Sweat. Flexibility. Hard Labor. Humidity. Humility. More Sweat.
These are the words that best sum up our time here in Haiti so far.
Day 1-
Our first day as a time was spent traveling from Nashville to the Nazarene Seminary just outside of Port-au-Prince in a town called Petionville. After a plane delay in Miami, we were finally on our way. Upon arrival, we searched for all our bags in an old airplane hangar where we then walked through "Customs." Undoubtedly, our trip from the airport was consumed with dropped jaws and culture shock as we drove through dirty streets, and a heavy downpour. By the time we reached the Work & Witness house on the Seminary Campus, it was almost completely dark out. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a Work and Witness team from Southern Nazarene University, where we began to sweat.
Day 2-
We began our day early with breakfast at 5:30am. Fueled and ready to work, we quickly began our first lesson on flexibility. Our plans for the day were halted as we waited for our our Work & Witness coordinator, Frantz, to return from some errands. Finally around 6:30am, we began working on the campus prepping some materials for the rest of our week. We began by sorting school supplies that we brought. We also, stained pews, welded some seats into the back of a big cage truck, sorted tools, built a pulpit and built a cross for the church we would be working on Wednesday and Thursday. Once our day was completed our sweet Haitian house "mom" (Elise) had made up sloppy joe's to eat! Sleep came early, as we knew day 3 would quickly be approaching and the sweat would begin to pour once more.
Day 3-
With breakfast at 5:30am and a departure at 6:00am, our day started early. Only, once more, our start was delayed. After some 5 gallon jugs of drinking water were bought at market, we began to make our way to the church we would be finishing in a very pour community in the mountains called, "Pernier #2." Upon our arrival, around lunch, we found all of the masonry work completed by locals. The church was responsible for housing and feeding the masons; a huge burden. They were also responsible for finding the rocks for the foundation, pulling them out of the river bed, and climbing the mountain up to the construction site with them. We were told the community woke up early for several weeks to be able to complete this task.
Anyways, once there, we set up our tents we would be sleeping in. The community began to gather and would watch us work (and some work beside us) for the entire time we were there. Once we got going, we heard news that one of the Work and Witness Coordinators from Oklahoma had been rushed to the hospital with a ruptured appendix. So Frantz, left us to go be with her and take care of her. (Continue to pray for Jennifer, as she recovers... Brent and I just saw her in the hospital and she is in a lot of pain, but is going to live)
Even without Frantz, we still competed our tasks for the days. We built pews, assembled roof truss, and painted a lot of the building. We ended our day by scarfing down some spaghetti and crashing into our sleeping bags. Also, I killed the biggest spider I've ever seen that night. (I just thought you needed to know that and know how manly I am.) Also, I sweated the whole night.
Day 4-
We woke early (5:00am) and got straight to work after a quick breakfast. Frantz was back, helping and instructing by the time breakfast was over. We worked hard screwing tin to the beams, painting the entire building with a second and third coat (inside and out), and cleaned up around the building. We never stopped sweating and as I now sit in the the Work & Witness house on the Nazarene campus, I continue to drip with sweat!
