New Years Eve Day

New Years Eve Day

It was a usual day other than I slept in an extra hour since we were off for the holiday weekend.  I was going to accompany Robert over to the church he is building to bring the borrowed cement mixers back to base.  He started attending this small congregation a number of months ago via an interpreter who attends there.  Over time he felt compelled to help them build a church building to meet in since they had none and were holding church for the sixty or so members under a large makeshift tent.  He drummed up support from contacts back in North Carolina and, with their monetary gifts, started construction the week before last.  The rubble crew brought in a large amount of river gravel for base material and Francois spread it with the excavator.  Last week the cement crew that had done the pads at the base expansion took three or four days to pour the concrete floor and establish the columns for the block.  Now, everything is curing and Robert is planning the next phase, which will be concrete block.

Meanwhile, we loaded two of the mixers on the back of our flatbed truck and, with the third in tow, headed back to base.  As we slowly made our way down the oversized goat path to the main road we passed eight or ten Haitians cutting sugar cane in a field.  When they saw us they raised their hands in that ‘help me’ pose and started yelling at us.  They seemed angry as we passed by.  I asked Gene what they had said and he replied, they said they had been working all morning and were thirsty; they wanted water from us.  I was dumbfounded and wondered why we were supposed to be responsible for their water needs.

On the way back we passed through the market section of a small town.  It was crowded from the New Years Eve shoppers and took us thirty or so minutes to travel the half mile stretch.  It gave me time to really see what the vendors had for sale.  I suppose it was almost the same as a super Wal-Mart without the presentation.  Almost any small household item was there along with assorted vegetables and grains, packaged foods and all types of clothing and shoes.  The only thing I saw not available in Wal-Mart was the live turkey’s.  At the end of the day everyone packs up their products and goes home.  It leaves the marketplace an empty shell of trash and rickety wood shelters.  But today, it was unbelievable activity of shoppers and sellers.

After unloading the mixers at base we had some late lunch then I spent some time in the tent cooling off from the 95 degree heat.

Later that evening a group of 30 volunteers from the States who had been working at the Lamb Center this past week came over for the evening festivities.  They were younger, late teens early twenties, and carried the vitality and energy … and noise … that that age group brings.  John and some helpers prepared a special dinner of brats, hot dogs, brats and lobster for dinner.  He had contracted with a local to provide us with almost 50 spiny lobsters for about four bucks each.  The dining room was crowded that night and the 15 staff were quizzed about their mission and experiences in Haiti but a younger generation wanting to catch the vision.

After dinner many lingered in the kitchen just wanting to feel a part of something.  After a season I ventured over to the helipad for my evening stargazing.  I wondered about the experience with the sugar cane workers earlier that day and tried to reconcile the mission of helping others versus enabling those same people to become dependent on that help to the point of demanding it.  It is a tough question in such a country as this. 

I went to bed early after visiting on Skype with some of my family.  At midnight I was awakened by fireworks exploding overhead and cheers and laughter for the bringing in 2012.  I lay there listening, waiting for the commotion to die down so I could resume my sleep. 

My thoughts wandered about the passage of time throughout 2011:  My time in California last New Years relocating my mom to an assisted living facility; my struggles at Colorado College trying to find purpose and satisfaction in my work there; the extensive remodeling of our home; my mom’s passing away, closing down her home in California and learning to deal with that large void in my life; staying in touch with my family and trying to resume a normal life that was anything but normal; doing a family vacation and then a trip to Madison to see Michelle’s mom; considering the Haitian Adventure and then living it …. I wondered what the coming year would bring and how much and where I wanted to invest my time.

Sleep overcame me before I reached a suitable answer to those thoughts and questions.  But this morning I’m looking forward to going home in a month. I’m excited about seeing my wife, my kids (all of them – that means spouses, too), catching up on movies, cooking out, seeing the mountains, eating out and all that other fun stuff.  I’ll watch the year 2012 unfold day by day and be extra sensitive to what God is showing me each moment.  And if it includes going back to Haiti or some other destination for a similar purpose, he’ll just have to work in my heart accordingly. 

He did it once, I can’t say he won’t do it again.

Happy New Year.