Derek Wilson: My Trip to Haiti
Hello my name is Derek Wilson. I am a member of Norris First Baptist Church. In January of 2020 The church sent Kelsey Ridenour and me to Haiti on a mission trip. We went with Doyle and his Granddaughter Madison and Cara who is Madison’s friend from college. Doyle has been traveling to Haiti about once a year since 1984. Doyle’s advice, wisdom and guidance made the trip more productive, safer, and eased the stress of being in a place like Haiti.
Our mission was to spread the word of God and Salvation through Jesus Crist. We did this while providing medical aid to the communities we visited. We also held a revival every evening in the community of Goula.
We flew in to the capital of Haiti that is Port-Au-Prince. The first night after flying into Haiti we stayed at the orphanage that is owned and ran by Martina. Doyle started to help support Martina and her Husband Beutou’s orphanage since his first visits to Haiti over 30 years ago. Beutou passed away a few years ago but his wife Martina and her son Beliot still continues to take care of about fifty kids that have families that cannot afford to feed and take care of them.
The next day we traveled to Goula. This trip took about an hour to drive from Port-Au-Prince to the point that 4 wheeled vehicles could go no further. At that point we grabbed our things and hiked the last mile until we reached the church in Goula. This is where we spent the next five nights.
This church in Goula is evidence of the strength and perseverance of the people of Haiti. This church is a concrete block building that has had to be completely rebuilt after the earthquake of 2010 and has a path that all the materials have been brought in by motorcycle or by foot. In America we build a road first then a community. In Haiti a community is built and if they are fortunate they might eventually get a road to their community.
The people in Goula are filled with the love of God. Everyone there was so friendly and wanted to make our stay as pleasurable as possible. The entire week motorcycles traveled back and forth to bring bags of ice and bottles of soft drinks as well as other supplies to cook and feed us. They just poured their love upon us. This was very reassuring because I worried that the people of Haiti would not be receptive to outsiders coming to their country and think of us as unwelcomed, but this was not the case at all. There was a small army of people that traveled with us from the orphanage to help for the week. Martina came with us to help cook for the week and several men and women came with her to help her. These men and women where kids that grew up at the orphanage and now are grown but still love and respect Martina and showed it by helping her with anything she needed. It was so heart warning to meet grown men my age tell me they were raised by Martina.
We all slept in the church while in Goula. When I mean “we”, I mean the five of us that traveled together from Tennessee , the band that played for the revival, the translators, and all of Martina’s bunch. I believe I counted about 20 people that stayed every night in the church. We slept on air mattresses while the Haitians slept on woven straw mats that could have not been much cushion on the concrete floor of the church building. There is no electric or running water in most of Haiti. Even in the capital of Port-Au- Prince, people might have electric and running water but it is not like what we are used to here in America. If they have these modern conveniences the water is on only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The electric is only on during certain times of the day depending on what part of town you live in. The orphanage that Martina operates has electric but no running water. The only way you knew when the electric was on was when there would be several cell phones plugged into the few outlets that worked. While in Goula everyone would charge their cell phones while the generator was running that was used for the music and microphones during the revivals held every night. Despite little to no modern conveniences many Haitian have cell phones or smart phones. I still keep in touch with at least half a dozen individuals from Haiti. They message me daily over the internet. I have been told that when the U.S. government spent time with Haiti trying to help them recover from the earthquake they put up a lot of cell towers. The cell service is actually impressive for the conditions Haiti has.
I could feel God’s protection over us while we were there. The country is a very dangerous place and the poverty is indescribable. The level of poverty creates violence and crime but the entire time I was in Haiti God gave me such ease and feelings of security. Especially while on the mountain of Goula I felt so separated from the violence and crime. However the bugs ate me up. I had evidence of bug bites on my legs for months. If I did not have God to comfort me I know that some of the things we experienced would have be overwhelming and I would have been overcome with anxiety and stress during this trip. God gave me comfort, strength and protection and it was felt every moment of every day.
The weather was very nice while we were in Haiti. You could tell it was dry and they needed some rain. On the last night of the revival in Goula the sun was setting and as it was getting dark, dark clouds started to ease in. Many people has walked from long distances every night to worship Jesus and hear the preaching of God’s word. As the dark clouds moved in it started to spinkle rain. Everyone continued to sing and praise the Lord but you could feel the uneasiness of everyone about the weather. Many were starting to leave and the rain was getting stronger. At this point it was time for Pastor Tom Berry to preach the word. In his opening prayer is said “God we know that the ground needs the rain but we ask that you please hold off the rain until these people that came to hear your word and receive your message and get home safely and dry. We pray for you will to be done.” Tom began to preach and the sky cleared and the message was perfect as expected when God is in control. After the revival was over I admired the stars it was so clear. Some of the younger kids were texting there friends and they told us that it rain so hard just down the mountain that the streets were flooding. We went to bed and I forgot that we even was worried about get rained out several hours before until I was woke up with the sound of a driving rain on the tin roof of the church building in Goula.
The day we were leaving I was tired and looking forward to seeing my wife and kids but I had tears in my eyes knowing that the people I had become so close to in such a short time that I would not be seeing them for a long time. The emotions I had were also a sign that the trip was a good one. I Thank God regularly for what he has provided for me and my family but in my heart I am truly more grateful after my time in Haiti. I am also grateful for the experience God gave me through the church to go on this mission trip to Haiti. For a country boy that gets excited about getting to see new places just in East Tennessee or just in the South East United States, this trip was an amazing experience. Jesus told us that we should love thy neighbor. This trip showed me that we are all neighbors.
Our mission was to spread the word of God and Salvation through Jesus Crist. We did this while providing medical aid to the communities we visited. We also held a revival every evening in the community of Goula.
We flew in to the capital of Haiti that is Port-Au-Prince. The first night after flying into Haiti we stayed at the orphanage that is owned and ran by Martina. Doyle started to help support Martina and her Husband Beutou’s orphanage since his first visits to Haiti over 30 years ago. Beutou passed away a few years ago but his wife Martina and her son Beliot still continues to take care of about fifty kids that have families that cannot afford to feed and take care of them.
The next day we traveled to Goula. This trip took about an hour to drive from Port-Au-Prince to the point that 4 wheeled vehicles could go no further. At that point we grabbed our things and hiked the last mile until we reached the church in Goula. This is where we spent the next five nights.
This church in Goula is evidence of the strength and perseverance of the people of Haiti. This church is a concrete block building that has had to be completely rebuilt after the earthquake of 2010 and has a path that all the materials have been brought in by motorcycle or by foot. In America we build a road first then a community. In Haiti a community is built and if they are fortunate they might eventually get a road to their community.
The people in Goula are filled with the love of God. Everyone there was so friendly and wanted to make our stay as pleasurable as possible. The entire week motorcycles traveled back and forth to bring bags of ice and bottles of soft drinks as well as other supplies to cook and feed us. They just poured their love upon us. This was very reassuring because I worried that the people of Haiti would not be receptive to outsiders coming to their country and think of us as unwelcomed, but this was not the case at all. There was a small army of people that traveled with us from the orphanage to help for the week. Martina came with us to help cook for the week and several men and women came with her to help her. These men and women where kids that grew up at the orphanage and now are grown but still love and respect Martina and showed it by helping her with anything she needed. It was so heart warning to meet grown men my age tell me they were raised by Martina.
We all slept in the church while in Goula. When I mean “we”, I mean the five of us that traveled together from Tennessee , the band that played for the revival, the translators, and all of Martina’s bunch. I believe I counted about 20 people that stayed every night in the church. We slept on air mattresses while the Haitians slept on woven straw mats that could have not been much cushion on the concrete floor of the church building. There is no electric or running water in most of Haiti. Even in the capital of Port-Au- Prince, people might have electric and running water but it is not like what we are used to here in America. If they have these modern conveniences the water is on only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The electric is only on during certain times of the day depending on what part of town you live in. The orphanage that Martina operates has electric but no running water. The only way you knew when the electric was on was when there would be several cell phones plugged into the few outlets that worked. While in Goula everyone would charge their cell phones while the generator was running that was used for the music and microphones during the revivals held every night. Despite little to no modern conveniences many Haitian have cell phones or smart phones. I still keep in touch with at least half a dozen individuals from Haiti. They message me daily over the internet. I have been told that when the U.S. government spent time with Haiti trying to help them recover from the earthquake they put up a lot of cell towers. The cell service is actually impressive for the conditions Haiti has.
I could feel God’s protection over us while we were there. The country is a very dangerous place and the poverty is indescribable. The level of poverty creates violence and crime but the entire time I was in Haiti God gave me such ease and feelings of security. Especially while on the mountain of Goula I felt so separated from the violence and crime. However the bugs ate me up. I had evidence of bug bites on my legs for months. If I did not have God to comfort me I know that some of the things we experienced would have be overwhelming and I would have been overcome with anxiety and stress during this trip. God gave me comfort, strength and protection and it was felt every moment of every day.
The weather was very nice while we were in Haiti. You could tell it was dry and they needed some rain. On the last night of the revival in Goula the sun was setting and as it was getting dark, dark clouds started to ease in. Many people has walked from long distances every night to worship Jesus and hear the preaching of God’s word. As the dark clouds moved in it started to spinkle rain. Everyone continued to sing and praise the Lord but you could feel the uneasiness of everyone about the weather. Many were starting to leave and the rain was getting stronger. At this point it was time for Pastor Tom Berry to preach the word. In his opening prayer is said “God we know that the ground needs the rain but we ask that you please hold off the rain until these people that came to hear your word and receive your message and get home safely and dry. We pray for you will to be done.” Tom began to preach and the sky cleared and the message was perfect as expected when God is in control. After the revival was over I admired the stars it was so clear. Some of the younger kids were texting there friends and they told us that it rain so hard just down the mountain that the streets were flooding. We went to bed and I forgot that we even was worried about get rained out several hours before until I was woke up with the sound of a driving rain on the tin roof of the church building in Goula.
The day we were leaving I was tired and looking forward to seeing my wife and kids but I had tears in my eyes knowing that the people I had become so close to in such a short time that I would not be seeing them for a long time. The emotions I had were also a sign that the trip was a good one. I Thank God regularly for what he has provided for me and my family but in my heart I am truly more grateful after my time in Haiti. I am also grateful for the experience God gave me through the church to go on this mission trip to Haiti. For a country boy that gets excited about getting to see new places just in East Tennessee or just in the South East United States, this trip was an amazing experience. Jesus told us that we should love thy neighbor. This trip showed me that we are all neighbors.