Haiti: Day Four

Greetings once again from Duplan! It was another beautiful day here filled with sunshine, smiles and, of course, the love of God. After having a successful run of our Vacation Bible School (VBS) format the previous day, we kept with the same system. Before we began, we prayed as a team; and today, the Haitian teachers with whom we are working side by side joined us. They have been miraculous in helping us these last couple days.

Our Scripture reading for today was the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water from the book of Matthew. Jon played the role of Jesus, Dennis was Peter and the rest of the team represented the disciples in our "boat" which was actually a large speaker turned on its side. It's amazing the things we have found to use to teach the word of God this week! :)

To compliment our Scripture passage, today's art project was origami "batos"--which is Creole for boats. The childrfen folded their hearts out and made some beautiful creations. During Bible study, several of the older children shared their stories and pronounced their love for Christ. Gym class was a special treat as we had a soccer coach from the community come to teach and play. The younger children enjoyed games such as "Duck Duck Goose" and "Red Light, Green Light" and, of course, there was singing, singing and more singing!! We taught them a new song today. Instead of "Hang On Sloopy", we sang "Hang On Haiti" and even figured out how to spell H-A-I-T-I with arm motions just like O-H-I-O. It was a big hit and a great tribute to Ohio!!

Just when we thought we had reached our capacity yesterday at 250, today we saw 300 children! As our numbers grow daily, we can only assume the children who have attended have returned to their towns and villages and sang the praises of VBS in Duplan. Although we are not sure how far some of the children are traveling to get to us each day, we know that they come from 7 different churches in surrounding areas.

When lunch time came, we were presented with the amazing gift of having the opportunity to help serve lunch to the children. The love of Jesus was in the room as we passed plates along to each child. We were dancing and handing plates down the line, as suddenly the mood changed and one of our worst fears was almost realized. It seemed we had run out of food and that we would be sending children home without their lunch meal. As quickly as we could pray, we were assured that more food was coming and the plates started to pass once again. Praise God!

With each passing hour, we grew closer to the children. Their passion with which they worship and praise the Lord inspires us every day. We continue to pray that we might serve them well each day; and that, through them, the love of Christ will continue to grow in this community.

The Guest House is full today, as we were joined for the night by teams from Alabama, Connecticut, and Indiana whose work is taking them to various parts of the island. It is truly a blessing to see that God is hard at work throughout this beautiful land.

Pastor Jeff and Bob will be joining us Thursday evening! :) We are anxious to hear about their week training pastors.

We thank those of you who are praying for us, our families, and those we are serving here in Haiti. Please know that we are feeling your love and prayers. God bless!