Category: Life

Posted in Life, Ministry

Haiti (part 2): opening the clinic

Posted on by William Douthwaite
My wife, Lisa, with our friend Lophant

I forgot to mention in my last post that one of the people were glad to see at the airport in Port-au-Prince was our friend Lophant, who runs a children’s feeding program at numerous sites in Haiti. My wife, Lisa, met him on her first trip to Haiti last March, and our church has been receiving and wiring financial donations to Lophant to keep that program (and the kids) alive. Our visit was short, but we did leave him with a duffle bag full of clothes and other things for his family.

Back to our story. Having arrived at the hotel in Gonaives Monday afternoon, we hung out a little, had supper at the restaurant, did some devotions, and headed off to bed. The restaurant fare was limited: beef, goat, or chicken that first night, all of which was cooked very well. Every meal came with friend potatoes, fried plantain, a big plate of rice and some kind of beans, and a big bowl of sauce, which was actually pretty good. We drank a lot of beer while we were there, mostly Prestige, a surprisingly good Haitian brew.

On Tuesday morning (Oct 19), we were up early for breakfast, where the choice was either an omelet or spaghetti. Most of our Haitian friends eat their breakfast spaghetti with ketchup. We opted for omelets most of the time, and usually had avocados and bananas them.

Anxious to get started, we assembled at 8:30 to wait for our rides to arrive. At 9:30 we were still waiting for our rides to arrive. Thus we had our first lesson in “Haiti time.” Most things happened on a very relaxed schedule, so that took a bit of getting used to. Finally about 10 our rides arrived.

First stop: the guest house, where some medications had been stored. It turns out the guest house was under some major renovations, so we would be at the hotel for our entire time in Gonaives. The medical folks sorted through many boxes and totes full of medications, and packed up everything we thought we could use. Then we sat down and waited for our rides to return.

The clinic

We finally got to the site of the clinic somewhere around 11:15, and unloaded our supplies. The “clinic” was a 40 foot shipping container that had been compartmentalized into three exam rooms and a pharmacy room. A generator supplied enough power for lights and fan, but no AC. The container was on a concrete slab next to an open air Lutheran Church built into the hillside. All set up, we saw the first patients about 11:45. The team worked till 6 pm, seeing 86 patients that first day.

Consider this process the next time you have to wait for the doctor. When someone arrived, they went into a thatched hut, received a number and waited. When their number was called they went into the church, signed in, and took a seat to wait. Next, they were seen by triage, and had vitals taken, and sent to another area to wait. When it was their turn, they were sent to a tent outside the container to wait to see the doctor or NP. After they saw the provider, they waited in the tent for medication. I think it took some people 4-5 hours to get all the way through the line. But I heard little complaint. They were very patient.

Feeling sorry for the waiters, I though, “Hey, I can be helpful.” I gave some blow up beach balls to some off the kids so they could play while waiting. The balls disappeared, but the kids returned with friends, looking for more balls. From that moment on, there was always a kid calling to me, “You!” and motioning his desire for a ball or bubbles or a toothbrush or whatever someone would give them. I wasn’t nearly as helpful as I thought I would be.

My role was chaplain for the group, as well as being available to talk to and pray with some of  the people who came to the clinic. I did very little of the latter and not a whole lot of the former. I was more of a gopher, usher and utility infielder during the week. I did get to help our pharmacist Jesse through one brief emotional moment. And I did a lot of watching, hoping to get some insight into what it was like to live here.

Posted in Life, Ministry

Haiti (part 1)

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Writing about my recent trip to Haiti will take multiple posts, so I guess I better get started. The problem is, it’s hard to know where to start. Someone advised me to come up with a short answer to the question, “So how was your trip?” My short answer is “grueling.”

I really can’t complain. Since the guest house where we were supposed to stay was being renovated, we had rooms at the Haberson Paradis Hotel in Gonaives, Haiti. So we had beds, shower, and meals. Not five star, but better than sleeping on the floor, in mosquito nets, in the heat.

Our medical mission team rendezvous-ed at a hotel right next to the Miami airport on Sunday, October 17. First time I’ve missed church in a long, long time. Our team consisted of myself (an LCMS pastor), Jacob (the team leader from Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod World Relief), Nancy (an MD), Nancy (a Physical Therapist), my wife Lisa (a nurse practitioner), Barb (an EMT/Paramedic), Barb’s son Quinton (a 16-year-old EMT in training), Gail (an RN), and Jesse (the pharmacist). Our mission was to staff a clinic in Poto, a rural area not far from Gonaives, stocking and equipping it to continue to serve the people of that area.

We met each other and shared some info about ourselves. Some had been to Haiti before, in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. Our doctor had been to Peru and Lebanon on a similar mission. And some, like myself, were rookies. I would be serving as chaplain for the group as well as ministering to those coming to the clinic for care. Our discussion the first night revolved around what medications we brought, what we would need, and what kind of pizza to order for supper. We’d be up early the next morning for our flight to Port-au-Prince the next day, so we didn’t stay up too late.

When we met in the lobby the next morning, we realized that we had way too many bags to fit on the hotel shuttle. Each person had two bags to check, plus at least one carry-on each! But we squeezed everything onto one shuttle, and took off for the airport. Checking our bags and getting through security turned out to be pretty easy, so we were at our gate with over an hour to wait before out flight. Most of us set out in search of some breakfast and decent coffee. (The coffee in the hotel rooms was pitifully weak.)

After a somewhat turbulent flight to Port-au-Prince, we then had to get our bags out of the airport to the place where our rides were waiting for us. Like it or not, a swarm of porters was there to “help” us with our luggage. Swatting them away like pesky flies was marginally effective; we had to tip some of them. Finally we got loaded up in a pickup and two SUVs, and we set out for Gonaives.

Driving in Haiti is a little different than driving in the US. You mostly use horn and gas, only braking for holes in the road. The drive to Gonaives took about three hours and countless bumps in the road. Some of the scenery was gorgeous. Some was heart-breaking as we got our first glimpse of endless tent-cities in Port-au-Prince and a taste of what poor really looks like.

Posted in Life, Ministry

From grow to go

Posted on by William Douthwaite
I get the feeling that the church has turned an amazing corner. All I heard about twenty years ago or so was how important it was for the church to grow. Most of our conversations at meetings and conversations were about how to make that happen.

Now it seems that we’re not so much concerned about how we grow, but where we go. Size isn’t as important as our presence in homes, community and in places where ministry is needed. The number of new ministries outside our walls rather than the number of new members is what we listen for in meetings and conference. Our energies are focused more into mission trips, shelters and food pantries, and community organizations than attracting people to our particular congregation.

As I think about that, I can’t help but wonder when we turned that corner. And what factors led up to that? Was it the economic crises of 2008? Was it a proliferation of natural disasters around the world that forced us to look outward? Was it fighting a war on the other side of the planet? A combination of these things?

If I had known our focus was changing, I think I would have spoken more against the new sanctuary we built in 2004-2005. We were growing at the time and felt like this was something we needed to do and do well. Just a few years later, handicapped by a much bigger mortgage than we had before, we couldn’t go quite as freely as we wished. Yes, we’ve been blessed by our facility. But how many others could have been blessed had we scaled back or stayed where we were?

Life is so much different now than it was five years ago. From the economy to social media to the administration in Washington, few could have predicted what the world would be like in 2010. Five years from now, we’ll probably say the same thing.

Posted in Grace, Life, Ministry

I was just thinking about you

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Last night I had a free half-hour before my small group met, so I got to make a few phone calls to see how some folks were doing. During the first call, the person said, “I was just thinking about you. In fact, I was going to call you tomorrow.” I’ve found that to be the case too many times to be a coincidence. Somehow God brings to mind just the right person at the right time.

Anyway, they were going to call me with the idea to have our congregation write our own Advent devotional booklet this fall. Not necessarily a new idea, but a new idea for us. It’s a project I’ve sometimes dreamt about, but never implemented. You don’t know how nice it is to hear someone say, “I’d like to organize it.” All I need to do is give her a list of twenty-seven Bible verses, organized around an Advent theme, and she’ll do the rest: enlist writers, gather devotions, and get the collection to our office for duplication and distribution. Pretty cool.

Of course, that means I have to start thinking about Advent, which begins November 28 this year. I’ve found that advance planning sometimes makes you feel like a time of year is already upon you when it really isn’t. Kind of like a time warp. I have to remind myself it’s only September. Whew. But not too early to plan for the busy month of December.

So if you’re a Shepherd of the Coast reader, you read it here first. You’ll have a chance to share a little of your Advent and Christmas thoughts to help others zero in on that time of the church year. Last year we introduced Advent Conspiracy, and challenged ourselves to worship fully, spend less, give more and love fully, all gifts from God. I think we’ll take that to the next level in some way so that Christmas can continue to change the world.

Posted in Grace, Life

Back to class

Posted on by William Douthwaite

This morning I was reading John 16, and towards the end of the chapter, Jesus’ disciples basically say to him, “Now we understand what you’re talking about. We believe. We trust you.” Jesus replies (my paraphrase), “Oh yeah? We haven’t even gotten to the hard part yet, when you all run away and leave me alone.” In other words, we haven’t even gotten to the main event, the cross and all that would mean. Jesus was teaching them about His departure and the arrival of the Spirit because they would need it later. “In this world, you will have tribulation,” Jesus said, “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

What I’ve noticed is just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, just when you think you might be able to do this, to be faithful, to follow Christ, something happens and you need to learn to trust him all over again. Illness happens, financial uncertainty happens, conflict happens, disaster happens, and just about anything you can think of. What we learn is good for about a day. Tomorrow there will be another lesson. I once heard someone say that life is like algebra class: there’s always another problem.
Posted in Life, Ministry

Haiti in October

Posted on by William Douthwaite
I am heading down to the health department today to get a few immunizations in preparation for our trip to Haiti in October. Lisa and I (along with Gail, an RN friend) are going to be part of a medical mission team sponsored by LCMS World Relief and Human Care. We’ll be in Poto, a rural community much affected by the earthquake and storms, but far away from where most relief efforts have taken place so far. I get to be a chaplain for the team, as well as providing care and counsel for some of the patients. I am looking forward to seeing firsthand some of the affected people and places I’ve only seen and heard about in the news.

Other than smallpox, polio, and tetanus, I haven’t had many immunizations. I’m old enough to be of the generation that actually had all the diseases we now immunize against. I had measles, chickenpox, rubella, and mumps. I think I had most of them in the first grade. I also broke my ankle that year. It was a rough year, but I survived.

My international travel experience includes three days in Freeport in the Bahamas and one night in Vancouver, British Columbia. Time to expand my horizons a little. While we’re there we hope to see some of the people Lisa met last March when she accompanied a team to Port-au-Prince. Our connections to them via Facebook and email makes the world seem very, very small.

Posted in Life

Keeping in touch

Posted on by William Douthwaite
With more and more ways to communicate available to us, in some ways it’s harder that ever to keep in touch with people. Some of it is generational, I’m sure. To effective shepherd a congregation, it seems like you have to master many modes of communication.

Telephone. Ah, yes, old school. But for some members, that’s the best way to get in touch with them. Some do not even have any kind of voice mail, so it’s hit or miss, and you need to be persistent to catch them at home. If your a grandparent, you’re a fan of the phone, although some younger families prefer it, too.

Email. If you’re a parent, you do a lot of this and you’ve been doing it for a long time. Fortunately, most email clients effectively filter out spam, so it’s a lot more productive than it used to be. Plus, you can check it at work, home, or on your smart phone.

Social media. Lots of adults use Facebook updates, messages, and chats as their main form of communication. Some forget that status updates are public, so you’re sometimes updating the entire world about some personal issues. But it’s cool to see all the pics of what you and your family are doing.

Text. In high school or below? You text and you text a lot.

Mail. By mail, I mean a letter in an envelope with a stamp delivered to a person’s home. If all else fails, I will mail a letter.

In order to reach the entire congregation with information, I use all of the above. There is no one method that will reach more than half of the people. The trick is knowing who likes to use what. Once you discover that, you’re golden.

What methods of communication have you found effective?

Posted in Life

Sophomore year

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today was the beginning of a new school year here in Flagler County, Florida. My youngest is a Sophomore this year, kind of an in-between year of high school. No freshman jitters, yet no Junior or Senior excitement yet, either. The challenges will be geometry (one of my all-time favorite subjects), honors biology (mom, you get to help with homework in that subject), and world history (there is a lot more history to learn than when I was in high school!)

I am stretching my brain, trying to remember my Sophomore year in high school (1972-1973). We had a three-year high school, so it was my first year at the senior high. I remember walking to school each day, about 1-1/2 miles (no buses for us). I had Algebra 2 with Mrs. Miller, who’s favorite phrase was “that’s good mathematics” when an elegant solution was presented. I had chemistry with Mr. Yoder (wow, pulled his name out of a hat). Somehow I got put in the advanced half of the class, which meant we were left alone in a lab to conduct unauthorized experiments which often resulted in unknown, noxious gases which forced a hurried evacuation from the room. Let’s see, Mrs. Cavanaugh taught English, probably one of the most attractive teachers we had all throughout high school. I had health the first half of the year with Mr. Schnellenbach, the wrestling coach, who taught us more about wrestling than anything about health. Und second year German with Mr. Maiwold, who made our lives miserable until winter break, when he died, and was replaced with Mrs. Carpenter, who was just slightly worse. We had Phys Ed — every year back then — and had to take showers before heading to our next class. And band, which was always fun. Back then we marched to “Get it On,” the Olympic Fanfare, “Parade of the Chariots” from Ben Hur, and jammed to “Jingo” in the stands.

I guess my memory hasn’t totally let me down yet. Things we didn’t have: smart phones, Internet, texting, AIDS, airport security, hand-held calculators, digital cameras, bike helmets, microwave ovens, cable or satellite TV and DVRs. We did have Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, curable STDs, classic rock before it was “classic”, pot, great high school football and $.29 McDonald’s hamburgers. It wasn’t such a bad year.

Posted in Life

Another step into the grown-up world

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Over the past few days, my youngest daughter who just turned fifteen has taken a couple of giant steps into the grown-up world. She got her learner’s permit to drive and she opened some bank accounts. Suddenly, she’s driving me around. Money isn’t going out as fast as it comes in, but is being saved and budgeted. Real world stuff.

I think I was younger when I opened my first bank account, a passbook savings account. One where the teller wrote in what you were depositing or withdrawing in a little book. A far cry from the online banking world we’re in now where you don’t ever actually see your cash.

I learned how to drive in driver’s education class in high school. I remember cruising along in a car with a second brake pedal on the passenger side which the instructor seemed to use quite often, and two classmates in the back seat either heckling or praying.

Even though we’ve passed these milestones with our two older children, it’s no less exciting or rewarding to share these moments.