Haiti 2013: 8 July (cont)

Andrew

Due to my mother’s request, I shall write a blog. When I arrived I expected the whole ordeal to go smoother since I was a bit more prepared from my previous experiences, but instead, quite the opposite happened. Frustration is a current obstacle because unlike last year when I had absolutely no idea what was going on, I now have expectations. I wish our group would do more of one thing whereas we do more of a different thing. This trip is also more exhausting than the 2012 trip. It seems the only things keeping me going are naps, cold showers, and Coca-Cola. The book we are reading is a very interesting and different selection than other books I’ve read and is very enjoyable (I finished it today and I’m in the process of rereading it.). Keep praying and God bless. –Andrew

Mike

Today was the first ‘work’ day and we definitely got after it! If I heard right, we were digging ditches and filling them with gravel for the ‘footers’ of a new facility that Mission of Hope is building at their Bercy campus. Once we finish, they will come in and pour concrete; once the concrete is dry, construction will start with concrete blocks. We are laying the foundation for a new ministry…that is a very cool thing. Sounds like we’ve got a tropical storm bearing down on us so we’ll batten down the hatches and be ready for whatever God needs us to do.

Paul

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3:17

Work was hard today. Frustrating at times when the ones directing our work have a difference of opinions on how the work needs to be done. But I worked as hard as I could, and as best as I could. Drank a lot of water, and then eventually threw it up. All in a day’s work. It’s currently raining (and the forecast has a lot of rain coming in the next few days) so I fear we will have to redo a lot of today’s work, but the work will get done.

Keith

Since I didn’t blog yesterday, the Sunday morning worship service was awesome!  When the Haitian people sing praises to the Lord, their joy is very evident.  The service was upbeat and worshipful.  It was very interesting hearing and sometimes trying to sing along with the songs in Creole.  It’s the first time I’ve heard a Chris Tomlin song (“Our God”) sung in Creole.  I enjoyed the service.

Today was a long, hard day.  As several have already mentioned, we were digging the footings for a building on the Bercy campus that will be used to teach and minster to pastors.  While the work was hard, it is very cool to have a small part of the future ministry plans for the Bercy campus.  It has rained a lot tonight.  Hopefully the work we started today was not washed away.  Our goal was to finish the footings before the storms potentially move through later in the week.

April

Today was quit eventful. Started my morning helping with VBS here on the Mission of Hope campus. Micah (my new friend from Missouri) and I served food to children. It was heart breaking to tell some of the kids that we could only give them one water packet per kid, and knowing purified water is an extreme need here.  But, we were told only one per kid, and we obeyed. The children are sweet, and they love being held and played with. I enjoyed helping in the Haitian VBS today.

This afternoon after lunch, Andrew, Micah and I with a few other groups that are here at Mission of Hope got in a school bus and headed out to paint someone’s home in the local community. On our way we had to make a stop at 3 Cords, which is a place where disabled women started so they could help other disabled women receive a job, there is much more to 3 Cords than I could share in the blog, but their story is amazing.

While at 3 Cords, we learned there was a pregnant woman inside that was in labor. So the intern that was assigned to my group told everyone to get to the back of the bus, that we were going to transport her to the local clinic on the Mission of Hope’s site, and he put one of our drop cloths onto the seat as we all prepared ourselves to what we thought was about to happen on our bus. However, about 20 to 30 minutes later while waiting our intern returned and updated us that they had decided to transport her on the ambulance instead. Though we didn’t witness a live birth on a school bus in the Middle of Haiti, it was still interesting to continue to learn of the Haitian culture even in a birth.

So much to tell, however I have had one of the many to come of long days and must rest. Good night to all.  John 16:33