The Climb

About six months ago while hurricane Isaac was ripping through Haiti a baby boy was born in a little house way up at the top of the mountains of Peyi Pouri. In many ways this baby was just like his three older siblings except one thing, he had no hands or feet. The culture he was born into is steeped in superstition and immediately everyone was saying that this baby is from the devil and its God’s judgment coming down because he was conceived in sin. His mother was shocked and horrified and not knowing what to do under pressure from family and neighbors she actually considered taking the life of her precious son. But God’s hand was there in that tiny mountain hut and he had other plans for this dear baby.

Several staff from our mission went there several days later and found the dear mother still in shock and weeping and but willing to at least feed her baby. They prayed with her and blessed her and encouraged her to care for and love her baby just like any other baby. Even though she tried to give us her baby right away we wanted to let her have the experience of caring for him and seeing him grow and develop like a normal baby created by God for his glory. Although I never saw this baby I immediately felt a strong attachment to him and had a strong burden to pray earnestly for both him and his mother.

So for the next 6 months I prayed and prayed for that baby. Every couple weeks when someone from the mission went up the mountain they would stop in and check on things. Just as we hoped, the baby grew by leaps and bounds and mom started bonding with him and caring for him like she does her other three. And she named him Kristof!

I wanted so badly to see Kristof and his family and where he lives but the only way to his home is a strenuous 3 hour climb up the mountain, on foot. For three years I’ve pretty much been sitting here at the kid’s home so I knew I was very out of shape but I was determined I could do it. I could do it for Kristof. So, Sat. morning surrounded by a group of dear friends, Veronika and I started off.  Shea, a strong young man who can run up and down the mountain carried Veronika on his back and everyone else carried their personal supplies in backpacks.

We left early in the morning when it was still dark. Someone drove us to the foot of the mountain and dropped us off. First we crossed a rocky river bed and then suddenly the the ground rose steep in front of us and there we started up and up that rocky mountainside. On and on we trudged everyone bowed slightly forward because of the weights on our backs and so we wouldn’t tip over backwards and roll down the mountain. No one talked. Slowly the atmosphere got lighter and lighter and then in all its glory the sun burst over the rim of mountains and flooded the world with light! It was glorious to look out over the valleys below us and see the dawn rising to create a new day!

Here and there we paused for about 2.5 seconds to catch our breaths and to drink cool water and then it was on and on, up and up over large rocks and loose dirt  willing our weary feet and legs to take one more step and then one more. Sometimes the trail widened and sometimes it was one lane only. Friends, I seriously thought I would never make it. My legs and shoulders ached, my mouth was always dry from breathing deeply, my whole body was screaming to lay down, to drink cold water… to just rest. I pitied everyone else that I was even along as they all steamed ahead but were too kind to leave me. And Shea who could have run circles around everyone stayed always behind or beside me doing his psychological trick of matching his strong, size 12 footsteps with my quivering ones. We stopped once for a nice rest under the spreading arms of a strong, gnarled, old tree. Then on we went again.

When we finally reached the last hill I was sure that any minute my legs would give out and I would die on that mountain side on that beautiful morning surrounded by my daughter and a handful of friends. Inside I was one quivering mass of misery, I was screaming and blubbering and crying but on the outside I was calm and  quiet uttering only small exclamations of distress now and then. We passed several ladies who were harvesting beans, they looked up and stared as we strode by. Then across a small flat area and we reached our destination, exhausted but happy!

We stayed at the home of some kind friends and that first day we just stayed close by. It was a cold day on the mountain so we huddled around in sweaters, ate huge bowls of spaghetti, sat around, talked, slept some, hiked a little to see some ruins from an old fort, pulled teeth out of an old horse skull, and talked some more and watched a little boy chase a pig and talked some more and Veronika kept picking coffee beans and sucking on them until her eyes were bright from the caffeine rush! In the evening we ate large helpings of rice and beans then sat around a fire and talked and sang and drank sweet lemon grass tea. When one of the ladies who had come up from town arrived home the whole family rose to welcome her and relieve her of her burdens, they lifted heavy baskets from the back of her tired donkey and they fell with a dull thud on the dusty ground.

The next morning which was Sun. morning we woke to a gorgeous new morning! After getting dressed we sat around while our coffee beans got roasted with sugar then we took turns pounding them in a large mortar and pestle till it was a fine ground powder. It was then made into a delicious, syrupy sweet coffee and we had coffee and bread for breakfast. We sat dunking and eating while listening to the pitiful screams of several pigs who were getting castrated that morning much to the horror of my daughter who couldn’t stop fussing about the screaming pigs! I felt sorry for them too!

Walking to church was kind of like a nightmare to me as it brought so many flashbacks from the day before but I held together and I totally enjoyed visiting a sweet mountain church. As soon as church was over we headed out to visit my baby, Kristof which was the whole reason I came in the first place! It was hard, the climb. But the trail and the breathtaking views were amazing! In some places the trail got so narrow and tight it was not only one lane but also no wide loads! Once on the edge of a little drop off the trail was the width of one of my shoes because the rest had broken away! That would all have been so cool and fun if it wouldn’t have been for my dumb legs. But it was worth every step for this:

Beautiful, dear, darling Kristof!!

We spent some time there just loving on him and talking to his mom! I saw direct, clear answers to my prayers as I watched him and his mom making good eye contact, smiling and even kissing!! They are obviously bonded to each other!

I pray that this dear lady would come to know Jesus as a very real and close friend who loves and cares for her and her children. And that she would see Kristof  as created by God for his glory and honor!

Pray for Kristof  that God would show us how to best help him and his family. It is very difficult for someone with missing limbs to survive in the primitive and harsh conditions of mountain life where their very survival depends on gardening and farming. We want to follow God’s leading in this situation so that his name will be lifted up and his plan fulfilled in this small boy’s life. Whatever the outcome, I am so thankful that I get the privilege of praying for and loving this dear lady and her special son!

Oh, and by the way- we made it safely down the mountain, slip sliding the whole way on loose gravel, falling into cacti, skinning knees and hands and  bruising legs! And it was worth every step!!