It is Sunday morning and as usual the sound of a broom sweeping is one of the first sounds of the morning. It has been an interesting week.
As I told you, we have finally moved into classrooms. Other than my boys getting turned around coming back from the bathrooms it has gone pretty smooth. We have been learning about the Great Commission in my Bible class and the kids had to pretend to be missionaries in another country and mime Bible stories because they do not know the language. After I got them to quit laughing so much, they did a great job.
I want to tell you about 3 of our students – they are sisters and lost their father in the earthquake. Their names are Emma, Alexa, and Krystelle. They are in the 2nd, 7th, and 9th grade. The middle girl, Alexa, shared her story with a few adults the other day and I would like to share it with you. Their father was at work when the earthquake happened. He worked in downtown Port, which was one of the hardest hit areas – it looks like a bomb went off. He did not come home that night and the next day their mother got a call telling her they were pulling people out alive from the building where he worked. Their mother went down to see if one of the people pulled out was her husband – it was not. They found him still sitting at his desk. A beam had fallen on him and they believed he died instantly. Alexa wears one of his rings on a chain around her neck. When asked what she missed most about her dad she said he used to come in her room every night – it didn’t matter what time it was. Sometimes she would stay up and pretend to be asleep just so she could feel him tuck her in and kiss her good night. She also said she thought he would walk her down the isle one day, but she guessed God had a different plan. To watch these girls one would never know they lost their father. They are full of joy and peace and come to school with a smile on their face everyday.
On Thursday I didn’t go to school. I went to our clinic because their was a dental team here and I needed to go have a tooth taken care of. On the way we stopped at Maxima which is a place where they are prefabricating temporary houses. They are 10 feet x 20 feet. There are 2 rooms and they also have a couple of windows and a front porch. (Haitians are very social and they spend a lot of time outside). They come in a kit that consists of 7 walls, 3 with trusses, 14 boards for purloins, 16 pieces of corrugated tin for the roof, 1 door and 2 windows with hinges and locks, and all the screws and nails needed to put it together. It takes about 6 hours to assemble once the concrete slab is poured. These houses are designed to last 3 to 4 years. When we pour the concrete slabs we form them 12 inches bigger than the house with a footer so when the house starts to deteriorate they can build a block home right around the existing home. The first family to get one is Remy’s family. Remy is the Haitian boss over the 28 Haitians that CSI employs now. He will move in Tuesday. We have already purchased 5 of these homes and hope to have them up and occupied within the next few weeks. The complete cost for one of these homes is $2800.00. There is also a new well with fresh drinking water on the property which was donated by a drilling company. The 2 former US President’s that visited Haiti last week spent a lot of time at this shop looking at these homes and were quite impressed.
A young man sat at the lunch table with me and a few other teachers this week. His name was Les and he was an EMT and had been in Haiti for a few weeks. He had been working in the hospitals, but knew he needed a break, so he was helping in the computer lab. He talked a lot about all the deaths and felt very limited in the care that they could give the Haitians. It was very discouraging to him that people were dying because Haiti doesn’t have good labs or an ample blood supply. He said when they did get blood it was warm and they couldn’t use it. His heart was broken for Haiti and he will go back to the US next week a changed person. Please pray for the people who come and help this country, that God will use this tragedy to change their hearts.
The 2 little twins that live outside our gate are 2 of the funniest little kids. The little girl, Na Na ( a is short ) loves my feet. When I go out to our gate she lays on her belly and reaches her hand under the gate so she can touch my feet. The other day I was standing on the outside of the gate and she saw me, turned around and backed up until she could sit on my feet and there she sat for the longest time. Last night Tim was her favorite, though. He took packages of fruit candy out to give to the kids. There were only a few kids in the beginning, but then they come from all over when they hear the blancs are giving out candy. Na Na stood right by Tim the whole time – he was sitting on a bucket and she kept laying her head on his leg. After all the candy was gone, all 60 packets, Tim needed to walk across the street and she walked with him holding his hand. What a precious way to end a day.
Today at church, I shared some comments that I have in one of my journals. There were different scriptures and sayings from different people concerning the cross. The last one I read was by a man named William Barclay.
“Even on a cross, Jesus died like a child falling asleep in his father’s arms.”
We pray each and everyone of you have a blessed week and may the realization of the love God has for you become greater than ever before.
tlc
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