Haiti: Part 2/The Airport

I enjoy flying, but I hate roller coasters. There's something about an airplane that I find thrilling and safe. Because it's not heights I'm afraid of, but instability and I find the enclosure, seat belts, and flight attendants comforting when traveling hundreds of miles an hour, miles above the earths surface. But if there is one down fall to flying, it has to be the airports. Airports stress me out, I'm always worried if I have the right stuff in the right sized zip-lock bag. I also get a little nervous about traveling because since I received my passport as a high school junior, I've gained a beard, glasses, earrings, and less hair. So it really wouldn't be out of place if they thought I was someone else, and not Jonathan Scott Dean, SS# _ _ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ .

Our Haiti team was split up, because we were traveling to Miami during spring break so airline tickets were hard to come by to say the least. So Dan, Zach, Bethany, and I flew from Houston and the rest of the team departed from DFW. Apart from driving from Belton, spending the night in my place of birth Humble, and getting woken up by gun shots outside our window (thus the reason why I was only born there and didn't grow up there) and leaving for Miami at 6 in the morning; our team was soon reunited.

We gathered together in the Miami Terminal waiting patiently for our flight to Haiti. As we waited, our nerves built and the anxiety came. Others started to gather around us, who were going to be traveling on the plane with us. We noticed accents, and languages we couldn't recognize. We were scared of what was to come and the experiences that would soon be at hand. An at that very instant when all of these emotions were about to boil over, God sent us reassurance. Reassurance came in the form of a Haitian man whose names has left me, and I can not remember. He was traveling back to see his mother, his last remaining relative after being in the states for school and work for the past ten years. He was interested why a group of 13 American youth would be traveling to a third world country during spring break. so we did what was only natural to do in those sorts of situations; we told him our story. To our amazement, a man who had come from a country who the vast majority of the people practice voodoo, this man that just so happened to cross paths with us, was in fact a believer, and studying to become a pastor. As almost to counter act the nerves that were attacking us, he began to encourage us about our journey. He told us in almost a poetic sense, "Do not be afraid, for the people of Haiti know why you have come. They will be happy and excited to see you, for they know why you have come. Do not be afraid." After we finished our conversation, we prayed for each other. Then we boarded the plane bound for Haiti.

The plane was a typical Southwest plane, with the flight attendants, tv's, bathrooms, and of course seat belts. The flight was only about two hours in length which for the majority of I slept.



But I woke up. An we began our decent to the city of Port au Prince. As I looked out my window I could see the buildings, a sea of grey pressed against a wall of crystal blue ocean. In the midst of the grey were eerie splashes of white and blue tent cities within the city. At the sight of this the airplane grew silent, and the anxiety among the passengers grew as the plane began to land. As we came closer and closer to the runway the buildings, and the images from CNN and Fox News became reality. We landed the plane on a thin barely paved road in a middle of a field, the actual airport was by no means like that of a typical American airport. There was no air conditioning, and we went through customs and baggage claim in a large metal building. Baggage claim consisted of rummaging through piles of luggage around the room, and personally finding and carrying out your luggage on large carts like you would rent from a hotel. No automated luggage carousel.

Once we gathered our gear, we went out into the street to find our ride, Pastor Jean Helix. We exited the airport with our carts pushing through the crowds of Haitian men, young and old, who were trying to offer their help to us for a price. We literally had to push people out of our way and away from our cart because we were afraid they were going either steal our luggage or us. We passed and looked passed beggars and children who pulled on our clothes in hopes of food or coins from our pockets. We moved into the street dodging cars and motorcycles, and walking into puddle of "God-Knows-What". But in reality the "water" puddles that formed on the streets were mostly made up of urine, feces, sewage, and fluid from decomposing bodies. We washed our shoes, pants, and legs when we got to our place of residence to say the least. But then we soon were directed to our means of transportation, "tap-tap" as the locals call it. Which is basically a large flat bed truck with a covering and benches in the back of it for passengers and luggage. It felt like a thousand pounds was lifted off my chest when we found Pastor Jean Helix and were finally on our way to his home.

Haiti: Part 1

I went to Haiti during spring break this year. I haven't really talked about it to anyone, mostly because I've been so busy coming back to campus and trying to work on grades, organizations, and relationships. As a result I haven't really taken time to express the emotional aspects of my journey. An the main reason this has been inspired is because I was interviewed by our campus newspaper, where I had to regurgitate all of the feelings and experiences from the trip. Which made me realize it was really important to write my journey in words for myself, and also for others who maybe interested about the trip and my life.



I didn't decide to go to Haiti just because of the earthquake, I've actually have been patiently waiting for God's call to go. It just so happened that God's call came when the earthquake occurred. The weeks before the trip I had to attend preparation meetings, in addition to spiritual readiness I was doing on my own. But honestly you can never really be prepared for a journey like that traveling to a third world country.

In Haiti we stayed at the pastors house, which even without central air conditioning was nicer than some American houses. We were given tasks for week, I was placed to work on building a school for the kids of Guibert, and others where given the job of building and fortifying rafters in the church. All of these tasks were accomplished and we were able to pass out large camping tents to people in the village that did not have any kind of structure to protect themselves from the elements. This was the basic physical tasks that we did and accomplished while we were there. In addition to bonding and building relationships with the orphans at the boys home.

The journey and the events were literally life changing and in the next months and weeks I'll will hopefully be posting specific stories from my trip. Please be in prayer for our constant battle against the enemy, my personal spiritual wellness, and the kingdom and people of God around the world.

Hide and Seek

First I'd like to apologize if my blogs seem like I'm venting or even depressed and hopless. I feel like sometimes this is were I come to let out all my frustrations and anxiety. Which is true. . .
But anyways.. Lately life has been good for the most part. I've been reading alot of literature which is not usual for me, and I have been eating very healthy which is also weird. Cause typically I'm the guy who always has some sort of soft drink or greasy fast food hamburger in his hand. So things are oddly enough changing for the better.

Most recently I've been reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Miller does a great job of making you think, I really don't like to think personally its just not my style... But I guess "thinking more" goes along with my whole change thing I'm doing. But Miller brings up alot of doubt and questioning yourself. Which for some situations its a great idea. I really need to question myself in certain aspects of my own life, probably more often than I normally do. But that brings me to what I want to talk about now.

It's been circling in my head over and over again. We even talked about it Sunday in College group. But after talking about our relationship with God and man, and how they all go together, and intertwine with each other, Grant asked us to write something that was hindering our relationship with God down on a piece of paper so he and some other could pray over them.
Well this is a longer version of what I wrote,

"I feel as though God and I are playing a game of Hide and Seek. I understand that I am supposed to be constantly pursuing God, and that he is pursuing me aswell. But we're always told that we are never going to be perfect, and we are never going to know anything. So why should we even attempt at it if we are never going to achieve what we are supposed to be striving for. Its asthough God and I take turns hiding and searching for each other. Eventually we have time to sit and rest in one another, discuss things, and enjoy each others presence. But only to start another game again. It seems like a hopeless and exhausting situation to place ones self in. So the question stand.... Why are we supposed to be chasing after a seemingly hopeless cause?"

I apologize again for the negativity, but is this not a very apparent issue? I know my heart, and I know my responsibility as a Christian and how I am supposed to pursue Christ, and I plan on continuing this. But if I'm never going to achieve my goal that I've set out for, then whats the point? Hopefully I'll soon respond with answer and maybe a story of my results. Until then, Live Long and Prosper.

My Story.

I was born in Houston and then swiftly taken to Normangee when I was 4yrs old. So that I could grow up in a small town, and do whatever I wanted without to much competition from other students. Normangee was a nice town, had the largest tractor dealership in the state and was know as the "Deerest Place in Texas". An I ended up graduating with 31 in my class of 2008.

I was blessed with my dysfunctional family of three; Mom, Dad and I. My Mom is a teacher/coach at Normangee and taught me several times growing up. She is the type of woman who all ways wants to be in control of every situation. Even if it has nothing to do with her, I once caught her pilfering through my backpack in the middle of the night, checking to see if I had answered all my math homework correctly. An my Dad is the local A/C man for Normangee, He is the kinda of man who shows his love through working from 7am - 9pm, providing for his family, and spending his down time asleep in his recliner. As for me, I was a skinny awkward kid who was just pretty average, and unathletic. So, growing up in a 1A football town was a little tough, to say the least but I did enjoy it for the most part.

I grew up going to church, Sunday school, youth, etc. I was never the kid who could spit out Psalm 23 on command, or the one who could recite the Roman Road with out pausing for a breathe. But as the years went by, I realized I was the one who had built my very own personal faith, without much influence from my family. I had my own values and beliefs that I had made myself from my experiences and life lessons. God was developing me very quickly in a short amount of time. From the point when I accepted Christ in Junior High and up until now, my life looks like a huge roller coaster full of twists, loops and dives. I personally hate roller coasters, I think I dislike the instability the most. Like my Mom, I enjoy being in control. An that is the thing God challenges me with the most. Being in control.

When I came home from college last summer, I spent the month of May with my parents in Normangee before going off to my internship in Pearland. I don't especially enjoy hanging out in Normangee, I just don't have much in common with the people there anymore. But one night in particular my parents sat me down to have a "serious" conversation. I knew something was up, my Mom looked like the life was sucked out of her, and my grandparents were there as well. As my Mom began to talk, the tears started coming and started becoming more and more confused. But finally the words came, "Jonathan, your adopted." and for a split second everything became so clear.

After learning of my adoption, things have been becoming clear and cloudy. Off and on things get better and worse. Storms come and go, but I know one things is for certain. No matter how unstable, and no matter how much like a dreadful roller coaster my life becomes, that strong personal relationship God established with me will never change. It will never go away, and will never fade. There are things that I still don't know, and things that I will never know. But as for me and my journey, I will always be on the path that God has before me.