Ups and downs and "TIH"

October 30th Haiti Update

We had a pretty big last couple days in Haiti, the Lord was good, as always, and His mercies were new. As everyone in Base Camp woke up to start the days, we knew it'd be full of productivity. We had days of laying new foundations, bringing good water to the Haitians, creative expression, giving dental care, and ultimately bringing God's glory down. As you know, Haiti experienced a major earthquake, and the Foursquare Church had to be destroyed because of the damage it took. Currently, our new metal building is on it's way to us, but we have had to do a lot of preparation. So, the day of laying the cement slab for the church was a highly anticipated day. However, as we ran into many difficulties that come from working with Haitians, it began to rain just as we finished our second of three slabs.

A project that I have been given is taking care of our water at Base Camp and at the church. We have two major water purifiers and I have learned how to use it and make water drinkable. When I went out to use our purifiers on our water I successfully purified a 500 gallon tank and a 1000 gallon tank. However, when I attempted to purify our water cistern for our Base Camp, I wasn't as lucky. For some reason, beyond to my knowledge, the filter that I used once successfully, would not work.

This is where "TIH" is explained. A saying many people use here to describe how life is, "Haiti moves at the speed of life." Ever watch grass grow? It's kinda like that. What makes things rough is that things never quite work how you'd like them. A real testing of your patience and ability to hold your frustration. So, we have developed this, "TIH" phrase as a way to subside our anger in how things are working. "TIH" means "This is Haiti"

An example: Today, a fellow worker and I grabbed two containers full of 100 backpacks that we gave away to 100 children so they could begin to go to school. However, after we loaded the containers into the truck, I noticed a huge black furry spider (probably a tarantula of sorts) on my coworkers shoulder. After a high pitch scream, and Rachael says I did a little dance, I ran over and grabbed something to knock it off him and did so. But before I knocked it off of him, I noticed another spider of the same sort crawling right next to my foot. Then I realized the spiders where probably underneath the containers, which where now in the bed of the truck. Which only a few minutes later I found myself sitting in. Honestly, I was a bit afraid that I'd turn around and see one crawling on my shoulder, but all I could do was give God my fear and simply tell myself, "TIH"