Day Four: Monday, 21 Jan
245p...
S'ak Pase? (That's Haitian Creole' for What's Up?)
In response to the above, most
Haitians will say, "N'ap Boule!", which is tantamount to saying
something to the effect of, "No worries." It was interesting for me to learn a
year or so ago that the most literal translation of "N'ap Boule" is
"I'm in the fire, but not burning."
I love that, as I've always
been fascinated by how sometimes so much about a culture is reflected in its
linguistic expressions. The
Haitians have been through much throughout their history...ranging from corrupt
leaders to European colonialism, environmental catastrophe, and demonic
oppression. And then
there's been the thoughtless, unaccountable foreign government/pseudo-government
aide that, at times, has done almost nothing but rob many of the Haitian people
of their dignity as human beings. To
be "in the fire" is very Haitian; to be "not burning" is
nothing but God's grace.
Today's been a great day! Sorry that this is my first post of
the day; it's just that, with the exception of many of us taking a nap after a
late lunch, it's been a busy day.
Our morning began with
breakfast at 7a, followed by Steve leading us in a devotion about the strength
and power of God that's expressed in our weaknesses. Like the three Hebrew children in
Daniel, we've all been in the fire in some way, and yet, because of the loving
presence of God, we were not consumed. God's
power, as Paul wrote, was manifested in and through our weaknesses. I suppose that N'ap Boule could be a pretty apt descriptor of
the follower of Jesus and not just of the Haitian people. How cool would it be if, when asked
how we're doing, all of us responded with a genuine, heartfelt "I'm in the
fire, but not burning!" Doesn't
that sound a lot more hopeful (and cutting edge) than the lethargic
"Ummm...under the circumstances, not bad"???
After breakfast, we all walked
to our work site and worked for about two-and-a-half hours alongside our
Haitian brethren on a road-widening project. Working with the Haitians can be a lot
of fun. They really do seem
to enjoy working together, and we all love how they like to sing while they
work. As I've written about
on previous trips, how cool would it be if all of us learned to make work more
of a celebration, or just chose to include more celebratory aspects of life in
our work.
Regarding road widening, such
tasks are extremely helpful to the Haitians. Widening a 4-ft path to a 12-foot wide
road can open up so many possibilities. The
provision of adequate vehicle access makes it possible for the Haitians to
transport a sick person to the hospital far more easily. It also allows for the bringing in of
equipment to install electrical connections as well as farm equipment so that
the Haitians can expand their farming operations, harvest their crops more
easily, and move beyond subsistence farming by transporting their produce to
the weekly market in Bohoc or to other markets throughout the region.
Speaking of electricity...it's coming
to Bohoc within the next couple of weeks! Everyone here is quite excited about
this. The main transmission
lines are in, and now all that remains is the installation of connections to
individual homes. I think,
too, that a few sub lines may be required so that portions of the village that
lay outside Bohoc proper can be served as well. In Haiti, the poles that support the
electric lines are made of reinforced concrete as opposed to steel or wood
(which is what we typically see in the U.S.). Rock, sand, and limestone are in
abundance in Haiti; steel and wood are not.
In a few minutes, we'll be
heading out to hang-out with some students, who are a part of what is called The Wisdom Club. The club, at least from what I can
understand of it, is a group of older students interested in improving their
English-language skills.
Okay...I need to go for now;
more later...
Dave
544p...
Oh, my!! We just got back from spending a
couple hours at The Wisdom
Club. How fabulous that
was. Each of us got to
spend about an hour and half or so of one-on-one time with one or two Haitian
young people eager to learn English. If
my recollection is correct, there were about 15 young men and 3 young women at
the meeting today; the ages of the members/participants ranged from about 13
years old to about 20 years old. Afterward,
Jedlain and I spoke about newhope helping The Wisdom Club obtain English Bibles and
English-Haitian Creole' dictionaries. All
of it would be done through 410, of course. Jedlain and I agreed to think through
which of the following two options would be best: (1) Sending 410 enough money so that
the items could be purchased here in Haiti; or (2) Ordering the materials and
having them sent to Haiti from the U.S. My
feeling right now is that the former option might be best (if such items are
readily available) as (1) the money used to purchase the items in Haiti would
contribute directly to their economy, and (2) it might be the most reliable way
to make sure such items are put in the hands of The Wisdom Club. There is the possibility, too, that
the April Travel Team could just bring over the items when we come back in
three months.
Dinner's about to be served, so
I'm going to take my leave for a little while.
Bondye beni-ou! (God bless you!)
Dave
742p...
We just finished dinner and the
evening's debrief, which was led by Joey. I have just four words for Travel Team
A: I LOVE THIS
TEAM!!!!! I love it that we
are becoming a family, and I love it that everyone has been so engaging--with
each other and with the Haitians, and that every one of them has willingly
stepped beyond their comfort zones. In
fact, I would not be surprised if some of them discover over the next many
weeks that their time in Haiti was the most comfortable they'd ever felt...with
themselves and with other people.
Okay...I'm going to head to bed
soon. I wish all of you
God's best.
Dream sweat; dream well...
Dave
PS BTW...e-mail has been V E R Y slow for
many of us. For some of us
(yours truly included), it won't even load-up. It's not a problem at all,
but I just want to make sure that everyone at home knows this information.
We're all doing well, and we all miss everyone at home very much. Thank you to all'y'all for your love
and prayers. Peace...
1 comment:
Dave --
Want to let you and your team know that your blog is followed and your team is prayed for from Indianapolis, IN! Love the updates and thank you so much for your diligence with the blog. The "Good News" is being lived by the members of your team, there is no greater witness. Thank you! Your brother in Christ -- Graham
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