Not Bright Roosters

The roosters started crowing too early this morning. I don't have a watch on this trip and have been using the roosters as my alarm so when they started crowing I got up quietly in the dark, shuffled over to the counter to push the button on the coffee maker and hit a coke bottle knocking it over with a loud sound. Once the coffee is brewing it is back to bed for a few minutes. Finally I decide to get up and open the computer to find the time is 3:45am! The coffee is done but it is too early to start the day. Would someone educate the roosters here in Haiti. Oh well This is a good time and opportunity to reflect on our trip, the internet is working well and no one is waiting for the laptop. We are just shocked at the extreme poverty of these people and yet admire their patience, faith, and smiles. What sticks out most is how clean and well dressed the Haitians are. Their clothes are clean! They take pride in how they dress, the women know how to walk in flip flops somehow not flipping the ever present mud up on their legs or dresses. Even the street kids are dressed each morning in clean clothes. They usually have the same clothes on from the day before but each time we see them they are clean. The amount of time required to just do this simple task is shocking, they don't have washers and dryers. The ladies take the cloths out to the river scrubbing them by hand then laying them on the rocks to dry. We had a good time at church last night, Zack Birtche and his family are here to open 4 more houses for Loving Shepherd Ministries. Zack was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago and given 6 months to live. Tim had me help type up a report he needed to send to MEBSH I thought it so interesting I'm posting it here also. This was right after hurricane Sandy: I would like to share some insight passed on to me by one of the Haitian church leaders in Dorlette Haiti, After we finished the construction and covering, of a village church roof. At what seemed like an inopportune time, we had a hurricane destroy the single road, leading into the village we were planning to cover. With just 2 days before my teamed arrived I was in a scramble, and pleading to God, to help organize another village to prepare to host the incoming team. After arriving at the new village, I found the people were ecstatic to see me, that I was in their village, inquiring about bringing a team to cover their church roof in just 2 days. After arriving in the new village, I was doubtful they had enough man power to fix the road with picks and shovels for a truck load of materials to arrive. The people assured me God would help us get ready. Coming back in with the trucks into the village, we only got stuck one time. It was a success, we made it. The villagers even had welcoming signs decorated with flowers and posted, to receive us with a hearty welcome! The Lord blessed the work and after the completion of covering the roof one of the church leaders stood up and said, “if I could I would like to share some of our history with you.” You see the cement blocks making these walls, well it has been over 20 years since we made them, in trying to build this church. After a few years of our struggling, the community laughed at us and said, “you might as well sell us the blocks so we can at least use them to help us build our houses.’” And so it went. This community continued to laugh at us saying you will never get it built. We finally just got ready for the roof, and they came and laughed again saying, “look how long it took you to get this far over 20 years, “How will you ever put the roof on. : The leader said, “ God providently changed your plans to immediately, in just 2 days come and cover our church with a new roof as a gift through the MEBSH construction department. We know for certain it is Our God answering Our prayers and the community will come and sit with us in our new church, to find out more of our God who performed this miracle. “ I was humbled to think how God works, in what can seem somewhat trivial to some of us, can be almost insurmountable to others. The church was a very basic 30 x 60 cement block structure with a dirt floor, and yet the singing and the joy shown to us as they lifted up praise, glory and thanksgiving to our God, was witnessed by every team member. I am not sure who was more encouraged and inspired, the visiting team or the local Haitian brethren. Thank you for all who share the Lords blessings to the poor on this earth. Brother Tim Reinhard. I'm not sure what Joan has planned for us today.