I have returned from Acadien. Acadien is in the northwest near Jean Rabel. I had a most enjoyable 3 weeks. There was much work done and I got to fellowship with the brethren too.
The first couple of days were spent on finishing the rooms that are on the back of the church. The rafters were made and set, the lath was put on, and then the tin roof. The block walls were laid for divisions of the rooms and the floor poured. I had been sleeping in the truck on the job site since the project began. What a relief it is to be able to have a room to stretch out and rest. There are some drawbacks though. There are no beds yet and the restroom is the bush. Drinking water is at least an hour walk one way and to get there it is all up hill.
Construction was interrupted when I had to take an elderly man to the hospital. He had to be placed on a matress in the back of the truck. He only spent one night in the hospital and he died. The family had to make preparations to receive guests in their home. Food had to be purchased, refreshments had to be prepared for the guests, tarps put up, they had to borrow chairs and benches, the family all had to contacted, and the funeral arrangements made. The deceased man was the father of one of our leaders. The funeral was held 2 days after his death. We went to the morgue at the hospital to pick up the body. My truck became the hearse. We went to the graveyard and had a short service and then the body was to be placed into the grave. There were two skeletons wrapped in sheets laying on the ground beside the grave that the gravedigger removed to put the corpse in. The hole was not big enough so they stood the body on end in the grave until a man finished making the hole big enough. After about an hour and several swigs of moonshine the gravedigger got finished with his job. The casket was covered with earth and the two other corpses were thrown in on top of his casket and the rest of the earth was mounded over the grave. Then about 40 people loaded onto the truck to go back an hour drive to the home of the family.
Since the rooms were finished on the back of the church I was able to call the boys to come and help. The finished their last several days of school before Easter break and then they caught a bus to come to help. I had to go to the bus station in the next big city to pick them up. The boys have been trained to do this type of work and there were also men from the church that lent a hand. They made several hundred blocks their first day of work. The blocks were then laid and a bond beam was poured at the top of the wall. Decorative window blocks were laid in the window openings and the wall on the gable end finished. The project is now ready for the following phase. The roof is our next step of this project.
The people were of great help to us. Neighbors brought vegetables from their gardens. I received onions, egg plant, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, bananas, corn, and some ish and a leg of goat. The brethren are very appreciative of the work that is being done. They are eager to learn more of the Word and are obedient to the Lord's will. I am happy that we have such a group of brethren that are serious in their relationship with the Lord.
