The Bridge Blog

On Sunday, the team dressed up and walked to the church next door. After brief introductions of our team to the church, we left in a large pickup where most of us sat on benches in the back. The road to the next church is chaotic to say the least. The closest description of the ride would be a roller coaster with no seatbelts with the addition of dust and mud. We stopped and gave introductions at a second church and then moved on to the San Rafael church. This is the church that the Bridge is funding to help build a larger church building. Construction seems to be just about half way. The fence is completely done, but the church building itself only has foundation and walls. Pastor Louie says the roof is next and the flooring after that. There is a water well right in the middle of the seating area. They plan on keeping the well working underneath the floorboards. Talk about the Living Water of Christ!

After church, we headed back home…again, on the Haitian roller coaster. Mamas and children squished into the cab of the truck and the rest of the team rode in the back. What an incredible way to see the country villages of Haiti, but it was certainly full of adventure. The best part was when we came upon a HUGE dip in the road full of mud. Our driver, Alex, contemplated whether to barrel through it with all of us on board or whether to have us pile out, walk around it and wait for him to gun it through in hopes of making it. We went with the piling out option and as soon as we even mentioned prayer—the truck stopped slipping and sliding and made it through.

Thus far, we have been fed well—even eating goat meat. The Haitians are very generous in what they prepare for us each day. A group of incredible women fix our breakfast and lunch, also doing our laundry daily. It might seem odd that we would have them do these things for us, but it gives these women a chance to earn money for their families—a rare opportunity in a culture full of unemployment.

Every afternoon has been filled with resting and then when it begins to cool down (as much as it can cool down here), we let the kids into the yard and it is soon filled with laughter and smiles as we introduce them to things like Legos, Candyland and Memory. There’s certainly plenty of ball games and jump roping going on too. Speaking of kids, little did we know that we brought our own celebrity along in Tiana who is 10-years-old. The Haitian children just stare at her white skin, blonde hair and freckles. Tiana is learning how to ignore their stares and get down to the business of playing with her new friends. She must be doing something right because when we had church last night, she had a group of children waiting for her at the door.
We wish there was some way for you see, smell, hear, taste and feel what we are here in Haiti. We have our camera, but sometimes there is just not enough time to snap a picture of what we see so we can share it with you. In our mind’s eye you have missed the joy on the children’s faces, the group of people gathered around a well, pumping water, the iron used on our clothes with the hot coals in it, and the smell of the hot, sweaty bodies that swarm us whenever we open the gates to the church courtyard to play. You’ve also missed the feel of the never-ending, muggy heat and the sound of the church bell ringing, the rooster crowing and the young women warming up for their church songs.

Monday starts our work at the orphanage. It is built way differently than we would at home and it is not nearly as completed as we thought so we are going to do the best that we can to help and keep ourselves busy. We’ll tell you more about that tomorrow.

To follow along with more updates throughout our days, you can find us at:
www.twitter.com/thebridgefresno
www.Facebook.com/thebridgefresno
www.alohagilmores.blogspot.com
http://journeyintohisheart.blogspot.com