Visiting A Sister Church In Haiti

(Editor's Note:  Bob Scott, Journal and Courier religion reporter, was part of a mission trip to Haiti from March 13-20. He was part of a St. Mary Cathedral group that visited their sister church, St. Joseph, in the northern mountain town of Pendus. Here is a personal account of the experience.)

Our pastor, the Rev. Bob Klemme, asked the 14-member St. Mary Cathedral group to observe the presence of God during our eight-day mission trip to Haiti — the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Our purpose was to continue the fellowship and brotherhood established with our sister church 12 months ago. We were the third St. Mary’s group to visit Pendus. Because we had two doctors with us, the focus was to help at a clinic.

God’s awesome presence was obvious on the second day when we visited Port-au-Prince, a teeming cauldron of 2 million people struggling to survive.

In Port-au-Prince, God was working through the Missionaries of Charity nuns — the order founded by the late Mother Teresa. As we entered the hospital/hospice filled with 127 sick and dying children, many of us had tears in our eyes.

Frail babies and toddlers reached up from the white metal cribs, imploring us to hold them, if even for a few minutes.

We were humbled as the gentle nuns quietly did their jobs without complaining. Karen Sullivan, a member of our group from St. Lawrence Church, said, “This place truly is on holy ground.”

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