Day 4

Hard but Glorious work We spent most of the day finishing the moving of the big dirt pile from yesterday, and by late in the day we had moved all of it from the outside wall of the cistern to the road leading to the playground. It was hot, humid, and heavy work since it had rained much of the day and night before and the dirt we were moving was now mud. However, our team had the best day yet working extremely well together with great fellowship to get the job done. We were also able to get to know our Haitian coworkers better, like Aishan the job boss, Oscar, Sylvan, and others. We also had the help of some little helpers, like Mark’s new little 6-year-old friend, Larry who had to help Mark push the wheelbarrow.

The highlight of the day for several of us was again recess. Ceola had her nail painting salon going, but it seemed she spent most of her time fixing the efforts of her employee, John, who seemed to not paint fingernails but whole fingers! Tom managed to convince Pastor Edzair Paul to gleefully jump rope with a bunch of girls, while Adam and Mark once again survived the playground full of soccer balls and a football and a chaotic mess of boys sacrificing their bodies in order to get a chance to touch the ball.

Adam spent most of the afternoon with Elija and Ismail (Lamair’s brother), listening to music together and worshiping God together, and discussing theological and cultural subjects. There was much laughter and praising God coming from that crew, and knowing that God was in the middle of their fellowship. It didn’t bother the rest of us a bit that Adam was slacking the afternoon away!

When we returned to the guesthouse, a team of 10 from Seattle were returning from the field after truly roughing it in a remote village north of Port au Prince. It was fascinating to hear the differences in our experiences as well as the issues and concerns they dealt with that we don’t (like how to handle a tarantula invading your bed in the middle of the night!). This group lived without electricity or running water the entire week, making us feel a bit guilty that our team is able to enjoy the comforts of "home" while here.

All of us are beyond excited for the morning we will return to the Methodist children’s home (an orphanage our teams have been visiting for years). We can’t wait to connect with the children that still reside there and spend a morning of fellowship with them, sharing Christ’s love.

Our devotion tonight was from Matthew 6:24-34, where Christ is preaching from the mountain about how there is no need to worry about trivial things, that He cares for all and will provide for all. Verse 34 seems to encapsulate our theme for the week and was cause for much discussion during devotions tonight, “Therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each Day has enough trouble of its own.” As Ceola pointed out, tomorrow never comes and we only have today, so stop worrying about tomorrow. As our week here in Haiti continues, we approach each day not knowing what is to come or what we will be working on, but our faith in God’s plan is already providing great rewards.