Trinity has a team in Haiti the week of March 4-12. Here are some notes from their team.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
God has blessed us with safe travels, and we are happy to be with our Haitian sisters and brothers! After spending Friday night in Fort Lauderdale, we flew to Haiti yesterday (Sat. Mar. 5). Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel in Cap-Haitien, Hotel Mont Joli, and then took the van to Grison-Garde to visit Institute Maranatha’s Elderly Village as well as their orphanage and school. The foundation for the duplex house that we will be building in the Elderly Village was excavated prior to our arrival. We are excited to get started on the building phase on Monday! After visiting the orphanage and school, we toured Dr. Eugene’s new hospital, which is in its construction phase. This morning (Sun. Mar. 6) we went to church at the Methodist Church in Cap-Haitien. It was a blessing to worship with our Haitian sisters and brothers this morning!
Today, despite the rain, we were able to paint several of the houses in the Elderly Village while the Haitian construction workers poured the cement foundation and set the rebar for the columns of the new house. It’s important to keep the houses painted because the paint protects the walls from the elements. You can see the contrast between the old coat of pink paint, which looks white, and the new coat of pink paint in the photos below. Before arriving to the Elderly Village this morning, we stopped by the Tovar Clinic and School, which are owned by the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and Americas. Yesterday afternoon we visited Henri Christophe’s palace and citadel, which are important symbols of Haiti’s independence. God continues to bless us with safe travels and wonderful friends! And tomorrow’s forecast is calling for plenty of sunshine!
God blessed us with plenty of sunshine today! It was a great day for applying a second coat of pink paint to the houses in the Elderly Village. The construction of the new house is coming along nicely. Denis, the engineer and mason of the project, told us that his team will be ready for us to help with laying the smaller blocks of the walls tomorrow. On the way back, we visited an orphanage that is led by several of Dr. Ford’s interpreters. We are having a great time in Haiti, and we appreciate the hospitality of our new friends!
We continued painting the exteriors of the houses today. Kelly, Renee, and Carmen got to help on the construction site. We are building friendships with the residents of the Elderly Village and surrounding community. Artists Sadrack, Frandy, and Ehrlin blessed the kitchen and two adjacent houses with brand new murals today!
We had another productive day today! After finishing the exteriors on all the houses in the Elderly Village, we switched gears and began painting the interiors. The residents of the Elderly Village have welcomed us inside their homes to paint, and we have enjoyed getting to know them this week. The walls of the new house continue to take shape, and we are thankful for our awesome construction worker friends who have been doing such a wonderful job! We have also enjoyed playing with the local children, teaching them songs, and learning Creole from them. Their laughter, curiosity, and enthusiasm warms our hearts and reminds us of God’s presence.
Today was our last day at the Elderly Village in Grison-Garde. We finished painting the living rooms, and we were able to paint a few of the bedrooms as well. We also painted the interior of the kitchen. The bedrooms we didn’t have time to paint this week will be painted by other folks in the community. Over on the construction site, a mason worked on covering the walls of the new house with a layer of cement. The new house will take approximately three more weeks to complete. The highlight of the afternoon was when we blessed the houses and their residents as well as the kitchen and kitchen staff, hanging a cross in each of the buildings. This evening, the team celebrated Holy Communion. Tomorrow we journey back to Richmond. This week has been amazing. Thank you for your prayers! God has blessed us in so many ways, and we look forward to sharing our experiences with the congregation!
