Monday June 28

Hey friends :)

Saturday, all of us (both teams) went up the mountain to build homes near St. Etienne. The World Race team had gone up there fairly consistently over the last few weeks, but this was our team's first trip up there to work. It's so beautiful in the mountains, but definitely hard work! All of the housing frames and supplies had to be carried in (not by us... the Haitians had already done all that hard work!). There's trails up and down the ridges and valleys, some not more than two or three feet wide. I imagine that some of those trails would be very difficult to navigate if it was rainy, and I'm sure some of them have been taken out by landslides more than once. The hiking wasn't super difficult, but I had been feeling a little under the weather since Friday night (just a little flu-ish, slight fever, etc.). God was definitely testing my endurance and reliance on Him that day! Later that afternoon, we went back to the beach and I slept for a good couple of hours, which definitely helped in the recovery process.
Saturday night, the original plan was to go to the UN for dinner, since the UN guys in this area are friends with Lex and Renee and had invited us all over. Because it was raining though, we ended up not going, but had delicious ham and cheese sandwiches on the porch instead. this might not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it was. :)

Sunday morning was church, this time under the new tin roof that was put up this week! Pictures will be on facebook when we get back. :) It's so much cooler/breezier/nicer than being under the tarp! Church was followed by resting back at the beach - a typical Sunday in Haiti. I probably slept for another 4 hours or so that afternoon, which is evidently what my body needed, because I'm back to feeling about 95% today. Sunday late afternoon we went back to church for a mini worship 'seminar' of learning some new worship songs before the big conference next week. We're not sure yet exactly what to expect with this conference, but we do know that it's July 1st-4th, and there will be about 2000 people from all over Haiti coming to Mission of Hope for a couple days for seminars and such. We'll be helping in some capacity with it, but still don't know quite what all that will entail. We'll keep you in the loop as we find out.

The World Race team left today, headed back to Port-au-Prince for a day or two of debriefing before they all fly home. It has been so great to work alongside them and get to hear their stories over the last few weeks! We will miss them all greatly!

Before the conference starts Thursday, the five of us that are left have a goal of finishing at least 15 more houses over the next three days. I think it's do-able.... so we better get back to work :)

love you all!!

to Him be the Glory!