Haiti Day #3 - January 13, 2011

Thanks of the day -- First's 


Today was filled with "first's".

For the FIRST time, I painted in Haiti. Sally & I were in a different car this morning and arrived in Blanket well before the rest of the team. The painter had just shown up to the site and was happy to have help in painting the building! I love to paint, and it was the FIRST time I've ever been allowed to paint in Haiti!

We had our FIRST education class in Blanket.  Leonie & Sheri greeted 20 wonderful students to kick-off the hygiene education class. We immediately saw an increase in enthusiasm from any of the other education classes we have ever taught. They were young adults, and eager to learn. They were sponges for the information.

I heard Jesus Loves Me for the FIRST time in French; however, they were more excited to sing the song in English! Imagine being outside a building and hearing many voices singing, "Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!" These are the most heart-warming words I have ever felt. My cup was overrunning with gratitude and love.

While the singing was going on, we were installing my FIRST submersible pump! We had 160 feet of PVC pipe strung out, attached the pump and a rope, and down the hole it went. After awhile, Melissa came into the education class and asked for prayers... The pump would not run. I grabbed Melissa's hand, and we went back to the water building. There, we knelt down beside the well, put our hands on the pipe, and prayed aloud. Now, Melissa wasn't too comfortable with laying hands on the pump and praying for it... But there I sat and prayed aloud that God would make the pump work OR He would let us quickly fix the problem.  Not 10 minutes later, Jerry arrived back on site and immediately saw the problem.  Within 10 more minutes, the pump was working.

Next we pumped the FIRST five-gallons of clean water from the system. The smile on Pastor Evens' face when George presented him with the five-gallon bottle of clean water from HIS system... Well, that is a moment I will never forget.

George came in with this bottle of water as Sally, Pastor Evens & I signed the LWW Covenant, a FIRST for me! This covenant puts our partnership in writing and officially makes us one family.

Tonight, our devotion was on "joy". My joy and thanksgiving came in the form of "first's". Today I saw a year and a half of hard work and dedication come to fruition. There is now clean water for the Children of Blanket. Praise be to God. Amen.