At the beginning of my internship, village times were harder for me than work project days because I know what to expect from a work project, and I can control it to an extent. As I've had more and more village time experiences, I have grown to love, value, and actually enjoy the time with people in the villages. As we're going around meeting people and praying with them, we meet some people that aren't receptive, but God is always so gracious to cross our paths with other believers. It's so encouraging to hear the heart of the people for our God, for their village, and to know that they are sharing Jesus with their neighbors.
A lady in Simonette that got out her hymnal and sang "How Great Thou Art" in Creole while we sang in English.
When we do meet people in the villages that are Christians, one of my favorite things to do is ask if they have a favorite verse or favorite worship song. Chances are, if they can name a favorite worship song, then they will sing it for you. And if you can figure out a song that you both know, then it's like you've just scored Heaven on earth. I've been fortunate enough for that to happen a couple of times, and it is truly one of my favorite things to be able to worship our Lord in two languages with someone that we've just met.
The field in Titanyen where we play soccer, throw the frisbee (my favorite), and play other games with the kids in afternoon village time.
This is a friend that lives in Minoterie. I met her when we painted her house with one of my teams. When I had village time with a team a couple of weeks later, I went by her house to see if she was there because I had promised her I would visit. As I anxiously waited for her to come to the door, I wondered if she would remember me. She was so so happy and it was fun to get to visit her and introduce her to that team and we then got to pray for her. She always greets me with kisses on the cheek and was so so appreciative of our paint job and prayers. She's raising children on her own in a tough situation and it's by His grace that we became such close friends in such a short amount of time and with such little communication-ha!
This lady was by the stream was worshiping, washing clothes, shoes, and dishes. She said she wanted to teach us the song that she was singing but she couldn't because she said she needed to finish washing to go get lunch ready for her children that were getting out of school soon.We got to sing "Amazing Grace" with her in our own languages. :)
In many houses in Haiti, you see fences made from weaving together two palm branches. So talented and resourceful!
These are pictures of the kitchen of a lady that teaches cooking classes and disciples her graduates. One of her graduates is now a kitchen lady at MOH! So inspiring to see a woman doing what she loves and sharing Jesus while doing it.
Through the church advancement program, one of my teams partnered with the village of Source Matelas and paid for three latrines to be put in the village. Once they came in country, we got to build latrines alongside the Haitian contractors!
Worship was wonderful this week. It felt so intimate, we sang all my favorites, and it was as if God was speaking straight to me, that he was really there with me, encouraging and challenging me with the words we sang. Here is a version of one of the songs we sang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfPJ4j5P5X8
With Christmas right around the corner, let me share some fun shopping that I've discovered recently. Each of these organizations provide shopping with a purpose, not to mention there's some fun and trendy stuff!
