We arrived safely this afternoon and were met by the PPM staff to get us loaded onto the bus for our trip to the lodging location. We were able to drive slowly past the Presidential Palace and see the reminder of the earthquake damage 2 1/2 years ago. We settled into our rooms, had our first delicious Haitan meal and after an orientation meeting we were ready to get to bed and get some rest in preparation for our early church service tomorrow morning.

We're looking forward to an awesome week!

Today we were able to worship with our Haitian brothers and sisters. We participated in worship by singing two songs and sharing a testimony. The people were glad to hear how God has been working in our lives, and we were excited to be a part of the worship service.

This afternoon we traveled to Mariani, where we will be serving all week. We took today to get to know the community we will be serving. We played soccer, threw a frisbee and even learned a few Haitian games. We are excited to get to work on the church tomorrow and spend more time in this beautiful country.

Today was our first work day at the job site. We hiked the hill to Mariani and spent the first hour in children's ministry while the workers readied things for us to do. We had two bucket lines today as we first passed concrete and later dirt that was being removed from the side of the building. An afternoon shower ended our day a little early, but the falling rain was a welcome refreshment in the afternoon heat.

Sand was delivered and forms were made in preparation for a big concrete pour tomorrow. We have enjoyed another delicious dinner and after some worship and sharing time with our team we will get the much needed rest because we have our work cut out for us tomorrow!

Today we passed buckets of cement to the second floor of the church building to begin building the church's balcony. Although we got a littly dirty, it was so great to see the progress of the building throughout the day. We enjoyed spending time with the children of Mariani as they taught us games and played soccer with us. Some of the girls played beauty salon and got their hair braided. We accomplished a lot, and we look forward to getting just as dirty tomorrow!

Today we spent the morning moving cinder blocks from the street to the construction site. We enjoyed a "block party" as we passed the heavy bricks up the line complete with songs and laughter. It was extremely heavy work, but we were able to accomplish a lot thorugh teamwork. Shortly after lunch it was time to gather our things and say good-bye to Mariani. We had prayer with Pastor Valcourt and then we headed down the hill for the last time, fulfilled in what we had accomplished.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids at Good Shepherd Orphanage not far from our lodging. There was a basketball game, soccer game, swings, frisbees and a whole lot of loving and cuddling going on. It was hard to say good- bye to the friends we made in such a short time. We will not soon forget those kids!

Another delicious dinner and now it's time for a good night's rest before we set off for our recreation day tomorrow.

Today we got to explore the beautiful country of Haiti. We started the day by driving up a mountain to lookout on the city of Port au Prince. What a beautiful view! After that, we ate a lunch of hamburgers and french fries at a Haitian restaurant and then headed to the beach. We spent time in the warm Caribbean ocean before we loaded the bus to head home. We are praying for a restful night tonight and safe travels tomorrow.