On Friday we welcomed one of our most anticipated teams – a group from the Florida-Georgia border who has been coming to Haiti for years. This team has 7 members: Pastor Murell Bennett, Phil Roberts, Shelby Day and his two sons Chris and John, and two first-timers Preston Brown and Garrett Holman. Also joining us were our two interns from Bonne Fin, Steve Hoffman and Natalie Stieglitz. The church we worked on was Blacktote, about a five hour drive along the coast and then an hour and a half hike up through the mountains. We arrived in the early afternoon with our backpacks and tool trailer and water jugs for the week and loaded everything we could on donkeys and carried the lighter things. We all made it to the church at around four, thanks to the guidance (and patience – as we white people are quite a lot slower going up mountains!) of the people in the community, and the men got started on building a few benches while the ladies got the sleeping areas figured out and set up cots. The pastor, his wife, and several members of the church welcomed us warmly and fed us a great dinner. 

Sunday we went to the church service at Blacktote, sitting under a tarp tied over the walls to keep the sun out. The church had no instruments, no microphones, but they had their voices and they didn’t hold anything back as they worshiped the Lord! We had lunch and then went to visit church members who couldn’t make it to church and some of the team members went to play soccer with the Haitian kids in the area.

On Monday the guys worked on nailing the trusses and putting the roof on while the ladies built the rest of the church benches and varnished them. The work was all done by early afternoon, and just as we put the last bench under the new church roof, it started to rain and didn’t let up until the following morning as we were hiking down the mountain again. Hikes tend to go a lot faster when you’re slipping and sliding the whole way, so we made it down in record time and loaded up all our tools and supplies again. We drove for about four hours til we got to Port Salut beach where we stopped for lunch before finally going home.

Wednesday morning we took the team up to Bonne Fin to help unload the container that had arrived and tour the hospital a little. Several members of the team decided to give blood while we were there. We made it home in time for lunch and joined up with them again at our missionary church service at the Bible School. Thursday we toured the LSM ranch and then went to the market. The team went to the Domestic Center as well and Tet Simon. We had debriefing at the guest house, and sang a few songs before saying our goodbyes. To me, the week just flew by and as with every team it was a little sad to see them go. But there is some consolation in knowing that they all had a great time and Lord willing will be back next year! 

This week we have a few visitors from Joan’s family and then the missionary retreat this weekend, so that of course means another post soon. We appreciate your prayers and support!

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