Haiti 2012, Day 10: A Day of Sabbath

This morning was our first day to sleep in a bit. It was a slow, quiet morning. The work site was closed for the day due to Carnival and for the first day all week, I was not teaching... at least, not to adults. Peace Pals would be here about 10 am, but considering we had been up, ready, already eaten, and off to work by 8 am all week, 10 seemed like afternoon. Peace Pals is a wonderful program that looks something like a mix of Vacation Bible School, Kid's Club, and Sunday School. It also has a peace and justice component, in addition to nutrition, manners, and leadership development... all for children preschool through middle school. It's amazing all they are doing here at the HAPI complex. Simply amazing!

We prepared a skit for the kids today, depicting Noah, the ark, and how he listened to God. The girls also had two songs planned to teach the kids, and then we were wrapping up with a craft project to tie it all together. So once we were done with breakfast and ready for the day, the kids started to arrive. Pastor Paul asked for a little help checking his spelling and grammar on the lyrics for the new songs for the Shalom Singers so they could be printed in the new album cover. So we took care of that as well and were ready well in enough time for the Peace Pals to begin. Amob, Pastor Paul's wife, and several other teachers led the kids in a bible study with songs, dances, and lots of call and response. When they don't respond loud enough or confident enough, the teacher yells it out again and the volume returned is incredible! I think everyone on the next mountain can hear them. There were almost 100 children there today. An amazing sight.

Soon we were on, so I narrated as Ulrick translated line by line in an extremely animated and passionate way. We were so impressed! He was definitely part of the team! We gathered up children to become the ark, the animals, Noah and his family, and of course, God. God threw water at the kids every time Ulrick said "rain" and he said it a lot. The kids giggled and giggled. It was great fun to see them learning God's word in such a silly, interactive way. The songs didn't go as well as we thought. Translation is always tough, but they certainly picked up the e-i-e-i-o in Old MacDonald. We handed out cut pieces of bright colored plastic straws and lengths of cord for each child. We had no idea how we were going to tie in the necklace but I knew I wanted to use it. Just as we were done handing out the supplies I got Holy Bumps up my one arm and at that moment, no kidding, I was given the thought "Their necklace is all colors of the rainbow. Each time they wear it, it will remind them of my promise to them." Brilliant!! It was so cool that God was right there as part of the program. The necklaces were a huge hit, even with the older kids. The teachers were even asking if they could make one. When all were done we had about 12 straw beads and maybe 2 yards of cord left!! God actually measured everything too and made sure we would have enough. How easy it is to forget that all things are God's and if we just get out of God's way, he will do his thing.

The kids were fed a spaghetti lunch, each plate piled high with lots of protein, a hotdog, and vegetables. For many children, it will be their only meal today. Again, such a wonderful program. The cooks insisted we have some spaghetti as well, so even though we had just eaten some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we smiled and huffed down some spaghetti also. We could barely move when we were done. But market is only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays and there were a few things we needed. So we rolled out of our chairs and down the mountain.

We arrived to market with vendors all along the rocky lane. We exchanged our US money for Haitian and started shopping. Five American dollars equals 200 goudes. 5 goudes is one Haitian dollar. It gets confusing when shopping but a couple of Haitian friends went along with us and helped us out a ton. I bought some crackers and cookies to share with my art students on our last day of class together, and others bought biscuits, candy, frozen kool-aid-ish packs, and more. Keven thought he was buying a small bundle of bananas. Come to find out, not only did he buy three bundles, but we found out when we got back to HAPI that they were plantain, not bananas. It's an easy mistake. They look exactly alike. We still aren't sure how to find out the difference. Bananas are a fruit and plantains are a vegetable similar to a potato, but it's in a banana peel... or at least it looks like one! So the cooks are making us something special with plantains for breakfast tomorrow. :-) I went back and bought a beautiful embroidered aqua blouse I had been eyeing. I plan on wearing it to worship tomorrow.

Once we returned, everyone took some sabbath time. Some napped on their beds, some rocked on the porch, and some took quiet walks. I had been indoors all week teaching and really missed the sun that I typically soak up while here, so I took my blanket outside and spread it on the front grass. I lay there for two hours just resting, as I listened to Webb Seegart's folk/gospel album. It was a glorious afternoon.

Soon dinner was served and the Shalom Singers could be heard out under the pavilion warming up for their concert. We quickly finished our dinner and took our seats in front of the Christian singing group. For two and a half hours they played and sang songs from hymns, to their own rousing Haitian praise music. Everyone was pulled onto the dance floor at one point or another I think, except for Dwain and Craig. The girls danced all night, of course, and Odlin picked up where Darryl left off as my dance partner. A great dancer with natural rhythm. Pre-school age children to elderly women were dancing with joy as songs of Jesus Christ echoed off the tin roof and surrounding concrete outbuildings. A cool evening turned into a sweaty one pretty fast.

Tomorrow's another big day with worship, a trip to a local orphanage, and some time in the ocean. Our time in Haiti is quickly winding down. It was nice to rest today. God is so very good. So very, very good.