On Sunday we got up early and had our coffee and breakfast, then Simon gave us our Sunday School lesson. It was a great lesson about how nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. We had a great time sharing about His wonderful love. Simon will soon be called Pastor; he has one more year of seminary.
After Sunday School, Simon, Dr. Rick and I went to meet a man about some land that Dr. Rick is looking into buying. He has a God-size vision that sounds great to me. I can’t describe it as well as he could, but I will try to tell you a little about it. He is looking for land on the beach to build a resort from which all the profits would go back into the local area – a place where you could take a vacation and actually help people. The proceeds would go to help the farmers and to build schools and hospitals. While on vacation, you could tour the facilities where your money would be going to work. If anyone is interested in hearing more about this vision, please contact Dr. Rick, Richard Schumacher, at richard@restoringhaiti.com and he will tell you the rest of the story. We met with the man and looked at 90 acres, starting from the main road before you go to Z’Orange to the coast. We drove the Ford as far as we could, then we walked a long way, and what a beautiful view when we reached the coast! Dr. Rick is negotiating this week and praying to see if this is what God wants.
While Simon, Dr. Rick and I were being heathens (not going to church), Chuck G, Nelly and Irene went to church. This is the first time that Irene & Nelly have been to church in Z’Orange. After church Chuck needed to see how Gabriel was running before the team comes in, so he took Nelly and Irene to Jerusalem IV where they met some of the congregation and met the pastor’s fiancé. Nelly and Irene had blessed us with 8 cases of bibles, and they took 4 cases with them and gave them to the pastor’s fiancé to give to the pastor. You can see the joy of the people in the photo from receiving the Bibles. The rest of the Bibles will be distributed by Pastor Do.
Sunday afternoon we had a nice spaghetti dinner with garlic bread, and we had a great evening just reminiscing about the day – also I had an opportunity to ‘catch up’ with Dr. Rick. It is so wonderful to have so many Christian brothers and sisters come to Haiti, and even when you don’t see them for a couple of years it is as if you saw them yesterday. I truly thank God for everyone who has come to Haiti and still continues to support our efforts here, whether it is by prayer, giving or coming – God bless you all! We could not be here without you. Together we are the Body of Christ.
On Monday we got up and had our coffee – got to have the coffee! – and took Dr. Rick to the airport to go home. Then Simon and I drove up to a Sherwin Williams paint store in Petionville. We bought paint so that the Rocky Bayou Christian School team can do some painting while they are here; they will be coming in Wednesday afternoon. The mission house needs to be painted on the outside and some on the inside, Pastor Do’s house needs to be painted inside and out, the school and the church need another coat of paint. I think we will start with Pastor Do’s house. He is really excited that he is going to get his house painted. We have many places for the team to do VBS, so we will see how much time is actually left for painting.
While we were in Port, Chuck, Nelly and Irene were cleaning the mission house and setting up the tables and some cots for the team. What a blessing Irene and Nelly have been – and Chuck is truly such a blessing for me.
When Simon and I got back from Port au Prince, Chuck, Simon and Nelly took Gabriel (our military truck) down the mountain to a little town called Cabrera, where they filled up with diesel ($4.25/gal) and bought about 40 gallons of gas ($5/gal) for the generators. Gabriel ran great, but we found a small differential leak on the front wheel; we are having a mechanic come up tomorrow to look at it. It’s nothing serious; if nothing else we could just keep adding oil. Reminds me of the van we had for a year and a half before the Lord blessed us with the Ford SUV. You didn’t just add oil to it – you added water, brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, freon, and that’s not counting belts, radiator, water pump, fuel pump, battery, alternator . . . need I go on?
Chuck told me we had some visitors from Fort Myers who are here in Haiti working with Mission of Hope. Along with Nelly and Irene, he showed them around and then took them up to Oceanye’s house. Oceanye is a voodoo priest who is straddling the fence; he comes to church with his family, but is having a hard time making the right decision. We just keep loving on him.
Tomorrow we will pick up Ginette and start buying groceries in Port, and we have many other errands to run to prepare for the team. I have been to Port at least once a day since I’ve been here, and I look forward to the team arriving so I can stay in Z’Orange for a couple of days. It is so peaceful here. We’re in the country, and it is great. At night it is still a little cool, which makes sleeping great.
Thank you for all your prayers and may God bless you all.