It was a bit of a somber drive back to the airport, passing through the streets of Port au Prince again. We viewed it differently a second time through, faces that we almost recognized, poverty that was closer to home now. All of us were thanking God for keeping us safe through a week of driving in Haiti. After going the wrong way round a round-a-bout, we were more than ready to arrive at the airport.
The Port au Prince airport. Craziest airport ever. We thought it was crazy coming in.....its more crazy flying out. I'm convinced it is the most secure airport in the world. I'll just walk you through out time there. We arrive and immediately go through security. We send all our bags, even our massive expandable 400lbs suitcases through a scanner, and then we go through the metal detectors. From there we have our bags weighed, a few of our team scored 50.0lbs right on the weight limit. Then we waited in line for our tickets. Before we got our tickets however, we went through security checkpoint 2. All of the luggage that we were checking had to be opened and searched. Why were their 12 machetes in the guys bag? What is this strange thing called a diffuser? Thankfully the staff had a sense of humour. Once we had our tickets we went though customs and had our passports stamped. I wish every country would stamp your passport. What is the fun of having a passport if it doesn't even record where you've been. So thank you Haiti for being the first country other than the US of A to actually stamp my passport. Did we get to our gate after that? Oh no, not yet, security round 3.....put your carry on luggage through the scanner again, walk through a metal detector aaaaaand pat down. We sat at our gate for probably only 30-40 minutes before we were called to board. But between our gate and the one flight of stairs that leads to our plane, there is clearly a huge risks of us amassing illegal drugs and lethal weapons because we must go through security checkpoint #4. Open up your carry-on luggage, let us search through it again, and then just for safe measure they put you through another pat down. Feeling very safe, and very violated we boarded our plane.
After landing in JFK we all enjoyed some fast food and a quick lay-over before hopping on our short flight to Toronto.
Our parents worried that we would be sick, exhausted and unable to bounce back to school on Monday, but it was just the opposite. The trip left us energized and encouraged. Although it is always tough to resume life after an experience like this, we have to remember the power of prayer, and the continuing work God is doing. Haiti reminded me of my passion for missions. It reminded me that knowing French is actually useful, and that translating is very satisfying. I will definitely be exploring my options for future mission trips, whether that be short term or longer term endeavors. Also I think one of the most significant things that Haiti has done for our team is to reshuffle our priorities and broaden our perspective. The way we view our country, the fairly trustworthy government and stability. The fact that we have a waste disposal system. The fact that we do not often experience natural disasters. The fact that we have accessible health care and clean drinking water. The fact that we have food. It has also made me look at church a little differently, and appreciate the fact that all over the world God's people are shouting out praises to him. It has also made me see that in a lot of Western churches we're missing out on the Spirit. Going to Haiti obviously made us realize how much we have to be thankful for, but also how much about our world, and our lives that there is to learn.
Thanks for tuning in.
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