Shayla Rowe with the Sunnybrook Team shares with us how God has revealed himself to the team and everyone they met within the last 7 days.
God’s timing is perfect!
It’s amazing the bonds that have been created in just seven days here in Haiti. Not only with the employees at Many hands, the families we’ve met through food deliveries, but also random, unplanned moments like the man we met on the mountain. Just one man, with one pick ax, digging a road. A road? With a pick ax?! He had a vision for the future, something not all people here can comprehend. They have to live minute by minute, meal by meal, day by day. After a little small talk, this amazing man quoted us Psalm 48 and went on his way, swinging his pick like he was just a young pup.
“Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth.” Psalm 48
Brad and this man on a handshake as they exchanged macheti and sheath OLD for NEWWhat a great experience using the work of laying the concrete floor to work side by side and hand in hand with the Haitian people. You don’t even need to talk, your work ethic and ability to work together speaks volumes. Shoveling the gravel/water/mix into buckets, passing buckets person to person until it reached its destination and then passed back for a refill. No machines necessary, we were the production line! It worked out very nice and honestly, it was fun! There was always one of us (American or Haitian) getting caught in la-la land, not watching and ready for the next bucket coming down the line. Despite the language barrier, it was evident that we were all giving each other a hard time for that, many laughs and big smiles.
Concrete floor site Buckets of concrete being passed through the house Cookies at the concrete floor site
“God’s timing is always perfect” said Denise, our new Haitian friend, as we started down the path back to the taptap. I don’t think that any of us here think of ourselves as a blessing to the Haitian people, we are only being obedient by being the hands and feet of Jesus. Yesterday, on food delivery, the most elderly woman of the family, nicknamed DouDou (aka Denise), stopped our Haitian guide, Jean Robert, and told him how hard she had been praying for God to provide for her and her family and then we showed up with food for the family that would last for weeks. On that very day, we were her saving grace and an answer to prayer.
Praying together with the kids from the neighbodhood Tiny but tough- this woman was grateful for the food that was brought as a gift to her family
I saw something for the first time here, before I saw it in the states, a PET (Personal Energy Transport) cart. This gives a person with a disability the chance to be just like everyone else. To get from point A to point B or to go down the street with some friends. Some weeks ago I had actually seen a video online of these transportation devices and thought, how awesome! Ironically enough we met up with the PET team and were able to deliver a new and bigger PET cart to a young boy, Khaki. At some point in his life his feet became deformed and now he cannot walk. He is a child of few words, but when he saw us pull up he was wide eyed and grinning from ear to ear!
Ellen checking Khaki’s feet- He is 10 and has been unable to walk since he was 4 Our team giving the gift of mobility to Khaki
I speak for everyone that I have come into contact with this week, such hard workers with huge hearts and amazing smiles! We are no different from one another and it truly shows that with God at the wheel, the crooked arrow always hits its target.
I pray that one day, the whole world can live in the unity that we have experienced the last seven days.
God’s plans are greater than my plans
Bridgett helping serve the Thrive for Five meal to the moms and kids In the classroom of Lecole Lumiere -MH preschool Coloring with the preschoolers Dental hygiene teaching for the preschoolers Dentral screening by Dr Wilkin and Shayla Slumberland delivery truck Our transportation, (taptap) as we went out with Food and a gift of a mattress