The 2012 Haiti construction trip was a great one; wonderful but tough!! Let me explain. Unlike the two previous trips since the earthquake in 2010, we were not working and staying by the water, where we could finish the day with a dip in the ocean after sweating in the hot Haitian sun all day. There was no electricity and AC at night to comfortably rest and read after the sun went down.

No, we were on the Central Plateau near the town of Hinche just a mountain range or two from the Dominican Republic border. We were some 6 to 10 miles from the highway, down a dirt road that became no road, only a track across the fields. This is the site of the permanent home of Shiloh Children’s Home. We were there to help build the first block structure in that area – the main building of the orphanage.

Four of us Slept in a Haitian home, typical of the area with three small rooms; two with beds wall to wall on each side of a center aisle. The center room had a small table and room for 4 plastic chairs. We stored the supplies we carried with us in that room. Electricity was courtesy of various flashlights and an inverter which was charged up daily by a generator. The bathroom was down the path and  bottled water was carried in with us while baths were from a bucket carried from a well down another path. The two boys, Zach Chevalier and Jeremie Schmidt, slept in a tent and our host, Tom Schmidt, slept in the cab of the pickup that brought us there.

Four of our five days “on site” we assisted a team of Haitian masons. The foundation was ready when we arrived and we shoveled, wheel-barrowed and filled it with some 3,200 cubic feet of dirt. We formed the sills for the walls by helping to hand-mix, hand-carry and pour between 300 – 500 cubic feet of concrete. We also carried over 500 of the concrete blocks from where that were “made” to the building; a distance of about 100 yards. By mixing mortar and putting the blocks up on the scaffolding for the masons we were able to raise the walls on two sides of the building up to seven rows of block or about 6 feet. Like I said, it was tough – but wonderful to see the building rise from the ground.

SUNDAY CHURCH

On Sunday we loaded up in the truck and went to the closest church where David was invited to preach. The church “parking lot” contained the truck we   arrived in and 4 horses staked out to graze as most people walked across the surrounding fields to attend.

The service lasted about three hours and was all in Creole except David’s preaching (which was interpreted into Creole). Tom Schmidt had a Creole version of The Jesus Film which was shown – adding another 2 hours to the service. There were about 65-70 in attendance. At the conclusion, the pastor thanked us for coming, mounted his horse and rode off into the afternoon sun, reminiscent of a “western” on TV.

SECOND SHOWING OF THE JESUS FILM

On our last evening at the Shiloh site we showed The Jesus Film again. At “dark-thirty” there were 3 people in attendance, the two masons and a small boy from the area. By the movie’s conclusion, over 35 people had gathered from the surrounding homesteads to watch the film. I foresee “movie night at Shiloh” becoming a real draw, because, except for the weekly cock fight, it is literally the only show in town.

THE CHILDREN OF SHILOH

In Haiti, children with physical or mental handicaps are considered “cursed.” If a family finds that it has given birth to such a child it follows that the family is also cursed. So, the child is literally thrown away. Tom and Ginger Schmidt are committed to caring for these “throw-aways.” They presently have 4 boys ages 4 – 13 with cerebral palsy who have been brought to them from a hospital compound and the city dump where they were abandoned. The plans for the Shiloh Children’s Home is to house and care for 10 – 12 of these children.

THE SHILOH VISION

With the acreage that Shiloh now has, the vision has grown beyond just the orphanage for challenged children. The Schmidts can now see in the future a school for children of the area who now must daily walk miles to get a rudimentary education, a clinic, a church and eventually a community center. Alex, the Haitian who sold the property to Shiloh and who shares the vision for the work, envisions bringing in materials from Hinche in bulk and selling them in a market. All of these will further integrate Shiloh into the community and strengthen its position of influence among the people for good.

WE THANK GOD

We are truly thankful to God for granting us the privilege of partnering with the Schmidts and Shiloh Children’s Home “from the beginning.” It will be exciting to see how He orchestrates events to bring into existence His plans in  this rural area of Haiti.

Thank you also to Pastor Rocky Shrable, Pat King, and Curtis and Zach Chevalier for being willing to make the journey with David to help to begin to make this vision a reality. Your sacrifices and efforts have not gone unnoticed in the heavenly realm.

Please enjoy the video slideshow and photos from the trip using the links below: