by Carrie Miles
A team from Empower consisting of Pam Frohreich, David Nutter, Kristina Sachs, and Dennis Tarr, along with Doug and Nancy Stevens from The Leadership Connection, have been in Haiti for the last week teaching the New Man, New Woman, New Life seminar. I have been asking for prayers for their several-hours-long drive back to Port-au-Prince from Les Cayes because they would be traveling in the dark. Last night I texted the team how about they were and got the following from David Nutter:
Me: How is everything? Are you back in Port-au-Prince?
David: Yes! Crazy trip – blockages, gun fire, walking through a gauntlet of rocks and glass bottles being thrown by masked hooligans. And we brought a goat back with us?!
All safe and sound!
I was quite concerned when I read the first part, but when I hit the goat, I decided he must be joking. Then this afternoon, an email from Pam:
Pam: ‘Well, we made it back to Port-au-Prince in one piece, but it feels like the Lord’s own miracle. We encountered a mile-long roadblock. We had to leave the cars and walk on rough road shoulder for over a mile, to a restaurant to wait for our cars. It seemed the town wanted enough money from the government to throw a good carnival celebration, and protested the measly amount sent—but we just had a relaxed hour waiting for our pizza. Our translator said they were planning to open the road at 6 pm—and they did! Our two cars (an SUV and 4-seater truck) roared past us and had to double-back. (We saved pizza for them.) So we carried on in the dark at breakneck speeds, multiple hair-raising passings and sudden slowings and stops— many small towns had put dips in their part of the “highway”— but we made it “home” to Pastor Gilbert’s large house and walled compound just about 9:15 pm, where a chicken dinner was quickly cooked up for us. Good thing I had only one piece of the delicious pizza! It was now after 9 pm.
‘We had rushed the morning program to be able to get back to Port au Prince before dark. Driving into P-a-P was also hair-raising. Everywhere people were walking, standing or sitting in small groups along the road. It was a Friday night before Carnival, so there were many young people on motorcycles, zipping around all the time.”
Me to Pam: Gee, David sent me a text about running barricades and gauntlets of young people throwing bottles. I thought he was joking.
Pam: He wasn’t kidding! This small seaside town did not like the allotment of funds for their Carnival celebration for over this weekend, so they took two big trucks, about 1/2 mile apart, and left them parked across the road for about 3 hours. Our leaders, TLC Pastor Doug and Pastor Gilbert, decided we could walk past the barricade and eat supper at a decent restaurant up the road. It was a rough shoulder to walk on, tricky in my flip-flops, but away we went. We had to wait an hour for our pizzas, then, on schedule at 6 pm, they opened up the road. The riot police got in their truck and rode up the road ahead of us. Yes, there were some young men throwing bottles and rocks ahead of us. But they shouted they would stop for us and not harm us, and were true to their word. We arrived home a few minutes after 9 pm, but the drive itself was the most harrowing part.
Me to David: Just got a message from Pam that you encountered a lot of activity on the road home. I am checking up on your goat story, though.
Me to Pam: Did you have a goat with you?
Pam to me: And yes, there was a goat. A parishioner gave the pastor a thank-you gift of a goat. David helped hogtie her and put her into the back of one of his assistant pastor’s truck, along with some of our bags. She was destined to become their dinner. David has farm experience from his youth. Goat is quite tasty, by the way, cooked like pot roast and flavored with onions and sauce, as we had enjoyed it a few days earlier.
What fun! This adventure in the service of the Lord was worth every minute!
The team members are currently all on their way home.