The team enjoyed a restful night’s sleep after enjoying the majestic view of the starlit Haitian sky from the “attic” (a high point on Jacob’s Well). We are adjusting to the night sounds of barking dogs, roosters, critters, and village noises, and we awakened refreshed and ready for good strong Haitian coffee, eggs, and toast. After breakfast, we walked to the village church (we brought our own chairs) to worship with the fellow Believers of Tse Guinea. The church is obviously growing, with standing room only this year and 20 baptisms in April! We shared communion together, listened to the beautiful voices of the youth choir as they led worship, and listened to Pastor Peter Marc teach from Matthew about being lights in the world. Lunch was a special treat as Alicia served a variety of delicious fried foods, including plantains, and meat balls that were out of this world! Afterwards, the team got busy continuing to prep for the first day of camp tomorrow. Activity stations are ready, the drama team polished for our Ruth drama, a camp-wide trash walk was conducted, and Haitian counselors were on site for training. The new “9 square in the air” was a huge hit, both for the American team as we “product tested” and for the Haitian counselors as they learned the new game. Several of our guys continued to work on plumbing (an ongoing project in Haiti), and we are hopeful for showers that work consistently very soon.
Well, we just finished dinner, and once again, Alicia has outdone herself! The sauces she creates are impossible to describe. They are layered with flavor, and let’s just say, she works magic in her kitchen. Tonight she prepared two different kinds of chicken and brown rice, a cheesy mashed squash, two different kinds of fresh squeezed fruit juices (passion fruit and grapefruit), and little guava and orange marmalade tarts for dessert. Oh my! It almost feels wrong to be eating this well on a mission trip . . . almost. = )
The team is washing dishes now and will be meeting back under our beautiful, COVERED pavilion for our nightly devotion. Hans will continue to teach from the book of Jeremiah (chapters 7-12) on the revival sparked by the finding of the Law in the temple. Pray for us as approximately 250 campers will come through our gates tomorrow morning. Pray that the Haitian staff would become fully vested in the mission of ministering to the children, that the weather would be conducive to the activities, and for safety for all involved. Please pray, most of all, that the spiritual eyesight of the kids would be sharp and that the message of the Savior is clearly communicated.
We could not be here doing what we are doing without each one of you faithful friends and supporters. We thank God always on every remembrance of you!!
Bon Nwit,
Autumn Meinardus and the Haiti 9 Team
