Balancing Service and Community Awareness

We were saved to serve, and we came to Haiti to do just that. In order to serve, though, we need to have an understanding of the people and the culture in which we are immersed. This morning Debbie and Odney (our driver) and Populaire (our extra guard) drove us to the other side of Port au Prince to get another glimpse of the city, and closer to the mountains. The area that we visited was hardest hit by the earthquake and it was heartwrenching to drive through.

Street vendors were everywhere, piles of rubble in nearly every street and the traffic was bumper to bumper. We were able to drive by the Presidential Palace as well as the tent cities that sprung up around it. The tents filled every square foot of the sidewalks and streets with the inhabitants visible to all passerbys. We quickly realized that privacy is a luxury that we take for granted every day.

Back at the ranch by 11:30, everyone scattered to their projects. Being our last day, we were determined to finish what we started. The shelves in the big depot were finished, a nice addition to a an essential aspect of Debbie's ministry. She was able to load many boxes up off the floor, clearing walkways and helping so much in the organization.

Seeing the progress on the desks makes us want to say, "Wow!" The HeMen, under Bob the Builder's expert direction, were able to complete 8 desks. The hard part of cutting all the wood pieces necessary for an additional 22 desks was finished as well. While we hate to leave a project undone, we were forced to pass off this task to the next team.

Buzz's Bus Bonnet was another project that started today. Dave B. had a great idea to combine PVC pipes into a canopy for the team's truck. He then used duct tape to fashion blue tarps into a cover. This will now provide shade and rain protection for future groups that stay here at Hope House.

The endless project of sorting donated items continued throughout the day as well. We think we went through 5,656,263 boxes this week! We were very glad to be able to help Debbie through this process. It would be a difficult task alone.

Our evening devotions emphasized out transition back home and processing all that we have seen and experienced. We feel so very blessed to have spent this week together, have an increased sense of joy and thankfulness for our loved ones back home and church family. None of us are going home quite the same. So, the journey begins back to Iowa...