Day 14 | Tyler Morlan

As I sit here thinking about what all has happened this past week I can’t help but be reminded of past missions I have been on. I look back to my first trip to Montana when I was only 13 and seeing all the older youth work so hard to keep a reputation that had preceded them. My only thought was will we be able to carry that and pass it on. Over the years we have kept ahold of that reputation and have always finished every job and more than what was expected. Sadly I missed the point it took me fourteen years to realize this but that was never the meaning behind a mission trip. A mission trip is not solely on what all gets accomplished through work projects; it is not measured by blocks laid, houses built or concrete poured. The mission trips we have been on are about lives changed and not only the lives of the ones we serve but ours as well. This is most likely the last time I will be on a mission trip with Russell, Logan, and Kenton. We have been on many of these together and we have discussed how we missed the meaning behind the trips over the years by being so focused on exceeding expectations. Luckily the youth realize this now. As they were sharing tonight about what meant the most to them not one said the house we built or the church being finished but instead the children who lives were changed at VBS, the family who received a new home, and how they themselves were personally changed. God has truly blessed our church with great youth who have a heart to serve, to step out of the comfort zone and come to a nation like Haiti to join in his work here.

Day 12 | Tyler Morlan

It has been a great week filled with new adventures and sights. Today was a finesse kind of day at the church so not a whole lot I could do there besides mix the mud for the finish on the floor. Since they didn’t have much need for me inside I finally received my chance to prove my natural skills in sifting sand. Not my favorite job of the week but still a job that needed to be done.. Tomorrow should be a great day for both teams, I will be returning with the church team to mix concrete for the stage, and the house team is finishing up the stucco on the outside walls. God has truly blessed us this week with great weather and the chance to accomplish all the tasks we started. I wish there was more to do and more time to spend here but until the next time I will pray God calls me back to Haiti to serve him again.

Day 11 | Tyler Morlan

Today was a day of rest for most of the group we had the chance to sleep in before going to church this morning. Their church service was similar to ours in many ways in how they started with announcements and singing then the prayer that’s about all I saw of the service. A woman sitting in front of me had a heat stroke during prayer and I was asked to help carry her out. When we got to the back of the church a man asked me to take her pulse and blood sugar while he got the blood pressure cuff out. This is a completely new experience for me to administer first aid in a third world country. We were able to stabilize her and she eventually walked on her own so I was able to return to service near the end of the message. After church many of the youth went on the hike while a few of us decided not to go again. We stayed behind and played with kids all afternoon. I love seeing the children play on the playground. It is amazing seeing all the kids laughing and smiling on something we got to be a part of two years ago. Tomorrow should be another great day for work, Russell and I don’t know what we will be doing yet so I’ll just have to let you all know tomorrow.

Day 10 | Tyler Morlan

I finally made the trip to the church today just in time for the first day of VBS. Unfortunately I didn’t get to work any part of it. There was a lot of concrete to mix for today so Russell, Kenton, Logan, and I had to keep mixing all day. We have been on a lot of mission trips together all over the world and I can honestly say we have never been this sore or this tired after a day. The Haitians mix concrete very differently than we do in America. They start with roughly 20 buckets of sand add 15 buckets of stone (not gravel but stone), then 4 bags of concrete mix. I don’t know how we ever got the first batch done let alone the next 10 but God blessed us with the strength to finish what all he had planned for us today. Needless to say by the end of the day we were all worn out and so sore we were worried about the ride back. While Russell and I were discussing this we walked over to wash our boots off when a man who had worked alongside us all day came over and wouldn’t let us clean our own boots off. I tried to tell him I would clean them and that he didn’t have too but he wouldn’t be stopped. I haven’t stopped thinking about that moment since we left the site. Today wasn’t just the hardest day on me physically but emotionally as well, this one act of humility has touched me beyond words can explain I pray Russell can put this into words better than me.

Day 9 | Tyler Morlan

Today was the day we all had been waiting for, the first day of work. We had split into two groups one for the church and the other to start the house. My group went to the house to start moving block, sifting sand and setting walls. The group did outstanding beyond what i could have imagined, the piles of sand were all sifted, most of the walls are just two rows short of being finished, and the doors and windows are ready to go in just have to wait for everything to set up. God is truly blessing us with great strength cause i know there is no way i could have lifted and carried that much block without his help. Some of the workers requested to take pictures with me during the day and when we were cleaning up. I had made a joke at the begging when we were discussing who the boss for the day was and of course I had to inform them that I alone was the big boss. The workers had a lot of fun with that and we had a lot of laughs. I am looking forward to the work tomorrow we are starting the addition to the church by mixing and pouring 70 bags of concrete. Its about time for team perfect to strike again!!!

Day 8 | Tyler Morlan

CAPTAINS LOG: DAY 1 Had an interesting trip down here to say the least. To keep from falling asleep at the wheel Russell and I did every trick in the book just short of cutting a finger off. However against all odds we made it to Florida alive and well. The flight over went smooth and actually arrived ahead of schedule. It is amazing to me how much the country has changed in just two years. The streets are much cleaner, tent cities are down, and construction has taken off in the city. God is truly at work in this nation and i am so excited that he has picked us to come join him here.

Day 6 | Tyler

Had a slow day for the most part, spent most of the morning at the market trying to buy fruit we are not allowed to eat. I haven’t had a piece of fruit since we got here and its starting to kill me slowly. I am surrounded by fruit bearing trees everywhere I look and yet I am not allowed to eat them. Over all we had a good day, we are almost done with all we have to do for this first week. Its sad we wont be here for the finished project.

Day 5 | Tyler

Had a good day today working with some of the younger youth in our group. The kids worked hard and were willing to do anything I asked them to do. However I found out the Bridgeport people are all trying to kill me. It all starts with the first board the girls dropped and it missed me but the second time they hit me in the head, no worries though it wasn’t fatal. On a more serious note the kids worked fine and we got a good laugh out of it.

Day 4 | Tyler

I know everyone is torn up that I didn’t blog last night and I am very sorry about that. Yesterday I worked with a group of young adults moving a large pile of wood for the playground. It went well and we got the job done rather quickly. After that Russ and I did our usual thing of mixing concrete, digging holes, and setting up poles. The jobs went well all around the camp. However I thought everyone worked hard for the most part yesterday but for some reason the girls just wouldn’t go to bed. Why couldn’t they go to bed? For well over an hour after we were sent to bed the girls were laughing and giggling. The only reasonable explanation would be that they must not have worked hard enough to have that much energy left over. I am kidding of course but it is a good question. Today was a great day we started early at 5:30 by getting ready for a service at 6:30. Haitian services seem like they would be fun to attend if you could understand the language. Just because the service starts at 6:30 doesn’t mean they show up at that time some of them weren’t showing up till 8:00. The rest of the day was an adventure with our hike to the river and back up. I am sure everyone will be talking about what all we saw and did today so I’ll let them tell it. Mostly because I was too busy making sure some people didn’t fall over the hill and die. At one point Logan, Lloyd, and I were called buckets so they would kick us right before they fell. Moral of the story is “don’t go chasing waterfalls”.

Day 2 | Tyler

Today was a great day we started a little late but that’s just the way things are done here. They are in no hurry to work not because they are lazy but because they have no sense of time. I hate sitting around and waiting to work but this is what God will do to you if you have trouble with patience he doesn’t mind testing it. I worked with Russ and Mick for most of the day setting up a lean tube then mixing concrete and we dug a few holes. All in all it was a great day and I am thankful to be here.

Day 1 | Tyler

Had a good couple first days making our way down here to Haiti. The drive was a little long but we made it in great time with no trouble and few stops. The flight went well too, we had little turbulence and only had one person throw up so we can put that down as a win. The people are nice and seem to be happy to see us. Riding in Haiti was a new experience all in itself I never knew I would find people who drove worse than people from Detroit but now I have. Every inch of the road is used and the sidewalk is fair game as well. We haven’t started working here yet but everyone still seems ready to dive in tomorrow. This is a whole new group that I have never worked with before and I look forward to working with all of them.

Day 1 | Tyler Morlan

It was a long first day on the road. We left early in the morning around 5am everyone fell asleep in my van but myself so i made sure to keep them up and alive. The bathroom pit stops were way to often we could of made the trip in half the time if it was not for the weak. Over all it was a great day and we had a blast. talking to each van  they all said they had a blast in there vans. I had a blast and everyone got along well with each other in my van. However i had to wrestle with Gerwig luckily he has grown old and fat so beating him took little effort. I am looking forward to tomorrow and am very excited. 

If you want the truth read this

Hello everyone this is me typing to you telling you what is all really going on. Everyone here is working really hard on all the projects. So far we have finished painting a house, building 2 decks, and built a whole new roof on a 14x70 trailer. We are currently working on building another roof to a trailer and painting another house. once again our mission group has done more work than they had for us originally and if we keep this up we will be tearing down a trailer with hammers while a perfectly good excavator sitting 100 feet away.

this has been your daily dose of Tyler

goodbye world

ps.
SEND FOOD label it for Tyler Morlan