Day Three: Sunday, 20 Jan
909a...
Bonjou! (that's Haitian Creole' for Good morning!)
This morning, we're all still
ruminating a little over the things shared by the Leadership Council last
night. We're also very much
looking forward to church in just a little while. Like yesterday, we ate breakfast at
around 7a, and then had team devotions at around 8a. The devotion this morning was led by
Leah, and we just finished up a few minutes ago. The text she chose was John 4:1-27,
which tells the story of Jesus' interaction with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's
well. In response to the
story, some questions we can all ask ourselves are these: (1) Has there ever been a time when
what you needed was beyond your grasp or, even, beyond your
understanding? (2) Were you
(during that time) given the gift of assistance...time...a listening ear? (3) Did you turn to God for
help? Sometimes, what we need
far exceeds just a bucket of clean water. While having sufficient quantities of
clean water is essential to life, even more essential is having that which
satisfies the deeper thirsts we all have, and that is: Our thirst for intimacy with God and
intimacy with Him as He is present in those around us. I would like to
encourage all of you to give such things some thought.
Church begins at 10a, this
morning, and we're planning to leave here (on foot) at around 950a. Even though 99% of the things sung and
spoken during the service will be unintelligible to the nine of us, the spirit
in which such things are offered as well as the Presence of THE Spirit among us
will be experienced and known intimately, for the Spirit speaks, as Paul
writes, with groans too deep for words. But,
if we're listening, such things can sometimes convey messages far more
meaningful than those we can assimilate intellectually.
Speaking of language...it was
funny last night when Jerome looked around at all of us and said something akin
to, "Even though our skin is different, and even though our language is
different, in heaven we'll all be together one day and sharing the same
language...Creole'. :o)
After lunch today, I think
we'll be doing some home visits. This
is where we get to visit the homes of four to five families here in town. Most of the families have one or more
members who have a difficult time getting around due to advanced age, illness,
injury, or some combination of the three. Visiting someone's home is a great
honor; being able to pray with and alongside such a one is an even greater
honor. I look forward to
these times on every trip!
More later...
Dave
332p
This morning, we attended Bon Samaritain Church. Bon Samaritain means "Good Samaritan". The church appeared to have some
Evangelical as well as Pentecostal roots, as it was comprised of several
small community Bible Study/house churches called "Stations". The Stations appear to be shepherded
by several church elders. Something
else unique about this church is that each school class recites a weekly Bible
verse in the service. Oh--and
joy upon joys--one lady gave her heart to Jesus this morning, and the whole
church, under the guidance of the church elders, prayed for her and for her
family and then received her as, well, one of the family.
As we were leaving the church,
Claudia told me that the inscription (written in French) on the wall behind the
alter read, "When He's nesting here, God is my resuscitation."
After church, we had lunch and
then had about an hour or so of downtime.
At around 2p, we all gathered
together and went and visited several families so that we could pray with
them. All told, we
completed six home visits. A
brief summary of each visit is provided below. In providing this information, the
team asks that all of you join us in praying for these precious people.
Home Visit One (HV1)
During HV1, We met Madam Jude
and prayed for her, her husband (Jude), and her family. (Note: In Haitian culture, a married woman is
often referred to as Madam followed by the first name of her husband. In the U.S., if we followed a similar
formal protocol, my brother's wife would be called "Mrs. Rob".) Regarding Madam Jude's husband, he
works in another town and, because of this, he is unable to live with his
family. Madam Jude is
hoping that her husband can find a job closer to home so that they can all live
together. While his financial support is very helpful, Madam Jude feels
alone and needs her husband here with her and their children. Madam Jude's situation is not uncommon
in Bohoc, as jobs are scarce.
HV2
During HV2, we met Badiro and
prayed for him and his family. His
top prayer request was for him to look for (and see/find) Jesus in everything. He also asked us to pray for his
92-year old mother, Madam Ganyee. Madam
Ganyee has been having a very difficult time since her sister passed
away. For those of you who
know Pastor Jean-Jean, Pastor's Jean-Jean's mom was the sister that died. As a side note, Pastor Jean-Jean is
the Founder of UCI (the new university), and he's the pastor of the church
attached to it. His wife,
Christy, is from the U.S.
HV3
During HV3, we met Leezinsmah
Benjameh and prayed for him and his family. More specifically, we prayed for his
daughter, Jayvling, who appeared to be suffering from ricketts or scurvy as her
limbs (legs and arms) were bowed. We
also prayed for his wife, Eiwuse, who suffers from a continuous headache. According to Eiwuse, she's had a
headache for a long time, and even though she's been to the hospital, they
haven't been able to help her. More
extensive testing is required, but her family cannot afford to pay for the kind
of evaluation she needs.
HV4
During HV4, we met Navoh and
her husband Fernanad and prayed for them and their family. Navoh has been sick for about a year
and has not been able to go to church. She
is a Christian, and she used to go to Pastor Jean-Jean's church but has not
been able to do so in over a year. She
specifically asked for prayer for her to stay close to Jesus, that He would
heal her, and that He would provide her and her family with a small home of
their own.
HV5
During HV5, we met Madam
Romilus and prayed for her. She's
been sick and unable to walk for about a year or so.
HV6
During HV6, we me Modeline and
prayed that God would protect her and her two girls.
Oh...sorry to be so abrupt, but
the team said it's time to go, so I gotta run and go play with a million kids
across the street. CU
later...
Dave
759p...
We just finished up our evening
debrief, and we're all starting to wind down. I think I'm going to head to bed
soon. Today was such a
great day! At church, with
the team, with the kids of Kris
El Espwa, and with the families we got to visit.
Tomorrow is our first work day,
and I'm really looking forward to working alongside our Haitian friends. I hope they bring their kazoos.
Good night, every body...
Dave
Sing for joy and be glad...all
your days...prayerful and thankful, too...even when you're feeling sad, tired,
or broken.--YT
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