What do you mean we're not done!

Well as the title states, we weren't as done as we thought we were.  We had used up the last of the cement powder on Saturday and so figured we were finished our construction work.  So we'd head to the site one last time, take the forms off from Saturday's pour and clean up a bit.  Pastor Furnel had other plans however, he bought more cement powder.  He asked us to finish up one more vertical column, so what can we do, we formed and poured one more column. We ripped off the other forms, changed one to be the inside corner and Art, Kelly, Tim, Nick & Pierre placed and tied the form. Dan, Durand and I went to a Compassion International Site here in the Carrefour area. We had arranged this before we left, and got to see over 400 kids receiving care and education from what is a very reputable organization. Dan & I were very impressed. They had songs for us, poems and testimonials from the recipients. It was a great experience and very reassuring to see where sponsors funds are going. Meanwhile, the other guys had set the form and started pouring. We managed to do a very speedy visit with compassion and get back to help "finish" the work, or at least we thought we had finished. The form was filled, the amount of concrete mixed was perfect.....and Kelly says "We should put the extra concrete into a form to make a step for the stage". What extra!  "Oh, we should make more then." Thanks Kelly!  So we made some more, Pierre made a form and we made a step for them to get up on the stage easier. Then finially we were done/complete/fini. One last lunch with our hosts, then back to the hotel. 

We had talked about going to the ocean, however our hosts changed their minds on whether it would be safe. So we opted for some time by the pool, and we invited Durand's family to come when they got home from school. Durand stated he does not swim, and apparently his kids don't much either. We managed to get a couple of them playing in the pool, the funniest part was watching their teeth chatter with how cold the water was for them. I decided to show them how I could swim the length of the pool underwater. I did, however I apparently thought the pool was longer than it really was, because I ran into the wall at the end and created a giant creator over my left eye. Probably the worst injury of the trip, serves me right. It was great to see their kids have fun though. 

Tonight we are supposed to be meeting with the church leaders, at 7:00....it's now 8:00 and they've now texted us to tell us they will be late. "Haiti time" is a saying here, but it's also a reality. Cultural differences can be very frustrating, if you let it. We have gotten used to it, for the most part. That being said we are intentionally telling our ride to the airport, a time that is much earlier than our flights actually are.  We have learned much about our cultural differences, but that's not to say we can't appreciate our differences. There are things they do here, that we in Canada could learn to do better.  They celebrate life very well here. They make opportunities to display affection for one another, publicly. They live in community very well, four families in one house! They make efforts to give compliments publicly to their spouses and family members. There are many other things that make the Haitian people very unique and very enjoyable to be around. They have given us so many thanks already and tonight is another thank you from the church leadership. We have been blessed to be here and serve the Lord along side with this part of His Church in Haiti. 

Colossians 3:23-24;

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.