Last week I shared about a portion of my trip to Haiti in July of 2020. Despite the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, I was able to spend time with Pastor Poyis and learn more about Haitian culture.

Sunday, July 12, 2020

We continued our drive through Canaan and onward North just on the edge of the ocean north of Port-au-Prince. It was pretty and reminded me a little of the south side of the island of Maui where it is a little dryer inland and more lush toward the ocean.

We traveled about 10 miles until we got to this small town. Poyis parked the bus and we got out and walked down a little train off the road about 30 yards until we met a very nice lady holding her 4 month old baby. It was funny to watch Poyis as he played with the baby and tried to make the little boy laugh. This lady was the wife of the man who was leading the painting team from the church. He finally showed up as well as the other guys that were going to go with us. Poyis introduced me to them and then explained that the reason these men wanted to help was because of how much they had appreciated Poyis speaking at the conference and had a heart for the Children’s Homes. I loved seeing this! The church locally in action taking care of the needs of another church!

While we waited for all of the men to show up, Poyis took me about another 50 yard down a path to what he described as a market by a spring. There, right, in the middle of this village was a Natural Spring. It was about as big as a small swimming pool and on one end you could see where the water was flowing out of the ground into the pool and on the other end the pool led into a stream. The water was crystal clear. I have never seen anything like it. It looked so pure. On the end where the water was flowing out, they had blocked it off so you could only get water out in buckets for drinking or cooking. People were coming from all around to do this. On the other end of the pool there were older kids swimming. Only two or three. It was hot and so I asked Poyis if he wanted to jump in. He gave me a funny look and a big smile and said “let’s jump in!” We didn’t, though.

Wiley Kennedy serves as Director of International Ministries with Connect 2 Ministries. To learn more about Wiley, visit Who We Are, and to learn how you can make a difference, visit Join the Impact.