Dilemma

The end of another day is upon us. And it was a great one. So much accomplished today. The benches are all made, and just 10 need their final coat of finish. The rain has stayed long enough for them all to be coated at least once. We didn’t know if we were going to make it. The plumbing work is done and we gave out over 1600 gallons of water today. It was a rush, filling buckets, setting them on the girls heads and watching the children rush up the hill with their precious cargo. It was a steady stream. The girls did extraordinary at the children’s service, in the neighborhood of 440 attended. The kids had the day off school because they don’t know what is going to happen with the impending storm. We are hunkering down at the orphanage tonight, as nobody knows quite what to expect. St. Marc is a very protected town from inclement weather and earthquakes. Many people have moved here since the earthquake. It is astounding to see all the construction happening here since our spring trip. We had a blast with orphan children today. Many hugs and love to share and receive. Otelson (one of our orphan’s) does not know it, the family does not want him to know, but his father just died in Desdunes from the cholera outbreak. It breaks your heart to watch these people in their suffering. The dilemma of the world, of all humanity, the problem of pain and suffering. So many things are explainable, but this, this is an equation we don’t yet have an answer for outside of God. Fortunately, God has a plan in the midst of pain, and His love often shines the brightest there. I can attest to that as sit here in Haiti tonight. We make our breaks with reality, we hide behind a TV screen, the delights of material things, we fill our minds with trivial thoughts, but here, you deal straight up with the insufferable reality of what life delivers, and without the grace of God, you can’t make heads or tails of it all. But we are blessed, and thankful as we share this week with them, to be a ray of hope, a thread of help, a small glimmer of mercy. Pray God continues to bless our efforts, to protect us, and to make a continuing source of encouragement through our time here. Pray tonight God protects this country from this impending storm! Blessings from grateful hearts!