Tuesday, May 26
We slept in to 7:15am this morning. It was evident that the team needed a little extra rest after the first day of work and a bit later evening with devotions, craft preparation for our classroom visits on Wednesday and games with the Dorcely girls, including ‘spoons’ and Uno.
After a good breakfast of spicy scrambled eggs (that tasted like an omelet), we grabbed our five gallon jug of water and headed to the job site. We spent the morning mixing concrete and raising it to the roof to fill the molds for the support beams. We continued into the afternoon and finished again with games with our Haitian workers, some of which team members have worked with for years on previous ‘serve’ teams in the community.
While at the school today, the entire team had a great time with the children. We brought a couple of soccer balls and during their recess, we played soccer, chased the students, piggy back rides, etc. The the young female students enjoyed playing with the blonde hair of our female team members. A couple of the classrooms under construction are already being used by classes. The older students were outside in their uniforms and we saw one had a small guitar. We asked them to sing for us and they gave us two unbelievable songs. One student played guitar while the other sang beautifully followed up by a choir of other students who sang various parts of the chorus. If we could have only captured it on video! It was a memorable moment of the day.
As we wrapped up at the work site, the team decided to walk back to the guest house and stopped by the Methodist campus. We were greeted by a woman there who spoke perfect English. She told us about her woman’s group and what they were doing. This compound also houses the old guest house where Pastor Lamarteniere and his wife live. Rudy had a chance to meet with him and his wife yesterday to present them with some gifts in anticipation of their first child’s birth in August. Rudy also had a chance to see their wedding photos and talk about their future plans for the Methodist youth in Haiti, as well as their family hopes and dreams. This is an example of how the partnerships have developed into friendships.
Tonight, Rudy Sr. has planned to do some tie-dye shirts with Pastor Dorcely’s girls prior to devotions. Everyone is excited to see how the girls’ shirts turned out!
During our team devotion time, our translator, Jean Claude, shared his experience with the earthquake in 2010. Jean Claude was buried under the concrete ceiling of a medical clinic. He survived both the incident, and subsequent injuries despite doctors saying he should be paralyzed or dead. God saved Jean Claude’s life, and the lives of his wife and children, that day. He knew it was for a reason; that God had a purpose for his life. The experience strengthened his desire to serve God. Listening to his story was just one of the many opportunities we’ve had to experience God’s presence.
It is amazing that in a few short days, the team has become good friends. Experiences have happened together that will create life-long memories of serving and being blessed by God’s people in Haiti. We look forward to the coming days of fellowship. Our three 19-year-olds admitted last night that they did not miss not being able to use the internet, email or chat online. It was freeing to be able to turn that off and concentrate on everything going on around us……here and now.