Homes, Homes and more Homes

Alo (Hello),

Today was yet another very, very tiring day. Anywhere from building and assembling sets and sets of windows, doors and their frames, to shoveling hundreds of scoops of dirt, to carrying cinder blocks, to chopping down thorny brush with a machete, to mixing concrete... You get the idea :) Today was definitely the biggest test for our bodies. It was actually overall better than yesterday as far as weather because we were blessed with frequent cloud cover, but being the middle of the week and having just done 2 very tough work days made everyone feel pretty stretched. This is quite the challenge for everyone and it is beginning to catch up to some of us. Several are having slight coughs, slight congestion and some sunburn. But we spoke with a YWAM staff and they said that usually happens to almost everyone because of all the dust (it is extremely dry and dusty where we have been working). Still no serious illness so we continue to praise God for that! I am also amazed at how the Lord has prevented injuries to anyone. Looking at the list above of what all we've been doing, combined with the crazy driving they do here in Haiti makes for lots of opportunities for injury. But the Lord has been so faithful to this group - most of the kids have lots of scrapes on their legs from doing machete work, and we've used lots of bandaids for little, minor scrapes but other than that - nothing. This has by far been the most intense missions trip I've been on/lead and it's been so great to watch everyone respond so well. I can tell the kids are beginning to anticipate coming home (I myself am a bit excited for some air conditioning and ice cream :) but they are really grabbing hold of the challenge that we need to end well. We are not done yet - the Lord can do many things in 2 days. We continue to pray He will give us opportunities to extend hope and salvation. A man on crutches was prayed for today by a few people in our group - and afterwards he was able to stand and walk for the first time in 6 months. Who knows what all the Lord has for these last 2 days - all we know is that we desire to be an instrument for Him to accomplish His will! The evil one would wish to bring fatigue and lack of energy and zeal, but our God is bigger and will provide for His people. We continue to feel every one of your prayers - thank you for joining this battle with us. I encourage you as well - end strong! Persevere in prayer over these last 2 days - it's more important than ever as the element of fatigue gets stronger. I do look forward to seeing many of you soon on Sunday and for all in the group to share their experiences and stories with you. As we sung tonight in worship - How Great Is Our God!