Fun - On Tuesday night, we knew we would be coming to stay at Grace Village, so we wanted to do our laundry at the guesthouse. Junior volunteered to teach us how and I tell you, that man knows how to do laundry. There is a certain way that you need to rub the clothes in the soapy water and it is very systematic. And if you can't get the right "squishy, squishy" sound, you are clearly not doing it right. As Americans, we think..."looks good"....but they have the patience to systematically clean each part of each pant leg and then pay attention to the waistbands and pockets that can get particularly dirty. Some of the other drivers came to laugh at us and tell us that we weren't doing it right....they even have a specific way to squeeze the water out. We tried with all our muscle to get the water out and then the Haitian woman helping us would easily squeeze out another half a cup of water. And they all laughed hysterically....what fun!
Trust - After a beautiful church service and visiting the home of the sick and dying babies in the morning (great blog about this on the team website), we were ready to go to pick up salt and head up to Titanyen. Time easily slips away in Haiti with so much to be done, so we didn't get going until mid afternoon. We did not have time to pick up the salt as we needed to visit a couple of the elders homes with Jean to look at possible repairs before it got dark. We also had to give some shots to Ofane, a man with leprosy. In preparing to do the shots, Ofane told us that he had a severe out-of-mind reaction to a shot in the past. After talking to his doctor we decided to hold off on the shots. As the sun got closer and closer to the skyline, I worried that we wouldn't make it to the homes.....knowing that I need to TRUST in God for his plans for us. We ended up being able to see Antoine and Marie's homes before dark and came up with plans for both of them....great plans that I felt were a gift from God. We ended the day with another beautiful church service, but this time with the Grace Village kids and some residents of Titanyen. Pastor Wesley preached a wonderful message about the vine and the branches.
Sadness - Early this morning, the guard came to the door to tell us that Antoine had died in the night. I was devastated....didn't God just give us this amazing gift of new housing for him....why did I worry about his house last night when I should have been holding him and praying with him? Death sure puts life into perspective and gives us great pause to realize what is important. I need to slow down and realize that being the hands and feet of Jesus is not about completing the items on my to-do list (even if they are well intentioned).....being the hands and feet is first and foremost showing love, seeing Jesus in every person we meet. We were asked to come and visit the body and we did. We met with a couple leaders from Titanyen and found out that Antoine had an exwife and son that lived in Titanyen and 2 daughters that lived elsewhere. Eventually we were able to meet with the son, make funeral arrangements with him and got a chance to talk with and pray over him. The funeral will be tomorrow morning.
Overwhelming - With plans made for the funeral by 10am, we were still able to move forward with our plans to go to Malpasse to learn if there were things there that our elders could purchase and sell in the Titanyen market to make a profit. The drive there was beautiful, we saw this huge beautiful lake (I will post pictures tomorrow). As we approached Malpasse, we realized that we were running low on gas and prayed for God to get us there safely. He did. Malpasse was a crazy, bustling road filled with semis, tap taps, buses, motorcycles and of course all the market people. We had to park a ways away and walk, weaving our way through all kinds of people, vehicles, pot holes, puddles and general craziness. It was overwhelming. We discovered that they mostly sell packaged goods that you can find along every roadside. We were hoping to find produce or items that are not easily found in Titanyen so our elders would be able to sell all of their goods. We ended up with a case of eggs and boxed milk and a very good education. And in Haitian style, Cindy carried that very heavy case of eggs almost all the way back to the truck on her head!
With that many experiences in just two days, I wonder what God has for us for the rest of the week. I'm sure it will again be sad (funeral tomorrow), fun (party with the elders), hopefully not overwhelming, but surely with much TRUST in God. Pray that we will see Jesus in each person we meet, letting our plans go if God calls us to.
Sharon
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