Worship started a little late today. The band wasn't quite set up yet when we arrived, but it didn't take long. People started pouring in over the next 15 minutes and soon worship had started. The hymns were beautiful and the praise songs were Spirit-led. It's amazing how every worship is planned and led by the young adults of Mizak. A pastor gives the message, but young adults read scripture, lead prayers, singing, the offering, and more... every week. The congregation is multi-generational and some of the elders do share their testimony or sing a song in thanksgiving to God for all he has done, but otherwise, all leadership comes from the young. Inspiring to see.
Pastor Craig gave the message today about being saved to serve and serving to save. He also gave each child a Beanie Baby as a reminder that God is always with them and they don't need to be afraid. Each child hugged their animal and quickly became attached. I can just imagine them all sleeping with their new buddies this evening. One of the elderly women even asked Pastor Craig if she could have one, after all the kids had theirs. Of course, he said "yes." She chose a little kitten with brown and black long fur and petted it the rest of her time in worship. Precious to see the affection and care. God uses the simplest things to make his realities real and bless others.
Once worship was over, it was time to get on the move. We would be eating a quick snack, getting our swim wear together, and hitting the road. We would be visiting an orphanage to drop off some needed soap and then off to the beach in Jacmel. Jerry's team visited this same orphanage and when they asked what was needed, the answer was soap. Something like 40 bars of soap are used each week. So Jerry had asked if we might be willing to bring some along as a gift from our team. Easy enough. We packed one entire suitcase full and dropped it off on our way through Jacmel. The orphanage is run by the "Hands & Feet" organization created by the band Audio Adrenaline. One of their songs goes:
"An image flashed across my TV screen
Another broken heart comes in to view
I saw the pain and I turned my back
Why can't I do the things I want to?
I'm willing yet I'm so afraid
You give me strength
When I say
[CHORUS:]
I want to be your hands
I want to be your feet
I'll go where you send me
I'II go where you send me
[REPEAT]
And I try, yeah I try
To touch the world like
You touched my life
And I find my way
To be your hands
I've abandoned every selfish thought
I've surrendered every thing I've got
You can have everything I am
And perfect everything
I'm not I'm willing,
I'm not afraid
You give me strength When I say
[CHORUS]
This is the lifetime I turned my back on you
From now on, I'll go so
Send me where You want me to
I finally have a mission
I promise I'll complete
I don't need excuses
When I am your hands and feet"
The band members put these lyrics into action in the most wonderfully run orphanage I have seen.
It is clean, beautiful, warm, loving, and fun. It is based on family units with each unit having a unit mother and then a range of children from babies to teens all of the same gender in their care. They have their own kitchenette area, bathroom, living room and bedrooms. They go to the dining room for meals together as a family, they wash dishes together as a family, they study, and play and live together as a family. Each child also has a dream fund being created for them so they will have a future once they reach adulthood and are ready to venture out on their own. $30 of each child's monthly support is placed in this dream fund. What a wonderful way to plan for their futures! A new "Big House" is being built for work groups who come for short term assistance. It's being named the big house after the band's song "Big House". The chorus goes like this:
"Come and go with me
To my fathers house
Come and go with me
To my fathers house
It's a big big house
With lots and lots a room
A big big table
With lots and lots of food
A big big yard
Where we can play football
A big big house
Its my fathers house"
What a joy to see such a house right here on earth. I had always thought of the song as singing about the house we will one day live in heaven...but I will have a new vision each time I hear it in the future. So we dropped off the soap and headed down the road to the beach. Carnival is still in full swing so tons of people were at the beach today. It's a three day holiday weekend for people in Haiti so many were families, in addition to couples and young people. The weather was a bit overcast but warm and beautiful, nonetheless. The water was incredible and a delight to play in with wave after wave tossing each of us into the air before dropping us back down again as it passed us by.
The food at the beach is delicious!! Cooley, from Jer's team, gave us the head's up to some awesome lobster being sold for just $10... and that included a plate of deep fried plantains and spicey slaw. We also bought several plates of mini cajun kabobs. A plate full (about 30) were a mere $5 and we downed one after another. Others had plates of roasted fish, plantains, and slaw for $5. We took two bus loads down to the beach, including our team, some good friends and neighbors, the entire Shalom Singers group, Pastor Paul, and his family. It looked like a Thanksgiving feast with table after table lined up with lace table clothes along the sand. We ate and ate and ate until our heart's content. [sigh] Still stuffed.
The ride back up the mountain takes a little over an hour and is buummppyyy! I mean worse than Michigan roads in spring after a deep freeze and an early thaw bumpy! After stopping to get a bad tire fixed, we headed on up the mountain. We even caught a few of the bands marching and dancing through Jacmel on our way through. Such gaiety and fun for an entire nation to experience together.
Everyone is realistic that our time here is short. So friends are close by tonight and my guess is, they won't leave early. Bonds have been made once again and when you know it will be at least a year, and maybe more, time becomes precious. Silly games like "Going to a picnic" were played and now they're going at it with UNO. I sized a large piece of cotton duck fabric for art class tomorrow at the co-op. I hope it dries. I had it hanging out on a clothes line but the dew is already out. So we just moved it onto another line on the porch. I wonder how many will run into it on their way to a 4 am potty run. Just hoping it will dry by morning. Class begins at 9. It will be hard to get it from here to there, if it is still wet.
Thinking a lot about the grandbabies today. Eager to see how baby Layla is growing and how big Dane and Scotty have grown. One foot is till in Haiti... the other is slowly stretching across the ocean back to the States. One more day and we begin the long 18 hour trek home.
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