After the whirl-wind birthday and the following weekend including buttoning up everything in Utah and moving his possessions to our apartment for the summer, Tate dashed out to Kansas to spend some time with me. We did not expect to get to see each other until right before the wedding so the 2 days was an unexpected surprise. It flew by with getting Tate ready for Haiti and trying to get a few things for the wedding done while we were both together.
He left for Kansas City on Wednesday and had is first official day in the office at the Global Orphan Project meeting some of his new co-workers and getting the necessary paperwork filled out. After a wonderful evening spent with the Fox Family he flew off to Florida the next day to meet up with another GOP team member and prepare to fly to Haiti the next day. So, within one week Tate had a new job and was across the country getting ready to go back to Haiti. Amazing how quickly God can get things done when we step out of the way, stop thinking about it, and let him do what he does best!!
The following was Tate's first update from Haiti talking about the projects they are getting started on. It was written April 18, his 3rd day in Haiti.
"Things have been busy. Alan Dietrich, a former pastor and now the director of GOP Haiti, has had me non-stop here for the past few days. Our big objective is to move from emergency recovery mentality and move the Global Orphan Project Haiti toward prolonged and sustainable recovery. We just finished plans for our largest village as of yet. Housing 300 children with a church and a school. It will feature a sewing business, small farm, fish pond and rabbits (all good eats!). It will be fully sustainable and independent off of the money from the sewing business alone, the business will be making school uniforms for all of the Global Orphan Project schools around the world as well non-GOP school uniforms.
I've been working closely with Joseph Kesnel a big Haitian guy who will be our construction manager. He and his wife support 60 orphans with the income from a small scale construction company here in town. Amazing people. They just left the village a few moments ago to go home with them a little girl named Stephanie. Stephanie and her baby have been at this particular village for 3 weeks and during that time she has gotten into several fights, stabbed a little boy with a knife, another with a broken bottle and has been placed in solitary confinement multiple times. Earlier today she escaped from the orphanage for a few hours leaving the house mother to take care of her infant child. She is 15. There is some real and obvious mental instability. Joseph and his wife volunteered to take her home and care for her until another solution is found, hoping to put her in a more calming environment and to give her the one on one attention that she needs.
Plans are moving ahead for experimenting with different building products. Joseph, mentioned above, and Moise Vaval, GOP's National Director in Haiti, are both very enthused about trying something new. Moise lost a son in the earthquake and much of Joseph's property was destroyed. Needless to say they do not have much faith in "doing things as they have always been done". Other construction in Haiti continues as if there was never an earthquake. This is how they know to build, this is how their fathers before them built. I am incredibly excited to be part of something that could be so small but have such a drastic impact on this nation. Demonstrating the viability of alternative construction methods that are more cost effective and much more durable.
Today at Moise's church in the heart of Port-au-Prince Alan, GOP Haiti Director, preached a very simple but incredibly powerful sermon that was translated by Moise. 23 people accepted Christ. It was not the sermon, it was not the singing, it is and has been the Holy Spirit at work.
I continue to be amazed at how this organization has been under God's leadership and how the people in it continually seek God's wisdom and guidance. Trace, another team member, prayed one time over lunch while I was in Kansas City and he said these words "God, do not remove your hand of blessing from our work, the results are yours, and when it feels like it is crawling along and we are getting nothing done, give us the patience to know that you never grow weary and that you have done all the work so far. Thank you for allowing us to watch you work." My feelings exactly.
Tate"
p.s. In the pictures you can see in no particular order:
1) A new well at a small orphanage
2) orphan tents
3) "new construction" (not ours) done as it has always been done
4) a collapsed home
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