A Day in the Life…..

“The days grow so full.  I wonder how all is accomplished in the course of a few hours.  I’m up before daybreak.  It’s too beautiful to miss the splendor of God’s creation coming awake.  With a hot cup of coffee in my hand, I watch as the One who loves us as deep as the blue of the heavens in the early morning sky and as wide as the sea causes the sun to break over the unending horizon and once again makes all things new!

Sunrise over the ocean

 And so, we plunge into another day, saying bonjour to the people as they pass by our porch, having breakfast, sharing that breakfast with the neighborhood children that call me Dad, begin work on the storage shed roof, come down the ladder to bend some flashing, stop to go across the hill to look at some timber with a carpenter friend to saw on the sawmill, back to work on the roof some more, stop for lunch and share with kids, make plans with a man for a garden, treat a lady with a bad back (need more Naproxen), finish the shed roof, see a pregnant lady and give her some prenatal vitamins, start drilling holes in the wall for the electrical wires, stop to give a towel to Martinee who had requested one, go to visit Soner, a friend and helper who has been sick, take a hike up another nearby hill to look at some land for a possible school site, continue working on installing the batteries and inverter,  and finally stop to get cleaned up before supper. 

 But the day is not over.  Some ladies passing by are having trouble carrying a heavy sack of feed so I go to help, then answer a call to go and bandage a badly cut foot, give some food to a hungry neighbor, listen to some good music while children play on the deck, visit with some neighbors who come by, do some good reading before bed….. And so the days go by.

 Many times I will see the last patient in the dark (need another head lamp), grateful for all the opportunities to share life and build relationships that speak of love and trust and the Kingdom of heaven!” – Bill

Bill bandaging girl’s foot

Medical needs are a daily occurrence.  We treat what we can.  There are a lot of burns and cuts, especially to the feet, fungus on the skin, and people with respiratory problems.   We were able to give a diuretic (water pills) to a man with congestive heart failure who was retaining water badly.  (If you are reading this and want to help specifically with medical needs, among the many things we use we are low on the following items:  Naproxen (muscle relaxer), de-wormer, cold medications, anti-fungal creams, and oral suspension amoxicillin.)

Once after rain poured all night, we woke up in the morning to the north wind blowing.  Everything was wet.  The neighbors could not make cooking fires as all the wood was soaked so there would be no breakfast and the children were cold.  It was probably 60 – 65 degrees which is COLD to Haitians.  We have two propane burners so we cooked up a big pot of labouyi, something similar to corn meal malt-o-meal, bought some bread from the bakery, and invited the neighbors for breakfast.

Breakfast with the children next door

Meat is hard to come by on Ile a Vache.  Someone butchered a cow one morning.  We bought a hunk to cook for the evening meal and invited the neighbors.  Sherlie and some ladies cooked for hours.  By the time mealtime rolled around, children were pouring in the gate, more than had been invited!  It was a blessed time to get to share with the neighbors.

After the sawmill’s arrival in January, February saw it put to good use.  A keel for a new fishing boat was cut.  Boards for windows in a young man’s house, boards for bookcases for the base, and many other items were made.  We are excited about the possibilities and blessings that the sawmill is  providing for the people of Ile a Vache.

Raised garden beds

With the hope to inspire the neighbors to raise their own food in small kitchen gardens, we began one ourselves.  Next to the base, five 3 x 15’ raised beds with dead coconut trees for sides were put in.  The plan is to raise vegetables from heritage seeds so the seeds can be saved to replant.  We hired some young men of the neighborhood to help set up the project, building the raised beds, and hauling in the dirt to fill them.  (The soil of our yard is mostly salty sand.)

Children with OCC gfts

Another Operation Christmas Child gift distribution was done at an interior village on Ile a Vache.  The children from earlier distributions were finishing up their Greatest Journey courses, teaching them about Jesus.   It is always an amazing experience to share a gift with children who have so little.  Please pray that the gifts and the teaching open hearts to the Lord.

I was blessed to have several conversations with people about the Lord.  A few requested Bibles and I was grateful a few extra ones were left from the gift distributions to be able to give them.

Thank you for your prayers and support to make all this possible.  We are still looking for 100 people to give $20 or more a month to enable us to continue working in Haiti.  About a dozen have signed up so far and we are grateful for their help.  If you can, please join in helping to bless the people of Haiti.  May God bless you.

Bill & Janet