Getting to Work!

Our first day of work is coming to an end.  We headed out to the Village of Hope School early this morning.  Jim stayed behind to rest up another day.  Hopefully he will be well enough to join us tomorrow.  (Mary, he liked your comment on yesterday's blog post!)  We were blessed to be able to see the kindergarten opening.  They are so cute singing and learning their memory verse of the week while sneaking waves to the visitors.  We sang to them after they sang to us.  Luckily Bert joined our make-shift choir because singing is not our gift!

After the opening, we had a tour of the school and the health clinic.  It was so awesome to see the clinic up and running after all the painting and work we did on it last year when we were here.  Then we divided into groups and got to work.  Christine, Diane, and I did some pruning and weeding at the clinic while the men debated how to construct screens for the principal's office and how to rat-proof the records room.  They eventually got some work done!  The women left the school a little earlier than the men so that we could run some errands with Roberta and Lucien, our driver.  We stopped at the grocery store, Culligan, and Little Children of Jesus.  While there, Roberta learned that Gladys is no longer working at LCJ.  We were sad to hear this as she was such a blessing to all who met her, especially the children.  Keep her in your prayers as she has been through a lot.  After the men returned to Hope House, they prepped for tomorrow's work.  They also played cornhole.  The championship game was put on hold due to the ringing of the dinner bell. 

Dinner tonight was Creole chicken, rice, and salad.  Great as usual!  I was surprised with a birthday cake after dinner!  My birthday napkins said, "Happy 40th" which was not quite right but as Roberta said, when in Haiti, you make do with what you have! 

Our devotions each night were prepared by Liz.  Since she is not able to be with us, we are taking turns leading them.  She must have been clairvoyant as they fit perfectly with what we are experiencing each day.  The same goes for Michelle, who prepared our prayer tents that hopefully you are all using as you keep us in your prayers.  We are so grateful for these two wonderful women who are here with us in spirit!

Good night!  We hope all of you back in the states enjoyed MLK and Inauguration Day!