April 11 - 22, 2011 - Haiti

Monday – April 11, 2011

All is well down here in Haiti. Traveling went as smooth as we could have asked for.  We got to drive around Port au Prince when we got in, always an experience.  Thank you for all your prayers and please keep praying throughout the next 2 weeks for safety, guidance, and a servants heart for all of us.  The weather is hot and sticky.

Thank you and God bless,
Patrick Thomas

Tuesday – April 12, 2011

In an attempt to debrief our minds and bodies from our American ways, the first full day in Haiti was extremely eventful.  We had a tasty egg casserole prepared by Tracy and Kayla to start it out before everyone loaded the truck full of cement bags and other supplies.  One quick stop at MPCA for torch gas tanks and we were off for the 1 1/2 hour drive to LaHatte.  Beautiful sunshine, mid 80s, and an awesome view of the mountains helped to set the day.  However, the forty minutes up a winding creek bed was my first and it was more treacherous than expected.  We had to maneuver around two other big vehicles in about a 12 foot wide opening with our flatbed truck and Toyota pickup pulling the cement mixer.  To give you an idea of the terrain we were going anywhere from 2-10 mph and this rented cement mixer rolled over 3 times in the dips and crevices of the riverbed.  We survived and made it to the school unharmed with a mixer that started right up.

We made a quick assessment of our major project before unloading the entire truck with the help of a few Haitians.  This 10 day project, for those unaware, is to tear down about 100 feet of block/cement walls that stand about 20 feet high at each sections peak.  Then we need to pour new walls up about three feet and build steel braced walls from there to the ceiling for support and flexibility if there is another earthquake.  Other reinforcements will come with new pillars at each walls end and cement corners to strengthen the existing outside walls.  The Church also has a section of its rock wall that has been hanging from re-bar since the earthquake early last year.  Pictures would help to explain but will come much later so please use your imagination.  These conditions have been far from OSHA-approved and I can understand while the Haitians still feel uneasy about studying and worshiping there.

The day was a huge success as we tore down about 1 1/2 of the walls today and "re-barred" two of the corners for forming and pouring tomorrow.  Other completions were sifting through about a ton (literally a ton) of sand for mixing and removing the pesky church rock wall.  Sledges were swung by Chris, Neil, Patrick and myself.  30+ holes were drilled into solid rock for Jeff's operation. The Towell's and others handled the sifting project even through a bicep injury by Captain Steve.  I believe the Haitian people were excited about our work because not only did they help remove the debris from the wall but they continued to clean up the pile that laid there for over a year since the quake.  After the children were released from school, Steve Sellers, now nicknamed "bubbles" for so passionately bringing bottles of bubbles for the Haitian kids to play with, operated the torch over at the Church.  This is about the time the children started to dance and sing while the camera came out encouraging them to perform.  Perhaps the highlight of the day was a short visit by two Haitian "mice" which were about the size of a squirrel and ran into the school, over bubble’s foot directly at Jeff Laing.  Like a bald elephant, Jeff leaped off the bucket where he was enjoying his p&j bagel (delicious lunch if I may add) and quickly to the other side of the room.  The 1st mouse climbed the wall and escaped but the 2nd wasn't as lucky as one of the locals got it with a shovel.
 
Some of the group made a trip to the LaHatte town of about 350 where they had time to interact and make two memories: a goat being skinned for supper and many malnourished Haitians with orange hair (my wife will remind me later of the specific vitamin).  We are all safe and unharmed, just exhausted from the work.  All in all, we have to be thankful for many things including: a dry river bed, durable truck suspensions, cold water to drink, sharp drill bits, strong backs, joyful Haitian children, and a rock wall that fell in the desired direction.
 
90 minutes later we were back to the Mission Center and most took a swim in the ocean before enjoying another great Manita meal of chicken, rice and beans, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and a spicy onion sauce.  The day could not have ended properly without fellowship and time for our Lord so we discussed the days experiences and Patrick shared his testimony including his proposal to Tracy on a ski slope @ peak n' peak.  Patrick referenced for us all the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32) highlighting the points of trial and forgiveness.  I will speak for everyone when I say that God is here in Haiti and He is revealing himself with the Haitian people, through the peaceful scenery, and in our labor at Lahatte.

Best wishes back home,
The Haiti Team and Jeremy "Bud" Haselman

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

What a day it was! We started bright and early at 6:00 AM. Patrick is a slave driver-the bell was ringing at 6:30 sharp to eat or not to eat. We had eggs and bagels and mango and bananas-breakfast of champions-it was delicious. For those of you who aren't aware-you would think that a mission trip to Haiti would amount to weight loss-that would be a big-NOT! Especially for the big bald elephant. (For the record-I was trying not to interfere with somebody's lunch as I was avoiding the mouse yesterday)

The trip to LaHatte didn't get any faster today. We drove three vehicles up today. The big cattle truck had most of our supplies, the Toyota had the welder and five of us and the Scout carried six of us. The trip up the creek bed was fairly uneventful today. We arrived to a smiling group of Haitian boys and girls in uniform-what a site! God is good.

The work day started out with us unloading the materials off of the truck and our tools out of our make-shift storage room in the principal's office closet. We started cutting plywood and lumber for our forms and Captain Steve was grouting stress cracks for structural and cosmetic purposes. Grandpa Bubbles set up the welder and began bracing the roof with 2" and 1" steel tubing.

Cody and Kayla kept busy helping their dad filling grout bags, sifting sand, gathering rocks for our pours and were also in charge of Haitian entertainment. As a matter of fact-Cody has the new title of Bubbles Jr. as he kept many a Haitian child entertained.

Tracy was in charge....period. Actually, she was in charge of hydration-as well as wheel barrow traffic and logistics. Patrick is a man of all trades-he was pouring, mixing, forming, you name it. Russ was a fanatic-shoveling the concrete over and into the forms. He will sleep good tonight.

The Putnam County duo of Bert and Ernie (aka Chris and Neil) are an amazing team. They got so much done in such a short time. The only problem was Neil kept stealing water bottles and tools. We plan on taking care of this very serious matter.

Big bad Bud was training mixers so that he could supervise pours and help with forming. Bud started picking on some of the Haitians-he even talked one of them into racing him in a foot race. (We think the young boy let Bud win so as not to hurt his ego)

The trip back down was a little more eventful. Patrick drove the lead truck with the "Gateway Gang". The creek bed was so bad that Patrick got the truck stuck. Someone had put the truck into two-wheel drive so the rough terrain was impossible to navigate.

We finally got back to the Mission Center around 5:45 and ate as soon as we got cleaned up. It was delicious! We had rice, fried plantain, spicy onions, some kind of gravy beans and goat dressing. 10 out of 11 of us had goat dressing.

At 7:30 we started devotions. Tracy shared her testimony. What a beautiful story of God's grace and love. God is working in all of us. So many stories of His grace and abounding love. She reminded us through Matthew 25-31 of how we will be separated like sheep and goats and what we do for the least of these....

Blending all of these people from different backgrounds has been so amazing to watch. This team has been awesome! We are in awe of God's work here. He has been so faithful.

We pray that all is well with you.

The Haiti April 2011 Team and Jeff "Big bald elephant" Laing
 

Friday, April 15, 2011

Day 5 started off very typical thanks to our fearless leaders, with a filling breakfast and coffee. We loaded up block and more cement on to the truck and took off to the school. Patrick stayed back with Pastor Herve to pick up Tom and Harvey from the airport whom arrived safely and on time. The creek bed/road to LaHatte was treacherous. Last night’s rain washed away parts of our path making it very difficult to navigate. The first obstacle was a washout that seemed impassable. We even got out of the truck, said a prayer, and began to walk up to the school. We left the truck and materials for Bud and our Haitian helpers to figure out. After 10 minutes of walking we passed a man who had injured his thumb, we stopped to help and soon after here came our truck! We all loaded up and made it to the school safely. Thank God! It was nothing short of a miracle that the two wheel drive truck made it up to that creek bed.

We began work immediately upon arrival and the progress was astounding. More patching, welding, mixing, and building forms today. The concrete that we've poured so far has turned out well. It is both beautiful and structural. On the trip back to the mission center we blew a tire, but every one of us just shrugged it off because after our trip this morning we were ready for anything. Supper was excellent! The main course was Haitian hush puppies =)

Pastor Herve gave his testimony last night and for those of you who haven't heard it ask your loved ones who are here. His vision is awesome and story is so inspirational. I can't wait to share it when I get back! What a great team. Everyone is so helpful and easy to get along with. Every one's role is so critical. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish tomorrow! Thanks for your prayers and support.

Neil

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Day 6 was another success and everybody is healthy but very tired.  Sunday is a day of rest here in Haiti and it is needed greatly.  Today started with some breakfast burritos prepared by Good ole Tom Jones, fruit, and bacon.  Coffee was ready for everyone when they got up (Gpa bubbles is a coffee making machine).  Russ, Tracy, Kayla, and Cody stayed at the mission center to get some painting done that Pastor Herve asked us to get to if we could.  The rest of us loaded up into 2 trucks and headed back up to LaHatte for some good ole fashion work.  After a little smoke from one of the trucks at MPCA and a fix’in from Harlan we got back on the road.  Again from the wash out from the rain Harlan bottomed out but got through and I decided to go “around” the hole but my back tire didn’t make it.  With a little digging and a push we were off to the top. 

As soon as we got to the top everybody jumped out of the trucks and got to work.  We undid forms and started putting new forms up and the cement began.  Steve, Neil, and Chris welded the first walls framing together. Tom Jones was a crack spackling machine. While Bud and a Haitian whose name is unknown blocked in the end wall that had partially crumbled from the earthquake.  Jeff and Harlan screwed off forms while Steve mixed the crete while everybody helped fill them with shoveling and bucket dumping. Getting done what we could do with the strength we had we cleaned up and headed back home for a swim and a much needed shower. 

Dinner was ready around 5.  We had another wonderful spread of rice & beans, goat saucy stuff, Haitian puppies/hushpuppies, beat salad, and of course picklies.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  We had our nightly talk about the day. Russ and Harlan shared their stories.  We practiced our little skit/play that we will be performing at Herve’s church in St. Marc in the morning.  And headed off to bed to sleep off the pains.

Thank you for your prayers.  God has blessed us with who he wanted down here and it is awesome to see everyone just working hard all day every day.  

Please keep praying,

 Patrick and the Team that rocks!!!!!!!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sorry we were unable to email last night!  Our electricity went out around 8 before we got to it.  Sunday, Day 7, began with an early breakfast of cereal at 6 a.m. We left the Mission Center by 6:30 to make it to Pastor Herve's church in St. Marc by 7ish...everything has an "ish" here in Haiti.  Church began around 7:15 and went until 9:45 (2 1/2 hrs).  There were many spirit filled songs full of clapping and loudly praising God.  Pastor Herve introduced a couple whom he married the day before, and led a prayer over their new life as one in Christ.  We also shared in a personal prayer time on our knees...on cement :)  Make sure to ask your loved ones about their church experience, as worship and prayer time are completely different than the American norm.  We sure thanked our Lord for allowing us the experience!  Pastor Herve allowed Patrick to introduce our group before we performed our skit.  We heard several gasps during the more violent parts of the skit.  Afterward Herve expanded on the various sins, including lust, alcohol, drugs, hatred, greed, voodoo, and suicide, and how once Jesus Christ is in your life, you cannot be controlled by any of these sins any longer.  Next, Herve called on people from the congregation to lay a hand on us in prayer.  That was quite a Holy Spirit moment!!!  Then we listened to a sermon from 1 Kings 18, about how one Kingdom cannot have two Kings. 

After church we drove around St. Marc sightseeing.  We headed back to the Mission Center for an "American lunch" of chicken salad sandwiches, green beans, pretzels, and applesauce.  Russ kindly shared his twizzlers as an appetizer.  After lunch, most of us enjoyed our day of rest by taking a nap.  I believe it was Bud and Neil who talked to some local Haitian boys about starting up a game of soccer.  Everyone but Russ and Jeff loaded into the truck to head to MPCA around 3:30 to test out our skills.  This was a great time of interaction with the kids.  Steve Towell was an excellent goalie, only letting one slide by (he wanted a shut out though, and was a bit disappointed).  Neil and Chris headed the front line, getting us on the board.  Kayla even gave the boys a run for their money, as she didn't back down.  Grandpa Bubbles was solid in the back field.  Poor Tom Jones was injured off the bat, and became the entertainer for the children not playing, while also guarding our waters.  Many of us felt as though we'd had a full day of work in by the time the game was over, but know it was well worth it for the fun we shared!  By the way, several of their 10 yr olds were better than the majority of us, even without shoes on. 

We came back "home", and the men all jumped in the ocean and cleaned up.  Kayla and I began preparing dinner.  We chowed down on BBQ shredded beef sandwiches, mac n cheese, peaches, and choc. pudding.  Then we lost our power and had our evening sharing time by flashlights.  We talked about our experiences at church, and Tom Jones graced us with his testimony.  In closing, Cody led is in singing "How Great is our God".  Our day of rest was much needed and enjoyed.

In Christ,

Tracy 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Monday proved to be another productive day at La Hatte and at the Mission Center.  Those who stayed back at the center(Russ, Kayla, Tracy, & Cody) did some much needed painting of some wood doors and the frames as it is humid here and everything swells.  The rest of us headed back up the dried river without getting stuck (Patrick wasn't driving) and got right to work taking forms down and putting a steel wall up.  Neil tacked up the steel sheeting finishing off two walls.  Everybody (Pastor Herve and his Haitian Team of teachers) was very happy to see a finished product, not the whole thing just a couple walls.  Steve "schveten" Towell is a concrete making genius and machine once again running us out of bags of concrete to finish the day out strong.

The group is bonding and working well with each other.  Neil and Chris shared their life stories followed by a small sermon by Russ.  We are so thankful for every body’s life experiences.  It has brought us all closer and has made this trip very fun. 
 

Tomorrow we are starting to rip into the church/cafeteria to sure it up and build a steel wall to close the hole that was from the earthquake.  The hard work and progress that we have made has led to us trying to fix this problem.  We are thankful for Gods provision of strength and safety as none of this would be possible without Him here with us.  Please keep praying that we could serve the Haitian people to our greatest abilities and get done what God wants us to get done. 

In Christ,
                                                                 
Patrick and the rest of this awesome team

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The production keeps moving along at an amazing and God blessed paced. Today was split again, a little differently than days before though. Patrick, Tracy, Cody, and Tom stayed back at the mission center to do some things at the vocational school at MPCA and the Bible school here at the center. The painting of the doors and door frames in the bible school is looking awesome and is pretty much finished. The rest of the team and I headed up to LaHatte.

Once we got up to the school, we got right to work and progress continued at a great pace. Some of the guys continued with the concrete pillars and others went to work on the church/cafeteria next door. Yesterday, Harlan showed off his craftsmanship by making a cross to make an indent on two of the pillars before pouring the concrete. We removed the boards today on one of the two pillars and the indent of the cross looks amazing, to say the least! All the concrete of the pillars have been poured and finished, ready for removal tomorrow. What an awesome accomplishment!

Over at the church/cafe, Russell, Steve S, and Harlan got hard to work. They got the rest of the wall down and Steve got to welding the bars, while Harlan and his Haitian helper did an awesome job filling in the cracks on the walls. All in all, the wall came down, the debris was separated as mortar from rocks, a bunch of awesome and willing Haitian boys and men towed the debris mortar, and Jeff and the guys got right to work stacking and building up some of the cinderblock wall. What an awesome accomplishment and blessing it is to be able to take on and finish an extra project like this!

And last but certainly not least, Steve "schveten" Towell (whom I am honored to call my dad!) went right to making concrete like a wild child! He made concrete for both projects. He made concrete until he could not make concrete anymore, and then he kept making it! He kept making batch after batch until we finally wrapped up the day. We all agreed that this top worker gets the Purple Heart award for the day! What a trooper! What a guy!
To finish up our day at LaHatte, the guys had trouble backing down and wrapping up the work for the day as they are all eager and excited to get it done! We finally got going at around four thirty and headed back to the missions center. Bud drove the pick-up truck for the first time and proved himself a natural Haitian driver as we found a Michael Jackson song on the radio to rock out to!

Once we got back, we chowed down on a delicious meal prepared by Mirlande (Pastor Herve's wife) and helpers. We are so grateful for all of the amazing food and the time and effort they put into it! Afterwards, we had our group get-together and Steve Sellers shared his testimony. We wrapped up with singing "Here I Am to Worship" and closed in prayer to head off to a hopefully good night of rest.

Tomorrow, everyone is going up to LaHatte and we hope to finish up everything by the closing of the day so we can stay back at the center for Thursday. If need be though, we will have some time on Thursday to do anything we need to finish.

What an awesome day we had today and we will continue to keep you updated! God is definitely working in all of our lives and the lives of the people of Haiti! How awesome He is!

God bless! In Christ, Kayla

Friday, April 22, 2011

Wednesday, April 20^th, 2011. It was another great day in Haiti today. This is letter number two for today because Patrick decided he didn’t like the first letter written by our own Steve ‘Schveten’ Towell so he deleted it. Just kidding it was an accident deleting the first letter but we all forgave Patrick.

We started off with egg burritos and mangos which made for a delicious breakfast. ‘Twas another bumpy ride to LaHatte but on the bright side we did get to experience stopping for gas and paying at the pump Haitian style. Literally we gave the guy at the pump our money so they don’t except credit or debit cards. After that, we went on our way.

In LaHatte everyone did terrific jobs either in a group or by themselves. Chris did a great job fixing desks and putting up chalk boards. The fantastic double team of Neil and Steve (AKA Grandpa Bubbles) worked their ‘metal magic’ welding today. There was another great team of three: Tracy, Tom, and Kayla who did an amazing job mortaring. They filled about every crack in sight, so Jeff had to keep his pants extra tight today. Speaking of our big bald elephant Jeff, he fixed the down spout and helped put up part of the Church wall. Harlan and Budd put up the entire Church wall which made and is still making awesome progress. Patrick, well, who knows what the heck Patrick did. Well for one he deleted the first email of today. Well he did help with putting up the Church wall so I guess he did do something.  Steve ‘Schveten’ Towell mixed some cement with his partner in crime Cody ‘Bubbles Jr.’ Towell. Steve also helped with part of the Church wall while Cody became the exterminator of the bees catching and throwing 36 in all into the cement mixer. Then after Cody got rid of all the bees he kept the Haitian kids a safe distance away from the work site blowing bubbles, letting them braid his hair, and being the victim in the kids’ little game of “Let’s see what we can get the American to say”. And pretty much all the guys and more helped put up the Church wall which made phenomenal progress. In the middle of all our hard work we had a very fancy lunch of PB&J tacos, Chex mix, Cheese itz, Wheat thins, and Granola bars. We wrapped it all up around 3:30pm and headed back to the mission center.

On our way back, we went through a little shower of rain between LaHatte and the mission center. That was verrrrry interesting going 70 miles per hour through rain. Finally returning, all of us got ready perform our ‘Set me free’ skit in front of the Bible school. Our trusted camera man, Tom, got that on tape for all of us to see. For dinner we had spicy spaghetti and croissant rolls which were very much enjoyed by us. For some of us La Blancs the spaghetti was a little spicy but then a Haitian guy came up and put Tabasco sauce on his spaghetti.

At Bible study we talked about the day’s progress and stuff and then Budd and Kayla gave their testimonies. Everyone loved them. And Russ gave his teaching on Nehemiah again tonight which was great too. God has really blessed us this trip and is still blessing us. We pray that the guys going up to LaHatte tomorrow won’t have problems getting up there after the rain. But over all we all will let God’s will be done. Thank you all for the prayers because God has definitely answered them. Please keep us in your prayers for LaHatte tomorrow and the returning to the U.S. on Friday.

Sincerely,

Cody and team

Today, the 21st, we enjoyed pancakes for breakfast.  Then we headed to LaHatte and completed the church wall and cleaned up our mess.  Russ, Tom, Tracy, Cody, and Kayla stayed behind to paint a few doors as well as an apartment at the Mission Center.  Once back at the Mission Center everyone got to indulge in one last Haitian meal, including chicken, biscuits, picklies, rice, and fried plantains.  Dinner was put over the top by a surprise birthday cake for our soon to be 17 year old friend, Kayla.  To end our evening, we perused through souvenirs as vendors came with all kinds of goodies.  Jeff also shared his testimony, which he held from us in suspense all week.  We are very excited about all God did here in Haiti these past few weeks!  Can't wait to come home and see all your beautiful faces. :)