Capital Area, Savannah, Winton Road, Collins Group and Bedford Acres Finish Up June in BeauChamp Strong!
From June 17th thru June 24th we had 5 different groups come stay with us out in BeauChamp. Some were just for overnight and some were for the entire time. But it was amazing to see just how much ministry could get done during that time. We built cisterns, ran wire for electricity and put up fans in the Ministry Room, taught the youth, did a VBS, gave out peanut butter sandwiches — all for the glory of God our Father. We even broke our record for the largest amount to stay on the roof — can you say 64!!
Capital Area Christian Church Youth from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania came in to help with the building of a Haitian Home. T-Poppa from BeauChamp Church was selected. T-Poppa and his wife have been married for quite a few years and have never had their own place. They first lived with his parents, her parents and then were living in separate places. They now have a rented house but the rent was due in July — now they are going to be able to have their own house and live together with their 2 daughters and 1 son.
Winton Road came to just stay overnight and helped make peanut butter sandwiches for the kids and did a VBS. They also got to stroll through the market here on Friday. They left to head to the orphanage for a little bit and then out to the Bay and onto La Fonte to do work there and be there for the revival. This group gave out feeding packets everywhere they went.
Bedford Acres stopped by for a night and enjoyed some wonderful devotion time and singing from our Haitian staff. They were in the process of taking 5 of our “baby” orphans out to the “main” orphanage in Salines Myette. There were many tears by that group for that transition. Also, it was my last time to see Vickie Cox before she left to head back to the states to be on another adventure with God. Vickie we miss you!
Savannah Group came in to put 2 cisterns up and connect them to the roof of the church and were given help from the Collins Group. We still do not have running water in BeauChamp. That is, we have no water pumped to the community or to our campus. The only way we have water is when a truck is given to us from the mission for the day to take our plastic barrels to the reservoir and fill them up, bring them back to the campus and then pump that water to the cistern on the roof of the bathhouse or the 400-gallon cistern on our roof. So, with that said, we do have running water when it is available in the cisterns on our property.
Brian Baker from Savannah had been working with Mike for the last 8 months to try and get this project done. Finally, we got the two 600-gallon cisterns to go behind the church. There had to be a pad area for them to sit on, and the next big thing was to get the drains up and actually working properly. Things are not always so level here in Haiti — and that proved to be the case. After much deliberation on how to get these drains up and catching the water properly — well we really needed some rain to see if it was going to work. Well, God provided. We had a little shower, just enough, to see where there needed to be some adjustments. Those adjustments were made and then we were anxious again. Finally, another little shower and all is good! God even gave us a rainbow to look at after this shower.
And just a little info for you — after the groups left and we had a week of “down time” we have had several major downpours. The cisterns are full to capacity and overflowing and we even filled the baptistry for 10 baptisms! The cistern on the bathhouse is full and the cistern on our roof is full. Now we just need a couple more 600-gallon cisterns for our roof runoff. It is amazing at how important clean water is. How nice it is to bathe in water that does not have a salt content to it, to wash my clothes in clean water, to wash my dishes in clean water. I do not think that I will take clean water for granted anymore — at least I hope not. Even when I am home back in the states — I am always watching how much water is wasted and how we really do not realize it. Like how much it takes to wash a load of laundry, I had never really thought about that before. When we leave the water running from the faucet when we brush our teeth, wash dishes or just because we can. This experience with how difficult it is to have water, let alone clean water — I do thank you God for allowing me to experience life as a Haitian experiences it. I just look forward to the day when all of BeauChamp has the ability to have “clean” water available in their community.
This was the first time the Collins Group had ever come to Haiti. They tagged up with the Savannah group and not only helped with the cisterns but also helped with the youth class that the Savannah Group had organized for girls and guys. They separated them out and did worship, classes and sports with them. They enjoyed this very much. We were able to have lunch provided for the youth as well.
It is truly amazing what can be done in a 5-day period. So when you are wondering if a short-term group can really make a difference — the answer is — ABSOLUTELY YES!!!! It makes a difference for the missionaries you are with, it makes a difference for the Haitians you encounter, and it makes a difference to GOD and that is what it really boils down to. God – where are you working and I want to come work with you. But, be careful if you pray this because God just might answer it and are you really willing to go. I say thank you to those who answer that call and meet our God here in Haiti. God is everywhere but if he calls you to a specific place for a specific purpose — heed that call and everyone will be blessed!
It was time for these groups to head back to other mission stops and/or to St. Louis du Nord. Mike and I said our goodbyes and we are happy to have spent a little time with you. May the good Lord keep us till we meet again!!!
