The beach
Emelie visiting her friends
Moriah Baptist Church
I have been trying to finish up my Haiti journaling blogs for quite a while now. However, we've had a bunch of snow days since I've gotten back, church activities, family time, a parent group meeting, doctors appointments, a hot lunch for school to prepare, a video presentation for church that I'm working on, oh, and more shoveling, and my iPad has not been working properly. Needless to say, I haven't forgot, but I have been busy.
We are on day seven, which is Sunday, January 29, 2017.
It is a day to praise the Lord! I slept okay last night as I used ear plugs to block out the sounds of the mosquitoes buzzing. I still woke up itching, but it was better than some of the other ladies slept last night.
The place we are staying at is a camp right on the ocean. It is beautiful and peaceful. I am enjoying the sounds of the waves crashing, and taking in a different scene from Haiti.
We had people heading many different directions for church this morning. Emelie, Debbie Lynn, and Joe headed to the church in Jocmel. Joe is giving his testimony of Gods grace and strength as Joe struggled with cancer. Hannah, Cory, Grandpa, Sam, and Hope Ann are heading to Gaya for a church service this morning. The local pastor's have an interest in starting a church up there, and Grandpa will be preaching this morning. They used an 8 seater SUV for their trip up the mountain. But since we are in Haiti, it actually held eleven people, two huge bags of medicine, and four backpacks! Pastor Kevin and I took a motorcycle ride to Moriah Baptist Church. I went along to teach a Bible lesson to the kids, but it ended up being to everyone. I had prepared the Wordless Book lesson and one of the young men in the church helped translate the lesson for me. I guess it was okay as no one said it was good or bad!
I had the hardest time staying awake in church today! They wanted me to sit right up in front for the service...and I mean like up in front as where everyone can see you! It was a bit of a long service, but I think I stayed awake. It was the first time that I sat really still this week, and I think my body realized that it was tired!
After church the people tried to visit with me, but I could only offer lots of smiles and hugs. Then it started to rain so we walked across the road to Pastor Gabriel's house. Pastor Kevin can speak the language without even thinking about it, but my conversations are limited to lots of hand gestures and guessing!
The medical team arrived from Gaiya about 2:00 pm. They had had a church service and nine people raised their hands for salvation. Hannah said that it got a little bit crazy when they tried to do the clinic due to lack of space and everyone wanting to be first. However when it started to rain, it was clear that they needed to get off the mountain, and it was like God saying, "Its time to go." We will be praying that God will provide a national pastor for the church, and perhaps next year the medical team will do a clinic there again. The team did see about 45 people, and handed out what medicine they had to those in need.
We ate lunch at the pastor's house, and it was delicious. Chicken, fish, rice and beans, fried plantains were all a part of the meal. After lunch we hiked down the mountain to the truck that would take us back to the camp. On the way back to the camp, we stopped at a friend of Pastor Kevins. This friend had a small market place, and we had sodas...which tasted different than the ones in the U.S. However, it was a nice treat. Although I am certainly not going to be coming home any skinnier due to all the carbs and sugar I've had this week!
We arrived back at the camp around four thirty, and spent a good part of the afternoon just visiting and fellow shipping together. Pastor Kevin, Grandpa and Cory went to Jocmel for a graduation
ceremony at the local Bible institute there. Grandpa and Cory stayed in Jocmel tonight as they are flying back early tomorrow morning.
As for the rest of us, we are planning on attending a baptism service tomorrow he in Caya Jocmel at Moriah Baptist Church. Since Sam's grandparents help out at the mission hospital for many months of the year, Sam would like to stop there at the hospital tomorrow. Maybe we will have a chance to see the grandma and the little boy from Chota.
January 31, Tuesday
We are waiting in the airport at Port au Prince. I didn't have an opportunity to write about yesterday's adventures, but since we have a while to wait, I will do it now.
Yesterday was our rest day. We had breakfast at seven am, because we thought that we would be going to the baptism service. However, Pastor Kevin had a difficult time finding motorcycles to take us all up the mountain to the service. He found one motorcycle to help us out, so Pastor Kevin and Joe headed to the service first. Since Pastor Kevin was baptizing some of the young people, it was important that he get to the service! The plan was for the driver of the motorcycle to take them, come back for another two people, and eventually we would all get there. Since we had an odd number of people, Hannah, Josh, and I would take the last trip (in case the motorcycle broke when we all got on it!) ...I'm kidding! By the time the Drive came back for Emily and Debbie Lynn, the clock was ticking towards mid-morning. Hope Ann and Samantha were heading to the hospital and then we would all meet there after the baptism service. By the time the motorcycle came back for the rest of us, we had decided that we had missed the baptism service and should just go to the hospital. Hannah, Josh, myself and the driver all squeezed on to one motorcycle! I wish someone had been able to take a picture but since we were the last ones to leave camp, there is no picture.
We did arrive safely at the hospital and Samantha gave me a tour. Hannah and Josh had both been here before as this is the hospital we usually refer our clinic patients here. We asked the administrator about the grandma and baby that had arrived on Saturday. Hannah is friends with the administrator, and she was able to tell us that the baby was in a consultation room right then. No one worries about privacy acts or anything, but instead we were directed right to the grandma and baby. Although we couldn't speak the grandma's native tongue (Hannah was the best in the group), it was clear to see that she was happy to see us. The grandma was able to tell us that she was hungry, and we came up with a few snacks. None of us had very many snacks left at this point on the trip, but we came up with a few granola bars, some nuts, and a handful of candy canes. The little boy seemed to be a bit more alert, and he was actually uttering a few sounds in the room. I am praying that he will be able to get the help he needs.
After seeing the baby, we wandered around a bit, sat a bit, and became a little bored. Hannah suggested that we walk up the street to Pastor Kevin's friend's little market shop. The hospital is on the same road that the other in the team would be returning on, so we knew that we would see them coming. Since Pastor Kevin is well known in this town, and everyone in town seems to know Hannah as well, we knew it would be fine. We had just started walking when we saw Pastor Kevin and joe coming towards us on the motorcycle. We talked a few minutes and then we went to get drinks while pastor Kevin talked to a few people at the hospital.
When we arrived back at the hospital, Emelie and Debbie Lynn were there also. Emelie announced that she was going to do some church visitation, and did anyone want to come along? Emelie had a few gifts to give away to some of the ladies that are dear friends In the area, and she was going to walk to their homes to give them the gifts. So myself, Hope Ann, and Debbie Lynn went with her. I can't speak the language but I can smile and hand out candy canes! The ladies were so happy with the small items of clothing and soap that Emelie gave away. It's convicting to see people so appreciative of the little things that I take for granted.
After a few stops, Emelie announced that she had one more elderly lady that she wanted to visit, but she didn't have a gift. I rummaged in my backpack and came up with more candy canes and some unopened lip gloss. We walked into the lady's yard and Emelie started chatty with a very old lady. The lady was very happy with the gift, and she gestured for us to come into her house. It was then that Emelie realized that she had given the gift to the wrong lady! We walked into the house to find an even older lady sitting on the bed. She was delighted to see Emelie and chattered excitedly. We did not insert most of what she said, but she seemed to enjoy our company. I found another stick of chapstick and more candy canes in my back pack. It took a bit, but we managed to say good by. By the time we arrived back at the hospital it was almost 1:00 and everyone was getting hungry. Pastor Kevin came up with some motorcycles to take us back to the camp. We had thought that lunch might be ready when we arrived back, but she we are on Haitian time it's impossible to know. I do ow that I seem to be ready to eat about three hours earlier than when it's actually time to eat! Since lunch wasn't ready a few people went for a swim in the ocean. I waded for a Bit but the sun gave me a very bad headache. I sat in the shade and talked to Emelie. About three o'clock the cook came to tell us that lunch wa ready....yay!! The fish was very good, and I just choose not to thinking about the head being attached. After eating and fellowshipping for a bit, we took a walk on the beach. It was beautiful by the water, but it's hard to get past all the trash everywhere. At the public beach there were some vendors that were delighted to see white Americans! Since Pastor Kevein can speak the language fluently, he did a lot of the bargaining. Hannah and I both bought a painting for our homes, and a few others bought a few gifts to take home.
Okay, I have more to write about day eight, but my iPad is giving me a serious headache right now. I will write more later. Thank you for your patience as I continue to finsh this journal for this missions trip.
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