It’s Thursday and, I, John W have volunteered to start the blog for this day. Since Jon will talk all about Tony “the coffee guy” I thought I’d comment on Romy, a young man who lives here in Haiti. Colby and I have talked to Romy, and the other boys more than anyone and it has been a huge eye opener. Learning of the hard struggle in Haiti, and how education, God, and the life inside the orphanage walls showed that these young men live a life truly showing the love and blessings of God. The young men constantly reference a sermon from Sunday saying “The word of God makes me rich.” There is always more to say about these young men but I’m getting tired so Goodnight, we will be home soon and Jon will finish the Blog.
Thanks John!
Today was probably the best day. It was a little cooler than the others. Jeffrey, Melissa, Darya and myself were up this morning to watch the sunrise. We had pancakes this morning for breakfast. It was Colby’s 21st birthday today and we ended up singing Happy Birthday to him twice, once in the morning and again in the evening after Jocelyn and Abby ( sorry it is not Abbey, she corrected me today ) made him a birthday cake.
After breakfast the whole group worked together on getting the 6 almond trees. We had to dig up some hard soil with half broken shovels to mound up the dirt to plant the trees. They were fully planted and watered by lunch. This lunch was my favorite as was some others. We had a spicy cole slaw, Haitian calzones, fries, and chips with pizza dip.
After lunch, I went for a walk with Abby, Jocelyn, and Valeri higher up the mountain while the others stayed back to hang with the kids and relax a little. Our walk was quite interesting. It was about an hour up the mountain. We saw many villages where the Red Cross and other relief agencies had been. The further you went up the less and less civilized it appeared to be. We interacted with most of the people we encountered. A few of them knew some English most of them did not. Most would stare at you like they didn’t know what to think of you until we said something to them in the little Creole we know and they would wave and respond in kind. We came across a cemetery and the lady that lived across the street did not appreciate us being there. At the top there was a group of kids playing soccer with a stuffed sock. On the way back down the mountain we encountered an older guy with a very weathered face and shredded clothes running after us and yelling something. He was very frustrated with us. After awhile following us, he was finally grabbed by a guy carrying a machete and held him back, lol. It sounds worse than it was haha!
After we got back from our walk, we rested a bit and got ready for the weekly Hands and Feet worship service. The younger children came up from the Children’s village for it. This was a really neat experience. Angie led the worship and played the keyboard. Romy played the bass and another of the children played the drums. We gathered on the roof ( second story they are starting construction soon – it’s all concrete construction ) of the building. Our group really enjoyed worshipping with the children. Angie gave the kids a devotion in Luke about Mary sitting at Jesus feet.
After this we had a time our group will not forget. It was the highlight for many of our group. I am going to share a little about it. I will write more about it later but Darya and Melissa journaled quite a bit of what was said and I think I may use their stories a little later when I get a chance. I will try to sum it up. As Little John mentioned earlier, we listened to the testimony of Tony the coffee guy, what an incredible story and a man used by God. He was saved at the age of 39. He was a successful businessman near Toronto. He was a log home builder. He always loved what he did, but after his salvation God gave him a new desire. He sold his business and went to Cuba as a missionary working underground. He supported himself becoming a businessman doing exportation with his plantations. After four years of this he was kicked out of the country. They literally put him on a plane and told him not to come back. He left everything he had built behind.
He found his way to Haiti and owned a gas station. One thing after another he was removed from that by some of the political families. Then he told his story how God opened things up to sell coffee for the mountain people above Grand Goave. He told us there is about 120,000 people in Grand Goave, 110,000 of them are in the mountains, the farther you go up the harder they are to get to. He supports numerous schools and widows by selling the coffee of the mountain for full market value to the states. The one thing in supporting all these schools they had to teach the Bible if he was to support them. Well as he quickly found out voodoo is rampant, it’s everywhere. The stories of God’s grace were amazing. He told us stories of all child sacrifices that take place, the witch doctors that curse people putting them to death, witch doctors that can win lotteries for you, all the demonic possession, but God’s grace saving these people even the witch doctors that are now preaching the gospel. We serve an amazing God. So much more to tell about his testimony.
You can find his website and buy his coffee at
We have greatly enjoyed our week here, we are sad it is our last day here, but look forward to coming home. Pray for us tomorrow as we leave here at about six o’clock to catch our flight in Port-au-Prince. Thank you for your prayers, God Bless!
jpbush 
How awesome. It is amazing what God can do. I’m glad that you are all able to experience it. I hope you will be able to get home. lots of snow on the ground and lots more on the way.