DAY 8 PM: B to the Rad: The Masked Man (and Lisa!) Speaks…

Bit of slower pace today, which was good.  Had a really cool chance to pray with the high school students at the end of the night, and affirm and care for them.  I feel like already have kids.  Over a 100 of them.  I wish I could properly express how fantastic they’ve been this last week and a bit.

Here’s your guest bloggers for the night…

BRAD

Hello this is Brad coming at you from Grand Goave, Haiti. This morning the day started around 7.  Me and Mark were downstairs before anyone else so we wandered out onto the porch to wait for breakfast.  We just stood there taking in the view feeling the warmth of the day mixing with the coolness of the night.  It was the best feeling.  The menu for breakfast was porridge and biscuits with fresh squeezed grape fruit juice.

After breakfast we all went out to do the work assigned to us.  Mark stepped into his bobcat to start hauling supplies out to the wall for Jon, James, and Lukas.  The wall building did not go well today due to the fact of more boundary disputes the boys ended up coming home after only putting up seven posts.  Beth, Laura,Tyson, Mitchell, and Shaquille were leveling off the floors in the medical center, getting them ready to pour the floors when the next group gets here.  Loretta and Lisa spent the day cleaning in the main house and one of the tool cribs.  Cheryl and Hannah first cleaned the tool shed, ran errands for me then ended up the day piling the concrete slabs (that fit into the wall).  Michelle and Alyssa started to organize the medical rooms for the clinic that is happening in a week and they also ended up the day stacking slabs.

I on the other hand was in my usual spot.  I have set up a welding table under a huge mango tree in the middle of the yard it is positioned just right so I get shade all day long.  It took me awhile to get it just right.  My job has been to make forms to increase their pole production. When I got here they had two forms now they have six so now they can produce as many poles as they can stand up in a day. Starting at four we went in two groups to do a community walk.  These walks are meant to bless people with gifts such as food and health kits and clothes or shoes. We also ask to pray for the families, which is readily accepted.  This one family, when asked if they wanted us to pray for them said yes and proceeded to kneel down in a circle as we surrounded them laying our hands on them and praying for them.  This felt like a special moment in our walk today.

Things are starting to wrap up here with lots of talk about packing up, cleaning, and coming home. One last story that I would like to relate is about a boy named Frans. This boy spent a lot of time with me last time I was here after the earthquake.  I had been looking for him since I got here and not been able to find him.  No one I talked to seemed to know where he was and I thought I would never see him again.  Then on Sunday morning I was looking ahead two rows and straight in front of me a little boy turned around and it was Frans. He stared at me awhile, then he started to smile and he said “Blad!“.  Even in thirty degree heat that warmed my heart.  As the service continued you could watch him slowly changing seats getting closer and closer to me, when finally he was close enough he leaned over and whispered in my ear “soccer”.  Which means he wanted to play. Well that is it from me.  See you when we get home.

LISA

Our second last day in Haiti. It’s filled with sadness and happiness all at the same time. Sad to leave this beautiful country and the joyful faces – and happy to go home to hugs and kisses of family. Today was an “easy” day for me and Loretta. We spent the day inside cleaning and organizing. Nothing too physically taxing. Last week we were sweating it out moving concrete slabs and shoveling the trenches of the foundation for the technical building.

The best part of the day started at 4 p.m. The adult ladies of our group met in the church for the ladies’ Bible study. Loretta, Cheryl, and Michelle shared their testimonies as well as two of the Haitian women. It was so very encouraging to hear these testimonies. We always think we’re so different from the Haitians, and yet we are so much alike. They have the same concerns we do – we pray that our children and families will grow in Christ. It was a very special time to me to join with these women in sharing and prayer.

Now, everyone is starting to pack and getting ready to go home. Everyone is excited to go home, but I can sense a bit of apprehension in the group. How will people react to our stories? How will we react to life back in Canada with plenty of food and money? God has worked in me in so many ways and I have been humbled so many times by my experience here. God bless you all!

DAY 8 AM: Well, It Finally Happened. I Needed a Band-Aid…

… For my nipple.

ouch.

Now, in my defense, I am not the first to seek help from Johnson & Johnson:  Lukas and Tyson needed to be taped up after getting cuts from the buckets while pouring concrete in order to keep working, and I cowboyed-up and pushed through the pain of my first scratch.

But this–this was different.  For those of you who have never worked with concrete, what’s important to know is that concrete left on the skin can cause a burn, similar to a chemical burn.  What I didn’t know, is that at some point during the pour, a nice little chunk of juicy concrete made its way down my shirt and landed right on my nipple.  I didn’t notice, cause I was sweating buckets.  Buy the end of the day, it felt a tad sore, but I just figured it was due the wet shirt chafing all day.  Then Yesterday morning I woke up to a red, raw, rashy pectoral area.  Of course, heat doesn’t help this.  So now I look like a true marathon runner–band-aid covering up the left side, so my shirt doesn’t end up rubbing it completely off.  Even a massive purple-nurple would feel better I think…

Tapion yesterday was one of those life experiences that I think I will cherish forever.  To give you an idea, it’s about a 15 minute drive, through the backwoods, then up the highway that climbs up the side of the valley between two mountains.  About halfway up the mountain, you pull to the side of the road, and there is little rock “path” (that’s being generous) that goes straight up the side of the hill.  You feel as though you aren’t going anywhere, but all of sudden there are a bunch of crudely built tents (think Eeyore, from Winnie the Pooh), the odd building battered and bruised from the earthquake beyond recognition, and then…. a miniature version of the church here on the compound–an open air tin roof, held up by a bunch of poles with a dozen or so wooden benches underneath.  The view is breathtaking in all directions.  You can see all the way down the valley, and across to the mountains on the other side, and behind the church the mountain dips before rising again.

And it’s here, with this village of mountain people, that they have a church almost exclusively made up of children.  Lots of children. We’re talking up to 200 plus.   And boy do they cram them in.  We showed up and took up a ton of bench space, so some of us guys stood at the back… until a weathered grandmother with a large smile started bringing us the chair from her home–100 yards down the path–one by one, until we would all sit.  We hit the floor pretty quick once we realized what was going on, so save her the extra trips.

Then Rosalin got things started.  I like to think of her as the Haitian Jessica.  She runs a tight ship, and the children are quick to respond to her.  Contrasted to the “order” of our Kids Camp, I felt kinda sheepish.  Only 24 years old, she’s studying in Leogane to become a nurse, but every week, for the past few years she has led those children.  She teaches them hygiene, etiquette and manners, and, because most of them cannot read, she teaches them Scripture to memorize.  And lots of it.  The rattled off verse after verse as they practiced together in unison.  Then, one by one, a few of the kids got up to sing songs.  All I could make out were words like “joie” (joy), “dieu” (God), and “Jesu” (Jesus), but in that moment, I felt so incredibly blessed and humbled to be able to witness what was going on.

With the incredible backdrop of God’s creation, and the gentle voices of children–children who are seemingly forgotten by the rest of the world–singing praise to their Father, I couldn’t help but cry, and be thankful.

I think that might be the closest glimpse to Heaven I ever get to see in my life.

And I still had to get up and teach yet.  What do I teach to a bunch of children who are, in that moment, teaching me??

We talked about Moses, and the Exodus of God’s People, and how God promises to protect us–not from difficulty, or hard time, but to protect our hearts, and to lead and care for us if we continue to follow him.  As I closed I wanted to give them a new memory verse to learn, to remind them that if we follow Jesus, he promises to guide us and go with us.  “Psalm 119:105″ I said.

And before I could even begin, they recognized the reference, and began reciting it back to me:

“Pawòl ou se yon chandèl ki fè m’ wè kote m’ap mete pye m’, se yon limyè k’ap klere chemen mwen.”

We sang some more as a group with actions, (they loved the “tootsie-wootsie” part of the one song), I botched “I’ve Got A River of Life” (no one cared), then said the few Creole phrases I had picked up (which royally confused Lisa Honorat who was there translate for us, as she began translating me back into english before catching herself, to everyone’s delight), and the did some crafts and gave out visors to each kid.  We ended with handing out rice.  We had packaged the rice in 1kg bags, which would feed a family of 5 for a week.  The excitement caused by the rice almost started an uproar, but it all got handed out as little hand clutched tightly to their precious cargo–hat on the head, rice in hand.

With that, they prayed, said thank you in english, gave some hugs and we’re gone.

Never in my life have I more clearly understood Matthew 19:14.

DAY 7 PM: They Gave Me The Truck Keys…

Not gonna lie.  Driving up to Tapion for the church of children today was definitely a trip highlight.  Lukas and I were rolling, passing UN Transport trucks with soldiers in full body armor (not sure why, exactly.), and traffic on Haiti “highways” was fun.   And that wasn’t even that crazy of a drive.  Unfortunately we had to follow Brad’s slow driving on the way home…

Tapion was an incredible experience.  I’ll let Beth and Lindsay give you their perspectives for tonight.  Try and fill you in some more in the morning.  For tonight, here’s the girls…

BETHANY

Today wasn’t the busiest day we’ve had, but it was still a great experience! We got to get up a little later (which I’ll admit was kind of nice) and we went to church. It was super full and I was scooched up right beside a little boy who remembered my name from VBS. We had a good chat and he made me rub his head. Super cute! The service was about the story of Mary and Martha and how Mary chose what was good, which was spending time with Jesus. It’s amazing how close these people are with God. It makes me realize how much time I need to spend with Him in my own life.

We got to hand out rice after church, which was awesome because you get to see how grateful people are, and it makes all the lifting of the bags of rice definitely worth it.

After lunch we went to Tapion, which was a kids church just up the hill about ten minutes.  When we got there, the leader of the church had all the children recite about six or seven Bible verses. I can’t believe how early in life they learn God’s Word! I was very impressed. Some girls sang for us, and then we sang with the kids. It was a blast! Stephen gave a talk about Moses and then we did a craft with them and gave them rice as well. They seemed really grateful too. There is a family in that church with eleven kids and a sick mother. We prayed for them today and I ask for all of you to keep them in your prayers, because the mother is not able to work anymore. It’s astounding how joyful all of the children can be though, even under the worst circumstances.

The trip has been amazing thus far, and I can’t believe we only have two days left.  It’s going to be tough leaving all the people here!

LINDSAY

Today we got to sleep in a bit later than we have the other days which was nice. We started the day with going to church. Church today was a bit different than the ones on Tuesday and Thursday because today all of the seats were filled up, and all the girls dressed up very nicely.  It was really nice because a little girl that I made friends with at VBS found me in all the people at church and sat with me. After church we did the rice distribution, it was nice to see that even a little bit of rice could make someone so happy. In the afternoon we went a short drive up the mountain to Tapion. We got to sing songs, make crafts and give the children rice to take home. I have enjoyed every minute of this trip so far and it’s hard to believe that we only have two full days left.

DAY 7 AM: Bonjou Cornerstone!

Good morning Cornerstone family!  Was thinking of all of you back home during church this morning, and let me tell you -

This ain’t your grandmama’s church service.

It was a ton of fun to be able to be a part of their community.  Brad had a “conversation” with a little boy he remembers, and the girl that James gave a pair of shoes to earlier in the week tracked him down during church and crawled into his lap.  Gilandrianne is the best we can figure for a name. (Yeah, we probably butchered it.)  I spent the morning getting the white hairs in my scruff pulled by a couple boys who kept giggling “cheveux blanc” (white hair).  They were also enthralled that my hair would be short like theirs, but not rough and stiff.  So after being told during orientation not to be touching our faces when playing with the kids, I had the kids touching my face.  That way if I get anything, at least I didn’t transfer it myself

And then came the rice feed.  I feel so completely bankrupt, humbled, and blessed all at one time.  The offering this morning was done with a plate at the front, and people came to the front with their tithes.  As Marc explained after church, more than 90% of those in church this morning were going home to no food.  And yet many, many (waaay more than the other 10%) came forward with what little money they had to give as an offering, knowing they were going home to nothing (they didn’t find out about the rice until after the service).  The most recent statistics I’ve seen, suggest that the average North American christian tithes about 2.5%, and only about $2 a year is specifically donated towards poverty and hunger.  If we knew there was no food at home, would we still be putting the offering envelope in?  I want to say yes, but I think of becoming a dad, and feeling the need to provide for my family, and have to admit, I wonder what my response would be in that situation.

Regardless, the rice was an answer to prayer for many, and it was a huge blessing to be able to provide the resources.  We intentionally stayed in the background during the distribution, and let the elders handle it, as we wanted it to be a blessing from the church to them as a body.  Fun to watch.

On another note, my mind has been mulling over some thoughts since Thursday’s church service, and they surfaced again this morning.  I heard the same thing in Mexico.  Then again in Trinidad.  And now here.  People in our group keep saying things like “I wish I could feel free to dance/sing/praise/pray/______ like that at home”, or “that’s the way church should be”.  And while I understand the sentiment, it irks me a little bit for a few reasons:

1. We say those things, but we don’t even do them here.  Surely that would be the first step, no?

2. God is worthy of our worship absolutely, but it isn’t necessarily about the “show”.   I think of MercyMe’s song I Can Only Imagine, and the line that says “will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still”.  There is a place for stillness before God.  If we want to dance as an expression of our joy and thanksgiving, then we should feel free to do so, and we really need to learn to get over ourselves (even when we are here), but reverent awe and quietness can also be worship.

I think maybe what we should be saying, rather than “church should be like that” in the sense of all the movement and noise, is rather, “the church should always have a joy in the Lord like that.”  It can manifest itself in many ways, but that is the big difference I see between us in North America and those in developing countries.  Shamefully, we often miss what it means to be joyful always, in all circumstances.

I realize my thoughts are all jumbled on this right now, and it may not be completely clear, but this is–this was the refrain from the song we sang during the message this morning:

“Merci Seigneur, tou baguy va fini tres bien”

Thank you Lord, everything will end alright.

In the depths of my soul, I yearn to be able to pray this with confidence each morning–Thank you Jesus, for with You, everything will end alright.

DAY 6 PM: The L-Squad

Just getting ready to crash for another night here, thankful as ever for God’s gift of AC units.  One more great day.  Tomorrow, long pants for the whole day… so that should be fun!  And we’re responsible for making our own supper, so I’m kinda wishing I had sent the group with money to the market this morning to buy the cow head.  It would have made a nice soup…

LUKAS

I got to spend my day today working on the cement pour. This means I got to lift five gallon pails of cement and load them on to the bobcat over and over again. Despite all the hard work I did actually like doing it because I got to spend my day with some great people (editors note: this is a reference to Stephen, naturally) and having a good time doing it too.  All this work was worth it because we got to go to the beach as a reward.  It was a pretty good reward too, because in Saskatchewan we don’t get to may opportunities to go to a beach with ocean so it was just a good time to relax and have a good time with our group.

LORETTA

Today was another full day of work and pleasure. The pleasure came when we got to go to the market.    Shopping at Christmas time has nothing on this market as far as numbers go. It is so crowded, so many sounds, so many sights, so many smells, some good, some not so good! We had a rummage sale for the church people at the compound, much of the stuff that we brought along was in the sale, which went from 10 am to 12 noon, many people came through the doors. I also have had the pleasure of meeting friends made here in the past visits. It some far this has been an amazing experience. Thank you God for the experience!

DAY 6 AM: Wait… Is that right? It is Saturday, right??

“Zombies” would be the best way to describe the atmosphere in the guys room this morning.  Taking a little longer each morning to get cranked up, but the breakfast bell does wonders to wake people up!

Half the group (Loretta, Lisa, Jon, James, Tyson, Michelle, Alyssa, and Laura) went to the market this morning, while Hannah, Cheryl, Beth, and Shaquille helped set up for the rummage sale happening on the compound at 10AM.  We had the dining room FULL of clothes, shoes, toys, and misc. items that we had brought from home, and the line started early to get in to that!  Brad went back to his welding (he’s been trying to get the forms finished for the pillars for the fence so that they can make as many as they can put in the ground each day), while the rest of us–Mark, Mitchell, Lukas, and Stephen–headed over to the medical clinic to help with the concrete pour for the roof.

And it was a big pour.

We had 20 Haitians, the four of us, and four other Canadians who have been working here for awhile now.  Four Haitians filling the concrete bins, two mixing, and then the three of us (Mitchell was on the roof finishing) shoveling concrete into buckets, moving the buckets onto the bobcat, collecting buckets at the bottom of the building, repeat.  Repeat. Repeat. … Repeat.  It was a fairly large pour, a hot day.  At about 10, Lukas and I took  a quick break to see who could wring out more sweat from their shirt (I won).  The guys came back from market around 10:30, so it was nice to get some reinforcements, but we poured solid right through till 12, then a few of us stuck around to clean out buckets.  I’ve definitely worked that hard, but I don’t know that I’ve ever sweat that much in my life…  The bobcat had a spaz attack near the end so we ended hand-bombing the last few containers up the ladder.  After a looooong shower to try and get the concrete-mixed-with-sunscreen-that-had-turned-to-paste off (my leg hair is now in nice tiny little dreads), we had a quick bite to eat before taking off to the beach for the afternoon…

… where I fell asleep.  Apparently though, the water was nice!  Tyson, Shaquille, Laura, Loretta, and Lisa all bought fresh lobster that they BBQ’d right on the beach for them, and had a nice break for the afternoon.  Tonight we lay low, before gearing up for a day of sweaty church tomorrow–Long pants and dress shirts for everyone!

My clothes from today, however, are in the garbage.

DAY 5 PM: You Know When You Reach The Overtired Point Where Everything Is Funny? That Was Two Days Ago. Now It’s HILARIOUS!

We probably would looks like absolutely boneheads to any sane person, but for us, we’re having a blast!  Here’s tonight’s update:

ALYSSA:

Today, February 25, 2011, we started the day off packing rice. The bags were 55lbs each and we made about 5 bags that fit into those 55lb bags. That took us quite a while, but we had two groups that were helping so it didn’t take as long as it would have if there was only one group working on the rice. After the sorting of the rice, the ladies mostly had a labor-free morning. Some of us did a little bit of painting but that was pretty much it. No more of those concrete slabs!!!! Some of the guys went back to the wall to work. Then, lunch.

MICHELLE:

We finished our kids program today.  We had over 200 kids.  It was awesome.  It was so good to see them have a good time singing and doing crafts and games.  We learned a couple of songs from them and they learned some of ours.  We prayed a blessing on each child before they left today and gave them a sun visor as they left the property.  We set up for the rummage sale we are having tomorrow.  The last one was apparently a great success.  The people were really excited when Pastor Marc announced it in church on Tuesday.  Should be fun.  Tomorrow is beach/market day.  Pretty excited for that.  Its been a great week so far.

Michelle

DAY 4 PM Retrospective: Mark Dick doesn’t use the internet. The internet asks Him for permission to turn on.

Annnd we’re back!  Mark worked his magic, so it never had to come to Mitchell, which is probably best for all involved.  Here’s the blogs from last night… it’ll be a busy day around here (if we can stay connected!) as we’ll have another update late tonight after our debrief.

TYSON

This was probably the best day of the trip.  We got a lot of sections done on the wall and nobody fell off the scaffolding.  We had also had a lot more kids at VBS today.  It was kinda crazy but it all worked out.  The best part by far was the church service.  For about two hours we prayed and sang, except when they sing they sing with their entire body.  Everyone was dancing everywhere; in the aisles, in the pews, and they cover a lot of ground when they dance.  So that was our day.

HANNAH

What a day.  I had a great day working with all the girls testing the limits of my strength by carrying the concrete slabs and by shoveling so much dirt that my arms just about fell off.  But, after all that fun came VBS, which was a great part of my day.  When we sang songs with the kids they just gave it their all and were singing as loud as they could while doing actions.  And just when I thought that those kids went crazy during singing, I saw the adults sing during church.  I am not even quite sure how to explain that experience.  All I can say is don’t be surprised if a group of 18 or so people get up and dance and sing in the aisles during the next church service.  But, it was a pretty amazing experience, and I am very happy to be able to say that I experienced it.

Sometimes, The Internet Thiefs Win

Heyo!  Just wanted to let you all know where doing great.  For some reason, the office computer is the only one that will connect to the internet right now, so until I can get my tech guy (Mark) to take a look at my computer before I send it to my demolition guy (Mitchell), I begged my way into the office.  Partly selfishly, because I wanted to check and see how Melissa’s doctor appointment went yesterday, but also to let you guys know we are still blogging in Word Document form, and will post them all whenever (or if ever) we are able to get back online. 

If not, here’s the quick rundown:

- Finished kids camp today.  Super cool to pray a blessing for each of them, and send them off with a visor.  Also fun to see kids come in throughout the week with new Dawgs on that we had given them earlier in the week.

- Tomorrow morning half of us go to the market and the other half stay here to help with the concrete roof pour on the medical building (and yes Russ, I will be working on the pour). We will then have a “rummage sale” with the clothing and stuff we brought down for the community.  5 Gouds (20 cents US) per item.  The ladies went nuts at church on Tuesday when they found out. (Figures.)  Then the beach in the afternoon.

- Sunday is church, then off to Tapion for the church of Children, then rice distribution.

- Monday is back to the work projects and a community walk to pray for people and hand out food and hygiene/baby packs.

- Tuesday works projects again, then one last trip to the beach.

- Wednesday we are up at 4:30AM in order to get to the airport on time (which we WILL be on time for), then the long journey home, arriving back in Saskatoon 1AM Thursday morning (with plenty of time for kids to get some rest before school).

Hopefully we get the internet sorted out, but if not, that’s the snapshot.  Thanks for praying–If we don’t chat again, we will update the whole thing when we make it back to Ft. Lauderdale.

ST

DAY 4 AM: It’s Not REALLY Work Until Someone Draws Blood…

Annnnd that would be me.  Anyone who picked me in the office pool, you may cash in for your winnings now.  I backed into some rebar and managed a nice little scrape.  I’m gonna leave the blood though, cause I look waaay tougher than if I were to wash it off, and its just a tiny scratch.  It’s always important to look good while shoveling drenched in sweat.

This morning we’re back on the job sites–Mitchell is beloved by all down here, and he’s swallowed up pretty quick in the mornings to go run the medical center project.  Brad is currently teaching Shaquille how to weld, Lukas in on a roof somewhere, Tyson and the Sons of Thunder are back out at the wall, and I’m diggings footings for the technical school with the girls.  Twice.   In order to save an admittedly gorgeous mango tree, they’ve decided to move the building over a foot the other direction which would be totally fine … if we didn’t have the forms and holes already dug.  SO, we are making some adjustments and moving piles of dirt we had already moved.  I’m not sure my fingers will uncurl by the end of the day.  It’ll be like King David’s mighty men, and the hand freezing to the sword, except not nearly as cool.

Then, this afternoon, we’re back to the Kids Camp, then off to church at 5 before supper.

If you’re thinking about us, continue to pray for Marc and Lisa.  As I mentioned, they’ve had a rough and sometimes discouraging go for the last little bit.  Just talking with Lisa this morning, I discovered that the children’s village property was originally supposed to be 12 acres, which was then cut to 7 when the seller decided to give some to people who had been living on it for a long time.  And even still, as I mentioned yesterday, they are wrestling to get people to adjust.  It’s interesting to me–the people all know what the property is going to be, and yet they can’t see the big picture to see the long-term benefit to them and the community of what will happen there.  At this point, it just disrupts their current stage of life, and they don’t like it.  Not much different than us, really.

Cool thing from yesterday:  For the community visits I packed a bunch of bags of Dawgs shoes for people to take with them.  I just spent some time praying as I was packing, that they would be the right sizes and fit everybody and the groups came back empty.  They’d been perfect fits across the board, so that was fun to watch God work that way.

Continue to pray for energy–the sun is warm, and kids (and adults) get pretty worn out by the end of the day, especially through the middle of the week here when we have work projects everyday.  Half are getting over a cold, or are joining me in the acquiring of a cold, so an energy boost would be quite welcome.

Thanks for praying… time to play in the clay some more!

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