As the SNU medical mission group drove to Bleck, Haiti, followed by a Haitian doctor, a nurse and their driver, the second vehicle rolled off the mountain, killing one and injuring two others.
The SNU mission team brought comfort through singing as local people extricated those trapped in the wreckage of the second truck.
When the trip to Bleck was canceled after the accident, the students improvised and spent a week conducting medical ministry in Port-au-Prince.
Haitians are still in need of medical assistance as the capital city struggles to get back on its feet.
In addition to medical treatment, the students hosted vacation Bible school and soccer ministry to children and youth.
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you." – Frederick Buechner.
These were the haunting words that Beth Luthye, a missionary in Haiti, shared with us at the end of the 10-day trip that changed my life and the lives of 20 other Southern Nazarene University (SNU) students who on May 14, headed to Bleck, Haiti, to help with the earthquake relief effort there. Along with five faculty, our team consisted of pre-medical and nursing students to work at a medical clinic, and other students who would host a vacation Bible school for children.
Joining our student team were Haitian doctors, a nurse, translators and a missionary. We left early Saturday morning on the six-hour drive into the mountains. There were two trucks. One truck had most of our team and the other truck had all of our luggage as well as the Haitian doctor, nurse and a translator.
On the way to Bleck we passed through many small villages and the children would run out to the road to greet us. About four hours into the drive we stopped to wait for the other truck to catch up. After about five minutes a motorcycle came by and told us there had been an accident with the other truck. We assumed it was something minor, like a low-impact accident or flat tire. A few leaders and Jonathan Bean, an SNU student, jumped into a car that we had brought to go look at the damage.
The man on the motorcycle returned to tell us the truck had gone off the side of the mountain. We decided to go back to help as much as we could. When we got there, a crowd of people stood looking down the mountain. A few of us at a time were allowed to go look at what had happened while the rest stayed back with the truck. What we saw will forever be imprinted in our minds. Luggage was scattered down the mountain and the brush was so thick at the bottom that you couldn’t even see the truck.
We weren’t allowed to go down the mountain because it was so steep and they didn’t want to risk anyone else getting hurt. A few of the Haitians at the site were able to speak English and translate to the others what had happened. The police arrived and we were told to stay in the truck while everything was sorted out. While we were waiting to be told what was going on and if anyone was hurt, a group of children had congregated outside our truck. We remembered that we had the guitar in our truck and Kevin Nye, an SNU student, began to play songs as we all sang.
Later, Dr. Howard Culbertson, our missions professor at SNU, said that when the students started singing, he was with the police. When they heard our worship, something indescribable changed in their faces and a peacefulness settled over the scene.
The children sang with us and it was a beautiful testimony of God’s love. After a few hours, the pastor from Bleck came to see us. He came from two hours away to thank us, tell us not to be discouraged, to pray for us and to ask us to please come to Bleck anyway. He brought us dinner that his wife had put together for us and that he carried by motorcycle for two hours. Their love and empathy was incredible.
By that time we learned we would not be able to continue on to Bleck, for many reasons. Two of the people in the accident were severely injured and a much loved doctor had died. Several people from Heart-to-Heart International came to help us take the body and the other two injured people to the hospital. We arrived at campus late that night and a mission group from Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., was kind and made us dinner.
There wasn’t a plan for the rest of the week, so every day was a new adventure. During the week we picked up trash around campus left behind from refugees who stayed there after the January 2010 earthquake. We also helped rebuild a wall around the campus. Some of us worked in the medical clinic on campus and then went to downtown Port Au Prince to work in a medical clinic with Heart-to-Heart.
The clinic was set up in a church and we were able to observe the doctors work and assist in prioritizing which patients to see first. In the evenings we taught English as a second language (ESL) to university students. We also did a vacation Bible school (VBS) for the children on campus. One day we went to a small town and while some of us set up a clinic the others hosted a VBS.
A few days into the trip, two SNU female students sprained their ankles. While this was at first discouraging to them, they were able to create friendships with three children who would come sit with them every day. The children were soon friends with everyone. We welcomed them each evening with smiles and the few words of Kreyol that we knew. We played soccer with the kids and university students. It was a great time connecting with them.
Through ESL we got acquainted with the university students and heard their stories about the day of the earthquake. Many of them live in tents on campus because they are still afraid to go into buildings. Although the people are hurting and are living in hard conditions, everyone we met said they would pray for us and asked us to pray for them. We were always thanked and everyone was so empathetic to the accident that had taken place earlier that week.
On one of our last days in Haiti, the pastor from Bleck came to visit us on his way to the doctor’s funeral. He again told us to not be discouraged and gave us coffee as a gift from Bleck.
We went to Haiti to be witnesses and help the people in their situation. In reality, they taught us and helped us to grow in our faith. God never failed and was truly with us every step of the way.
-- Emily Brown, of Yukon, Oklahoma, U.S., is a junior at Southern Nazarene University, studying to be a registered nurse.