Mission Trip to Haiti: Day 6

I wanted to go to the jobsite today, but I was still in a lot of pain and the other team members felt it was best that I stayed back.  I can't lie, I was a little upset that I couldn't go.  It wasn't until later in the day after talking with a friend that I realized that everything happens for a reason.

Midway through the day while I was reading my Bible and writing, I looked out my window and saw smoke coming out of one of the rooms.  I stepped outside and got Sarah (a missionary on the field in Haiti) and we went to action.  A group of Haitians were staying at the Villa for a conference and one of them had left their computer on a charger that eventually caught fire.  Everybody was knocking on the door afraid somebody was still in the room, because Haitians are notorious for taking afternoon naps.  Somebody came down with the key, and before I could warn them to not open the door quickly, the door was open and the fumes went higher.

A picture of the area once the fire was put out.

It was at this point that I saw a make-shift Haitian Fire Department.  The Haitians grabbed some 5 gallon buckets, ran to the pool, and made an assembly line back down to the room and proceeded to throw the water on the fire.  Unfortunately, everytime they threw water on it, the flames grew.  I guess that's what happens when you use water mixed with chlorine.  In the meantime, Sarah had ran to the kitchen and found the fire extinguisher, and eventually put out the flames.  The room was destroyed, but nobody was hurt.

When the team got back, we went next door and watched as the kids sang us songs (in Creole and English) and gave testimonies of how God had blessed them.   It was so neat to see how each kid thanked God for protecting them in the earthquake.  So many of them were only feet away from almost certain death.  I left with goosebumps on my arms.