6 Dollars A DAY!!!
Dear people reading this blog…..Hi, Hello, and Welcome!!!
If you read my last blog then this one will be a little bit of a reality check, but if not lets give ya’ll a quick update okie dokie!!!
I am in Grande-Goave, Haiti and have been for 3 weeks. Our whole team of 45 peeps are here together serving at our ministry contact called MISSION OF HOPE INTERNATIONAL!!! This ministry is wonderful and amazingly involved with the Grande-Goave community. They all are very spirit lead and involve many different missionaries that serve many other people. Pastor Lex and his family have provided us with clean water, great food, and a very safe environment to serve God’s Kingdom here. M.O.H is in the process of constructing a new school/church/orphanage all rolled into one and plan on having it finished next year on the 3rd year anniversary of the Earthquake. This is a huge project because not only is it PRETTY DARN BIG, it meets California and Florida standards for being Quake/ Hurricane proof( or as much proof as possible). LOTS AND LOTS OF CONSTRUCTION!!!
Because of the need for their new building to be built they need……..? yup construction workers you guessed it!!! But heres the best part about the whole thing!!! IN HAITI THERE IS NO MACHINERY TO DO THE CONSTRUCTION WORK FOR YOU!!! No cement trucks to pour yards and yards of concrete at once. Its all done by hand……:( There is no tractors to excavate hundreds of yards of thick, hard, and heavy dirt. Its all done by hand. No dirt impactors for back fill that too is all done by hand. So what Im trying to tell you and have told you already is that THIS CONSTRUCTION WORK IS HARD AND DIRTY AND PAINFUL, (it kinda sucks some days to be honest). But thats not why I’m writing this blog. Im here to tell you the reality of haiti and the haitian people that work 80 hours a week for nothing( by American standards). In the U.S. we have a minimum wage which in most places is 7-8 dollars an hour. That is the minimum wage people need consistently to support their families, pay all their bills, and maybe buy enough food. We know that our minimum wages in the U.S. could be hirer but thats what we deal with. In haiti the construction workers I have worked side by side for the past 3 weeks have shown me what HARD WORK LOOKS LIKE!!! They are the hardest working people I have every meet!!!!(REALLY THEY ARE) and here is their reality…………….6 DOLLARS A DAY.
What does that make you think about?
How does this make you feel?
Compared to what we are used to in the U.S. how does this compare??
What could you buy in the U.S. that costs 6 dollars???
1.) A footlong subway sandwich (no chips or drink).
2.) McDonald’s burger meal
3.) 2 Sharpie pens (OfficeMax
4.) 1 pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
5.) 3 white undershirts (Walmart)
6.) Axe body spray
7.) Bargin Bin DVD (Hastings)
8.) 1 bottle of Shampoo
9.) Vente Starbucks Coffee
You get the Idea (and yes food is on my mind right now:)
Well here is the most shocking thing about what I have found out while in Haiti………The 6 dollars a day these construction workers make a day FEEDS 20 or more PEOPLE!!!!
20 People feed with Rice and Beans for 6 dollars really put things into perspective about how I would just waste so much money back home and how much crap we really don’t need!!!
Now Im not writing this to make you feel bad or piss you off because different places around the world will always never be the same. But this FACT really hit my heart hard and made me think more about the way we need to be serving the people here. Because I never thought in my WHOLE LIFE that I would be serving along Haitians at a construction site who only make enough money A DAY to buy 1 Starbucks back home.
Romans 8: 13 says; ” For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”!!!!
Our treasure is with Christ in heaven and the great thing is that we have been given so many riches already according to this passage. This world wants us to think that our lives need to be lived here on earth with money, houses, cars, food, drink, toys, all the things material to make us happy. But Christ gives us ETERNAL JOY that never leaves us. The spirit reminds us this all the time never to conform to the ways of the world. Haiti has been so peaceful and tough at the same time. Because Christ is present here and so noticed but the countrie is in ruins and seems like the are barely hanging on. But the have so much faith and energy and trust in the Lord to provide.
I feel like the Lord has revealed himself to me and our team here (in Haiti) in a whole new way. Christ continues to bring us interactions here that challenge our thinking and the ways we are used to living. Giving us more love for his people and that in turn makes me what to WORK so much harder while I have to opportunity to. It brings me true joy to serve along side my new friends and family. Haiti will never leave my heart and always be on my mind in my prayers!!!
Thank you for all your comments and LOVE, please continue to share my blogs with anybody you can. My support is entrusted to God and we praise his name most high!!! God is Change……Stay Christ Centered and Kingdom Focused Always!!!
