night. Pastor Dufrene's home is on the first story with classrooms on the second floor. Their home/school is set down off the main road on the lower side. The water lines on buildings across on the higher side of the road are at the door jambs and eves. He and his wife and two children went to the second storey and even there the water came up to his waist.

We stopped at the driveway to his home, which is about 75 feet long. The 4 drawer District file cabinet was perched on top of a pile of debris at a precarious angle with one drawer partly open. We could not see his pickup which was buried somewhere in the logjam of refuse. Brightly painted Disney characters on the gate welcoming children to school seemed oddly out of place. Muddy carnage just about sums it up.

We stopped at Gonaives First Church. There was no place to pull off the road as water was still running in front of building so we pulled over as far as we could and set the flashers on. The pastor of the Gonaives Church, Pastor Placide, came wading down the side street on the upstream side of the church. About thirty feet of wall had collapsed into the church yard. Piles of flotsam clogged what had been a side gate. The water mark is at the top of the main entry doors (7 feet). Both Pastor Dufrene and Pastor Placide looked (understandably) dazed. We had our little meeting on the main roadway with UN trucks, bicycles, motorcycles and tap-taps honking and splashing by. We simply told these men that we brought very little with us as advised, but that we were here to assure them that Nazarenes around the world were praying for them even as were visited. (It was about 11:00 Sunday morning.)

The most urgent short term needs are water, and in some cases food. Food can be purchased in Gonaives, though it is about double pre-flood prices. Still, purchasing locally would save the cost of transporting and the risk of hi-jacking gangs. Pastor Dufrene felt that it would, in any case, be unwise to attempt to move truckloads of food in without military escort.
Water is much more difficult to procure. The nearest water purification plant is the Ya Ya plant in the Artibonite valley near Pont Sonde, an hour's drive. All that to say that the greatest short-term needs are, first water, then food, then clothing. I am sure that 'crisis kits' of some sort would be useful.

Pastor Placide said his church, Gonaives First lost two members to the flood. The Defontaines church and adobe church, which was virtually falling down before the flood, was swept away. The Mapou church, not far from the Desfontaine church was destroyed. The Pasrene (Sterling) church 'camp' property is down near the river very near to where the north road has been severed. Buildings are still standing, but mud and debris has rendered most of it useless for the foresee-able future.

A Prayer in the Street

Pastor Sony of the Defontaines church was in Port-au-Prince when we returned. He was in his home when the flooding started. The force of the current against the door prevented them from exiting the home so he and a brother and their father escaped from his house through a window and were able to get to his roof. From his roof top he watched helplessly as many of his neighbors swept by waving their hands and calling for help. The Defontaines church lost 13 people, 9 of whom were children.

We also happened on the wife of the La Source Bayonnais pastor. She said she had heard nothing from the Bayonnais people. She and the pastor were in Gonaives during the flood. Her husband is suffering from a foot injury. Many were lacerated by roof tin swirling around in the waters.

Prior to leaving Pastor Placide and Pastor Dufrene we had a short time of prayer right in the street. Pastor Lucien prayed for the survivors in Gonaives and for the church members and that many would be drawn to Christ through this disaster. I left a couple hundred dollars with Pastor Dufrene and asked that he use it to help his neighbors, needy pastors and church members. We assured him that many are already asking what can be done to help and that we would do all that we could to direct assistance their way as it became available. We left him with all the extra water bottles that we had brought, a bag full of sandwiches and some apples we had brought for lunches. Pastor Dufrene appeared visibly lifted and relieved by our visit. Pastor Placide told us that "we're never alone with God, but your coming has made us feel that somebody out there beyond the carnage cares."

I left a couple of Haitel phone cards with Pastor Dufrene so that we can continue to keep in contact. I asked him to make a serious effort to contact as many pastors as possible and report back to me. I will be meeting with the Compassionate Ministries committee Wednesday to finalize strategic planning.

Through the Lake

We left at 5:30 this morning. Edwidge (the Child Sponsorship treasurer) came to campus. Pastor Walliere was not able to find somebody to fill in for him at Belaire so he could not come. We picked up Pastor Lucien around 6:15 and headed out of town via the "Military Road" that enters Cite Soleil. We had been advised not to take anything we didn't want to loose to roadside gangs. Some of our acquaintances had been stopped at barricades and 'asked' for food or money.

The road from Port-au-Prince to L'Estere was its usual bruising self. In St. Marc we passed a convoy of Uruguayan UN trucks. They were escorting a bus load of Cuban doctors.
There is a short climb out of L'Estere up past that large cemetery and the La Croix intersection. From La Croix the road slowly descends into the valley know as Savanne Desolate sp? As we began the slow descent from La Croix we could see that the entire valley floor had become a lake.

We pulled in behind about 4 vehicles which were just setting out into the lake. As you recall the road-bed is raised several feet above the surroundings. Vehicles which had strayed too far to the left or right were there to stay. Even a large truck with a crane for hoisted stranded vehicles, the engine still running, had strayed too far to the right and could not get back onto the road way.

The water rose quickly to the top of the wheel wells and started seeping into Carisa's side of the car. I could not believe that the car kept running at the depth we were in. The first car in the 'convoy' stalled. I was sure he had hired a guide, but what about the next two? We had not picked up a guide as we planned to simply following the vehicle in front of us. I had not considered where we would be with out the lead car. A few minutes later the second car stalled. We moved around it, praying that we were passing on the side that had road bed underneath. At no point could we see the roadbed through the brown water so we just followed the remaining pickup ahead and prayed.

Carisa was videoing, Pastor Lucien and Edwidge were praying in muted tones for most of the entire transit. Passing the stalled car proved to be easy work compared to meeting oncoming camions. Suddenly we were sharing this invisible roadway with enormous road hogs determined not to be the next ones over the edge and into the canals. The combined height of our bow waves pushed water momentarily up to the top of our fenders. We were in the 'lake' traveling steadily for 25 minutes. I am wondering how long this road will be useful as several spots seemed a bit 'mushy'. Once the road bed softens, it will not be useable. The road from the new lake to Gonaives was dry and potholed, as usual.