THE CHRONICLES OF
HAITI… pt 3
The Past 24 Hours…
(written on July 16,
2010)
So, let’s talk about water consumption and the great little
lesson the Lord has taught me today.
Early Thursday morning, my team awoke as normal. 5am marks
our start up time for construction on the land that we live on. We’re leveling
out the dirt by pick axeing and shoveling dirt. It’s hard work, but totally
satisfying. The past few days, I’ve been struggling to consume water. I have
the bad habit of lazily leaving my water bottle about the land. Usually the sun heats it up and I no
longer want to drink it because it gets so hot. I’m not against drinking water
or anything… I just had a few days where I only drank it when I felt like it.
Later that morning, we ate our spread of breakfast, I chowed
down knowing that we wouldn’t have another meal for several more hours. I
hardly ever drink when I eat, so again I took only a sip to wash down my pills
for the day.
This is where it gets interesting.
Two World Race staffers made the trek down to Fond Blanc
(our little place tucked deep into the mountain about 2 hours outside of town)
to help us tie up a few loose ends. I had just woken up from a nap in my
hammock from nausea. I thought it was the warm climate + the motion from
swinging, so I popped out and tried to walk it off. YEAH…. That didn’t happen.
In the middle of an important conversation, I pardoned
myself to run down the mountain to my newly nicknamed favorite tree “What’s Up
Chuck”. There went breakfast. In
my embarrassment, I came back up and resumed business with the staff members.
Less than 20 minutes later, I was back at my tree.
The staffers left, and things seemed to just turn south from
there. I thought a good throwing up would have done the trick to make me feel
better. It seemed my body thought otherwise. I went to ask Leo (our contact and
translator that stayed on the land with us) to borrow a bed inside the
orphanage… on my way… I had to run past Jenny (another woman from the orphanage
that is absolutely AMAZING) as she offered her hello to throw up yet again.
Jenny then helped me to HER bed and began taking care of me immediately.
This is where it got bad. I threw up and had diarrhea so
many times, I couldn’t replace my liquids fast enough. Breakfast turned into
bile, and the potty trips started to increase. My teammates climbed the
mountain (about a 15 minute climb to get cell phone service) and made the call
for some help. A van was sent down the mountain for the second time that day!
PRAISE GOD!
Have I mentioned how amazing Jenny, Team Crash, and our
Savior is, lately??? Jenny let me have HER bed that whole day. Team Crash sang
and prayed over me for hours… not to mention Kyle climbed the mountain twice to
make the phone calls to Fontamara. God gave me the sweetest taste of assurance
and placed SEVERAL specific things on my heart to pray over. I found my
greatest point of physical weakness to be God’s whispering of intimacy.
The ride back to Fontamara was interesting. Three P-Squad
ladies made the trek along with a few other Haitians. Our tire blew on the way
back… at night… on treacherous mountain terrain. We had angel protection that
night, there is NO doubt about it.
The rest of the story is full of praise. Praise God there
were two nurses from the states staying at our contacts house in Fontamara.
Praise God for the care of one of the ladies staying here as she immediately
started to lower my temperature by gently pouring water over me. Praise God for
World Racers and an AWESOME community that know how to pray and declare
healing. Praise God that I’m laying down on a couch, blogging about how OUR GOD
HEARS THE CRY OF HIS PEOPLE.
In Haiti, they live in this desperation everyday… not just
when they don’t drink enough water. The past 24 hours, I tasted their
desperation. Thank you, Jesus, that you brought my heart into a deeper place in
yourself and your people.
Know that everything is okay, I’m feeling stronger by the
minute. Team Crash is doing well. God is showing himself and his beauty daily
through the scenery and his people. Pray for Pastor Smi, Pastor Leona, Jenny,
Leo, Pastor Jean Claude, the little babies at the orphanage, and the many
others that are living God’s word daily in the hills of Haiti.
I LOVE YA’LL VERY MUCH. We will have contact with you again
come August when we travel to Dominican Republic. Until then… PRAY.
Love love
