day 4

Well today was our first day doing the VBS that we had planned, and it was an interesting day to say the least. The day got off to a late start, due to traffic, so even though we had planned to leave at 7:45am we didn't actually leave until around 9am. The team split off into 3 sections today, all in different locations: construction at the village with Barb and a few of the ladies to help with cooking and childcare, a medical clinic that was located at Malik, and the rest of the crew at VBS up in the mountians. We'll do our best to give you a summary of every location...

VBS

After we finally left the creche at around 9am, we settled into 2 of the trucks along with the medical team. We drove for a while and after dropping them off at their new location, the rest of the VBS team crowded into one truck and began the long 2 and a half hour trip up the mountain. The ride in itself is not very comfortable, especially for such a long distance with limited space avaliable. The truck we used today was even smaller than the truck we used before, so we had to pack in even tighter. We usually pack around 6-7 people in the back of the truck and around 5 more inside of the truck along with the driver if we're in for more of a tight fit that day. Today, the VBS team was tracy s., lisa s., jaclyn, ryan, carrie, kristina w., and mary. We took a break about half way up the mountain to stop at a store that we have been using to purchase cold drinks for the rest of our day, since there is no water for us to drink at our VBS locations outside of what we bring ourselves. During this rest stop, our car overheated, and when we went to restart the car the radiator blew and hot water started pouring out of the car, and we could not seem to start the car up. We began rolling backwards down the mountain with random men and children pushing us, until the car got enough momentum to start itself up. During this time, ryan in his attempt to serve, decided that since we all were sitting in the truck (adding weight to the truck being pushed) that he would jump out and push too. This did serve the team, only Darby's father who was driving the truck did not know ryan jumped out to help. This meant that when the truck finally started, ryan had to chase down the truck and dive over the edge, landing the back of the truck on top of everyone else. Thankfully no one was hurt from this, but it definitely made us all laugh and was the begining of our adventures for the day. The truck delay put our team even futher behind by about an hour, so we did not arrive at our location until around 12:40pm. We did not get to start our VBs until around 1:30pm. above is a picture of ryan as he landed in the back of the truck.

there had been a miscommunication regarding the vbs and medical clinic, and the people at the vbs were expecting medical treatment, even though our medical team was not there. since steve has pharmaceutical experience, and because the people had been waiting for hours, he decided not to turn them away, but to treat them with the help of a translator who was also a doctor. he saw 80 patients in 2 hours, and gave away a lot of non-prescription medications. we are going to try to do a "real" medical clinic up at that location later in the week. to the left is steve working with a translator, jeanette (in the red shirt), handing out medicine.

while steve was running his clinic, the rest of the team set up their vbs. they started out with about 20 youngkids, but by the time they were done, between 150 and 200 kids had trickled in. they all really enjoyed the craftthat they did and seemed very attentive to the skit that was performed (about esther) also. they had 3 men helpingthem translate, but the kids tended to be very rowdy, and everyone, especially our people, seemed to have a hard time keeping control of the kids. when they started acting up, ryan took most of the boys outside to play soccer,which they were excited about. to the left is tracy being swarmed by children who want the stickers she is handing out.

meanwhile, the girls started a game of duck duck goose, which got changed to duck duck chicken, because the children had no idea what a goose was. they had never heard of the game and really enjoyed playing it with the girls from our team. all of our girls fell while they were demonstrating or playing, because the tile floor of the church was so slippery. the kids were especially entertained by all of the falling, even though the team was really embarrassed, since even the adult translators were laughing at them. they thought the game was going well, until a point when there was some confusion about who tagged who and two of the girls got into a very aggressive fist fight. it actually got really vicious and the girls had to be pulled apart, and one of them was removed because she would not calm down. this shocked our team, because they weren't prepared for that type of thing to happen. they didn't realize that the game would be that important to them, and it was obvious that the kids just don't live by the same kinds of rules that we are used to in our country. above are lisa s and jaclyn playing duck duck goose.

they closed up the vbs with a song, which one of the haitian women demonstrated with the kids. because the kids interact so differently than what we are used to, the team is going to try to make some adjustments to their plans to try to accomodate the kids better, and insert the gospel more boldly. please be praying for their efforts in that. it will take some time,which we don't have much of, and the team is returning to that location tomorrow (tuesday) afternoon.

the team then drove the 2 and a half hours back down the mountain in the back of the pickup truck. however, the ridetook longer, because they had to wait to pick up the medical team. when they finally returned around 7, they headed straight to the village to join the rest of the team for a late dinner.

medical

the medical team (sarah, kristen, rachel m and lorri), along with darby, split off from the vbs team and continued driving in another direction towards the church where they were to have their clinic. after driving, they had to actually walk another 15 minutes, carrying the suitcases full of medical supplies. their walk took them through alleys, a ravine, a dump and a tent city. there were no roads leading to the place where they went. when they arrived, there was someone with a megaphone who had been going through the area like a town crier announcing the clinic. they saw about 50 patients and had to turn away about 25 more because they ran out of time. however, the people they saw had a lot of serious conditions. they were in extreme poverty; one woman had not eaten since the previous day, and even that was only a little bit of rice, because she could afford nothing more. that was probably typical of most of the patients. it was a chaotic experience, because the people were so desperate, and also because the pastor and other church leaders who were supposed to help with control were not all present. the team is planning to return there tomorrow, provided that there is a guarantee of those other leaders being able to be there, both for safety and for organization. the patients who were turned away were told to come back, and i'm sure there will be many others who will also show up. please be praying for their safety, and that those men would be there. we are learning how much plans change around here, but we hope that at least that much will go according to plan. above is lorri treating one of the patients in the clinic.

construction

while the vbs and medical teams were off having their adventures, the construction team spent the day at the village. lisa g. and anna were with us to do childcare, and robin was also with us to work with the cook. the pace in the village was much slower than what we were hoping for. we did get work done, but there were also various projects that couldn't be completed, or took much longer than they should have, for logistical reasons. the team did a great job of taking those frustrations to God in prayer, trying to seek his will and find ways to demonstrate the gospel. we also used our down time to pray for the other teams, which it seems like they really needed! we were able to do some block work on the second floor of one of the buildings. dave p. and dan installed some new shelves in the food depot, and the girls organized baby formula and food and stocked the newly completed shelves. dave n., matt b. and matt s. also spent some time working back at the creche, fixing the second shower, which did not work. it wasn't quite ready to use tonight, because some caulk was still drying and there are concerns about water pressure, but i'm sure we will get to try it out before the week is over. that will really serve us well, as we currently have a long sign up sheet for showers every morning and evening. there are 25 of us sharing one bathroom. to the left are dave p and dan working to install the new shelves.

we were able to share all of your comments with the team, and they were greatly encouraged to hear from a lot of you. it really is very meaningful to get these messages from home - we can see it on the faces of people as we tell them, or let them read for themselves, what you have said.

kristina asked us to tell her parents that she has not forgotten you, but she has forgotten your phone number, which is why you haven't heard from her!

for those of you asking about robin, she is doing well. she has learned that she can't tolerate the heat very well, but has been able to adjust and work within her means. she is really doing a great job serving our team - she is responsible for our meals, often rising very early to prepare breakfast for the teams that need to leave first. she is also staying very flexible, as our plans for meals often change. like, for instance, when she opens the pancake mix and finds it swarming with critters. she always comes up with a backup plan to see that we are taken care of!

please continue to share your comments, or even to ask questions if you like. and please keep praying for us as we continue to adjust our schedules and plans. things never seem to function the way we expect, time-wise. at least according to our plans, tomorrow should look very much like today, but of course we don't know what will really happen.