Haiti 49 -- A Streutker Story

Their names are Clare and Sandy Streutker.  They inspire us.  Let me tell you why.

Clare and Sandy Streutker standing at the door to our home in Haiti.

 Before I start, I should tell you that Clare and Sandy are good friends of ours.  Very good friends.  So I am biased and could be looking through rose-coloured glasses.  But I think not.  You be the judge.

For the past 49 days our lives have included this couple living here in Haiti.  They came to help out, using their specific God-given, work-honed skills to make a tangible difference in the lives of others.

Clare and Sandy have a construction company back home -- SKC Construction -- and through the years have gotten pretty decent at building large buildings -- churches, schools, commercial buildings --and all the things that go along with that.  They also have a faith that helps them see much bigger than the construction they do at home, to the building God is doing inside them and the calling to help lead teams of volunteers to build at a leadership training centre here in Haiti.  Here are some things I saw them do in these past seven wonderful weeks:

First, they came.  Coming to Haiti isn't free, and they also brought funds for the construction they were doing, and so just getting themselves here was an investment.  They had lots of good reasons to stay home -- their business, their family, their having just moved into a smaller home and not having sold their older larger home yet, their creature comforts -- you name it.  They had all the same reasons for not coming that all of us have, and more, and yet they came.  When someone comes to Haiti from another place, it is encouraging to Haitian people.  Many Haitians understand their country to be low on the list of places people want to go and so when people do come it is a boost to the locals.

Second, they built.  When Clare stepped onto the plane to come on January 4th, the site where they were going to work was literally a hole in the ground, or a series of trench-like holes.  Though some excavation (read: shovels) had been done, nothing had been built.  Starting with the back-breaking work of laying out and tying off rebar in the trenches with the Brampton team, then adding some block and concrete with the Maranatha team, then pouring a floor and adding more block with the Woodland and Woodland Alumni teams and finally getting the walls high enough to frame and pour the concrete ceiling beams with the Rochester and Maranatha Youth teams, today, February 23rd, the old hole in the ground looks a lot like what we hoped it would.  It is exciting to think about how this building will be used to train hundreds if not thousands of leaders in the years to come, leaders who will be trained to use their skills to aid communities in using their own assets for the betterment of those communities.

Team work to get the pails of cement from the mixer up the ladder to pour beams for the roof

Leading by Example

 Third, they led.  Clare and Sandy's leading started way before they got here.  They encouraged others to come, recruiting a number of people.  They hosted those teams for dinners, introducing them to Haitian food and orienting them to mission work, Haitian culture and history, and a few Creole phrases.  Their leading didn't stop once they got here.  They led at a pace that invited others along in so many healthy ways.  Regularly, they were doing the hardest and dirtiest work (our laundry lady can attest to that :)).  With each team, they not only helped them know WHAT to do on the jobsite but also HOW to do it:  humbly, relationally, and with learners' curiosity.  They brought just the right gift mix - construction, people skills, missions know-how - to effectively set a pace for the learning and serving that others did.

Fourth, they laughed.  For many of the days they were in Haiti, they lived in our home.  While with us, they played games and that was part of the laughter, but even bigger they added laughter to much of what they did.  For our son Stephen, Clare was like the little brother he never had (and yes, Stephen is only 8).  One day before church, they played in the dirt together outside our gate creating a path from my neighbours door to the road.  There was regular banter between Clare and all of our children.  Laughter was often heard on the job-site as Clare and Sandy and their new-found friends, whether the mission teams or the Haitian workers, joked and grinned and generally had a good time.  Though they all worked hard, many of the volunteers who came commented on how much they enjoyed the work that they did.

Stephen and his 'little' brother, Clare (Stephen is the one in the red shirt)

Fifth, they impacted.   It's funny, often people going on their first mission trip go with the express purpose of "making an impact."  As Clare and Sandy had been on and organized mission trips for others in the past, they knew the truth:  that mission teams actually get impacted more than they make an impact.  Fact is, other than a handful of Haitian workers, the names Clare and Sandy Streutker will be forgotten here.  It is doubtful that any history book of this nation could include as much as a whisper about their work.  So their impact isn't measured in terms of what they did for Haiti, but what they did for the people they interacted with.  As teams have come and go, people connected with Clare and with Sandy, creating bonds they now continue through prayers and conversations on Facebook.  Here's a glimpse of all those folks.

Immanuel, Brampton:  Carol Vanderstoep, John Vanderstoep, Iona Stewart-Buisman, Al Bloemendal, Renee VanderKooy, Erick Schuringa, Ruth Ann Schuringa, Anna Afful, Clare Streutker

Maranatha, Cambridge:  Joe Kool, Meghan Vanderstoep, Sandy Streutker, Greg Paultre, Simon Prince, James Bultje, Tammy Prince, Mitch Ball, Holly Prince, Clare Streutker, Brad Prince, Sasha Prince, Charles VanLingen, Stephen, Nathan, John, Carol, Erin, and Kristin Vanderstoep 

Woodland High School (Breslau): Meghan Vanderstoep, Matthew Feenstra, Oliver Chen, Niek Los, Jake Pasma, Steven Shantz, Sarah Kooy, Tristan Verstraeten, Ethan DenBak, Bethany VanPelt, Clare Streutker, John VanPelt, Marjorie Pasma, Gregory Paultre, Lisa Krygsman, John and Carol Vanderstoep

Woodland Alumni:  Sandy Streutker, Jordan VanderVeen, Clare Streutker, Bethany Streutker, Jon Streutker, Anthony Foster, Rob Scholtens, Pieter Wilting, Katie Deen, Nick Jovanovic, Jordan Mohle

Maranatha Youth:  George Geerts, Mackenzie Streutker, Sandy Streutker, Alex Streutker, Clare Streutker, (photobomb cameo by Meghan Vanderstoep), Brian Kloet, Carol and John Vanderstoep

Rochester Team (not all pictured):  Emily and Kevin Smith, Ron, Katie, and Sarah Cok, Kelly and Faith Fasoldt, Sue and Cindy Sapienza, and Tim and Sydney Frelier

 Today, is Day One without Clare and Sandy and the teams they led with us in Haiti.  Today is supposed to be a day of relief, of catching our collective breath after the fullness and activity of all that has transpired in the past seven weeks.  After that long of not having time off on the weekends, after that long of hosting people to not only eat countless meals in our home but in some cases to also live with us, it would be normal for me to have been looking forward to today and for today to have been somewhat celebratory.  But it's not.  Today is instead a melancholy day, a day not unlike the first day back for those who came here on mission teams, a day for collecting our thoughts, reflecting on the past, and knowing that we have been deeply impacted.

Thanks Clare and Sandy, for responding to God's call on your life to be here and for inspiring so many others to do the same.  May God bless you as richly as you have blessed many.