“This is the day that the LORD hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
I am so thankful that my sleeping bag, pillow and small blanket were tucked away in Garett's bag! I was so tired last night that I fell asleep even before the lights were turned off. The mission house runs its lights on a generator. Generallly the generator is turned off at night, but there were a few people that were here for the dedication that needed the electricity for health reasons. The mission house project has been completed (for the most part) and it is a testimony of God’s grace and provision. Lord willing, until the Lord returns, the mission house will continue to be a beacon on a hill that will house teams that have come to serve, provide a place to encourage the Haitians, and a place that will continue to shine as a light in a dark place.
Praying for Garett today. I want his eyes to be opened and his heart stirred. Rejoicing in another day to serve Jesus!
We had our first medical patient this morning. Hannah had just woken up when Kevin told her that a mom and baby were on the porch waiting for her. A mom had brought her baby to the mission house
because the baby had something wrong with her mouth. It didn’t take long to determine that the problem was a terrible case of thrush! The mom had stopped nursing about a month ago as the baby had stopped sucking. Since that time the baby would eat small bites of food and drink a bit broth or gruel. Hannah gave the baby some Motrin and weighed the baby. Weighing the babies is not the same was what we would do in the U.S. Hannah created a scale using her creative brain side and her sewing skills. She created a type of sling for infants and a baby jumparoo seat (one of those ones that
hangs in a doorway) for the older kids. And by using a luggage scale, we can get a fairly accurate
weight on the children. We discovered that the baby weighs about 12 pounds and is 10 months old. Kacie also looked the baby over and determined that thrush seems to be the main problem. Hannah had found a few containers of baby formula on sale in the states...and miraculously, the containers were not in the missing suitcase. (Of course, God was the One who worked out that detail!) God knew that this baby would need this formula. Hannah was able to get the baby to drink from a syringe, and that baby was hungry! She slurped down about six ounces via the syringe and conked out for a nap! Garett sat patiently by Hannahs side to help her refill the syringe. Garett does love babies!
The group of people that had come from the states for the dedication were heading down the mountain today. They went back down the mountain with the driver that had driven us up last night. I don’t think the group flies out until tomorrow, but maybe someone will be able to inquire about our bags if we haven’t heard anything by then.
Time for church...and what to wear!? I ended up wearing Hannah’s dress that had been packed in her carryon, and Hannah borrowed clothes from Emelie. Maybe our suitcases will arrive today?
The church house was full when we arrived at about 9:30 am. There doesn’t seem to be a particular time when church starts, just whenever the Pastor is ready to start and the people are there. I thought the church building looked full when we arrived, but the people just kept coming! We all crammed into the church building where the Haitians were already singing exhuberantly. Several other pastors were at the service today as the church in Seguin had been having a Pastor’s conference over the weekend. I always enjoy listening to the church people sing and it was lovely. We were at church
around 9:30, and church wasn’t over until almost noon! We stood up for one brief 15 second period,
and then everyone sat down. Imagine...lots of people sitting on hard wooden benches without a back
on them for over two hours-and the Haitians hardly move! They sit still crammed together and seem
to be happy to be at church. When the offering was taken, the people seemed to give what little they could with joy and cheer. I would estimate that between 85-90% of the people put something in the offering plate! Just imagine if that happened in the U.S.! Tara and I were talking about it later in the afternoon as we had both noticed how the church people gave. Granted their money isn’t worth a whole lot, but still they gave! In America we have people that complain if the church building is too hot or too cold, if the seat is too hard, or if someone sits in their pew! But here the people seem to want to soak in the hearing of Gods Word even if they are uncomfortable. We also had communion at church today. It was clear to see that there were more people than cups for communion. We needed up sharing communion cups and crumbling the cracker into bits so we could share. But God sees our hearts, and I do believe that He was honored and glorified in the service today.
Everyone was very hungry after church, but it was still a bit of time before it was time to eat. Garett
told me that the church service was a bit hard because he didn’t understand the language. He also told me that he was thankful that our church services back home aren’t quite so long without a break! Garett also observed the generosity of the peoples giving in the offering, and I was a bit impressed that he had made that observation.
The church was having a church dinner today as they had so many guests. Some of the ladies in the church had stayed up most of the night making rice and beans for the church people. It also meant that we had plenty of trash to pick up later in the afternoon! Lauren (a friend of the Faulde’s), Beca (the Faulde’s daughter) and Moriah (another daughter) and myself certainly spent some timepicking up styrofoam plates from where they had just been dropped as the people finished the food. However, we didn’t find one plate that had any food left on it. All the plates were spotlessly clean-no waste!
After lunch we started working on pulling out all of the medical supplies. We have four Haitian
nurses and one Haitian doctor from Port-au-Prince that will be helping this week. Its neat to see these Haitians that have a heart to serve their own country. It was quickly apparent that there were plenty of people to help organize medical supplies, so Emelie and I started cleaning the kitchen. Its a
job that I don’t mind, but it’s a bit of a challenge without an abundance of water, dish soap, and kitchen towels! We managed to get the stove on so that we could heat water. Moriah came up with a washcloth, and while it took a bit of work, the kitchen was eventually completely clean...at least for the moment!
Pastor Kevin called to see if there was any word on our missing bags. The first person he talked to had no idea about anything. He called again and spoke to someone else and they are supposed to call him back in a bit.
After Hannah was done with the medicine, she need to go check on the baby from this morning. Emelie, myself, Hannah, and Beca hiked down to check on the baby. As we walked up to the house, the dad was reading to the family from the Bible. This family lives in a home that has no windows, straw sleeping mats, limited clothes and food, and yet the dad was spending time reading to his family from Gods Word. The baby was given more medicine and we will be following up with the baby tomorrow- before we head to Chota for a full day of clinic.
Garett went with Pastor Kevin, Josh, Marcus and Josiah this afternoon to work on a roof. He was excited to ride on a motorcycle (no helmet of course). I’m sure he will come back very hungry as they left around 3pm, and as of now its 8;45 and they aren’t back yet. I’m praying that he will be a blessing this afternoon and that he enjoyed the work.
Since Hannah and I are missing the majority of our clothes, we needed to come up with a plan. Several bags of clothes had been brought up to the mission house for the pastor to distribute to those in need. Well, the Lord knew that we would have a need. He provided a pair of pants for both of us
and a skirt that I can wear as well as some t shirts. Hannah was able to cut off the pants I found as
they were way too long! Now we wont need to do quite so much washing in the sink, and hoping the clothes will dry! After we are done using the clothes this week, we can just leave them here for those in need. We have friends that would gladly share their clothes with us, but everyone has a limited supply! I’m not going to be looking like a fashion statement this week, and I probably won’t match for most of the week, but my clothes will be fairly clean! I’m thankfuL!
It was a busy and full day with church services, cleaning, visting people, and preparing for tomorrow. The plan is to start our hike to Chota around 7:00 am. Tomorrow. We have a large team of people going as we have the four Haitian nurses, one Haitian doctor, 2 physician assistants, one nurse, and about 10 other people that will be finding ways to be useful during the clinic. I’m praying that unity and harmony will be sweet and that God will give wisdom and direction.
Its now 9:00 pm and the guys are not back yet from the roofing project. Kevin’s goal was to finish it even if it meant finishing by moonlight. Good thing there is a full moon tonight!
Tara and I switched rooms at the mission house today. We are now in the room with all the medical supplies, and its just the two of us. I certainly didn’t mind where we slept last night, but I’m happy to make this change...maybe I am getting old! Its nice to have a pit of peace and quite and to be able to shut the door on the noise. Of course closing the door doesn’t make all the noise go away, but it does cut it down to a dull roar.
Prayer requests for today:
1) a good nights rest for all
2) Garett to get back safely
3) for the sick baby
4) unity and harmony
God is good!
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