Terrific Thursday

We are happy to report that we finished the rebar phase of the roof today! By lunchtime the Haitian workers declared that the rebar work was done and that there would be no more work being done on the roof that day. Tomorrow we will begin to mix and pour the concrete...1 bucket at a time. Many more workers will be hired for this final phase of the roof. By what I'm told, we will set up a huge assembly line made up of paid workers, church members, and members of our team. We will work together to pass the buckets from the ground all the way to the roof of the second floor. It will be a lot of hard work, but very rewarding as well. 

Once the roof is finished, the plan is to get doors installed on the classrooms and then in September increase the school to grade 9. The school currently goes through grade 6. In the afternoons, the second floor classrooms will become a trade school. This is an exciting time in the life of Christ the King!

The eyeglass and medical clinics continue to run smoothly! Hundreds of people have heard the Gospel, 7 of whom have committed their lives to Christ. Praise The Lord! The church leadership shared with me this morning the tremendous need for both of these clinics, and asked us to return next year to offer both, if we are able and The Lord provides the needed resources. I'm learning just how generous God is. I have no doubt that He will provide!

One little update on the 18-month old I wrote about yesterday. So that the mom can sit the child up without having to hold her all the time, Mike Dalton and Paul Gangel went to work on making a baby sling. I have posted pictures on Twitter/Facebook so you can see what they came up with. It's pretty cool. We are using shirts and socks for padding around the wood frame, and Nancy Service's skirt as the sling. Teamwork is never to be underestimated. 

I wanted to share with you a brief story about one of our vendors, Daniel. Daniel is a guy we have known for a long time. I hadn't seen him in awhile, but this morning he was here selling his wares. I asked him how his family is (he and his wife have 5 children). He told me that his wife was sick. They found out she has breast cancer and needs to have a mastectomy. He has been working hard to raise the $500.00 he needs to pay for the surgery. As of this morning he had raised half. I think we will be able to help him with the rest. He is a really good man who loves The Lord and works hard to provide for his family. Talking to him this morning really tore at my heart. The pain and fear in his eyes was evident as we talked. Please pray for his wife's healing and that her surgery will be a success.

Tomorrow is the last day of the clinics, which means that people will be desperate to see the Doctor and to have their eyes checked. There will be a lot of activity on the campus as the cement work on the roof begins. It should be a great day! Please pray for God's presence to be obvious on the church campus and for the eyeglass and medical teams to be strengthened and energized for the day ahead. 

I can hardly believe our time in Haiti is almost over. We will cherish the moment while we are here, but are also looking forward to being home and sharing this experience with all of you next Sunday. 

Until then, God's peace!

Lisa :)

On Behalf of March Team Haiti