Marv and Steve digging the foundation for the security wall at school in Petion-ville.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
October 25 in Haiti
Grace and Peace to you, and thank you for your interest and prayers.
Once a day, if we can make connections, we receive a cell call from Mellier with news from the part of our team that's out there, and so we can include more information from them today. We won't get their pictures until they come back to the Guest House on Thursday, so the slideshows right now are from the team in Port-au-Prince.
From their call Oct. 25:
Belinda Strickland and Kay Lansverk have been planning wonderful entertainment for the children at the school. They dramatized the story of the good Samaritan and the kids totally got it...poor and beaten down person ignored by others. Kenita was the good Sam and Clint Stanovsky as the donkey carried the wounded person to care.
They are moving a whole lot of rocks to form a foundation for a new church. It's hot and heavy work. Just about the time they think they are ready, more trucks arrive with foundation material. The Mellier school and church were destroyed in the earthquake . The epicenter was quite close. Right now the school and church share a temporary wooden building.
Kay was singing "We are Marching, for the Lord Is Our Light" softly in Swahili as she was digging, then heard more voices singing it, too. It was the young Haitian men working with them, singing along in Creole. "We know that song," claimed Jackie, one of the men, and he headed into the building for a few minutes. When he came out he carried a sheaf of papers, and through their interpreter said, "I'm in the choir." They found the songsheet with "We Are Marchin" in Swahili, and sang it in Swahili and then English. Up until then much of the work was in silence, but now a really good connection is underway, human to human. Later, they heard the women singing it as they worked on dinner.
October 24 was Deb Olenyik's birthday, and Oct. 25th Su DeBree's...and Bishop Elaine made sure we had the most wonderful celebrations ever!
A highlight of the day for the PAP team was spending an hour hearing stories from Jim Gully about his experiences working with UMCOR, finding ways to strengthen the capacity of the Haitian Church in ways that can be sustained. Programs are unfolding for development in health, literacy, microloans and agriculture throughout the country with Haitian people who have the skills, initiative and interest to carry them through.
In PAP we continue to work on tearing down security walls that were damaged in the earthquake. Nearly all the homes and schools in town have cinderblock and/or rock and concrete walls around them for privacy and safety. We helped build rebar supports as well as move rocks.
Every evening we reflect on the events of the day and share ways we have experienced God's grace at work. We are blessed in so many ways by those we have come to serve.
Su DeBree
Once a day, if we can make connections, we receive a cell call from Mellier with news from the part of our team that's out there, and so we can include more information from them today. We won't get their pictures until they come back to the Guest House on Thursday, so the slideshows right now are from the team in Port-au-Prince.
From their call Oct. 25:
Belinda Strickland and Kay Lansverk have been planning wonderful entertainment for the children at the school. They dramatized the story of the good Samaritan and the kids totally got it...poor and beaten down person ignored by others. Kenita was the good Sam and Clint Stanovsky as the donkey carried the wounded person to care.
They are moving a whole lot of rocks to form a foundation for a new church. It's hot and heavy work. Just about the time they think they are ready, more trucks arrive with foundation material. The Mellier school and church were destroyed in the earthquake . The epicenter was quite close. Right now the school and church share a temporary wooden building.
Kay was singing "We are Marching, for the Lord Is Our Light" softly in Swahili as she was digging, then heard more voices singing it, too. It was the young Haitian men working with them, singing along in Creole. "We know that song," claimed Jackie, one of the men, and he headed into the building for a few minutes. When he came out he carried a sheaf of papers, and through their interpreter said, "I'm in the choir." They found the songsheet with "We Are Marchin" in Swahili, and sang it in Swahili and then English. Up until then much of the work was in silence, but now a really good connection is underway, human to human. Later, they heard the women singing it as they worked on dinner.
October 24 was Deb Olenyik's birthday, and Oct. 25th Su DeBree's...and Bishop Elaine made sure we had the most wonderful celebrations ever!
A highlight of the day for the PAP team was spending an hour hearing stories from Jim Gully about his experiences working with UMCOR, finding ways to strengthen the capacity of the Haitian Church in ways that can be sustained. Programs are unfolding for development in health, literacy, microloans and agriculture throughout the country with Haitian people who have the skills, initiative and interest to carry them through.
In PAP we continue to work on tearing down security walls that were damaged in the earthquake. Nearly all the homes and schools in town have cinderblock and/or rock and concrete walls around them for privacy and safety. We helped build rebar supports as well as move rocks.
Every evening we reflect on the events of the day and share ways we have experienced God's grace at work. We are blessed in so many ways by those we have come to serve.
Su DeBree
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)