June 11th we broke ground!! YAHOO!!!
For 5 years we’ve been diligently praying for God to give us a church. The congregation had all but given up hope. Even when we received the funds to build – they still didn’t believe it would really happen. It wasn’t until the shovel hit the ground that they realized God truly provided.
My dad is a master builder! He has over 35 years of building experience in Haiti! He knows how to make a solid foundation & knows how to get the very best efforts from each worker. He knows how to make them hustle & how to keep them focused. He also prays with his crew, they have devotions together, they sing at the work site, they help one another, and God gets the Glory every time!
So there was no question in our minds of who we wanted to head up our church project. Dad came on Wednesday with a crew of 12. These men are HARD workers! We also hired people from the Mole to work alongside them. Dad encouraged the youth from the church & the community to come in the afternoons when school was out. He gave them a little money for their efforts. MANY of the teenagers told him to keep it because they were doing this for the Lord. (right? that’s so HUGE)
I LOVED watching my children work alongside their Papaw! Asher & Levi have most definitely worked the hardest. The first day – they were grabbing wheelbarrows, moving rock piles, digging with shovels, and working right alongside the men.
The next day – they brought the men their plastic “hard hats” to work in! They were up at 7am ready to start working with everyone else. It was really precious. Dad told the boys to clean up for lunch…..about 7 minutes later I walked into my bedroom and they were completely knocked out! They literally poured out every ounce of energy they had for their church.
When I asked the twins why they were working – what is it they are doing? This was this response:
Asher: We’re building a church and it won’t catch on fire. And the voodoo people will be mad but God will be happy.
Levi: Yeah and the whole town can fit in it and then we’ll all be friends and they will know Jesus. But I can’t talk now because I have a lot of work to do.
The twins have school in the afternoons but Gabe, Malaya, Rosie, & Mikela have their school in the mornings. So after lunch the four of them pitched in as well. They LOVED working! Now here are some kids that I can’t get to clean up their room without a battle and yet we said nothing and they were out there doing very hard labor – IN THE BLARING SUN – carrying buckets full of rocks and water.
When I asked them how come they work so well there but I can’t get them to do anything at home? Their response:
Rosie: It’s fun working with papaw and with all the teenagers. We sing a lot while we work.
Malaya: I know you ask us to clean our rooms….. but God asks us to build His church.
Mikela: Because I like working alongside my friends. When I’m old I will tell my kids that I helped build this church.
Gabe: Because I get paid 1/2 day’s work and I need to buy some legos! (LOL – oh Gabe)
Regardless of all their reasons – I couldn’t be prouder of my children, the workers, my dad, the youth, and everyone else who continues to give their all – just so that we can build this church for the Lord!
Please pray along with us as we continue to build. The workers said they feel an evil presence at the worksite. We know that there’s always been voodoo candles and curses on our property – but they’ve really stepped it up since the announcement of it’s construction. We are claiming His promises – we know our God is BIGGER – we are blaring Christian music, praying, singing, & claiming His Word. Please join us! May this be a testimony to everyone in this village…. evil will ultimately lose and God always wins!
Here’s a ton of pictures from week 1 of construction! There’s also two clips of a short video of the men working. It takes forever to upload videos so it’s really short but sometimes it’s nice to see things in “action”.
