Our ministry in Haiti consisted of pouring concrete all day long and hauling that concrete to where it needed to be placed. It was a long hard month and in the moment, I hated it and wanted to do anything but that. However, looking back, it was a good month. The whole squad was together and we all had the same ministry. We all worked together, encouraged each other when we couldn’t lift another bucket or sat with each other when the heat overcame us.
One day, we had to pour 28 yards of concrete. There were the Americans and there were the Haitians. We began the day agreeing to compete against each other to see who would get done quicker, and obviously, it was a great motivator to work harder.
We thought we were going to begin pouring at 8 a.m. but didn’t actually start until 1 p.m. We worked the day through with sweat pouring off our bodies in the 90 degree heat. Each person did his share to complete the day. Arms failed, buckets fell, but slowly the foundation was filled in with the cement. Close to 7 p.m. we began hearing chanting. Now, one thing you should know: the Haitians had a small hill to climb and their path to walk on was really a trench, so it wasn’t easy for them. But when we heard that chanting, we looked, and those Haitians were running through that trench and up that hill with full buckets of cement. We Americans thought it was difficult walking with half full buckets of cement, but these Haitians were running!
Sadly but expectedly, they beat us. However, when they finished, they didn’t just sit down. They came over to help us complete ours. I’m telling you, arms that were tired were tired no more. It was motivation just to know that the Haitians were helping us. We American guys began putting the buckets of cement on our shoulders just like the Haitians and bringing it to where we would dump it, and that’s how the day ended! The best day of Haiti!
The worst day of Haiti remains one of the worst days of the whole race. At the end of our month in Haiti, we had a debrief and the squad parents flew down. The night before our team met for debrief with them, we circled up to have feedback and that’s when we found out that our team leader, Justin, was leaving the race and heading home in response to the what He felt God was telling Him.
Justin was the second person on my squad that I met before the race and training camp began. We met back in June or July of 2011 with Rebekah Clark for breakfast. Justin was a great team leader and a great man of God and we all shed tears that night. It was not an easy day for us. In a selfish way, I would give quite a bit to have him back on the race and team leading again. And that is the worst day of Haiti. Short and bitter.
