Not much remains of my stab at learning some Haitian Creole upon starting ministry in the Dominican Republic in 1985.  But a few phrases still seem to pop up at times.  Haitians are quite fond of colloquial proverbs and one that I learned early on was not only right on for beginning Creole, it also serves as proverbial wisdom suitable for much of life:  

Piti piti zuazo fe nich li  (Little by little a bird makes its nest) 

How appropriate for our latest structural improvements at the Mexicali Baptist Seminary!  It’s an ambitious project of twin two floor buildings that will provide ample space for both a women’s as well as men’s dorm, married student apartments, a common area with kitchen and dining room plus a couple of classrooms. 

Construction began in 2007.  The first building was completed in three years and now serves as ‘nest’ for two married couples, four single men and has a classroom that is handicap accessible.  Today we are within sight of completion of the second building.    

Funding for Seminary infrastructure comes from donations.  However, the construction itself is almost entirely in the hands of very capable local workers, many of whom are Seminarians.  In fact a full 95% of the work on these building has been done by local labor under the direction of Gerardo, master builder, church planter as well as seminarian.  Just as there are a multitude of shapes, sizes, materials and construction in the work of our feathered friends, each suited to the particular bird and its environs, so we must be extra careful in how we build that which is meant to protect us and give us needed space in the formative years of our spiritual journeys.

Mexicali is known for three things, intense desert heat that has no equal in all of Mexico; its Chinese cuisine; and as a land of tremors, where rumblings and shakings are felt weekly and where major earthquakes occur.  Now, the Chinese cuisine part relates to our new building but only in the sense of what happens in the kitchen and dining room.  However, the heat and, especially, the earth tremors, make for literally life or death decisions in the planning and building of our ‘nests’.   It takes time, money and know-how and we have been careful to build to code.  Thankfully we passed the real-life test with flying colors after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake of Easter Sunday 2010.

Right now there are four women at the Seminary anxiously awaiting their move-in date and future students have already applied for February’s start of a new semester.  Depending on donations, residence may be possible by April as the interior of the first floor is finished.  Then, within a year, we look to the time when the second floor interior is finished and the seven year project is complete.   It’s good to be within sight of the finish.  It’s even better to rest assured of a job well done.   And the best part of all is the satisfaction and pride seen on the faces of so many who have labored to make this possible, together with the appreciation from those who look forward to living, growing, even flourishing, in their new ‘nests’.