Haiti March 17, 2014

Today has been a very busy day. We got up around 7 a.m. and had breakfast – French toast – at 7:30. Afterward the team got ready for the first VBS here at Jerusalem Baptist Church. At the first session we had over 30 children inside the church, while we played with the rest of the kids outside – playing with a beach ball and reading them stories. After the first session was over, we moved the outside kids inside, and vice versa. They had multiplied, and now there were about 70 kids for the second session. So for the first morning the group saw over 100 kids.

After lunch we went to Jerusalem IV, where the school kids had been waiting for us. As you can see in the photos below, there were more than 100 little children there. The group was led by Ken Lawrence, who has been here many times. Ken loves children; he did a fantastic job telling bible stories. We finished early because these young kids needed to get home, so we decided to stop at the market.

The market has some interesting smells and sights; I always love to watch the blacksmiths as they beat their red-hot picks and plows on the anvil to straighten them. As you can see there is a mule parking lot, and plenty of vegetables to purchase. We took a short tour of the market; nobody found anything they needed.

Please look at the photos of the church at Jerusalem IV. We have extended the building and added some new tin on the roof, but as you can see it really needs a lot of help. At this time they need benches or pews. In the photos you’ll see the benches they sit on; they will seat 16 people on one of those little benches. This little church has over 200 people; sometimes most have to stand up. Unfortunately, pews like we normally build cost $80 each due to the high cost of lumber. If we could build just 20 of these, it would be a blessing. Please pray about this and see if the Lord would have you help in this matter. When we’re tempted to complain about the temperature in our churches, we should remember this little church that is like an oven in the summer and the church members are having to stand up for the entire service. But this doesn’t phase them, they came to praise the Lord!

Thank you for your prayers, please keep them coming. God bless.