Off To A Great Start (But Gabriel A Little Worse For Wear)
Some of us started stirring a little before 6 a.m. this morning and praise the Lord, Ginette had our coffee ready. After coffee we had cereal with cold milk. Anything cold is a treat. We also had pop tarts and juice. When we finished, we planned out the day, starting with everyone pitching in to take the medical trunks up to the church to set up the medical clinic. We also took up the things we needed for VBS. This takes about an hour or more to get all the meds in small packages that can be distributed easily. We got everything ready for VBS and the medical team by 9 a.m., and the people were ready for us. They come about 7 a.m. waiting on us. The children were excited; they always have a good time learning bible stories and making crafts.
After we saw the medical clinic and VBS running smoothly, Will, Terry, Pastor Philip, Pastor Harry, and Pastor Wisney and I went hut-to-hut telling everyone about Jesus and inviting them to the Church each night that we are here. One of the most interesting stories is about one elderly lady who was sitting outside with her granddaughter and she told us she was a Christian. She began to tell us her story, how she used to live somewhere else but her house had been taken away from her and that her son had died in an accident in Port-au-Prince. She told us everything she had had been taken away. But the amazing part was that she had joy and told us that it was okay that one day she would be with Jesus in Heaven and that is what gave here joy. I told her I have heard many people say that it would be okay if the Lord took everything but most people really don’t mean it. You could tell by the look in her eyes that it was really okay and she knew that there was a place for her with the Father.
After our hut-to-hut we came back and ate lunch and then we loaded the truck with all the materials for Jerusalem II Church and the shade house that we will be building there. We have never been up there before by truck but they told us that the road was in good shape. Well their idea of good shape and ours aren’t the same. First of all, even the Haitians got lost trying to get us up this mountain. It is not the same path we take when we walk. The road and goat path that we took was unbelievably difficult. We had to cut trees, fill in holes with rock and there were several places where the back dual wheels would hang off the edge of the mountain. I had mirrors that were broken and the rebar that we had welded together for the shade house was torn apart. The only way we made it was that our Lord helped us. When we arrived the people were celebrating that the material for their church had arrived. They began singing and praising the Lord. All of the people began to unload the truck of heavy lumber, concrete block and tin. When I say all, I mean elderly ladies, boys, girls and men. It was wonderful to see their joy and when they finished, we headed back and it was just as rough coming down as going up but again our Lord is faithful. I will say that it will be a long time before I do that again, and it will have to be absolutely necessary.
I left Clint, Kenny and Will there to build the shade house. They will walk down on Wednesday evening.
When we returned, we ate supper and took our showers and got ready for church. After many praise songs, Pastor Philip gave us an inspiring message from the Lord for the night.
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