Paint

I mentioned in my earlier blog about grabbing a paint brush. In Haiti, there is not good, better, or best paint. There is only awful! We are applying something they call oil-based paint. It’s runny, thin as melted butter, and the ‘off white’ covers about like a see through sealer. 14 gallons went on walls today. The second coat tomorrow should maximize our efforts of today. The green color in two rooms though is refusing to hide behind the light color we are laying over it. But as I was testing a second coat in the boys room tonight a couple of the orphan boys came in and stood behind me to watch Pastor paint. They ooh’ed and ahh’ed as they watch the wall transform from dingy green to a very clean ‘off white’ and I was re-energized for the task at hand. We will likely spend most of this trip with paint brushes and rollers in hand, the payoff is the delighted looks on the faces of the children and Naromie as the improvements are so drastic. We are washing the walls before we paint, so there isn’t anything by way of a dull moment, there are lots of nasty discoveries! Sometimes we have to take a break, the heat is hard to bear following the cold that is settling back home. We had a pump system installed to move water up to the tank on the roof, the mason came and did a roof patch as well as finishing the stairs that had to be resurfaced. The carpentry starts tomorrow, we have several doors to hang and shelving to build and install. By tomorrow night the entire downstairs should be sealed with the first coat of paint, and the rooms done today should be finished with their second coat. The Mission house was a bit of a trick to arrange last night, but tonight has been a smooth transition. This is an amazing gift to the team, and the space here has a very homey feel. There is some good de-compressing going on tonight, and Chrissyanne had a little Haitian food for those adventurous palate’s. It was tasty. One of her specialties is the ‘rice cake’, and it will be ready Saturday. It takes several days to make, I actually sent money ahead to have her get started. Saturday will be a delicious day! Deloris had a great devotional at noon, and we were inspired and spurred by challenging words. We are so dependent on renewal, the circumstances are so draining, and we push hard. We are grateful for the prayer support and comments that also keep us close to home in our hearts. It adds great joy in the difficult moments. The young girls are stepping up, they are proving to be great cooks! Taylor, this trips ‘newbie’ is doing very well, and actually declared she slept better here last night than she does at home. I think she was just trying to make me feel good. Day two is now closing its doors, and archiving to the history banks, it was a good day, and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve this culture. It’s time to pause the keys and get some sleep, thanks for the prayers and support. May God bless you all!