Dan The Road Trip Guy
Join Dan the Road Trip Guy as he explores the adventures, memories, and life lessons of diverse guests from all walks of life. This podcast goes beyond the road to celebrate the journey of life by uncovering stories of passion, resilience, and the pursuit of happiness. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or simply love a good story, Dan the Road Trip Guy will leave you inspired and ready to embrace your own adventures. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!
I hope you enjoy the episodes. You can find me at https://www.dannyneal.com.
Dan The Road Trip Guy
Looking Back to When the Earth Shook in Haiti, 1/12/2010
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What if you found yourself trapped in a collapsing building, the ground trembling violently beneath you, with chaos erupting all around? That's the terrifying reality that my friend Roger Carole faced on January 12, 2010, when a massive earthquake devastated Haiti. Join me, Dan the Road Trip Guy, as Roger paints a vivid picture of that fateful day from his perspective inside a theology school in Port-au-Prince. His story brings to life the immediate aftermath—the haunting silence, cries of anguish, and the struggle for survival in a city turned to rubble.
Yet, in the shadow of despair, the light of hope and resilience shines through. Pastor Derson Louis offers a profound narrative of life's unexpected turns post-quake. We navigate his journey through fear and uncertainty, highlighting his unwavering faith and educational triumphs, despite the challenges posed by the earthquake and, later, the COVID-19 pandemic and gang violence. Derson's experiences speak volumes about the enduring strength and spirit of the Haitian people, demonstrating how even in the darkest times, resilience can lead to a brighter future.
Finally, I talk with my wife Linda. It had been a while since we discussed the earthquake in detail, and the conversation brought back some emotions for her. She arrived in Haiti on the day of the earthquake and stayed in the country for three weeks. The initial chaos was somewhat expected, but the real challenge after 3 weeks was finding a way back home. She shared the story of how, by God's grace, a pilot and a plane were sent to bring her back home. She then shared about the person who instilled in her a serving heart, which came as no surprise to me.
You can learn more about the work in Haiti by visiting, http://jihm.org
Welcome to Dan the Road Trip Guy. I'm your host, Dan, and each week we'll embark on a new adventure, discovering memories and life lessons of our incredible guests, From everyday travelers to thrill seekers and everyone in between. This podcast is your front row seat to inspiring stories of passion, resilience and the pursuit of happiness. So buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Speaker 1:I had great intentions of posting this podcast back last month, on January 12th. It had been 15 years since the 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. According to Wikipedia of course must be true there were around 52 aftershocks of 4.5 or greater after January 12th. The death estimates range anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000, depending on who you talk to. We'll never forget that day, because of our involvement in Haiti and for the mere fact that my own wife, Linda, arrived in Haiti that very day. I hope you enjoy this conversation with three people who are very special to me. Well, I am talking to my really good friend, Carol Roger, today. I'm going to call him Roger because that's what I always call him, and Roger is from Haiti, and I wanted to talk to him about January 12th 2010, 15 years ago, which is a little bit crazy. At 4.53 pm on that day, an earthquake 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. According to the news, 1.5 million people lost their homes and 300,000 or so people perished in that earthquake, and Roger was in Port-au-Prince and I just want to know, Roger, where were you exactly?
Speaker 3:Hello, Hello, hello everyone. And, like I then said, my name is Roger Kewal. Roger is my last name, but everybody call me by my last name, which is fine, because it makes me feel like a man instead of like a woman, you know. So that's good. Then you asked that question. It looks like I was. It was just yesterday when that happened. I was in a building, a school building, and there I'm at 33. And I was in that school because I was studying theology. I was in the first building because it's a two-story building and I was there studying and the teacher, with a bunch of students, know students, they were there also receiving the teaching from the teachers and Dermas.
Speaker 1:Then the building began to shake. Or were you out of the building when the earthquake hit?
Speaker 3:All of us. We were inside of the building. Okay, there was a church service going on in the church area. There was a church service going on in the church area and then the teacher was in front of us really teaching us, and all of a sudden, first of all we were singing before we get to anything and suddenly we feel the building start to shaking and first of all we said, well, it's just like a minor earthquake, it will pass. But it was not. It continued to shake and it was like strongly shaking and all of a sudden, the teacher run away. There was some students leaning into the wall and the wall just collapsed on them and I figured out that it was pretty serious.
Speaker 3:Where I was, I was in the back with another lady, a good friend of mine, and then all of us we start shouting Jesus, jesus, save us, save us. It only took us about 25 seconds to get where we were sitting and then the wolf fell exactly to get away where we were sitting. And then the wolf fell exactly in the spot where we were sitting. Wow, so, and the second story of the building collapsed with all the students that were inside of that building. It was about like 50 students in total. So all of them they died. It was a monster earthquake that we've never experienced in Haiti, and after that, when we stand in the church, we felt that the church was not the best spot to stay and we went outside. And as we go to outside, we saw a lot of buildings collapse, a lot of dead people in the streets. As we're going home all the way, there was no traffic vehicles. There was nothing but people screaming, people crying. A bunch of dead people in the street. Wow, that was very, very terrifying.
Speaker 1:You walked back home, which was several miles away, right?
Speaker 3:Yes, it was. It was because, you know, when I start walking from the school, which is Denmark 33, all the way to Bonn-Rippel, it was really a long, long walk, because when I get there it was already dark right, yeah, and the streets were empty of cars and vehicles and, as you and I know, the streets are usually packed with yes vehicles streets are packed with vehicles, but that night, that day, it was completely empty, no traffic.
Speaker 3:it was completely empty, no traffic, and it was people all over the streets screaming. Everyone just lost a loved one or somebody or a family member.
Speaker 1:You got home. Of course, the houses where you all were at were OK, but everyone was a little fearful to go back inside, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that night, all of us, we slept outside the building and the yard because we were so afraid to go back to the building. Now, two days after the earthquake, we myself and a friend of mine his name is Wesley Altimi we who decided to stay, you know, to go live inside of the house. And then there was another one coming and the building was shaking. I mean, I didn't know what to do. I was trying to drop from the second store building all the way to the ground, but it was too high, so there was like a palm tree and I grabbed it and slide all the way down and it was funny, but that was the only way for me to save my life.
Speaker 1:You got out the next day just to kind of survey the damage and see what was going on around the neighborhood there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we went and walked around to see what's going on, how people are feeling and the area in Bonrepo. There was not many damages, but the most damages they were in Port-au-Prince area and Leogane and other places in the West Department.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and a little bit. You know you mentioned, you know bodies laying in the street. I'm guessing the bit. You know you mentioned you know bodies laying in the street. I'm guessing the officials. The government was trying to figure out. What are we going to do?
Speaker 3:And they ended up creating a mass grave just a little bit north of where you were. Yes, yes, it was at St Christophe, that's how they call it. Some people call it like Tietan, but it's St Christophe, that's how they call it. Some people call it like Titian, but it's not really Titian. This area looks like kind of like a Tit together. It was. It was not good to see, it was not good, right?
Speaker 1:yeah, because that day it looks like everyone was kind of like equal doesn't matter if you were rich or poor, they just basculate you just the same way with anybody yeah, and I, uh, I have a picture of you and I know I've shared it a few times, but I believe the following Sunday you all made it back to church, gathered people together, people got there by walking or however they could get there, and I remember you're in the middle of this big circle of people and just praying and worshiping, right?
Speaker 3:Amen, yes, that's what we did.
Speaker 1:So fast forward 15 years, roger, and a lot has changed. Of course, in Haiti, and it seemed like there were some good years there, and, of course, over the course of the last three years I think three, two, three you probably know better it's been taken over by gangs, really.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's the most devastating situation that we have going on in Haiti right now, especially for the West Department. Most of the things that's happening in the West Department, where the capital is Port-au-Prince yes, the gangs are taking over over there. It's likely about 80 to 90 percent of yes, the gangs are taking over over there. It's likely about like 80 to 90% of the West Department. They're taking over, even though we have kind of like support, like UN support and many other like three countries have been gathered and to help our police forces, and this is still like a huge thing for them to do, because the main problem is that a lot of the population have been kind of like mixed up with the gangs. They live in the same areas and that really makes it really difficult for the police forces to go there and then fight against the gangs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tough situation you. As long as I've known you, roger, and we've known you for now 17 years, a little bit better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, before.
Speaker 1:the earthquake, you have to be one of the most optimistic people I have ever met, the most optimistic people I have ever met. When I called you a couple days ago, I could hear the joy in your voice and I know you hold out a lot of hope for the future of Haiti. What keeps you so optimistic about Haiti?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, I believe that whenever it's, you know it's darker, somehow there's going to be hope. It cannot stay forever and dark. I mean, when darkness comes, for example, when it's night, we know for sure that there's going to be a morning. The sun will rise. Somehow. Life is just like that way. Somehow is life is just like that way and I believe that, uh, even though haiti is going that in in deep darkness, one day it's there will be light. So that's how I I believe it and that's why I'm staying, you know, optimist and and this area and, and I know that it's not going to be that way.
Speaker 3:Remember it was like 1804. Before then, haiti was deeply in slavery right, and after that, we have those forefathers, the fourth, in order for us to get our independence. We got it. So, even though we live in this hour, which is really darkest, but we know for a fact that everything is going to go back to normal and God will not leave us just like that. We are for God. You know, god is our father. God give us hope and we believe that, no matter what's going to happen, no matter what's happening, somehow God will make a way for us to get out of this darkest time. That's just my hope, and no one can take that away from me.
Speaker 1:No, they can't and you hang on to that because we want to visit Haiti again. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, we want to visit Haiti again, yeah, absolutely. Well, Roger, I appreciate you catching up with me and just sharing a little bit about your experience from 15 years ago and the hope that you hold on to it was my pleasure to share with you and it makes me really happy.
Speaker 1:My next guest is Derson Lewis Derson. We have known Derson since 2007, when we first went to Haiti. He graduated high school, went to seminary, graduated with top honors there and is a pastor in Haiti. He has a wife and a young daughter, and I was just excited to talk to him about his experience during the earthquake in 2010. So, darrison, where were you when the earthquake struck in 2010? Do you remember?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I remember I was like on the top of my room. The house was like it's a building, like it was one on the bottom and one of and the top right, I was in the top of of my room.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was. I was remember, I was listening, like music, and when I see the, like the earth and the house like stop, start to quake, shake and I can't understand what was happening. Yeah, and I just like confused him. I said Jesus, jesus, and Shadrach was with me. Back then. Shadrach was with me back then and he said there's not one. If you want, you will fall, and I just stand next to the door in the house in my room.
Speaker 1:Did the house shake then back and forth?
Speaker 3:Yeah, backing for flak.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like I was, like seemed like I was going to like, I want like, like doing like a circle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, had you ever experienced an earthquake like that?
Speaker 3:No, that was my first one. That was my first, my first one.
Speaker 1:Right and did you then? Did you run out of the house after that, or what did you do?
Speaker 3:Yeah, after that I went out in the yard and I see like water like pumping, I mean spreading the yard Like. I see like the country was like really really look white like dogs, yeah, and I can hear like people like crying. Yeah, right, I wanna well did.
Speaker 1:Did things just seem to stop? You know, because there's a lot of traffic and a lot of noise in Haiti did everything just seem to stop, except for people crying yeah?
Speaker 3:like everything. Like was tough, even if you could call people. Like no connection internet, no, you can't even call anyone. Like everything was just tough and people are crying trying to help other people. Like it was on the houses. Yeah, everything was just tough. Yeah, everything was just stopped. School stopped, church stopped, I mean maybe hospital. Only that institution was like working at that day, like everything was stopped.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you mentioned school stopped. Do you remember how long you were out of school?
Speaker 3:um, I think it was like for three months three months?
Speaker 1:I think yeah, Did your school building? Was it damaged? It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't damaged Right, it wasn't damaged and so after the earthquake because it was, you know, it was around 5 pm where did you sleep that night?
Speaker 3:Everyone like slept in the yard. Like everyone. We just put our shit there, bed there. Now we, I think we slept and and in the yard like for four months I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like everyone was scared yeah, afraid to go back in the house.
Speaker 3:Praise to God, it never went at that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which can be a little unusual in Haiti, right? Yes, yes. And so you, eventually things got a little bit back to normal and you went back to school. And then just a little bit about you. You finished up high school and then you went off to seminary for four years, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I finished school in 2015 and I went to Shock Mill for four years and for seminary and I got graduated in 2019. I happened to be there for that graduation. Yes, yeah, I think it was your last time, right? No, we were back once since then. But oh, yes, yes, I remember that yeah, Best.
Speaker 1:I remember you graduated at the top of the class, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was at the top of yeah in my class.
Speaker 1:Life's been a little bit strange since you finished seminary. The plan was you were going to come back and lead the church, and then COVID hit right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's. I finished graduating in 2019, and I got ordained in 2020, in February 2020, and COVID hit In March. The church closed and school closed. When everything got back, covid finished and the gang took over, it was a chaos. Everything was going really slow down. Will you really going slow down? And we cannot even go see, we cannot even have church at night? Yeah, and then, after the after gang, many become like worse every day and so, yeah, like a chaos, yeah, a chaos, it was like a chaos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, still chaos, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's still chaos Since I was leading my victory Bible church.
Speaker 1:That was like a yeah, so you've never got to really land on leading the church.
Speaker 3:It's been kind of one thing after another. Yeah, not even one year completely. Not even one year completely, Not even one year. Everything went worse and worse and worse and worse. Then we closed our church and we are moving to one of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you recently had a close call with the gangs and that's when you decided to pick up your little family and move a little bit further north to do ministry.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was a little scary for you all.
Speaker 3:Yes, it was really scary.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but now you're up north and you were telling me early on that you're starting to do some ministry up there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we are in north and we are trying to do ministry up there. I think it is God's calling. It is God's calling Because we were visiting Terrier Rouge, village Des Miers, and I asked a guy, a guy, how many people I mean there are like 400 people are living there, like 40 homes and I asked a guy, I said how many people that are surprised in that village? And maybe with Tufa? And his answer he said maybe 99% find, and his answer he said maybe 90, 99 percent. People don't even know about christ, like don't even accept christ. And I said really, and I said what is the biggest, biggest? Uh, keep them like from like accepting christ. And he said there's no church in that village and when people are trying to go to church they don't have clothes etc. It's a miserable village and I think it's a good opportunity for us to do ministry there and we are really welcome there too.
Speaker 1:You were telling me that the people are very friendly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they are really friendly there.
Speaker 1:Maybe God's been crafting this plan for you for a long time, even since the earthquake right.
Speaker 3:Yes, I believe so.
Speaker 1:Swinging back to the earthquake Derson, is there one anything that just sticks out in your mind that you saw God at work? Is there anything from the earthquake? Where you saw God's hand. God's hand maybe it was protection, maybe it was provisions. Is there one thing that just sticks out in your mind from that time?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yes, especially for me. I can see God's hand. He sends the earthquake. And first of all, I was in my room and the house was like crap, like crap, and I mean God saved my life from there. And after that, even my, my mom and my dad was like I mean Passover, when I was like six, seven and God keeping me, like, pushing me and helping me, like I remember when I was kids I can. I couldn't even afford to go to school Back then. This school was paid like 25 goods a month, not even, yeah, 25 goods a month, and I couldn't even afford it. It was really bad for me back then. And after then I can remember I was finished school, even the school was I. I went and chicken I was with much, much, much more expensive and, bless god, I was like god sent people in my life and helping me like to finish the school and then went to a seminary and I finished. I can see God's protection providing like even my new family.
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah and I got, I got married like everything went really well. After the gang attack Kaabawe, I moved to Wanamit. Even I don't really really Even, I don't really even we don't really have money to rent a house. God still provides for us. We are living in a house in a village and everything is working out well for us.
Speaker 1:I was always a little disappointed. I was supposed to be there for your wedding and, due to the gang violence.
Speaker 3:I could not uh come yeah, you were choosing like for witness.
Speaker 1:I witness, yes yeah, and I was, I was honored, but uh yeah, I remember you called me that day, so that was that was fun well, darison, I know you know the scripture inside and out. Is there a verse that you turn to uh regularly just to keep you going and keep you uh grounded? Is there one?
Speaker 3:favorite scripture yes, woman 828. That was like keeping. Like everything that happened, I said, yes, god working for good, everything that he loves, even in the middle of chaos, god's still working. Yeah, sometimes we can even see God's hand or even feel it, and we still believe he's working for good, for everyone that he loves. Yeah, that's my scripture, romans 8, verse 28.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you want to share that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Romans 8, verse 28. I will search it in English.
Speaker 1:Okay, that might be better.
Speaker 3:Romans 8, verse 28. And we know that in all things, god works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Yeah, that's my voice that keeps me like, keeping and trusting God, even in the midst of chaos, because I still believe God works for the good of those who love him, even if they think are going good or bad.
Speaker 1:God's still working Well. Thank you for sharing that. Well, darrison, I've enjoyed this little conversation, kind of down memory lane, and we have known you for over 17 years now, which is kind of amazing when I think about it.
Speaker 3:He's more than half my age.
Speaker 1:I wish it was more than half of mine, but it's not.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I am so looking forward to seeing you in person sometime in the near future.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we pray for that.
Speaker 1:My final guest on this episode is my wife, linda, and, for those who don't know, linda arrived in Haiti around noon on the day of the earthquake, on January 12th. So welcome to this episode, linda.
Speaker 2:Thank you Dan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been at this for almost three years and this is her first time to come on the show, so we'll correct that in 2025. She has lots of stories to tell us.
Speaker 2:Oh, you think so.
Speaker 1:I think so.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So 4.53 pm on January 12th, when did you realize what was happening?
Speaker 2:Well, I had taken the early flight in that morning and I arrived probably around noon, but I took that 6 am flight so I was pretty exhausted. But you know, I took that 6 am flight so I was pretty exhausted. So I kind of got settled in my room and I just remember there was a globe from a ceiling fan sitting on a desk. So obviously someone had changed the bulb and dipped the globe back up. And I just remember thinking, should I move that? And so I just missed that thought.
Speaker 2:It's just one of those random thoughts I laid down. I feel like I barely had my eyes closed and I hear that globe crash on the tile floor and so that startled me and I thought how did that happen? So I got up and the room was just violently shaking and I thought I saw a window and I thought I'm going to go flying out that window. Thankfully I did not. You know, it seemed to last for like a minute or two. I have no idea how long it was, I don't recall it. So anyway, it was just the strangest feeling to have the earth shaking and shaking a building.
Speaker 1:So you made your way outside then.
Speaker 2:Yes, and there were boxes of rice stacked up above the steps. They were just scattered all along the steps so I was having to climb over boxes to get outside. So, yeah, we all went and met outside At that point. It was just eerily silent. It was the strangest thing to not hear anything because, you know, in Haiti there's always people talking. You know tap taps driving by motos, and where we were there was the flight pattern, you know the airplanes going over and it was just dead silent. And then you started hearing your screams, like blood curdling screams.
Speaker 1:And we heard from Roger and Derson earlier in this episode and of course, everybody slept outside. Did you also sleep outside?
Speaker 2:I didn't fare too well outside.
Speaker 2:I don't know how they did it. The first night I decided I would try to sleep in the cab of the truck. I went out there, got in the cab, took a sheet with me. The mosquitoes just are horrible and they were in the truck with me, kept buzzing around my ears and I didn't get any sleep at all, for I don't know how many hours I was out there. Then a couple of us decided that we would take our chances and go in the house and turn the generator on so that we would have fans, and that's how I slept the few hours I did sleep.
Speaker 1:Well, I remember you ended up. I don't know if you asked me or told me, but you pretty much said, hey, I'm gonna stick around here for a while and so you ended up staying around three weeks, some of that by choice, but then it became a challenge to get out, and we'll talk about that in a moment. Was there anything about those few weeks? That just that one event that just impacted you?
Speaker 2:I have a lot of memories. You know, just thinking about it makes me very emotional. I didn't expect that. As soon as the sun rose we got in the truck to go survey the damage and we went to Susmattla. So we just want to go check on the people that went to. You know the church and the school. We got there and you know houses were just broken. I mean, people could still go in them, but they were definitely in disrepair. You know I didn't see any that had completely fallen. Well, I take that back. I did see some of those that could completely come down, but most of them were just damaged. Everyone was outside sleeping and I saw or they weren't sleeping when we got there, but you could see where they had made their beds on the ground and just the look of shock on their faces. They were all just so scared and they hadn't recovered, you know, from the day before the events and assume there were aftershocks, right yeah, there were several aftershocks.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, everybody was afraid there was going to be, every time they felt the earth shake, that there was going to be. Every time they felt the earth shake that there was going to be another, you know, large earthquake.
Speaker 1:Roger and Derson just talked about. You know they didn't know what to do with all the people who had died, so they're just loading them in dump trucks, which sounds inhumane, but when you have hundreds of thousands of people, I assume you saw those trucks.
Speaker 2:We did, yes, because those were again, of course not that first day, but those were on the way to Sous-Mat-Le from Bon Repos, so we did see those trucks. Yes, I remember we went up close to the airport because you know everybody that came in as a relief organization set up a tent there. We went up there and just saw, you know, just people just dead lying on the street. Or seeing one woman just mangled just lying there at the gas station, you know, close to the road, but she was just laying there. It's like, well, yeah, what do people do with all those bodies? They were just everywhere. It's like, yeah, what do people do with?
Speaker 1:all those bodies? They were just everywhere. Well, you did finally decide to come home after those three weeks and then we were kind of like, oh, how's this going to work? So tell us how you actually got out of Haiti, because it seemed like a God thing.
Speaker 2:It definitely. Oh gosh, it definitely was. We were there. I remember Steve and Ashley Noost flew into Haiti with I forget what organization. Anyway, we went to pick them up at the airport. Steve just happened to see a guy sitting there on his computer with some relief organization that he knew. They just chatted. They didn't talk about how to get back home. As time went on, as you know, we tried every connection we had. We knew an airline pilot with Delta. Your company had a private plane. They were willing to send.
Speaker 2:But people couldn't get in unless they were authorized Exactly, there was just too many flights coming in, so I think there just wasn't the space to get people in or other planes in. At the time Steve happened to reach out to this friend of his and he said that there was a plane that he could get out on and I think it carried. I feel like it was six people or maybe two.
Speaker 1:We have a picture of it.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure I think it was the pilot and the co-pilot, and then there were four of us. It was me, steve, his wife Connie, because she was a nurse, that's how she had gotten in to help, and then their daughter, ashley. So it was just the four of us. That's how I got out. If I hadn't ran in, if they hadn't came into Haiti, I wouldn't have gotten out. I don't know how I would have gotten out, but anyway. So we had to stop at Turks and Caicos to fuel the plane, and then we went to West Palm and I remember the guy that was the pilot. He asked me how long I had been in Haiti and I told him and I said I couldn't get out. So I said, thank goodness, you know, you came and I was able to get on this flight. And he said, gosh, I'm sorry, I'm getting so emotional.
Speaker 1:It's okay. It was an emotional event.
Speaker 2:If we're going to be honest, it was an emotional event if we're going to be honest. He said when I was contacted to come here, he said I thought what business do I have going down there to see if I can bring people back? And he said I'm so glad you told me your story. He said you're the reason I came.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you got home.
Speaker 2:I did yeah, totally, you know, everything was, I felt like was God's protection and he got me home.
Speaker 1:Well, the last thing I'll ask you you introduced our children to serving others. If you look back, you just kind of have this missionary heart. Is there one person in your life when you were growing up that instilled that into you, or where did that come from?
Speaker 2:Well, I would say my church, but definitely my dad. You know, my dad grew up in the Depression. Of course my mom did too, but he grew up on a farm and his family just always helped people because, you know, they always had food, of course, and they were just all about, I feel like, always helping others. And my dad instilled in me always that we were no better than anyone and, as you know, there was a little. There was a church that we belonged to, stern's First Baptist Church. Most of the people that went there they had good jobs, either in the mines or whatever.
Speaker 2:My dad started his little mission out by our farm on Tunnel Ridge, so all the people that didn't feel like they had good enough clothes or whatever, that's where they went for Sunday school, and so my dad would lead the singing there. My mom taught Sunday school and my brother would always have to go early if it was in the winter to get a fire started to warm it up. So it was like our whole family kind of kept this little mission going. So he taught me that serving others. And then, when we were members of the church, missionaries would come through. Usually I felt like they were from Africa somewhere and I thought, wow, that is so cool that they get to serve the Lord in these other countries and I just never thought I would be able to do that. But it was something that God put in my heart when I was a young girl.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and a hundred trips later to Haiti, you're still doing it, so hopefully we get back there at some point.
Speaker 2:I hope so. I've really missed that part of our lives serving there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, our next episode with you might not be so emotional, but emotions are a good thing it needs to bring out. But Linda has lots of good stories and a lot of them involve close calls with yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't really want to say death, but that's what it was.
Speaker 1:She has some great travel stories too, so we'll look forward to those.
Speaker 2:Okay, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:All right, thank you, dear.
Speaker 2:All right, okay, I love you.
Speaker 1:Love you Bye. Thank you for tuning in to Dan the road trip guy. I hope you enjoyed our journey today and the stories that were shared. If you have any thoughts or questions or stories of your own, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me anytime. Don't forget to share this podcast with your friends and family and help us to spread the joy of road trips and great conversations. Until next time, keep driving, keep exploring and keep having those amazing conversations. Safe travels. No-transcript.
