Haiti March 18, 2012

Our Sunday School today was led by Simon, and it started about 9 a.m. Simon is in his third year of seminary, and is doing great in school. He truly is called to be a pastor; he has a heart for people. When Sunday School was over, we started getting ready for church, and at 10:30 we headed for the church, which is only about a hundred yards from the mission house. As usual we heard many singing groups and, between songs, I introduced the team members. Then we had the pleasure of listening to Pastor Lonnie preach on the 23^rd Psalm. If we would all just accept and remember that the Lord is our Shepherd and He supplies all our needs–if we could just be content, as Paul said, no matter what the circumstances are–we would have so much more peace.

After church, we enjoyed a wonderful Haitian lunch prepared by Ginette and Madame Do, with the help of some other ladies. We had fried chicken, beans & rice with red sauce, banan pize (fried banana) with pickles (hot slaw), potato salad and a cold drink. We also had cornflake and peanut butter cookies that Ginette made for us.

When we finished lunch, I went to my office to do some work, and I noticed it was really quiet in the mission house. I assumed everyone had gone out for a stroll, but I found out they were taking a little siesta. About 3 p.m. there was a little movement–I guess the power naps were over–and everyone was ready to go out. I took them to Sylvest’s house (converted voodoo priest), and they brought out some chairs so we could sit around and talk. Sylvest’s daughter and 18-month-old grandson are living with them. This baby was so small and malnourished his first 9 months, I thought he was surely going to die. But because the Lord has brought doctors and nurses here, and he has been given the right medications and good nutrition, he is a healthy young boy now. Praise the Lord!

It started raining on us–another praise the Lord!–and we had to get back to the mission house. We had planned to start the revival tonight, but it is still raining and, you know, Baptists don’t have to go to church when it’s raining, so church was cancelled. Seriously, here church is cancelled because people walk for miles to get there, and it is very difficult in the rain and mud, especially when they have to walk home in the dark. (I wonder how many of us would walk a mile to go to church.)

Many times God has a different plan than the one we have. He knew we needed the time tonight to go through all the medications that have been brought in for the medical clinics–He is always a step ahead of us. We will start the week out at a place we have only been to once, called Palto. Last November, we were there all day and could have stayed another day, there were so many people. Please pray that the Lord will provide us with enough medications for everyone who needs them. In addition to the medical clinic, we will have a VBS group that will be teaching and playing with the kids. What a great day in the Lord it will be!