I flew into Haiti with a small problem. The battery for my Haitian phone had inflated to twice its normal size in the months while I was in the USA. I only discovered it days before I was scheduled to fly. There was no way to replace the battery. Without that phone being functional, there was no way I could communicate with anyone in the USA or with the people at my final destination in southern Haiti. I would be in the northern city of Cape-Haitian for several hours waiting for a connecting flight. I don't know anyone in Cape-Haitian that I could call to help me find a phone quickly. 

In Cape-Haitian, I decided to step outside the airport and look around. A white guy sticks out. I was quickly approached by people who offered me a taxi ride or other kinds of help...for a price. I spoke to one man about purchasing a cheap phone, but his price was much too high, even after some negotiating. I decided to pass on that phone. 

Before long, the small crowd of initial "helpers" left me all alone at the front railing of the airport. Eventually, another motorcycle taxi driver drifted by and asked me if I needed a ride. I said that I did not. He began a conversation when he heard me respond in Creole. He had been searching all morning for some work. It was now time for lunch. He had still made no money that day. He explained to me that his yellow vest was a sign that he is part of a taxi-driver co-op. Even with that advantage, he had no customers. I asked him about phone prices, stating the price that the previous gentleman had offered me. He explained, "That's because he is a middleman. If you go downtown you'll get the same phone for $100 (Haitian dollars) less. I can take you there right now. We'll be back in 15 minutes or so." I was not at all willing to ride alone into a city that I don't know with a taxi-driver I don't know.  I shook my head and said, "I can't go downtown."

He said nothing more. I decided to make an offer. I said, "I can send you with the money to buy the phone. It should only cost $400, right?" He seemed willing. I handed him $400. We discussed the details : only a phone, no SIM card, and no minutes. He walked away...happily.

I replayed that image of him leaving for the next 40 minutes.  He seemed quite happy.  Did he look at a friend across the street and laugh as he walked away from me rolling the money into his pocket?  Would I ever see that money again?

I stood at the same place, and I realized that I had no way to identify the man...except for the yellow vest, and they were pretty much everywhere. I went with my feeling that he was a typical, gentle, reasonable person...like every other Haitian I know personally. Would he come back? Or would he avoid the area for a few hours and be $400 richer?

Sometime later in the afternoon, a man in a yellow vest came toward me smiling. He was holding a tiny box. He took the bright green phone out of the box and explained that he had spent every dollar I had given him on the phone. I have no reason to doubt that. I had already decided to bless the man if he indeed kept his part of the deal. I handed him a rolled bill that would equal a pretty good morning of work. He looked down to see the markings on the bill without unrolling it and smiled. We gave each other a hearty "thank you", and he was off.

I familiarized myself with the phone and found out my SIM card had expired from lack of use. I found a street vendor and paid for some more minutes.

I sent a couple of text messages to the USA and called my friends waiting to pick me up after my final flight. As I walked down the street to the departure terminal talking on the phone, the same taxi man was walking up the street with a friend. He noticed me using the new phone. He smiled again and said, "You are all set up."  I replied, "I am perfect. Thank you." 

After 30 years of experience in Haiti, I can say that this Haitian man is nothing unusual. He was willing to help a perfect stranger. He was willing to help a foreigner in his country...having no idea what I might pay him for his service. That is the heart of Haiti. Haiti and its people have gotten a bad name from persistent stories in the press. I guess it is the job of the press to promote bad news...the worst news.

Haitian gangs are real. I can't help being suspicious about the "hand" behind those gangs. I know many, many Haitians and have been through all kinds of stress with them. Violence toward innocent people is not a thing that I have seen.  Somehow, that is the calling card of gangs everywhere they function. Gangs in Haiti are no exception. They work hard to create stories of how ruthless they really are. They compete to have the worst reputation.

There is something foreign about that...something imported. I don't know who started the gangs in Haiti. People offer their ideas. I do know that they have wrecked the capital city completely and are staining the country in general.  When Haitian gang members kidnapped 17 Americans and Canadians and held them for months, I was not surprised when they were all released. I find it hard to image a Hamas level of violence from people in Haiti...based on my experience with people in rural Haiti.

Some force is behind the gangs of Haiti. Gangs don't make weapons, but somehow they are supplied with weapons to spare. They make money off of the people, but the people don't have enough money for the gangs to be rolling in cash...like some videos people circulate. There is something deeper that is using young Haitian men to terrorize their fellow citizens. 

I am praying for those secret hands to be revealed once and for all. Is it about money?  Is it about human trafficking?  I don't know. 

I do know that gangs are not the heart of Haiti. The heart of Haiti is gentle, sweet, and willing to help someone in need...even a foreigner standing in front of an airport who needs a phone. 



​

   
    




    

ASAPH leaders are encouraging their students. We have set up a program to encourage students who are modeling good traits. Each month, ASAPH's coaches, teachers and committee members nominate several candidates for the Student Of The Month award. They then vote to select and honor one candidate from that list. To make the selection, they evaluate faithfulness, attitude, and the progress being made. 

The first two winners of the award were students who travel far to attend band practices.  The first winner walks over an hour from the mountains of Bassin Caiman to play trumpet in the ASAPH Brass Band. The second winner rides his motorcycle (and pays for gas) every Monday and Friday all the way from Lozandye to Pasbwadom.

ASAPH's leaders show respect for their students who are paying a price to learn. 

ASAPH is preparing a certificate and small gift (a T-shirt, or a poster) for each winner. Those gifts are made possible because people support ASAPH's ministry.  THANK YOU for being with us in the work we do! 


​

Last Fall, the ASAPH administration began a program of encouragement for the young leaders who are developing at ASAPH. Andy, WEC, and Shelterline meet each month to select one leader among the teachers, coaches and committee members from across all of ASAPH's branches of ministry. That "Leader Of The Month" is evaluated according to three criteria...

1. Maturity (faithfulness, ponctuality, honesty...). 
2. Relationships with others (administration, students, fellow leaders...).
3. Accomplishments (successfully leading programs, progress...).

Our first Leader Of The Month was Mackendy. The ASAPH Bible Academy celebrated the Bible in a major program on Reformation Sunday. Mackendy led that successful celebration which will be an annual event. Teddy, Assistant Director of the ASAPH Brass Band and President of the band was the second Leader Of The Month. He led the band in preparing, organizing, and directing 4 major concerts in December. Anemson'n was chosen as Leader Of The Month after planning, organizing, and directing the student recital on February 28th. 

ASAPH leaders meet monthly to study the book of Nehemiah and to develop leadership awareness and skill. ASAPH's administration has seen real and practical improvement in the functioning of committees and groups after the leadership sessions began. Testimonies from several leaders have been even more encouraging. They site those leadership sessions as being valuable in their development as leaders. A couple of leaders credit ASAPH with helping them to become effective, mature leaders. One committee testified that lessons they learned in leadership sessions helped them to avoid ugly conflicts. 

ASAPH is about growth.  We are leading leaders and encouraging them as they grow!

Someone famous said that you will see the effectiveness of a leader in the people that he led.  ASAPH is proud of its leaders, and we celebrate them each month!   

​

ASAPH STUDENT CONCERT:

Last night, ASAPH’s young music teachers directed their students in a fun and relaxed Friday evening concert on the pickleball court next door to ASAPH. This was the second year for the event.

LEADERSHIP: Because I am in the USA, planning and organizing fell to WEC, his wife, and about four or five young music teachers. Anemson’n, a recent high school graduate, took the lead in preparing for the event with the ASAPH administration. ASAPH leaders study a four-prong approach to project realization. We focus on 1) planning, 2) organizing, 3) directing, and 4) evaluating projects like this. In an early evaluation, we can say their work on this project was exceptional!

SUPPORT: Students, parents, and friends filled every chair available and stood around the pickleball court…proving strong community support for ASAPH’s music ministry.

ATMOSPHERE: The atmosphere was relaxed but positive. As is true in many concerts in Haiti, the entertainment goes on for hours. Along the way, you may see a few songs that ‘go crooked’, but you will always find true gems if you keep following along. Last night, there were some beautiful performances. Little kids shocked the crowd with their new abilities. Older students tried things they had never done…in front of a crowd. There was applause and also laughter. It was all encouraging and felt like an atmosphere where people are able to try new things.

DIRECTION: Canado and Dadou hosted the program as masters of the ceremony. Canado is a music teacher as well. He anchored the program as the “play-by-play” guy and did so with grace. Dadou is young man we call “the shadow”. He never wants to speak. He provided the “color commentary”. Last year I suggested him as MC almost as a joke, but to my surprise he accepted! He does a fine job, and the public recognizes the irony of Dadou “the shadow” holding a mic and addressing a crowd. Our community is good that way. ASAPH is all about helping people to grow! 

PROGRESS: I was obliged to watch via a live post. I saw young students of mine who played much better than when I left in December. I saw students who I don’t know well at all. They are students of my students, and they are growing without me.  That is a blessing to see.

WORK: An event like this is a huge amount of work beginning days before the event and lasting a few days after the event. WEC and the ASAPH team did everything necessary for success. It was touching to see the product via live video. That aspect alone (setting up equipment and making it work) is a huge amount of work.

BRANCH SUPPORT: ASAPH’s ministry includes several branches. Last night was the focus was the “music academy”. While they performed, the girls’ choir prepared and manned a food vending stand that added to the atmosphere. Leaders from other branches also gave time to event.

In conclusion, the February 28th concert was a great success. You can watch in on WEC’s Facebook account.

If you supported ASAPH last month (February), this is an event that you can feel great about. This is proof that your ASAPH dollars are on the ground making a difference in the lives of people in one small community on the Southern coast of Haiti. Thank you for being with us!




​

This year, here at ASAPH we decided to set aside one month for each branch of ministry. It gives all of us a chance to focus our energy into a single branch for that month. In October, our focus was the ASAPH BIBLE ACADEMY.

The ASAPH BIBLE ACADEMY is a program that encourages Bible memorization. There are ten levels of Bible verses and lists that student memorize one by one. Each level contains about a dozen verses. When a student completes a level, she is awarded a ribbon. She then advances to collect all ten. At completion, ASAPH encourages the student with her own copy of the Bible.  
Since 2012, we have had hundreds of kids begin the program. So, we gathered together on Sunday October 27th to celebrate Reformation Sunday, to celebrate the Bible, and to celebrate the many people who have successfully memorized parts of the Word of God through ASAPH’s Bible Academy program.

ASAPH’s “B” band kicked off the program at 5:00pm. The two-hour program was livened up by contests and quizzes. The ASAPH BLUES TEAM improvised on the B-I-B-L-E song. The ASAPH Brass Band filled the church with the brassy sounds of a few Bible songs as well. Along the way, WEC taught about several reasons why the Bible deserves to be believed. The program’s Master of Ceremonies, Obed, spoke about the importance of the Reformation to personal Bible reading. I did a demonstration showing the huge number of manuscripts that support the legitimacy of the Bible. ASAPH’s girls’ choir joined with young men from the ASAPH soccer teams to sing a choir song I wrote from passages in Psalm 119. To end the program, ASAPH’s pop-music group (Tropic-Asaph) combined with the girls’ choir to sing a song about the Old and New Testaments.

Because of contributions by ASAPH sponsors, we were able to prepare prizes for those who competed and for those who prepared special parts of the program. Bible-themed key chains, bracelets, and magnets brought joy to many faces before and after the program. We were also able to purchase 48 T-shirts for people who completed all 10 levels of the program. Students who had recited all ten levels at any point in the past ten years were given a free T-shirt (plus it was a good way to promote the program even more!)

As I move around the community in these days following the program, I am enjoying seeing Bible keychains hanging from bookbag zippers, bracelets on wrists, and ASAPH T-shirts on young people.  
We look forward to repeating this important program next year. Each October, ASAPH will plan, organize, and direct a celebration of the Word of God. No book is better. No message is more powerful in the lives of humans.

The B-I-B-L-E. That’s the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!!!



​

They call Summer the hot season. There's "hot", and then there's "tropical hot". Haiti in the summer is "super tropical hot". 

This year, I am enjoying summer in Pennsylvania. After being stuck in Haiti for  a couple of months due to the closing of the main airport, my Spring trip turned into a Summer trip.

I arrived home in PA on July 4th. I have been enjoying time with family. I have been here for 7 weeks now, and I have visited 7 different churches. It's a joy to connect with many of those who support ASAPH Teaching Ministry and share news with them.

Ministry continues while I am away. WEC (Erntz) and his wife (Shelterline) are keeping everything moving this summer. When I do a video call, I hear musicians practicing their instruments in the ASAPH Teaching Center. Long summer days allow for morning lessons and rehearsals. We take advantage of the free time to push students along in their development. Among those teaching music are : Anemson'n, Ritchy, Johanna, and Stanley. 

As Americans head back to school next week (mid-August), Haitian students have just learned that the opening of school across Haiti has been delayed. Due to a late finish last year, the new school year will not begin until October. Sadly, this has happened many times in my years in Haiti. For an educational system that is already behind, an extra month of summer vacation is not what students need. 

Pray for Haitian students. Their continued suffering is one of the harsh realities when gangs are allowed to do as they please.

​

May 1st was Haiti's national Agriculture and Labor Holiday. A few years ago, the ASAPH Brass Band attended a program at a church where the youth prepared a "parade of professions". Kids entered the church one by one dressed up as a series of professions. They stood together and represented the "people that you meet in the street" each day.

We decided to do the same thing for ASAPH's May 1st celebration this year. We met with boys from the AAF Jr. soccer team. We chose a doctor, a bee-keeper, and mason, and so many other professions and jobs. We even selected a lawyer. We met with the girl's choir and invited them to participate as well (a nurse, a beautician, a pre-school teacher, and many others). All of these kids were tasked with borrowing clothing and other items that would make them "look the part". 

On the evening of the program. I was busy in the church with presentations. The "parade of professions" gathered outside at the front door...in full costume. I made my way to that door so that I could help them to hear their cue for entry. When I arrived and looked out over the professions, my heart was touched. Here were wide-eyed kids a bit nervous about entering a packed church. They all looked at me...hardhats, stethoscopes, and all the rest. There was even a boy with goggles and a snorkel looking up at me!  These kids had gone "all out". They WERE their profession. The motorcycle taxi driver even rode his bike into the church. People loved it. The kids played up their parts. The mason checked the wall with his level. The diver carried live fish. The policeman gently corrected some people who were sitting crooked. It was a highlight of the May 1st event!

As a missionary in a foreign culture, you try many things. Some fly. Some sink. You never know what will work. I can't imagine how the "parade of professions" could have been done any better than it was this year...the very first time.  

Enjoy a few images...

News is circulating about a new group of leaders "chosen" to lead the country of Haiti out of the current mess. International groups are proudly shining a light on the work they have done to fix the suffering country.

It doesn't seem promising to those of us here in Haiti. News reports openly admit the team was sworn in during a secret ceremony! How can that be accepted by a population? Why do "the powers that be" think this is a step forward for 9 million people?

My impression is that things will get slightly better for a while...maybe. International forces will appear in late May, apparently. They may well meet resistance, and they will then point to Haitians as being ridiculous and un-helpable.

If you will permit me, I will offer this as an illustration to show what is happening right now with Haiti...
Imagine a soccer team that suffers under very bad coaching for years. The moral and structure of the team is destroyed. The president then fires the coach, and appoints the coach's two sons to chart a brand new course for the team...effectively repeating the same mistakes all over again.

There is a saying in Haitian Creole : Se menm yo menm. It's basically like "the same old thing." Haiti has a "new council" of some kind with a fancy name. It's the same old thing. 

UN dollars will drain into the accounts of the "brave" countries willing to help Haiti this time. Haitians will sit and watch another mission come and go in their land. You can bet that we will be back here again soon. 

​