Bon Swa!
It is currently raining in Haiti, and has been continuously since last night. I am guessing we have had over 6 inches total! Praise God for the pavilion roof – it allows us to have a dry space to meet and eat as a large group. This morning started at the more relaxed breakfast time of 8:00. After a devotion over Psalm 36 we ate fresh pineapple, banana, toast with mamba (spicy peanut butter), fresh mango, and a breakfast porridge called AK 100. Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and Haitian coffee rounded out the meal.
After breakfast, we split up into work groups. Some made snacks for the kids’ club play days to be held later on in the week. Others planned out a puppet show complete with Gospel script and puppets that they handcrafted with leftover craft supplies. Another group took apart the pitball pit and refurbished it into a puppet stage (work in progress). There was also a group that put the Nine-square game away after carefully labeling all of the parts correctly (in the rain). And finally, an intrepid group of 7 made their way over the mountain and dug trenches in preparation of the new water piping to be installed at the well house (in the pouring rain). Faulty joints in the existing water line made the job super exciting with a huge water geyser that required some emergency Haitian engineering. They also mended a fallen fence section by the road. Konrad accompanied Gersan to Cap Haitian to get the necessary PVC parts to repair the water system and re-plumb it. Hopefully we can accomplish that tomorrow.
At 10 :30 am Jordan and her mandolin, Noah, Maggie, Amy, and Elizabeth R performed 3 hymns live over Radio Ciel FM 98.7 The rest of the group crowded around the transistor radio at the pavilion or the speaker outside of the station and listened. They did great!
After lunch we put on dry clothes and did some small projects under roof, including cleaning up around the pavilion. We then relaxed for some of the afternoon while the rain poured and poured and poured some more. The team has bonded well and enjoys playing “Spicy Uno” and “Spoons” – it gets pretty raucous. The Haitians on staff here at Jacob’s Well have been making good use of their rain poncho gifts.
Tomorrow we plan on finishing the puppet stage and practicing performances. We also need to build a PVC manifold for the well house and build and paint a new pitball pit. Konrad and Noah have some more welding to complete, and we hope to be able to paint the solar security light poles that he and Noah have constructed. Then we plan to install them around the campus. Please pray for the rain to end. Many of our work projects are extremely hampered by the current weather, but we understand this is what the Lord has ordained for us to experience here today. Praise the Lord for holding the rain until after the day camps were completed! Also pray for the water system; we continue to ration water (other than drinking and cooking water which is purchased in 5 gallon jugs for us) while the system limps along until we can make the necessary fixes. The situation is somewhat ironic considering all of the water falling from the sky! It is always sobering for us to contemplate the difficult conditions in which the Valcins minister in day and day out. God is gracious and always supplies, and their joy and faithfulness is contagious. We can’t think of a better place to be right now than in Haiti serving alongside them. Thank you for making that possible! We appreciate your love, support, and prayers.
Good night (bon nwit) and God Bless,
Haiti 12 Team
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