For the last few weeks we've been trying desperately to find a truck to move them up. Port au Prince is about a 6 hour drive South over 5 mountains. It's only 156 miles but the road is so narrow, dangerous, and not paved super well that it takes 6 hours to get there. Frantzy and I had made bus reservations for us to head to Port au Prince at 7am Sunday morning. At 9pm Saturday night we were still looking for a truck. A lack of trucks wasn't the problem...my skin color & our budget was. Anytime the Haitians see my white skin the price doubles...I'm pretty sure they think I have a money tree in my back yard. We finally found a truck late Saturday night that was what we could afford and they promised us they'd leave Cap Haitian at 3am Tuesday morning and be at the house by 10 to load up and head back.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning. We all got up suuuuuuper early and finished packing and put his family on a bus to Cap Haitian. Frantzy and I stayed back and waited for the truck to arrive. They had left a couple of hours late and so we knew it was going to be a late night. We called and checked on the truck a few times on their way up, one time they informed us the police had stopped them and held them up for awhile but they assured us everything was fine, another time we called they said they had blown a tire but they had it figured out in a few hours. Frantzy and I continued to pray and we felt that heading back to Cap Haitian the same day was still wise.
The truck finally arrived in Port au Prince around 2 and everything was loaded by 2:30.
Frantzy pulled me aside and said we needed to pray over the truck. On the right side they blew one of the dual wheels on the way down and didn't have a spare. We prayed over the truck together and the driver assured us we'd be buying a new tire on the way home. He also informed us that his drivers license (which we found out when we arrived home wasn't even his license that he actually doesn't have a license and when he got stopped by the police one of the other guys in the truck slipped him their license) was taken by the police but that he'd already bartered and they'd be paying the police when we drove back through and getting his license back - this is totally normal in Haiti, by the way. Frantzy and I had to do it just a few weeks ago!
We started heading north! School had just let out and traffic was awful. It took about an hour to get out of Port au Prince.
When we stopped to buy the tire they told us that they didn't have that kind so we kept on going. Dual wheels on one side of the truck and a single on the other! We went through a couple of police check points without any problems, it began sprinkling a little bit but the truck was tarped down so we had nothing to worry about. We made it up and over the 3 biggest and most dangerous mountains without any problems. When we got to the bottom of the 3rd mountain the truck started making a weird noise and ran out of gas. At this time we were only an hour away from home, but it was pitch black and gas was hard to come by a the bottom of a mountain in Haiti! I climbed out of the truck and looked up to see a blue door and the writing "antre byen, soti byen" - "arrive well, leave well". Under that was a cross with a serpent wrapped around it, next to the a fish with feat, a mermaid, a 5 headed snake...our truck had stopped directly in front of a voodoo doctors house. I just chuckled, held onto Frantzy's hand extra tight and began praying, "God show me Your greatness!".
Our driver had started walking and trying to find gas. About an hour later he called and said he was siphoning gas out of someones car (he had permission!) and he'd be back soon. Then it started pouring. We climbed into the cab of the truck and I couldn't help but crack up when we got wetter inside the truck than we would have outside. The roof leaked! Our driver finally showed and put gas in the truck. While all of this was happening F and I thought we heard a tire going flat. The owner of the truck assured is that was just the pressure coming out of the truck and not to be alarmed. Needless to say, he was wrong. Our single tire on the back was totally flat. Frantzy suggested us taking off the dual wheels on the other side and move one over. We only had an hour to go until we were home. The driver then informed us that the inside tire was actually flat and we'd never had dual wheels to begin with. Let's just say by this point it was all I could do to hold Frantzy back from being arrested when we finally got to the police station up the road ;) The driver said we'd drive on it up a mile and a half to the police station and they'd have an air compressor we could use. The police station in sight we heard a terrible ripping noise - the tire had shredded...we didn't have another tire...and we'd be sleeping in the truck tonight until tomorrow when we can buy one.
Now about an hour and a half earlier I had texted home and told my family that we were almost home and my phone was about to die so I'd talk to them the next day. Truth: "we just ran out gas in the middle of no where, I have no idea when we are going to get home. But my phone's almost dead so don't stay up all night worrying!" I wasn't about to do that to my parents. Knowing those two they'd have the embassy out in helicopters searching for me ;) When we arrived at the police station the officer asked who I was with and why in the world I was out this late. Apparently he didn't understand that even though my skin is a different color, I'm totally Haitian. ;) He told us we could sleep on the front porch of the station underneath a lightbulb that was on. Literally the only light on for miles. So I'm sure we were visible from pretty far and people were pretty humored to see 7 haitian guys and me just sitting on the front porch of a police station at 11pm!
My amazing fiance remembered that he knew a pastor in the area and was pretty sure his house was just down the road. He used the rest of the charge on my phone and made some phone calls and 20 minutes later a pastor was taking us to an empty apartment...he set us up with beds and blankets, and roof - that doesn't leak - over our head! As I laid in bed that I night couldn't help but smile. God, You have REALLY shown Your greatness tonight! Of all of the 156 miles between Port and home and You allowed us to break down right in front of an empty apartment with a bed. Nothing could reveal Your love and greatness better than this!
4 hours later we were up looking for a tire! The driver bought a used one with tons of holes in it. He patched it up and it was on the truck a few hours later. Now keep in mind...our local tire shop is a greasy man on the side of the road who has a generator, an air compressor, and a few old tires that he's trying to fix and sell. So the fact that we found a tire to fit our truck in the first place was God showing off more of His greatness!
When the new tire was on we all climbed back in and headed down the mountain. Frantzy hugged me said said, "remember that white box truck that was in front of us last night? the reason we got a flat tire and slept in the town last night was because 3 miles up thieves had set up a road block and that box truck was robbed and all of the people inside were beaten. God saved us from that...isn't He so great!?"
God, You went over and above and showed me Your greatness. Thank you.
How many times do we get so aggravated when things don't go as planned? And who do we usually blame first? God. The last two days was an eye opener to me. We might not always know when things go bad that there are thieves up the road. But I am so thankful that the God we serve knows and He's got everything under control.
Frantzy shared these lyrics to a song they sing in his church with me, "Alleluia anyway, I will not let Satan put me in sadness. Whatever life brings to me I will raise my hands and praise the Lord, Alleluia anyway."
Our driver had started walking and trying to find gas. About an hour later he called and said he was siphoning gas out of someones car (he had permission!) and he'd be back soon. Then it started pouring. We climbed into the cab of the truck and I couldn't help but crack up when we got wetter inside the truck than we would have outside. The roof leaked! Our driver finally showed and put gas in the truck. While all of this was happening F and I thought we heard a tire going flat. The owner of the truck assured is that was just the pressure coming out of the truck and not to be alarmed. Needless to say, he was wrong. Our single tire on the back was totally flat. Frantzy suggested us taking off the dual wheels on the other side and move one over. We only had an hour to go until we were home. The driver then informed us that the inside tire was actually flat and we'd never had dual wheels to begin with. Let's just say by this point it was all I could do to hold Frantzy back from being arrested when we finally got to the police station up the road ;) The driver said we'd drive on it up a mile and a half to the police station and they'd have an air compressor we could use. The police station in sight we heard a terrible ripping noise - the tire had shredded...we didn't have another tire...and we'd be sleeping in the truck tonight until tomorrow when we can buy one.
Now about an hour and a half earlier I had texted home and told my family that we were almost home and my phone was about to die so I'd talk to them the next day. Truth: "we just ran out gas in the middle of no where, I have no idea when we are going to get home. But my phone's almost dead so don't stay up all night worrying!" I wasn't about to do that to my parents. Knowing those two they'd have the embassy out in helicopters searching for me ;) When we arrived at the police station the officer asked who I was with and why in the world I was out this late. Apparently he didn't understand that even though my skin is a different color, I'm totally Haitian. ;) He told us we could sleep on the front porch of the station underneath a lightbulb that was on. Literally the only light on for miles. So I'm sure we were visible from pretty far and people were pretty humored to see 7 haitian guys and me just sitting on the front porch of a police station at 11pm!
My amazing fiance remembered that he knew a pastor in the area and was pretty sure his house was just down the road. He used the rest of the charge on my phone and made some phone calls and 20 minutes later a pastor was taking us to an empty apartment...he set us up with beds and blankets, and roof - that doesn't leak - over our head! As I laid in bed that I night couldn't help but smile. God, You have REALLY shown Your greatness tonight! Of all of the 156 miles between Port and home and You allowed us to break down right in front of an empty apartment with a bed. Nothing could reveal Your love and greatness better than this!
4 hours later we were up looking for a tire! The driver bought a used one with tons of holes in it. He patched it up and it was on the truck a few hours later. Now keep in mind...our local tire shop is a greasy man on the side of the road who has a generator, an air compressor, and a few old tires that he's trying to fix and sell. So the fact that we found a tire to fit our truck in the first place was God showing off more of His greatness!
When the new tire was on we all climbed back in and headed down the mountain. Frantzy hugged me said said, "remember that white box truck that was in front of us last night? the reason we got a flat tire and slept in the town last night was because 3 miles up thieves had set up a road block and that box truck was robbed and all of the people inside were beaten. God saved us from that...isn't He so great!?"
God, You went over and above and showed me Your greatness. Thank you.
How many times do we get so aggravated when things don't go as planned? And who do we usually blame first? God. The last two days was an eye opener to me. We might not always know when things go bad that there are thieves up the road. But I am so thankful that the God we serve knows and He's got everything under control.
Frantzy shared these lyrics to a song they sing in his church with me, "Alleluia anyway, I will not let Satan put me in sadness. Whatever life brings to me I will raise my hands and praise the Lord, Alleluia anyway."
"and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - rom. 8:28
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