Sunday Jan 6 2013

Here is the Sunday evening update we sent home: going well here. 3 hour worship this morning. pastor mike was invited into the pulpit to speak a  few minutes. we felt very welcome. God is
building bridges for the med center! worked this afternoon.  finally got backhoe on site! were able to backfill 2 walls. job much easier to work on now.
We took a much needed morning of rest to worship with our new Friends.  We didn't understand much of the language in the worship service but we sure felt the power of the Holy Spirit!  Merci Jezi, Merci Jezi, Merci Jezi!!! Thank you Jesus!!  Pastor Mike was invited into the pulpit to speak through our translator. We were all warmly greeted as we entered and left the worship service.  It was amazing how we could hear the music, and recognize the tunes, but were totally lost in the sound of the lyrics.  I was taken back to the scene of the disciples addressing the crowd in each of their own tongues. Worship this morning was an amazing journey! The adult choir had at least 50 people and the youth choir had about the same number.  Our estimates varied but we feel there were over 500 in attendance this morning. We were packed into the pews and there wasn't any "personal space" as we usually enjoy here in the US. Pews were straight back wood plank pews, no cushions, no air conditioning, a 3 hour service and a lot of love for their amazing God! The children stayed in the service the entire time and the "pew guards" kept watch that no one fell asleep.  If you did you were quickly "tapped" awake.

After a delightful lunch at the house we went out to the site to do some prep work.  We were blessed to finally get the backhoe!  We back filled the walls and stocked block in preparation for another full day Monday.

This Haitian women followed the backhoe around all afternoon. As I would dig dirt she would collect any wood that was dug loose.  This is their source of cooking fuel, they use the roots and things to make charcoal.  When we were returning to the house that night we watched as she walked the mile towards town with a large bowl of firewood on her head.  At times some other young children would fight for the wood as well, this was an interesting scene with both parties yielding machetes. Respect was the final word of the day.

 We cleaned up a lot of the site and made walking around to carry material much easier.  It feels good to have all the walls up out of the footers and level ground to stand on! It reminds me of the firm foundation Jesus gives us to build on.  What a blessing!