This morning there was no clinic so 10 of us went to Vanessa's local church. It was a warm Sunday morning and we sat outdoors under a tarp. The service was in Kreol, but we had a couple of wonderful interpreters who volunteered for us. Some of the hymns we recognized and sang when we could. There were a few sermons interwoven throughout the service, and the first one we could understand hit home for some of us. The preacher referenced the story in the New Testament about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man never had to worry about food, shelter, or paying his bills but he lacked a relationship with God. The poor man had many worries, but knew the Lord. Personally I felt guilty listening because compared to those people we are very rich. Most of us don't have to worry about basic human needs. The pastor stressed there was nothing wrong with being rich, as even Abraham was blessed with much, but many rich people spend their whole life trying to make more money and miss out on a relationship with God. He told a personal story about how he had overheard a wife saying to her husband she was glad they lived in a tent on a hill instead of down below the hill. The pastor pointed out to her that they all lived in tents! He said that it is amazing how humans try to make themselves feel better than others, when they are no better off. The people of the church were friendly and welcoming. We were treated to songs sung by the children and a baby dedication...not unlike our own services back home.
We came back "home" and tried to nap but it was hard to sleep in the heat with so much noise outside. What I wouldn't give for a decent night's rest! When we all arose we were surprised to see our driver. Kez sent him to take us to her neighborhood. We were excited to leave and when we had almost loaded into the van Adam got a call saying we needed to pack ASAP so we could leave on a military flight in three hours. We scrambled around packing and discarding items we wanted to leave behind for the Haitians. Just when we were ready to leave a call came five minutes later...nevermind, we will be leaving Monday as planned. You can imagine how we felt. In Haiti (and in other foreign countries I am told) you have to learn to be flexible and go with the flow. We put our things away and loaded into the van to go to see Kez and Vanessa's apartment and St. Joseph's home for street boys.
We walked around the neighborhood hand in hand with some children who came to greet us. The people lived in makeshift tents, much like the rest of what we had seen. Some of us had the chance to buy some Haitian gifts from a local peddler. Not wanting to miss our date with the children we drove back home before dark.
Our last night of play was bittersweet, but we learned some new dancing games (featured on youtube.com). Dr. Lee thanked all the children through an interpreter and said how much we would miss them. Some of us crept away without saying too many goodbyes..it was too hard. We came home and played cards for a few hours before turning in. We leave early in the AM for the airport. Thank God we are going home.
No comments:
Post a Comment