Haiti - Day 5 (Thursday)

We got a late start on Thursday, because the team had worked so quickly the day before that we ran out of shelter kits to assemble.  We had to load the entire truck bed full of pre-assembled walls and bunks and lumber and tin.  A few us (the smart ones) chose not join the others (the crazy ones, shown above) on the back of the truck o‘ doom.  But by 10 a.m. all the teams members were on site and it was back to building.

We split into crews to work on specific parts of the houses.  Don, the construction MVP for the week (he was banging these things out like he does it for a living), took his folks and got to work framing new houses.  Rick and I installed the sets of beds as the houses got framed.  Dave worked with some great local volunteers to wrap the shelters with the enormous blue tarps.  And our good friend, Edder, was managing the roofing crew and doing a great job.

During lunch, Ramil, one of our translators, studied the book of Romans, Chapter 9, with our very own Pastor Rick Guttierez, or “Pastor Ricardo” as the Haitians prefer to call him.  They got into a deep theology discussion; you could just tell how hungry the Christians are in that part of the country to learn about God, and Rick can bring the heat wherever he goes.  It’s great to see God using him, and our entire team, not only to serve the community for their felt needs, but also for the Christians who live here, who desperately need mentors to be beside them, showing them how to help others, and how to study God’s word.

The locals aren’t the only ones being helped.  Rick and I have spent time each day learning just a little bit of Creole.  The last time I felt at such a loss for the language was my 8th grad field trip to Quebec, but the small amount of French I do remember helped tremendously; Creole seems to be just a more efficient form of French.  The people are very patient; they appreciate our effort, and our translators, the ones teaching us, are incredible.

To see all the photos I took on Thursday, CLICK ME.

Questions and comments are always welcome.