Haiti Mission Trip Day 4 (Tuesday)
After such a productive Monday, the CHC team was ready to get back at it on
Tuesday morning. Before I move on to the happenings of Tuesday, though, I
wanted to share something funny that Josh overhead Monday night. He was in the
team room and heard a Haitian neighbor shouting, “Scoo-by! Scoo-by!” Before
he had much of a chance to process what that could possibly mean in Haitian
Kriol, he heard the man whistle and call Scooby again. I guess he didn’t know
that to call Scooby, he should have shouted, “Hey, Scooby, where are you?!?”
(“RRRover heeerrrre!”) Sorry for the digression, but I have a nine-year-old at
home who could talk in Scooby-Doo voice all day every day if no one told him to
stop, so I thought the Haitian Scooby was particularly funny (he HE he he
he).
If Monday was the most productive day of our trip, Tuesday was the most
frustrating. Because we were such a task-oriented team, we saw a lot more that
we could have done on Tuesday, and we wanted to accomplish as much as we could
in the short time that we would be in Haiti. The roof team went back to work
and encountered to most meticulous part of the roof – lots of measuring and
cutting along the valley of the roof. The paint team went to work on the dining
room and kitchen walls and ceiling, only to run out of paint an hour-and-a-half
into the day; part of that can be attributed to how efficiently everyone
worked. More paint arrived late in the day, but we spent much of the day
waiting and looking for something to do. (The old construction axiom of “out of
work, grab a broom” didn’t work either as there was only one broom, and its
handle had been broken in two.)
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| The work may have been tough, but you couldn't beat the view! |
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| Tedious work |
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| Teamwork |
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| Tough part today to prepare for a productive tomorrow. |
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| Better part of a day spent in this valley. |
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| The painting begins |
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| Robbie getting the hard-to-roll places. |
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| Progress! |
So much of the day was spent waiting. But there is much to learn on a mission trip during such slow
times. We had fun getting to know one another and laughing together. We
watched the unfolding story of Andre’s tutelage of Ethan to befriend the goats.
We also adjusted as a team when one of our team members had a . . . uh. . .
wardrobe malfunction. After some clothes-swapping and making use of the
resources at our disposal (Remember the blue towels?), as well as separating
into male and female painting areas, the work was able to continue with
everyone’s dignity intact.
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| Ethan making new friends. |
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| Andre in a safe place...for a moment. |
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| This little girl loved her new Barbie doll. |
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| Robbie & Jodie posing for the CrossFit crowd. |
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| This whole overhead squat thing was Josh's idea. Inside story...just sayin'. |
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| Ethan just wants to pet you, pal... |
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| During work times or down times, there was always time to enjoy the incredible views. |
A Hurtling Battery
During one moment of down time, I was sitting on the dining room floor with
Andre, showing him photos on my phone. From the roof we heard a loud clatter
and looked up to see what was the matter. No, it wasn’t Santa. Instead, a
drill battery somehow came unclasped, crashed onto the floor, and came hurtling
down the stairs just a foot or so from our heads. I looked at Andre, and Andre
looked at me as if to ask, “Did that really just happen?” I was quickly
reminded of the chorus of Chris Tomlin's "Whom Shall I Fear" (as I was on Friday night during the scary part of our
drive into Jacmel) that was part of my Haiti soundtrack:
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side.
THE Most Precious Moment
On the way down the mountain from the construction site, we had an extra Barbie doll to give away. The whole team was on the lookout for a little girl who wasn't surrounded by others; we didn't want to cause a ruckus. About halfway down, someone spotted a little girl standing outside with some adults. Dusty gave the doll a heave, and the little girl let out a squeal of joy that words simply will not describe as she raced to pick it up. I wish we had a photo or video of that moment, but there are some moments that neither photos nor videos would do justice.
Team Determination
One thing that stood out to me on this day was how each team member
encouraged the others. When the roofing team came down at the end of the day
and didn’t see much distance from where they had left off on Monday, other team
members pointed out how they had done the hard part now and had set themselves
up to make much progress the next day. Fenel would later dub our team “Team
Determination.” That was true in our work but also in our attitudes; I would
want to go on another mission trip with any of the members of this team!
Another positive of this day, like all our other days at the construction
site, was that after a quick trip to the beach to cool off, there would be 13
amazing boys and girls at the House of Abraham ready to welcome us “home” and make the most of their
time with us.
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| Saintemine -- so stinkin' cute! |
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| Sharing candy with the neighborhood kids over the back wall. |
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| Richarson -- always posing. |
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| Always captivating to see what Widly will do next. |
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| Christalla & Heather |
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| Dusty & Clyphode |
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| Plan of salvation in Kriol on the back of this frisbee; Richarson sharing with Dusty. |
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| Robbie & Tchi |
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| Josh in Widly World |
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| Taking David ("Bubba") for a ride. |
Jodie & Tchi & belly laughs
I'm going to be taking a few days off the blog for Easter weekend ("He is risen, just as He said."). I will pick up next week on our last couple of days in Haiti, some summary thoughts, and a photo slideshow of the trip.
Catch up on or re-read previous days' blogs here:
Thanks for reading. Celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at church wherever you are this Sunday!
4theVoiceless,
Al
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