Chasing down tarantulas

Bonswa…

Sorry about they delay. I am not sure what I got, but I spent all day in bed with a 100.5 fever. Since we were not ready to start working on the next house the team did some work around the compound that was important to get done. From what I could tell fro my limited movement here are some pictures of what got accomplished:

Repairs to the roof edge to eliminate drips where we did not want them.

Replaced a couple of toilets.

Today we focused on replacing the wall on the back of the compound that was damaged by the earthquake. Part of what we are doing is having the contractor and some of the laborers that helped with Pastor Pierre Paul’s house help so that we can teach them how we are building safe homes in America. Above are some pictures of the day.

Sunday

Bonswa…

Today was church day. We attended church this morning with about 1200 people. As usual the service was vibrant and inspiring. More of the ESMI team came in today and headed out to Les Cayes.

This afternoon we back out to the site of the corrugated tin church in City Soleil. Our plan is to build the pastor’s home there next. The only concern is that the property has not yet been purchased. Part of our approach is that we will build a house own land that is already owned by the pastor and/or his church. We should know more tomorrow whether we will build his home or work on another one.

This evening we went back to the church that we went to 3 weeks ago and presented the $1000 that was donated to the children’s ministry program. The girls that are doing the program are Amanda and Berthola. The girls were busy during the service leading the children’s church program. They wer very appreciative of the gift. Thanks for contributing..

Pastor Pierre Paul's House

June Construction (David Short's account)

Bonswa…

Well, I made it safe and sound to Haiti once again. Today ESMI had 40 people come in to work this week. Some are going to Les Cayes to work with the orphanage, some are doing some medical work and 6 joined me in Carrefour where we will work on the damaged fence at the compound as well as start working on another house. This pastor’s house will be the one out in City Soleil which I shared about on my last trip.

Tomorrow we will go to church in the morning and in the evening go to the church where the two girls that are doing children’s church go to. We will give them the gift of $1000 that some of you help contribute to. If you are still interested in helping let me know and I will tell you where to send the funds.

Today we went out to Pastor Pierre Paul’s house, which is almost completed. Above are some pictures from the house.

Site Coordinator David Short's Story

In finishing the May construction trip...

Another reason that this was a hard departure is that Laura and I are approaching 6 months now of doing this work. God has blessed us with the ability to do this. God has blessed me with a wife that has been supportive by letting me run down here four times and leaving her to fend for herself at home. We still feel like God is calling us to use our gifts and talents and lifelong skills to do this kind of work for the building of His kindom. We are still waiting upon him to show us how this will be fulfilled, or if this time that we have been involved in Haiti is just a season with an end coming soon. We do not know where this journey will lead us but we do desire your prayers and thoughts for us as we joyfully and carefully look to God to lead us. What we do know is that if this is where He leads us that we will need to raise our funds as so many other missionaries do and that we might be coming to you to consider supporting us.

I thank you so much for all of your support on these trips. My next trip…and as of this time my last one scheduled is June 5^th through 12^th. I should be able to show you pictures of Pastor Pierre Paul’s finished home as well as the next project. I would like to end with some Bible verses that might help you know a little more about my heart and why I am doing this:

John 3:16-17

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Romans 10:13-15

for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Thanks for listening to my story and the activities in Haiti…

The assessment of Pastor Myrtil's Church

We, the people of the US have an opportunity to help people like this rebuild their lives. I asked what it would take to buy another piece of property similar to this one so that we could use one lot for a church and one for some homes…it was around $5,000 USD. The price that we are looking at for the homes that we are building down here (12’ by 20’, hurricane and earthquake resistant) is about $4,000 to $5,000. I am sure we could build a church for $10,000 to $15,000. If you run the numbers that could be a new lot, church and maybe 4 homes for about $35,000 to $40,000. How’s that for a church building program…that is less that some SUV’s in our garages.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet for a couple of hours with Dony St. Germain, the head of ESMI. He has been instrumental in planting 42 churches here in Haiti. The vision that ESMI has for Haiti is to target 6 communities that have been badly damaged by the earthquake. The goal is to restore the homes of pastors (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of God, Church of Christ, Nazarene, independents), rebuild about 137 churches, and help widows and those in need to be placed in homes as well. ESMI would like to build about 300 homes. ESMI currently has the funds to build 6 homes, one of which we were working on this week. ESMI has partnered with Missions in Action to raise the funds for 100 homes. There is much to do and much opportunity for us to help.

The Story of Pastor Elio Myrtil

Pastor Guercy, his brother Bookson and I went out to City Soleil to visit one of the churches that El Shaddai Ministries International (ESMI) would like to rebuild. City Soleil is one of the roughest areas in all of Port of Prince and Haiti. It has a population of about 50,000 to 60,000. It is similar to East LA or the Watts and has been an ongoing area of focus for the UN peacekeepers still here. Pastor Guercy told me that there are two sides to this city…the cool side and the hot side (translated the safe side and the dangerous side). The dangerous side is row upon row of tin and tarp shacks packed together in what looks like a land fill area with no trees for shade. As you drive further out toward the bay you come to the safe side, which is basically a flood plane. It is filled with the kinds of grasses and trees and plants that thrive in a lot of water. This is where Pastor Myrtil took us to show us his church.

The church sits on a lot that measures about 45’ by 105’. You step down about a foot from the rubble road onto a ground that is soggy and rough. Centered on the lot and set back far enough where two tents could be set up for two families to live in sits the church.

The church is built out of whatever scrap lumber and corrugated tin the congregation could find. Before the earthquake this church had about 200 members, which is about the size of my church in Ohio. They have about 150 now because many of the members have moved out to more rural areas. Last year during the hurricane season the water was up to just below the floor in the door.

As we walked into the church we were met by three ladies and two children who immediately broke out in a song welcoming us into their house of worship. If you look closely at the picture you will see that the floor is made out of rubble leveled out and made as smooth as possible by chunks of concrete and tile. You can also see the holes in the tin where the rain pours in during the rainy season (May through November). As I stood here with my brothers and sisters it was all that I could do to keep from bursting into tears. We have so much in our churches in the US and yet are often unhappy with what we have. We want bigger edifices or newer features and yet our brothers and sisters in places like Haiti are satisfied with a shack like this.

In the back of the church the Pastor has started building a “home” for him and his family of 5. It is a slow project because he has to save for each part. So far he has poured the footing. It is an 8’ x 10’ building. That is smaller than most of our bathrooms and that will be their entire home.

I am sorry if this commentary about Pastor Myrtil’s church sounds like an indictment of our affluence in the US, it is more of an indictment of my own heart and what I often find important in my own life. I have often caught myself complaining about how busy work kept me or how much I need to do on my current project. Then God introduces me to a man like Pastor Myrtil. Not only does he pastor this church of 150, but he also is a pastor/teacher/leader for 4 other churches located in: Calico (75 members), Nicola (97 members), Les Cayes (200 members), and St. Mark (50 members). He rotates through these churches every other Sunday. And by the way, the Les Cayes church is about 3-4 hours away.

Hopefully you can feel with me the emotions that welled up within me as I assessed this church, met the pastor and some members of the congregation.

Pictures of Elio Myrtil's Church

The end of the May Construction trip

Bonswa…

Today we stayed at the compound for the morning and focused on getting some minor fix up jobs completed. We then went out to the job site and check on the status of the work being done by the Haitians. The floor of the house will be ready to pour on Monday and we should be able to lay some block next week. While in the area we stopped where 60 people from Pastor Paul’s church are staying and passed out some goodies to the kids and took a group picture.

Tonight we finally got that tropical storm that has been threatening all week. It has been raining for about 5 hours now and it looks like some of the roads to the airport are already getting flooded. We will leave about 6:00 AM tomorrow morning to get there in time to start sending home the team.

Thanks…

My Trip to Haiti from Peter Garriott on Vimeo.

Yesterday the women joined us at the construction site and did a great job at working with the kids and doing some basic first aid. Today they stayed back at the compound and continued to sort through the medical supplies and do some valuable cleaning around the facility. They also replaced several of our doorknobs with new ones.

While driving out to purchase some gravel for the slab, which will be worked on next week we saw some houses being built…out of lumber. We took a lot of pictures and should be contacted by the organization doing the work soon.

Speaking the same language

Bonswa…

After our day at the work site Guercy and I went to the school we visited last week to meet with some engineers from Engineering Ministries International. It was fun spending some time with a missions team that understood my background and that could talk the same language.

At the site we continued to work with the local contractor and laborers to get everything ready to pour the footings. It was a really long day because we kept having to explain the method of construction that we are going to use on this house. The Haitians were in constant disagreement with us because they do not believe that our methods will work. It was an uphill battle but I believe after today they are finally agreeing to do it our way.

Here are some of pictures of our progress.

Collaboration

Bonswa…

Today we split our team and the guys (Chris, Jamin, Britt, Guercy, Bookson, and me) went out to the construction site and the women (Lillie, Lauren, Val, Judy and Tamara) stayed back at the compound to sort through the medical supplies and inventory them. The cleaned up one of the rooms at the compound and set up the shelves they could find around the compound to use.

I checked the weather for tomorrow and it is expected to be 97 with a heat index of 110. This is probably what we have had the last two days and why it has felt so hot. As I am typing this email we are watching the lightening in the distance, but as of yet we have only gotten some sprinkles.

While out at the construction site we have gotten to the point where we are hiring two of the local contractors to help with the house. Our two contractors are teaching them what we know about construction in earthquake and hurricane prone areas and they are teach our guys what works down here. It looks like we are coming up with a good middle of the road approach that should help us develop a process going forward for building homes. We are not abandoning the stick frame approach yet, but definitely need to find a more economical way to do it than buy wood supplies here.

After dinner we went out into the alley behind our compound to give the team a first hand taste of normal life in downtown Carrefour. Unfortunately a picture will not give you the sounds and smells, but here are a few of our neighborhood.

As you can see the alley is pretty busy. It is like this all the time.

Tomorrow we should be able to start pouring the footings for the walls.

Thanks...

Bonswa…

Wow, what a day! Today we went out to the site where we are constructing a home for Pastor Pierre Paul. Two of the team members are builders (Britt Dahlin and Jamin Wight) so last night we spent a couple of hours working over the plans and strategy for building stick frame homes here. Today we sent Chris and Jamin with Guercy to the “hardware” store to get the supplies we need for the concrete and to price out the supplies to build the home. As is usual in these kinds of countries we have ended up switching to Plan “B”. The cost for a sheet of plywood (1/2”) down here is $31.50 and 16’ 2”x4”’s cost $13.85 each. Plan “B” will be to construct the home out of concrete block instead of wood.

For those of you that offered your engineering/construction expertise, please feel free to give your advice. We are going to stay with a 12’ x 20’ home. We will start by pouring 6” footings to put the walls on and still do the same type of structure with a door and window in the front on the tall wall and windows on each end. We will still do a shed roof. So far our design is to put rebar coming up out of the footing every four feet and 2-3 feet tall. We will then build the wall by slipping the CMU’s over these rebar and when we get toward the end of them attach an extension by tying them together and continue this until we get to the top of the wall. On the top of the wall we will put anchor bolts out to tie a 2”x6” top plate to. This will be used to anchor the rafters (2”x6”) notched on each wall and then tie the rafters together with 1”x6” stringers to attach the corrugated roofing to.

I know this is quite a rough description, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

Today was very hot and we still have not had any rain. We did get the lot leveled and the framing in as if we were going to pour a slab. Tomorrow we will adapt it to pour the footings.

The women spent a lot of time throughout the day hanging out with the kids and women in the area, which was really cool. Please pray for the health of the team. The weather is pretty hot and the worksite is all in the sun. Tomorrow the women will be working at the Oasis compound doing an inventory of our medical supplies and getting them organized.

Thanks...

Sunday

Bonswa…

Today we had another opportunity to participate in a church service. Today we went to a Baptist church in Port-au-Prince. Guercy has been there several times before and even preached there a few times. He prepared me by letting me know that I might be asked to share something. I was, and had the opportunity to share a short message. As with the other services it was quite an enjoyable experience.

During the church service they had a special ceremony where they recognized all of the helpers in the church with a gift. After the church service we were invited to join in a potluck for these helpers. What we found out was that the pastor’s birthday is May 15^th so the pastor has had the church set aside the third Saturday of each May to recognize all of the helpers in the church. The potluck was wonderful and the team did a great job just becoming a part of the church community.

While we were fellowshipping with the church members two girls came up to Britt and me and shared with us that they were in charge of the children’s church that meets every Sunday. Their last time to meet is June 13^th and they plan on having a celebration for their children. They want to give each of the children a small gift. I had the pastor clarify what they needed as far as funds and it turned out to be $1000, which would be a small gift for each of their 200 students. If you would like to donate to this let me know and I will tell you where the funds can be donated. I will back down here June 5-12 and will be able to bring the funds with me.

Tomorrow we head out to our site and start working on our first home.

Thanks...

Bonswa…

Another quick message. We started the day off trying to get the air conditioner fixed on the car on our way to the airport, but were not successful. So we had the mechanic throw everything back together so that we could scramble to the airport to start picking up our team. Our first team member came in at 7:30 and the last one at 12:50. We lost one team member due to some kind of passport problem and two of them got delayed until tomorrow. Our total team size will be 9 after tomorrow. Traffic today through PaP was the worst that I have seen yet and it basically took about 3 hours to get from the airport back to the compound. Tomorrow we will do church, head out to the construction site so the team can get a look at it and spend the day laying out our plans for the week. We have the approval on the design and the funding to get started. We are still waiting on the generator. Apparently the port won’t release it without some government paperwork, which we are waiting for.

Thanks...

David Short

Samaritan's Purse's work at Leveque

At a local school

Bonswa…

We had a looooong day today. We visited a school in Bolos, which is a suburb (if you could call it that) of Port au Prince. The school has 850 students that are in classes from preschool to high school. Dony St. Germain, the head of El Shaddai Ministries International and his brother Louis went to this school. The basic campus is comprised of five main buildings, two of which have sustained some damage. The director of the school has an engineering background and he has already started buttressing some of the two-story buildings and reinforcing the ceilings of some of the lower floors. We were able to give some suggestions on how to do more quality concrete work.

A great thing that happened yesterday was that I received a call from a structural engineering ministry that happens to be in the area this week and next. They were wondering if we had any buildings for them to assess. Yesterday we didn’t…today we do. Hopefully we will be able to get them to the school next week. What a great example of God setting things up for us.

The director also asked if we could help by building 3 to 4 semi-permanent classrooms. After looking at the existing tent structures that they are using we determined that the house design that we are working on could be modified slightly and turned into a classroom. We will be discussing this with our leadership and see if this would be an appropriate project for future teams to work on.

From here we went out to a new community being built by Samaritan’s Purse…Leveque. We wanted to take a look at the transitional shelters that they are building and assess their technigues. The buildings .look pretty sound, but they are design to last for two to three years. This particular community is slated to have 250 homes built at a rate of 40 per day.

To top the day off our van broke down on the way back to the Oasis compound. And guess what, it broke down right in front of a mechanics shop. The alternator burned out. It took 4 hours to get it fixed, but at least we weren’t out at the Leveque site, which was about 20 miles from the compound.

Thanks,

David Short