the way it's supposed to be

It was an interesting and exciting sight this morning at the Chapel during the first worship set. Leading us in song was a Haitian at the piano, a Cuban (flew in just a few days ago) alternating between the flute and the sax, a helicopter pilot with the Chilean army (here with the UN) at the keyboard, a Guatemalan (also here with the UN) at the drums, another Cuban on bass, an American as lead vocal and four Haitians as backup vocals. In the congregation was a general from the Dominican army (who would be preaching at the spanish service that resumed today) and people from the US, Canada, Europe and South America representing several evangelical denominations, missions and organizations. As I was standing there singing, I looked up at our worship team that was caught up in what they were singing and then around at the congregation who was also caught up in the music - it was amazing. No one was concerned with the incredible cultural differences that were present this morning, we were all united around the one thing that transcends nationality, profession, economic status, and every other division that man has constructed - the Almighty God who has revealed Himself and made Himself accessible to us through His Son. It wasn't perfect this morning, but it was definitely a taste of what Church is supposed to be. What a privilege it was to preach Ephesians 1 to a congregation like that this morning.

And the walls came tumbling down.........

Well this is not a Bible lesson on what happened to Jericho, but there are lots of walls coming down in Haiti. In March (I believe) the Mayor went around and marked on some walls letting the owners know that they needed to move their wall back however many meters was painted on their walls. Now this is great because the purpose is to widen the roads and pave them, and there is a lot of work for the Haitians. Good news, however, it also raises a lot of concern because the point of the walls is for security reasons. If you take down your wall before building another one you are exposed! Now some people are building the new wall first and then knocking down the old wall, but their are others (like the ones on our street) who are just knocking down the old wall to reuse the rocks for their new wall. So, as you can see there is a lot going on here!

Paint on the wall telling how much the wall needs to move back

Getting things in place to mix the cement and start building!



Here the workers first broke down the old wall using sledge hammers and now using the rocks to build the new wall

The Chapel wall is one of those walls that need to be moved back. I do not remember how long the wall is, but trust me it is super long! To move the wall back 2 meters is going to cost $38,000.00!! That is a ton of money that they do not have right now. If the wall does not get done then the Mayor will come and bulldozer it down! Please pray that they will get the money they need.

One side of the chapel wall

The other side of the chapel wall

We are ended our second week here in Haiti! We brought Karl and Ann to the airport on Tuesday, and they have arrived in the states safe and sound. Luke is working hard preparing for church on Sunday and I am gearing up to teach this coming week!

This is Luke working really hard on his sermon for Sunday :)
(We staged this, he really wasn't sleeping.....atleast when I was in his office) :)

There have been lots of baby goats roaming the street and this little guy just made himself home under our car....he is so cute, I just had to show you :)

Week 1

We are ending out first week in Haiti. Luke has been working with Pastor Karl with things at the chapel as well as the house. I have been getting things settled and unpacked while spending time with Ann. Pastor Karl and Ann will be leaving Tuesday and heading to the states for furlough. Please pray for safe traveling.

Friday I went with Pastor Karl and Luke to Sherry's house to talk with her about what I can help her with this summer. It looks like helping with summer school, and working with the children from the orphanage that have recently come to stay with her. The children were out in the country side, but after the hurricanes destroyed their home, and they were left without food for about two weeks; Sherry had them moved to her house. They are so cute :) After my meeting with Sherry, Luke and Pastor Karl were expecting some Haitian Pastor's to come over for an introductory class. Pastor Karl will Begin classes with these guys when he gets back from the states, and wanted to meet with them before he left. Luke got to tag along and meet them. At the end they closed with prayer.

Here is Luke closing the class with prayer

Sherry and the Haitian Pastor's praying

So you may be asking yourself; "well I wonder what Becca was doing while Luke was meeting with the Pastor's?" well let me show you :)

I was busy playing with the children from the orphanage :) They are so much fun, and loved the chance to practice their English! I cannot wait to get back over there!

On our way home we needed to stop and get some more water. While Pastor Karl and Luke were getting the bottles changed I spotted a lady selling vegetables walking down the road..... I am not sure I could ever do this! She is talented!

We are excited to be here and cannot wait to see what our second week has in store!

Rain

I went over to Erik's house this afternoon to bring him a calculator and thought since I was so close I would swing by AFCA and say hello to Vivian. It began raining lightly as I pulled through the gate going into AFCA but I didn't think to much of it and continued up the hill to Vivian's house. After a very brief visit I decided to leave because it was beginning to downpour. I got into the car, put it into reverse and gently let the clutch out - the car went sideways. I knew this was not going to be fun. Fast forward 10 minutes and I had about 6 guys in their skivvies (they didn't want to get their clothes wet) helping push me out of the mud. Finally after we all got drenched and covered in mud, the vehicle was free. I gave them each some money, threw my muddy self into the drivers seat and started heading home. Traffic, as I expected, was a nightmare. I thought I would try taking Rue Faustin because I knew Delmas would be a parking lot because of the rain. When I got up to Faustin though I immediately had to made a u-turn because it had literally turned into a river. I saw one guy trying to make it up but the water was up over the top of his wheels and he was going nowhere. I had no choice, I had to make my way out to Delmas and take the paved roads. So after sitting in traffic forreevveerr I finally made it back to the Chapel. My pants were caked with a layer of mud and my shirt and face were splattered with it. I was completely soaked. I hope the rest of my driving this summer doesn't turn out to be as adventurous.

Good Morning

I'm sure Becca will update this pretty soon - in fact she'll probably be doing most of the updating while we're here - but I thought I put something up here this morning before I get busy. We slept great last night and it was nice to wake up to the sound of roosters crowing and dogs barking again this morning. It was also nice to have some fresh mangos and real coffee this morning. Joseph met me at the gate this morning when I came over to the church and tried to scare me by hiding behind it, just like he normally does. He's lost a little weight and has been through quite an ordeal with his wife over the past few months. He told me she was hit by a car in December and while she didn't break anything, she has had a tough time getting back on her feet and is still in a good bit of pain. I imagine the next couple of days will be rough as I catch up with many of the Haitians and listen to some of their struggles from the past year. We come back hoping things will have gotten a little better for them, but so often it is the other way around.

We should have a good day today. I'm going to leave in a few minutes to go see if we can get our old Haiti cell phones working again - if not we'll have to buy new ones. I'm also hoping to connect with Marc and Erick so I can give them some things we brought down that they need to get through this next week of school.

Becca talked to Sherrie this morning and said she sounds tired, but is feeling a little better. We'll connect with her in the next couple of days.

God's Work

Luke and I have about three hours until we head to the airport! I cannot believe that we will be in Haiti tomorrow!! We were just asking each other how excited we were to go. Last year I think I was jumping out of my skin with anticipation to see all our amazing friends in Haiti! This year we are looking forward to seeing our friends. Even tonight we have had a couple of phone calls from Haiti telling us that they are excited that we are coming. That is fun to hear :) But, we have a different excitement. As I said we are thrilled to see everyone that we have missed over the year, but I think because we have done this before we have a different sense of excitement. It is not new to us to go and spend the summer in Haiti with our friends and take on the adventures that were in store for us. Although we will face new adventures this year, we also have a new excitement to not only go to Haiti to see friends, but to do the Lord's work! There is something about understanding the culture a little more and going to down to continue building on the relationship previously made that makes my heat over flow with God's love and we are just so undeserving and blessed (at the same time) to be able to have this opportunity!

Wow......we are pumped! Now with only 2 hours and 45 minutes to go before we load up the car and head to the airport, I think I may try to sleep :) Good night all, and thanks again for all your prayers! We have already felt them and we will need them in the weeks to come :)

And We Are Back!

2,070 miles, several rest stops, 8 states, and 1 country later Luke, Riley, and I have made it to NH! We started our journey on Wednesday, June 3rd driving from Dallas, TX toward Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit Luke's friend from College. We spent the night in Illinois and then got to Michigan on Thursday. We stayed the night in Michigan and then headed out Friday morning toward NH. We drove up through Canada and stopped to see Niagara Falls! What an amazing sight! After spending some time there we got back into the car and headed straight to NH. We arrived Saturday morning around 1:00am! We had an amazing trip, and are glad to be home. Thank you all for your prayers!

Here are some pictures of our journey:

Riley getting ready to leave her TX home!

This is pretty much what we looked like through our trip! Riley did an awesome job riding in the car!

Traveling through the country :)

We are still smiling as we are heading to Canada :)

Luke and Riley checking out Niagara Falls!

Heading to NH!!!!!

We are so happy to be home with family and are gearing up for our summer in Haiti! Thank you all for your prayers and support!