Pastor Gay Brings Message Of Haiti To Fremont

by Kirby Lindsay, posted 22 June 2012

Pastor Judy Gay, of Fremont Baptist Church, joined a group of volunteers from the Evergreen Baptist Association on a mission trip to Haiti in April 2012. Photo provided by Pastor Gay

In April, Pastor Judy Gay, of Fremont Baptist Church, joined “ten people who peripherally knew each other,” through the Evergreen Baptist Association, she reported back. The group flew from Sea-Tac to Cap Haitian, Haiti, to help an area relatively untouched by the catastrophic 2010 earthquake but in desperate need.

They went with aid for the needy, and they returned with an equally important mission. “We were commissioned to bring the story of how the conditions in Haiti predate the earthquake,” Pastor Gay related. The missioner who invited them, and showed them Cap Haitian, “wants the story of Haiti told,” she related, “the poverty, the fear…”

A Request For Help

This map of the country of Haiti shows the capitol of Port-Au-Prince and, in the north, Cap-Haitian which escaped the devastation of the 2010 earthquake - but has its own problems. Provided by Google Maps

Pastor Gay remains driven to serve the congregation of Fremont Baptist, and do what she can to assist the homeless of Fremont – although she has reached retirement age. She still finds fulfillment here, including her work as pastor, when asked, to those who may never worship at Fremont Baptist but, through their regular attendance at one of the many 12-step meetings held in the building, they do consider it their Church.

She chose to take part in the mission trip to Haiti at the invitation of Nzunga Mabudiga and his wife Kihomi Ngwemi. “I probably wouldn’t have gone if I hadn’t had met Nzunga and Kihomi a few years ago,” Pastor Gay admitted. The couple serve as missionaries for the American Baptist International Ministries in Haiti.

A street scene in Cap-Haitian, Haiti, in April 2012. Photo by Keith Madsen

The Evergreen group went down with plans to help build a school and deliver 310 much needed pairs of (used) eyeglasses for distribution through a non-profit eye clinic. They also left behind the clothes, and other items, they brought along, for those who needed them. For in Haiti, Pastor Gay observed, “even among the poor, there are the poorer.”

‘The poverty, the fear…’

“I saw New Orleans,” Pastor Gay said of her impression of Cap Haitian. Its architecture and culture reminded her of the Southern U.S. town only, she said, “no one has taken care of it.”

A community water source, in Cap-Haitian, Haiti, where clean water is a luxury Photo by Keith Madsen, Apr '12

“In my view, Cap Haitian looked worse than Port-Au-Prince,” she related. The earthquake ravaged capital, she explained, had “in general, more infrastructure.” Some money has been spent in Port-Au-Prince to rebuild, but no attention has been given to Cap Haitian in a very long time. “Cap Haitian used to be the jewel of the Caribbean,” Pastor Gay described, “now nobody would go there for an exotic vacation.”

The people live with constant fear and uncertainty. With a 45% literacy rate, Haiti is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Pastor Gay remarked. They cannot depend upon the government to hold together, or accomplish anything. Riots can break out, and yet the police went on strike while the group visited. Citizens do not dare depend upon any public services – electricity, trash disposal, road maintenance, clean water, etc. The complete lack of any kind of infrastructure, she commented, “that was the thing that surprised me the most.”

Aid Delivered/Lessons Received

The 'school' the Evergreen missionaries went to help build, when they arrived in April 2012 in Cap-Haitian, Haiti Photo by Pastor Gay

The group did deliver the eyeglasses, and visited the eye clinic – although it was not open that day. They also went to work at the school site, and discovered that their plans to help paint or nail in floorboards were premature. Instead, they found a barely-laid foundation, surrounded by piles of cinder blocks. “I shoveled ten shovels of gravel,” Pastor Gay joked, and she helped as the volunteers moved cinder blocks nearer their places of installation.

However, their ‘help’ raised a significant, ethical question. “We knew we wanted to be doing something,” Pastor Gay explained, “but we definitely didn’t want to take work away.” The Haitians have their hands out, as she described, but nearly everyone wanted to work to earn money. On a sightseeing excursion, Pastor Gay let a man carry her bags, when she really didn’t need the assistance, but the $5 she paid will make a much bigger impact on his life than its payment did in hers.

The school in Cap-Haitian, Haiti, as it appeared eight days later Photo by Pastor Gay, Apr '12

Several of the group noted the evident pride of the Haitian people. “The kids were spic-and-span, and perfect, when they go to school,” Pastor Gay observed, of the children dressed every day in clean, pressed uniforms. The people take pride in what they have, and what they do, even if they have very little, and they have very little to do.

‘Mama JoJo,’ wife of the General Secretary of the Haitian Baptist Convention, Pastor Mano Eugene, kept the group safely fed – to keep them healthy – during their stay. According to Pastor Gay, Mama JoJo told the group, ‘if there is food today, you eat it today, because you don’t know if it will be there tomorrow.’

The Haitians also don’t know if they will find work tomorrow, or today. The volunteers did move the cinder blocks, and returned the next day to discover that the Haitian construction workers had moved them again, to justify their day’s wage.

The Impression That Lingers

A street market in Cap-Haitian, Haiti Photo by Keith Madsen, Apr '12

“None of the photographs show the humanity,” Pastor Gay emphasized, “yet that is the image that is in my mind.” When she reported back to her congregation at Fremont Baptist in May, she described her first impression of Haiti as one of constant, never ending noise and an incredible density of population. Before the earthquake, Cap Haitian had a population around 250,000. Since then it has exploded to approximately 400,000 – without any additional financial aid or civic planning. As Pastor Gay remarked, the only good road they drove on while in Haiti was the one that led to, and had been built by, the Dominican Republic.

Pastor Judy Gay, using local transport to climb a hill, in Haiti in Apr '12 Photo provided by Pastor Gay

Pastor Gay has returned to Fremont, ready and anxious to fulfill her commission and spread the word about Haiti. To read a day-by-day accounting of the trip, go to the American Baptist Churches action page and scroll down. Or, speak to Pastor Gay next time you see her around Fremont. Remember, she can always be located on Sunday mornings, at 10:30a, as she leads worship service at Fremont Baptist Church. Everyone is welcome!

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