Cathy's First Blog Post

It’s two weeks ago today that we arrived in Haiti and it’s gone by in a flash.  Sometimes I feel like we’ve jumped into the deep end and are barely staying afloat.  We’re on a steep learning curve and are definitely learning to “just go with the flow” of things.  Two teams arrived on Tuesday - one from Prosser, WA, and the other from Nelson, B.C.  The pastor, Jim Reimer, from Nelson was here in 2010 when the earthquake hit.  They’re a great group of people with big servant hearts and I’m enjoying spending time with them.  This week they helped building houses, helped with the construction of the new Technical school, cleaned the new clinic on the site here in preparation for opening in April, and have done a variety of odd jobs around the facility here.  

On Thursday evening we had a special memorial service for the earthquake and dedication of the land which was bought by money donated by the church in Prosser.  This is a 7 acre piece of land which will house a church, children’s village, school right through to Gr. 12, admin building, staff housing, playing fields and children’s play area.   The vision of Haiti Arise is huge, and when I see what God has already done and the miracles that have taken place, I have no doubt that He will accomplish what seems impossible in making this vision a reality.  I was so moved by the service on the site.  The worship was so honouring to God, and so filled with His presence.  We had a minute of silence to remember the 300,000 people who perished in the earthquake in 2010.  Two powerful messages were preached by the visiting pastors from Prosser and Nelson, which brought great hope to the people of this community, and many men, women and children came forward to receive Christ into their hearts that night.  God is moving powerfully across this nation bringing it out of spiritual darkness.   We are so blessed to be here and to be a part of what God is doing in this place.  I am being challenged daily.

The staff here are such hard workers.  I am amazed at their attitudes.  Marc and Lisa have established such a positive working environment here and model the behavior they want to see in their staff.  They have regular staff meetings, prayer times and department meetings to maintain open lines of communication and to build unity.  Chris and I are each debriefing with a visiting team every evening so  we can build relationship and it’s been a great blessing to me to share those times to hear their hearts and to pray together.

This morning I accompanied one of the teams to the market with a translator along.  Market is held on Wednesday and Saturday and it’s stall after stall of vendors in a big outdoor area selling food, clothing, household items.  It’s a bustling place, with everyone out doing their shopping.  It was hot, humid, noisy, and dusty, but everyone had a great time exploring and doing some buying of spices mostly.  Cinnamon and star of anise are very popular.  This afternoon I’m exhausted and stayed home from the beach outing which of course Chris is on.  I’m happy to stay cool and quiet.  I helped the Haitian staff in the kitchen for awhile and have some housekeeping items to go over with Lucianna, the Head of Housekeeping here.  Maybe I’ll even get a nap in before everyone gets back.  It’s really nice to have a “down” day after such a hectic week.