I will not have internet very much here in Haiti, so I have
to cram a lot of info into my blogs. I will not be able to upload any pictures
until next month either.
Left San Juan on Saturday July 31st at 5 am on a
bus back to Santo Domingo (our first destination) to get on another bus so we
could travel through San Juan on a different bus to go to Haiti. About 12 hours
later we arrive in Port-a-prince. 8 hours after that my team finally arrived in
Grand Guave, Haiti. That last stretch was insane. We piled into a short bus
that we had to push start up a hill and then went on a crazy adventure through
Port-a-prince. Traffic got very bottle-necked and it was nuts. Cut throat
driving. We hit 2 cars and clipped a stand on the side of the road and
didn’t slow down at all. While I was praying we wouldn’t get in a crash while I would
look out and try to see the damage from the earthquake. The bigger the buildings were,
the harder they fell. Case in point is the Haitian President’s House (I think
that is what it is), a huge building similar to the U.S.’s White House, had
crumbled in the middle and the entire structure was leaning. Such an amazing
image I will never forget seeing it.
We are working with an organization called Mission of Hope in Grand Guave, Haiti. We met our contact, Renee and stayed at her house/office
because we got into town at about midnight. After a few hours of sleep we went
to church which was amazing. It was so encouraging to see so many people worshiping God and
Jesus. Just before we left for church they asked if one of us wanted to give a sermon.
I said sure. I spoke on dying to yourself and your passions so that you can
live fully for God. I was nervous speaking in front of so many people (about
100-150 I would guess) but I give all the glory to God for that experience.
After church we headed to our home for the next month. We are
camping on an absolutely beautiful beach front. After swimming in the ocean our
contacts made us a great meal, I watched a stunning sunset then I slept under
the stars by the ocean. Life is good.
sunrise over the ocean. Then off to work. We met up with PePe, our other
contact Pastor Lex’s brother, to build houses. They had premade frames that we
put together and nailed. After that they put tarps on the outside and nail them
down. These are basically better temporary tent homes. An organization called Samaritan’s purse provided the tarps, frames and nails I believe and then volunteers have made all of the homes. The tarps are a typical ‘tarp blue’ color which is not the most attractive sight, but they really stick out on the mountainside. Everywhere you look you see the homes scattered amongst the lush green landscape. It is a ton of work putting the houses together, but I do not work out of my own strength, but the
strength God provides me.
Just as I was getting a hang of Spanish in the DR, we got a
wrench in our wheel because they speak Creole here in Haiti. It’s like French
on crack. It is a very fun language to speak though.
I love Haiti. God’s creativity and beauty is undeniable. I
am in awe of how stunning his creation is and how sovereign He is over it all.
From the stars, to the ocean, to everything that we can see and experience that
takes our breath away, He made it all. All that beauty and power funneled and
channeled into a man is Christ. He is all of that beauty embodied in the form a
man. Then here is the kicker… Christ lives in us if we will allow Him. All of
that beauty is inside of me.
