Haiti Trip 2014 Sunday

The morning started much more relaxed than the previous days as we slowly awoke and had breakfast before heading to church. Aubrey, Art, and I worked through a couple of simple song arrangements to do for the service and I was finally going to get to do the sermon that I had written (and rewritten and rewritten some more). We took the familiar walk down the road but didn't have to go quite as far as the church we attended last year. I was thankful to not have to climb that hill again given how sweaty I had been after that climb so that I could avoid appearing like a stereotypical, sweaty preacher on this particular occasion.

We were ushered to the front and filled the first two rows where we observed the service and participated as best as we were able in the singing. They had a small band with electric guitar and drums and the guitar player was particularly interesting as he played in the background of almost everything. Since he was behind the worship leader and main speakers, time and tempo were fairly relative throughout.

Patchuoko translating during my sermon

Gretchen got to do a brief introduction of our team and then invited Aubrey, Art, and I up. Art played guitar and I played djembe while Aubrey led us in worship. We sang "Oceans" and "10,000 Reasons" with the chorus in Creole since Aubrey had been learning it from Darline. When we finished, it was time for me to speak with Patchuoko as my translator. I spoke from John 4 and landed on the promise and hope of Jesus offering us living water. Writing the message was a challenge as I tried to keep things somewhat concise for time and kept language simple and consistent for Patchuoko's sake as a translator. I figured if I ran into a key word that Patchuoko didn't know, I wanted to be able to find an alternative word and plug it in easily throughout the rest of the message. While I would have written the message completely different had I been giving it at Embrace, I felt like it suited the congregation in Haiti well.

After church, we headed back to the compound for a little lunch and hangout time I also took a little time to work on the bikes for Liza again that had been done the previous day because both had flat tires by the time Liza was ready to give them to the girls. I only had one tube left, but Mike had a patch kid that I was able to use as well. My only fear was that I wouldn't be able to patch either tube and while I couldn't locate the leak in the first tube, the second was easily located and patched so we were able to get them up and running.

The boats arrive

The only thing on the agenda for the afternoon was an excursion out to the island. We all suited up and walked down to Robert's house where three boats would haul the team and several of the youth out to the island for a little playtime. I rode in Robert's boat with Kristen, Jenna, Julie, Tom, and Elysee while Robert and another gentleman rowed us out there. It was a fairly breezy, but pleasant day to wander the sandy/trashy beach and wander out on the reef to the drop off. We saw urchins, sand dollars, starfish, and a hermit crab that some of the guys let crawl around on them. I also watched an osprey diving for fish and a white crane for awhile while the rest of the group was on the other side of the island.

Art becoming one w/ the island

I wandered back to the group where a few of the youth were doing a musical performance with some of the trash from the island serving as a microphone and some instruments. They were also beginning to bury Donald in the sand. He was flashing his huge smile until he was pretty much buried, but he was less excited when one of the guys put the hermit crab on his face. He scrambled to get out and some of his friends grabbed him by the hands and feet to help toss him in the water to clean off. Next, it was Art's turn. He was a pretty eager participant until he was covered and guys kept putting more sand on him without keeping in mind where they were touching him.

Finally, we climbed back into the boats for the return trip. Because the wind was up, the sails went up and we cruised back toward Robert's house. Our boat was fairly far ahead until we hit a shallow spot and felt the boat lurch and halt. Immediately Robert was climbing to the back of the boat because the rudder had come off and he scrambled to retrieve it before it got away. We were still hung up on the rocks and the wind was filling the sail to the point where we watched it slowly bend the bamboo boom on the main sail. When it snapped, part of it hit Jenna's thigh, the other sail began to turn us, and I thought for sure we were going swimming. Somehow, we all stayed in the boat and were able to gather everything in so that Robert and his friend could row us in. The other boats had easily passed us, but we managed to get in with Jenna's leg and Robert's boat being the only casualties.

Robert, Elysee, Kristen & me

I was glad to have been in Robert's boat because he is a highly entertaining, talkative guy and the girls on the boat only served to amplify that. He talked about anything and everything and, through it all, showed his great love of his home. It was plain that he had all he needed and a paradise to enjoy it in. It was truly an honor and a blessing to get to see Haiti through his eyes, if only for a little while.

We got back to the compound and hung out until dinner. There was another movie planned for that night and most of the team decided to go down for it, but I stayed back with a few others for conversation. Once the rest of the team came back, we did high/lows and hung out a little more. Liza shared that she was finally able to give the girls their bikes and they were thrilled. I was so glad to have been able to help get those ready and to help make her high point of the day happen.

We settled in for what would be the last night at the compound for most of us and began to consider what and how to pack as well as what we might leave behind that might be a blessing that the mission could pass on for us to meet a need someone might have.