So every day while we were in Haiti, we spent the morning putting on a VBS for the local children... THEN after a quick lunch, we began the work project part of our day. Our work project at Tabernacle of Christ Methodist Church involved:
1) putting in a concrete floor in the church (replacing their dirt floor)
2) building a concrete front porch to the church
3) building a latrine (in the backyard)
Construction projects aren't easy... especially in Haiti... in August! This is back-breaking, manual labor in HOT / humid conditions. We did hire a few Haitian contractors to help us, but we figured that these projects would be done just by our Covenant team... What we didn't anticipate, was that the members & neighbors of Tabernacle would be working side by side with us. We came to serve them - but they worked with us & just as hard... all of them! The men, the women, the children...
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| A TRUE team effort! |
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| Tabernacle of Christ Methodist Church - before our work project... |
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| The rock floor inside the church had to be broken up before we could lay rebar & pour concrete. |
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| Making concrete - by hand (without a concrete mixer) involves sifting white & dark sand... |
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| ...with gravel |
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| ...and rocks |
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| (see the women carrying buckets of water from the well?) |
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| ...and water. (Here, one of the Haitian workers gets into the NASTY creek to get more water after we cleaned out the well water). |
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| ...& then mixing, mixing, mixing. |
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| While the concrete is being made outside, rebar is being laid inside... This, too, is difficult as the grid must be hand-knotted with wire. |
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| Then the concrete is poured & smoothed... |
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| ...inside the church & outside on the porch. |
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| Everyone wanted to help! When this little boy couldn't find a partner to help him carry buckets of rock across the creek, he found a smaller bucket & carried it across all by himself! |
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| As I mentioned earlier, this is HARD work... sometimes, we needed a little "breather"... |
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| Rylee was DONE! She just passed out flat, face down on the concrete! |
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| Pastor Jason treated the workers with a special treat - popsicles from a local vendor! |
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| Finished! - the front porch... |
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| the floor inside (they add color to the concrete as decoration)... |
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| and the latrine! |
If I can take off my "Haiti Team Leader" hat for a moment & just be Shannon & Colin's Mom... This trip was amazing to share with my kids! I saw sides to them that I don't always see. I got to watch as this place affected them & brought them into a deeper relationship with God. (What a marvelous vantage point!!!) While planning our trip, I knew that Shannon would be great with the kids at VBS & I knew that Colin would be all over the work project. Yet I was pleasantly surprised to see their other sides... I know that Shannon is a hard worker - at anything she attempts - but she was truly a BEAST at the back-breaking, manual labor of this work project. She was slinging shovels & rocks like a grown man - without stopping!
And my sweet boy... He claims not to really "like" kids, but there he was with little ones ALL over him! He'd be carrying one, holding another's hand with several others attached to his shirt or shorts... All over him - holding, hugging, playing, loving...
I am so blessed with these two amazing kids - giving of their talents & work for God!
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters..." ~Colossians 3:23
Four short days later, (with the help of our Haitian friends) we accomplished all our projects (& even started planning next summer's projects!) God put together a great team - each with different strengths & talents & used them to His glory. Our Haiti team traveled together well; we lived together well; we worked together well; we played together well & we praised God & gave Him all the glory.
"But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be... Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." ~1 Corinthians 12:18, 27
More about our trip to come soon...
Renmen ak benediksyon!
~Laura
