A promise made and kept

Our big day had finally come and we headed out beach road to a village called Canaan. You will find a huge new street market full of many stalls with people selling just about anything you can imagine. It was odd to see this huge new market in a place that has always been barren. But after the earthquake there have been many who started to build homes here, because the Haitian government gave away several hundred plots of land to single women. Little by little life is moving this way, yet many still prefer to be in Port Au Prince and not have to travel in each day for work.  

For Vadette, life will be different as well, but in a much better way. She will not only live outside of Port,  but once her house is finished she can work from home and only go to the workshop once a week to fill her sewing orders.

We made our quick thirty-minute drive out of Port to Canaan to see her land. A brand new well was being drilled that day and a new church was under construction. The whole village was standing around watching the red dirt fly hoping for the sign of water.

We pulled up to the corner lot just down from the church and the new well. Little by little the foundation has been put in place on her land. She was very proud to show me how hard she had worked to get this far. In a developing area like this you are always in fear of squatters taking possession of your land. All was well when we arrived.

I was bursting to tell her that she was going to be able to finish her whole house!  I had hopped to have a little video to share, but the well drilling and wind put an end to that idea. Sadly.

It is hard for me to find the words to describe what it was really like when the words “YOU GET TO BUILD YOUR HOUSE” burst out of my mouth.  I think she was a bit caught off guard actually, but yet, she had to have been hoping this was finally the day.

Her whole face light up like a child completely filled with JOY! Finally, after all my explaining about the Lord seeing all her hard work, Him loving her, me loving her and the love of people at CROSSFIELDS who heard her story, she put her hands to heaven and said, MESI JEZI.  Yes, thank you Jesus! Her smile, never left her face and is still in my head. It is a sweet memory indeed knowing all that this will mean for her and her daughter.

Her 18 ft. x 14ft. foundation will hold a small kitchen and bathroom in the back of the house, a living room in the front and a bedroom on the left and right. She will have a cute front porch and yes, a front door of her very own.  

Construction is scheduled to start 2/15/16!