HAITI - Thursday, February 2

A picture is worth a thousand words...
Today was a day of great expectations. Almost half the foundation footer was poured on Wednesday, and we really wanted to get it finished today. We started off as usual with the Haitians singing "Trust and Obey" in Creole, and then prayers in both Haitian and English. We do this in a circle holding hands, and it really establishes a bond between us for the days work. Here is Carl and a Haitian co-worker:

 

As soon as the concrete mixer was fired up, wheelbarrows of cement began to roll, and the crew doing the last rebar wiring were hard pressed to keep ahead and out of the way, but they did a great job and finished just in time for the concrete.

Our biggest problem was water. We pumped two shallow wells dry and even tried to activate an old well, but ended up having to send the barrel down to the public well in Pastor Edmond's tap tap once to get enough water to finish.

But finally we got all the trenches formed and poured and "topped out" with a branch from a local tree.

And here is the triumphant crew, that actually formed and poured almost 30 cubic yards of concrete in only two days! Pastor Edmond and his people were overjoyed and could scarcely believe so much was done in so little time. They all said they had never seen "blan" work so hard and do so much! It really means so much to them to see the "kids house" underway at last.

And this says it all. It was all God from start to finish. Every day we saw Him providing and guiding and making this possible in ways we could not foresee. We did a lot more than start building an orphanage this week: the kids ministry and neighborhood evangelism are just the beginning of what God has planned here. Praise His holy name!