After church we headed back to our rooms to get ready for lunch and ....the rest of the story! There on my bed...yes...if you can believe it...another chicken egg! This time it laid one right next to my Gordon pillow. Way funny! What's even more funny is that it bunched up a pair of my undies and laid the egg in there. Who would have thunk! I just knew something wonderfully special was going to happen with this sign of grandness set upon us! So I told pastor to expect something wonderful and that two chickens each laid eggs on our beds...he replied with a smile "that always happens around here. That's nothing special!" :-( Burst my bubble.
After lunch we asked if we could take a few pictures with everyone. They all obliged and we got some of the best shots we got all week. Family portraits of the sort. All the kids together, all the women, all the men, etc. Team pics and sweet one-on-ones. Our hearts were glad as we were reminded that each of them would go home with us, in our hearts.
We decided this was as good as time as any to give our gifts. We gave love offerings of money to our cook, our interpreter, to the Nan Soulette Eglise Methodist Church, to the pastor's family, to a young boys' mother to help care for her boy, to 5 young men who worked in ways we could never say thank you enough for, and to a couple of the young girls who cleaned our rooms daily, washed all our dishes, and cleaned our laundry throughout the our stay. It was the least we could do to show our appreciation.
Then we moved outside to offer gifts to others. We gave a gift of pretty, colorful dish towels and a matching platter to Madame Mascary, as well as a couple of bags of American delicacy candy for Pastor Mascary. Jaime and I gave many of our clothes, skirts, shirts, and shoes to several of the woman. They seemed very excited. Some of the guys shared their shorts and shirts with other young men, as well. We gave pastor a Michigan t-shirt, GO BLUE! :-)
Then we went to the children. We lined up tons of frisbees and beanie babies and told the kids present to go get all the kids in the village. They came. In full force! What a joy. Pastor had the youngest pic a frisbee and stuffed animal first, then the next youngest and so on until more than 30 frisbees and beanies were in the arms of children with smiles on their faces. What cracked us up was who they took. We expected the girls to grab the princess and fairy frisbees and the boys to grab the Mickey Mouse and Cars frisbees. The exact opposite occured!! Each and every time!! I guess the boys liked those little princesses and the girls were really attracted to Mickey! Too funny.
Shorty after all gifts were given, pastor invited us all on a walk with him. We had no idea what was in store, but we happily agreed. First he took us down the east side of the shoreline of Ile a Vache, showing us where he and Madame first lived when they were married. He shared that he was born and raised on the island all 77 years of his life. He said they had three different houses as a married couple and "each one started down here (by the shore) and ended up way over there (far inland up the mountain)." Come to find out, each was swept away by hurricanes from time to time. He said it was then they moved up the mountain just below where the church was eventually built. I asked him if that was his idea or Madame's...he replied, "BOTH!" We all laughed.
He pointed out family by family, school houses, and craftsmen. Then he took us back by his home and along the shore west, all the way through Nan Soulette and the ocean's bay. We had no idea Nan Soulette covered such a large area with so many families to care for. We were shown their sister church, a Community church made of palm thatch. Amazing. They do many ministries together, pastor tells us.
We also see what looks like a picnic area or something. When we ask, we are told it is a cock fighting ring. This is a place where people bring their roosters to fight to the end. YIKES!! Cooley really, really wanted to watch a fight, as we see men along our path walking toward the ring with rooster in hand. Jerry replies, "We dont' do that as Methodists, Cooley." I'm sure at that very moment Cooley wished we were some other denomination that lifted cock fighting as a sacrement or at least a fellowship event. :-) Sorry Cooley. Maybe next time.
After a little rest along the way, some fresh sugar cane to suck on, and a long walk back, we settled in for dinner...and what a dinner we had!! An incredible feast lay before our eyes! We invited Pastor and Madame to eat with us, which they do not the entire time we are there. It was nice to have them at the table with us. We ooo-ed and aaaaa-ed our way through the meal. We couldn't wait to see the rest of the village eat the feast that was left over when we left the table...and eat they did! Probably 40 or more people had plates full of food after we were done! Incredible to see such joy on so many faces. A typical meal here is a small pile of rice and beans. We had probably 12 different dishes of chicken, pork, goat, pastas, vegees, fresh fruit, a cake to die for, and so much more! What a joy to share.
After dinner, a few of the lay speakers at the church hauled down a huge speaker from the church to the pastor's porch! Yah. The pastor's porch! What a hoot!! Everyone began dancing and laughing and having a wonderful celebration of friendship. Madame and the other elder woman started dancing first, with their hands waving in the air! Then the young woman joined in...and eventually the little girls were dancing too. Of course, little Webste had to lead his posse of little boys as he rapped his way through the songs. We all just reveled in the happiness and purity and joyful love that surrounded us. A picture of heaven, I beleive. Food enough for all. Love offerings for those in most need. Dancing and laughter and thanksgiving by all ages. If that isn't heaven, I can't imagine what will be.
After many hours of celebration, we settled in for a short night's sleep. We needed to be up by 6 am in order to pack up the place and give our goodbyes and be down at the water's edge for our boat at 8. For the first night, Wendy Whiner's crying was more like a lullyby than a nuisance. I will miss her melodies in the dark of the night. Thank you Jesus for entrusting this village into our hands, if only for a few days. We are blessed. We are blessed.
(I will be posting my final blog tomorrow. Thank you for faithfulness in reading it, and your wonderful conversation as a response to it. Any of you who may be interested in joining our team next February as we move to Port Au Prince to begin work in earthquake recovery, just let me know. Drop me a line and I'll give you more info if you're interested.)
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