Walking Around Balan

Yesterday we left here in the morning to go to Balan for the rice and beans distribution. Jennifer and I, along with our five kids and my mom set out at about 8:30 a.m. Right then I called Jean Claubert and told him to go ahead with the rice and beans and get started, and we would be there shortly.

Well, traffic was pretty bad, and we didn't end up getting to Balan until 11:30. It took us three hours to get there, and as we pulled in to Balan, Jean Claubert pulled out with the big truck. Unfortunately, we missed the rice and beans distribution, which was too bad. I really wanted my mom to see that. So instead, we decided to park at the church, and walk around the village visiting people.

We went from house to house, visiting people, inviting them to church, and handing out vitamins to kids. Actually, Christa, Hannah, and Wilson handed out the vitamins. We offered them the job, and they took right to it, scoping out every house for the kids. They ended up giving the adults vitamins, too. They definitely need them!

In case you don't know what the village of Balan is like, I will attempt to describe it for you. It is the absolute poorest place I have ever been. The people live in little one or two room mud houses. They make a basic structure out of wood, then slather it with mud. They actually even paint the mud on the outside with something to make it look nice. People in the U.S. wash mud off of their vinyl siding. People in Haiti build their house with it. Here's a picture of some people smearing mud on their house.



Some of the houses have thin corrugated steel roofs, and some have thatched roofs. All of them leak water when it rains. Almost all of them have dirt packed floors, which turn into mud in the rains. There are very few concrete structures in the village, our church being one of the few.

The water situation in the village is deplorable. Water is piped into the village from a neighboring village, but it is definitely not clean. That is the water they drink and cook with. Here's a picture of the inside of the village water reservoir. It's not the best picture, but that is the water they drink, note the scum on top.



There is so much need in the village, both physically and spiritually. There is a witch doctor that lives about 150 yards away from the church. Scattered throughout the village are various voodoo symbols, such as crosses planted in the ground with bottles of drink offerings tied to them.

A few weeks ago we were able to go inside the voodoo temple at the witch doctor's house near the church. The syncretism between Catholicism and voodoo are very apparent. Pictures of Mary, Jesus, crosses, various Saints, are hanging in the voodoo temple. I'll post some pics of the inside later. Very disturbing.

In the meantime, I'm glad to announce there were 86 people in church there on Sunday! The bad part is, there are only 7 benches, all of which are falling apart. We are in desperate need of some new benches and chairs. We have resorted to taking our own chairs, and many of the people in the church have begun to bring their own chairs, too. Last Sunday we had to send some people home to get their chairs. I think that is probably not considered "seeker-friendly." It is a good problem to have, but one we hope to solve very soon.


Here's how the church looks now, standing at the entrance. Note the benches in front of the other doors to keep out the goats and sheep during the week...they like to poop in the church!

Why don't you come and see what we are doing here? We would love to have you!