Day 4 | Bill Morlan

Day 4 is in the books. Not as hot today with a great breeze. The day started with our leader telling me that we would be on the roof today taking off the shingles of the house we are working on. So on our way to our job site, a 45 min drive, I gave a crash course to my van on how to take off shingles. I also told them to memorize the address of where we were working so they could call 911 when I fall though it. So Becka was going over how to get 911 on their phones by using the emergency app on their phone. Then she added but don’t forget to video it because it would be funny. I felt the love of my van. When we got to the job site our leader said he was kidding and we were going to take off the rest of the old siding and put OSB board around the house. As we started to take off the wood, Eric noticed a bunch of termite damage on the wood he was taking off. So on further removal of the wood we found multiple termite damage around the house. Now they have to fix that problem and we just worked on what we could today. We got a lot of work done but not what our leader wanted to accomplish. Tonight we took the kids to the bay so they could swim and hang out on the beach. Been a good day. Dont know what we will do tomorrow but I’m sure it will be hot. Love you Bron, boys and my girls.

Day 3 | Bill Morlan

I’m sure that you have already read this, but the heat index today was 115 degrees. At the hottest part of the day, Eric and I were eye level with the roof taking off siding on a house we started at today. To say the least, it was hot! Come to Texas Eric said, it will be fun! It was a great day of work and we did get a lot done. We started a new house that has not had anything done to it yet. So we tore off the back porch which had a roof on it, the porch was rotted away. It didn’t take much to tear it down. Then we took the siding off of the back of the house because we are to put new windows and siding on it. I don’t know how far we will get in the 2 days we have left but we will hit it as hard as we can. Each day I come up with new songs that describe what we are doing and I add all the names of our group to the songs. I have came with with some real good songs. But today we worked at a house where we had to be as quiet as possible as we tore the house apart. The grand daughter of the home owner is autistic and noises and new things upset her. We got to meet her today and she gave us high fives as her grandmother introduced her to us so she wouldn’t be as scared. So today I guess I was put in Samaritans Purse timeout. Most of us “ AARP group” are pretty tired from the heat and are just sitting around. The youth are outside playing volleyball, man have things changed. It’s hard to believe that the week is almost done and there is still so much more to do. It’s time for this old guy to relax. Love you Bron, boys and my girls.

Day 2 | Bill Morlan

Day 2 is in the books and the sand moving crew finished the 16 tons of sand today. Yes, I was a part of the sand crew. We finished before lunch and then began the flower bed. We had to mix potting soil with the sand and then plant the shrubs and flowers. We were all done by about 3 today and then got cleaned up. Arriving back to the church we then had to unload a truckload of water. We kind of had fun with that cause I would throw them out of the back of the truck and Matthias and Casey would catch them and then pass them down the line. It was hot again today. I have decided if this youth minister thing doesn’t work out for me, I’m going to become a professional sand mover. Love you Bron, boys and my girls.

Day 1 | Bill Morlan

Well day one is officially in the books. Man, was it hot. I have a really awesome farmers tan going on now. My group today was finishing up a house that they are getting ready to turn over to the owners. So, we had a punch list of little things that needed to be done. Like hook up appliances, touch up paint, clean and so on. At 1 o’clock we received a delivery of 16 tons of sand that we had to move around the house to help run the water away from the house. In 3 hours, we had moved about 12 tons of sand. We had 2 wheelbarrows, 4 shovels, and 2 rakes. To say the least, we were burnt out. We will go back to the house tomorrow and try and finish, the sad part is that I don’t think that we have enough sand to finish. It was a good day and I look forward to tomorrow and what adventure lies ahead. Love you Bron, my boys and my girls.

Day 8 | Bill Morlan

Well it’s been a few days since I’ve done this so I thought I better write before Eric catches me. It’s as hot as I remember! It’s either I’m getting older or it’s getting hotter. The team has done a great job and at this time we have completed all of our jobs. We will be looking at putting up walls and the rafters at Kenny’s house tomorrow. Like always, it’s hard to believe that we are on our last day of work and then the journey home. We finished the rocks on Tuesday and some of those rocks we moved 4 times. As you know by now, we went to Yellowstone yesterday. Started at 5am and got back at 1am. Long day but a fun day. To me, the one of the best parts of the day was when we got stopped by a buffalo for about 30 min because he was in the road. By the time he finally gave us room to pass I could of touched him. The team has worked well together and I am very proud of them for what they have done. Being that this is my 4th time here I have a lot of memories of this place and the people that we have helped. Some of the people remember us. One of the cool things was that Jarren was playing basketball with a young man who remembered us and coming to VBS when we had it. To all who have been here before, Neil and his wife bought an RV and are traveling the country. Kenny Sr. and his wife are doing fine and he is getting ready to retire. Kenny Jr. and his wife are building a new house. Russel, if you are reading this, tonight we are having Indian Tacos and the lady that is making them remembers you. She remembers that you ate 7 of them and she has never seen anyone do that. You have made a lasting impression. Tomorrow is our last day and like always it will be bitter sweet. Love you Bro, boys and my girls.

Day 5 | Bill Morlan

Day one of work is in the books. What a day it was, 107 degrees. Oh yea, it was hot. I’m sure that you have already heard about the jobs so I won’t bore you again. My part today was rock throwing. For all of you old mission trippers, yes we moved another rock pile, three times. We had to get them out of the ground, they were driven it by a grader and pile them. Then we had to move them out of the way to put the plastic down and then put them on the plastic. We are about 1/3 of the way done. We didn’t get started until about 10:45 this morning, was suppose to start at 8. Everyone worked hard and we got a lot of work done. Tomorrow, Lord willing we should finish up our jobs and then start new ones on Thursday. On Wednesday we will make the journey to Yellowstone on our day off. To say it is hot is an understatement and we are going through the water. Today we took a break at around 2:00pm and there was a vender at the church that we bought smoothies for the group. It was the first one I have ever had and the coldness was awesome. I’m sure that there will be no trouble sleeping for the group tonight and we are starting earlier in the morning to try and beat some of the heat. Keep us in your prayers and we will talk to you all later. Love you Bron, boys and my girls.

Day 4 | Bill Morlan

I guess I am the last one to write. As you can tell we made it safely and have settled into camp. It was nice to see old friends and to talk for a while. It is always nice to see Kenny and his dad. We have our jobs now, not what we were told before we left but thats ok. It is suppose to be over 100 degrees today, yesterday got to 109. Some of the kids went to Yellowtail dam with me yesterday and swam for a little bit. We made a walmart run about 70 miles away the night we got here only to find out they would not let us in because it was closing in 2 minutes. That was a bummer, then we go to download these blogs last nite and we find out McDonalds is closed. Long trips with no results. We are doing fine, pray for us and watch us on the web page. Love ya bron, boys and my girls.

Day 1 | Bill Morlan

Day one is in the books! Had some heavy rains at times but in all, it was a good day to travel. Not much traffic and we only made 2 stops for gas and went to the bathroom then and ate. Made real good time traveling. Got to the motel and some of the kids swam and played board games. This old guy just relaxed in his room. We pick up Logan Gibson tomorrow in Omaha and then move on into South Dakota. We have about 12-13 hours of traveling tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers.

Day 14 | Bill Morlan

Last full day and the packing and cleaning begins. The day started with the dedication which was awesome. I can’t write the words to describe what you feel giving someone a house who deserves it. The emotions that run through me is indescribable. You feel proud to be a part of something that changes lives, humbled by the fact that God allowed you to do it, awestruck by the work of our team and the Haitian workers and finally you feel the love between brothers and sisters in Christ. There are more than that but that gives you an idea what is being felt. To listen to our group sing praises to God beside the house was fantastic. Tyler’s prayer was one for the books, you could feel the love of God flowing through his words. To then hear the Haitians sing was just another blessing. Then it was my turn to give the message for then new house. Talk about being humbled. Like usual, my emotions got the best of me when you think about what the house means to the family. Then the husband spoke and then the wife. For the first time the new homeowners presented us with certificates with our names on them. It is so nice to work for someone who not only deserves it but appreciates it. This family has blown me away with their love for our group. As we were leaving the dad came to me and gave me his name, address and phone number and told me that when we come back to call him and he wants to be a part of our next work project. WOW! That’s never happened before either. Our group took up a collection and gave it to the family to help them build their outhouse. We were allowed to give up to $100 which is 1,060 gourds in their money. Then it was back to the compound. As soon as we got there it was time to meet our sponsor children. My family sponsors 2 boys and one of them showed up. He is 7 now and is a cute as I remember. His name is Evans and he is in the second grade. We learned that his mom died last year and so the dad now stays home to take care of him. We gave Evans some gifts and then went to the ark to play. My boys played soccer with him and frisbee as well as play on the ark. It was great. Then out of nowhere, about 70 kids from two summer camps came and filled the ark. For everyone who worked on the ark, you would of been proud. At one time there were 13 kids climbing up the cargo net and the slide was filled up. This site made me realize just how important this playground is to this area. Laughter and screams of joy filled the air. We sat there for about 2 hours watching and listening. Then it was time for lunch at the Mountain Maid and then to barter. Lunch was great, yes I got another banana split and shared it with Bronlynn. Then to watch the kids barter was funny. They were fierce in their negotiations and got some good deals if you ask them. Tonight will be our closing Bible study and then pack and clean. As I think about this Bible study, it will be the last one here for at least a couple of years. That got me thinking about the phrase “one last time.” I look around the room and I see my boys, Russell and Logan Gibson. These 5 young people have been with me for over 10 years and have been all over the world with me. This just might be the last time I have them all together on a mission trip. Like always, that brought a tear to my eyes. Then I look around and see the new 5 that are ready to take their place and that makes me smile. I believe the torch has been passed to the new generation of warriors for Christ and that excites me. This has been a great 2 weeks and I have seen God work through them and in them. I believe the future is bright. We leave the compound at 7am and then the journey home begins. Keep us in your prayers as we begin to come home. This has been another trip for the books. Love you boys and my girls

Day 13 | Bill Morlan

House complete! Like everyone else before me, we finished at about 4:15pm today. There were only 3 Haitian workers there today so we got to do a lot of the work. Like always, the team did awesome. For the second day in a row, Emily sifted the entire day until we no longer needed sand. Hollis was her partner in sand today. Yesterday we noticed that we did not have enough gravel to make the sand for today to finish the project. So, last nite I told Roger that we needed another load of gravel to finish the job. When we got to the job site today, there was a dump truck load of gravel at our site. Our translator told us that the home owner worked all nite last nite to get gravel for us today. I need to say that he did it with a 5 gallon bucket. He probably had gotten 2 tons of gravel. Talk about being humbled. To work all nite to gather gravel, 5 gallons at a time. He worked along side of us today and his wife came at noon. Tomorrow they will be home owners as we will have the dedication service and the house is theirs. Like all my trips here to Haiti, I will say that this has been an awesome 2 weeks. This time I got to share it with Bron which made it better. I enjoyed serving with my boys again and working with the youth and adults. Both weeks the teams had to work through some very hot weather with no rain. The people who worked on the projects did an incredible job and our church family should be very proud. They represented God with honor. I enjoyed watching the youth play with the kids here and how well they interacted with everyone. Great 2 weeks of work and now for the day of meeting the kids we sponsor and bartering. Gonna be a great day. Love ya Boys and my girls

Day 12 | Bill Morlan

What a day! I was on the house crew today. It was real hot with no cloud coverage. I have to give it to my crew on how hard they worked today. Bronlynn, Emily and Allie never left the sift pile today. They sifted the entire day and was able to keep ahead of the stucco crew. Raegan, Elizabeth, Elainah and Shannon sifted and did stucco. They did a great job with the stucco. We completed the inside with the stucco today and have 3 of the walls dried in. The family of the house came again today and helped us work today. The mom sifted sand with the girls and the dad helped out with getting material. It was a great day to work with the Haitians and we worked well together. The other group had a great day today and i won’t go into detail because they need to tell the stories. I am still amazed at the people here and how friendly and the love of others that they have. I don’t know how many times today I was told that they loved me. The mom of the house gave us her phone number and told us that the next time we are in Haiti she wants us to call her so she can come and work with us. The people here are so willing to help out and they want us to know how much they appreciate us being there. I am very proud of all of the youth that are on this trip and those on the last. I pray that God changes here heart and they see how serving God can change the world. Pray for our health, at this time we are all good, safety and that we will get our projects done. We will be hard pressed to complete the church as they keep adding more to the list to do.. Love ya Boys and my girls

Day 11 | Bill Morlan

Today we went to a different church about 10 minutes away from the compound. For Haitian standards, it was a quick service and only lasted about one hour and forty five minutes. The senior pastor could speak english so it made it nice when he would repeat what he was saying in english. They had a guest speaker today from another mission team that was there and they were from Texas. It was a real good service and the people at the church were very friendly. After service we loaded back into the dump truck and headed back up the mountain. During the service the senior pastor call me to the stage to give an account of who we were and what we were doing there. Yea, that caught me off guard. Some of the youth went on the hike and I'm sure they will be writing about it later. From what I have heard so far, they had a great time and enjoyed the hike. After dinner tonight we will have our own church service and then we have to prepare the crafts for tomorrow. Today was a lazy day as several people took naps while others of us went to the ark and watched the kids play. It is so cool to watch the kids play and you just wonder how many kids have played on the ark over the last 2 years. Roger told us that at times during the school year there are hundreds of children here to play. They let 100 in at a time for 1 hour and then the next bus comes down the hill to let the next hundred play for an hour. There have probably been tens of thousands of children on the playground. To watch the families that are there is a blessing that I am glad that I got to watch. They bring their lunches and blankets and stay for the day. They take soo many pictures. Today was a great day and tomorrow will be a challenge. Our work load will increase tomorrow as it will be a hard day 3 with the stucco going on the walls of the house and pouring more cement for the stage at the church. Pray for us and for VBS tomorrow. Love ya boys and my girls

Day 10 | Bill Morlan

Day 3 is in the books and things are starting to look very good. Today my crew went to the church to pour the floor of the church. What a job!!! We probably poured over 7 yards of concrete. Tyler, Kenton, Logan and Russell did the mixing. I sure am glad that we had them today. We started out by having to finish tying the rebar together and cutting it to length. Then the fun started of mixing, making human lines to get it from where you mix it to where it needed to go. Then Lloyd worked with the Haitians to finish the concrete. We finished this job about 3pm. While we were doing the cement, the others in my group were doing VBS. We had about 60 kids and from what I could tell our youth did an outstanding job. Logan Gibson is heading up our VBS this week. For the first 2 days of work, our kids and the adults here have done an outstanding job. It is very hot here right now, as a matter of fact the Haitians even think it is hot. Several of our team probably won’t blog tonite because they are asleep. Our team is worn out and they really need the day off tomorrow to regain their strength, me included. The GBC family can be very proud of both teams that have come to Haiti this time around. One of the biggest joys I have is that you get to see the heart of those who come on trips like this. Words cannot describe what you see and experience on a trip like this. At this time we have no power and it’s hot in the place that we stay and yet there is no complaining. It can get very tough working like this and yet no one complains. Continue to pray for us as tomorrow we go to a different church than usual. Pray for our heath, work projects and that the Lord would change our hearts to be more like Him. Love you boys and my girls

Day 9 | Bill Morlan

Day one of projects was a great success. I was at the house site and it was hot. Everyone got sunburned and we went through almost all of our water. We probably had a gallon left of the ten. We got so much done today. We do not have to build the back wall so we almost have the other 3 done. Our team sifted almost 2 barrels of fine sand. The Team did a tremendous job today. Tomorrow will be my first trip to the church. I am looking forward to VBS and to experience the drive that everyone talks about. To see the way the team works together is amazing and to think that everyone did all they could to help the other out just warms your heart. It was a great Day One and I look forward to tomorrow. This old guy is very tired and so it’s good nite and fair well.

Day 8 | Bill Morlan

Well, group one left at 7:30am and it was just as hard to watch them leave as it was last year. I did better containing my emotions, but I couldn’t talk and say good bye. So to all of my first group, Love you all and see ya soon. Lloyd and I spent the day changing out the Noah’s Ark signs. I guess they are spelled wrong in their language. We got 3 of the 4 done just before the new group arrived. Changing these signs was harder than it looked. the new group arrived early, which is strange for here and we unloaded and put stuff away. It was very nice having Brice here the first week with one of his youth, but it was awesome to see my wife with the group. Tyler, Kent and Logan are here this week so I think my sift singing songs will continue. We will begin our work in the morning so please be in prayer for us. Pray that we stay healthy this week and that God will be glorified.

Day 7 | Bill Morlan

Well, week one has come to an end. What a first week. Today we had the house dedication and it was outstanding. The family was so very grateful and you could tell that they apprecitated it. We finished yesterday and it usually takes about 7 days before they can move in. But they stayed in it last nite which is unheard of. They have moved in. They now have a place to call home and a permanent place to live. The second group made it safely to the motel tonite and I can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow. It will be sad to see this group leave because of how good they worked together. Today was also bartering day. It was fun to watch the kids and adults barter. Some of them were very good and then there is Vicki. This week has been a lot of laughs and some awesome memories were made. Tonight we are just sitting around playing games and laughing. We spent about an hour making up new sifting songs, sifting pickup lines and so on. We were laughing way to hard. It was a great time. This week’s house will be harder because it is out in the rocks and there is no shade. We will be in the direct sunlight all day. We will also finish the church this week. Pray for us as this will be a tough week. Love ya Bron, boys and my girls

Day 6 | Bill Morlan

The week is coming to an end and the house is done. Tomorrow we have the dedication and present the family with some gifts. We finished the house at 2:48 this afternoon. The team worked very hard today and it was extremely hot. VBS at the church went great and 6 young girls got saved tonite. So in 2 mornings we have seen 13 kids come to know Christ. The VBS crew have had a great time and have had some awesome stories. I look forward to getting my chance since I’ve been at the house all week. And yes, I shifted sand again today for several hours. Me and shifting have become one. Pray for our second crew as they leave at 2am and take the 14 hour drive. Been a great day and an awesome adventure. Love ya Bron, boys and my girls

Day 5 | Bill Morlan

You can tell by the blogs that it was a long hard day. Everyone worked very hard and it was hot. The house went real well and we should finish tomorrow. To make the day even better for me, we had to sift sand again today. We used all of the gravel we had so they brought us another 4 tons at the end of the day. So tomorrow guess what I will be doing tomorrow. There may be some good commercials and songs coming your way. So stay tuned. Im sure that you have heard by now that there were 7 kids saved at VBS today. Brice said there were way over 100 kids today because some snuck in. They still had to turn away children and that is never easy. Tomorrow is going to be a great day as we finish the house but the work will be very hard. Some of the team is getting pretty run down and we can sure use your prayers. This is hard work, but they are doing a fantastic job. Pray for us for strength and health. Talk to you all tomorrow. Love ya bron, boys and my girls

Day 4 | Bill Morlan

Today was the easy day, church and relaxation. I’m sure the kids have already told it started at 6:30am and lasted till 9am. After that, there was noting til dinner at 5. So I spent my day sitting at the playground watching the kids play on the ark. It was great watching the kids play on it. Still to this day, parents are teaching their kids how to use the slides, swings and climbing ropes. Lloyd and I did have to repair part of the ark. One of the ropes on the swinging bridge had worn into, so we went and fixed it. Shane came by just in time to give us a hand. Tomorrow will be a hard day for everyone as the work will get more intense. We have to stucco the house, inside and out and the carpenters will come and put on the roof, doors and windows. We will be worn out after doing stucco for 8 hours. For all you parents out there reading this, if any, you can be real proud of your children. They have worked so very hard and have had great attitudes. It has been awesome to see how God is using them this week. You would be amazed of how they have reacted to the people here and how hard they have worked. Its hard to believe that we are on the final leg of the projects and before we know it, it will be time for this group to go home and the next one to come. Well, its time for this guy to go to bed so I will write again tomorrow. Love ya Bron, boys and my girls.

Day 3 | Bill Morlan

Well today was an experience. My group sifted sand for 7 hours. You heard me right. Sand for 7 hours. To say the least, we got real bored and our attention span was gone before lunch. So we started making “how to” videos on sand sifting. My signing talents were at it’s best. If the videos get put on the day’s video my wife will be so proud. I think I really need medication at times and today would be one of them. We got the shell of the house done,( well they got the shell done). We did get to work on the house for the last 30 min. working on the stucco for the house. Monday, the roof will be put on and we will continue with the stucco. From what I am told, Mic’s group is doing great. Today was the first day of VBS and from what I am told it was awesome. There were 100 kids there and they had to turn away some away. Tomorrow will be church at 6:30 am and then rest for the remainder of the day. It’s been a great 2 days and we are looking for a great week. Love ya Bron, boys, and my girls