Once upon a time in a small Haitian community called Acassia there was a young boy who appeared to live with his mother in a house that could be blown down by the big bad wolf. For sure it could be blown down by a hurricane named Irma. The boy was named Anderson Charles and his mother, Venise. Anderson was able to go to school because of a scholarship provided by a generous family that lived in the United States. Some members of this family came to visit Anderson at his house, they met Venise, they brought some gifts to share, they could see the unstable condition of the house.
members told Anderson and his mother that they would like to build a new house for them.
The first thing that needed to be done was to know for sure that the land the house would be built on was owned by Anderson's family. As the story goes, the land document came to Many Hands for Haiti showing the land to be in the name of Anderson's grandfather. The expectation was given that the document needed to be in Anderson's mothers name if MH were to be able to honor the wishes of the family from the United States to begin construction of the new house. A new document was presented and all seemed to be in order.
The day came, early June, for the project to finally begin. The land where the house was to be built was quite a distance from the main road. Materials for the house were delivered by truck but the truck could only get within about one half mile of the site.
MH hosted a short term mission team from Iowa at this time so the concept "many hands make light work" was practiced to get the materials up to the place where the house would be built. The 'many hands' part is accurate but the work was NOT light!
This is property with a view! Notice the team transporting block in wheelbarrows at the base of the mountain.
There was also sand and gravel to transport by wheelbarrow. Load after load, the team pressed on.
Anderson, pictured above and below far left, was working alongside the team. There were several young boys from the neighborhood working hard too. Also volunteering were three Haitian men, friends of Many Hands, who came to Acassia with the team. One is Kaiman in the orange t-shirt.
Probably without the three men the team would not have been able to carry out the task. The men were able to maneuver the wheelbarrows full of sand along the winding path leading up to the site of the new house. More than one thousand concrete blocks were needed.
Anderson kept working up to the last 'mile round trip' of the afternoon. All the block reached the building site and about half of the gravel and sand. The team was hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry.
With the building materials finally on site, in the days to come, the mason crew made progress.
The land of Acassia has a reputation of being a community without order, lacking good leadership. Many Hands has a history there and knows this to be true. During the process of the house being built challenges arose. Water drums and wheelbarrows were stolen.
Entering the story is the man pictured below in the green shirt. His name is Gilne. He is not Anderson's father but the father of two other children with Anderson's mother. It seemed the new house would be home for five people now. Also pictured below is another friend of Many Hands, Woodson. He is reading a message that was sent from the sponsoring family to the family which was soon to be living in a new house.
In this message to Anderson's family, the sponsor indicates she has been praying for the house being built and as she has been doing that she said some spiritual parallels came to mind. She says to the family in the message, "I am praying that Christ will be your firm foundation and the cornerstone of this house and your lives. I am praying Psalm 91 over you and all those working on building the house. Psalm 91 says, 'if you make the Most High your dwelling, then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to keep you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot upon a stone...' " The sponsor continues in the message saying, "And just as you will soon be living in a new home, I am praying you will invite Christ to make a home in your hearts."
MH friend, Woodson, translated these words into Creole for the family to hear as we met with them, brought a few house warming gifts, and prayed together to dedicate their new home to Christ.
The sponsor concluded the message by expressing what a special time this is for Anderson's family and thanking MH for making their desire for Anderson to live in a safe home a reality and that they are eagerly looking forward to returning and seeing the completed house and family.
Such love! A love that could only come out of the love that Our Father has for His children.
The saga continues MH Project leader learned that some of the block and rebar that were needed to complete the project had been sold. And still further into the story, it was learned that Gilne had been imprisoned for five days; they needed money so he could be released.
And the story continues when a few weeks later MH Project leader visited the house expecting to find the family settled and safely living in the new home. This was not the case. The doors and windows to the house were locked up tight with no one living inside. With more investigation into this twisted story we find a technical detail that created another problem to the ongoing saga. Anderson's grandfather had put the land in Anderson's name. The grandfather did not approve of Gilne living in the same house as his grandson so had forced them all out of the house and said when Anderson was grown, then he could live in the house.
OH DEAR LORD! What should we do? MH Chaplains and MH Project leader planned a visit with the grandfather and with Anderson's mother. Through these conversations it was determined that there are deep, deep broken relationships between family members, between Gilne and others, between everyone involved and Jesus Christ. No solution was found as to how this house would be inhabited but it was determined that letting God's love work through all these trials was the only way. The MH Chaplains will meet with the family from time to time, talking about the love they can find in Jesus and praying for reconcilitation to be started in all these places.
MH Chaplains would not have had a 'foot in the door' without this new house to 'open that door.'
God's story continues as we read on in Psalm 91, "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God, "I'll get you out of any trouble, I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!"
These words are for each of us. Often our life story gets twisted and may seem to be so complex that it feels as if there is no way OUT. When this happens, use this example to know sometimes God may have something more for you to discover and that the way OUT is to turn to God's word and allow the counsel of wise people to help sort out a mess.
Discover Salvation through believing that Jesus Christ died for YOU, Anderson, and for YOU Venise, and for YOU Gilne, and for YOU... and for ME... each one has the WAY to live happily ever after with JESUS.
Discover it if you haven't already, or remind yourself of it, or help someone else through a twisted life story to discover it.
God says He will throw a party!💖😄
Wow! I have meet Anderson and his mother. and was with the sponsor of the family on a trip last year! Great to see progress on this house and in the lives of this family as God's love work in thier hearts.
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