Grand Goave Day 7: Dedication Day

Big Daddy and the last bucket

"Betty Rubble"

Hannibal Smith always said, "I love it when a plan comes together." That's the way we feel today. The mission is now complete: our portion of the Rubble House is done! Before we poured the last batch of rubble, we dedicated the house. We thanked God, asked for blessings upon the family that will be sheltered behind the rock walls, and left a special memento behind: a red bandana. 

one last truck ride

It has been somewhat of a symbol for our group. We tied red bandanas around all of our luggage before we left. Some of us wore them while we worked. We decided to sign our names to a red bandana and leave it within the wall of the house, to serve as a testament to God's love and the commitment of our church to missions at home and abroad. 

 I speak for the whole group when I say that we are so proud of the work we did this week. We built a house with our own hands to provide shelter to a family in need. We worked in His name.

A dedicated group dedicates rubble house

We established a life long bond that we will gladly take back with us to Dalton. God has truly blessed us this week. Our church has blessed us with prayers. Thank you for your faithfulness and we are all very excited to be back in Dalton tomorrow. See you on Sunday!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV)

-Curtis C.


Check out this video of the final buckets of rubble and rubble house dedication with this faithful group!

Grand Goave Day 6: Let's Get Ready to Rubble!

Gary, atop the cage with the hardest job of a all

Pass the bucket, pour the bucket, throw the bucket!

 

Any words of praise that I can write about our group truly falls short of the truth. We have an all star team. There are no complaints despite the heat, difficulty of the work, etc. Everyone's attitude has been top notch. I am so inspired by this team of volunteers and I am proud that we are serving in the name of Christ and FBC Dalton, down here in Grand Goave.

Front: The portion on the left is all that is left to fill with rubble

Today was all rubble, all the time. Breaks were few and our bucket brigade was turned up to 11. After going at it all day, the Rubble House that we were each called to build, that the members of FBC Dalton financed, is nearly complete. We're anticipating a light morning, and possibly an afternoon trip to the beach tomorrow. But "light" days are a little different in Haiti!

Emily secures the cage to the frame

"The righteous scattered abroad their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor." Psalm 112:9

-Curtis C.

Grand Goave Day 5: A Dirty, Sweaty Bunch of Baptists (and 2 Methodists)

Big Daddy on the wall

Today started off with more of the same: mortar and wire cage duty. By lunch we were tired but better off than yesterday.

Fearless Leader (Lamar) Breaking Rocks

After lunch came the pain: buckets of 

rubble. Basically, think of a bucket brigade, only instead of water, we had a bunch of rocks in each bucket. Big Daddy poured the rocks into the cages, Jonathan lifted the buckets up and everyone else passed. Several members switched out sharing the tricky job of placing a bucket to be filled while simultaneously lifting a filled one up to be passed. We felt like Lucy at the conveyor belt once 2 Haitians began shoveling into the buckets! It was hard to keep up with them!

Bucket Brigade

After an afternoon of bucket work, we nearly filled one long wall. Tomorrow will be a long day with more of the same. We are all tired and weary, and expect extremely sore muscles to set in by the morning. Several of us have cuts and bruises. We appreciate your prayers for rest tonight and strength tomorrow.

I guess we know what's for dinner!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV) - Curtis C.

Day 4: A "Light" Day? Yeah Right!

 As we were preparing to leave for the work site, Tiga told us that we were going to push the rubble loading back a day so that we could "watch" Haitian teams apply mortar to several houses that were already assembled. Therefore, today was to be a "light" day. We all shrugged our shoulders, saying "ok, let's take it easy for a day."

Well, nothing was further from the truth! We split into 3 teams and rode to separate work sites in the back of a pick up truck, making us all feel right at home! The Haitians applied the mortar while we made it for them (the application process is quite a skill and most of the group that tried, struggled to do it correctly).  First, someone had to shovel dirt, placing it into a hand held sifter, which was then manually shaken until the dirt fell out and the bigger rocks were separated. 

 

Once accumulated, the sifted dirt was then mixed by shovel with bags of concrete to make the mortar. Someone then took heavy buckets of mortar and brought them into the house for the Haitian workers. By lunch time we were all spent. Cold Cokes were served and were quickly consumed. After a wonderful lunch, many in the group feel asleep on benches or the floor!

Local boys pitch in to help!

The after lunch shift brought more of the same. Sift, mix and repeat. At both sites, however, many of the locals that watched us work in the morning, now began to work side by side with us! What a joy it was to see several young boys hoisting shovel full loads of dirt to be sifted. It was truly awesome, a great testament to the pride and work ethic of the Haitian people and an example of the impact that groups like ours can have on others.

We expect to lift buckets of rubble tomorrow with tired muscles. We appreciate your prayers for our energy tomorrow, but you don't have to worry about our enthusiasm!

Local mortar artists!

"People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them." (Mark 10:13-16 NIV)

- Curtis C.

Grand Goave Day 3: Getting Our Sweat On!

We finally got to work today and we were ready! The Rubble House comes together in pieces so we focused on the first stage.  We split up into teams. Team 1 focused on cutting reinforcement wire into sections, then cutting addition mesh wire into sections that we then attached to the reinforcement wire. Team 2 then took two sections of covered wire and fitted smaller sections of reinforcement wire in between for support. These sections will become the walls of the house, which we'll fill with rubble tomorrow.

Lamar attaches the sections together

Our Haitian friends gave great direction and worked alongside us. One of the highlights of the day was an impromptu rendition of "On Holy Ground" by Betty and Tiga. Chill bumps all around.

Wire Team and Ernst

Mary Anna & James with Greg

I've never enjoyed a cold shower as much as I did today. The weather has been sunny and hot. Despite seeing storm clouds each day, we've yet to get any rain. Tonight after dinner, Tiga is going to take us to a place in town where we can get smoothies and unwind. Sure to be a new experience for sure!

 

Spaghetti for Breakfast!

"My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (James 2:1-4 NIV)

-Curtis C.

Grand Goave Day 2: A Unique Experience All Around

Today has been a day of contrasts.  Tent cities surrounded by beautiful scenery.  The dense chaotic atmosphere of Port Au Prince compared to the laid back environment of Grand Goave.  Cold showers when its 90+ degrees outside.  Poor people worshipping with all their hearts next to fortunate Americans who, by comparison are quite reserved.

One team member admitted their hesitance to come on the trip, but when a Haitian girl hopped into their lap at church, their attitude changed immediately. 

Lamar praying while Tiga translates

We experienced a worship service unlike anything I've ever seen. First, it was 3 hours long. I don't think that anyone wants us to adopt that model at FBCD. But, that 3 hours was filled with sincere, passionate and uninhibited worship of the same God that we serve. I didn't understand a word, but I left with great respect for their love of God, and challenged to not hold back in my enthusiasm for God.

FBCD worships with new friends

We learned of the great need of resources to support education in Grand Goave. CBF has helped and great progress has been made, but that funding source is coming to an end next year. They face a great challenge in preparing the local population to begin to work again, to pay for education. But they have a great spirit and look to the Lord to provide. 

We were able to spend a relaxing afternoon on the beach. Most of the group swam in the ocean. The water was perfect. Some bought souvenirs to bring home, including a cool item for the church. Most enjoyed some of the island's best resources: plantains, conch, and lobster. We saw the locals pull the lobsters from the ocean... You can't get fresher than that!

Fresh Lobster!

Tomorrow the real work begins. We are ready. We are excited. But we are here to support the local efforts, not to take over and lead. We may be challenged to curb our desire to make immediate progress. We appreciate your prayers. 

Riding in (and on) a Tap Tap Cab

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works— he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,

who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 104:31-33 NIV)

-Curtis C. 

Day 1 Grand Goave, Haiti: Our New Home

Haiti Mission Team Leaving First Baptist Dalton at 4 am Saturday morning

The Haiti Mission Team includes

Betty Andersen, Emily Bennett, Mary Anna Caldwell, Curtis Callaway, Ed Conner, Gail and Tommy Duke, Lamar McClure, Jonathan Rackley, James Todd, Gary Wood, and Patrick Kiley. For more information about the work they will be doing this week, check out Haiti Replacement Homes.

A completed Rubble House

"When you're here, Haiti is your home." -Tiga This quote from our local guide pretty much sums up our Haitian experience so far. We've only been in Grand Goave for several hours but have already experienced amazing hospitality and friendship. We've walked among the townspeople, never fearing for our safety. We visited a completed Rubble House to size up the task ahead of us. There we met a woman holding a beautiful baby girl, that made us all smile and laugh. She even ended up in the arms of Lamar and "Big Daddy" Todd. Small children ran up and hugged Mary Anna, Kimberly, Gary and Jonathan. We are surrounded by mountains to the south and west, and beautiful water to the north. Yes, I think we are all falling in love with this place. The day was long but we made it without any hiccups. Even the much feared airport in Port au Prince went as smoothly as we could have hoped. We are definitely feeling God's presence around us! Thank you for all of your prayers. We feel them and need them. We will post more as we can. -Curtis C.

Jonathan Rackley, Mary Anna Caldwell,
Gail Duke, and Emily Bennett

Gary Wood and Jonathan Rackley being greeted
by new young friends in Grand Goave