Haiti December 2011: Day 3

We began the day with devotions. We worshiped and prayed and began to mentally prepare for building our 1^st house. We loaded up the truck with the wood we cut the night before and headed out to the site. When we got there our guide Andre told us about the family that would receive the home. There was a husband and wife with two children, one of which had a respiratory problem and sclerosis. They were a beautiful family and we were humbled that God would use us to bless them with a new home made of wood instead of the tent they were living in. We unloaded the truck and got to work. Although the weather conditions were rather hot, we worked diligently. The little girl who was going to be living in the house came to watch us work. She wore a cute, frilly white dress and walked around to see what we were doing. By lunch time we had all four walls up. We left for lunch feeling slightly defeated because we were tired and had not completed the house before noon. We ate and regrouped; determined to finish the house for the family that was waiting for us, we hurried back to the site. We wasted no time getting to work. We added the roof, netting to prevent mosquitoes from entering, the door and a pipe for drainage when it rains. As we stepped back, we marvelled to see what God had done through us. The woman who would be living in the house, came through the door to her new home, looked around, then looked at us and said, “Merci.”

We prayed with the family and asked God to bless their home. We gathered our tools, handed out some toys and candy to some of the local children, then jumped into our truck to head home. We left that site humbled and excited to build more homes. Tonight we cut two more homes and measured wood for an additional home. Our goal is to build two homes tomorrow. We pray that God will help us and keep us unified.