So the third day was a the first day our team started the actual work we were sent for. After breakfast and a group devotion with all the Disaster Relief teams and Haitian workers, we got into our car and drove about 50 minutes away to a rural village to the site we were working at. It was a somewhat small house that had collapsed and some of the walls and ceiling were still intact. There was still a lot of debris and bricks all over to be cleaned up by our team. There was a lot of stagnant water just in front of the house so there were a lot of mosquitoes buzzing around. I had already been bitten quite a number of times from inside the house we were staying at, and the bites were a nuisance while I was working. They told us to move all the debris to cover the water to get rid of the mosquitoes, and I wore long sleeve to protect myself from being bitten even more. We started to get to work and not 15 minutes into working all of us were sweating so much and fatigued. I think that day was THE hardest (not the worst) day of my life. I don’t think any of the team members expected how hard the working conditions were. It was about low 90’s and even though it was overcast, the rays seemed to shoot right through and burn us if we didn’t have adequate sun block. It was also very humid so the sweat felt really uncomfortable. On top of that, we were doing some labor intensive work. I think about 30 minutes into working I had already taken off my long sleeve and every 15 minutes we were all taking water breaks not to dehydrate and overheat ourselves.
From the moment we started working, we drew in a crowd of observers (mostly kids), and we would take the time to talk to them and share with them a tract in Creole that the NAMB had printed out. We had an interpreter who would help us communicate with curious audience, and sometimes they would even pick up a shovel or rake and start helping.
For lunch, all of us had to bring our own snacks and protein like bars to sustain us until dinner. We little water pouches that were provided by DR, which was nice because it was refreshingly cold. We continued to work and clean up the ruble and made great progress. We quite early because we were going to visit an orphanage nearby, but because our team leader wasn’t feeling too well we decided not to go.
On the drive back to the house everyone was so wiped out we barely talked or said anything. When we got back everyone cleaned up and got ready for dinner. Usually during dinners the IC (like the managers for all the work being done through DR) people would open up the time for all the teams to share some encouraging news about the day. Monday was the most encouraging news that heard during that week. Dennis, one of the IC people shared about the history of Haiti and compared it to the US. US and Haiti are very similar countries in that they were both colonies of a country, and both declared independence around the same time. In fact, Haiti was exporting MORE resources back to France than the original 13 colonies combined. So why is it that US is one of the richest countries in the world, and Haiti the poorest in the western hemisphere? Dennis attributed that US built the country on Biblical principles, and Haiti (even though many deny and it is considered a Catholic country) actually made a 200 year pact with the Devil through this ceremonial ritual that basically pushed Haiti into voodoo- ism, which instills fear into its followers otherwise a curse would be placed on them. After 200 years passed (2004), the now former Haitian president was going to renew that pact, but for some reason that DIDN’T happen. Dennis also explained that Pastor LeBlanc, who heads CMBH, has a HUGE vision for Haiti, that 1.5 million people would be saved ( I forgot the time frame that he said, but I think it all started in 2003), and they felt that this earthquake really jump started a revival in Haiti. These people are so open and willing to change their views of God because everything was literally shaken up in their lives. Nothing seemed as it was, and Christians are able to give them that solid hope in Jesus Christ. Not to place any importance in numbers, but about 85 new churches started since the earthquake, and there have been 85,000+ professions of faith since then too. Whether or not they are true conversions I don’t know, but the fact is something is stirring in Haiti, and I believe it is the Holy Spirit!
Another amazing story that I heard was up on the mountain side, there used to be a part of it that looked like an “X”, but after the earthquake, that “X” shifted into a cross. I think that’s God’s way of reclaiming Haiti. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a gigantic cross up on the mountain side as a daily reminder that God is HERE, and He dwells within His people who are the church.
Just a side note, when our team was called to Haiti, we were told that we might have to move the Buckets of Hope buckets. The update on that is, our team never got to see those buckets, which would have been really cool. Last I heard they have several shipping containers that contained close to 150,000 buckets awaiting to be released by customs. SBC will move all of those buckets to a secure warehouse in which they will distribute the buckets through the local churches to not cause any riots. I was really praying to get to see those buckets, because my church put together 60 buckets, and it would have been really cool to be in Haiti seeing those buckets in the hands of Haitian people. God said ‘no’ and had me do other important work that needed to be done =)
That’s pretty much all for this day….until tomorrow!
