Haiti July 22, 2013

Rebort By Eden Wiegand

Bonswa zami, hello friends! We are all doing great. Haiti is amazing; the people, the scenery, and Ginette’s cooking (it is soooo good). Today was amazing. We split into 2 groups – one group went on a 2-hour hike up a mountain to Jerusalem II to paint the outside and inside of the church, the other group stayed at home base, painted and cleaned the school, and played with the kids. I went with the first group. The hike started out rough and hard. In the first 2 minutes we went down a really steep hill, then straight up the mountain. We hiked straight up for about 30 minutes until our little Haitian guides, Wiz-key and Fergison, showed us a “Haitian” short cut. The trail began to level out with the occasional hill. It was so amazing looking at the scenery that God has created here in Haiti; it is amazing how powerful and creative God is, and that He chose to share His creation with us. When we finally made it to the church, the forces assembled to begin painting. It was humbling to see all these teenagers and adults joining as one force to show God’s love at the church. We were almost done painting the inside white, and the line of brown on the outside of the church, when we took a lunch break. After lunch we finished the inside and began to wash out paint to paint the blue above the brown outside – now that was fun! Since the wall was really tall and we didn’t have a ladder, Blythe and Cody hopped up on the roof to paint the high spots, then Joey, Paritone, some others, and I jumped up on a 2-inch ledge to paint the wall. We hung on the windows and the corners of the wall; after a while, though, we got to a point were we couldn’t reach. I decided to use my balancing skills and jump up and down on the ledge to get higher (lots of fun). After 5 hours of hard work for God, we finished! Before we began our excursion down the hill, the pastor’s wife prayed for us and thanked God and us for painting. We headed back down the mountain. It was a lot easier going down, but still had its challenges. We all made it back in one piece, tired but extremely happy. As I was walking today, I began to think about how hiking up the mountain is a lot like your walk with Christ – you have ups and downs, times you think you should give up or turn around, and maybe you even fall, but God is always there helping you keep going and picking you up when you stumble or fall. Today was amazing, and I feel we showed God’s love loud and clear to the people on the mountain. I have to go now – dinner – but keep us in your prayers and Bondye beni ou, God bless you.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.” – Romans 12:1

Shout out to Jesse’s mom: I miss you!