I've Got Your Back

BY MARK

Credit: AFP/Robert Sullivan

It was an early Monday morning and also the last day of August as we prepared for our trip to St Ard from Port au Prince for a day of work at the clinic.  As we were getting ready to walk to our vehicle, the phone rang.  A friend of ours from the Arcahaie area said “I know you were coming out here this morning, but stay put.  The road is blocked.”  About 10 minutes later, our landlord in Port au Prince, who is involved in business all over the island, called and said  “I know you often go to Arcahaie and I heard the road is blocked.”  So before even 7:00a, we had two people call us to tell us to be careful!  After a series of phone calls, some discussion and prayer, Kathy and I decided to make a run for the clinic.  En route to the clinic we received yet another call to let us know that the road was open for now.  We arrived at the clinic uneventfully, about an hour and a half later than normal but thankful that all was ok.  

In the midst of our clinic day, our pastor and friend interjected in our meeting that the rumor on the street was that the road was to be blocked again in about 30 minutes so we needed to either leave soon or maybe in a few hours.  Kathy had a student in the late afternoon in Port au Prince, so we thought a quick departure would allow that to still happen.  We gathered our things, jumped in our vehicle and drove to the main road.  It was too late!!  The road was blocked with vehicles, people marching, police with big "weapons of mass destruction” and riot gear, and the side of the road lined with onlookers.  Our friends near the road told us continuously to go back to the hospital, which after a few minutes, we did.  We unpacked again, settling in for an undetermined amount of time back at the hospital.  

After another 30 minutes or so, one of the employees of the hospital, came to us and said that after some discussion with a few of the staff, they believed we could take some back roads, bypass the bulk of the protests and make it back to Port au Prince.  After some more discussion and prayer, we decided to make a run for Port au Prince.  With one of our employees in our backseat to serve as our “GPS”, we headed down the road.  Soon the road was impassable due to vehicles and human blockades, and we were told to cut in front of some big trucks and turn into what looked like a gravel driveway.  At that time, we heard a knock on our window, and out of nowhere, another friend of ours jumped into our vehicle to help us get to our destination.  We cut through a “barely there” gravel road for a few miles, passed some 19^th century sugar cane factory ruins that had been built by the French, and intersected another road that had been partially blocked by the protest.  We drove over the rocks and rubbish in the road and continued on a better road until eventually we surfaced onto the main road, past the road blocks.  We hurried back to our place in Port au Prince in time for Kathy to have her appointment in Port au Prince, but one more time, we received a call to make sure that we had arrived unscathed. 

It was truly an interesting day but I don’t know if we could ever feel more loved and protected than we did today.  At every turn someone was there helping us, guiding us, and keeping us from harm.  Often it seems that God pulls Kathy and I out of our comfort zone, but many times that is when we see Him most clearly as if he says “Hey, I am here!! I’ve got your back!”  Don’t be afraid to step out for Him.  You may even get to see some new places and have a cool adventure!