Today we were able to worship with
locals in a Haitian church at MPCA. As
songs, psalms and prayers in Creole resonated throughout the open air building,
we were little more than spectators. Steve Bowlin admits he was amazed by the
sincerity of the worship as we witnessed the young and old with closed eyes and
raised hands, praising their heavenly Father. The Haitians frequently echoed
Merci Seigneur! Merci Seigneur! Merci
Seigneur! (Thank you Lord!) While most of the thirteen team members know Spanish,
none speak Creole, and only a few can recognize French. In fact, one of the
concerns expressed in our first team meeting under the pavilion by the ocean here
at the mission center was the ability to communicate. In that first meeting veteran team member
Pastor Herb Codington mentioned that many try to serve from a posture of
strength, but true service comes from a posture of weakness. In the worship service today, David Rath was
able to expand on that idea of weakness by speaking on the story of Gideon and
how God told Gideon, “You don’t need men, you need me.” Though we are not
facing a battle this week, we are like Gideon’s men. We have ten from our group who will be
working with around 150 students each day.
They will be teaching how to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Four of our group along with two Haitian teachers
will be training approximately other 120 Haitian teachers. Given
the language barrier, those odds are a bit worrisome. But with the promises of
the Lord and the prayers of His people, the Lord will be victorious.
-Jeanette
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| After church and a delicious Haitian lunch, the team started getting ready for the week of Church Camp at different churches in the community. |
