Haiti Day 5- Construction Material Collection

   This morning we again split into two teams.  One team went to build another foundation.  Since I had worked on a foundation day one I elected to place myself  on the crew to collect rubble and river sand (for mixing concrete) in the dump truck.

Milton in the dump truck

Jeff in the dump truck

 Our team got in the dump truck and we went back to the same site the collection crew had gone to the first day.  A building is being repaired and we were collecting the broken cinder blocks that would not be reused as the "new" building went up.  It was very hot and heavy work as the sun continued to be relentless.  The rubble load went to the house the other team is working on.  After the dump truck returned empty we all got in it again and rode to the riverbed to collect the river sand.  We snaked our way through very narrow streets in order to get the dump truck down to the river.  Being that it is the dry season we drove right down into the riverbed and across the river.  On the other side of the river there was a gentleman working on a large sand pile.  It is much easier to get the sand into the truck with the buckets from a pile than just from digging.  We began moving that pile to the truck and he quickly began digging another pile.  We knew we had work to do.  It takes a lot of sand to fill a dump truck!  Once we filled the truck they drove off to take the sand went to yet another unfinished house located at the outskirts of a tent city not far from the compound.

loading the truck

   We all decided it was a good time to take a break so we walked up the river to sit underneath the bridge.  Not only was it about 10 degrees or more cooler in the shade, but the bridge created a natural wind tunnel to cool us off.  As we had been working we began to attract a crowd of kids.  Now that we had stopped working and were hanging out several within our group began to play with the kids.  It was a great break from the hard manual labor we had been doing.  The man who was digging our piles continued to dig piles even as we rested.
   We waited around for about 30-45  minutes as the lunch hour approached.  Finally, it was decided that we would head back for lunch.  The dump truck had not returned so we climbed out of the riverbed with only a couple casualties (Mike's ankle and Joanie's pants). We started walking along the edge of the river toward the ocean and back to the compound.  I must say I have never seen the ocean from this perspective before!

unique ocean view

   As we left the site for lunch we walked along the river and saw where the floods resulting from the earthquake had washed out several houses.  Many of those families are now in rubble houses a few feet back from where the old houses stood.  The Haitian government has built "levies" made of stone encased in chain-link fencing (very similar but on a different scale to the rubble house construction method).  We walked  along some of the river wall structure on our way back to the compound. By the time we got to these rubble houses I looked back and the dump truck was once again entering the river.  I thought to myself that by the time we get back the freshly dug piles would not be there.  As it turned out I was right.  While we were eating lunch they loaded another dump truck of sand and delivered it.  They came back to the compund as we were finishing to pick us up and carry us back to the river for one more load.  About walking: By this point I had made 8 trips to the first house going 8 different way.  Only one of those trips involved me riding in a truck.  The rest were walking about two miles each way.  The joke was that they never wanted us to know where we were or where we were going.

dump truck in the river with "levies"

   Both crews had a short workday today.  Hopefully, the foundation will be completed by the Haitians.  I would have liked to have seen completion on at least one house while we were there.  We were able to work on four different houses in various stages of completion.  Our team worked on foundation, wall construction/filling, stucco, rubble/sand collection and delivery, and a small group of us got to help with the beginnings of a roof, but not all on the same house.

sand dump at 3rd house

   That night those of us that wanted went out after supper to a local "restaurant."  Jeremy had told us that they make the best grilled chicken at this place.  We left the compound as it was starting to get dark (around 8:00).  Any time before that would have been too early and the cooking wouldn't have started yet.  A bunch of us walked up the streets of town to the HFC, Haitian Fried Chicken joint.  It really was great treat!  I'm glad for the experiences of being able to get out and support the local businesses as well.

Slumdog Millionaire

How does Jamal answer the final question correctly?...

I don't want to give anything away in regards to this movie. I will say that this movie fits well with what we have been talking about all year. Slumdog is rated "R." I would say the rating is for slight language, violence, and suggestive themes. Becca, Greg, Zihna, and I went to see this movie together. All of us agree that it is very well done. It is definitely not a "feel-good" movie. You don't walk out with a warm fuzzy feeling. During the movie you are lead into the slums of Mumbai by two brothers and an unlikely female companion. The story follows their life from a very young age through the pitfalls of slum life. At times it is difficult to watch what these children have to live through. The movie is based on the book "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup.

The question remains, what do we do now? I wonder what the producers of the movie will do about the situations they filmed. Will proceeds from the movie go to lift some of these children and families out of poverty, slavery, and the sex trade? As we can only control our own actions perhaps a better question would be what are we going to do now as a result of our study this year and having seen this movie? This Fall our church will enter a stewardship campaign focused on Justice and Faith and how the two are intertwined. It has been asked why are we focusing so much on social justice issues (presumably at the expense of the "Jesus stuff"). My simple answer to that question is social justice is the Jesus stuff! The longer answer would fill more pages than I care to here, but it would involve the many scriptures from the Prophets, Psalms, the Gospels, and the Book of James that point us in the direction of taking care of those that God cares about, the brokenhearted, the orphans, and the widows, etc.

Join us this Wednesday night as we begin the process of sponsoring children through Compassion International. Flood Begins at 6:00 with a snack supper and 6:30 for the worship experience. Pressing on! Andy

Quick History Lesson

One of the things I love about the Old Testament and the Jewish traditions and festivals is the rich history that is told and retold. Many of the stories in the early part of the Old Testament are much older than the writings themselves. The stories were passed down orally for generations before they were ever written down. The people were commanded to share the stories with their children when they rise, when they lie down, at meal times, during special festivals and feasts, and at other sacred times of the year. Even the festivals had special meaning and marked significant events in the life of Israel. For Example, Passover is a festival to remind the people how God passed over the Israelites as he smote (great word, huh?) the first-born of the Egyptians. As Christians we also recognize Jesus as the Passover lamb. For just as God "passed over" the homes of the Israelites God also "passed over" us as Jesus sacrificed his very life on the cross for us. And the festival that we have looked at recently, the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths, was meant to be a marker and a reminder that Yahweh provides. While the people were wandering in the wilderness they were provided with all that they needed. Got sent manna and quail, "their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet become swollen." (Neh. 9:21) The people constructed booths and lived in them for the duration of the eight day festival as a reminder that God had provided even when it seemed they had nothing to call their own. There are markers and reminders too numerous to name here. There are also spots in scripture that that tell us a lot about the history of Israel in just a small space. Nehemiah chapter 9 is one such place. Here we read a prayer that is intended as a reminder for the people of what God has done and why they are to fear (read "respect") and worship God. For us this also serves as a brief lesson of the history of Israel. Praise God for these reminders. I for one am glad they show up in random places. Aren't those the reminders that we really need anyway; those that come when we least expect them? Don't forget your Bibles on Wednesday!

Do Hard Things...

So, another trip to Nashville provides ample opportunity to read in the car. No, I don't read while I drive. I usually let my wife read to me while I drive. That has become our practice over the last few months. And this trip was no different. On the way to Nashville we read a great little book written by a friend of ours, Randy Winton, called "My Daddy's Shoes." It is an inspirational book about being present and available to your children. It also emphasizes the importance of being a model of godly living for your children. I can only imagine that one of my hard things will be living up to the image of father that my children will want me to be. But, that is a topic for another time... After spending the week at a Children's Pastors' Conference we came home today and I gave Becca a break. While she rested most of the way home I listened to an audio book that I had purchased earlier in the week. This book was written by two 19- year old twin brothers. It is called Do Hard Things. Alex and Brett Harris are crying out against the low expectations that the world has for teenagers today. The basic premise is that for too long adolescents and kidults have done just enough to skate by because that is all they were expected to do. The challenge is for teens to become rebelutionaries, that is to be ones who rebel against the rebellion that is so often associated with the years 13-19 (perhaps now up to the mid- to late 20s). The brothers list example after example of opportunities that they and many others have had to show the adults around them that they are tired of living in a low expectation world. I was encouraged to know that there are many teenagers in our country and around the world that not only want to make a difference, but expect to do so. I have said this before and would like to take this opportunity to say it again here, "people will rise to the expectations that you have for them." That is why I have made the challenge that I have this year. I expect the students at First Baptist Church Augusta, GA to do something great! We have looked at many problems that our world is facing including but not limited to modern-day slavery, poverty, starvation, forced prostitution, and child mortality. In case the challenge is not clear or perhaps the problems listed this way still seem insurmountable let me echo the Harris' and say: "Do hard things!" At Flood this week we will begin studying about a young man who did just that. His name is Nehemiah and you can find his story in the good book. Let me encourage you to familiarize yourself with Nehemiah chapters 1-4 for this Wednesday. Press on!