Kairos News Helping Haiti, Part 2
July 15th, 2010
In the 7-month aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, Brentwood Baptist members continue to travel to the broken country in an effort to repair homes, lift spirits, and rebuild communities.
Stephen Fairchild, a member of Brentwood Baptist and attender of Kairos, has been on location in Haiti since June 19 and will stay there through July 31. Currently, he's acting as the coordinator for Brentwood Baptist mission journeys traveling to the country throughout the summer.
Here’s the second excerpt from an update he recently wrote about his time in Haiti:
Sunday, June 20
I hope you're sitting down when you read this because God has been doing so many good things here in Petit Goave. The last two days have been phenomenal and filled with blessings from God.
Something that's very obvious in third world countries is when they see a white person or know you're from a foreign country, they automatically assume you're incredibly wealthy and have all your wealth with you in your pockets, ready to give them.
This being said, Pastor Joseph has been working with the people here in ordering supplies so the seller doesn't know the people who are paying are American. This makes the prices a lot cheaper.
We finally showed up to the work site where they've been building the foundation only after all the materials had been bought. We were running a day behind because of the delay on the order of sand. But when Parker and I showed up on Saturday at 11:00 a.m, I saw the most amazing thing.
We had hired four men to build the foundation, but there were six men working. Zachai is the man we're building the home for, and he was working as hard as any one of us. His appreciation, gratitude, thanks, and happiness for what we were doing for him and his family resonated through is desire to do whatever to help so that the job was done.
Pastor Joseph was there in his good shoes, dress slacks, and his formal button-down shirt. He had sand and dirty smeared on his cheek, and his pants and shirt were covered with dirt. His pant legs and sleeves were rolled up, and he had a smile that wouldn't go away.
I honestly had to register what I was seeing: a pastor who was ready to get dirty for the sake of his people; a man ready to receive the gift of a home (let a gift like this marinate for a bit); Brentwood Baptist people ready to volunteer their time to build; and Baptist Global Response (BGR), who supplied us with the funds to build. This makes me so grateful the Lord has saved me and blessed me into a family such as this.
Today was an incredible day because the first team from Brentwood Baptist arrived. They were accompanied by some of the leaders of BGR, which was a blessing.
The previous night, I was looking over the plans I was given for the construction of the first house and had a few questions. We visited the site of the home where we laid the foundation and they were impressed and very satisfied with the results they saw. My questions were answered and I felt very confident in the construction and work our team did.
Church was as passionate as the first time I went, but there seemed to be more children tonight. Needless to say, there were a lot of hugs being shared by the team.
Things have been great and I have grown more in praising God in all things. In the storm, out of the storm, or getting ready to go in one, I will always praise God after what I've seen and experienced in the past few months and this past week. God is good."
I hope you're sitting down when you read this because God has been doing so many good things here in Petit Goave. The last two days have been phenomenal and filled with blessings from God.
Something that's very obvious in third world countries is when they see a white person or know you're from a foreign country, they automatically assume you're incredibly wealthy and have all your wealth with you in your pockets, ready to give them.
This being said, Pastor Joseph has been working with the people here in ordering supplies so the seller doesn't know the people who are paying are American. This makes the prices a lot cheaper.
We finally showed up to the work site where they've been building the foundation only after all the materials had been bought. We were running a day behind because of the delay on the order of sand. But when Parker and I showed up on Saturday at 11:00 a.m, I saw the most amazing thing.
We had hired four men to build the foundation, but there were six men working. Zachai is the man we're building the home for, and he was working as hard as any one of us. His appreciation, gratitude, thanks, and happiness for what we were doing for him and his family resonated through is desire to do whatever to help so that the job was done.
Pastor Joseph was there in his good shoes, dress slacks, and his formal button-down shirt. He had sand and dirty smeared on his cheek, and his pants and shirt were covered with dirt. His pant legs and sleeves were rolled up, and he had a smile that wouldn't go away.
I honestly had to register what I was seeing: a pastor who was ready to get dirty for the sake of his people; a man ready to receive the gift of a home (let a gift like this marinate for a bit); Brentwood Baptist people ready to volunteer their time to build; and Baptist Global Response (BGR), who supplied us with the funds to build. This makes me so grateful the Lord has saved me and blessed me into a family such as this.
Today was an incredible day because the first team from Brentwood Baptist arrived. They were accompanied by some of the leaders of BGR, which was a blessing.
The previous night, I was looking over the plans I was given for the construction of the first house and had a few questions. We visited the site of the home where we laid the foundation and they were impressed and very satisfied with the results they saw. My questions were answered and I felt very confident in the construction and work our team did.
Church was as passionate as the first time I went, but there seemed to be more children tonight. Needless to say, there were a lot of hugs being shared by the team.
Things have been great and I have grown more in praising God in all things. In the storm, out of the storm, or getting ready to go in one, I will always praise God after what I've seen and experienced in the past few months and this past week. God is good."
To read the first story in this series, click here.
Please pray for the team leaving this week (July 17-23) to partner with Philadelphia Baptist Church. They will help rebuild the community and participate in construction. Team members are: Carla Brunsell, Timothy Cheng, Jonathan Coonce, Kathryne Coonce, Kim Cox, Stephen Fairchild, Jen Murray, Keith Smith, Stephanie Tuttle, and Matt Worley. Find out more about the mission journey headed to Haiti on August 14 and how you can join this team.
Photos by Jason Welch