A week of fun

It has been so long since I have had a chance to write, and our internet is not the most reliable thing.

 It has been an amazing week. God is so good. Kristin’s and my week days are full of working on houses and playing with kids and going to church. Last Saturday we were blessed with quite a great surprise. One of our friends came and picked us up on a motorcycle and took us to his family’s house where we got manicures, pedicures and got our hair braided. They made us food and spoiled us rotten. We taught each other our favorite hymns in Creole and English and laughed together. Then we went and cleaned the church for Easter service. We feel so blessed to be here and be a part of this family.

 Easter was a beautiful day here. The service was filled with such beautiful worship, and all of the songs that we learned the day before, we sang in church. We then went to the Pastor’s house and had a huge feast with the family. It was so wonderful. Kristin and I usually eat alone, and it was so much fun to have the whole crew together. The Pastor’s house is amazing. There are 3 pastors who work for Restoration Ministries. One of the pastors, Rodruige and his wife live in “the pastor’s house”. They have taken in 2 boys and close to 10 girls who were abused or have no family to live with them. Kristin and I go there for every meal and hang out in between work jobs. So we have gotten to know them all pretty well and can’t wait to start investing in their lives more.

We have had many great opportunities here to invest, but sometimes, it feels like we are just living such normal day life that we should be doing more for the Kingdom. Kristin and I have been praying that we would have opportunities to share the gospel and be Jesus’ love to those around us and tonight He gave us the most epic opportunity! We had just decided not to go to church tonight so that we could stay in and get stuff done, when we asked our hotel owner if he knew of a good place to get my favorite food, Patay. He called up some random guy named Johnny to take us to the market. So, Kristin, Johnny and I hopped on a motor cycle and headed into town. As we were driving, we were making small talk with Johnny and I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said He didn’t. I asked him if he wanted to know Jesus, and he said yes. So I asked him if he ever wanted to come to church with us. And he said that he would. So we asked if he wanted to go tonight. It was 5:54 and church started at 6. He said yes. So we skipped the Patay and turned around and headed to church. As we were driving, a near monsoon began and by the time we got to church we were drenched, and it was raining so hard, there was no way that we could keep driving so we sat in church. They ended up cutting out on service early, because the storm was so big that we could not hear the pastor. So the three of us went back to the pastor’s house and ate some dinner and hung out for a bit before returning home. Johnny said that was the first time he had ever been to church and that he would like to come back with us on Sunday. So, if you think about it, pray for Johnny. Lord willing, he will come to know Jesus this week! Halleluia!

Can I tell you one thing I absolutely love about Haitian culture that I got to see tonight? Haitians treat each person they meet like family. Tonight as we were introducing Johnny to our friends, they all started up conversation with him like they had known him all of their lives. What could have been a potentially awkward situation of two girls bringing their taxi driver to church spur of the moment, turned into a family affair. Kristin and I have felt that affection and family atmosphere a great deal and are so blessed by it.  I pray that if I ever come back to the states I will bring this atmosphere with me. That each person I come into contact with will know that they are welcomed into my family; the family of God.