Streets of Port au Prince

Today was a somber experience for Russ and I. We will let the video show you a glimpse of what we saw. For me, I was struck by the Haitian's determination to continue on. This place is a different world of rubble, dust, grime, open sewers, death, decay, and tent cities. Juxtaposed against this nightmarish city, is its people. As I interact with people at Heartline ministries that come from places like the ones you see in the video, they look as though they have just come from a normal house, dressed well, with good hygiene. In other words, because there is nothing for them to do, they spend hours making themselves presentable before they leave their tent, or shack. There is nothing on the outside that you could see that would communicate that when they go "home" after a long day of ministering to people, or being ministered to, that they will go back to a broken cinder block house, or a miserable tent surrounded by thousands of other miserable tents. It was a truly strange and heavy experience. In the midst of all this, is Heartline Ministries. A place that is a refuge in the midst of trouble. Tonight, Russ and I witnessed something amazing at the Heartline Hospital. A young mother who desperately needed an operation finally was able to be seen at the Miami Field Hospital. The only problem was, she also had a newborn who needed to be cared for and nursed. One amazing woman who also had a small infant, who was once a very shy, closed off women, now transformed by the love and care she has received there, became that little boys surrogate mother, and even sacrificed some of her own breast milk to be a wet nurse for this woman while his mommy was being operated on. It was amazing to see this all take place in one day. The love of Christ is powerful, transcending barriers of every kind. It was a great ending to a heavy day.

Blessings,

Roc and Russ

Rooftop tree dodging in Haiti.

This video is from Russ and I's first day in Haiti. In fact, this video was taken within our first hour of being out of the airport. We had a pretty emotionally draining day today, and thought it would be good to post something that was funny. So we had a good time throwing this together. You can get a small glimpse of how our three hour top-of-the-truck-through-Port au Prince was like.

Blessings,
Roc and Russ

Haiti Update

I took this video of my brother at the women's center which is a place they rescue new mothers from complete poverty, teach them how to take care of their new babies, all the while helping them learn a trade.  We interviewed one woman who was dropped off at the center with her baby, placenta, and umbilical cord all wrapped up in a blanket.  The people at Heartline ministries save lives daily.

Haitian Initiation

I thought I had seen a lot of things: Multiple tours in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, but non of those compares with what I have seen and experienced during my first day in Port au Prince. Walking out of the airport "terminal," which is nothing more then a sweltering broken down warehouse with large doors that open to the tarmac, and one to the street beyond. Russ and I were met with hundreds of Haitian men clawing at our bags hoping that we would pay them to carry our bags for us. Thankfully, Joanna and Alex met us immediately, and we quickly jumped into a truck with our gear and threaded our way into traffic. When I say traffic, you must understand that there are no road rules. Trucks and cars are each driving on different lanes in different directions. Horns are blaring, suicidal moped riders fly through small openings in the vehicular spaghetti; it was the most insane thing I have seen in some time. We then arrived at the guest house, unloaded our gear, and immediately headed out with John to pick up a large load of free food from another ministry. Russ and I had the unique opportunity to ride on top of large truck with a rack like cage that ran the length of the roof. I will never forget that ride through Port au Prince. We literally had to keep very alert due to the fact that there were power lines, tree limbs, and many other hazards that overhung the road. We often had to lay down on our backs as makeshift power lines, and debris cruised directly over our heads. When we arrived at the Three Angels Orphanage to pick up the food, I was met with lots of curious, and shy looks from little boys and girls. It was such a gift to see those children's faces light up when Russ and I talked to them, and gave them attention. Those are just a few of the fragments that are running through my mind, which isn't running all that well right now, as I have been up for well over 24 hours without any rest. Thanks for your prayers, and thank you to all who donated items for Heartline. They were very excited to see how much we brought for them.

Blessings,

Rocky

Reflections on Haiti

Confessions Of A Pastor

Confessions Of A Pastor

I have been doing a bunch of reading on “Post Adrenal Crash”.   Pastors are adrenaline addicts.  We work 80 hrs a week, deal with conflict, broken lives, study, dreaming, misconceptions, and our own sin.  Last year I learned a lot about myself.  I went to school full-time, played collegiate baseball, and planted a church while having our third son (we now have 4 boys).  After I finished the school year I went into a deep depression as my adrenal glands said, “ I hate you, and I will produce no more adrenaline.”  It has taken me close to 6 months to recover as I realized something was wrong.  I began to read some of Archibold Hart’s stuff and realized I had become an adrenaline addict.  I goes like this: work all week, preach on Sunday, get home and feel horrible, go mountain biking and go off extreme jumps, or surfing big waves, or self-medicating to get that feeling to go away. 

I have since learned to welcome the crash.  It’s not God moving away from me, it’s my body that God designed saying you need to sleep.  So I took the advice.  One day I got home after preaching on Sunday, and I went to sleep, and stayed asleep until Tuesday morning.  I have never felt better.  Sabbath is meant for man, not man for the Sabbath.  God has blessed us with bodies that speak to us.  We need to listen.  Pastors need to realize they are fragile people like everyone else. Pastors experience burnout more than any other “profession”.  Pastor’s who are to be working in the power of the Lord often violate rest because they don’t believe it’s God’s work.  Temporary atheism.