From the start, our trip has been a series of blessings. Safe travel, resort like lodging, beautiful country, lovely weather, delicious food, and such surprising people; welcoming, warm, resilient, resourceful, joyful, … people like Madame Lulu, who watches over us during the day and cooks our lunch, and her daughter Barbara with the sparkly eyes who speaks English very well and sings like an angel, Lorsa who helps cook, and her daughter Nadine, who french braided our hair, Paul who lives nearby and is currently out of work, and his adorable son Christopher age two, Pierre and the rest off the Haitian laborers who are so patient, and share greetings and smiles with us, Eric our driver with his great sense of humor and wonderful laugh, Joseph our translator who checks on each of us regularly and offers praise for our work … just to name a few.
One special blessing I received here, took place outside the church, Delmas 33, where we have been working this week. A truck had come by and dropped off a load of gravel. Several of us were shoveling the gravel into a wheelbarrow, and wheeling it to the back of the property. An older woman passing by stopped and greeted me in Creole. She didn’t pass on, but continued to talk, speaking with great enthusiasm, and picking up speed as she went. Minutes went by, and I began to feel that I should try to break this off and get back to work. I felt quite handicapped, not knowing the language, and felt badly about not being able to speak to her. Pondering my options, I continued to listen. Suddenly in the string of foreign words I heard one I recognized– ”church”. Oh! I thought, we have common ground! Hoping to explain what I was doing, I said. ”travaux por Deus” - I work for God, in mangled portuguese/ french and pointed up in the sky. Almost immediately the woman went down on her knees in the road, making the sign of the cross and offering her praises to God. I stood there utterly utterly stunned, utterly humbled.
God’s presence is so very evident in Haiti!
Molly
We are praying for you all. We look forward to reading the blog every night. Our bags are almost packed and we can hardly wait to get there on Monday. Look forward to your stories and introduction to the project.
blessings
Michelle and Maurice Lindsey