An Advent Call of Mission Within a Mission

Sr. Inga and Sr. Marilyn bring much-needed aid and supplies to Haiti’s communities.
Written by: Sister Marilyn Minter and Sister Inga Borko

“While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: This is the way; walk in it, when you would turn to the right or to the left…” (Isaiah 30:21)

As all of you know, the situation in Haiti is still very violent, especially in Port au Prince. Roads are blocked, gang violence has increased, families have dispersed to the hill country, and many are still dying from hunger and lack of medical care. We read recently in the New York Times that there was a massacre in Cité Soleil, a section of Port au Prince. About 200 people were killed by a gang whose leader judged that they were voodoo believers responsible for the death of his son.

Jacmel still remains relatively peaceful, but there is no way at this time to get there since all airports continue to be closed, and major roads are blocked. We kept discerning what is ours to do in all this, and then we hear, “This is the way; walk in it…” (Isaiah 30:21)

We have a connection with the Carmelite Sisters in Santo Domingo. We were introduced to them through a Mercedarian Sister we knew from Jacmel a few years ago. At that time, we needed to purchase medications from the Dominican Republic since Port au Prince was captured by gangs and roads were blocked. Last April, we went to visit the sisters to send supplies and medications to Felician Mission: Haiti. This time we “heard the voice sound in our ears: This is the way; walk in it…” Our people need to know we are in solidarity with them, accompanying them, and our presence shall prove it. We asked for permission to go to Santo Domingo the first week of December to purchase food, hardware materials, medications, and personal hygiene products. We also asked to cross the Dominican border to go to Anse-à-Pitres, Haiti. Permission was granted, and we began our journey on December 2. We arrived safely in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. We were picked up by a friend we knew from Haiti. We were struck by the heat, which was very different from Miami.

The Lord led the way in every circumstance. On Tuesday, December 3, we were ready to begin looking for where we wanted to go to purchase hardware, household, and personal products. God led the way by one of the Carmelite Sisters, who is the director of the school. She offered her English teacher to accompany us, to translate when necessary, and to take us to the best places to get what we needed. We spent the whole day visiting markets and stores. In the meantime, we placed our order for medications needed for the Mother Angela Mobile Clinic, requested the money to be wired, and waited for that transaction to take place. It was a full day. You may wonder how did we get to those places? Thanks be to God for Uber! When we finally returned to the convent with many bags and boxes, the sisters welcomed and fed us.

On Wednesday, December 4, we still had some other important items to purchase for the Felician Mission: Haiti. Sister Inga had a great idea to ask the director of the school if she knew someone who would be available to drive us to these places. Again, God provided an angel to assist us. Angelica was another English teacher in the school, and she was willing to use her car to take us where we needed to go. We needed to buy food products and a drain-cleaning machine for our septic tanks. Can you imagine us explaining this in Spanish using a phone translator?
After two trips back and forth to the food store, we then made our way to a large hardware store. After finding many smaller items we needed, we searched for the drain-cleaning machine. Seeing what was there, we had no idea what we should buy. Thanks be to God for our friend Eric Moyer, who assists us in these matters all the time and who was available for FaceTime. We showed him the machines, and he told us which one would be good.

Now it was time to pack boxes, seal them, and mark them for our journey to the border to deliver everything. The medications we had purchased arrived as we were packing. We had many boxes to label. More angels arrived to help us pack up the 20-seat van to be ready for the journey the next morning at 7 a.m.

Thursday, December 5, the day we had waited for and dreamed about had finally arrived. Sister Nuirka, who has been a major contact these past few years, traveled three hours to be in Santo Domingo at 6 a.m. to accompany us to the border with their driver, Arcadio. The road at first was filled with views of the blue Caribbean Sea. Then the luscious green mountains led us to the border. Before we crossed over, we stopped in a parish where we learned that the van had to be repacked in a different pickup truck. The van we had did not have legal permission to cross the border into Haiti. Another Carmelite Sister arrived from Haiti and took us and half of the boxes to their home in Anse-à-Pitres. After they emptied the truck, she returned with their driver to get the rest of the boxes. This journey took us eight hours.

Finally, the moment came when Jean Philippe, Fritz, and Dr. Valcin from our Haiti Mission arrived after eleven hours of travel. It was a joyful reunion with the Felician Mission: Haiti family. The Carmelite hospitality was at its best, as we all were welcomed and fed a delicious meal. Believe it or not, everything fit in the mobile clinic. After visiting and sharing stories, we pinched each other to confirm it had really happened.

The Carmelites wanted to share with us their work with the Haitian people. They have a medical clinic with medical doctors and a full-time dentist, and they are in the process of expanding it. Something that really touched us was the sisters’ response to the needs of the times before them. Together with the Dominican Catholic Church, they built houses for Haitian families who were deported from the Dominican Republic and found themselves back in Haiti with nothing. We visited this site and listened to their stories.

The New York Times had an article titled “Desperate Haitians who fled to the Dominican Republic are being sent back in cages.” We personally heard these experiences from the people we met this day. They are proud of the houses that had been built by the Catholic Church and were happy to show them to us. There is no electricity and no running water. Most are women and children. In our hearts, we saw ourselves there: accompanying and empowering the people; teaching them to sew and bake bread; helping them earn a livelihood; and creating a community in which one cares for each other.

The next day, after early Mass we left to return to Santo Domingo, and our people began the trip back to Jacmel. They arrived thirteen hours later at Felician Mission: Haiti in Jacmel. “It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk.” (Isaiah 35:9)

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Serving where needed since 1874

Founded in Poland in 1855, the Felician Sisters are a congregation of women religious inspired by the spiritual ideals of their foundress, Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, and Saints Francis of Assisi, Clare of Assisi and Felix of Cantalice. Arriving in North America in 1874 following Blessed Mary Angela’s directive “to serve where needed,” they helped to weave the social service system. Today, the Felician Sisters founded, sponsor or support through the presence of our sisters, more than 40 ministries – all continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the people they serve.

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