As Hurricane Matthew approached Haiti, the area of Grace Emmanuel School was expected to get up to 85 mph winds and a lot of rain. To say we were worried about the students, staff, and theirs families is an understatement. We knew God had them in His sovereign hands, but the unknown future was nerving.
For some reason beyond our understanding, the expected path of the storm shifted west, giving our area much less wind and rain. After visiting many student and staff homes the day after it passed, it was evident that we were spared. There was no significant damage!
However, about a week later, we learned that the mother of one of our students, who also happens to be the wife of one of our staff members, was in Jeremie when the hurricane swept through and they still hadn’t heard from her. (Jeremie was one of the heaviest hit areas in Southern Haiti.)
My heart sank thinking of the possibility of them not ever hearing from her again.
A couple days later, after what must have been an antagonizing wait, they learned that she was alive! They shared that she was home recovering.
Eager to see if she was ok and to hear her story, I paid her a visit the following week in their home.
During the hurricane, the house she was staying in was destroyed and fell on top of her. She said it was not made of cement, and that if it had been, she could have died. Thankfully, she didn’t suffer from any major injuries. And on top of all that, they went three days without any food.
Her daughter shared that she was scared that her mom had died. When I asked what she did when she saw her mom for the first time, she lit up and said, “I jumped on her!”
We all agreed that “Bondye bon” (God is good).
We praise God that relief teams responded quickly and roads eventually became available for travel so that people like Betchina’s mom were able to return home safely.
Unfortunately, this is not the story for everyone as many lives were lost and essentially everything was destroyed in the southern areas. As relief, recovery, and rebuilding continues, please keep the Haitian people in your prayers.
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