Haiti - Here we come...

The Team...

A few months ago, I caught wind that we might have a chance to go to Haiti. I called Charlie to tell him that there may be a trip for him to consider. As soon as I said "Haiti," he immediately responded "Yes!" And began asking questions...the only problem was that I had no answers. No kidding, he called me every day for like 10 days straight pumping me for more info...I had none.

This is Grace's first trip to Haiti. There are five of us from Greenville and Mike (our friend and missionary in Eleuthera) will join us down there. At this point, we know we will be doing construction, we know everything is supposed to be taken care of, and that we have a 50 lb luggage weight limit but there are lots of unknowns.

We do not know what we will be doing specifically, where we will be staying, what the food or sleeping arrangements will be like. We will be in the Fermathe area just outside of Port-au-Prince but that brings questions as well.

Cholera is supposed to be rampant but as long as we stick to bottled water we should be fine. Oh yeah, and I injured my back last week helping my father-in-law cut trees in his yard. A few days rest should be sufficient but that is hanging out there as well.

I am looking forward to several parts of the trip but a highlight will be getting there and home.

We should be flying a WWII era DC-3!

For the prayer warriors...please be in prayer for our teams health, safety, productivity, and most importantly that we are sensitive to the Lord's leading. We are not sure what we will see or experience. I will not have my laptop but will take good notes and update the blog when I get home.

Go to sleep Charlie...we leave tomorrow!!!

I have had a few folks ask about the purpose of the work we did in Nicaragua. Mike did a much better job of stating the purpose...to see his comments and see other pictures, click the link below...

http://gracechurchscpastors.blogspot.com/

Saturday - The Finished Product & Commissioning

Saturday morning we knocked out the rest of the major items. While we did not get everything painted, we did complete far more that we expected to. When we added it up, 5 guys worked 80 hours each over 6.5 days.

We added a small wall creating a cubicle (left edge of the photo), and closed in the end of the main room creating a bathroom and storage area. We also walled off a door that used to lead to the apartment next door.

-Before-

-After-

...closed in a conference room and made a second dorm room.

-Before-

-After-

This was just a blank empty room. After finding the plumbing, we added 2 walls, headers, plumbing, and created 2 showers and another bathroom.

-Before- (actually in progress)

-After-

...and the crater...

-In process-

-After- (a few shots)

This is where we moved the wall out a couple of feet to accommodate the shower and toilet.

The finished product...

What is that lighter colored tile you ask???

Mike had the idea of adding the state of SC...

...and Bob thought the Grace logo would be cool...

...and with all the time we spent in that bathroom, we figured it was worth it. So I broke out the metabo (what the Nicaraguans call an angle grinder) and after a few attempts, we had something worthy of publishing.

We also tackled other wiring, plumbing, and tile projects.

After we finished grouting all that in, it was time for a little R&R. Our host took us to lunch at La Finca. We sat in the rooftop area where there was a great breeze blowing. It was an awesome meal and good celebration of the week.

The view from our table.

Yes...it was an all guy trip and there was plenty of competition and testosterone flowing. So when Fabricio ordered Huevos del Toro as a part of his meal, we all had to try them...except for Bob (who runs a cattle farm). He has had plenty of experience with them and had no desire to eat any.

We also had a great view of a poster that is seen all over Managua.

Then it was off to the market to get souvenirs. I had to sent a shout out to the Gamecocks I know. These are baskets wrapped in real chickens. It was a little scary.

Fabricio helping grill dinner...yes, that is an old steel wheel held up with rebar legs. There is plate in the bottom to keep the charcoal from falling through the holes.

A Nicaraguan BBQ sauce holder.

The commissioning service...Mike is sharing about the week, what he has been learning, and what the Lord is doing around him. Everyone brought their families and a few other other Christ for the City missionaries came for the event.

Fabricio's son (Audiel)...looking forward to seeing my little boy!

Friday - Final full work day.

No real shots of Friday...It was spent grouting, laying tile in the 3rd bathroom, and trying to get odds and ends finished so we could be finished as early as possible on Saturday. Finished shots tomorrow.

Thursday - Moving Day and Phoning home!

Thursday...moving day! We have 2 days to go and a lot of tile to lay. We are all starting to slow down a little...backs, knees, and shoulders are starting to get really sore. Breakfast is accompanied by Aleve or ibuprofen.

Nate and Bob got all the knee work laying tile. Most of my day was spent in this position...marking and cutting tile and feeding it to the guys.

Bob had the right...

Nate had the left...

...at the end of the day, we had 2 nice new showers.

...and 5 really tired guys (this one's for you Charlie)!

The rest of the story.

Another highlight was getting to call home. Skype is a wonderful thing! I talked to Steph and Zac for about 30 minutes. Steph said that on Monday morning Zac wanted to know where I was...so she printed off a map. She put Zac, Olivia, and herself on it at our house and me on it in Nica (that's me with the hammer). She said he can't wait to show it to everyone that comes by. After we talked awhile he said, "Daddy, I'll put on my Nicaragua shirt and come get you." He was referring to the Nica baseball shirt that bought him 3 years ago...and that FINALLY fits. That will make a Daddy smile!

For those of you following daily, we lost internet access after this. So the rest of the posts I had to update after I got home.

Wednesday - Fun with Electricity & Teaching

The week is half over and we are really getting our arms around the culture. We can drive around town without feeling like we are in a different world and we are all trying our Spanish on a regular basis. For the simple things, it is just easier and more fun than using a translator...and who can resist saying "Los Estados Unidos." It practically rolls off the tongue.

We started the day with Mike getting the Gumby award. He was quite flexible and worked on small but time consuming tile projects all day yesterday. He also did a great job with the teaching in Jenotepe.

I am going to keep the bathroom talk to a minimum because I am sure it is getting redundant. Just know that we are making great progress. I am sure there will be more pics tomorrow. I did need to include a pic of Don. He is no small guy and has been Nate's teammate all week. He is a lot of fun and can flat out churn some concrete by hand...a job which fell to me this morning. My back and shoulders are going to be feeling it in the morning!

Nate is always good for a little adventure and today was no exception. He was framing up a door in the "crater" bathroom. Don was cutting metal studs to length (shown above) and I was leaning against the metal stud wall watching and laughing at everyone's antics...when I noticed the 5 gal bucket Nate was standing on was going to become insufficient soon. So I went to the other room to grab a step ladder....and then I saw the lights flicker.

Apparently when Nate screwed the stud on the left side of the picture into the wall, it connected to another metal stud in the wall via the screws. Well there was a hot wire that was not completely capped (though we thought it was) that had electrified both studs. He never felt it because he was standing on the bucket. When Nate went to attach the header for the door to both, we got an arc weld. It shot sparks and left a bit of a tingling in his elbow. Had I still been leaning against the rest of the wall, I probably would have gotten a bit of a jolt too. Now that my wife is all worried, I should add that the amperage here is not the same as in Los Estado Unidos. We have seen Nicaraguans twist hot bare wires together using their bare hands. Nonetheless we will be treating it the same as back home...with extreme caution.

The pic below is Nate holding the wire tester as were trying to determine the source of the electricity (lit orange tip means a "hot" wire).

I think that should seal Nate's new nickname...it all began when we were staying at his parent's house in Atl one the way out of town. His parents have some really incriminating photos of him around the house as well as some pretty funny memorabilia. I got a particular kick out of this one...

...and Sparky is born!

Sparky (the early years)

...and for all you that don't believe that's him...

On a different note, I found a new friend. This tiny gecko was hanging out in one of the bathrooms.

Then we were headed back to Jenotepe for tonight's teaching. There are lots of interesting sights along the roads in Nica...thinks we would never see back home. This small Toyota has at least 7 guys in the back (one on the bumper) and is going about 40 mph down the bumpy highway.

As we made our way through the tight streets of one town along the way, we saw this guy selling meat out of the back of his pickup...in 90 degree heat. Yes, that is a whole unrefrigerated pig's head you see under his arm.

The teaching went well. We had about the same size crowd as last night. I really enjoyed getting to know Oscar. He and his wife are missionaries from El Salvador, who lived several years in Canada before moving to Jenotepe with CFCI. They are one of those sweet, caring couple's that you could sit and talk to for hours.

It was also good to spend some time talking with Jorge. He was the translator both evenings. He met his wife when she came to Nicaragua on a mission trip and they have been married for 4 years. He and I had a chance to talk prior to meeting starting and he was a great encouragement. We discussed things that were difficult in scripture and how to approach them. He is really wise for a guy in his 20's.

Well, time to hit the hay. Last night the AC was not working and sleeping was pretty rough. Mike went to the Asian market today with our host and bought a large oscillating fan as a back-up...and the AC is back on. I have a feeling we will be going from one extreme to the other.

Tuesday - Shorter Work Day & Evening Teaching

Everyone's feeling a little more energized today. With two days of demolition, heavy lifting and hard labor behind us, things are getting a little easier.

Mike, Bob, and I continued to work on the crater. We were able to get most of the plumbing completed as well as backfill the hole with dirt and concrete. By the end of the day, it was starting to look like we might finish it this week.

Meanwhile Nate and Don continued to run at a record pace. Their bathroom is framed up, the shower curb is laid, and they will be putting up drywall and laying tile tomorrow.

We knocked off at 3:00 to get ready to make the hour-long drive to Jinotepe for the evening seminar. It was back to the bucket showers since the water was not on yet. To give you a better idea of what is involved in a bucket shower...first, when the water comes on for the evening, you turn on the shower so it can fill the 50 gallon drum. That is your sole water source for the next day. When you want to take a shower, you get a smaller bucket and dip it in.

The drive over was beautiful. We climbed out of Managua and up over the mountains. Outside the city things the topography changes and there are rolling mountains, tall trees, and vistas with volcanos dotting the skyline...you can faintly see the Mombacho volcano out on the horizon. The photo is not great...we were running a little late and I was trying to take a few pics while Fabricio was driving 110kmh over a rough highway.

Then out of the other window the sun was setting and we could see the Pacific Ocean in the distance!

Mike taught the 1st of two sessions on Spiritual Leadership. The material was taken from a combination of Oswald Sanders book by the same name as well as additional material from Andy Stanley's Next Generation Leader.

The seminar was supposed to run from 6:00 - 8:00...so knowing the way things work in Nica, the pastor told everyone to arrive at 5:30. Well at 6:15 four people had arrived. When we finally got started around 6:30 about 20 were there. Mike did a great job and the content was well received...

...and tomorrow I'll be giving it a try. I hope Part II goes as well as Part I...you prayers are appreciated.