The mattress project has been eye-opening and humbling, spirit-led and so good. Read more about it here: mattress blog updates. All toll we were able to provide mattresses to about 30 homes and families, and along the way meet even more families that are in need.
Half way through our deliveries, our Haitian friend Wilfrid pulled over on the side of a busy road in Feja, a little village tucked right inside of Mirebalais, next to an old janky cemetery. We shuffled up the little hill with one full sized mattress, ready to quickly plop it down. At this point, we had a drop off routine going. A couple of us would jump out of the tap-tap, the men would grab a mattress and a box, Wilfrid would lead the way, we would lay the mattress next to the house, pray with the family, and move on to the next. But as we approached Claudette Lubin’s house, my breath caught and we all stopped in our tracks.
This “house” was run down, falling apart, and leaning so far right I was terrified that a gust of wind would come by and blow the whole thing over. We walked around to the back of the house and set the mattress down as the father of the house opened the “door.” I had no idea how he was going to fit a mattress through that door without accidentally knocking the whole thing over. We had taken a few kids from GVCM with us, and as Wadna took in the whole scene she exclaimed in the highest pitched, most distressed voice you can imagine, “She is NOT good!” Wadna (a 10 year old girl full of personality) does not have the English vocabulary to describe the state of that house, but honestly neither do I. I don’t think I could have summed it up much better than Wadna did in that moment.
After asking a couple questions, we discovered that eight children and two adults lived in this home. I actually did not meet Claudette Lubin the first time I went to her home because she was up on the mountain with GVCM, praying for the whole morning. Unbeknownst to her, as she was praying for God’s blessing and receiving his favor, we were at her home, giving her mattresses and making a plan to fix her situation. God answers prayers. Over and over again, He has proved faithful.
Our team decided to put another twin sized mattress in the little house and cover it with a tarp. I knew that placing a mattress under a broken roof would not fix the home, but it was all I could think of to do. Thankfully, I was not the only one shocked by the state of this home. After a brief discussion, we decided to put Claudette Lubin’s home in a state of emergency. The process of providing this big family with a reasonable place to rest has begun and we cannot wait for this home and story to be yet another testament to Jesus’ light and God’s faithfulness in Haiti!
Sincerely,
Mia McLaughlin
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