29 June 2010 Haiti Day 2

We survived our first day of work--and WORK it was! We began at 6ish having no idea what we were looking at when presented with the work site. We were introduced to the Pastor of the mission, Pastor Leon, and the eight or so local men who have been hired to work on the site. Our mission: rebuilding a school that fell in the quake. The new school is being build right on top of the old site. The work had already begun on the school before our team arrived this week, but we still didn't know where to begin when we arrived. Thankfully, we were able to go from deer in the headlights to marked progress by day's end, with teamwork, prayer (including yours!), and the Lord's wondrous presence. The temporary school, made of wooden struts and Unicef tarps, is also at the work site and we had constant interaction (or rather invasion) with the students, who ranged in age from primary to high school age. The unexpected opportunity for such frequent interaction with the children was a delightful diversion from our intended work. We shared their shelter for meals, breaks, siestas (PB), and tool storage all day long.

Megan was able to use her erstwhile thought useless knowledge of the French language to communicate a bit with the children. One small boy was intent on communicating a request. In English/Kryol he pleaded "Give me my tapis!" Megan flagged Dinecia over and discovered that the boy and his family lived in a tattered post-quake shelter that leaked in the rain. He was asking me for a tent--a home. How does a privileged but greenhorn American begin to deal with such things? Other communications were humorous--Megan found herself being swatted in the behind by two small boys, and when she asked them in French what they were doing, they replied (in French) with a single word: "Dirty!"

Our total team water consumption was in excess of 20 gallons, and we plan to take MORE tomorrow! If everyone at home could please pray for light, cool rain about the noon hour tomorrow, Mary would be grateful--and she speaks for the team. Also, celebrate with us Mary's second whole day sans cigarettes! (And she's still fun to be around!)

We are soooo thankful for our team's Haitian member, Dinecia, without whom communication would be nigh impossible. Her translation services have been invaluable, and she teaches us bits of Kryol to try to remember, daily. Pastor Leon speaks some English, but the students as well as the hired workers speak little to none.

We were visited at our site by Rick and Cookie Ireland, and Bishop Roller and his son, Thaddeus. Their presence was encouraging and affirming. The hospitality of our local hosts has also been bountiful and humbling. Since something unfortunate happened to the outhouse on the work site, a neighbor lady and friend of the church, opened her home to the women in our times of need. It reminded us to take every opportunity to entertain strangers ourselves. The pastor and his church also cooked our whole team a wonderful lunch of fried plantains, tomato and green bean salad, and a delicious macaroni/potato/sausage salad. No doubt it was sacrificially provided.

We also visited the grave site of Jeannie Munos and three other ministers of the Gospel who had gone to be with the Lord in the earthquake. It was a somber moment; a reverent moment. Words cannot express what we felt standing on the site where they fell, remembering these who had directly motivated some of our team members to come to Haiti in the first place by their life's work. We were especially moved by the fact that Jeannie's own husband, Jack, has not even had the opportunity to visit her grave, as he is still recuperating in the States. Indescribable grief.

On a lighter note, we had a unique experience tonight, following a not-so-unique power outtage, which left us fanless in our sweltering compound. We were able to have devotions on the rooftop, with an almost 360 view of the entire city and coastline of Port au Prince, which was incredible at sunset. We also had the opportunity to view an array of local wildlife in our travels today, including: malnourished dogs, geckos, lizards (Carol was spooked by a family of 4), garbage-eating goat families, a hen with 6 fuzzy chicks crossing the road, an extra large cockroach which went to be with Jesus today at the hands of Ed, AND, a rat which, at first glance, appeared to be a kitty. Nuff said. But tune in for tomorrow's episode of Wild Haiti for updates!

Once again, we are very aware of God's presence and work in this country and we are grateful that it is He who has called us here and who provides for our every need, anticipated and unanticipated.