Work Day #1

Bonswa! (Good Evening),

It's amazing what sleep does for the human body. After being extremely depraved on Wednesday night, everyone was in bed and asleep by 9:30 last night. Some of you are probably shocked to hear that. This morning I could tell there was much more energy again and all were feeling revamped. Breakfast is at 6:30 on weekdays here - so I'm sure that alone is quite an adjustment for some of these youth. They really seem to be taking it all in stride and are making the most of it.

Today we went to a town called Parisse where YWAM had built tent homes a couple months ago that were donated by Esbenshade's in Ephrata. (side note - Lancaster County has major connections over here - they ALL know about it and from the beginning many people from Lancaster have had huge roles in getting this base started, kinda neat I thought). They have now started to build much more sturdy, tin homes that are placed on top of a concrete foundation. All of the families living in these homes are victims of the Port-au-Prince earthquake that lost their homes and came up to St. Marc looking for help. Today we were able to put together 2 of these homes! They just need a few finishing touches and they'll be ready for the families to move in. There are kids always standing around and watching so many of our youth spend lots of time playing games with them and laughing with them. They did a great job taking initiative to interact with the local people. Even though we cant really communicate verbally - the love of Christ can absolutely still shine through.

We had a good meeting tonight and Mitch Witmer and Jess Kuro led us in some devotions - both had awesome things to say. Each night we have 2 of the youth prepare and share a brief devotional and they've done great with that so far and taken it as a serious opportunity to share whats on their hearts. We then closed by standing together and as we held hands we interceded on behalf of this country and the YWAM staff. I felt it was very meaningful and I can sense the kids (and us as leaders) have realized what a sacrificial lifestyle these YWAMers live day by day. There is very good morale and the Lord is at work. I continue to pray that we can be a blessing to all we meet and that they may see the joy of the Lord in this group. It is only day 2 and I can aready tell this is an experience these youth will never forget. Thanks for your prayers and comments - keep pressing on! We all feel them. In fact, all 27 are still feeling 100% healthy. Tomorrow is a beach day so we're all looking forward to that :) We'll continue to keep you posted...