Angels and Stars

One of the things that makes me happy in this world is the connections we have. I am not sure that I have expressed this before in my blogging or not. But I love how the world is connected for the worse or for the better, we are together in this. It is essential for us to realize this in order for the world to work better together. Of course with the internet is very apparent how small our world really is. At any given time you can know what is going on around the world. When the Earthquake happened in Haiti I felt like I was there experiencing it with them. I was watching the news and immediately was heart broken and wanted to know where my loved ones were. Recently there has been the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and many people are concerned and feeling that impact of that as well. We are all connected to these situations either by first hand or through friends or co-workers. It is truly a small world.
I have also been realizing this more and more with teams coming down to Haiti and the connections that are made with teams. Cheryl a member of one of our teams worked with kids in the United States on making Angels out of paper plates and pipe cleaners with the kids picture on them. They wanted the kids of Haiti to know that they were praying for them and that we all have Angels in our lives. The kids in Haiti are connected with the kids in Michigan that made the Angels.
The children that were involved in receiving these angels are from Peace Pals. Peace Pals is a type of Sunday school that happens every Saturday for about 200 children from the community. There is a dance group that has started from Peace Pals. They are called ‘Nouvela Twel’ [New Stars] and started about 1 ½ months ago. Christy, another American has been leading them in a dance routine that will be performed in a video this summer. The video will look into the girls’ lives of what it is like to grow up as a young lady in Haiti. The group is working hard at encouraging not only in dance but in their future lives.
The girls were very excited to hear about these children in Michigan that cared about them and wanted this connection. In response we had the children in Haiti make Stars for the children in Michigan. We talked to them about the tradition in the United States about when you see a shooting star you can make a wish. We told the girls when they looked at the stars they can think about their futures and their dreams. And also that there is a child in the United States that is thinking and praying for them too.

Jacmel

Some of the incredible architecture in Jacmel. I drive by many of these beautiful buildings everytime I go to Jacmel, maybe once or twice a week. There is just so much beauty in this country. I have been taking pictures of the doors in Jacmel and hope to do a series of them. I just find the History interesting, it is sad some of the were lost or damaged in the earthquake. Many of them have also been abandoned for years. But every once in awhile we continue to see some construction going on.

A wall mural in Jacmel

Mixing Concrete

There is a specific process to mixing concrete. The Haitians work hard at this process, as well as other countries that don’t have a big machine to mix it for them. I have mixed concrete myself by hand in Mexico on a mission trip. Despite our high school and college boys that were on the trip with us making it look easy, it is very, very hard work! I actually only did it for a short time, and I was exhausted. In Costa Rica we had to mix a lot of cement so we paid the extra money as a team to rent a little cement mixer to make things easier. Although the locals didn’t think it was worth the money if you could do it yourself by hand. In Haiti recently I was watching the process of mixing the elements to make the concrete and the balance that has to take place with the parts. I was amazed at the carefulness and yet the ease at which they seem to make the concrete. You start with sand, rock and cement; you have to be sure to have the right mixture of these elements. As I was watching the beauty in the mixing; it made me think of the process of living and working where God leads you. The elements make me think of the Creator, Spirit, and Friend. You need all these parts for it to ‘work’ correctly. Then you add the water for everything to come together - that is you. The water is added slowly and mixed carefully to what had already been put together. Then there is the hard work and precision that needs to happen. It is difficult to stir that water with the other elements to make things come together to make something concrete. As I said earlier watching the Haitians mix this concrete with ease made me think of all this. So I thought I need to try my hand at mixing that concrete again – maybe it wasn’t that hard. So at one of our construction sites the other day I tried again – and again – it was really hard work and I couldn’t make it look as easy as the Haitians did. Isn’t this the way that we see people ‘working’ for God. There are many people in my life that I have admired for the things they are doing, by following their dreams and following God’s plan for their lives. And somehow they make it look easy. And some even talk about how they just follow where God leads and then put in the work. But what we don’t see is how they first struggled with learning the process and the balance of mixing the concrete so it will be strong and last.