LOXLEY, Ala. — For First Baptist Church of Loxley’s Pastor Bo Rice and the team of 16 who went with him, the desire to give back to the people of Haiti was strong enough to ride for two and a half hours in the back of two “tap-taps” (Haitian slang for truck) with seven other people plus luggage and supplies over a rough, pothole-filled road up rugged, mountainous terrain.

Leaving on Saturday, July 10 and arriving in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city, Rice and his team of men, women and teenagers traveled to Calabas, a village in the mountains of Haiti, to help rebuild and restore not only houses but lives as well.

After recovering from their trek up the mountain, Rice and his team had a chance to worship with a local Evangelical church, where he was asked to preach and, of course, he welcomed the opportunity.

“We had a very special time of fellowship and sharing God’s word with the members there. We had gotten to know them pretty well when we were here last year, so we had a good reunion with them,” Rice said.

This is the second trip to the quake-ravaged country for half the team, Rice said, and for the other half, it was a very eye-opening experience. Although the earthquake happened six months ago, the effects can still be seen all over the village, Rice said.

“Some houses were left but they are beyond repair. But because people have nowhere else to go, they are still living in them, although they should be condemned and torn down. Living in rubble is a daily reality for them and nothing has really changed, sad to say,” Rice explained.

The House of Blessing, the orphanage where the group stayed, is one of the few buildings not too badly affected by the quake because of its concrete structure and solid foundation. It housed not only the FBC group but 41 other churches and mission groups from all over the country who were there the same week. Rice said they worked closely with two churches from Miami and Indiana and made many friends while there.

Most of the children at the orphanage had been there the majority of their lives and ranged in age from 4 to 17. They had either been brought there by parents who could no longer take care of them or wandered there by themselves, Rice said.

And, unfortunately, many of them never get adopted and live out their lives in the orphanage. “Tonya, the director, grew up here and is now overseeing the daily operations and Isaac, 16, helped us out everyday building our houses, but they are really sweet people and the orphanage takes really good care of the kids here,” Rice commented.

Founded 15 years ago by missionaries Phil and Lonnie Murphy, who now live in Florida, the orphanage has increased in size and the children who live there all speak English very well. And most attend school everyday in one of the three churches in the village or in Port-au-Prince, Rice said.

“The children were very loving and receptive of us and many remembered us from last year because we had kept up with them through email, Facebook and the occasional phone call,” Rice said.

Surprisingly, the orphanage had internet along with basic electricity and running water and most surprising to Rice was the fact many villagers had cell phones as well. “There is a company called Digicell that provides cell phone service. It was so funny to see the locals walking out of their damaged houses with cell phones. They were old-school cell phones and their service was primitive but they still had them,” Rice said.

Although they stayed at the orphanage at night, the team spent their days building 12 by 12 or 12 by 14 houses for the villagers. Rice said they looked more like work sheds to him but to the people of Haiti, they were a welcome sight.

“These people are fighting for survival over here. We, as a church, felt led to come over here because of the great need we saw. Every Christian is called to be on mission for Christ here and abroad. If you can’t physically go, you can support those who do,” Rice said.

Franklin Graham’s mission organization, Samaritan’s Purse, provided the plywood, tin roofs and tarps for the $800 “houses” that typically house an eight to 10 person family but Rice said he has seen as many as 16 in one of them. The structure has a concrete floor, door and window opening, Rice said.

He said $550 was for the wood alone and the rest went for the door and other supplies. “We were allowed to take two large bags, one for our personal belongings and one for supplies. We had been collecting hinges and bolts for months along with other supplies to bring with us,” Rice explained.

There were no professional builders on the team but some had experience from the last trip, Rice said, and they mainly finished what other groups had started before them.

“About 50 houses has been built by the time we got there but while we were there, around 10 to 15 were completed,” Rice said.

He also explained they are trying to use local labor to build the houses and part of the $800 goes to pay them for working. About 15 to 20 Haitian workers have been involved in the cleanup and recovery effort in the past couple of months, Rice said.

In preparation for the trip, FBC had four or five fundraisers over the span of four or five months that gave them the $12,000 they needed to cover expenses. In addition to the fundraisers Rice said the community and church members were very generous in their donations.

“We went to share the love of Christ with the Haitian people. We wanted to focus on a particular people group and we felt like Haiti was the place for us. Their need is huge and we can help,” Rice said.

There are three churches in the village of Calabas, Rice said, and people walk for miles to attend on any given Sunday. “There were 300 in the church we worshipped in and one church meets in a tent. These people are hungry for God’s word and we want to help them receive it. Please continue to pray for them in the coming months,” Rice said.

The team did have some free time to do some shopping and experience the local flavor of the island and of the sixteen that made the trip, Linda Anderson had an experience she will not soon forget. Rice said Anderson went on the trip in her daughter’s place because Sarah, 18, was killed in a car accident earlier this year. Sarah went last year and was really looking forward to going back but tragically didn’t make it.

In honor of Sarah’s memory, Linda planted an Avocado tree at the orphanage toward the end of the week and on the same day, one of the women in the village went into labor, Rice said.

Johnnie Sundie, one of the team members and owner of Medstar Ambulance, and some others tried to help by getting her to the medical clinic in the village. She ended up having to have a C-section, Rice said, but she named the baby girl Sarah after Linda’s daughter.

“It was such a God-moment for us. The kids had been talking to Linda about Sarah all week and loving on her and this was just so neat to see God’s timing in this. It was a very special memory for us and for Linda as well,” Rice said.

Linda was not the only one who had an unforgettable experience. Rice fractured his foot on the first day of the trip when a cement mixer ran over it. “I was holding the tongue up and my boots go hung up and I fell. I just wrapped it in an ace bandage and took some ibuprofen and worked through the pain. It was fine,” Rice laughed. Back for two weeks, he has been wearing a boot but hopes to get it off soon.

Other members of the FBC Mission Team were: Sabrina Blackwelder, Ryan Herren, Kendra Laconsay, Beth Rimmer, Ralph Rimmer, Chelsea Sundie, Gina Sundie, Ken Tolbert, Susan Vinson, Brandi Walters, Brittney Williamson, Laura Williamson and Terri Williamson.