Haiti Trip #11 - March 25, 2012

Good morning, God!

Prayer Partners of the Day - Mom & Maple Springs UMC

Is there a better Sunday than waking up and walking outside to sit beside a beautiful ocean to have a bit of quiet and centering time? Nothing is better than greeting the morning with a "GOOD MORNING, GOD!" Not only this, we have an entire church praying for our team today in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Thank you, Maple Springs UMC.

Salien, the great

We attended worship just down the road at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. (This will be the site of our solar retrofit of an existing clean water system.) The highlight may have been the children's choir singing "Shine, Jesus, Shine," and they were so precious. Father Jean Jacques Deravil presided over the service and actually came into the congregation to deliver his hour-long sermon from memory. This was the first time I had seen a priest come out from the pulpit, as they are usually glued to it! The service was, of course, in Creole, but though we did not understand the words, the message was clear. Father Deravil invited me up to introduce the team, which I happily did, and afterwards, he said something a little unexpected... He promised the congregation that anyone even thinking of stealing the solar panels would have God to answer to! He called down the wrath on all those

Playing with fire

We returned to the compound to change clothes and have lunch. With a bit of "lull" time, it was the perfect opportunity to lay under the mango tree and listen to the waves.

Karl, the great

Work began right after lunch, and the team worked feverishly through the hot afternoon. Salien, our electrician extraordinaire, worked with two men (one in a tree!) to install the solar panels into the frame. Mark, our terrific teacher, had the team divided into pairs working on various projects. I took the opportunity to sit with a great kid named Karl... Karl was about 11 years old and spoke great English! I pulled out my Greek school book and taught him the Greek alphabet. Soon, we had him working on the project and translating instructions for the community.

They sent Ancy & I on an mission to find PVC fittings. We went into town, unsuccessfully looked for parts at a store, and then the manager took us walking down a dirt road to a person's house to see if he had some. Of course, standing out like a sore thumb, I quickly drew a crowd to accompany us on the walk!

By the time we returned, the team had changed out the board pump, hooked up the charge controller, mounted the disconnect box, and Mark had led a group 100 feet over at the well on installing the submersible pump. By 4:00pm, the team was sweating and practically finished with the project! I was impressed...especially as I happily sat under the tree with many of the women of the community. It was a beautiful time... Though we did not speak the same language, we were able to communicate perfectly. We sang a few songs, I showed them pictures of my family, and it felt like we had known each other for years. This is what I love about working in the mission field. We really are all children of God and one family.

The team finished up work, packed up and Madame Deravil had a feast awaiting us for dinner. We were all quite tired from such a long day's work, but immediately we perked up when two bats were caught in the dining hall and began diving at our heads! Ah, what a great ending to a fruitful day.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church complete with solar panels & clean water.