January 2nd 2008, Stacy Dix, Pastor Ed and I left the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania to visit our sister church, Targette, at the annual Haitian conference held at Borel Hait. We departed Pittsburgh International ending up at Miami, and finally touching down at Port Au Prince Haiti. We landed in Haiti to find out luggage had been misplaced during one of the layovers, so after a few hours of watching flights come in and hoping our luggage would magically appear on the conveyor belt, we filled out a slip for our missing baggage. The sun was down by the time we crowded into an old Nissan Pathfinder to make our way from Port Au Prince to our accommodations at the Borel Missions Compound.
The main road consisted of asphalt interspersed with sections of dirt and gravel and gargantuan pot holes. Unlike the United States, where we are told to “yield to pedestrians,” Haiti’s rule of the seems to be more along the lines of, “yield to that which is larger than you, or be run over.” I remember an instance where out of a dust-filled section of road, a young couple both riding on the same pedal bike, bailed off the road out of our way and into the culvert on the side. Our trip to Borel took approximately 3 hours, and upon arriving we ate quick meal and promptly went to sleep.
Haitian Mountains
Dormitory at Borel
Borel Church of God
Our main focus for this trip was to establish contact with our sister church, Targette. Our missions commission at the Indian Head Church of God had received letters from Targette about their church growth, and need for a new building. We had read the letter, written in Haitian Creole, then deciphered and assumed that the new building project would cost approximately 38,000 US dollars.
The Targette church is situated at approximately 2200 feet above sea level. It is accessible by foot traffic only, and is a 1.5 – 2 hour walk from the town of Gilbert.
I would like to note at this time, that Haitian culture is laid back and relaxed – being on time is of secondary importance. The term, “Rat Race,” is about as far from applicable as the east is from the west… That being said, we were 2 hours late getting picked up to make our trek to the Targette church. We rode for an hour or more from Borel, through St Marc, and to Gilbert. Our walk to Targette began in Gilbert, and consequently it began about 15 minutes before sundown. Fortunately, we had a few members with us from Targette to lead the way through the mountains.
Haitian Sunset
It was completely dark about 1/2 hour into our 1.5 hour walk to Targette. The stars and view of the night sky was incredible. We meandered our way over the rocky paths as we climbed up and down the mountains and over the arroyos, and back up again. Steadily gaining elevation throughout. The last gorge before Targette was a steep traverse down, and series of switchbacks to the village.
We arrived at Targette, ate a small meal and went to sleep on the concrete floor of the church. We awoke Sunday morning to worship with our brothers and sisters at Targette.
Jonathan and Zachary
Stacy Dix and Pastor Ed at Targette Church
It was evident the church at Targette is growing and alive. In a 18×38 foot building we had over 110 people worshiping the Lord together.
Worship at Targette
Haitian Mountains from Targette