Haitian Time

We finished the roof! It didn’t take us very long this morning and we finished the roof with just enough materials. Everything seemed to work out great, things lined up well and everyone was in high spirits as we finished. I’ve toured some other parts of the area before and knew of some places we could go if we wanted to go touring, since the work was done. We asked Durand to line us up with transportation to a specific sightseeing area. Durand was very hesitant and did not seem to want us to do such. He had already arranged for us to go to his brothers house. So he sold us on going to Dominick’s place. Which ended up being a reasonable alternative. More remote than where we’ve been, clean air, nice simple lunch and a good view of the ocean. Their house is west of Carrefour, very close to where we bought our building materials. Dominick and his family were honoured to host us and I feel we were humbled by their hospitality. We had a very good visit and were ready to head back to the hotel to get ready for some kind of special presentation in the evening. All the while we have been driving around in our regular Tap Tap. This tap tap has been progressively becoming mechanically unsound. Actually, there’s a plethora of sounds that it’s been producing. Today the sound it acquired was backfiring, rather consistently and pronounced I may add. This provided some entertainment, guessing when the pop would come and try to prepare to plug our ears.  Other drivers thought we were plugging our ears because of their horns, to which they would laugh and honk their horn all the more. Meanwhile, back at the ranch (also know as an exhaust system) unburned fuel was building up. Other drivers would be pointing and laughing at us plugging our ears....then pop. Actually it was more like a Kaboom!  They would have a shocked look for a second, until the wave of understanding overtook them. No more honking from them at that point. We made it back to the hotel well enough, although a little hearing loss may be a possibly for some of us. They had arranged for us to go to the church for supper at 7. Art felt it prudent that we would eat at the hotel and that it wasn’t necessary to have dinner at the church. So we understood that we were to be picked up for a presentation only at 7 PM. 

We had a good last supper here at the hotel, all of us ordering our favourites. After supper Byron lead us in a group discussion about the trip. He had asked us earlier in the day to consider and be able to answer three questions. 1. What was the most impactful part of the trip? 2. How will this experience change you when you get back home? 3. How could the group pray for you?  All of us shared and had a very good discussion about our experience here, which when you dissect it in this way, our experience does not centre around construction. We dispersed and went to get ready for whatever Durand had planned for the evening. 

Haitian time. This phase could be translated so many different ways; Island time, Caribbean time, or just Late.  We don’t even show up at our waiting spot on time anymore because we know, our ride will be late. We order our meals just after the previous meal, and they still don’t show up at the time we ask. There’s a level at which you become comfortable with everything being late. I know I push the limits of time when I’m home and often stroll in late, but I can’t recall a time I’ve been nearly two hours late without letting the other person know what’s going on. That is what happened here. Art & Kelly had gone off to bed and the rest of us were just about to make our way to our rooms when Durand showed up in another vehicle. The tap tap had officially broke down and he had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get it going. As I’ve said before, Haitian’s are great at improvisation, like the positive battery terminal on the vehicle being insulated with an old flip-flop. But real mechanical aptitude alludes Durand. Even the understanding on how to drive a vehicle that has spark/fuel issues does not register, despite our attempts to explain it. Durand was very apologetic and insisted we still head out. He was disappointed that Kelly & Art had turned in for the night, and I don’t think he understood why they weren’t waiting any longer. Five of us went along anyway, with a very surreal drive in the dark and a very touching experience once we arrived at the church. They had cleaned the upstairs area that we had finished and had one of those laser light shows into the rafters. They had a photo slideshow up on a makeshift screen and there was another diner set out even though we had said we wouldn’t be eating there. They had tried so hard to show us love. We each received a certificate of appreciation and had one of the kids thank us individually.  It was a humbling experience and worth the wait.....yet still somewhat stretching. I can be fairly relaxed regarding time, but sitting waiting, does not sit well with me. I’m often not sure how to respond to the mix of emotions from these experiences. Like the broken Tap Tap I’m conflicted, consfused and not able to function with what we face here. I can backfire with emotions when I feel mistreated. But what does God want from us? 

In the back of the broken down tap tap it has these three words along both sides;  Foi, Experiance, Amour (in English; Faith, Hope and Love).  1 Corinthians 13:13 says; “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  They showed us Love. What have I showed them?  We share the same faith, our hope is found together in Christ Jesus but does ensuring that a roof is done right show them love?  My answer to Byron‘s second question was that I see my life getting wrapped up in projects. I somehow move from one project to the next viewing these works as necessities to complete. But am I missing it altogether?  Is their Church any more complete now that it has a roof?  I’m asking these questions but only God can lead me to the answers. I know we can’t ditch completing projects. Otherwise the Bon Berger church would not be able to facilitate the dreams that they hope to do with their facility. I believe God had a powerful lesson to be learned from all this, I just pray that I may be mouldable for Him to be able to conform me to His image. I also pray that this is the desire of the whole team.